AN: Apologies for the lateness in the chapter everyone. The last week or so has been hectic and I didn't have much time to myself. I hope you enjoy this chapter though!
"I regret being soft in the past. You're cocky, arrogant and have a God complex. Its time I rid this world of my greatest mistake" The Hokage said in a serious manner as he jumped away from Orochimaru's grasp and joined Mei's side at the opposite side of the rooftop. "Mei-dono, thank you for your support in this. We've kept your visitors safe like I promised, I think its time to enact our plan" at which Orochimaru narrowed his eyes dangerously at what the Hokage's words meant. "Yes, you rotting snake. We knew of your plan, Naruto-kun figured out your plan a month ago, and we've taken the appropriate measures" Sarutobi said as he removed his robes and was clad in his battle armour ready for the fight ahead.
"Really? You think your pathetic little village is doing well? Look around you! Your village is crumbling!" Orochimaru screamed gleefully and watched as multiple buildings were on fire whilst his shinobi and summons were causing havoc, however once again his expression turned sour when the Hokage simply smiled a little and called out below, "Naruto-kun, release them!"
(In The Arena)
Naruto was disposing of Sound and Sand shinobi who were attacking from all angles. With Gaara incapacitated, the main threat was just within the village, Jiraiya was dealing with the snake summons using his own toad summons whilst the heavy hitters like Guy and Kakashi were dealing with some of the more experienced ninjas like Baki and other summons who managed to evade Jiraiya. This continued until he heard the Hokage call out to him causing Naruto to smile widely and form four quick shadow clones who surrounded him and yelled out in unison "Uzumaki Fuinjutsu: Guardian Dome" as a light blue dome surrounded Naruto and his clones. Each clone had their hands connected to the barrier and were only focused on their task. What was special about this technique was that it was a Jonin level technique which only an Uzumaki could cast, it protected the users from the inside for as long as they had chakra and kept contact with the barrier.
Whilst within the barrier, the original Naruto was casting a long series of hand seals before finally slamming his hands on the ground and yelling "Yin Release: Altered Reality: Kai!". All around the village large seal arrays suddenly became visible before quickly disappearing again. Upon the release, buildings and areas shimmered a little before the true reality was revealed. Some of the buildings which had been there before, had suddenly disappeared, a couple of areas where the Sand and Sound shinobi were fighting against Konoha ninjas actually revealed that there were never any Konoha ninjas to fight against but rather the two attacking forces were either attacking each other or nothing. Once all the seals were removed, the village was actually in a much better state than initially thought.
(Flashback – After The Written Portion Of The Chunin Exams)
Naruto smiled, as he was on his way out of the Hokage's training ground, gaining the memories from his Kage Bunshin that just dispelled following its discussion with the Hokage. Sorting through the memories quickly, Naruto made a mental reminder to get started on the plan.
Following Naruto's initial suspicions of Kabuto, Naruto decided to bring up his suspicions to the Hokage in the form of a shadow clone whilst he dealt with Ameya. In the scroll his mother left him, were the blueprints for a protective jutsu which was used in their home country, Uzushio. It was decided that once Naruto had a bit of time, he would work on the jutsu and with the help of the Hokage set it in motion, hence the happy mood he was in upon leaving the training ground.
(Present Day)
During the month off, Naruto tried to learn the jutsu but wasn't able to due to the complexity of it. However, he made a similar jutsu which relied on his Yin Release and hence the altered reality jutsu was born. Although the chakra had been saved up before the invasion, it still took a chunk out of Naruto, especially after the fights he had today.
"Hey Kyuubi, how long do you reckon till I'm back to full charge?" Naruto asked as he sat in the middle of the barrier that his clones were keeping up. A part of him felt horrible for trying to rest in the middle of an invasion but looking up to where the Hokage was, he knew he would need to be at his best to even stand a chance to survive.
"You'd need approximately five minutes, kit. You're not too low on chakra but you definitely would just be a nuisance in that situation. He wiped the floor with you last time without breaking a sweat" the Kyuubi added.
