-Earlier that day-

-Thousand Sunny-

"Well, it's twelve o'clock," said Nami, looking nervously at the hands of the timepiece in the kitchen. "The Summit's starting right about now… How long do you think we'll have before things go wrong?"

"My money's on fifteen minutes," mumbled Usopp as he and Chopper poured various powders and substances into small boxes and canisters. "That's how long we've got until the world goes mad."

Brook chuckled to himself, sipping brandy as though it were the finest tea. "My goodness, but it sounds as though you're quite worried. You even sent the lovely mermaid back to her home! But, if you're so certain your friends will run into trouble then why didn't you stop them?"

Usopp grunted, uttering the words like a mantra. "No, no stopping them. Can't stop forces of nature. Can't stop Luffy and Zoro once they've set their minds on something." He raised one filled round ball to eye level and then screwed on a cap when he was satisfied. "All you can do is prepare for the end."

"Pretty dark, man!" laughed Franky as he continued his ongoing hammer-and-nails project to finish the insides of the ship. "You don't trust the away team to keep them outta trouble?"

"No… no I don't."

Beside Usopp, Chopper spoke nervously. "They're all really far away from us right now… How will we know if something goes wrong?"

Finally, Usopp took a pinch of powder from a small tin beside him and cast it against a metal sheet on the floor. It sparked into life on contact, producing a puff of flame and acrid smoke that reflected in his eyes.

"Oh, we'll know about it," promised Usopp. "We'll know about it very quickly. Fifteen minutes. That's a promise. Remember it."

Fifteen minutes later, Usopp listened carefully as news of dangerous pirates causing chaos across the island began to spread across the docks. Nervous men and women gathered together on the streets and fled for safety, casting suspicious glances at the gaudy ships anchored at the shore.

"Oh no…" moaned Nami, watching the crowds mill about in the distance. "No! Why did we let them go out there at all? What the hell are we going to do about this?! If people start looking for pirates they're going to figure us out in no time!"

Usopp retrieved one of his two masks from his pouch, placing the cheery yellow thing on his face and over his nose with a grim determination.

"What are we going to do about this?" he asked, focusing his sniper's goggles and setting his jaw with a sharp click of his teeth. "There's only one thing we can do now."

Thirty minutes after that, Usopp was dancing on the deck, juggling and laughing nervously for the few scattered and confused people below.

"H-hey, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome back to the carnival! We're just a bunch of circus performers here! Look at me juggling these balls! Certainly not pirates! Nothing at all to cause anyone the slightest bit of concern!"

The thin gathering of observers didn't seem terribly impressed by this proclamation, but they didn't seem to be reporting them to the Marines either so some things at least were working the way they wanted them to.

Hearing something buzzing above them, Nami looked up from her embarrassing job of using her newly-rebuilt Clima-tact to perform party tricks for Usopp's ridiculous plan. A squadron of strange flying fish were swooping in for a landing on the deck of the Sunny. She was just about to cry out in surprise when she saw Luffy, Sanji, and Sakura dismount from the aerial animals, with all but Luffy seeming relieved to be back on solid ground. At the head of the group, a large man in black armor dismounted from a tremendous flying bison and immediately strode in Nami's direction.

He advanced like a dream, smooth and without hesitation. Light seemed to sparkle in the air as his smile flowed like candy syrup. The incredibly handsome man stepped up before her, knelt down and clasped her hand in his. He brought the back of her hand to his lips, and then she kicked him in the crotch with barely a thought. The man collapsed in a heap, just as handsomely as before.

Nami blinked at the handsomely groaning man, her body having moved entirely on instinct. Usopp was beside them in moments.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA!" he cried, dropping his juggling implements in a crashing cloud of forgotten entertainment. "Luffy! Sanji! What the hell's with all these thugs?! You're not wearing your masks, either! Get the hell inside before you blow our cover! No, wait, on second thought, start making that cow do tricks for the crowd!"

The bison huffed and narrowed its eyes, at least until Luffy glanced vaguely in her direction, at which point she launched into the air and began turning loops, much to the crowd's amusement.

Nami, not so easily distracted, rounded on the newly-arrived Straw-Hats like a snarling wolf.

"Alright, you two, what did you do out there?! Spit it out! Sanji, I thought for sure I ordered you to make sure Luffy didn't get into any trouble!"

Sanji visibly wilted. "H-hey, hang on a second! I know how bad this looks but this honestly wasn't even our fault this time!"

"Yeah! Not our fault!" agreed Luffy. "We were just eating pizza and minding our own business!"

"Bullshit! Sakura, what really happened out there?"

Sakura sighed. "Long story very short, Akatsuki crashed the meeting. We had to split up to minimize the damage."

Nami winced. That was even worse than she had expected. "What about the others?"

"Robin and Sasuke found Silvers Rayleigh again and they're coming back to the ship, but I don't know where Naruto, Hinata, and Zoro are."

"Hey!" interrupted Luffy, "You forgot about Ace! Nami, Ace got taken up to the sky somehow!"

"Who did what now?"

Luffy held up the ever-shrinking scrap of paper that represented Ace's life. It continued fluttering uselessly up into the sky and falling back to his hand. No one had ever seen the Vivre Card behave in this manner, but the smoldering remnant seemed an ominous harbinger of doom. It was hard to imagine any other interpretation.

"That's… Ace? He's in trouble?" asked Nami.

Luffy nodded vigorously.

"If what Robin told us was true," began Sakura, "-then she already knows where Ace is being kept and how to get there, but we didn't learn anything besides that. Apparently Silvers Rayleigh is on-board with this expedition as well."

Discussion went quickly, if it could even be called that. Luffy pestered them relentlessly until their token resistance shattered. None of the Straw-Hats had ever seen Luffy so worked up about a personal matter before, and none of them would dream of denying him their aid. Besides, if what it sounded like was true, Rayleigh had a way to get them all off of the island safely and away from Marine scrutiny.

"Alright," said Nami. "Whatever's going on here, if the Dark King himself is going to be with us then this can't be too dangerous, right? I'm in."

"My blade is yours," said Brook, cheerfully having gone along with the suggestion from the beginning.

