Basically Just Dragon Ball Z At This Point Imma Be Honest
Almost two decades ago
Black Zetsu waited patiently in the clearing. His body was that of a standard White Zetsu, one of the few that Madara had brought out from the Gedo Mazo when he first found it. The man had been unable to bring out any more than five without the special Wood Release chakra of a Senju, of course; that had been how Hagoromo had designed it. Indra to control it, Asura to power it, neither able to wield it without the other.
As if Black Zetsu hadn't thought of ways around that within months of the old man's death.
Still, five had been enough; he had been able to convince Madara they were simply artificial humans, and being able to possess willing, physical bodies on a whim had been delightful. Take now, for instance; with the right clothing and a smattering of genjutsu, he was able to disguise himself as an ordinary Suna shinobi. From there, manipulating people became so much easier.
There was a rustling in the trees around them, and four figures dropped down in front of him. Three adult ninja wearing Mist headbands, and one young girl with the iconic swirl of the Hidden Leaf Village.
Her eyes were lidded, and her posture was slumped.
"This one's awful quiet." Zetsu smirked, leaning down and putting a hand under her chin, tilting her head up.
"Seal's working like a charm." One of the Mist ninja chuckled. "Hey, bitch! Snap out of it!"
The girl's eyes snapped into sharp lucidity, and she immediately tried to bite Zetsu's fingers off. He pulled away before she could do so, which left her free to scream "OBITO! KAKASHI! I'M-"
Zetsu punched her in the face, and she shut up.
Punching people was something he had very much missed, while essentially formless.
"Now now." He told her, wagging his finger in her face while she spat out a tooth. "Nobody likes a girl who doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut."
"Whoa, dude." Said one of the Mist ninja, the youngest looking. "You can't just say that."
"I'm sorry?" Zetsu turned a glare on him.
"I'm just saying, man, it's not the warring states period anymore. I mean, 'women should stay quiet'? You can't stereotype girls as-"
"Zabuzza." Said one of the others, patiently. "You killed your entire graduating class."
"Yeah, indiscriminately. I didn't dictate who I murdered based on gender, gender identity, orientation-"
"Whatever." Zetsu sighed. "What about the other two?"
The three shared a shifty look.
"We don't know." The meanest looking said. "They escaped soon after the sealing operation. One of them's an Uchiha, awakened their dojutsu. We sent a pair to hunt them down, but they haven't reported back yet. We were too busy retrieving the-"
"It doesn't matter." Zetsu dismissed. He already knew full well what had happened to the other two. "But this is the one with the Three-Tails sealed in her?"
"'This one' has a name." The girl declared, looking at him icily. "I'm Rin. Rin Nohara."
"No." Zetsu tutted. "You are Bijuu. Bijuu Host. Everything else about you is irrelevant."
"Oh, we're objectifying her now?" Zabuzza spoke up.
"Yeah, as a weapon of mass destruction!" His associate exclaimed.
"It's still not-"
"Enough." Zetsu held up a hand. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a scroll, proffering it to them. "As Master Sasori agreed. The knowledge of the direct-control seal is yours, provided you use your Bijuu to attack Konoha." And hadn't that plan taken a long time to get into motion.
"Agreed." The meanest-looking nodded. "It's a damn good deal. Your Kage really let you get away with this?"
"We have our reasons." Zetsu smiled.
The man reached out a hand to take the scroll-
And it was severed at the wrist.
Zetsu made a show of recoiling in mock fear as the man screamed, then gargled, as a knife flashed across his throat.
Said knife was held in the hands of a small boy. A boy with white hair, a face mask, and a single Sharingan.
"Kakashi!" The girl called Rin shouted, overjoyed.
Aww, how nice. Dammit. We need more edge. This obnoxious little Jonin shouldn't have gotten his hands on the Sharingan; he ought to be dead.
Was the third teammate kinder than anticipated? Was it just practicality that had led him to give his eye away?
No matter. You don't scheme for millennia without picking up the ability to think on your feet.