Naruto was inclined to agree until a large chakra signature spiked and a massive forest erupted on the roof top where Orochimaru was fighting Mei and Hiruzen. Dispelling his clones, Naruto raced to the rooftop to see the situation in front of him.
(Few Minutes Earlier)
"Really Hokage-sama? I know its 2 vs 1 but I'm really not impressed by your 'star' pupil. Other than that disgusting regurgitating thing, he's not that tough" Mei said as she jumped back to the Hokage's side as Orochimaru was once again producing a new body.
"Take it as a compliment to your skill Mei-dono" the Hokage smiled, although he was feeling slightly upset at the current sight of his former prized student. He knew it had to be done though, he had to rid the world of this monster.
"Kukuku, this is cute, very very cute. But its pathetic that the two of you can only do this to me. You will never be enough against the likes of me and let me show you why!
"Shadow Clone Jutsu" Orochimaru yelled out before both went through different length hand seals and slammed their palms on the rooftop before yelling out
"Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation!"
"Summoning Jutsu"
Two coffins began but before they could see what was inside them, a plume of smoke enveloped the area. Once the smoke cleared, both the Hokage and Mei were shocked at the sight before them.
"Took you long enough, a part of me thought you failed and were killed" a young voice called out.
"Oh please, these fools could never. I would have killed little Mei-chan myself if I didn't promise you that you could take her on whilst I focus on my sensei. Well, I say 'I' but its not going to be me, isn't that right, my little puppets?" Orochimaru gleefully boasted as he completed his jutsu by plunging a talisman attached to a kunai into the heads of the Shodaime and the Nidaime Hokage, once they stepped out of the coffins. Once completed, the two former Hokage charged the still stunned form of Sarutobi whilst the smaller form of the fourth Mizukage, Yagura jumped away with Mei to the side to deal with their own conflict.
(With Yagura and Mei)
"So Mei, you thought you could gain the favour and support of the Leaf village? You really are desperate huh? Your little rebellion is failing and thanks to the snake, I can put an end to you once and for all" Yagura called out as he lazily leaned against his staff, clearly not threatened by Mei.
"I don't know how the snake found out but its irrelevant now. Yagura, this will be the end. One of us is walking out of here alive and the civil war will be over" Mei announced as she entered into a battle stance however she was going through her own internal turmoil, 'I don't know if I can defeat Yagura on a straight 1 vs 1! He's a perfect jinchuriki, this isn't good! This is why I needed the help of the Leaf village but with the way things stand, the Hokage might not make it out alive' she glanced to the side and her worries were proven correct.
The hokage was currently engaging Orochimaru and the two former leaders of the village at the same time. Although the reanimations weren't to their fullest strengths and Orochimaru was a little weakened from their earlier fight, credit had to go the aged Sandaime for being able to hold his own.
'I really have to thank Naruto-kun, if it wasn't for him and figuring out the invasion, I wouldn't have been able to prepare myself. I'm not in my prime but without this last month of training and preparations, I would have been dead by now!' however his thoughts were interrupted by Hashirama calling out to him.
"Pay attention Saru and gain some distance!" he warned before forming hand seals and slamming his palms on the roof top.
"Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees!" and all of a sudden a large forest of trees were beginning to emerge and attack Sarutobi. Which was the scene Naruto saw outside the barrier.
(Present Time)
Forming a seal less shadow clone, Naruto quickly ordered it to go find Jiraiya and explain the situation before he quickly analysed the barrier. Looking around, and noticing the four sound ninjas which were protected by an extended version of the wall, he figured out the jutsu from his own fuinjutsu studies.
"Hmmm, Four Violet Flames Formation not bad at all. Let's try something, Shadow Clone Jutsu" Naruto called out as three shadow clones appeared by him, "okay, you know what to do" he simply said as he watched his first clone mumble something to themselves about 'psychotic blonde originals' before walking straight into the barrier just to be engulfed in flames and dispel. 'Hmm, okay. So it is just normal flames in the end. Let's try this' Naruto tossed a scroll to the second clone and simply motioned it to go ahead. Rolling its eyes, it walked forward and yelled out "Fuin" hoping to seal some of the flames in order to create an opening. A single ember was absorbed before the scroll wasn't able to maintain its stability and burst into flames before engulfing the second clone too and quickly causing it to dispel too.