"L-Luffy's brother…" sniffled Chopper. "He's gonna… he's gonna die!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it," growled Luffy.

"I dunno what it is with you and getting us into shitty situations," said Sanji, "-but we're with you all the way."

Usopp glanced nervously between the rest of them. "Man, I've got a really bad feeling about this, but for now I guess there's nothing for it."

Franky scoffed. "Psh, what the hell, we already blew up a damn island. I don't see how we can possibly get into any more trouble."

"Okay," said Sakura. "Then for now we prepare for a fight and watch out for their arrival. Robin said they shouldn't be too long, so let's get to work."

-Grove 34-

-Rayleigh Group-

Naruto was having a problem. That problem was that he felt dangerously at home with the ridiculous old man who was busing them back to the Thousand Sunny. That's not to say he wasn't furious with Rayleigh, but it was a familiar sort of outrage that withstood a number of suspicious glares before he finally figured out the reason for his confusion. Well, technically speaking it wasn't him who figured it out.

"You're getting Jiraiya signals from him," insisted Sasuke. "That's what's freaking you out."

Yeah, upon reflection that was the real problem.

"Ji-who-are-we-talking-about?" asked Rayleigh.

"Naruto's master," said Sasuke. "An old alcoholic womanizer who's super strong, was involved in just about every important thing in our recent history, seems to know way too much cryptic information for his own good, and has a wildly distorted view on the lines between normal, abnormal, and the absolutely ridiculous."

Rayleigh nodded. "Sounds like a lovely fellow. He's not here to join us, is he?"

Sasuke looked uncertainly to Naruto, who looked back at him in exasperation.

"What? That old pervert? No, he's not, but what does this Tobi business have to do with him?"

"Shit, I'm not about to tell you that whole story again unless everyone's here," admonished Rayleigh. "Huge pain in the ass!"

Sasuke stepped in before Naruto could get up in arms. He looked somewhat uncertainly between Naruto, Hinata, and Zoro. "I, uh, I'll give you all the abbreviated version."

Even the abbreviated version raised every uninformed eyebrow in the vehicle. Naruto began pulling at his face with both hands.

"Holy shit! What the hell is- AGH! Tobi's trying to become a god?! What?! What's going on here?!"

"He's the leader of Akatsuki," stated Zoro. "You're the one that told us that, aren't you? Trying to become a god isn't anything to be surprised about."

"Umm," began Hinata, eyes wide, "-no, no, I think surprise is totally allowed here."

Naruto continued groaning. "I don't freaking get it, alright?! Sure he's a murderer asshole from Akatsuki, but he's… he's…" He waved his hands about in the air, helplessly trying to put concepts to words. "He's just a goofy bastard! He's an idiot! He's- I dunno- insane?! He killed my parents and then later helped me hook up with Hinata!"

"Wait, what?" asked Hinata. Naruto didn't seem to hear her.

"Yeah, he's a horrible person, but… wait, a god?! No, hold on, that really doesn't make sense!"

Sasuke frowned for a moment. "...Right. You told us he thought that if everything went well then he would be dying as a result of this. Doesn't sound like deification is in the cards for him. Was his death necessary to get the Fruit or something?"

"Hmm?" asked Rayleigh, still occasionally adjusting the controls. "I don't think so. Nothing written on the stones about killing yourself that I'm aware of."

"Could it be," interrupted Robin, who had been thinking very carefully over the last few minutes, "-that his death is required to make the Fruit ripen early?"

Rayleigh shook his head. "No, no, the stones just said the Rinnegan could be used to tap into the Tree's energy and that Devil Fruits used the same type of energy. You ask me, this is just your standard sacrificial ritual designed to gain incredible mind-bending power on the cheap. His death is something else entirely. "

"And you believe this why?" asked Law. "You can't just make wild guesses like that and expect it to stick."

Rayleigh scoffed. "Teach your grandmother to suck eggs why don't you. If you've seen one sacrificial ritual you've seen 'em all. Hell, he probably has a few fruits up there right now to drain them permanently of their power, which is what he's using to speed the whole process up. That's what I'd do."

Law frowned, possibly remembering his own run-in with Orochimaru. Before he said anything, Robin piped up.

"Luffy passed us by a little while back, and when I talked with him he said that Ace had gone missing. The Vivre Card we have showed him as being both in serious trouble and somehow located up above the highest mangroves."

"Aw, shit," cursed Rayleigh, gripping the wheel tightly. "Of all the… they got Ace? Well that makes it personal. Maybe you want to tell us that kind of thing earlier next time?"

"Yeah, she does that sometimes," noted Sasuke. "That information really changes everything."

"Yeah, it does," agreed Naruto, suddenly overtaken by a fierce calm. "It means Luffy's gonna want to go after him. And I think I figured out what Tobi's trying to do."

There was a moment of silence as they all focused on him. Even Rayleigh turned away from the wheel.

"He didn't just say he was gonna die," said Naruto. "He said he needed to die in order to give his 'father' another chance at life."

"Uchiha Madara," mused both Sasuke and Rayleigh.

"Yeah. I dunno how he plans to do it, but he thinks he can bring the guy back to life by killing himself."

There was silence for a moment as several of them looked to Sasuke.

"Sorry," he said. "I don't know who this Madara guy is."

"Bad news, that's who," said Rayleigh. "I only know what your father told us years back, but he sounded like the kind of guy you really don't want getting absolute power, or even just hanging around in the same country as you."

"So we've got to stop this Madara dude from being summoned..." said Naruto, an oddly unfocused expression on his face as if he was deeply considering something else.

Sasuke looked to his friend. "That means we can't let Tobi kill himself. We're going to have to kill him first."

"...Yeah…" said Naruto, still lost in his own thoughts.

"And for that we'll need information. Naruto, can you ask your toad buddies if they know anything at all about the Rinnegan or Uchiha Madara?"

"Sure," nodded Naruto. "I'll do that, yeah."

Sasuke frowned. "Naruto, I kind of feel stupid asking this considering who we're talking about, but you are on board with killing this Tobi guy, right?"

