Tale of the Setting Sun

Chapter 38: "The Burning Leaf"

Panting, a woman with long blond hair raced through the dark tunnels below the Hidden Cloud Village. The water running through the tunnels was murky and stank of sewage; it was not a place she would have liked to venture into, but her current circumstances had given her little choice in the matter.

Her name was Nii Yugito, and she was one of the Hidden Cloud's two jinchūriki.

Aboveground, an explosion rocked the surface. Her face paling, Yugito nevertheless pressed onwards, eyes strained for the slightest movement in the dim light.

And there—ever so slightly, something had just moved. Steeling herself, she dropped to all fours.

"Show yourself!"

Plip.

A droplet of water dripped from the ceiling to the wet floors. A grey-skinned man wielding a bandaged sword revealed himself, stepping out from the shadows.

"I must say, you are quite the slippery one, Two-tails. I was just about to flood the entirety of your village to find you."

Eyes narrowing, Yugito took in his appearance. His face alone was distinctive, with markings like a shark, but the cloak was an immediate giveaway as to his identity. The Raikage had warned her that they would be coming for her eventually. She knew he was not an opponent to take lightly.

"You cannot defeat me!" Her voice ended in a roar, bright blue flames erupting along Yugito's form in the shape of a feline beast.

While it was a sight that would have shaken the heart of any ordinary man, he was anything but. Reaching up to grip the hilt of his sword, the man grinned, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth.

"You aren't the first to tell me that. Nor, I suspect, will you be the last."

Another distant explosion sounded. Dust fell from the ceiling. The man's sword began to quiver in excitement, and he gave it a quizzical look.

Footsteps sounded in the dark, and a dark-skinned man wearing sunglasses emerged.

"You say some arrogant things, shark-face; but I'll soon be putting you in your place."

The man frowned. "You must be the Eight-tails… I had hoped you would be kept busy while I took care of this matter."

The yellow pupils of Yugito's beast form veered in alarm towards the newcomer. "Killer B, what about the village and Raikage-sama?"

"Brother's got it covered and told me to find you; we'll take this one down together, and get the other one too, yeah."

After a moment's hesitation, Yugito smiled jaggedly. "If we both survive this, I'll have to treat you to dinner."

One moment, Naruto was in the forest surrounding the village; the next, he was beyond its walls, racing between familiar rooftops.

The battle that his clone had witnessed in the stadium had spilled out, extending towards the civilian sectors of the village. Bodies, both local and foreign, were scattered out on the streets, engaged in ongoing skirmishes. To them, it must have been a battle to the death.

To Naruto, however, the entire world was moving in slow motion.

While he must have used his lightning chakra to speed up his nervous system countless times, this time, something was different. Whereas Naruto had always focused his chakra inside his own body, the immense amount of chakra he'd just processed had spilled out of its container, surging into his surroundings. Now, it was as though the world had become an extension of himself: He could sense every single body within his visible perimeter, and track every slightest movement. It was not unlike what he experienced in his imperfect sage mode, but instead of sensing natural energy, he was sensing the electrical impulses in every living thing.

A giant sand-colored beast rose out from the stadium: the One-tail. Naruto knew its jinchūriki, Gaara, had to be somewhere inside it, allowing the beast to run berserk. However, that was something he would have to deal with later.

Though only a few seconds had passed since Naruto's clone had dispersed, anything could have happened.

Kakashi-sensei.

Ever since Naruto had graduated from the Academy and joined his team, the jōnin had been his teacher and ally. Naruto's kenjutsu, his lightning chakra—they were both things that Kakashi had taught him. Despite all this, or perhaps because of it, it seemed that somewhere along the way, he had come to think of Kakashi as someone who would always be around to eat ramen with him. Now, it was painfully apparent that that wasn't the case.

Naruto had traveled the world in search of answers, and come out of it empty-handed. But maybe, he thought, he'd been overthinking the whole thing.

Maybe, it was something much simpler.

