Ancor Vantian, 1000 meters above Konoha Zone 4
Mikoto Uchiha, Honoka Uzumaki, Takuma Hyuuga, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno, had completed their mission. They successfully rescued Naruto and Honoka's clanswoman Karin. Now the team had left the Neo-Combine flying fortress on the Uchiha matriarch's summon hawk Tatsumaru.
"We are heading to the Uzumaki Manor!" The Uchiha jonin told everyone the destination as she steered Tatsumaru towards the Konoha headquarters that was three kilometers away. Everyone saw the whole Leaf surviving artilleries lined up in the Uzumaki Garden.
"Look! What's going on there?" Sasuke asked as several hundreds of their comrades scurried like ants. The surviving eight Akimichi Titan Squad members were erecting 30-meters tall poles, which were slightly glowing in light-orange light.
"Everyone must have heard Orochimaru broadcasted declaring to destroy the Uzumaki Manor with the Yamato Cannon if we dared to leave!" Honoka realized. She paused to put her left fingers on her radio receiver on her left ear before telling her team. "Tayuya called me; she and Hinata are now activating the Firewall defense on the Manor! But she still needs me to get the Firewall fully functional, we have to hurr-"
"Watchout!" Takuma pulled Honoka aside before a kunai could hit her head. "We've got chasers on our six! At least 50!"
The Sky Buzzards were raining kunai at the escaping Leaf team with their M-47 kunai launchers; the Combine wasn't letting them to get away.
"Everyone holds tight!" Mikoto said as she steered her hawk in a sharp right turn to avoid more Sky kunai fire. Everyone held Tatsumaru tightly, and Honoka and Takuma took extra effort to hold an unconscious Karin lest she slipped out and fell to her death.
Once Tatsumaru balanced, Sakura Haruno and Takuma Hyuuga brought out their AK-16 crossbows and began retaliation at their pursuers.
"Eeep!" The pink-haired genin yelped when Sasuke Uchiha came behind her and put his hands above hers. "Sasuke, what are you doing?"
"I lost my crossbow when mom took Tatsumaru in that sharp turn," the Uchiha genin said close to her right ear, sending shiver to the pink-haired genin. "Let's take them out together."
Each AK-16 had a self-destruction seal against non-owners for secret denial, and Sasuke was a better shooter than her.
"OK…." Sakura nodded and blushed heavily as her crush guided her hands on her AK-16 crossbow at the enemy flyers.
"Sharingan Wicked Eye," the Uchiha said as he activated three-tomoe Sharingan. He saw the enemy flyers in slow motion. He mentally painted targets on five of the chasing Buzzards before firing his shots at them.
TSK! TSK! TSK! TSK! TSK! The marked targets were hit in the heads and dropped to the ground several hundred meters below. Sasuke rinsed and repeated until Sakura's 30-kunai Cartridge scroll was emptied. 30 kunai for 30 Sky Buzzards.
"Sharingan Wicked Eye? Wasn't it Sharingan Dead Eye as you termed this marksman technique?" Sakura asked and then she realized something. "Wicked Eye… That's your father's nickname!"
Sasuke smiled. "Correct, Naruto suggested this term in honour of my father, and the Uchiha Corps even loves it!" He recalled what the blond said about his father.
"I read a lot about your father on Kumo's battle reports, impressive I must say. The Cloud forces retreated when he arrived to help my father, even they had the most powerful A-B Combo. The Kumo leadership even reckoned my parents and your father the Sannin in their generation. So why don't you name this marksman technique after your father's nickname?"
The Uchiha seniors told him that one of the reasons for the attempted coup was the lack of acknowledgement for his father's accomplishments in the last war. Many Uchihas had been angered and insulted that Fugaku wasn't even nominated for the Fourth Hokage position, despite the clan head not having been bothered by it.
The acknowledgement on his father by the Golden Slayer and the loathsome Kumo meant a lot to the young Uchiha heir.
"More Buzzards!" Takuma shouted. The team was still 1.5 kilometer from their destination. Sasuke and Sakura turned around to face the new pursers.
A team of Sky flyers exploded, shocking the Karin Rescue Team. "What the hell?"
"Look!" Sakura pointed to their destination; everyone saw hundreds of Fu's shadow clones were flying towards them, and then past them without a greeting. The shadow clones' expressions were all serious.
"Uh, I don't think they come to help us," Sakura observed her teal-haired jinchuuriki friend, but she was relieved that her team had no more chasers.
"Their target is Ancon Vantian! Fu is concentrating her shadow swarms to destroy it!" Mikoto realized the Nanabi jinchuuriki's intention.
"Naruto is still there!" Sasuke protested. "Her shadow clones are not necessary. They might kill him when he is still in that flying fortress!"
"Can you guarantee Naruto will come out victor in the fight against Orochimaru? The Snake Sannin will regain control on the Yamato Cannon and immediately fire it at our command center if he defeats Naruto," the Uchiha jonin countered with a reason. "This is war. We have to prepare for the worst-case scenario and Fu's shadow clones are here to make sure that damned cannon doesn't fire again. They have to take it out before it takes us out."
The four young Leaf ninjas were silent, thinking that the Uchiha matriarch was right: if Orochimaru killed Naruto and regained control on the weapon of mass destruction, Leaf would lose the war. On the other hand, however, if Naruto killed Orochimaru, the Neo-Combine would collapse and be defeated.
The word "war" stung Sasuke. His brother committed a transgression beyond words by murdering his father and many clansmen to prevent subsequent wars. The young Uchiha had learnt from his mother that Itachi had witnessed the horrors of the Third War. He looked around the village from above riding Tatsumaru- flames, smokes, explosions and bodies were everywhere, and the atrocity Orochimaru committed on killing thousands of innocent children, women and men in a shelter…
'Now I start to understand why Itachi murdered Father and our clansmen, it was to stop wars like this. War is full of horrors and tragedies… I can't imagine the pain you had when you killed Father, Brother…'
He and the rest of the Karin Rescue Team looked at Ancon Vantian, which were getting bombarded by Fu's shadow clones. They all shared the same thought: victory or annihilation.
XXXXXXXXX
A chamber in the Uzumaki Manor was converted into a shelter for hundreds of VIPs; Konohamaru Sarutobi and Hanabi Hyuuga were among them.
Hanabi came with her parents to the Chunin Exam Finals to see Hinata's performance, to see the powerful skills her sister possessed that wounded the notorious Itachi Uchiha, but the Neo-Combine ruined it. She had learnt that the invaders were the Neo-Combine- a coalition of hidden villages numbered over 60,000 ninjas and mercenary-samurais.
Natsu knew that the Uzumaki Manor was the most fortified and secure place in the village, even Lady Hokage made it her command center after the Hokage Tower was taken. When Naruto was fighting Satori, the Hyuuga kunoichi brought her charge to the Uzumaki Manor in exchange for her Byakugan service.
Hanabi broke down when her parents arrived the Manor in Medivac scrolls, fortunately the Third Hokage's bratty grandson was unusually kind and supportive to her.
"Lady Tsunade will save your parents." Konohamaru assured her and they both thanked Naruto for his Medivac fuinjutsu invention.
It was war nevertheless, and Ko's gruesome death in the Western Garrison reminded her of the horror of wars. Later the young Hyuuga was relieved to see her big sister survived and won the fight against the Fourth Raikage. She didn't want to lose her again.
Everyone here had heard Orochimaru's proclamation to destroy the Uzumaki Manor with his superweapon, panicking everyone here. Many people were weeping, and some began to pray. Hinata had come to reassure her it would be alright, because she, Tayuya and Honoka would set up the Firewall defense against the Yamato Cannon. Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze survived a direct hit with a temporary Firewall fuinjutsu.
There were Leaf ninjas scrambling and yelling to help set up the defense. And there were countless distant explosive sounds and rumbles made people here more frightened though.