As Naruto crossed his arms and scowled at the floor, Sasuke pressed further. "Tobi's killed a lot of people by keeping Akatsuki together, even beside your parents. He's got monsters working for him, man. I can't even imagine what the world would become if someone like Danzou gained the power of a god. Are you going to be able to go through with this or not?"

"I'll do what I need to do, alright?!" growled Naruto. "Lay off of me for a second- I'm thinking!"

Zoro interrupted the conversation from his position in the very back of the van.

"So this is what we're doing then? Going up the mountain on a field trip to kill Akatsuki? I mean, I'm fine with that, but if you're talking about a fight to the death then you're probably trying to convince the wrong guys. Everyone here is already a killer one way or another, but the others might have some problems with this."

There were several slight nods from around the vehicle, and only Naruto and Hinata looked at all uncomfortable with that statement.

"Then the problem's Tobi," said Law. "If Akatsuki really has been manipulating events to this point, then they were probably the ones who took down Admiral Akainu last week. Akainu must have underestimated the 'Good-Boy' and paid the price for it, but even so killing an Admiral is no simple task. He's powerful, and they might even have taken his Devil Fruit to sacrifice at the tree."

Rayleigh nodded. "You kids let me worry about Tobi," he said. "I'll take any information you can give me on his powers, but let's be clear here. You all're my backup, and it'll be your job to keep his henchmen off of my back. I remember just how infuriating it could be to fight ninjas, so the last thing I need is to spend hours dealing with ambushes, clones, and illusions. If you can get me to their boss then I'll take him down."

There was an air of both general agreement and unease in the compartment.

"Not that I mind the chance to fight that fish-face for real," said Zoro as he crossed his arms, "-but do you really think it'll go that easily? We've tangled with Akatsuki a number of times, but we've never been able to choose the way we fight them. They've pushed us into bad match-ups, fought us when we're hurting, and ambushed us at the worst possible times. If this is the end of the line for them then who's to say they won't pull out all their tricks and make it even worse for us than before?"

For the first time in a while, Hinata spoke up, her white eyes passing over everyone around her. "I can't make any promises, and I don't want to sound arrogant, but you haven't had me to help you before. I can see everything they're doing ahead of time, so we should be able to come up with a plan before they even see us coming."

That brought some confidence back to the van. Every one of the warriors present was the type to buckle down and solve problems when they ran into something impossible, and soon the air was filled with discussion, strategies, and counter-strategies. This continued all the way until they reached the Thousand Sunny.

The van touched down on the deck of the Thousand Sunny not long afterwards. Rayleigh maneuvered the vehicle to a smooth stop, and the rest of them stepped out onto the soft grass. Surprisingly, the Straw-Hats that had remained behind were already gathering their equipment, almost ready to go.

Usopp was frantically packing more and more materials into the large sack he was using to store his dangerous weaponry. If anyone had known the haphazard haste with which these traps and tricks had been crafted they would be standing a good deal farther from the blast zone. Brook was, for some reason, grabbing bottles of milk and stuffing them about his person, lamenting the fact that he had so few pockets. Nami had pulled out her new and improved Clima-Tact 2.0 to test it, since the old one had sank to the seafloor embedded in Deidara's heart. Sparks, heat, and gusts of cold wind were all blowing around her. Chopper was nervously fussing with the supplies in his medical bag as Franky looked on from his deck-chair and chuckled. Luffy was looking upwards with apprehension, as if he could pick out what he was searching for if he just stared hard enough into the sky..

When most of the van's occupants had disembarked, Sanji approached, scanning the crowd.

"Alright, that looks like every-wha?" asked Sanji just as he caught sight of Law and a scowl passed over his face. "Oh, it's you. We picked up a stray."

"Don't talk to me like that or you'll learn what it's like to live without a heart," said Law, calmly walking by with practiced dismissal.

Sanji looked like he was about to press the issue when Rayleigh stepped out of the vehicle. Sanji's eyes went wide. "Oh, uh… hey there. What… the hell are you doing here?"

"Better," acknowledged Rayleigh, clapping him on the shoulder as he passed around to the center to add some more chemicals to the sap bubble on the underside of the vehicle. "But you could work a bit on your delivery."

Soon, everyone was off the vehicle and the crew was united once more.

"Oh my," said Robin. "Everyone seems ready to go before we've even said anything."

"Yeah, we're ready," said Nami, her face set in displeasure as she held the burning scrap of Ace's Vivre Card in front of her. "-and Luffy's already told us what's happening. We need to go save Ace, right?"

The rest of the people who had stayed back at the ship stepped forward. Franky tilted his chin upward. Brook slightly unsheathed his sword to check the blade, his featureless skull seeming determined in some way that was hard to identify. Usopp swallowed nervously, looking like he'd rather be anywhere but here. Chopper looked as though he had been recently crying, but kept glancing in Luffy's direction.

Rayleigh raised an eyebrow in their direction, but Sasuke was the one who spoke.

"I'm surprised. I thought we'd have to work to talk you into this."

"We're not heartless," said Sanji, flicking ash off his cigarette. "If Luffy's family is in trouble then we'll do whatever we can to help. It's nothing less than what he'd do for us."

"I don't want anything to happen to Luffy's brother," choked out Chopper.

"Nothing's gonna happen to him," said Luffy, "-because we're gonna get there first."

Rayleigh clapped his hands and straightened up, cracking his back and stretching from side to side.

"Great!" he exclaimed. "Then let's get going! Everyone grab your gear and pile in the van!"

Later, as the flying van suspended upon an iridescent bubble took off into the sky with its belligerent collection of pirates and ninjas, Nami turned to Usopp.

"Hey, did you ever learn where exactly we're going?" she asked.

"No, but does it really matter?" he said, glancing back to the island receding in the distance. "Anywhere's better than this Marine-infested hellhole, right?"

-Grove 36-

Captain Hina had led the charge against Moria and his ghostly lieutenant for nearly thirty minutes, but even as Marine reinforcements poured in from the rest of the island she knew she had been beaten. That instant of surrender came just as Perona's phantom finally struck her mid-torso during a last-ditch evasion. Her last and only hope that one of her subordinates would be able to make it through the wall of negative hollows to tag her with the seastone restraints died along with her will at that very moment. She collapsed to the ground, awash in a sea of utter despair that became worse the more she tried to fight it.