Dark blood poured out of a hole in Kakashi's face. The jōnin's face twisted in agony and he staggered once, twice—before dropping to the ground.

"Kakashi-sensei!" cried Sakura, leaping forward.

Frozen, Sasuke's eyes fixed on the spot where the masked ninja had been standing. All he could think about was how he hadn't been able to follow his movements at all. All of his training until now—what had been the point? He was as helpless as he had been on that night.

"So it was a clone, as I suspected," said the masked man's amused voice. "Well, no matter… he'll be here soon enough."

From beside Sasuke, Menma brought his hands together. "Ninpo: Shinranshin no jutsu (Mind Destruction Technique)!"

To Sasuke's surprise, the masked man stiffened, and he realized to his astonishment that his teammate's jutsu had worked.

Menma turned to him, his expression irate. "What're you doing, Sasuke? Get him!"

Shit!

Sasuke pushed himself to action, drawing a pair of kunai from his holster and shooting towards the masked ninja.

But it was too late: Menma's face contorted. "I can't… He's - " He broke off as the masked man abruptly moved, freed from the effects of the jutsu.

Without slowing, Sasuke twisted his body to match the masked man's trajectory, and plunged his kunai towards him. They sunk into his chest—and then kept going, as though moving through empty air.

"That won't do…" said the masked man.

A shrill sound rang in the air behind Sasuke. His Sharingan activated, and in the same instant, he ducked just in time to see another kunai slice through the air. Only—it hadn't been meant for him.

Sasuke's gaze veered to his teammate: Menma's eyes were widening, his lips parting. Sasuke opened his mouth to shout, but there was no point. It was too late —

Clang!

A brilliant shade of red flashed; a split instant later, something low crackled. Suddenly, there was someone standing there, his tantō drawn to counter the kunai.

It was Naruto.

His face was blank, as per usual—but Sasuke had never seen Naruto like this before: His form awash in a surge of lightning chakra, his eyes blazed with a foreign emotion, and Sasuke found himself flashing back to their conversation the previous week.

"What you found out there…was it worth it, leaving behind everything?"

"Can you stand up, sensei?" asked Naruto, in a deceivingly calm tone.

"I'm fine…it's just a scratch," Kakashi gritted out, grimacing as Sakura tore off part of her apron skirt and wrapped it around his face.

The masked man drew back his kunai and flipped back, putting distance between himself and Naruto. "It's good of you to join us, Naruto. I've been wanting to meet you for quite a long time." While it was impossible to tell what the masked man was thinking, if Sasuke had to venture a guess, he would have described him as gleeful.

Naruto didn't respond. He disappeared—somehow, he was moving at a speed faster than even his Sharingan could track—and when he reappeared, his tantō pierced the spot the masked man stood. But just like with Sasuke, the blade cut through with zero resistance, as though swinging through empty air.

Was it a genjutsu? No…it wasn't a trick. Naruto's tantō had gone straight through the masked man because the man wasn't there. And yet, at the same time, he was.

For the second time in about as many seconds, Sasuke was reminded of just how little he knew, and something deep in his chest seethed.

"You three help the others stave off the tailed beast," said Naruto, seemingly unfazed. "I'll handle this one."

The situation was grim. A tailed beast was on the loose in the middle of the village, and numerous enemy ninja were engaged in battle with Leaf-nin. But still —

I made it in time.

Naruto's speed had not failed him. Kakashi was still alive, and Team Kakashi remained intact.

Unfortunately, the glow of relief was short-lived, as Naruto took in the sight of the masked ninja in front of him. Though his face was covered by a swirling orange mask, his black and red robes could mean only one thing:

Akatsuki.

The Hokage had been right about their presence. They were the organization that had given them so much trouble in Wave country a few years back. They were the ones who were hunting down jinchūriki, and by extension, Naruto himself, and they had been the ones to kill his teammates.

Now, they had almost killed Kakashi.