"Rin Nohara!" He shouted, and thank you so much for giving me your names. "Unleash the three tails! Slay Kakashi with it, and release it upon Konoha!"
"NO!" Screamed Kakashi. He finished the second Mist ninja and spun, throwing the kunai (the third, Zabuzza, had ran, hollering damnations at his Mizukage).
Black Zetsu let it land, burying in the throat of his brainless host, and quickly detached himself, slinking away as a shadow into the underbrush.
Rin was screaming, clutching her stomach, as Kakashi ran over to her, grabbing her shoulders.
"Rin!" He shouted, voice suddenly that of the twelve year old he technically was and not the ANBU agent he could be. "Rin, Rin, breathe, okay, stay with me, we can-"
"Heart." She gasped out. "Kakashi, it's on our hearts. You...you have to..."
Zetsu tuned it out. They were no longer relevant. Neither was the body he'd had to let die; out of the five Zetsu Madara had pulled out, three had now been destroyed pulling off various plans. One more was safe in his hideout, and the other...
Black Zetsu comfortably settled into the shadow of Obito Uchiha, half of his body replaced by plant matter and conveniently keeping him rooted to the spot, and prepared to enjoy the show.
In the clearing, Kakashi prepared a chidori.
Present day
Naruto remembered back at the start of his first adventure into Wave, when the biggest threat he'd had to face was two (2) Jonin level combatants.
Good times.
Now he was fighting a deranged God.
"DEATH!" Roared Juubi Obito (Ooh, Juubito! that's a genius nickname, I'm keeping it), as he charged straight for Naruto and stabbed with his staff.
Naruto tried to substitute away, but Juubito was too fast, so by the time his clone was able to swap places with him he'd already been impaled.
So already not off to a good start.
He reappeared halfway across the battlefield and grimaced in pain, charging up a Rasenshuriken as Sasuke swung down towards Juubito with his Susanno. Three of the black orbs formed a barrier, and the purple avatar straight up disintegrated on contact with it, as another black orb flew up aiming to hit Sasuke dead in his centre of mass.
Naruto redirected his throw, and the Rasenshuriken was able to collide with the orb and knock it off course, giving Sasuke just enough time to jump away. Juubito howled, his face a rictus of hatred, and gave chase.
Naruto had no doubts that if Obito's senses had been intact, everyone would already be dead. The fact that the Jinchurikki had used nothing but taijutsu and the black balls was proof enough of that.
He looked down again and his eyebrows raised; the small hole in his stomach was still there.
"The fuck-"
"The orbs cancel all regeneration!" Kakashi shouted. "You can't heal if you get-"
Juubito's head snapped in the direction of the sound. "Kakashi." He growled.
"Oh no." Gulped the copy-ninja. "Obito, remember the plan, you-"
"KAKASHI!" Juubito blasted through the air towards him. (oh yeah, the Ten-Tails host could fly. Apparently.)
"Uzumaki Barrage!" Naruto shouted, and promptly sagged. His supply of sage chakra split itself into a thousand and became nothing, but a thousand Naruto all created Rasengan and jumped in Juubito's way.
To his horror, they barely slowed him down; one swing of the staff and a wave of dark power cut a whopping swathe through the army. Still, it was enough for Kakashi to escape the Jinchurikki's immediate notice, and hopefully to run far, far away.
"How the fuck do we stop this guy!" Sasuke shouted, landing next to Naruto.
"I don't know!" Naruto shot back. "Could we lead him to Madara?"
"We could try! Good luck kiting the most terrifying thing I've ever seen in my life!"
Juubito heard them, and turned his attention back towards them. "BLOOD!" He howled. "RIN! DIE!"
Okay, got it, nonverbal communication from now on. Sasuke genjutsu'd across.
Yeah, got it. Naruto sent through the link of Kyuubi chakra. He'd immediately buffed his teammate's reserves the moment they'd met up. Where the most powerful thing we can do?
I could set your Bijuu bomb on fire?
Juubito started flying towards them-
No time. Uuh, hey, remember that one time when we smashed our brand new high risk superpowers into each other?
