Hey guys, AS YOU CAN SEE, I AM NOT DEAD.

I'm so sorry for the very late update guys.

As some of you may know, university courses have been online for the past few months.

And online learning has not been kind to me, especially online exams which ended last month.

On top of that, as I only arrived in Australia this March, I was pretty much alone in my room, no friends, no family etc etc.

Being alone like that just kinda wears down on you, so I guess I kinda had a bit of a mental breakdown somewhere during exams, but I had to somehow bear with it since I couldn't afford to retake my finals.

So after the exams I sort of stopped everything I did. I binge ate, slept a lot, and cuz of dumb anti-maskers and party goers, lockdown was reimposed so I couldn't even go out for a random walk.

So I stopped looking at the story for a while, and finally I decided I'd have to just deal with it, and then took a recap on the last few months, and finished up the chapter.

I'm still sorting out my mind, emotions etc etc. Unfortunately, this means I may not update as frequently as before. But I'll try my best.

Sorry for the rant hahaha... But anyways...

To NeonGamer973, I don't mind if you keep posting. I just meant that if you do, just credit it to me. And I do plan on posting on Wattpad, some time in the future, with a different name. But for now let's just focus on this, hahaha.

Dasgun, no idea what the.-. is for, but okay.

Nameless Guest, thank you. I play the NA version, can't understand Japanese sadly, I can understand a bit of spoken Japanese, but reading is way too much for me now.

I appreciate the ideas. In fact, you may find your answer about Orochimaru in this chapter. And for the ending part, as before, I am still not too sure where it'll go. But I'll take your suggestion in consideration.

And about the KH and Naruto fic, it will have to be on the end of my to-do list, if you've seen my profile hahaha, but I haven't played the KH1 and 2 games, only the 3rd one. So I'm not as knowledgeable to do a fanfiction of it.

coronaprimo, I'm not sure if I managed to resolve the imagery problem, I am trying to improve on that, that's one of the reasons why I started writing these crossovers tbh. If you do have any suggestions, I'm all ears.

To the Guest, I will not agree nor disagree with that statement. But I feel that Naruko is an overused and oversimplified name. That's why I chose Hikari. Other names I've seen for femNaruto like Natsumi, Natsuki, Narumi, are also fine imo, but way to overused.

To BigTipLongShaft, I wasn't too sure how that would turn out, but I'm glad they sounded like 5 year olds, cuz they are 5 year olds hahaha.

So yeah, with that out of the way, here's the latest chapter.

XXX

With Eugeo and Suguha, the two swordsmen flanked the Niidaime Mizukage from either sides.

Gengetsu let out a breath as his body tensed up unwillingly, "Be careful, if I ever try to summon my clams, stop me no matter what."

The Integrity Knight nodded, "Got it."

The Mizukage smirked, before he frowned, "Samurai kid, dodge!"

In a blink of an eye, Gengetsu blasted several water bullets towards the knight. In response, Eugeo dashed forward, sliding on the ground, letting the water bullets shoot past him harmlessly.

Quickly getting to his feet, the Blue Rose Knight quickly closed the gap between him and the former Mizukage, something Suguha also saw fit to do.

In an instant, a loud clang sounded through the raging battlefield, as Eugeo's Blue Rose Sword and Suguha's Tempest struck a pair of kunai in the Mizukage's hands.

Gengetsu grunted, his body pushing back against the swords with his kunai, "Not bad, now jump!"

The two complied as two streams of highly pressured water shot out from the sand below them.

Not missing a beat, Gengetsu launched the kunai he had at Eugeo, before shooting several water bullets at Suguha.

The pair easily deflected and dodged the projectiles, before Eugeo flipped his sword into reverse grip, "ENHANCE ARMAMENT!"

The Blue Rose Sword glowed, and the wielder slammed it onto the ground, sending ice speeding along the ground towards the Mizukage.

Suguha's eyes widened slightly, recognising the sword easily, as she had seen Kirito use it before in such a way.