The heat in his face dissipating, Naruto drew his tantō from its sheath. It was not out of anger or a desire for vengeance; the chaos of emotions had settled down, the storm subsiding somewhere along the way. The world had ceased to move around Naruto, and he drew his blade because he understood with stark clarity, that if he wanted to save Kakashi—if he, himself, wanted to live—the shinobi before him needed to die.

But…something was strange about the man.

Over the years, Naruto had encountered many powerful shinobi. He had traded blows with other members of the Akatsuki, who were all at minimum S-rank missing-nin. He had studied under Kakashi of the Sharingan, stood in the shadow of the God of Shinobi, and traveled the world with a Sannin, the Toad Sage. Naruto knew how it felt to stand in front of a ninja so overwhelmingly powerful, he could only hope to outrun them.

Naruto felt none of that from the masked man in front of him. In fact, he felt very little, if anything, from him at all. He was a man with a presence so faint, if he hadn't been holding Kakashi's bloody eyeball in one hand, Naruto wouldn't have spared him a second glance.

And yet, Naruto couldn't kill him. His lightning chakra surged through him as he swung his tantō at top speed, but no matter how often his blade appeared to pierce the man, Naruto could sense him constantly disappearing and appearing. While it must have been some type of powerful warping ninjutsu, Naruto had never seen anything like it. And as the masked man continued to evade his blade, Naruto could feel the adrenaline rush starting to wear off. The burn of chakra exhaustion was creeping up on his limbs; time was running out.

"A man of few words, I see," said the masked man, as Naruto's tantō drove straight through his head. "But I only want to talk with you."

"So you got that eye from Kakashi-sensei by talking to him, did you?" Sakura snapped from behind Naruto.

It was curious how the masked man had yet to go on the offensive. Though Naruto's onslaught left little room for a counterattack, given the masked man's flippant tone, he did not seem like someone on the verge of being overpowered. He shouldn't have been able to, but it was starting to seem that if the man so wished, he could turn the tables on Naruto.

And yet…he didn't.

Finally, Naruto lowered his tantō. "What do you want?"

The masked man landed nimbly on his feet. "He speaks! Now, let me ask you — "

His voice cut off as the tailed beast let out a furious roar, stamping its clawed feet and sending tremors through the ground. Shouts rang out, and Naruto could sense multiple bodies diving out of the way.

Kakashi rose to his feet, his face pale from blood loss. "Naruto. I saw Gaara put himself to sleep using ninjutsu right before that tailed beast appeared. We need to stop it before it destroys the rest of the village."

"But why is that any of your concern?" The masked man spread out his arms. "Does the fate of the Hidden Leaf have anything to do with you?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Why wouldn't it have anything to do with me?"

"I know how the villages treat their jinchūriki; at every step of the way, the village has isolated you. Taken advantage of you. In a sense…you're a lot like me."

Another explosion sounded in the distance, this time away from the beast.

"Except you're not a jinchūriki." Naruto would have been able to sense if he was.

Inclining his head, the masked man replied, "You're right, I'm not a jinchūriki. But I do know one thing... That hole inside of you—nothing in this world will ever fill it."

Naruto stopped. His breath slowed, and for an instant, he thought he could see ghostly figures falling from the sky.

"Who are you?"

The masked man looked up at the tailed beast and then back down at Naruto. Something glinted in the mask's lone hole.

"Someone who's going to change this world."

To Tobi, it was almost disconcerting how closely the boy resembled the Fourth Hokage. He had known for years that except for his coloring, which took after his mother, Naruto's father had strongly influenced him. Now that they were finally face to face, however, he could appreciate for himself the Fourth Hokage's last legacy.

Appearance-wise, they could have been doppelgangers; and though Naruto did not appear to have been formally taught fūinjutsu in any appreciable form, he seemed to rely heavily on his speed for his offensive, a tactic that echoed the Fourth Hokage's own battle strategy.

Still…there were notable differences.