"Are you scared?" Hanabi asked with tears and fear in her lavender eyes.
"Me too," Konohamaru responded, then he started to think about the man he hero-worshiped- Naruto Namikaze. His rivals Hanabi and Daisuke spoke highly of him because he saved their families Hinata and Sasuke respectively. The Uchiha told him the blond's deeds in Wave Country that amazed him. The Namikaze was brutal, but the young Sarutobi knew it was towards enemy who had it coming, and he was kind towards decent people even foes, such as the Kiri hit team. He had watched the TV that Naruto fought and triumphed over numerous powerful enemies today- the fabled millennium demon Satori, the legendary Iwa Gravemaker, the deadly Undead Uzumakis, the vast Neo-Combine army and the dangerous Sound Berserker Corps. It gave him more hope and cheered aloud when he saw Naruto wielded the legendary Hiraishin.
"Big Brother Naruto is out there fighting that evil Orochimaru. I believe that he will stop the attack and leads Konoha to victory!"
Hanabi nodded. The fate of Konoha now rested on her future brother-in-law- Naruto Namikaze. She prayed that he would lead Konoha to victory.
XXXXXXXXX
10 Minutes Ago, Ancor Vantian Arena
"Damn you, Kyuubi brat!" Orochimaru cursed as he held his Kusanagi sword tightly.
The Neo-Combine Supreme Commander knew well the situation- his ground army was on the verge of breaking, the Sky and the Snow air forces were almost destroyed, and the tide was quickly turning against them. He needed to win the war in order to get the Uchiha and the Uzumaki clans to gain immortally, and he still had one ace in his sleeve- the Yamato Cannon.
"I'll kill you and regain control on the Yamato Cannon to obliterate the Uzumaki Manor and your loved ones!" He gestured to the forces behind him "My troops and I outnumber you three to one, and you know you can't use your jinchuuriki power here!" The sannin deliberately omitted Ukon for another surprise attack on his foe- Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze.
This arena was used for tournament events, just like the destroyed Konoha Chunin Exam Arena. This fighting place, however, was in a flying fortress and destructive ninjutsu were not allowed. The Sky ninjas had installed a jammer technology here against participants' ninjutsu, to prevent serious damages to their flying fortress. Orochimaru decided this was the best place to kill the Kyuubi jinchuuriki where the latter couldn't use his jinchuuriki power and ninjutsu, while the Sound team could with jammer-nullifying devices hidden in their pockets.
"Three to one huh?" The Golden Slayer looked unfazed. Two kunai appeared on his palms that were not seen by the Sound ninjas. "Then it is an even fight." He threw the kunai at the Sound ninjas, before charging at Orochimaru 50 meters away.
The Sound bodyguards' eyes widened at the incoming kunai tagged with Hellfire seals and jumped high to avoid the deadly black flames. This distraction would give the Leaf jonin a nine-second window to attack their leader.
The Snake Sannin jumped to avoid the Hellfire attack while in thought. 'This is his Distract, Divide and Conquer tactic.' Kumo had provided him all intelligence about "their" rogue jinchuuriki. Naruto's now attack tactic and pattern matched one.
The Leaf ninja charged like a lightning towards Orochimaru and stabbed the wall. He instantly looked up and saw his target up in the air, and immediately bolted towards him.
The sannin saw the blond held his katana next to his right ear horizontally. Based on Naruto's Kumo teacher Dodai, this was his signature one-hit-kill Thunder Strike Stab. It was considered as deadly as the Third Raikage's one-fingered Hell Stab.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!" Several snakes came out of Orochimaru's left sleeve and they helped move their master to a different position in the air. He smiled when the blond ninja hurtled past him, and it was now for his counterattack.
'Shit!' Naruto cursed when he missed his target with his fast deadly attack, this was his second time he missed, the first being the Fourth Raikage two months ago. His eyes widened more when Orochimaru thrusted his sword to his heart.
There was a wet sound as a blade pierced flesh.
"Not bad, boy," the Snake Sannin remarked. "You twisted your body to avoid my attack at your heart, and you have taken only tissue damage on your torso."
"Fuck you!" Naruto raised his right leg to kick Orochimaru, but the latter did the same. Both kicked each other on their legs before landing on the floor.
Naruto raised up and jumped with his katana high above his head. Orochimaru narrowed his slitted eyes. 'He is looking at my eyes this time and is holding his sword with one hand- he is going to perform Diversion tactic. The Sound leader recalled what Dodai said about Naruto's attacks.
'He is too fast- his victims don't have time to react to his Thunder Strike attacks, so far only the Raikage could dodge and survive it, hence he doesn't need to read their eyes and he just focuses on their heads or hearts.'
'This is your diversion,' Orochimaru used his Kusanagi sword to parry the katana axe-attack, pretending taking the bait. Naruto quickly ducked and pulled out an Uzumaki dagger in his left hand before thrusting it to him in a shocking speed. 'This is your real attack!'
Just before Naruto thrusted his dagger to Orochimaru's heart, the latter counterattacked him with a powerful knee-kick in the forehead. The Leaf ninja's forehead protector cracked, and blood oozing out from the wound.
'FUCK!' Naruto thought at the kick that was so hard that knocked his blades loose and even his vision blurred for a few seconds. 'I have to pull back!'
'Got you ha!' Orochimaru smirked. Had he not had this information about Minato's boy from the hidden Cloud village, he could have fallen to this feign trap. Now it's his turn to attack and become victorious, he swiped his sword towards the Namikaze's neck.
CLANG! Naruto blocked the Kusanagi with a kunai which had a Hellfire seal. He then activated the seal forcing Orochimaru to escape the black flames. He jumped backwards to a safe distance, but a thick rope of webbing caught his right arm.
Kidomaru smiled as his Spider Sticking Spit ensnared the fearsome Golden Slayer, this allowed his peer to get close to him to deliver his powerful taijutsu attack.
Sakon appeared in front of Naruto, who pulled his left fist to the Sound ninja's face. A right arm came out of Sound Four West Gate intercepting the punch.
'Finally, you show your true from, you...' Naruto looked unsurprised as another left arm came out of Sakon grabbing his right hand. The Sound ninja dived, and his original two hands were going to attack his abdomen– where his Eight Trigram Seal was. The Namikaze lifted his right leg to block the attack, and his leg guard was shattered by the Sound ninja's punches.
"SHIT!" It wasn't the bruising pain that made Naruto cursed, but the close shave that Orochimaru's goon nearly destroyed his jinchuuriki seal. 'This bastard is as strong as Rock Lee at his Fifth Gate!'
Naruto activated the emergency contraption seals on his armguards and two blades appeared. The left one pierced through Ukon's right hand, while the right one cut his left hand deep in the bones and severed Kidomaru's web.
"AAARRGGHH!" Ukon screamed and let go the blond's hands.
"UKON! You bastar-" Sakon swore at Naruto for hurting his brother, but he was cut short when the Uzumaki seal master grabbed him by the throat violently.
"What the fuck!?" It puzzled the Sound Four West Gate that the Golden Slayer only choked him for a second before he jumped to a safe distance. Something wasn't right. A second later black flames erupted from his neck.
"AAAARRRGGGHHHH!" Sakon and Ukon screamed in agony as they were consumed by a Hellfire fuinjutsu.
XXXXXXXXX
'Two down, two to go,' Naruto started to think his setbacks against Orochimaru as he looked at him and his surviving henchman. The Snake Sannin's smug confident expression pissed him off. It told him if he attacked him again, he would be dead.
'Karin's stab, and these Orochimaru's counterattacks and them knowing my jinchuuriki seal… Only the Konoha and the Kumo leaderships know this top state secret. Now I am certain that Kumo has given this bastard information about me. The element of surprise is gone, and same tricks won't work again. Time to pull out this that Kumo doesn't even know about.'