"Okay let's try this. You're going to stand right by the barrier and use the elemental absorption seal near the bottom of the of the barrier. As soon as the seal is active, hold it for a single second. That's all I need. One second for me to use your shadow to travel to the other side of the barrier, but you have to provide me with an opening" the original Naruto explained before he drew up two quick seals. The first seal was a small reinforcement seal which he put onto the clone and the second seal was the absorption seal he had drawn up during the month of training and attached the kanji for FIRE on it before giving that to his clone too. As soon as Naruto began descending into the clone's shadow, the shadow clone placed the absorption seal on the part of the barrier that connected with the roof top. Instantly flames raced up the seal, hoping to engulf the clone, only to be absorbed by the seal's mechanism. However more and more flames began engulfing the seal from all sides, overpowering it and attack the clone which managed to stay together for a little longer due to the reinforcement seal. By the time the clone dispelled, the original Naruto was through and had raced through the shadows to find the Hokage.
"Hope I'm not too late Jiji" Naruto appeared next to the Hokage on one of the thick tree vines which have sprouted all over the place. They were joined by form of Mei, who other than panting a bit harder, wasn't any worse for wear. "So what's the game plan here? Two of Konohas greatest ninjas and Kages, another Kage who is a jinchuriki too and the snake itself, to put it bluntly...we are fucked" Naruto summarised although he had a small smile on his face.
"Language Naruto-kun!" The Hokage scolded before also adopting a small smile on his face, "but yes, we are fucked. Naruto, I'm assuming you've contacted Jiraiya?" He asked, earning a small nod in return, "good. The snake summons are pretty much all vanished now which means he should be here soon. I'm taking the two former Hokages, even at a fraction of their power they would overpower either one of you and this way I wouldn't have to worry about covering either of you" the Hokage began, earning a small flinch from Mei but Naruto meanwhile was staring at his grandfather figure in awe. Whilst it's true that over the last decade or so, he's become less lax and started taking charge again, Naruto had never seen this side of the aged Hokage. This wasn't his jiji anymore, but The Professor, the God of Shinobi, Hiruzen Sarutobi the Third Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village and he was about to show everyone why he's earned all of these titles.
"Mei-dono, please try to deal with Orochimaru, Naruto already had a run in with him and it didn't end well with him. Naruto-kun, you'll have to keep Yagura occupied. He might be young but he's a Kage for a reason and he's a perfect jinchuriki. I'm not expecting you to go toe to toe with him or beat him, i just need you to survive long enough for Jiraiya to get here. If he unleashes his bijuu, you're the only one with a chance of stopping him" the Hokage explained sternly and began gathering his chakra, looking over at his two allies, he saw the slight hesitation in their eyes and chose to add one more thing before engaging in his own fight. "You don't have to win, just stall until Jiraiya gets here and then Mei join Naruto and leave Orochimaru for Jiraiya. We can't waste any more time, they allowed us to formulate a plan but they're getting ready to strike, steel yourselves and fight with all you've got. For the Mist Rebellion, for your friends, for your family AND FOR THE LEAF VILLAGE!" Hiruzen yelled out before summoning two shadow clones and engaging the two ex-Hokage.
Yagura took this as a sign to start and raced towards Mei only to stop and have to block a kick aimed at his head using his staff.
"No, no. Why don't we let the adults handle their business and us kids can do our own thing? Foxy-chan was telling me about the big turtle you have! Let's postpone their reunion a little though okay?" Naruto teased as he blocked Yagura's path from Mei.
Naruto's teasing seemed to have the right effect on Yagura as his eyes narrowed and killing intent was being released. "Be careful how you talk to me boy. I might be younger than my counterparts but you wouldn't even be capable of cleaning the dirt beneath my feet. Now move out of my way before your village loses a precious jinchuriki".