Sasuke gave him an incredulous look. "Are you in-"
Juubito, blasting in from a kilometre away, charged up a swing.
Fine! Take my hand!
Naruto did, focusing. He'd thought balancing his chakra with the Kyuubi had been hard, but this was a whole 'nother ballpark. For one thing, wind on fire was like oil on water: They Did Not Mix. Trying to take his chakra, buff it with the Kyuubi, then apply wind release to it, then prevent that from immediately exploding the moment it came into contact with Sasuke's Amaterasu flames? Imagine trying to make a bowl of cereal, except you're not allowed to rest the bowl, milk, cereal or spoon on any surface that isn't your body. And also you have to do the whole thing in five seconds, and if you spill anything you explode and die. That's basically how hard this was.
But Sasuke was Naruto's teammate. And he wasn't going to fail friendship check as obvious as this one.
Crying out dramatically in unison, Naruto and Sasuke thrust the Vermillion-Amaterasu-Rasen-Kunai-Shuriken towards Juubito.
The music reached peak intensity.
And then their attack shattered harmlessly against the black surface of the staff.
The change in expression their faces simultaneously went through would have been hilarious, if they hadn't both been absolutely fucking terrified.
Their combined relative momentum continued to take them forwards, now empty hands coming within inches of the staff-
A hand clamped on each of their backs, and then they disappeared.
They reappeared some distance away, immediately landing in a heap as their rescuer let them go.
"What in the everloving-" Naruto turned around, shaking his head and trying to calm his ridiculous heartbeat after his near-death experience. And that was when he saw his father.
"Hey kids!" Beamed Minato Namikaze. "Glad to see you're both doing alright. Naruto...oh my god you've grown so much. Look at you! You're so tall now! And you did manage to make friends with the Kyuubi! That's my boy!"
"His name is Kurama, and yeah, I-Dad?" Naruto gaped. "How the hell are you here?"
"Edo Tensei!" Sasuke realised, taking in the cracks on the Hokage's skin. "Hinata came through for us!"
"That she did." Minato nodded, giving Naruto a wink. "Nice pull, kiddo. Smart girl, dedicated. She split off to go get someone else, not sure who else she thinks can help out. Oh, speaking of help-"
As if on cue (in reality, Minato had calculated their speeds and prepared for the exact time when they would arrive) Tobirama Senju and Hiruzen Sarutobi also appeared.
Tobirama took one look at Sasuke and scowled. "Uchiha."
"Oh, it's the racist dickhead." Sasuke scowled right back. "Yeah, my family has told me all about you, and your fucking-"
"Children, please. Focus." Hiruzen interceded, looking past them into the middle distance. There was the sound of an explosion. "I believe we have a fight to get back to."
"Ugh. Fine." Sasuke made an 'I'm watching you' gesture at Tobirama then stepped back to look at them all. "Uh. Aren't we missing one?"
"My brother is preoccupied." Tobirama replied. One side of his lips quirked upwards. "Said he has a date."
"HASHIRAMAAAAAAAAAAA!" Howled a voice from one side of the battlefield.
There was a beat, and then,
"MADARAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Howled a voice from the other side.
Tracking ritual complete, the two moved towards each other.
Hinata crashed through the roof of the castle on the moon.
"FOR THE LOVE OF HAMURA!" Screeched Toneri's voice, and he quickly staggered out of a nearby room to (not exactly) look at her. "WHAT'S GOING-"
"Hey cousin." Hinata breezed, walking past him.
"Oh. You." Toneri paused. Then "Did you just destroy my ceiling-"
"A little. Come with me. Hanabi's room's this way, right?" Hinata didn't stop, moving precisely as fast as she thought she could without leaving him in the dust.
"I-Alright, fine! Kami, woman, you just scared the hell out of me!"
"I'm sure you'll manage."
"Why are you here? The war's still going on down there!"
"Oh, I know." Hinata made her way up to her sister's hallway. "We accidentally awakened an ancient evil. The genjutsu on Hanabi; you said it was a Kotoamatsukami, right?"