Naruto took out a scroll and opened it. Much to the Sound ninjas' bewilderment, several swords popped out and landed on the Namikaze's different body parts.
The blond held his right arm backwards, with Arashi katana on his right hand. There was a sword held in his right arm hinge joint, and between his right shoulder blade and neck there was another blade that was pointing backwards. His mouth held the fourth sword, and the fifth one was under his left armpit. His left arm posed like a praying mantis, there was another sword held in his left arm hinge joint, and his left hand held the seventh blade.
Orochimaru and Kidomaru were both astonished that there was a sword between the blond's hip and right raised leg. The ninth and the last sword was held behind Naruto's right knee.
'I intended to use this against B in case I needed to face him during the escape two months ago,' Naruto thought about his Kumo jinchuuriki teacher and brother-figure, from whom he learnt this unique kenjutsu and created his own version with the Uzumaki Devastator Fist. 'Or have a friendly swordman match.'
"What the hell is this sword stance?" Kidomaru asked, even Orochimaru had the same question in his mind.
Without a word, Naruto launched his attack- using his left leg only, he leaped high in the air, rolling towards the Sound leader like an Akimichi Human Bullet Tank. Orochimaru held up his Kusanagi sword.
CLANG! The blade behind Naruto's right knee clashed with Orochimaru's sword. The sannin took a few steps back while the blond flipped backwards to a safe distance and landed to begin his next attack. The Leaf jonin lifted up his right leg and spun 360 degrees, this gave him the inertia to attack the Orochimaru with a powerful force on the sword in his left hand, followed by the sword in his right hand.
The Snake Sannin blocked the powerful attacks but stumbled a step back. He had to duck when Naruto performed a roundhouse kick with a sword attached towards his head. It surprised him that the swords on the boy always stuck to him- never fell off and were like parts of him.
This kenjutsu Naruto learnt from B was of aggressive-dance style; every move is dance-like and is fully utilized. The upper roundhouse kick tilted his body down and he put his hands on the ground to continue his attacks- first he delivered an uppercut-kick, then performed a barrage of kicks with swords in nine directions.
"Hurricane Kick!"
"Damn it!" Orochimaru cursed. "What is this kenjutsu!? It's so unpredictable!" He either blocked or dodged each sword-kick attack. It frustrated him that he couldn't even counterattack.
The Sound leader took another step back to avoid the Leaf jonin's double-swipe attack with both hands. It surprised the sannin that the blond could attack with all his four limbs simultaneously.
Kidomaru, the last remaining Sound Four bodyguard alive, wanted to snipe at Naruto with his Spider War Bow Terrible Split, but his master was in his line of fire. Countless of sparks caused by sword clashes made the vision worse.
Naruto pushed his both hands and jumped to Orochimaru's back. The Snake Sannin turned around and the blond jumped and gave him an Uzumaki Devastator Fist powerful uppercut.
"Flying Dragon Punch!"
The Snake Sannin dodged the attack just in time, but his shirt was torn by the uppercut's force, and something came out.
'The Yamato Cannon controller!' Orochimaru's eyes widened.
Naruto grabbed the device and smiled. 'Got it!'
'Now is the chance!' Kidomaru fired his one-shot-kill arrow at Naruto's back left side- the blond's blind spot.
Just the deadly high velocity projectile was two meters away to hit its target, the Leaf elite jonin turned around and swiped his Arashi katana at it, slicing the arrow into two.
CLANG! Kidomaru's broken arrow pieces dropped to the floor.
'Impossible!' The six-arm three-eye Sound ninja thought, his master had a hard time dodging this attack, let alone intercepting and destroying it. He saw a kunai coming towards him; it had the same tag that released a deadly black flame and killed Jirobo. He jumped high to avoid the same fate and sighed in relief, but he failed to notice that Naruto was next to him. The next second the Sound Four East Gate's head was separated from his body by the Golden Slayer with his katana.
The blond landed and made sure he was at least 100 meters away from Orochimaru before taking out the Yamato Cannon controller. He crushed it with his left hand alone, and casually let the pieces falling to the floor, and gave a smug look at an angry Snake Sannin while flexing his left hand. "The next thing my hand gonna crush are your tiny balls, Orochimaru-chan, hehehe."
"You Kyuubi brat!" The Sound Leader cursed. "You will pay dearly for that fucking smile!" He charged towards the blond ninja.
'Heh, I got him riled up,' Naruto readied his signature Thunder Strike Stab, to cut off the head of the snake literally and figuratively.
Countless of PEW sounds popped from the east door, as a barrage of kunai came there towards Naruto.
'Reinforcements!' The Golden Slayer dodged the kunai. Four shurikens appeared between his left fingers, and he threw them towards the east door in retaliation.
"ARRGHH!" A female screamed in pain.
Naruto heard another feminine voice there with his enhanced hearing. "NOOO! Amaru! Let me heal you!"
A huge dark chakra beam was fired from the west door at a lightning speed, the blond ninja dodged it just in time. 'What is this chakra!? It is as fast as my Full Mach Javelin and the Gravemaker's spear!' He was able to dodge the first round, but not the second round that hit and left many big cracks on his body armour.
'What the hell is this chakra!?'
Orochimaru appeared in front of Naruto, using the distraction to regain the momentum. The sannin performed a diagonal slash from above on the blond, but the latter parried and knocked away the former's prized Kusanagi sword.
'Damn the brat is so strong!' Then Orochimaru's eyes widened as the Golden Slayer counterattacked with his own diagonal slash. The sannin quickly performed a substitution technique with someone in the east door.
Naruto's eyes widened when his target became an orange-haired girl, she looked familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it. It was too late to stop his attack and regretted that the girl was dealt a mortal slash attack, and huge blood gushed out of her body.
"Sasame!" Amaru cried and rushed towards her friend.
There was no time for Naruto to process the situation, because a muscular Shinno appeared next to his left spot, his blind spot. He jumped in instinct and the Sky Marshal followed and delivered his powerful attack to him.
"Super Revival Fist!" Shinno ploughed two darks orbs onto Naruto, completely shattering his body armour. The Leaf jonin coughed blood as he flew backwards. The Sky leader pulled out his tanto from his back and aimed his blade at the blond jinchuuriki's neck. At such severe injured state, Naruto managed to move his neck to avoid decapitation, but his arty was cut and blood gushed out.
'Payback for what you did to me bitch!' Shinno smiled as he finally got his vengeance on what Naruto did to him several years ago when he was a Kumo ninja hunting him. The Sky leader put his palms together for two seconds before had them facing the Leaf ninja.
"Darkness Energy Wave!" A huge dark charka beam was shot towards Naruto who was in the air.
"ARRRGHH!" The blast sent the whiskered blond to the hole where the Karin Rescue Team exfiltrated.
Shinno smiled again that the Kyuubi brat was blasted out of Ancor Vantian. His was bleeding profusely and was falling to his death. 'I am the one who kill the Golden Slayer!'
"Your arrival is impeccable, Shinno," Orochimaru spoke to his second in command. "Now the pesky Kyuubi brat is gone, we can resume our war against Konoha!"
"Indeed," the Sky Marshal answered emotionlessly and walked apathetically past a crying Amaru who was trying to heal a mortally injured Sasame. He followed the supreme commander. "We have two hours left before the Leaf's reinforcements arrive and they are huge. I have my engineers and technicians repairing the Sky ships as fast as they can, in worst case the Gravemaker's jonins will airlift them to fight another day."
"The airlift is unnecessary, let's head back and retake the bridge and use the Yamato Cannon to wipe the Uzumaki Manor off the-"
"There is no need to fire the cannon at the bridge," the Sky Marshal interrupted.
The Snake Sannin turned around and faced the Sky leader. "You mean you hav-"
There was a dark orb on Shinno's each hand, and he slammed them into Orochimaru's chest. "Before destroying the Uzumaki Manor, there is something I need to destroy… namely you."