'What do you think Kyuubi? I can't decide how to go about this. I can aggravate him more and he could potentially make more mistakes, or he could use that rage to wipe me off the face of the earth. Also how will it work in terms of tails? I know you have nine tails and Yagura has the three tailed turtle, so if I entered the three tailed state, would I be as strong as him?' Naruto asked his partner whilst going onto the defensive to begin dodging Yagura's attacks.
"Yes and no. If we are talking pure power, yes my three tails would still be stronger than Yagura if he used all three tails of Isobu. However, there are conditions for that, if you both just maintain your jinchuriki cloak, or version 1 if you will, you will have the upper hand. Should he transform though, that's when things get difficult. You might be able to match him in power in terms of the tails, however, Isobu is known for his defence and you don't really have the jutsu power to penetrate his defences, three tails or not. You'd either have to use more tails, which I do not recommend right now, or be able to penetrate/crack his shell in order to have a chance. That's not including any attacks he'll be using like the bijuudama. The point is, if Yagura uses his three tailed state, you will really need to pull out all stops to protect yourself and the village" The Kyuubi explained before going silent again to allow his host to focus.
No jutsus had been casted yet, which Naruto was internally happy about so he could recover fully, instead Yagura was just looking to impale Naruto on his staff. It was a true testament to Yagura's skill because even with his gravity seals removed, Yagura was able to keep up and place Naruto on the defensive and make him struggle as much as he did. The main reason for this was the unpredictability of Yagura's abilities mixed with the staff. Every time Yagura swung one way or tried to strike Naruto in a specific part, Naruto would dodge of course, which just led to corals forming from the staff and looking to either impale or engulf Naruto, he wasn't willing to find out.
(With The Hokage)
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Bullet Jutsu"
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough"
"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Jutsu"
"Lightening Style: Armour Piercer"
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu"
Five replicas of the Hokage yelled out whilst the original stayed back to analyse the situation. The fire and wind jutsus combined to form an inferno styled attack which collided head first against Hashirama's wood dragon whilst the remaining three jutsus were aimed at Tobirama to overcome his water defence. What followed was an explosion large enough to destroy most of the trees and vines which had appeared earlier and actually managed to 'destroy' the bodies of the two Kage, only for them to be quickly reformed.
"Very proud of you Saru, you've grown incredibly strong. I'm glad to see you're not holding back" the form of Tobirama praised as his head and mouth had reformed, "it really is a shame that this is how we had to meet again" he added in a neutral tone.
"A shame?! I told you not to create this cursed jutsu! But noooo, Tobi-chan always knew better huh? Now look at us, zombies, forced to attack the village we created and vowed to protect!" the voice of Hashirama chimed in, clearly annoyed at the situation his brother had inadvertently caused.
"What's done is done Shodaime-sama, what's important is dealing with the here and now. We can spend all day arguing on who's fault it is, but at the end of the day, it was my student that brought you two back alive and forced us into this predicament." The Sandaime added before getting back into his fighting stance, seeing both of his predecessors being fully reformed, "is there a way to cancel this jutsu, Tobirama-sensei?" Sarutobi asked, with some hope.
"A couple actually" Tobirama began, "you either get the castor to release the jutsu, which I doubt will happen, or you remove the soul from the reincarnated body. However, if you are able to trap or immobilise the reincarnated bodies, you could stop us too. But that would all depend on your fuinjutsu knowledge. Anyways, be ready, here we come!" he warned and both Senju brothers charged at him, however before they got close, two large lava globs landed at their feet forcing them to jump back again.
"Sorry I'm late Hokage-sama!" the form of Mei arrived, worse for wear judging by the cuts and dried blood on her clothes.
"Late? You're not meant to be here! You're meant to help Naruto once Jiraiya arrived, which I'm assuming he did?" Hiruzen said in a serious manner, still keeping an eye out towards the former Hokage.
"Now now Hokage-sama, with all due respect, if you die here, how are you going to sign a treaty from your grave?" Mei tried to joke but the serious expression on the Hokage's face told her how bad timed her joke is, "I'm joking of course. I was going to, but the shadow clone with Jiraiya told me not to, something about it getting a lot more serious in a little bit".