Gengetsu, on the other hand, quickly leaped out of the way, nodding approvingly, "Hyoton techniques, good. Use it to freeze my water techniques."

Then, the Mizukage's body stiffened, "Shit, I'm about to use my exploding water clones, samurai kid! Freeze it as soon as it appears!"

Eugeo narrowed his eyes and nodded, before Gengetsu flashed through a set of handseals, and formed three clones.

Suguha blinked, momentarily paused as she saw the chibi versions of the Mizukage appear before her.

The Jinchurikii blinked as they stumbled towards her, one of them waving its pudgy arms at her, "Uhh, are these your clones?"

Gengetsu grew a tick mark, "DODGE YOU IDIOT!"

Suguha barely managed to jump away as the clone exploded in a violent stream of steam.

The girl let out a sigh, "That was close."

Gengetsu sighed exasperatedly, "They're made in that way to lower my enemies guards. Of course, they come in many sizes, and they can also draw moisture from the atmosphere to reform themselves, thanks to the steam it made."

True to his words, the steam in the air quickly reformed into the clone, but this time, slightly larger.

Eugeo frowned, noticing its increase of size, "So it'll get larger too?"

Gengetsu nodded, "Yes, and considering we're near the beach, it works faster too. Now freeze it!"

The knight complied, sending a wave of ice towards the clones, quickly freezing them before they could approach Suguha again.

Gengetsu nodded, before he frowned as his body stiffened again, "Hey girl! I'm coming for you now, get ready!"

Before Suguha could barely process what he said, the Mizukage suddenly launched himself at the girl, forcing the Nanabi Jinchurikii to jump to a side for some breathing space.

But the Mizukage wasn't just going to let her regain her pacing, and quickly turned and gave chase.

The man quickly sent a kick at the girl, and in response, Suguha swung her katana at said limb.

Gengetsu's eyes glinted approvingly, "YesssSHIT!"

But right before the blade could make contact, the Mizukage's body turned to water, allowing the blade to pass through harmlessly, before reforming and kicked Suguha right in the face.

That is, if it wasn't for the Kawarimi no Jutsu.

Praise the log.

The Mizukage, again nodded approvingly, as he turned to see Suguha standing by Eugeo's side, the knight pulling his sword from the ground.

Suguha frowned, "So his body can turn into water. Eugeo-san, can you freeze that?"

The knight nodded, "I can try, but I don't necessarily think it'll work."

Gengetsu nodded, "It will keep me immobilized for a while, but I can escape."

Suguha nodded, "Then how can we beat you?"

The Niidaime Mizukage furrowed his brows, "Ah well, I'm not sure how this stupid reanimation jutsu works, but generally speaking, raiton jutsu and hyoton jutsu would work well against me."

The Nanabi Jinchurikii nodded, "I see..."

Gengetsu frowned, "Ah shit, here I come again."

The Mizukage's body suddenly dashed forward, sending a kick at Eugeo, who's eyes widened at the sheer force behind the kick as he blocked it with his forearm, barely managing to hold his ground.

Not missing a beat, Suguha leaped forward, thrusting her sword forward at the Mizukage, who raised his arms and blocked the slash with a kunai.

But the girl wasn't done. Reaching into her seal, the girl thought, 'Choumei!'

The Bijuu complied, and in an instant, chakra filled her arms, as Suguha easily slashed through Gengetsu's shoulder.

However, no blood came out. Instead, water dripped to the ground as the Hozuki's body quickly reformed.

Gengetsu frowned, "Girl, my body is made of water."

Suguha didn't reply, instead leaping away as Eugeo stabbed his sword into the ground, "Sake! Aobana!"

In an instant, ice covered the area around them, quickly freezing Gengetsu's body. Yet, the Mizukage's body melted, leaving the already frozen parts and quickly reforming some distance away.

Gengetsu nodded as his body reformed some distance away, though he seemed visibly tired, "Hmm, freezing me when my body liquifies, not a bad idea. My chakra reserves took a massive hit from that."

The man then frowned as his body started to flash through a set of handseals, "Hey! I'm about to summon my clam, shut me off now!"