"ARRGGHHH!" Orochimaru was sent flying until he hit a wall. The wall cracked and debris fell on him.
Shinno walked back to his protégé. "Amaru, controller."
The Sky kunoichi nodded and quickly gave him a Yamato Cannon controller, the same device Orochimaru used, before went back to heal her best friend.
The Sky Marshal smiled at the device he held. "Whoever destroys the Uzumaki Manor and is credited for victory over Konoha will be the absolute supreme commander of the Neo-Combine." He then looked at the downed Sannin with contempt while gritting his teeth.
"Your obsession over the Uchihas nearly costs us this war. This is a winnable war- 60,000 ninjas and samurai-mercenaries and many advantages such as my Sky air superiority and the millennium demon Satori, but now we are losing, all because of you! You didn't send reinforcement to the ground in the first place because you wanted to capture Sasuke Uchiha, and now we are losing grounds, even the left section is at risk as Konoha is counterattacking. We are going to lose in this winnable war!"
"Lord...Orochimaru…" Sasame muttered and worried about her master; she had witnessed what had happened. She was still heavily wounded though.
Amaru shooed the Fuma while tears were falling from her eyes. "Sasame! You don't need to be loyal to this snake bastard anymore! He used you as a human shield against the Golden Slayer. Not to mention he is responsible for our Kimimaro's capture and your brother's dire situation on the ground operation. Once Master Shinno has the supreme commander position, I'll persuade him to let you, Kimimaro, your clan and friends to join Sky Country."
The Sky kunoichi was concerned for her sister-wife to be around Orochimaru. That snake bastard was in a very foul mood that Sasuke Uchiha and Honoka Uzumaki had escaped along with Mikoto Uchiha and Karin Uzumaki. The Sound kunoichi had done everything to help capturing them, but they escaped right under his nose. If Orochimaru wanted to put the blame on her, then he would have to go through her brother Arashi, their fiancé Kimimaro, and herself, who was the protégé of Sky Marshal Shinno. But her dread happened, and it was worse. She wanted to kill that snake bastard, but she could not, and she hoped her master could do a favour for her.
"Konoha will surrender when I destroy the Uzumaki Manor with the Yamato Cannon. I will become the undisputed supreme commander of the Neo-Combine." Shinno was ready to press the Yamato Cannon controller device.
Orochimaru chuckled darkly, surprising Shinno and Amaru that he was alive after that devastating attack.
"I am the absolute supreme commander, and the Uzumaki Manor is mine to destroy." The Snake Sannin said as he slightly motioned his right hand for his Kusanagi sword, that was knocked away by Naruto, and it was behind Shinno. The Sky Marshal charged towards the Sound leader to finish him off, unaware that the Kusanagi sword was coming straight towards his head back.
There was a wet sound as the Kusanagi sword came out between Shinno's eyes from behind. The sword was dipped with anti-jinchuuriki poison, that was extremely potent and virulent. It could paralyse powerful jinchuuriki Naruto, and it could definitely kill normal person.
"Master Shinno NOOOO!" Amaru screamed as she watched helplessly her master dropped to the floor lifeless.
Orochimaru opened his mouth big. It freaked Amaru out that the Snake Sannin regurgitating himself; it was unexplainable, it was like cloning himself, but his injuries and clothes were completely restored.
The Sky kunoichi watched helplessly as the Sound leader casually walked and picked up the Yamato Cannon controller. He pressed the button and was pleased to hear the Ancon Vantian computer's announcement.
"Yamato Cannon counts down to fire in thirty seconds… 29... 28... 27…"
The sannin pressed another button that broadcasted the countdown to Konoha. There were screams and cries below- music to his ears. He turned around to Amaru, the witness to Shinno's murder, with a malicious smile. "Kukuku, what should I do with you?"
Amaru took out a kunai and pointed it to her throat. "I'd rather die rather here now than become your guinea pig for your sick experiment in search for immortality, you damned Angel of Death!" She looked at an unconscious Sasame while tears flowing down her cheeks as she thought about the happy times she spent with Kimimaro and Sasame together. Her dream of having a family with her love and best friend was now gone.
The Ancon Vantian's computer continued its announcement: "12… 11… 10… 9…"
KABOOOOM! Ancon Vantian was quaking violently, even Orochimaru nearly lost his standing.
"Failure: Yamato Cannon offline…" The computer announced. "Technician teams report for repairing."
"What is happening!?" Orochimaru and Amaru wondered.
There was smoke everywhere as orange-red beam was in every direction destroying everything in its path, and there was a silhouette there in the smoke. Nine beams from the silhouette were shot towards the Snake Sannin who dodged them. The silhouette came closer and revealed none other than Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, whose sapphirine eyes were of cold and murderous.
"You are alive!" Orochimaru and Amaru exclaimed.
Sasuke Uchiha had given Naruto all but one of his Bloodbag scrolls, and the blond used two of them to replenish the blood he lost in the fight against Shinno.
The chakra beams disappeared when Naruto re-stepped into the arena, which was set up against him from using ninjutsu and his jinchuuriki ability.
Without a word, the Golden Slayer charged like a lightning, the speed was so fast that he left a trail of broken tiles. He attacked the Snake Sannin in all directions that the latter couldn't predict- head, both arms, both legs, both front and back, and everywhere else. The blond was too fast that the Oto leader could only block and dodge.
'This is his Hornet Nest All-Directional Attack! Most strikes are just distraction as jab-cuts.' Orochimaru thought as he received a cut on his face. 'But only a few are actual…' His instinct told him to step left, and a second later the Uzumaki's Arashi sword came out from the Sound leader's right side- 3 centimeters from his liver.
Orochimaru gritted his teeth at the pain, and swung around his Kusanagi at his attacker, only to see him disappeared.
The Uzumaki appeared in front of the sannin and extended his left arm towards the latter's neck. The elder ninja's eyes widened. 'He intends to tag me with incendiary seal just like what he did to Sakon!' He performed a substitution technique again, and Amaru appeared in front of Naruto.
Both young man's and woman's eyes widened as they met eyes to eyes, and the Leaf shinobi held the Sky kunoichi's neck.
'He is going to kill me…' Amaru's eyes were glassy when Naruto branded a Hellfire seal on her neck. 'What is he doing? He doesn't activate that deadly incendiary seal?' She screamed when Naruto grabbed her and threw them both to the ground to avoid Orochimaru's kunai.
The Sky kunoichi blushed at the awkward position they were in- the Leaf shinobi was on top of her and she saw his handsome face, but she shuddered when she looked at his eyes that grew more murderous and said one word that chilled her to the core.
"OROCHIMARU!"
Her would-be killer instead turned around to the Snake Sannin's direction. It puzzled her more when he left her alone and charged towards the Sound leader.
'The brat's emotion gets the best out of him, and it is his Thunder Strike Stab, good.' Orochimaru smiled as he had his Kusanagi sword aimed at the blond ninja's neck. Speed doesn't always win fights, because it's vulnerable to ambush and surprise. His eyes widened again.
"OH SHIT!" He was surprised that the Golden Slayer's speed became much faster.
VROOM! Orochimaru dodged the attack, but not without injury- there was a huge chuck on his left side missing.
'The brat is faster than he used to be! Faster than his parents and the Raikage! Maybe even faster than Maito Dai at Eighth Gate!'
After striking Orochimaru, Naruto reached a wall, he jumped on it then pushed his legs to project himself towards the sannin at a faster speed for another strike.
"No way I'm dying out here!" The Sound leader performed a substitution technique again; he vanished and Amaru appeared again in Naruto's attack line.
'I am going to die…' Amaru's eyes were full of tears when the Golden Slayer's blade was coming to her head. She's going to die like her master Shinno with a sword in her head.
Naruto moved his Arashi katana tip away from his falsely placed target. The young shinobi and kunoichi crashed and dropped down to the floor together. It happened again that Naruto was on top of Amaru, who blushed and was confused at this situation.