"You awakened a-Wait, are you the reason the Gedo Mazo went-"
"It's complicated, explain later. The genjutsu?"
"I, yes, that's what those two called it when they put it on us." Toneri (looking incredibly dishevelled and off-balance) fell into step beside her. He had resorted to a blindfold again, eyes missing for obvious reasons, but one of his puppets floated along behind him, presumably working the same way Kankuro's did. "Why is it important?"
"Because I think I can break it." Hinata declared. "No, I know I can."
"But breaking the Kotoamatsukami is impossible-"
"The universe does not care what you believe to be impossible. I tore one out of my own mind less than a month ago." She smirked, reaching the door. "Breaking it won't be a problem. What might be difficult is getting it to divulge the location of my sister's eyes. HANABI! I'M COMING IN!"
"Wait, I don't-"
Hinata dramatically threw open the doors.
Sat on the bed, Hanabi Hyuuga let out a squeak at the sudden intrusion. She dropped a book (that was clue one) and looked up (that was clue two) at Hinata.
"Big sis!" Hanabi cried out. "You...you're so grown up and pretty!" Now that was clue three. But Hinata still didn't realise what was going on until clue four, which was when Hanabi started crying.
Hinata's jaw dropped, as she looked into her sister's wide, white eyes. "You...how..."
"They were there the whole time." Toneri chuckled from behind her. "Right in her sockets. Must have been the Kotoamatsukami's work, preventing me from checking there at any point."
Now Hinata was the one off-balance. "So the genjutsu's...gone? When? How?"
"Only a few hours after you left!" Hanabi explained, gleefully. "Toneri said-" (Hinata punched Toneri, who went "Oh come on are we still doing that?") "that cousin Neji said that there were a total of a hundred and twenty two different conditions for it to dispel itself! But then Toneri came in not that long ago, and I'd told him to send some puppets down to see if you were safe, and he said 'Hanabi, it's crazy! Madara's down there! And all of a sudden there was this 'snap' inside my head! And I remembered that I could see!"
"Contingencies." Toneri explained. "In case anything worse than me happened, I'd be able to access the Tenseigan. I imagine they expected I could help stop it."
Hinata looked between him and her sister. "But you didn't take the eyes?"
"Of course not." He looked sheepishly down. "I'm...not sure I ever could have, even if I'd still believed in destroying the Earth."
Hinata took a deep breath. Then said "You may have to take them after all, actually."
There was a silence.
"Wh-what do you mean?" Hanabi looked at her, hurt. "I just got them back!"
Hinata clenched her fist. "I know, it's just...you weren't wrong about Madara being down there, and now someone's become the Jinchurikki of the Ten-Tails. None of us have the power to fight him. Not me, not Naruto, not even the ex-Hokage. But you just might." She turned back to Toneri. "With the Tenseigan you were powerful enough to take me on ten times over, you just didn't have the skill. Last I saw before getting out of range, Obito was fighting the same way; only he was actually winning. If you let me or Sasuke into your head with a genjutsu to direct your actions, you might be able to stand up to him, at least long enough for one of us to-"
"You want me to tear Hanabi's eyes out just so that you can puppet me in a fight?" Toneri looked furious at the concept.
"You can use mine if you really want to!" Hinata waved an arm in an ambivalent gesture. "I don't care! It's not a long-term consequence and I'd take it even if it was, but right now, if we don't win this? There's a decent chance that our entire planet will be destroyed!"
"Toneri..." Hanabi spoke up, hands clenching on her bedsheets. "If...If Hinata says it's what we need to do, then-"
"No." Toneri swept a hand down. "I won't allow it. But that's only-" He shot a look at Hinata, who was about to interrupt, "-because I have a better alternative."
"Which is?" Hinata demanded. "Let's be quick. Every second we waste up here is a dozen more opportunities for my teammates to die."
"Then we will be quick." Toneri spun on his heel. "Hanabi? Your bed-time is hereby delayed indefinitely. Both of you, follow me. There's something it's high time I showed you both."