Eugeo quickly complied, sending a wave of ice at the Mizukage, while Suguha dashed forward for a slash.

Unfortunately, the two were a tad bit too late, as Gengetsu dissolved into a puddle of water, reforming some distance away, having already finished the summoning sequence, and slammed his palms on the ground.

The Mizukage cursed, "Dammit..."

A cloud of smoke erupted from the ground, before clearing to reveal a giant clam, which immediately released a torrent of mist into the air.

Gengetsu tch'd, "Hey! Careful! The mist is part of my genjutsu! Destroy the clam and the illusion will end!"

Eugeo and Suguha stayed close to each other as the Mizukage's voice sounded around them, their surroundings quickly distorted.

The knight let out a breath, "So, Suguha, I'm not as knowledgeable as you are when it comes to illusions... What do we do?"

The Nanabi Jinchurikii gripped her katana, "Leave it to me... I'm a Jinchurikii, genjutsu won't work on me."

Eugeo glanced at the girl, before he nodded.

The girl then closed her eyes, 'Choumei...'

The bijuu grinned, "Already on it."

The seven tailed beetle extended it's senses, easily looking past the illusion placed by the Second Mizukage.

In less than five seconds, the Bijuu located both the clam and the reincarnated Kage.

Choumei spoke out, "The Mizukage is on your right!"

Suguha's eyes snapped open, and she spun and gave an upward slash to her right, slicing right through the unsuspecting Mizukage's chest.

The Mizukage faded into view, an impressed look on his face, "Nice, how did you know?"

Suguha smiled, "Trade secret."

Choumei chuckled inside the seal, before the beetle reported, "The clam's roughly a hundred meters away north east by the way."

The girl nodded and glanced at Eugeo, "North east, the clam's there!"

The Integrity Knight nodded, and quickly sprinted towards that direction.

Gengetsu smirked as Suguha stood in front of him, his wound quickly regenerating thanks to the Edo Tensei, "I'm impressed. You seriously can't tell me how you knew? Dead men tell no tales, you know?"

The Jinchurikii smiled, "Nope."

The Mizukage chuckled, "Shoulda known... But then, how are you gonna defeat me? That samurai kid's not here anymore."

Suguha narrowed her eyes, silently drawing in Senjutsu chakra, and immediately took on her sage mode.

Gengetsu raised an eyebrow, "Oh, Senjutsu eh?"

The girl merely nodded, infusing her sword with chakra.

The Mizukage smirked, "This will be my second time fighting someone using Senjutsu. I hope you can match what the Shodaime Hokage put through."

Suguha let out a breath, clearing her mind, "We'll have to see now, don't we?"

Gengetsu smirked and pointed a pistol finger at the girl, sending five blasts of pressurized water bullets at the girl.

But to his surprise, Suguha vanished right before they could hit her, and his eyes widened as he immediately liquified his body just in time to avoid a slash to his back from behind.

Gengetsu thought as he jumped away, 'This girl. She's totally different from before. Is this because of that sage mode?'

The man smirked as he was forced to dodge a few more strikes, noticing the huge slash marks on the ground as he leaped away, 'Heh, I'm really tempted to go all out now...'

He frowned at that thought, 'But... well, I probably shouldn't.'

(linebreak - meanwhile)

With Eugeo, the blonde slowly came to a stop as he felt a faint presence from a distance.

The knight let out a breath, "It should be around here..."

The man looked around, before he raised his free hand, "System Call: Generate Luminous Element. Lightning shape. Discharge!"

Five spheres of light energy formed at his finger tips, before they erupted into numerous arcs of lightning, striking the surrounding area.

The arcs of energy eventually struck the clam, revealing its location as it faded into view.

The Integrity Knight quickly took notice of it, and started to dash towards it as the clam started to release the mist once again.

Eugeo gritted his teeth and started, "System Call: Generate Aerial Element. Stream Shape. Discharge!"

A stream of air formed at his feet, before it propelled him forward while he channeled mana through his sword as it started to glow blue, "Aincrad Style: Sonic Leap!"