'What doesn't the Golden Slayer kill me?'
"WHAT THE HELL I CAN'T MOVE!?" A familiar sound distracted her ponder, she turned around and saw Orochimaru standing still at her original position. She saw inscriptions on his calves and the floor where she used to stand.
'Finally got you,' Naruto smiled and got up from the awkward position with Amaru. 'You kept using substitution technique and human shield tactic. I thought you would do it again, so I set a trap. Three strikes!' The Leaf ninja set up Glue fuinjutsu while he was on top of the Sky kunoichi as his palms were on the floor. Even Jiraiya couldn't escape the fuinjutsu when he got caught attempting to peek Naruto and Hinata's hot spring activity.
Naruto had saw and heard what happened between Orochimaru, Shinno and Amaru. He walked towards the ensnared Snake Sannin.
"Release me, Kyuubi brat!" Orochimaru demanded, only to get punched hard on his left cheek by the Golden Slayer. Due to the Glue fuinjutsu, there was no nothing the Snake Sannin could do but stood still and received a big bruise.
Naruto choked the Snake Sannin's neck with his right hand. "I had heard the rumours about your inhumane cruel experiments when I was Kumo ANBU- many innocent people died excruciatingly in your experiments, but I did not know the purpose, I always thought they were for Danzo until this Sky kunoichi said they were just for your own search for immortality! Also that Anko Mitarashi's curse seal, 10% survivability, 10 percent only! Ten of thousands of people have died at your hands and you toy people's lives, this Sky kunoichi is right: you are an Angel of Death, and a selfish hypocrite asshole!" He punched him hard again, making the sannin lose two teeth. "You fear death but you sacrificed countless lives. I now think a quick death is not a fitting punishment for your crimes against humanity…"
Orochimaru gurgled and almost couldn't breathe as Naruto held his throat hard. He saw the Kyuubi brat took out a kunai and stabbed it at his sternum. It wasn't fatal but painful and he screamed in pain.
"ARRRRGGGGGH!"
"Fuinjutsu: Doom Eternal." The blond seal master casted a forbidden Uzumaki clan seal technique. Crimson inscriptions spread across Orochimaru's body. "You will be immortal, but at a price- you will live forever in this fuinjutsu and experience disembowelment and dismemberment everyday by your victims, just like what you did to them. You will be fully healed, and you can keep enjoying the next disembowelments and dismemberments."
'This is similar to the Uchiha's Tsukuyomi, but much worse!' The Angel of Death thought in horror. "No! NOOOOOOOOO! Don't Do It! DON'T DO IT!" He kept screaming in agony, and in the 9th second, he vanished, leaving the kunai only to be dropped to the floor.
Naruto picked up the kunai that was glowing red. He examined it before a satisfied smile appeared on his face. He walked to a blasted hole that exposed the Hokage Monument and threw the kunai at the Fifth Hokage bust, particularly the forehead seal. He made a hand sign, and the kunai embedded on the Monument disintegrated before inscriptions appeared on the forehead seal of Tsunade Senju bust.
"No one can ever release you, and you will stay there, watch Konoha grows while endure pains eternally. Long live Orochimaru, your wish comes true."
XXXXXXXXX
"OH NO SASAME DON'T YOU DIE ON ME!" Amaru was doing her best to heal her sister-wife. "Curse Orochimaru! Has he not interrupted my healing, she might survive, now she is dying!" The Sky kunoichi's tears were falling like waterfall. She heard footsteps behind her and froze a bit.
"She is not going to make it?" Naruto asked in a concerned tone.
Amaru shook her head and sobbed. The man next to her was responsible for mortally wound Sasame Fuma, but she blamed the Snake Sannin who used her best friend as a human shield to take the Golden Slayer's attack. The Leaf ninja was their enemy, but strangely she didn't feel threatened. He could kill her anytime, even without that seal on her neck, but he didn't, and it puzzled her greatly.
Naruto took out a white scroll with a red-cross symbol, and rolled it out flat.
"Hey!" Amaru shouted as she watched Naruto held Sasame up. "Stop it! You will definitely kill her!"
The Konoha shinobi made no response and gently put the mortally wounded Fuma kunoichi on the flat white scroll, then she disappeared. Amaru was horrified.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" The Sky kunoichi stood up and screamed. The blond Uzumaki shot her a cold glare that silenced her.
"This is a Medivac fuinjutsu scroll. It will put your friend Sasame in statis, and I will persuade Lady Tsunade- the world best medic to treat her. This is the only way to save her."
Amaru was in tears of relief. "Why? We are enemies. Why are you doing this to us?"
Naruto closed his eyes in deep thought. 'Your orange-haired friend reminds me of someone I couldn't save…'
XXXXXXXXX
Six Months Ago (Two Months prior Kurama told Naruto the truth about his parents' deaths)
"I'm home!" Naruto entered his house after completing a Kumo ANBU mission and a secret meeting with Honoka and Tayuya. "Hinata?"
It surprised him that the Hyuuga didn't come to greet him. Asuka Terumi and Sayuri sometimes would come greet him (Kurotsuchi never bothered). Hinata always, and she usually arrived at the door entry when he removed his ninja sandals.
'Is she training the Uzumaki clan Devastator Fist?' The blond pondered as he walked the hallway to his room, then he heard someone crying. It was a familiar sound. It was Hinata's.
Naruto rushed towards Hinata's room and found her on her knees crying. Asuka and Sayuri were comforting the Hyuuga.
"What happened?" The Namikaze asked furiously. 'Did that hospital thing happen again- someone sexually harassed Hinata? I am going to cut off his balls!'
Kurotsuchi approached Naruto with a sad face, she usually looked proud and tough. "An hour ago, we received news that Hinata's best friend Riko died after giving birth to a child…"
The blond's eyes widened and felt his knees weakened. "This is the ninth times Hinata lost her friend! And Riko is her best friend!" He knew all Hinata's friends, especially this Riko whom Hinata grew up with in the Slave and Breeding Program Facility. Riko was orange-haired and had a pair of brown eyes, and she had a kind heart that supported Hinata to endure the sex slave training in the facility. The girl was taken by a Golden Horn Force member to breed strong next generation ninjas.
Hinata's tears were falling like waterfall, another friend died. Someone hugged her from behind without a word, and she immediately recognized the person through smell, skin touch and his arms that wrapped around her chest. It was the person who grew up with her in her first three years and saved her from the Slave and Breeding Program Facility- Naruto Namikaze.
The Hyuuga became very afraid too, she knew that she and Naruto would also have to make babies for the damned hidden Cloud village. 'Will I suffer the same fate?'
As if Naruto had read her mind, he said "Everything will be okay, because I decide to execute our escape earlier. We will leave here in 4 months- on the Kumo Foundation Day, and we will take those in the facility with us."
The blond looked at the shocked girls. "We go back to our villages and bring our armies to the Kumo's gates and save those enslaved."
XXXXXXXXX
Present Day
The critically wounded Sound kunoichi looked similar to Riko. It was Riko's death that prompted Naruto to accelerate his escape plan despite the risks. It was a miracle that his group pulled it off, and only the Kumo R&D Center objective failed. Everyone in Konoha praised him for his executed plan, except Danzo Shimura who was critical of it because he refused to kill his Kumo jinchuuriki teachers whom he looked up to as elder brother and sister.
"Why? We are enemies. Why are you doing this to us?" Amaru asked Naruto the reason for putting her best friend in a Medivac scroll, hence saving her life.
Naruto looked at her in the eyes. "We are enemies, yes, but even enemies can show respect. Your leaders made us enemies, but they are all gone now, and I have had enough killing today." He closed his eyes again and sighed.
Amaru dropped to her knees, with tears. There were so many deaths, destructions, horrors, tragedies, and pains. The killing must stop now. "I… I surrender."