Juubito found himself in a strange position wherein he had nobody to try and kill. This lasted for a period of almost five whole seconds, which for a being of his processing speed was an almost inendurably long time.
If his enemies had hoped that this time would cause him to mellow out and regain his senses, they would have been wrong.
He gripped his staff in two hands, and it began to shift and change. Condensed black chakra swirled outwards into a double helix, then extended, until it became something that resembled a sword in about the same way Samehada did. That is to say, it barely even vaguely resembled a sword, but nobody's was going to dare to tell it's owner that.
Juubito swept it up and span it around his head, before roaring out to the world in challenge.
A challenge was what he got.
"Maximum Multi-Shadow-Shuriken!"
The light from the moon seemed to dim, slightly. Juubito looked up, and saw what was causing it; falling down from above was a storm of shuriken. And that's not 'storm' used for poetic effect, that's 'there was about as much steel in that air as there usually is water during a monsoon'.
Juubito swung his sword up, and a blast of pressure obliterated every projectile in a dome around him. The remainder tore down into the floor, leaving a ten metre sphere of intact ground surrounded by a field of sharp metal sticking up like blades of grass.
Some of those were shadow shuriken.
Some, noticeably three-pronged, definitely weren't.
Minato and Naruto appeared without so much as a whisper on Juubito's right, at the exact same time that Tobirama and Sasuke appeared on his left.
He wasted vital microseconds trying to pick a target, before roaring and swinging towards the largest chakra signiature he could sense (that being, the pair of blonds).
The sword bit down towards them, but was blocked by Naruto's big ball Rasengan. It quickly tore said Rasengan apart, but that gave Minato enough time to dart into his guard and bury a kunai into his throat. On the other side, Sasuke activated his Susanno and punched, but the black orbs came round to form an impenetrable wall that made the purple avatar shatter ineffectually. Tobirama vanished again, this time appearing inside the shield and slapping a seal on Juubito's left cheek.
"Multi-Shadow seal." He growled, before the surface of the black shield bent inwards and tore a hole through his midriff.
Then Juubito's sword broke Naruto's Rasengan. He had a brief moment of panic as he was slammed into the floor, the sword swinging towards him, and then Minato appeared next to him, grabbed him, and they both disappeared.
Then Tobirama's technique took effect, and a the seal on Juubito's cheek split in two, then so did each of those, then the first two detonated, then-
Yeah extrapolate that out a couple hundred times. The resulting explosion was probably the...third or fourth biggest in the war so far.
When it was over, the completely destroyed Tobirama regenerated (except for the hole where the black matter had stabbed him). His eyes widened, as a completely intact Juubito tore the kunai out of his own throat with one hand, and swung his sword with the other.
Again, Minato teleported in, grabbed Tobirama, and teleported out again before it could land.
"You're signiature technique is really broken." Naruto panted, when Minato reappeared with them all a thousand metres away. "If you hadn't tagged us all at the start we'd be dead. And did you sync yours with T-bone here?"
"His signiature?" Tobirama looked outraged. "I invented the Flying Raijin!" His eyes shifted left and he muttered "needed a way to sneak in and out of Mito's room without getting noticed...Oh and also to kill Uchiha."
"Oh, you were cool too." Naruto allowed. "You can use the shadow clone jutsu to replicate seals? I never thought to use my technique like that!"
"Your technique?" Tobirama glared. "I invented that one too! Am I just being forgotten here?"
"I mean we mastered them and took them way beyond what you were capable of." Minato held a fist out; his son bumped it. "But you do get credit for the inspiration. The Shadow Clone was based on your brother's Wood Clone, right?"
"Officially." Tobirama coughed. "Unoficially...Uzumaki stamina, gentlemen. It's not easy to keep up with, even for me. But Shadow Clones don't get tired, and Mito was a very creative woman."
"Um." Naruto held a hand up. "Hi, real quick, question. I'm not usually good at picking up subtle wordings, but that's twice you've just implied you were fucking your brother's wife. Right? Like I'm not misreading that?"