The added boost from the aerial stream, along with the original dashing attribute of the sword skill quickly allowed Eugeo to close the distance between himself and the clam.

Then, after an instant, Eugeo flipped and landed behind the clam, a thin visible cut forming straight through the clam's shell.

Then, it started to fall into two pieces before it puffed out of existence.

The knight let out a sigh as the haze/mist around slowly lifted, "That's done."

Eugeo then quickly headed back from where he came from.

(Linebreak)

With Suguha and Gengetsu, the Mizukage was very impressed. The girl had landed a few solid hits that would have normally killed him by now if not for the Edo Tensei.

Granted he was holding back as much as he could, but to see someone from a newer generation accomplishing this was quite heartening for him.

The man then noticed that the girl was in front of him yet again, her sword already in motion, and he felt yet another slash on his chest, which didn't do much damage as his bodt liquefied again.

Suguha growled as she jumped away to avoid a punch from the Mizukage.

Then the Second Mizukage's eyes widened and he grinned, "My clam's gone. But we're not getting anywhere here."

Suguha silently nodded, considering if she should use her Bijuudama to try to totally obliterate him.

But before she could, the girl heard Inoichi's voice, "Attention all units! The only way we can defeat the Edo Tensei is by sealing them. If you have fuinjutsu users with you, seal the Edo Tensei now. We've dispatched a team of sealers to each division, please try to hold off until then."

Suguha's eyes widened as she processed the information, before she looked at Gengetsu.

The Mizukage easily noticed the slight pause in her movements and asked, "Oi, what's wrong?"

The girl shook her head, "No, seems like we'll have to seal you to beat you."

Gengetsu nodded, "I see... Sealing me, eh? Easier said than done..."

Suguha nodded in agreement.

Then, the Mizukage's body jumped up away just in time to dodge a bunch of ice spikes rising from the ground, right where he previously stood.

Suguha glanced at Eugeo, who nodded and tapped his head, signalling that he had received the broadcast as well.

Gengetsu let out a breath as he landed, "Hmm, good job. But, how are you gonna seal me up?"

Eugeo grinned, "We'll find a way either way."

The Mizukage raised an eyebrow, before he chuckled, "True enough..."

Gengetsu then frowned as his body stiffened yet again, "Here it comes!"

Right after the words left his words, the Mizukage sent a dozen water bullets at the duo before dashing at the duo.

Eugeo and Suguha immediately split apart, dodging the water bullets before they swung their swords at the Mizukage.

The Mizukage, expectedly, liquefied his body, causing the blades to pass through harmlessly.

Gengetsu sighed, "That's not gonna work..."

The Mizukage's voice trailed off as he saw Eugeo's eyes, and he understood.

At that moment, using the momentum of his downward swing, Eugeo swiftly, albeit a bit awkwardly, stabbed his sword into the ground, right beside Gengetsu, "SAKE, AOBARA!"

In an instant, due to his sword already being in its Full Control state, ice exploded from the sword, instantly incasing Gengetsu in ice.

Suguha pulled her sword away, letting out a breath, "Sooo... Now what?"

Eugeo let out a breath, "I'm not sure if this will work, but we can try."

The girl just nodded, "Okay."

The knight then twisted his grip on his sword, chanelling more mana into it, as more ice grew from the block, with blue icy roses forming around it.

Eugeo then pulled his sword out of the ground, but the ice stayed there, holding the reincarnated Mizukage in place.

Suguha took a small pause to admire the beautiful yet bizarre sight, before she asked, "So, will he be able to break out?"

The blue knight shook his head, "I honestly have no idea. But just to be safe, we might want to let the... Fuinjutsu squad (?) take over?"

The kunoichi nodded, "Yeah, better safe than sorry. But in the mean time..."

Suguha reached into her pouch and grabbed a few basic seals Hikari had given her, and slapped it onto the block of ice.

The kunoichi nodded, "Hopefully this'll help hold him in place too."