The Sky kunoichi showed Naruto a device. "This allows you to broadcast your messages through the Ancor Vantian's PA system. The war must end now. Please let me speak first."
Amaru gathered up all her courage before she spoke. "This is the Sky Marshal Shinno's right hand woman Special Jonin Amaru to all Neo-Combine personnel. Supreme Commander Orochimaru and Sky Marshal Shinno are both slain, and with the deaths of the Raikage and the Gravemaker, and the loss of many lives we can no longer fight… I urge you to surrender now…"
The Sky kunoichi passed the Golden Slayer the communicator, and the latter began his address. "This is Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, Leaf Elite Jonin and the future daimyo of Neo-Whirlpool Country. As Sky Special Jonin Amaru has said- I've taken out the Neo-Combine Supreme Commander Orochimaru and Sky Marshal Shinno- the last Neo-Combine leadership is gone, so it's pointless for you to continue fighting. To those of you who have committed war crimes- rape, looting, murder and burning… I suggest you surrender now, because I will hunt you down if you escape, and I will mail the Hokages your head along with your cock in your mouth!" Then he unleashed a powerful killing-intent across the village above on Ancor Vantian.
Many male ninjas were terrified upon hearing the Golden Slayer's declaration. Even those who didn't commit war crimes and the Leaf ninjas, instinctively put their hands above their crotches.
XXXXXXXXX
1700, The Uzumaki Manor
"HE DID IT! THE KID DID IT!" The Fifth Hokage cried aloud joyously. "Naruto Namikaze has defeated Orochimaru!"
"YEAH!" Everyone cheered aloud- many held their hands or weapons high. "ALRIGHT!"
Others dropped to their knees and clapped their hands, tears streaming down their faces as they thanked Kami their prayers were answered. "Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU!"
"Fu, get your shadow swarms to stop attacking Ancon Vantian!" Hinata Hyuuga told the Nanabi jinchuuriki. Naruto was still in the Sky flying fortress, and it's pointless to destroy it.
"Sure!"
The Byakugan Princess looked at the Neo-Combine flying fortress and thought about her love with smile and pride. 'Well done, Naruto. We did it… we finally defeat the storm…'
She smiled when she turned around and saw her older cousin was having a make-out with Tayuya in a corner. The Battalion A commander was doing the same with her XO.
"Lady Hokage!" ANBU Cat reported. "We keep receiving reports that Neo-Combine soldiers surrendering to our units, thousands of them! So does the entire Sound force in Zone 4!"
'We win, and my clan is safe. Thank you, Naruto.' Sasuke Uchiha looked at Sakura Haruno and smiled. "Commander Naruto's infamous brutality carries weight- it persuades the enemy to surrender."
"Yeah," the pinkette smiled back albeit a sad one, thinking about her deceased aunt who was executed and paraded in a gruesome way, but the ex-councillor committed an unforgiveable treason. "Particularly the war criminals, they would rather face the Hokages' justice than the commander's."
"WE WIN FINALLY!" Some ninjas began to celebrate. "The Golden Slayer led us to victory!"
"NO, NOT YET!" The Fifth Hokage interrupted with authority in her tone. "There are over 40,000 surviving Neo-Combines ninjas and samurais- some may not surrender and will fight to the death, so stay frosty! Kill those who refuse to surrender!"
"Hai!" Everyone acknowledged their Hokage's order.
"We will setup a POW camp outside the village wall. I want the prisoners of war treated well. No maltreatment even for war criminals, or you will have an interesting time explaining your war crime to me and Naruto!"
"Hai!" The Konoha ninjas acknowledged this order too, and they knew well both the Slug Sannin's and the Golden Slayer's wraths.
The Hyuuga heiress heard Honoka sobbing in another corner. 'She is grieving for Aoba.' Tayuya noticed it too, and stopped making out with Neji. Takuma Hyuuga was doing his best to comfort her loss. Hinata and Tayuya began to walk over to Honoka to help her too.
'We win the war to survive the annihilation, but at a terrible cost. There are lots of wounds, both physical and psychological, that will never be fully healed. There is a long road to go…'
XXXXXXXXX
Somewhere Outside Konoha
A kindness can buy you a lifetime loyalty. It was well demonstrated by Sound ninja Gozu who protected his leader Guren with his life. The Crystal Mistress earned his loyalty by giving him a jar of water when he was dying of thirst.
Now he was carrying his severely injured and unconscious team leader Guren far away from the warzone, the war was now lost. Team Guren was wiped out to two people- him and the leader, while others- Kigiri, Kiho, Nurari and Rinji were all butchered.
90 minutes ago, at the Hokage Tower, Team Guren faced an onslaught by the Golden Slayer's shadow clones. When Guren used her crystal release jutsus, those kage bunshins became frenzy for unknown reason and focused on her.
Although the Crystal Mistress was a very strong kunoichi, the angry shadow legions overwhelmed her, and attacked her relentlessly. A shadow clone struck her face with Wind Claws, leaving scars on her beautiful face and blind her left eye, before others came for her life. It was thanks to Gozu who came to her rescue.
'Lady Guren must have done something beef with the Golden Slayer. This ain't good, she definitely can't win against him…'
Retreat was the best option. Gozu cared little about his teammates, the war, even Orochimaru; he cared only for Guren's welfare.
The Golden Slayer's words should be taken seriously, the Sound ninja had no doubt he would be after his mistress. He's heading to Rice Country, the first Sound base, to retrieve Yukimaru whom his mistress deeply cared about. He would also take enough cash from the base for them to lay low for a long, long time.
XXXXXXXXX
ROOT Headquarters, Zone Three
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?" Darui, Karai and Nigai all yelled in bewilderment. The seals on Danzo Shimura's scroll formed a creeping black twister-like shadow that absorbed everything in front of him. It is like a black hole in space a science fiction movie they watched. Any weapons and ninjutsu thrown at this shadow-twister were useless. To the jonins' horror, scores of Kumo ninjas were pulled into it while screaming in terror.
The shadow-twister grew bigger and hundreds of Kumo ninjas were pulled into it every second.
"NOOOOO! EVERYONE RETREAT!" Darui ordered, but it was futile- the escape routes were crammed, and the shadow-twister grew extremely fast. There was no way for all the 3,000 Cloud ninjas in the ROOT bunker to escape. The growing shadow-twister reached the ceilings, and it absorbed the ceilings and the earth and the concrete above.
"It will reach our people above!" Darui turned on his radio, not knowing all electricals here were disabled by Kurama's Chaos fuinjutsu. "EVERYONE LEAV-"
The three Kumo jonins were absorbed by the rapidly growing shadow-twister, followed by other fellow Cloud ninjas. Nine seconds later, the entire 8,000 strong Kumo army inside and above the ROOT HQ were sucked into the shadow-twister.
The twister returned to Danzo's scroll, and inscriptions appeared on it. The Leaf elder picked up the scroll and sighed in both relief and frustration.
An hour ago, Danzo and his allies were preparing to take over the Konoha command, only to be interrupted by a huge Kumo forces that wanted blood for their slain Raikage. The Leaf elder's small army, that included the Fire Royal Guards, was overwhelmed and he had to use his last resort- the Eight Symbol Devourer Sealing, a powerful fuinjutsu created by Kushina Uzumaki. This Devourer only attacked the front, unlike the Reverse Four Symbol Sealing on his body that could cover all directions. But the Devourer fuinjutsu wasn't a dead man switch. The ROOT leader acquired it along with the Hiraishin jutsu when Hizashi Hyuuga raided the Fourth Hokage's estate and stole the couple's secrets.
'This seal can be only used once and I had this one only, but we are running out of time.' Danzo thought about his usage on his precious Devourer fuinjutsu. 'But I will get him to create more of this army-destroyer fuinjutsu for me. He is Kushina's son after all. The boy will do my biddings.' Especially if he managed to get his hands on the Hyuuga girl.