"We got the Hyuuga to join Konoha by inventing the Caged Bird Seal for them." Tobirama explained. "We got the Uzumaki to partner up with us with a political marriage. And we got the Uchiha to join because Hashirama and Madara were...real close." He sighed. "But Hashirama needed an heir. And Mito was hot. I'm not apologising, my brother knew damn well it was going on."
"Wait wait wait." Naruto held a hand up. "Are you telling me that the reason Wood Style died out wasn't because of the Senju intermarrying too much, it was because Hashirama was just hella gay?"
"...Yeah, basically."
"I love my village so goddamn much."
"Guys! Bigger issue!" Sasuke pointed out. Back in the battlefield, a bunch of Hiruzen clones were trying to pin Juubito down with a barrage of massive elemental attacks and Rashimon Gates. It wasn't working super well. "We need to find a way around the balls. They just ignore anything we try and block them with!"
"Uh, not my attacks." Naruto pointed out. "I've been able to counter them a little with Rasengan and Rasenshuriken."
"Well why the hell-" Sasuke's eyes widened. "Wait. Did you put Sage chakra in the Rasengan?"
"Yeah...I did." Naruto realised. "You think Senjutsu counters them?"
"From what the Sharingan shows me-" ("Fuckin Uchiha-") "They're composed of just about every type of chakra at once. Purer than anything I've ever seen." Sasuke explained. "But if they aren't made out of Senjutsu..."
"That still leaves us with only Naruto." Minato warned. "I was never on Hashirama's level. I can get into Sage Mode, but it'll take me full seconds to do it."
"Actually..." Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He stared into empty space, right hand gripping Samehada tighter. "I might be able to help too."
On the battlefield, Tobirama appeared next to Hiruzen, grabbing his old student by the arm and pulling him away from a swing of the black sword. Together, they were able to teleport between all the Flying Raijin kunai in the battlefield.
"Have you gotten slower in your age?" The Senju snorted.
Hiruzen chuckled. "You know I could never keep up with you. What now, do we have a plan?"
"Part of one." Tobirama explained. "We're setting the stage for your little grandkids."
"That's all we get to?"
"Yep. They're stealing the whole show." Tobirama scowled. "Fucking ninlennials..."
Across the carnage, Hashirama and Madara finally found each other.
"Oh, hey, how's it going!" Hashirama waved, cheerfully. The sounds of battle raged around them. "Been a while, hasn't it?"
"Over a hundred years, as I understand." Madara nodded. "Or a few hours, depending on how you count it."
"Eh, still too long, I've missed you." Hashirama stretched out his arms. "Hey, random thought, remember that one time you horribly betrayed everyone you ever cared about?"
"Yup." Madara smirked. "Wanna see me do it again?"
"I'm contractually obligated to give you one last chance to return to the light side." Hashirama warned him. "I don't know what you're planning on doing with the Ten Tails, but I get the feeling it's hardly kosher. Matter of fact, I sincerely doubt it's going to make you happy."
"Probably not. But everyone else is going to love it." With that highly cryptic statement, Madara pointed down his war fan. "Let's end the showboating here. You know it makes me sick."
"Oh, come on. Can't I showboat a little?"
"Sure. If you want me to kill you the way I killed you last time."
"I died from chakra exhaustion after restraining the Kyuubi long enough for them to seal it into Mito, that was at most 40% your fault-"
"Enough. Come, Hashirama!"
Hashirama snorted. "Oh, you have definitely lost the privilege to tell me when to come at this point-"
Then Madara launched a Majestic Destroyer Flame, and Hashirama countered with a giant Wood dragon, and Madara activated his perfect Susanno and grabbed it and Hashirama entered Sage mode and-
In the centre of the battlefield, two Chunin faced off against a Genin.
...Yeah, put it like that and it doesn't sound quite as cool.
Okay, so you can give me sage mode how? Sasuke asked Samehada, as Minato teleported them right up in Juubito's firing range.
Not Sage Mode exactly, but something similar. His sword replied. Recall when we turned Kabuto into a kebab? You had me drain his Sage chakra.
Wait, you still have all of that?