Eugeo then looked at the raging battle going on a distance away, "We should go help."

Suguha nodded, "Agreed. I'll leave a clone here until the sealing squad reaches."

The knight nodded as Suguha made a single Shadow Clone before the pair rushed back to help clear out the Zetsu clones.

(linebreak- meanwhile)

Nero, Scheta and Siegfried stared at the blank face of the Niidaime Tsuchikage.

Mu raised an unseen eyebrow at the three 'samurai' in front of him, "So, the three of you are my opponents?"

Siegfried nodded, drawing his swords, "Yeah."

The former Tsuchikage nodded, "Very well, then I'll tell you my abilities. I'm a particle style user. My techniques involve manipulation of earth, air, water and finally, matter itself, meaning I can destroy, build or erase anything I wish, provided I have the chakra to do so. I can also perfectly split myself into two. "

Nero grinned, brandishing her sword, "Umu! But that won't stop us!"

Scheta sighed and just silently drew her sword, while Siegfried nodded at Mu's words, also drawing Balmung.

The former Tsuchikage merely nodded at the three knights' actions, before he felt his body activating his signature Light Weight technique for flight.

Mu stared at the three knights, "Hey, here I come."

Without another word, the former Tsuchikage shot forward, a sphere of dust and chakra quickly forming between his hands.

Siegfried saw the sphere easily, and jumped to a side, "Spread out!"

The three knights dashed to either side, narrowly dodging the sphere as Mu shot it out at them.

Nero narrowed her eyes and focused her mana into her sword, "System Call: Enhance Armament!"

Aestus Estus glowed in her hands, before being surrounded by a torrent of flames, briefly forming the shape of a rose at the guard before disappearing.

If Eugeo's sword was the rose that froze everything in ice that never melts, then Nero's blade was the rose that burned everything to cinders.

The red knight dashed forward, letting the flames dance around her sword as she swung at Mu, ignoring Siegfried's warning to be careful.

Mu cursed, the blonde was way faster than he had expected, not that he was trying to dodge, but his body forcefully flipped backwards, barely dodging the slash.

The mummy then noticed a part of his bandages at his feet burning a bit, before being regenerated thanks to the Edo Tensei.

Nero grinned, "How was that?"

Mu nodded, "Hmm, not bad. But don't be careless."

Siegfried just nodded, before he held his sword with both hands, "System Call: Enhance Armament."

In an instant, Balmung glowed, before a blue aura enshrined the blade, similar to how the flames danced around Nero's blade.

Seeing two of her fellow knights using their Full Control arts, Scheta raised an eyebrow, but merely held her sword firmly.

The Niidaime Tsuchikage growled silently as his body moved against his will once again, "Here I come again!"

Mu formed a sphere of dust and chakra at his finger tips, and instantly released the particle beam at the three knights, causing them to jump to a side to dodge it.

But then, at that moment, another Mu split himself off of the original, and resulted in yet another beam fired at the knights, or rather, Siegfried.

The dragon slayer narrowed his eyes, as he wouldn't dodge the beam in time.

Instead, he twisted his posture and swung his blade at the beam, forcing the sword to emit as much of its energy as he could.

Balmung clashed against the beam of chakra, its essence of a dragon slayer roaring fiercely.

With a grunt, Siegfried managed to push the beam off course, hitting the ground behind him, causing an explosion.

The knight narrowed his eyes, the blue aura around his sword flickering ever so slightly.

He glanced at Scheta, who merely tilted her head, signalling she'd follow his lead.

Siegfried nodded, before he shared a glance with Nero, the red knight nodding ever so slightly. Then all three of them charged.

Scheta, being the most nimble knight among the three, was the first to reach Mu.

The stoic woman leaped up, her Black Lily Sword glinting in the sunlight as she swiftly swung it at the Niidaime Tsuchikage.

Mu's eyes widened as he barely caught sight of the blade, and his body moved to dodge the slash... right into Nero's flaming sword.