Before the Sandaime could reply, a large explosion of demonic chakra exploded causing everyone within the barrier to shield their face and apply chakra to their feet to hold onto the roof.
"Shit, this is not good. Mei we need to dispose of these two quick" the Hokage urged before re-engaging the two former Hokage.
(With Orochimaru and Jiraiya)
"kukuku, looks like things are finally getting interesting. Wouldn't you agree Jiraiya-kun?" Orochimaru cackled as he continued dodging Jiraiya's attacks. 'This is bad though. If Yagura-kun and Naruto-kun end up letting loose, this enclosed space is going to kill us all' his thoughts were interrupted by Jiraiya planting a Rasengan straight into his chest.
"Pay attention asshole. Or don't. The quicker this finishes, the earlier we can go back to our lives without you " Jiraiya scowled as Orochimaru once again regurgitated another body, looking no worse for wear.
(With Naruto and Yagura – A Few Minutes Earlier)
"Had enough yet brat?" Yagura asked in a bored tone as the hole in Naruto's body healed up. Although being slightly faster than Yagura, Naruto wasn't able to constantly dodge and Yagura's experience kicked in and was able to eventually catch Naruto a few times. However, every time he managed to impale or strike Naruto, Yagura simply sat back and waited for Naruto to get up and heal up, just to add further insult to the injury.
"I already told you this…unless you kill me, I will always get up" Naruto said as he spat out some blood and got up slowly. Four seal less shadow clones appeared and proceeded to engage Yagura.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu"
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough"
The collaboration jutsu formed a searing hot fireball heading straight towards Yagura. The two remaining clones were planning on engaging however after seeing Yagura's bored expression they chose to stand back and were proven right as Yagura started spinning his staff in front him.
"Water Style: Water Mirror Jutsu" he simply said as a circular water mirror formed in front of him absorbing the fireball and reflecting it right back towards the group of Narutos at twice the speed. The two clones who casted the jutsu were incinerated, however the remaining two clones were able to escape their doom. Instead, they began engaging Yagura in the Kage Giman. One thing Naruto noticed during the month off was that with the usage of shadow clones, the Kage Giman becomes more effective as one clone's feint could be another clone's attack or both could feint, so it really helps once an opponent begins figuring out the taijutsu style.
This time Yagura was put on the defensive but he wasn't struggling as Naruto hoped. This continued for a few seconds until Yagura's attention was briefly drawn to movement on his left before a right hook connected with his face and sent him sailing this continued once more when Yagura was certain there was someone creeping up behind him only to be met with a roundhouse kick to his turned head.
"ENOUGH" Yagura yelled out and flared his chakra before disappearing from view and popping both clones before they could react. Scanning his environment he couldn't sense Naruto when all of a sudden he ducked and turned around, grabbing Naruto by his throat. "You really thought you can sneak up on me? Enough games" Yagura said and stabbed Naruto in his chest with the staff. Only for Naruto to smile.
"BOOM" he whispered before engulfing Yagura in an explosion which sent him into the barrier's wall. The real Naruto appeared from one of the shadows on the rooftop but was still on edge, waiting for Yagura to pull out a trick. 'I'm happy that worked but it surely was tiring. Note to myself, casting jutsus whilst in the shadow realm is extremely draining. This was the first time I actually tried it, I shouldn't have done so much. From casting the shadow illusions to distract him, to forming an explosive shadow clone and hiding him under an illusion. I can't keep this up for long' Naruto thought to himself.
However, he didn't have long to dwell on his tiredness as Yagura began walking out of the smoke that had formed from the initial explosion and contact with the wall. Seeing Yagura's new appearance, Naruto decided to up his own abilities and channel the Kyuubi's chakra into the one tailed state, a thin and refined red cloak forming around Naruto with small chakra ears forming at the top of his head, one tail behind him and his more feral features more defined. Yagura meanwhile had two tails swinging behind him but also a very refined red cloak covering his form. Instead of ears or feral features though, Yagura had a turtle's shell on his back, also made up of red chakra.