A shadow passed over her. She willed her eyes to turn upward to see Moria looming overhead, and the only thing that stood out to her was just how dead he looked. He reached down, ready to pluck her shadow from her body for real this time, and then stopped, straightening up and turning to the side. A rumbling sound was approaching, rattling the ground that her head was resting upon.

Perona refocused her ghostly attacks as she identified a new target incoming from the West. One of the experimental Pacifista androids was flying towards the battlefield, twin jets of flame and smoke rocketing from the soles of its feet. The emotionless combatants stared each other down as the android barreled inwards, scattering waves of zombies like bowling pins while the attacking ghosts passed through its soulless body without effect. Moria stepped up to the plate only to be obliterated when a high-energy laser erupted from the android's mouth, stripping away his flesh in a bright burst of smoke and flame. It dragged the beam across Perona's position, catching her in the devastating attack as well. The noise and heat washed over Hina without even managing to ignite her hopes.

"No!" cried Hina, hardly even sure why she was bothering. "You can't beat them! They'll just keep regenerating! Just give up!"

Indeed, as the android swung around for another flyby the two pirates were already reforming their flesh as if from nothing. The android beeped and chittered before adjusting its flight plan. Perona's eyes widened slightly just before the android collided with her at high speed. It grasped the ghost-mistress in one massive hand like a parcel from the shops before rocketing off into the distance. Then it was gone.

It wasn't going to do any good, thought Hina. Perona's range was known to be many kilometers in every direction, and there was no way…

It took Hina's abused mind a moment to register that the Pacifista's flightpath would carry the both of them out to the ocean. Though this was certainly good news, she couldn't quite seem to process it correctly in her current state.

Oh, Moria was still here and he had completed his regeneration. Now he was back to finish her off. That, at least, she could still understand.

The man stomped forward and then literally froze solid, never noticing the attack that had defeated him as he collapsed to the ground. Frost curled up around his prone body, and then a block of ice snapped into place around him. The Admiral had finally arrived, and moments later she felt the weight of her ghostly possession leave her as Perona was dumped into the sea.

"Nice work holding them here," said Admiral Aokiji.

Twenty minutes later, Aokiji stood at the edge of one of the outermost groves, staring eagle-eyed off into the distance. Most major disturbances were still being dealt with or chased off, but he had found something bigger to worry about. He was approaching certainty that it was Akatsuki who were behind these recent attacks, and though he wasn't sure how they had managed it, or even what they were after, he had a lead that could possibly help him. The Straw Hats. The one group of people who not only knew the most about Akatsuki's capabilities, but also ran into them on a regular basis.

Though he wouldn't fault the Marines stationed here for not realizing Straw-Hat Luffy was on the island, it was a different matter entirely now that Aokiji had seen Luffy charge into his battle with… 'Ace'. Quickly acquired rumor had led him in the direction of Grove 42 and he had barely reached the general area when a deadly phantom brushed against his mind. Galvanized to battle readiness, the temperature around him dropped far below freezing in a split-second, and he whipped his head around to look to the sky to confirm what his Haki had hinted at. There, piloting a broken-down, canary-yellow tour-bus was the 'Dark King,' Silvers Rayleigh himself.

Rayleigh was on the island? What had he been doing here?

According to his Haki, the van had been carrying a complement of fifteen people, including one very unique energy signature that could only have belonged to Uzumaki Naruto.

Because of course the Straw-Hats were involved with this mess.

No way was this a coincidence.

And so he had followed the flying vehicle as best as he could, dashing from grove to grove as he struggled to keep the thing in sight until he reached the edge of the island. There, departing the archipelago in the direction of the Red Line, was a flying van that shouldn't have even been operational. Any bubble vehicle burst whenever it left the protection of the Archipelago, but this one was still chugging confidently onward.

He stood there for some time, pondering this matter as his Den-Den Mushi began ringing in his jacket pocket. Eventually, nearly a minute later, he picked up the receiver that connected him to Fleet Admiral Sengoku.

"Yeah, hey…" he murmured, answering the other side. "Mm-hmm… Yep… They're safe… No… well, I'll have to get back to you on that one. Something's fishy here. I mean it stinks to high heaven."

His eyes flicked upwards. The impossible bubble van was starting to climb towards the endless sky, and it didn't look like it was planning to stop any time soon.

"Listen," said Aokiji, interrupting his superior. "I'm going to ask you this question one last time, so don't play any more games with me... Is there another strategic target in this area that I should be made aware of?"

There was a pause that stretched on and on.

"Still evading me, huh?" asked Aokiji, utterly bored by the snail's response. "Well, that's fine. I'll report once I have something to report."

He hung up.

That had been it. The last straw.

Silently, he mentally reviewed the place he had stored his bicycle and strode off to retrieve it, his breath chilling the air. Orders be damned, a car chase would be just the thing to cheer him up. Because, hey, what was the point of being one of the most powerful people in the world if you couldn't go where you felt you were needed?

A minute later the gentle jingling of a bicycle bell signaled the beginning of his pursuit.

-The Sky-

The atmosphere in the van was surprisingly serious, even considering they were heading off to save the world.

Luffy was uncharacteristically silent. He watched the shrinking bit of paper in his hand with a single-minded focus that lacked even his normal fidgeting or foot-tapping. Brook had insisted on wearing two thick coats in order to 'protect his skin from the cold high-altitude air,' but no one had felt like arguing the finer details of his assertion. In any case he had stuffed so much spare milk into his new pockets that he clinked occasionally as he shifted in place, humming quietly to himself. Zoro had turned inwards, meditating as peacefully as he could on a rumbling van flying up into the high reaches of the atmosphere. Occasionally, waves of anger would radiate off of him with such intensity that everyone present could feel it. Robin, Sasuke, and Law seemed to be continuing an earlier strategy discussion on the best way to arrange their forces in preparation for the rescue.

Naruto was still keeping mostly to himself, occasionally scratching his head or growling in frustration as Hinata cast worried glances in his direction before returning to her long-distance scan of the mountainside. It appeared as though there were several watch-posts about a mile up the cliffside that she was able to direct them around. Rayleigh said that the official explanation for these watch-posts was the infiltration of Fisher Tiger into Mariejois, many years previously.