The Fourth Hokage had been beloved from his childhood, a rising star by his teenage years, and a hero by the time of his death. In Tobi's own youth, the Fourth had been a walking legend. There had always been a sense of purpose and self-assuredness to his movements, and during his short reign as Hokage, he had been every bit the leader the village had needed.

Naruto, on the other hand, had none of that. He had grown up unloved, with no friends or family to call his allies. Just from a single glance, Tobi could tell: His facial expressions, his stance—everything about Naruto was guarded. It reminded Tobi strongly of his old self, and it told him that all the painstaking steps he had taken until now to ensure Naruto arrived at this point had been worth it.

All of a sudden, something in his periphery hissed. Tobi felt a familiar distorted flickering in his consciousness.

"The attack on the Hidden Cloud has begun," a voice spoke telepathically.

Naruto was still staring at him, the blank expression on his face shifting to one of slight unease. The words Tobi had shared appeared to have struck some sort of chord within him, just as he'd expected.

Unfortunately, though he would have liked to stay longer to talk more and see the invasion to the finish, his abilities were needed elsewhere.

Tobi extended his hand to the boy. "Think about it."

"Think about it."

Holding up a hand in an ironic farewell, the man's body began to gradually disappear, as though wiping himself from existence.

Naruto leaped forward, reaching out for Kakashi's eye—and this time, his fingers brushed against something solid...when the man disappeared. Staring at his empty hand, after a moment, Naruto balled it into a tight fist.

Someone who's going to change this world? What did that mean?

A hand clamped down on his shoulder—Kakashi looked at him, his brow creased.

"Don't let his words distract you, Naruto. Right now, what's important is that we stop Gaara."

After a pause, Naruto nodded.

With Kakashi safe, the reality of the situation developing in the Hidden Leaf was starting to feel more tangible. And when Akatsuki was the group responsible, Naruto couldn't say that it had nothing to do with him—all the more so, with Kakashi asking for his help.

The One-tail let out another deafening roar, drawing Naruto's attention. Though it was too far out of his newfound range to sense, it would be a simple matter to retrieve Gaara...except his chakra exhaustion had finally caught up to him. Even standing up was scraping the bottom of his barrel. His senses were rapidly dulling; the world was starting to move around him, the way it had used to.

But he was not quite out of options yet. The two shadow clones he'd summoned before returning to the village—they'd had all night under the moonlight to meditate. It was time to take advantage.

Drawing back his shadow clone, which sat meditating in a clearing a long distance away, Naruto felt chakra flowing back into his body. At first, it was the chakra he had initially dispensed to create the clone—and then like a dam breaking, he felt natural energy begin to pour into his body. It was pure, unadulterated energy. It did not distinguish between good or evil; it simply rewarded those with the patience to open themselves and accept everything it offered.

The chakra filled him and molded him. Lightning crackled around Naruto before snapping into a low, controlled hum that shrouded him. Naruto felt his senses return, magnified to even greater heights than before. The balance of his own energy and natural energy was nearly perfect. The only thing still in his way was the Nine-tails' interference—but the slight hitch was still enough to throw it out of balance.

Naruto felt the energy start to lap and influence his body. As his hair rapidly grew and his fingers and toes sharpened into claws, a quick sweep of the battlefield told Naruto everything he needed to know:

Gaara was buried in the sandy head of the One-tail.

Jiraiya was fighting a bizarre and monstrous chakra signature that seemed to be operating from inside a puppet.

The Hokage was trapped inside a barrier and engaged in battle with an equally monstrous chakra signature.

Most of the other jōnin were fighting off teams of enemy shinobi.

Sasuke and his teammates were…doing a surprisingly good job at keeping the One-tail occupied while also fending off a squad of Sand shinobi. Kakashi was on his way to join them, but when he was suddenly missing half his depth perception, Naruto doubted the jōnin would be able to do much.

Naruto took a tentative step forward, and then began to move. The world moved in slow motion as he raced past Kakashi, past Sasuke's teammates—running up the walls of the stadium, he leaped onto the One-tail. Its yellow pupils grew bigger as he drew close, and then he was standing right above where he could sense the unconscious Gaara.