The reanimated leader grunted as his body forced a split, leaving one half to take the hit as the other jumped away, only to face Balmung's blazing aura, but a quick earth wall managed to save him as he skidded across the ground until he managed to regain his balance.

The Tsuchikage narrowed his eyes as he saw one half being burnt to cinders before he realized that at his current state, he had only half of his full power, which, Mu realized, was a good thing.

The Tsuchikage nodded, "Good, you forced me to split. Right now I am at half of my full strength."

The three knights nodded, and Siegfried asked, "Speaking of which, how did you die?"

Mu raised an eyebrow, before he spoke, "I used my entire body as a bomb to take out the Niidaime Mizukage, the man your friends are fighting now. But right now I can't use that technique."

Nero nodded, "Umu, anything else?"

The Tsuchikage shook his head, "Apart from what I have told you, I suppose not. But at any rate, I'll tell you if I'm about to pull anything."

The man then stiffened as his body moved again, "Here I come again."

Mu's body floated up, before flashing through a few handseals and sent a barrage of stone spikes at the trio of knights.

The three jumped/ducked to dodge the spikes, before Nero and Scheta charged forward, the pair swinging their swords at the Tsuchikage.

However, as their blades seemingly struck the Tsuchikage, he exploded in a puff of smoke, revealing a simple log, slowly burning from Nero's sword.

Nero blinked, taking a moment to look at the log, "What- Where did this come from?"

Then, Mu's voice sounded from behind her, "Kawarimi no Jutsu. Do they not teach you samurai about that these days?"

Before the Tsuchikage could attack, the reanimated leader was forced to dodge as Scheta's blade narrowly missed his neck.

Scheta stared at the man blankly, "We're from a different world, unfortunately, we don't exactly know many of your techniques."

Mu pondered the thought, before he spoke, "No matter... I'll just tell you my every move. Now move!"

As soon as his warning left his mouth, the Tsuchikage sped through a set of seals and sent a torrent of wind blades at them.

The three Integrity Knights barely managed to dodge the blades, before Nero dashed at him.

The former Emperor swung her blade, unleashing a wave of flames upon the Tsuchikage.

The man grunted as his body bent backwards, narrowly dodging the flames, before he spun and sent a kick at her waist, "Right!"

Nero barely registered his warning before she felt the kick hit, surprisingly stronger than she expected, and was sent skidding across the ground before she managed to regain her balance.

Mu grunted, before his body jumped away just in time to dodge a slash from both Siegfried and Scheta.

The Tsuchikage landed lightly on the ground, before he asked, "Do any of you have any mass destruction techniques?"

Siegfried raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

Mu shrugged, "I have no idea how the Edo Tensei actually works. But under normal circumstances, the best way to kill me is total annihilation. Leave nothing behind."

The dragon slayer glanced at Nero and Scheta, "Buy me time."

The two female knights immediately understood, while Mu merely nodded.

Siegfried then brought his sword up, twisting the handle of his sword, "The evil dragon shall fall, and the world will reach its sunset. Release Recollection. Balmung!"

As soon as those words left his mouth, the aura around Balmung grew tenfold, the essense to slay a dragon growing up to the skies, easily grabbing Mu's attention even as he barely dodged Nero and Scheta's slashes.

Siegfried then swung his blade down with a grunt, prompting Nero and Scheta to leap away from Mu, who tried to force his body to stay put as the long blade of energy came down.

The released form of Balmung struck, causing a huge cloud of dust to surround the area before the aura slowly dissipated.

Soon, the dust settled down.

And to the shock of all three knights, they saw Mu's slowly regenerating body, the paper used for the Edo Tensei slowly reforming the Niidaime Tsuchikage's body.

Siegfried tch'd, "So a full blast head on from Balmung isn't enough."

Nero frowned, "Umu... Then how do we take him down?"

Scheta just stared blankly at the slowly reforming body of Mu, "No clue."

Soon, the Tsuchikage's head reformed, and he sighed, "As I expected... This body can regenerate even if its destroyed."

Siegfried stared at him, "Then what do we do?"

Mu shook his head, "I honestly do not know."