"What kind of Tiger?" asked Sanji.

"I think I've heard of him before," said Nami. "Arlong and the others would mention him from time to time as a sort of hero to the merfolk."

Rayleigh nodded, casting the occasional glance out the window to a mirror that let him view the condition of the specially-treated sap bubble that was the only thing keeping them afloat. "Yeah, he was a hero alright, but it doesn't really matter to us right now. His existence is just an excuse they used to beef up the security on the mountain." He snorted. "Heh, if Fisher Tiger hadn't come along they would have needed to start building stuff in the next few decades anyway!"

"If we're going after the government or something-" began Franky, who had been somewhat put out to find himself sharing a musty old van with a man who had sailed on the legendary Oro Jackson. "-then what the hell are you so cheerful about, old man? All those spare years finally rattle a few screws loose, huh?"

"Oh, I'm just happy to be useful again," said Rayleigh. "Before Tobi showed up I was expecting to perfect this bubble recipe, pass it down to an apprentice, and set things up so that the Revolutionary Army would be ready to invade when the Fruit ripened naturally. I myself would have been long dead by then. Who would have thought Roger's mercy would have come back to help us so soon?"

"That's why you told me to keep on studying the Poneglyphs, then?" asked Robin. "You expected me to find out about this history on my own and join the resistance when it was time?"

"Well, I wasn't wrong, was I?"

"...No, you were correct. I would certainly have done so had I known what I know now."

Suddenly, Usopp's quavering voice rose from the rear of the vehicle as he turned away from the windows. "Uhh, question. We're still going up. How high are we going, exactly?"

"Oh, a few miles or so," said Rayleigh.

"A- a few- A FEW MILES?!" screamed Usopp, his eyes bugging out of his skull. "Wha- NO! Why?! Who the hell would take Ace a few miles into the sky?!"

Rayleigh frowned. "Didn't we go over this, like, a dozen times already? Tobi took Ace away and now all of Akatsuki is up there draining his life force. Well, technically they're probably draining his Devil Fruit, but he'll die all the same when it's over."

Usopp, Nami, and Chopper went deathly pale, a feat that was especially impressive in Chopper's case. Nami and Chopper began shrieking immediately, and Usopp whirled on Luffy.

"Luffy! What the hell, man?! You just left out the part about us going up into space to fight the entirety of Akatsuki, huh?!"

"Huh? I didn't know any of that," said Luffy.

Usopp immediately abandoned the conversation and spun around until he found someone who could be held properly responsible.

"Sasuke! What the hell, man?! You just left out the part about us going up into space to fight the entirety of Akatsuki, huh?!"

"Hey, it seemed like you guys knew more or less what was going on," said Sasuke, spinning a knife idly in one hand. "Not my fault you agreed without knowing what we were doing. Anyway, it's not like we have much of a choice here. Either we fight now or we die later when they turn into living gods and take revenge on us."

"W-what?!" asked Nami.

"Akatsuki is using Ace as a sacrifice to steal a fruit from a great tree that will let them become something like gods," clarified Sasuke, summing up a great deal of information in a very small package.

Usopp's head collapsed onto his hands, terrified eyes peeking out from between his fingers. "No, no, no-no-no. I- I can't go any higher, you see. Because of my… altitude sickness. Yes, that's it. If I go any higher than this my… my head will just explode from the pressure. That would be bad. Besides, trees are scary… never good news. Too many limbs and no eyes, but they're always watching you..."

Franky laughed raucously. "I don't see what you're so scared of, my long-nosed friend. That jackass with the bombs wasn't all that tough, he just got the jump on us. We're ready for 'em this time!"

"Akatsuki? I don't even know who you're all talking about," noted Brook, clinking quietly as he shifted in place, "-but they can't be that tough if I've never even heard of them."

"Leaving all that aside," interrupted Law, as Usopp began wailing, "-what's the plan of attack here?

Rayleigh shrugged. "Don't know what the place looks like yet. Generally speaking I'll want you lot to take on as much as you can so that I don't get delayed on my way to the tree. They could finish the ritual any minute now so we'd better hurry, but if I can kill Tobi then this whole thing should be over with quickly enough."

Naruto grimaced at the mention of Tobi and fidgeted uneasily in his seat. Finally, apropos of nothing, he slapped both hands together.

[NINPO: KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU]

[Ninja Art: Summoning Technique]

Startling some of those who were less familiar with his techniques (or those who were simply on edge) there was a small explosive noise and a puff of smoke that heralded the arrival of a small, wizened toad sitting on the back of one of the seats. The little creature had a thin grey beard and cast a few annoyed glances around the vehicle before settling on Naruto.

"Alright, boy," said the codgerly elder toad. "I've seen enough mission briefings to know somethin' serious is goin' on. What's the matter?"

"Oh my, a talking frog," noted Brook.

"Okay, so, I'll be quick, gramps," said Naruto. "Akatsuki is trying to take some legendary thousand year fruit, so we have to stop ' em. We need to know about… uhh…" he ticked the next points off on his fingers, "-the Rinnegan, the Sage of Six Paths, and a guy named Uchiha Madara. And, I guess anything about a big tree that makes you a god."

The elder toad, Fukasaku, sputtered and fell off-balance, his eyes bulging out of their sockets, and then he exploded into a cloud of smoke without another word.

"Uhh…" said Naruto, glancing uncertainly around. "I didn't end the summon, he just disappeared."

It was five more minutes of various people grilling Naruto about his habits of talking to toads before Fukasaku reappeared.

"Boy, summon up Ma," grunted the toad. "We've gotta talk ta ya together."

Naruto did as he was asked, and a moment later Granny Shima had joined them. The two elderly toads stared back at their pupil with grave and warty faces.

"Naruto-boy," said Shima, "The next time yer planning to fulfill your prophecy for the world's salvation, try ta give us an hour's warnin' or something first, alright?"

"The what?" asked Naruto. "The prophecy?! That's what this is about?"

"What's this about a prophecy?" asked Sakura.