He looked at the Devourer scroll, some of his agents including Tanuki Shigaraiki were also sealed in it, hence he couldn't destroy the seal to destroy the Kumo army. Tanuki was one of his best and most loyal agents and oversaw an important Gozu Tenno project.
Sunlight shone on the ROOT leader and his exposed ROOT headquarters, as the entire earth and concrete covering the bunker were sealed by the Devourer fuinjutsu. He was briefly worried that Tsunade, Hiruzen and others would search this place, but he casted this concern away, because he had the Fire Crown Prince on his side, and they could not touch him.
The Fire Crown Prince Masashi Madako, with the death of his father the Fire Daimyo, would be set to be the next Fire Country ruler. The elder looked at the prince, who was still shellshocked by the battle and soiled his pants. The heir apparent grew up spoiled and entitled, and it made him easy to control in the political world.
Manipulating him had been childsplay. With a few sweet words about a grandeur vision to transform Fire Country to Fire Empire and becoming an emperor, the crown prince was ecstatic with the prospect of having a harem. He promised to make Danzo the next Hokage, his Master of War and a blank cheque for conquests to create the empire.
The key to making the empire a reality was Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, who was the Kyuubi jinchuuriki and a very powerful ninja who wielded Hiraishin and deadly fuinjutsu. He could reach Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha's legendary level. To control him was through his lover- Hinata Hyuuga. There was a way to control the Hyuuga princess- the Caged Bird Seal.
The Shimura then looked at Hideo Hyuuga, the High Hyuuga Elder who also survived the battle along with the other two elders. He needed Hideo to seal Hinata in order to control Naruto. His loyalty had been bought- leadership of both the Hyuuga and the Uzumaki clans, control over the village's police force, and the Land of Whirlpool.
However, because of the elder's eldest son and many other Traditionalists were killed in the Kumo's onslaught, the Hyuuga was supposed to be disheartened by the loss of his son, but the ROOT leader knew that he wasn't. 'Hideo is the type of person who would sell his family for the right price for his own personal interests. He might console himself that their deaths are for the good of the clan. I need to keep an eye out for him if he makes more demands.'
"What is this fuinjutsu!?" Hideo Hyuuga asked. "It's so powerful!"
Danzo nodded in agreement. 'They saw my Devourer fuinjutsu, fortunately I have a Yamanaka here. I'll get Fuu to perform a memory wipe on them later, even these Hyuugas. The Devourer fuinjutsu is mine and mine alone.'
He checked his force strength- roughly 750 ninjas and samurais remained alive- his 500 agents and 250 Fire Royal Guards. It was less than half the original strength, but it sufficed as long as he had the prince on his side. Many Fire Ministers perished as well; their positions would be filled by weak politicians, handpicked by the ROOT leader. Obedience was the only requirement to be his politicians and he had plenty of dirt on the crooked and incompetent politicians, who would obey him. The elder could control them from the shadows and the new Fire Court would adhere to his policies.
"Lord Danzo! You must listen to this!" A ROOT agent brought a radio and turned it aloud.
"…As Sky Special Jonin Amaru has said- I've taken out the Neo-Combine supreme commander Orochimaru and Sky Marshal Shinno…"
"The Kyuubi brat killed the Snake Sannin!" Hideo Hyuuga exclaimed in disbelief before his expression turned to anger. "And future daimyo of Neo-Whirlpool Country!? How dare he claims independence of Whirlpool!?" The Land of Whirlpool should belong to the Hyuuga clan, which would be ruled by him.
Naruto's and Amaru's statements were repeatedly broadcasted to persuade the Combine soldiers to surrender, so they turned off the radio when they had heard enough.
The Leaf Elder didn't believe it either. He closed his both eyes for three seconds and couldn't sense Orochimaru anymore. "It is true that Orochimaru is gone; the boy took out the Snake Sannin, unbelievable…" He then looked at everyone. "Time is now of the essence, we must go the Uzumaki Manor to seize command from the Senju Princess, NOW!"
The war was practically over, but the returning Kakashi's and Asuma's battle groups were still on the way along with the helps from the other villages. The help was so huge- Suna, Kiri, Iwa, Taki, Nadeshiko, etc.
Danzo Shimura could see these would form an alliance that was even larger than the Neo-Combine. And adding the Combine-remnants to the rank, this army would be enormous. Whoever controls this alliance controls the world, and it was highly likely that Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze would command it.
The ROOT leader could see this alliance could unite the villages and countries under one banner. He was determined to take this from Tsunade and Naruto to achieve his world peace.
"Hai!" All ROOT ninjas acknowledged their master's order.
"Wait a minute!" Fire Crown Prince Masashi Madako interrupted. "Let me change my outfit first, I can't go to Uzumaki Manor in this state, Hinata Hyuuga is there! She will laugh at me when she sees me in this!" The prince said as he gestured to his ruined attire. He needed to show up in something worthy of the future ruler of all encompassing Fire Empire, but people here knew he was implying at his pissed and soiled pants.
"Your Grace… We need to move NOW." Danzo said in a dangerous tone while holding his cane trembling-violently. He pointed his cane to a fallen ninja of his. "You can take his outfit if you feel the need to, then we must go to the Uzumaki Manor." The elder's patience was running dangerously thin, wasting one minute was extremely pushing.
The prince shook his head. "No way I will wear a grunt's let alone a dead one's! I need to dress in a manner befitting an emperor, not some lowly peasant. I want Hinata Hyuuga can see me gloriously triumph over the Neo-Combine and fall in love with me! My spare silk robes must be somewhere in the rubble here. Danzo! I want your ninjas to find them!"
The Konoha's Darkness appeared in front of the Fire Crown Prince, who was shocked and received a slap on the face. It was the last straw that broke the camel's back- Danzo's patience. The slap was so strong that the prince fell on the floor.
Everyone even the stoic Hyuuga elders (except ROOT agents) gasped at the scene.
"You slapped me!?" The next Fire Daimyo touched his bruised face in disbelief. "I am the daimyo, the future emperor… I AM YOUR LEADER DANZO! YOU SLAPPED YOUR RULER! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU!"
"Any man must say 'I am the leader' is no true leader," Danzo grabbed the prince up with his left hand before slapping him again. "And a true ruler acts immediately and without hesitation during a critical situation."
Hideo Hyuuga stepped in. "Lord Danzo, you should apolo-" only to be stopped by the Konoha's Darkness' hard stare. The Leaf elder knew the Hyuuga would exploit the situation, but he would deal with him later.
The Leaf elder looked at his stunned allies with his fist raised. "You all know the situation now is extremely critical. The sixty-thousand strong Neo-Combine is surrendering and we need to seize the command from Tsunade NOW, so we can start to create an empire with the tailed beasts- the Kyuubi, the Nanabi and the Ichibi! We need to seize Ancor Vantian and the Sky's technology as well! But now this spoiled prince charming is ruining this once in a lifetime opportunity for petty reason! Everyone mov-"
Several large shadows casted on the group, they raised their heads and saw a small squadron of nine Sky Dragons flew over them in three-by-three delta formation. People's eyes widened when the carryalls unloaded Iwa Mayhem bombs on them.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The Sky Dragons flew back and carpet-bombed again the exposed underground ROOT headquarters. At the same time Kurama activated Uzumaki explosive Havoc and mine Lotus seals on the floor. The explosions killed many people and caused the ROOT underground HQ floor collapsed, creating a big sinkhole. Many people fell into the abyss, even some ROOT ninjas screamed as they fell to their deaths.
"Kurama, we are going to crash and blow up these aerial vehicles." Shadow clone Green told the tailed beast. Naruto's Green Legion hijacked the Sky carryalls for the Karin Rescue Mission, and now they were used to destroy the threat to Konoha within.