Just as the One-tail's pupils began to flicker towards Naruto, he ran wind chakra down his tantō and plunged the blade into its sandy head. It let out a roar that blasted his ears and threatened to blow him off, but ignoring it, he wedged the blade back to reveal a head of red hair.

It was Gaara, slumbering in a ninjutsu-induced sleep, allowing the beast within to wreak havoc.

It would have been simple enough to kill him; Naruto was confident a point-blank Rasengan combined with his speed would do the job. He thought his old self might have gone ahead and done it, heedless of questions, thinking only of what needed to be done.

But now, Naruto found himself hesitating.

Why?

What was different from before, when he'd taken the lives of the Sound-nin with ease?

And then it struck him:

It was because Naruto had seen this scene before.

He had seen it in himself back when he had been reeling from the deaths of his teammates, and given himself over to the Nine-tails. At the time, Kakashi had called out to him and brought him out. Gaara, on the other hand, seemed to have no one to call his name. He was surrounded by enemies.

But why? What circumstances had brought Gaara to this moment? What was the difference between them? Was it just that they had been born in different villages? If Naruto had been born the jinchūriki of the One-tail, would that have been him, buried in the head of a sand monster?

"In a sense…you're a lot like me."

Naruto looked down at the red-haired jinchūriki below him, and wondered if there weren't others like him in the world.

Drawing back his fist, Naruto punched Gaara.

The water around her was endless. Yugito couldn't breathe. Her lungs were on fire; her head felt like it would explode.

The Akatsuki intruder had fused with his sword to form a half-shark monster, and used a technique to trap them underwater. To say the cat-like Two-tails sealed within her was not happy would be an understatement; and while Yugito and the Two-tails didn't get along on the best of days, they had never been as unified in intention as they were at that moment:

We need to get out of here!

As though privy to her thoughts, Killer B, surrounded by a shroud of his tailed beast chakra, swam past her. A short distance away, the monstrous shark-like intruder appeared to be hot on his heels.

'I'll distract him,' signaled Killer B. 'Get out!'

Perhaps thanks to his tailed-beast being half-octopus, Killer B appeared to be handling the lack of oxygen much better than Yugito. But still…to leave would be to abandon Killer B in the fight against the intruder, and that she could not forgive.

Even if her lungs were about to collapse in on itself.

"There is a time and place for upholding one's honor, and now isn't it!" yowled the Two-tails.

Her life was starting to flash before her eyes; though Yugito hated to admit it…the Two-tails was right. She wouldn't be much help to Killer B if she drowned here.

As the intruder chased after Killer B, who swam in the opposite direction, Yugito could see the border of the water draw closer to her. With a last weak kick of her legs, she propelled herself forward and then —

Gasping, she broke out of the water prison. Landing hard on the stone floor, Yugito coughed and took in quick, painful gulps of air. Drained as she was, her water-laden clothes weighed heavily upon her as she pushed herself up, but there was no time to waste: She needed to find reinforcements.

Yugito had lost track of time in the fight against the shark intruder, but surely the Raikage and the Cloud's ANBU would have taken care of the other intruders by now—the ones causing the explosions aboveground. Out of everyone, the Raikage would know what to do. And no matter how powerful the intruder, together with Killer B, the pair would be unstoppable.

Several sections of the sewers had collapsed in on themselves, and it was with great relief that Yugito finally saw light peeking down through the exit path. Pushing herself to the limit, she sped up, bursting into the open.

The sight that awaited her caused her heart to stop.

It was not sunlight, but fire, that lit the path. Flickering flames at her feet led to a blazing inferno sweeping through the Hidden Cloud. The stone structures that had supported their village were now mere chunks of rock, crumbling before her very eyes. The air was thick with smog, and Yugito had to cover her nose and mouth as she made her way to the center of the village.