Sasuke leaned over to explain. "Apparently Naruto was prophesied to save the world and bring about great peace and change. Something the toads told him had been foreseen for hundreds of years."

"W-what?!" gasped Hinata, turning on Naruto with open-mouthed shock.

"Wait, our Naruto?!" exclaimed Sakura. "Like Uzumaki Naruto?!"

"I'm just as perplexed as you two are," agreed Sasuke.

The toads cast a green glare in their direction before Fukasaku continued. "Why don't ya tell us what's goin' on, Naruto-boy. We wanna hear it from the beginnin', so don't you leave nothin' out, ya hear?"

Up in the driver's seat, Rayleigh moaned and dropped his head onto the controls with a honking noise. The two toads watched him warily, easily identifying the most dangerous man in the vehicle, but said nothing about his outburst. Eventually, Naruto and Sasuke did their best to explain the story for the umpteenth time, and Fukasaku heaved out a great sigh.

"A long, long time ago our Great Elder became friends with a man known as the Sage of Six Paths," he said. "That man possessed the Rinnegan, which gave him great power over every force in creation, and his bloodline would eventually result in what we know today as the Sharingan. The most powerful user of the Sharingan was a man named Madara."

Granny Shima gave her own input. "If yer wonderin' how savin' the world comes into all this, then I can tell ya that Madara is bad news. The absolute worst type of person to gain the power of a god. A bad man might be satisfied with takin' from others to enrich himself, but Madara was a desperate idealist. He'd break the world in half in pursuit of a better one, and it wouldn't matter to him what happened to everyone else who happened to be livin' in it at the time."

Naruto nodded, brow furrowed. "Right, I guess I figured as much. So we gotta stop Madara from being revived and then, what, put this fruit back or something? Throw it into the ocean? What do we do with it?"

The two toads looked sidelong at each other, then back to Naruto.

"What?" asked Naruto.

Fukasaku coughed. "I… I think the prophecy... means yer supposed to take it, Naruto-boy."

Several people stared dumbfounded at this, Naruto most of all.

"Err… what?"

"The prophecy says yer supposed to prevent an age of destruction and instead usher in a great era of peace at a time when the world teeters on the edge, and I can't imagine anything else it could mean besides this," admitted Fukasaku. "I mean, how else would ya do it? Hard work, determination, and the help of yer friends? Pah!"

Nobody else even said anything. It must have been a joke. There was a loud and horrible slurping sound from behind them as Brook ruthlessly murdered a cup of tea.

"No, no way!" yelled Naruto. "What the- what the hell are you even talking about?! You want ME to become a… a god?! Just 'cause some- some old toad made a prophecy or something?!"

"The Great Elder is always right," insisted Granny Shima. "Things may not always turn out the way they look on the surface, but I think it's more or less clear in this case. You gotta take it."

"What's that about a prophecy?" asked Rayleigh from up front.

"They say Naruto's supposed to save the world and keep the peace so they want him to get the fruit," said Sasuke, who looked deeply amused.

"Shit, why didn't you say so?" asked Rayleigh. "I was wondering what we were gonna do with the damn thing, and a prophecy's a hell of a lot better assurance than I usually get. Sure, we'll get him to take the fruit."

"Wha- NO!" shouted Naruto, overriding several others who were in the process of raising their own objections. "Are you all crazy?!" He shot an accusing glare at the toads. "You said that Jiraiya was gonna teach the guy who'd save the world, right? What combination of 'taught by Jiraiya' and 'god-like power' sounds like a smart idea to you?!"

Several people, the toads included, shared uncomfortable glances at this.

"Besides," continued Naruto. "Where is the old guy, huh? We should be getting his help for this!"

"Can't do it," said Shima. "Last time he came out here was only 'cause he made it all the way out to Mount Myoboku in person and waited for you to summon him. And even if he did make it here in time again, a human can't fight at full power while he's summoned. It'd be a waste of time. Just accept yer destiny already."

"I don't wanna hear it!" shouted Naruto.

"But-"

"No! Shut up about it, okay? If that prophecy's right or whatever then this peace is gonna happen whether I eat some damn fruit or not, so I'm doing this my way or not at all!"

"I don't think prophecy works that way…"

"Well figure it out already, 'cause I'm not doing it!"

The toads shared another glance, their matrimonial bonds communicating a great deal of information in just the barest moment. Fukasaku looked back to Naruto.

"Alright, boy, I won't argue no more. You'll be doin' what seems right at the time, I have no doubt. But you'll be callin' on us for help, you hear?"

Granny Shima nodded. "That's right. The whole clan's on high alert right now, so yer gettin' whatever help we can give ya. Call on us the instant you get into a pinch, and I won't hear ya talkin' back to me about that so don't even try."

That appeared to be the end of the discussion. The toads divulged what little the Great Elder had known of the Rinnegan's basic power-set and soon afterwards they disappeared back to the mountain where they had come from, leaving the Divine Tree Assault Force alone to prepare themselves for the final approach. They were getting closer and closer now.

"I think I see them," said Hinata. She pointed in a slightly different direction than they had been heading, and Rayleigh adjusted their course accordingly.

Others who were less familiar with the Byakugan's abilities looked out the wide windows out of reflex. It didn't help them. The ocean was visible more than a mile below, but they had yet to pass through the perpetual cloud cover guarding the upper reaches of the mountain.

Thus, as they approached the tree, it was up to Hinata to describe the defenses.

The tree itself was bursting with an energy that made it difficult for her to see clearly, but she was already getting good information. Emerging from the rock wall of the mountain, it was surrounded by a temple that was built in, on, and among the branches. There seemed to be three rough areas of interest.

First, was the bridge that connected the temple to the mountain, where the merman Kisame was looking out over the abyss. Second was the outer temple that contained a rock garden where Hidan and Kakuzu were lurking about. Last of all, further inside the temple, was a room of still pools and falling water where three stone coffins contained three people, living yet unconscious.

"Three?" asked Sasuke. "Would those be the three missing members of Akatsuki?"

Unfortunately, Hinata shook her head. "No. Not Ace, either. They have chakra systems kind of like ninjas, but they're definitely not Akatsuki. Someone's tied them up, so they could be the defenders of the temple that were left alive."