Well I hardly throw it out! That would be wasteful. Samehada chuckled. I can coat myself in it so if you swing me I'll withstand the orbs.
Naruto sprinted ahead of them with a roar, thrusting a Rasenshuriken towards Juubito. The orbs came around to block it, and the attack drilled into the defense. Juubito's sword flew down from above, but Sasuke wound up an entirely gratuitous upward swing with Samehada. There was a crash, and Sasuke's arms burned, but his sword didn't break. For the first time, genuine shock passed across Juubito's face. Then the rage was back, and he swung his sword again and again.
Sasuke may have been technically able to withstand the attacks, but he was still facing an opponent an order of magnitude stronger than him; he was batted backwards, and Juubito reached downwards to grab Naruto by the throat.
He yanked up the glowing Uzumaki, and another orb swung around, and then Minato was there, grabbing Naruto by the shoulder. Juubito was ready for it this time, however. All the orbs converged on Minato's location, and a few of them managed to crash into him before he could vanish again.
When Minato dropped Naruto back off next to Sasuke, he was peppered with holes, and his flaky, dust-filled insides could be seen. "Dammit. This is messing with my chakra supply." He warned them. "Another hit and I won't be able to teleport you."
"He won't land one." Naruto looked...angry. "Motherfucker isn't gonna kill my Dad again. Sage chakra is being drawn to this guy like a magnet and I can snatch it up on the way. I'm gonna enhance the Kyuubi avatar with it. Sasuke, the moment you get the chance, cut him up."
He ran forwards, golden aura flashing and growing until a giant fox was bounding across the terrain.
"Well I'm not letting him outdo me..." Sasuke growled, standing and running forwards. Samehada, I need to put the Sage chakra in my Susanno, can we do that?
You can't access my chakra reserves. The purple sword told him. At least not-Well, you can if you mantle me. Remember what Kisame did?
Oh no, I am not letting you go all parasitic on me-
Symbiotic! Samehada corrected, huffily. And what are you complaining about? I drain your chakra to make you better in a fight. You know what else does that? Oh yes, every other technique you know.
That...Sasuke took a moment to think the logic through. Huh. Yeah, okay then. Hit me.
Finally... Samehada seemed far too happy about it. What vibe are we going for?
Hmm...Oni. Demon
Oh, I like your style. Fair warning; this might tickle.
It began to shift, and spread up his arm.
Up ahead, Naruto punched down with a giant fist. He clashed with the shield that formed around Juubito, and was actually able to crack it and force him down to land on the floor. Unfortunately, that just pissed him off more. His blade extended until it was almost ten times the length of his body, and he batted aside the next two punches before leaping up and swinging it into the Fox's face like a baseball bat. Naruto's avatar cracked and went stumbling, as Juubito flew above him, gripped his sword in two hands-
And took a drop kick to the face.
The impact of Sasuke's sandalled feet broke Juubito's neck immediately, but it almost as quickly repaired itself, as he tumbled back through the air and righted himself with a roar.
Sasuke landed next to a recovering Naruto, looked over, and smirked. "Yes! I'm finally taller than you!"
Naruto took in his teammate's ash-grey skin covered in black markings, fingers that extended into claws, and the Sage chakra bubbling off him. Then looked up at his head and snorted. "just cause you have six inch horns now doesn't mean you're taller."
"Oh, Bullshit!"
Then Juubito was coming in again, and they refocused.
His first swing met the fist of a purple Susanno, now glowing brighter and covered in black sigils, and this time, the avatar withstood it. Sasuke punched him twice, then ducked, and Naruto's Fox jumped in overhead to slam Juubito down into the earth. It didn't stop him for a moment, he rocketed back up and carved a hole through the Susanno's chest on his way. Naruto tried to kick Juubito away, but he caught the foot and heaved. Almost comically (and in complete violation of any kind of momentum law, if there were any of those left) he yanked the Fox around himself and threw it away, leaving it to crash into the terrain some kilometres away. Sasuke wrapped him up in a chain of Magatama beads, but he just flexed and they shattered. So he repeated the trick with the chain of Rasenkunai he'd used against Kabuto, and that at least did something. The black orbs around Juubito were sent flying, and one noticeably shattered entirely, but his sword remained stubbornly between him and the attack. Just as it did when he spun around and batted away a Bijuu bomb launched by Naruto, rejoining the battle.