"Everyone is either dead or dying, even the Hyuuga elders too, but you amaze me that you always manage to survive, Danzo Shimura." Kurama observed the situation.
Said person was alive, but him was severely wounded and bloodied- his right arm with Sharingan was severed and the bandages that covered his face fell off, it made the fox's eyes widened.
"MANGEKYO SHARINGAN!? HOW THE HELL DID HE ACQUIRE IT?" The Kyuubi no Kitsune roared in fury. He used Black to charge towards the Konoha's Darkness with Wind Claws activated. The fox agreed with the elder that you act immediately in critical situation, and he was going to terminate the ROOT leader immediately even exposing himself.
The floor where Black was on collapsed too, and the shadow clone fell into the abyss.
"SHHIIIIITT!" Kurama cursed but fortunately Black threw a tri-pronged kunai into the air and the fox notified someone to come finish the job. He and Black would finish off any survivor in the abyss.
XXXXXXXXX
A minute later, Naruto Namikaze appeared next to the Hiraishin kunai in the destroyed ROOT HQ. He had donned another body armour, and had his katana drawn and was on high alert. He looked very murderous.
Shadow clone Black dispersed after eliminating all the survivors in the abyss, including Hideo Hyuuga. The kage bunshin's memory returned to the creator. The blond's rage spiked when he processed Black's memory and now knew what Danzo Shimura and the Fire Crown Prince had been planning along with the Hyuuga Traditionalists and the Fire Court.
Most important of all was that the Leaf elder had a Mangekyo Sharingan, and the Namikaze had to be very careful. He quickly scanned the environment and saw the elder severely wounded sitting in a corner.
"Thunder Strike Decapitation!" The blond launched his lightning-speed one-hit-kill on the Konoha's Darkness before the latter could use his Mangekyo Sharingan on him. There was blood on his Arashi sword. A second later the ROOT leader's head slid away from his shoulders, rolled to the floor.
POOF! The head became someone's that the blond didn't recognize. 'A body-double!'
A pair of hands emerged from Naruto's ground and grabbed his legs. The blond felt his legs numb. "Binding seals… No, they are Self-Cursing Seals!" He stabbed his Arashi blade to the ground and blood pumped out.
Two badly wounded ROOT agents appeared on the jinchuuriki's each side and grabbed his arms. Naruto turned on his Wind Armour Duel Mode, and its razor-sharp defense shredded the enemies' hands and faces, instantly killing them. To ROOT ninjas, missions were more important than their own lives, and these two had accomplished their final mission for their master.
Danzo Shimura appeared right in front of the blond with the same Wind Armour that nullified the latter's defense. He held the young ninja's neck with his left hand and pulled his face closer to his while his Mangekyo Sharingan was spinning. 'You are mine!'
The Konoha's Darkness thought his golden opportunity was lost along with his army and allies in the explosions, until that Hiraishin kunai landed in his headquarters. He knew exactly who would come, and he hastily had his few able-bodied agents to prepare for his arrival. If he could gain control on the boy with Shisui Uchiha's eye now and here, he could still wrestle the command from Tsunade and Hiruzen with his Kyuubi jinchuuriki even without the crown prince.
"Finally, you are mine!" Danzo smiled, as he cast his Mangekyo Sharingan genjutsu on his most prized Kyuubi jinchuuriki. He was puzzled however, that there was no genjutsu reaction from the boy's eyes. Suddenly the elder dropped to his knees breathing heavily as his heart felt severely weakened and pained, followed by his entire body. He saw inscriptions on his left hand, he traced them back to his left chest.
"Danzo Shimura, you are already dead," Naruto said coldly. The Uzumaki seal master had quietly placed a fuinjutsu on the ROOT leader's chest, sealing both his blood and chakra flows, while he was busy trying to cast a genjutsu on him. "You instigated this war, so you can become a Hokage and then start even more conflicts and bloodsheds in order to create an empire. Fuck this empire!"
In the next second, the Konoha's Darkness' critical organs ceased to function, including his heart. He clenched his left chest and fell.
"Fuck Danzo the Hokage," Naruto said coldly as he beheaded the Konoha's Darkness with the Arashi before he hit the floor.
"For the good of the village." He said to the elder's head sarcastically before picking it up and putting it into a storage scroll. Then he searched the ROOT leader's body and picked up the Devourer scroll, that sealed the Kumo army. Darui and many Kumo ninjas were his friends, and there was no reason to fight them anymore.
'I will get you guys out, but I have to use you as a bargaining chip to make peace with the hidden Cloud village.'
"Help… Help… Help me… I don't want to die…" A voice attracted the blond's attention. He turned to the source, and found out it belonged to Fire Crown Prince Masashi Madako, who was trapped in rubbles. His situation was grim; the floor under him was going to collapse soon and he would fall into the abyss and perish.
There were moans in the area; there were still some other survivors here. The Golden Slayer flicked his fingers and Grey Legion that retreated from the Devourer returned with Kumo weapons.
"Leave him to me," Naruto told his shadow clones, who passed him and went to finish off all the survivors in the bunker without mercy. Crimson, Red and Scarlet Legions had also arrived and secured the perimeter as lookouts.
The prince was sobbing. "I don't want to die… I don't want to die... I have lots of things to do- Fire Empire, Hinata Hyuu-" He heard footsteps and saw the Heir of Whirlpool approaching. "You! Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze I command you to pull me out of these rubbles!" He said in his usual regal and authoritative tone.
The Uzumaki's expression became more darkened. 'What this useless lecherous piece of shit prince wants to do to my fiancée Hinata… I really want to chop his dick off.'
"You should be more polite and say 'please,'" Naruto squatted down and looked at Masashi eyes to eyes coldly. "I think gravity can teach you some respect and humbleness and that everyone is equal, especially in gravity."
"This is the royal order! I will die if you don't rescue me!" The Fire Crown Prince ordered the Heir of Whirlpool and reached out his right hand. "You will commit regicide and high treason!"
"Treason? How about you? You knew about the impending attack and you let your father the Fire Daimyo die in the Arena. Then you didn't order Danzo to help the village." Naruto countered as his eyes narrowed at the snivelling royal. "You two were obviously plotting something, like usurping the Fire Throne for yourself."
The floor under the prince started to crack further, any moment the floor could collapse. "GET ME OUT OF HERE NOW!" He shouted desperately and extended his right hand further to Naruto. "THIS IS YOUR FIRE EMPEROR'S ORDER!"
Naruto sighed and moved his right hand to the entrapped Masashi's hand, who let out a big smile. Just one centimeter before reaching the prince's fat hand, the blond quickly withdrew his hand, much to the crown prince's shock.
"Oops, I just remember that you didn't want to shake my hand this morning because you said I have incredibly sharp fingernails, you don't want me to tear off your delicate hand with my claws!" Naruto excused with the trademarked smile of Kakashi Hatake and Mei Terumi.
Masashi's expression turned to one of horror. Naruto's smiling eyes then turned to a death stare, that sent shudders to the self-proclaimed emperor. "Fuck the Fire Emperor!"
Before the Fire Prince had a chance to say another word though, the floor finally gave way, and he fell into the abyss. "WAAARRRGGHHHHHHH!"
The Golden Slayer touched the floor. "He's dead, good riddance. I gotta remember to thank Kurama for getting rid of these assholes once and for all." He opened a storage scroll and started to do the clean-up work- first Danzo's corpse, the young ninja unceremoniously tossed the elder's body and severed right arm into it.
"Fuck Danzo the Hokage. Fuck Fire Empire. Fuck the Emperor!"
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Author Notes:
*Beta: Knight-Bishop.
*Proofread and consultation: Ookami88.
Thank you for your patience. I'd found a new job in August 2021, and also started a night class to enhance my skillset between September 2021 and February 2022. It's been a very busy period. I am still busy, and will be busier in the future, I will finish The Maelstrom Saga nevertheless, because I like to finish what I start.
Reviews please!