"Then… where are Tobi and the others?"

"Sorry…" said Hinata. "There is a room further inside the temple that I can't see inside. Something in the stones of that room is blocking my sight."

"Then that's where the Fruit is kept," insisted Rayleigh. "Probably where Ace is being held as well."

Luffy tensed up, looking out and up into sky with singular focus, but said nothing. Beside Hinata, Sakura muttered her thanks and patted her on the shoulder as Naruto gave her a grin that brought warmth to her cheeks. Then Sasuke turned to address the others.

"Alright," he said. "Several of us spent a while discussing this already, but Hinata's forewarning gives us a priceless opportunity here. We won't get another chance to choose how to fight these bastards, so we have to pick our opponents carefully. So… this is what I'm thinking…"

-Fifteen Minutes Later-

The wind was chilled up here, though not nearly as cold as you would have expected from being a few miles in the air. Kisame welcomed the cold. The tremendous arched bridge linking the temple to the mountainside had stone benches placed every so often where the monks could meditate before the open sky. Here, the sky was definitely below him. This far up the mountain, if one were to fall then you would keep falling for quite some time before you even reached the clouds On both sides of the bridge wooden siding that had been painted a brilliant vermillion kept the unwary from falling to their long-delayed demise, but even that protection was absent at these places of meditation, leaving nothing at all to hide you from the biting winds and nearly endless drop.

Kisame wondered, as his legs dangled over the edge, whether someone who fell here would hit the ocean or be dashed against the unyielding mountainside first. Obviously the mountain widened as it descended to sea-level, but he'd felt the rising air currents on their climb, and he was half-tempted to believe he could catch the updraft and soar out into the ocean instead.

He was also half-tempted to try.

He was thinking about this kind of thing a lot, recently. There was a lot he had been uncertain about in his life, but finally he was sure about one wonderful fact. The outside world suited him far more than that shut-in island ever had. One way or another, there was an entire ocean out there, just waiting for him. His fine scales itched to get started exploring right now, but of course that would be foolish. He was going to win his reward here at the Temple, and then he'd see about exploring. First things first would be going down to Fish-Man island to see if the merfolk there were worth protecting, and if they were…

He grinned. Well, maybe he'd see how the slavers liked being on the receiving end of their trade.

A faint noise caught his attention. Upon further consideration he realized it had been there in the background for a while now, but he'd lost his focus and failed to notice it earlier. He looked out. There, far off in the distance, was a flying vehicle headed for the Tree. Kisame stood up, and he felt an unexpected thrill run down his spine. They'd been found, but this didn't feel like the World Government. Who in the world could it be? A moment passed before he realized the puttering vehicle was heading directly for the temple itself, deep inside the recessed mountain shelter that shielded the Tree from prying eyes.

"Trying to sneak past me in that piece of junk?" chuckled Kisame, bringing both hands together. "Now where's the fun in that?"

"He's seen us!" shouted Hinata, analyzing his chakra flow in real time. "He's preparing a water technique!"

"A water jutsu at this distance?" asked Sakura, staring out the window at the barely-visible figure. "Why waste the chakra? We can't possibly be in range this far out..."

An orb of water formed out of nothing before the man's hands, swirling faster and faster until it became a spherical floating whirlpool. Moments later, the whirlpool ball spun until the concave side was facing them. It shuddered slightly from several tiny adjustments and then fired. A lance of high-pressure water stabbed outward from its center, passing smoothly through nearly a quarter mile of air to scrape just underneath their van, and then Kisame began dragging the beam upwards like a scalpel.

"I was wrong!" shouted Sakura. "Right! Hard right!"

The van banked right as quickly as possible, and the beam barely missed. That, however, was only the start. The Akatsuki merman had phenomenal amounts of chakra to burn, and continued to slash through the sky with his water-sabre as if it cost him nothing at all. They broke into frantic evasive maneuvers, forcing the crew to grab desperately onto anything stable as Rayleigh bounced them through the sky.

Then, with a horrible screeching noise, a great rent appeared in the rear of the vehicle and a shower of ice-cold water splashed inside. A scrap of torn metal cut into Hinata's creek, and she suddenly found her hand-hold give way, but quickly latched onto the floor with her chakra to avoid being pulled out the nearby hole. Chopper was not so lucky, but a quick stretch by Luffy grabbed the screaming young boy before he could fly away into the great blue yonder.

-Stone Garden of Roaring Tranquility-

Kakuzu looked up as the faint noise of abused metal reached his ears.

"Someone's here," he said, glancing in Hidan's direction. Hidan yawned and lazily pulled a nearby rope connected to a bell deep in the temple.

Soon, the alarm had been raised.

Wind was roaring through the torn vehicle, and the van shuddered in the air for a moment. With a speed that would have shocked anyone not familiar with him, Usopp transitioned from weeping openly in his seat to grasping his staff and lunging back towards the hole. Taking aim through the sucking void in the wildly shaking vehicle's chassis he pulled back the sling, took a deep breath, and then fired. The projectile soared through the open sky, dropping and rising as it hit multiple wild air currents, but it homed in unerringly nonetheless. It struck the floating whirlpool cannon with no visible effect, until a moment later when the water thickened and set. Rapidly absorbing the chemical gel weapon, the water-sabre flickered, sputtered, and then cut out entirely as the ball dropped away and out of Kisame's control.

"Nice shot!" yelled Naruto, punching Usopp on the shoulder. "Alright, let's get away from this guy before he fires again!"

"No way," said Rayleigh, as he glanced once more to the mirror beside him. "The van might be in alright enough shape, but he grazed the bubble during that last pass. I don't know how long this thing is going to last with the chemicals washed away, and when it goes-"

Rayleigh's words were lost as Usopp began screaming and gibbering to get them to land immediately. There really wasn't any choice. They angled down for the first piece of flat land they could reach, and the bubble popped just an instant after they passed overhead. Lacking any lift, the bubble-van dropped out of the air and crashed into the stones of the mountainside platform. It skidded across the ground, screeching and kicking up sparks until it reached a halt just meters from the edge.