At that moment, all three Integrity Knights heard a voice, "Attention all units! The only way we can defeat the Edo Tensei is by sealing them. If you have fuinjutsu users with you, seal the Edo Tensei now. We've dispatched a team of sealers to each division, please try to hold off until then."

The knights glanced at each other and shared nods, something that wasn't unnoticed by the Tsuchikage.

Mu raised an eyebrow, still surprisingly standing there, "What happened?"

Nero grinned, "Apparently the only way to defeat you is by sealing you. Umu! Now all we have to do is wait!"

Scheta raised an eyebrow at her fellow knight, "Really?"

Siegfried sighed, "It's not gonna be that simple."

Mu nodded in agreement, "Yes, my body won't stand still."

Nero grinned, "Umu, then let me show you, my GOLDEN THEATRE!"

Siegfried sighed again, "And there she goes."

The former emperor of Wesdarath flipped her sword into reverse grip, pointing it downwards, "RELEASE RECOLLECTION!"

The knight stabbed her sword into the ground, causing a huge aura to spread around all four of them, forming a dome of energy that quickly settled to reveal stage.

Mu looked around intriguingly, his body tensing up unwillingly, "Ho, is this a Genjutsu? No, or is it fuinjutsu?"

Nero beamed, "NEITHER! This is my Aestus Domus Aurea!"

Siegfried and Scheta both just stared at the Tsuchikage silently.

The red Integrity Knight then pulled her sword out, prompting the veil of flames to dance around the sword once again.

Mu's body quickly stiffened, recognizing the threat even as the Tsuchikage himself was admiring the detail of the theater around him, "Impressive, whatever it is you're trying, make sure it happens. My body is wary of it."

Nero beamed, "Umu! Then witness this! My Laus Saint Claudius!"

The knight in red charged forward, with speed augmented by the golden theater around them, such that Mu's body couldn't react in time.

In the blink of an eye, Nero landed one single slash on Mu's chest, followed by a wave of rose petals and flames.

The result was simple. Mu's body totally burned to ashes, not unlike what happened when Siegfried used Balmung's Armament Full Control Arts.

However, just like before, Mu's body started to reform again, paper and ash slowly coming together where the Tsuchikage previously stood.

Soon, the head reformed, and at the same time, Nero's theater faded away.

However, there was one difference.

Standing by the three Integrity Knights, were a pair of Suna shinobi carrying huge scrolls.

Mu raised an eyebrow, "Fuinjutsu users, I presume?"

The two Jounin nodded, quickly unfolding their scrolls and unleashed their Fuinjutsu upon the Tsuchikage's still forming body, quickly wrapping him up.

As Mu was fully covered in the seals, the Tsuchikage stared at the three Integrity Knights, "Good luck with the war."

Siegfried merely nodded, before the seals wrapped around Mu's head, fully sealing him off.

The dragon slayer glanced at the pair of jounin, "Thanks, we had no idea how to stop him. If that went on we might have burnt out."

One of the pair nodded, "No problem. I'm actually glad we got here in time."

The knight nodded, before he looked at the battlefield.

Nero noticed his gaze and beamed, "Umu! Let's go help wipe out the rest of the enemy!"

The trio, with the two seal masters, quickly headed back to the main battle and started wiping out the enemy.

(linebreak- meanwhile in a random location)

With Jiraiya, the man slowly walked through a cave.

Soon, the Toad Sage stopped as he spotted a figure in front of him, "So, this is where you've been."

The figure turned to glance at the Sannin, "What do you want, Jiraiya?"

The sage hmph'd, "Simple, I want to know your role in this role, Orochimaru."

The snake turned to fully face his former teammate with a raised eyebrow, "What do you mean my role?"

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, "Don't bullshit me. The Akatsuki have been using Edo Tensei, and the only one we know that can use it to that degree is you."

Orochimaru chuckled, "No, not anymore."

A voice piped up from the shadows, "With permission from my lord Orochimaru-sama, I managed to recreate the Edo Tensei."