As she drew closer, she caught sight of a giant white bird-like beast in the air. Each flap of its wings caused a ripple in the fire around it. And then there—she could make it out:

The dark, hulking figure of the Raikage standing on a platform. But he wasn't alone. There were two figures by him, dressed in the Akatsuki cloaks of black and red. And yet... The Raikage wasn't attacking them. Instead, he was standing very still, while the two beside him conversed.

Yugito, who'd been about to jump to the Raikage's side, hesitated.

What was going on? Why wasn't he attacking them?

"Yugito…"

The voice calling her name came from a charred body lying on the ground that she'd assumed to be dead. The body lifted itself up, and Yugito found herself looking into a familiar face with shaggy white hair.

Her stomach plummeted and Yugito dropped to her knees. "Darui!" She reached out for him, but he shook his head.

"Get out of here…"

"What happened to the village? And Raikage-sama?"

"They took us by surprise…and bombed the village…then they got to the Boss…" Darui grimaced. "Sorry… I couldn't protect…" His voice trailed off. His eyes fluttered shut.

Temari wasn't exactly sure what had happened.

She and Baki had been struggling to hold their position against the Leaf shinobi and protect the monster, when something red streaked by. A moment later, the monster let out the most awful, ear-splitting screech she had ever heard in her life.

Then, the ground shook one last time—and the monster imploded. Chunks of matted sand began to fall down from the sky. Abandoning her giant fan, Temari dove out of the way to avoid being buried alive.

When she got back up, there was suddenly a ninja standing in their midst. He was a feral-looking Leaf-nin, and he was carrying Gaara's limp body.

Temari's eyes widened in horror. Was her brother dead?

"Gaara!"

Startled, the Leaf-nin turned to her. In his arms, Gaara's body twitched, as though he'd somehow heard her voice, and Temari felt relief sweep over her.

However, it was quickly replaced with another sense of dread as the Leaf-nin held a kunai up to Gaara's neck.

"Call off your men, or I'll kill him."

Lightning flashed in the dark clouds surrounding the Hidden Cloud, followed moments later by the sound of rumbling thunder. Droplets began to fall down from the sky, before turning into sheets of rain.

The raging fire in the village had just started to dampen when a bedraggled figure emerged from the sewers, dragging a large body behind him. The body carved a trench in the scorched ground behind him, as the man made his way to the center of the village, where three others waited for him.

Kisame, dropping his bloody load, took in the blank face of the hulking enemy figure standing in their midst.

"I see the plan was a success. Given what they say about the Raikage, I must admit I am surprised."

The masked figure turned, and Kisame saw the blood red of the Sharingan gleam at him. The man had called himself Madara when they first met, and while Kisame wasn't sure whether he believed him, he knew that at the very least, his power to subjugate Kage under the control of his Sharingan was real.

"Unfortunately, the genjutsu won't last much longer. He has one of the strongest wills I've ever encountered," said Madara.

"Well he just about had to crack when his entire village was getting blown up, yeah," crowed the man feared as the Hidden Rock's bomber, Deidara. Raising an eyebrow, he then jabbed an accusing finger at the load on the ground. "Is that the jinchūriki? Weren't we supposed to leave them alive?"

"Oh, he is very much alive," Kisame answered. "I simply cut off his legs so he wouldn't be able to get away."

"And what of the Two-tails?" asked Madara.

Kisame didn't mince his words. "I chose to prioritize the Eight-tails' capture, and she escaped during the fight."

"...Very well. Deidara, search for her from the skies."

"To think the day would come when I'd take orders from Tobi…" Deidara sighed.

Lightning flashed. Thunder rumbled.

As the Raikage silently stood guard behind them, a droplet of rain landed on his face, sliding down his cheek.

Many years had passed since Ōnoki had set foot inside the Hidden Leaf's walls, and the first impression he got was that the bastards were doing entirely too well for themselves. The constant stream of visitors in and out of the hidden village—hidden in nothing but name—was indicative of a rapidly growing economy.