"Out! Out!" yelled Rayleigh, though others were already evacuating through the doors and windows.

The crew found themselves outside the smoking ruins of the vehicle on a stone platform several hundred feet wide that was set into the side of the mountain. Ahead of them lay the great bridge guarded by their first opponent, and behind them sat a tremendous gate that sealed off the passage to Mariejois. Above and below them stretched the dizzying heights and depths of the Red Line.

"Oh hell," moaned Usopp. "How are we supposed to get back with our ride a burnt hunk of scrap, huh? Huh?! Tell me we're not stuck up here!"

"No time for that," said Rayleigh, hurrying off towards the bridge. "If we win then we'll have all the power we need to get out of here anyway. Focus only on victory! Now let's go!"

Something about his words or his aura spurred them into action, and soon the fifteen members of the assault force were charging down the bridge towards the temple. The Straw-Hats and others advanced across the solid stone bridge at a run, and before their first opponent had even come into view a dark aura washed over their spirits. It took a moment to realize that this sense of apprehension wasn't coming from Kisame at all. Zoro's footfalls echoed on the stones like drums of war, and the air around him seemed almost too thick to breathe.

Nami looked nervously to their scowling swordsman. Normally she'd knock him over the head if he seemed more uncomfortably murderous than usual, but even she was a bit reluctant to try that now.

"Zoro, what's wrong?" she asked.

He was silent for a moment, and then accelerated to the front of the pack, where Rayleigh was setting the pace.

"This one's mine," said Zoro.

Rayleigh gave him a sidelong glance. "No promises. You're welcome to it, but if I see a chance to take one of them out then I'll take it."

The murderous aura returned, but Rayleigh was unfazed.

"So, this guy uses water, right?" asked Usopp, sounding both nervous and relieved. "I would have thought he would have tried to fight in an enclosed room or something. What good is water on an open bridge?"

There was an explosive noise, and Usopp's question was immediately answered.

"Sweet mother of mercy, no!" screamed Usopp, as a crashing wave of water blasted into view over the gentle curve of the bridge. It bulldozed down the path, not at all constrained by the siding as more and more water was pushed behind it, pouring over the sides in great gouts that tossed stones and debris out into the open sky.

Even Zoro and Rayleigh stopped for a moment, but Sakura kept running. She charged through to the front and brought both hands down.

[DOTON: DORYU HEKI]

A thick wall of sharply-angled earth rose up from the flagstones, shielding them from the oncoming water. It hit the wall with a booming crash and blasted over the sides of the bridge. Rayleigh followed up her deflection by leaping over the wall, jumping nearly a hundred feet into the air as he rose and then descended upon Kisame's position like a vengeful falcon. The Fish-Man looked upwards in shock, and then Rayleigh put a fist straight through his chest and out the other side.

Kisame wavered for a moment and then exploded into a shower of ocean-spray.

"Shit!" cursed Rayleigh. "Yep! Ninjas are still a pain in the ass!"

"Behind!" called Hinata.

Kisame landed lightly a few hundred feet behind them, and his fingers flickered through the patterns of another water technique. Before anyone could stop him, another one of the floating whirlpool cannons appeared in front of him. Several eyes went to Usopp as they hoped for a repeat of his earlier trick with the gel, but the way the sniper screamed and tried desperately to scramble over Sakura's wall seemed to indicate he had no more of those left.

Then the cannon fired.

"Over the side!" shouted Robin, putting her advice into action and leaping over the edge. "Jump!"

This was, perhaps, the most suspicious suggestion any of them had ever heard in their lives. Sasuke dashed out into the sky and began jumping off of the air, and Luffy stretched off into the distance, but everyone else besides Rayleigh hesitated and was yanked off their feet by chains of sprouting arms that pulled them screaming over the sides. The arm chains anchored themselves to the underside of the bridge, swinging everyone in a tremendous loop that sent them flying into the air above the unfathomable dip. Just when everyone thought their hearts would never start beating again they were dropped onto land, far further down the bridge and away from combat. Stumbling from the sudden acrobatic abuse, the assembled fighters charged onward toward the temple and away from the attacking Fish-Man.

Then, once everyone had regained their footing, only three people remained standing on the field of battle. 'Slicing Rain' Hoshigaki Kisame, 'Pirate-Hunter' Roronoa Zoro, and a very, very confused 'Sniper Crow' Usopp.

Zoro stood between the Fish-Man and the temple, but it took a moment for Usopp to realize that he alone out of all the rest of them had been sent backwards by Robin's throw. Now, he and Zoro had Kisame surrounded.

With excruciating care, Usopp began quietly backing away towards the remains of the van. The two swordsman were staring across at each other, eyes locked as if nothing in the world mattered, but it never hurt to be careful.

"Usopp," whispered a voice right next to his left ear. He shrieked a little bit, but he kept it quiet.

"R-Robin?!" he answered back, catching a glimpse of a mouth and ear sprouting from his shoulder. "V-very funny, but you put me down on the wrong side of the bridge! Fix it!"

"You and I are right where we need to be."

He looked around in growing confusion, but didn't see even the slightest hint of Robin's presence. Focusing his goggles on the departing main body of their attack force failed to identify her either. She was just gone. "Wait, where even are you? You left me here alone?!"

"I'm still here with you," she said. "I'm staying hidden for now, but I'm more needed out here than with the others. Listen to me. Though I would never say this to Zoro's face, if this Fish-Man is as ruthless as I fear he is then I have my doubts that Zoro can win this fight. Kisame has no reason to fight fair here, and falling for one single trick in this ninja's arsenal could be fatal on this terrain."

"Wha- wha- what are you saying? That means we run, right?"

Robin's next words froze his blood.

"No, we can't possibly escape this man now," said Robin's disembodied mouth, pronouncing their doom with an almost scholarly detachment. "He has far too many ways to chase us down and kill us even if Zoro were willing to run from here in the first place. But it doesn't matter. With my help, Zoro should be able to fight."

"You think the two of you together can win this?"

She chuckled. "No, it won't be our job to win this. We can only fight him. The task of winning, oh ninja-in-training, belongs... to you."

A/N: I do actually have some buffer written this time. The next chapter will be out December 12.