Naruto didn't even have time to ponder Yagura's appearance or make a snarky remark before Yagura had burrowed his fist into Naruto's stomach, making him spit out blood before being lifted into the air from the impact. Not letting up, Yagura quickly grabbed Naruto's tails before hurling him back towards the ground but kicking him away in the last second.
"Don't tell me you're done now. You wanted to get me mad and you managed it. Get up brat" the demonic looking Yagura called out, although channelling his bijuu's power and sounding demonic, he still had that composed tone in his voice, truly highlighting his control as a jinchuriki.
He was forced to stop his movements by the increase in demonic chakra he felt from where Naruto landed and looking at Naruto, he noticed the two tails swinging behind him, causing Yagura to simply grin at the indication.
"That's cute but how about I show you the difference in our power" Yagura called out as he gathered chakra.
(With Orochimaru & Jiraiya)
'What is he doing?! He's going to kill us all if he releases this here!' Orochimaru thought to himself as he jumped away from Jiraiya's onslaught again, 'plus I can't keep going like this. I'm going to have to release them otherwise I won't be able to shed myself again' Orochimaru worried.
Jiraiya meanwhile was panting slightly harder and was covered in a few cuts and bruises himself as he taunted, "done yet Orochimaru? The last of your forces are done for and if you keep this up, you might get to kill sensei, but you're not walking out of here alive. I promise you that much" Jiraiya said in a stone-cold manner.
"Yes yes Jiraiya-kun, there might be some truth to what you're saying but –" he was forced to stop his sentence after hearing
"BIJUUDAMA"
"Release the barrier quick!" Orochimaru warned out as he let himself get swallowed up by the ground. The sound four had clearly thought ahead as the barrier was already being released when they saw Yagura load up barrier. However they weren't quite quick enough as some of the bijuudama escaped the barrier and levelled some far away buildings whilst some of the remaining attack impacted the receding barrier, creating a controlled explosion on the rooftop.
(With The Kage…And Mei)
"You okay?" Hiruzen coughed out as he got up and touched his forehead, the warm liquid feeling of blood clearly present on his fingers. The aftermath of the explosion had rocked the rooftop and ended up sending them to the ground with debris flying everywhere.
"Yeah…I think. Just sucks that these two will be completely fine again" Mei called out as she also got up and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.
However, looking closely at the two Kage, they noticed that they weren't reforming but were instead beginning to fall apart and continue peeling away.
"Looks like we're being released Hashirama" the second hokage said, looking down at himself and his brother.
"Yeah Tobi-chan, seems that way. Saru-kun, keep watching over the village and the future, they seem to be doing well" Hashirama said as he looked towards the edge of the village where he saw Yagura chasing Naruto out of the village, how he managed that, is a mystery.
The two former Hokage were beginning to fade away but their eyes widened at the last scene they would see. That momentary widening of their eyes allowed the third Hokage to shift his body to the side as Orochimaru reappeared from the ground with his sword hanging from his mouth, impaling the Hokage's body through the left side. Before jumping away and joining the Sound Four in escaping.
Jiraiya quickly joined the Hokage's side to check on him as he was coughing hard and spitting out blood. "Its poison…he didn't nick anything vital…but my body is on fire…Naruto…check…on…Naruto" he wheezed out as he lost consciousness.
"Mei-dono! Please take the ANBU and take the Sandaime to the hospital! I need to check on Naruto!" Jiraiya ordered as two large roars were heard in the distance.
AN: I don't think this is one of my stronger chapters, so apologies if its lacking a bit!
In terms of the fight with Yagura. Again, no matter how strong Naruto was at this point, he was fighting a Kage and a perfect jinchuriki, he wasn't going to win. Plus he would have been tired from the exams etc. His only real saving card was his tailed beast being stronger.
Again, apologies for the lateness in the chapter! I will try to post another one this weekend to keep up the 'one a week' but if not, most definitely next weekend will be the next update.