The snake sannin nodded, "Yes, at this point, I believe Kabuto is a better user of the technique than I am. But still, I believe that doesn't answer your question, does it?"

Jiraiya just stared at the two, "No, no, it doesn't."

Orochimaru sighed, "I can assure you, neither me, nor Kabuto, have assisted the Akatsuki in any manner regarding usage of the Edo Tensei. We didn't give them any information and we didn't help them."

The toad sage stared at the man passively, "That doesn't really say much, but I suppose I will have to take your word for it, don't I?"

Orochimaru chuckled, "Yes. Or, we can take option B."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, "And that is?"

The snake sannin grinned, "Simple. I help you in the war. We find out how they got the Edo Tensei. All I need for that, is a pardon."

The seal master huffed, "Sorry to burst your bubble, but we already have a way to counter that. I'm just here to confirm your involvement, or the lack of it."

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, "Hmm, that's a shame."

Jiraiya let a small smirk appear on his face, "But, that doesn't mean I won't hear you out. You said you want a pardon, didn't you?"

The snake sage smiled, "Yes, of course, I expect some conditions to that as well. And in case you're wondering, I will most likely stop all those experiments you deem inhumane."

The white haired man sighed, "I don't suppose you'd tell me why?"

Orochimaru cackled, "It is very simple. You know what my goal is. Right now, all five shinobi nations AND a nation from another world is united to fight two organisations that threaten to destroy our world."

The snake grinned, "If things go well, the world may very well achieve world peace, and what better way to study all the jutsu around the world?"

The toad sage raised an eyebrow, "So, by getting an international pardon for helping out, you would be free from the nuke nin life. Then you'd have the chance to waltz in freely to any village or any area to study their jutsu, am I correct"

Orochimaru's grin widened, "Close, but yes, let's go with that."

Jiraiya chuckled, his former teammate wasn't wrong, "I'm surprised that you'd come up with that idea."

The snake smirked, "It also happens to align with your pipe dream, no, I guess it's not that much of a pipe dream now, is it?"

Jiraiya hmph'd, "Don't get ahead of yourself. We'll discuss this once the war is over."

The former sannin smiled, "Very well."

Jiraiya then glanced around before he spoke, "Then let's hurry up and get back."

Orochimaru nodded, "Very well."

The two old teammates, along with Kabuto, vanished from the hideout, leaving it vacant.

(Linebreak - Akatsuki hideout)

Meanwhile, Zetsu had just finished reporting to Tobi and Madara.

Madara nodded, "Hmm, I see. They responded faster than I expected. I'd expect at least a day before they figured out a way to counter the Edo Tensei."

Tobi nodded, "True. And worse, they suffered next to no losses on all four fronts. We still have clones to spare, of course."

The reanimated Uchiha hmph'd, "We'll carry on the plan as intended."

Tobi glanced at his ancestor, before he nodded, "Very well. We move out tomorrow then."

Madara nodded, "Hmph, I hope that Alliance can entertain me."

The other Uchiha ignored him, facing Zetsu, "Zetsu, I trust you can handle things with the remaining one?"

Black Zetsu smirked, "Of course."

Tobi nodded, "Good."

Madara looked at Tobi, "Hmph, have some faith in him. You, on the other hand, should get some rest."

The masked Uchiha stared at his ancestor for a moment, before he nodded, "I suppose I should."

With that said, Tobi turned and headed for his room, leaving Madara and Zetsu in the room.

Madara glanced at Zetsu, before he nodded, and the plant sunk into the ground, leaving the ancient Uchiha alone.

The ancient Uchiha stared at the map for a moment, before he turned and headed back to his quarters.

(Linebreak - Back in Konoha)

Meanwhile, in the Namikaze compound, Yui sat by the bed where Kirito laid, gripping the bed sheets lightly.

The pseudo-bijuu stared at her father's unconscious figure, "Papa..."

XXX

DONE.

So yeah, that's all for this chapter.

So next chapter is the third division. Again, I'm not sure when it'll come out. Hopefully within the next month.

See y'all next time.