Oh, I know that sword. Said Samehada. It's Nunoboko.
Oh yeah? Sasuke almost laughed at the absurd comment. What's she like?
A harlot. Samehada snarled, with a venom that surprised him. Thinks she's such hot shit because Hagoromo used her to fight while he was the Ten-Tails Jinchurikki. As if there was anyone for him to fight. Well guess who he used when he wanted to cut up the Ten Tails? That's right, you slut, me.
Uh. Sasuke blinked. Good to know, but how do we beat her?
She can't lose a clash. Samehada grudgingly admitted. You'll never break her or overpower her, as far as we know. But that only lasts as long as her wielder maintains complete conviction in their actions. She'll shatter if he doubts what he's doing; but since he's enraged like this...
Oh. Sasuke understood. Like a Sith.
...Come again?
He's using the intensity of his emotions to maintain the conviction that what he's doing is right, like the Sith do, while the Jedi maintain that conviction because they just follow what the force tells them to, and- He stopped. Coughed aloud. Sorry. Star Wars nerd. But I think I have an idea.
"Naruto!" He shouted, relying on the leftover Kyuubi chakra he was borrowing to relay his words throughout the battlefield. "You know that thing we tried that didn't work? Let's try it again!"
Naruto, showing complete faith in his teammate, simply grinned and replied "Got it!"
"And Kakashi!" Sasuke looked down and spotted his sensei, wisely staying on the outskirts of the conflict. "I need you to send me something!"
Naruto and Sasuke backed up towards each other, and linked the hands of their two avatars. Juubito once again blasted towards them through the air, winding up the Sword of Nunoboko for a swing.
Once again (this time on a much larger scale, and with a generous extra helping of sage chakra), the two created a condensed structure of chakra and detructive potential, and thrust it forwards.
Only this time, right before Juubito's attack met theirs, Sasuke met his eyes.
Now, anyone with Obito's present level of sage mode (not to mention the Rinnegan) could read through pretty much any genjutsu they came into contact with, and dismiss it with barely even a conscious thought. But they would still have to acknowledge it when it landed. They'd still have to see it.
Eyes straining, Sasuke bombarded Juubito with the greatest weapon he possessed.
Every happy memory Kakashi Hatake had of their time as Team Minato.
"Kakashi, get your lazy ass out of bed-"
"Guys, look at the stars tonight! Aren't they pretty-"
"Well excuse me if I want to get my sleep, rest is important-"
"Okay, if I beat you this time, you're paying for my dinner this evening-"
"Heck yeah! I knew we could get those bells! As if teamwork could ever-"
"Boys, quit fighting, you're making us look bad in front of the instructors!"
"Hey Obito! I brought you your homework!"
"Come on, Obito, you said it yourself! You're gonna be the greatest ninja in history-"
"Well done Obito! I knew you'd get that forehead protector if you-"
"Obito!"
Obito's eyes widened, a single coherent thought forming beneath the boiling pool of rage inside his mind, and bubbling up to the surface. "Rin?" he whispered.
The Sword of Nunoboko shattered like glass, and Naruto and Sasuke's attack blew a hole through his chest.
Fights have just gotten completely out of control, haven't they? Bloody end-game power creep...
Now, it may seem that, all the way back when I had Sasuke call dibs on Zabuzza's sword, I was planning for him to eventually take Samehada, use it to absorb Kabuto's sage mode, and fight Juubito with it.
The reality is that that isn't true, I've been flying by the seat of my pants on this for two whole years.
But the situation is coming to a head, and with Obito beaten, Madara is running out of time.
The simple question is, how much of this is all according to Keikaku? And who's Keikaku? Find out next time on Death Note III: Kingdom of the Crystal Dragon.