It was a far cry from the Hidden Rock, which was a natural stronghold with its mountainous terrain. Under Ōnoki's leadership, the village maintained a strict military-focus; visitors could only enter after rigorous screening, and their entire stay was monitored. The Hidden Leaf, on the other hand, seemed to be allowing in anyone who could rub two ryō together.

It was an utter disgrace, and Ōnoki had expected nothing less from the incumbent Hokage. Now, however, he had reason to suspect that the village was plotting to seize power. It was why Ōnoki had accepted the Leaf's offer to have his genin take part in their exams—so he could investigate for himself.

Over the past few years, various jinchūriki had been quietly disappearing. Ōnoki's intelligence network hadn't been able to pinpoint exactly which, but it was an undeniable truth. As for where the blame lay, call him senile, but Ōnoki was no fool; he knew the mercenary organization called Akatsuki was behind it. As a previous client of the group, however, he had not expected them to lay a hand on his village.

But just recently, the Hidden Rock had lost their five-tails' jinchūriki. Han had been sent on a top-secret mission with two other operatives whose remains were discovered days after they'd been expected to return—a double blow after the departure of the Four-tails' jinchūriki years before.

If Akatsuki was so bold as to lay a hand on a jinchūriki of his village, they must have a mighty ally and contractor. It had to be either the Raikage or the Hokage, and between the two of them, Ōnoki suspected the latter.

However, it seemed that Ōnoki had been wrong.

Great walls of purple fire roared around the distant figures of the Hokage and the Kazekage's impersonator. Shinobi affiliated with Sand, Rain, and Sound were pouring into the village, and skirmishes were breaking out between them and the Leaf-nin.

"Lord Third," said Kitsuchi, his son and right hand man. "Our genin have been safely evacuated."

"It seems our suspicions about the Leaf were misplaced," said Ōnoki gravely, watching a group of Ame-nin overwhelm a young Leaf chūnin.

Kitsuchi nodded. "What shall be our next course of action?"

The Hidden Leaf was on fire. And in a time when their closest allies had all betrayed them, surely, they would appreciate some help.

...But it would not come from the Hidden Rock. It was none of their business, especially when they had never formally established an alliance. Ōnoki's primary concern was to return to his village, and reinforce their defenses.

"This is not our battle. We will be withdrawing!"

"Yes, sir!"

Ōnoki felt the weight of gravity lift from his shoulders, and then he was floating up into the air. As he rose higher and higher, until he was above its walls, the screams of battle grew more and more distant.

A war was brewing. Ōnoki could smell the fumes of death approaching. And unlike the Leaf, the Hidden Rock would be ready.

NEW A/N: So I knew this chapter was gonna be controversial, and this is why writing for the Naruto fandom is so hard. My story explores the canonverse with the crucial difference of Naruto's personality (while ignoring the Kaguya/Six Paths plots). This means all the asspulls, retcons, and plot holes that Kishimoto introduced in canon are somewhat replicated in this fic.

With that said, some explanations in relation to canon are in order:

1) The "super hax Sharingan genjutsu" Obito cast on Yagura and in this chapter, the Raikage, was ONLY possible due to a certain set of circumstances that would usually be very difficult to replicate (thus, why he didn't just cast it on everyone in the story).
2) Before anyone furiously says lightning disables Deidara's bombs, first of all that's supposed to be a secret and second, that's if he didn't already activate them from the get-go, which he did in this case.
3) Someone's already saying Kisame can't beat B/Gyuki. I'm just basing this outcome off of the Kisame vs B/Gyuki that literally happened in canon... B wasn't able to go all out in canon because of his friends being there, and in this chapter, he's under similar limitations because they're right under Kumogakure. Also, in canon, Kisame was straight up about to win that fight if his sword didn't act up and betray him. This is a "what if Kisame's sword didn't betray him like a little bitch" scenario.

I don't want to have to explain important stuff like this in an A/N but it's difficult to put this info in the story without it being an info dump.

All in all, thanks to everyone for the reviews and to blueandgold for the wonderful beta!