SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR (MOST) DISCLAIMERS
PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGE
-CHAPTER START-
Sora, Donald, & Goofy were surprised when the Keyblade led them to a more familiar place: the Hidden Leaf Village on the shinobi world. Everything looked peaceful, and the people seemed to be trying to set things up for an upcoming festival.
"Everything seems fine to me" Sora said as he, Donald, & Goofy strolled along Konoha's streets under the moonlight. "I wonder why the Keyblade guided us here…"
"Maybe somethin' bad's about to happen," Goofy suggested, "and we're meant to be able to help when it does."
Donald looked up at the night sky. "The moon looks big tonight…"
"Yo! Sora!" a familiar voice called out.
Recognizing two figures approaching, Sora grinned and waved. "Naruto! And Hinata! What are you two doing out & about so late?" He gave a knowing smirk. "Spending a little 'quality time' together?"
Naruto blushed a little and gave a nervous grin, while Hinata went red and tried to turn away.
"We're… testing the waters, as it were" he said. "All things pretty good so far!"
"I even made him a scarf" Hinata admitted with a shy smile, pointing to the red scarf Naruto was wearing.
"Good for you guys" Sora said with a warm smile.
"So, what brings you three here?" Naruto asked.
"We're not really sure" Donald replied. "There doesn't seem to be any trouble…"
"And we haven't seen any Heartless or Unversed around" Hinata said. "Odd…"
Suddenly, the ground began to shake. It wasn't very strong, just a light rumbling that went on for several seconds, making windows rattle but causing no real damage.
"Another one?" Hinata murmured.
"Been having mini-quakes like that recently?" Sora asked.
"For the past week or so, yeah" Naruto replied. "I'm just hopin' they aren't precursors to a much bigger quake…"
Hinata looked up at the moon, a worried frown on her face.
"It's strange…" she said. "I've always felt nice inside, looking up at the moon. But lately, it's been giving me an uneasy feeling. And… it looks almost as if it's gotten bigger lately."
The others joined her in looking up at the moon.
"I think I get what you mean…" Sora said.
Suddenly, Donald squawked in alarm as the group caught sight of a point of light coming from the moon. The light grew and grew, and soon they and everyone else in the village looked up in awe and alarm as a meteorite streaked overhead, a sonic boom rattling buildings and cracking glass. The meteorite passed over the Hokage Mountain, vanishing from view. A few seconds later, there was a bright light that lasted a few seconds, followed by a loud rumble as the impact shockwave hit.
"Did it come from the moon?" Goofy asked. "That don't bode well…"
"I've found you at last…" a new voice suddenly spoke. "My princess…"
Startled slightly by the sudden voice, since none of them had sensed anyone's presence nearby, the heroes turned to see someone emerge from the shadows. He was a young-looking man with bone-white skin and bluish-white shaggy hair, and his eyes were currently closed. He appeared to be wearing a white high-collared kimono (open at the top to reveal magatama tattoos) tied with a black belt, along with a pale-green sash tied at his right shoulder. Hands in black fingerless gloves poked out from within the long sleeves of his kimono, and his white feet were clad in black shinobi sandals.
Naruto frowned, suspicious. "Who are you and how did you get into the village undetected?"
"Ah yes," the newcomer replied, "the sensory field you people have established around this city is quite advanced. I actually had to put some effort into bypassing it. As for who I am…" He bowed theatrically, still not opening his eyes. "My name is Toneri – Ōtsutsuki Toneri, descendant of Ōtsutsuki Hamura."
Hearing that familiar name, Naruto & Hinata immediately went on edge.
"Hamura…" Naruto said. "The Six-Paths Sage's younger brother…"
"And how would a Terran know of that name?"
The blond scowled. "I am Uzumaki Naruto, and I am the bearer of Ōtsutsuki Asura's reincarnated chakra."
Toneri's eyebrows rose. "I see. …However, you are not what I came for." He turned to face Hinata. "I have come to court you, o Byakugan Princess."
Caught off-guard by the sudden proclamation, Hinata then grabbed Naruto's arm. "I'm already spoken for" she said.
Toneri's ever-present calm smile faded. "…We shall see how long that lasts."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora asked, summoning his Keyblade. "Didn't your folks ever teach you that when a girl says 'no', it means 'no'?"
"A Keyblade… No, the Keyblade – the first one. To think the chosen key-bearer would visit this world… But I sense the power of chakra within you; to think that you, too, would be corrupted…"
"What are you talking about?" Donald scowled, staff in hand. "Stop being so cryptic!"
"If you're plannin' on causin' trouble 'round these parts," Goofy said, "you'd best reconsider and make tracks. We don't wanna fight ya, but we will if you decide to start somethin'."
Toneri hmphed. "You wish for a clear and concise explanation as to why I have come and what I have planned? Very well, then. My noble ancestor Hamura stayed behind on the moon after he & his brother defeated the 10-Tails and sealed its empty shell within the moon, to watch for any signs of activity from it and deter any who would attempt to access it. He gave life to many children, who would become we of the Ōtsutsuki who dwell within & upon the moon. And in his later years, he made a decree: should the people of this world corrupt the peaceful principles of ninshuu and not recant their ways… it is our duty – my duty – to use the power of my clan's chakra and technology to destroy this corrupt world by dropping the moon on it."
Naruto, Hinata, & Team Sora gasped in shocked horror, and then looked up at the moon, which they now could definitely tell was bigger in the sky than it was meant to be.
Naruto stepped forward. "I know we've had a bloody history of fighting and grudges for a long time," he said, "but we've finally conquered that and made a lasting peace! After so long, all the shinobi villages are cooperating, helping each other, friendships and love being formed between people from different villages on scales never seen before! Stopping Madara and his disciple brought the world together!"
"And now that the greater threat is passed," Toneri replied, "how long before old grudges return to the forefront? This peace will not last. You people have perverted the Sages' teachings, and you shall face judgment. The Earth's gravity will tear the moon apart, and the fragments will bombard this world, scouring it of the corrupt chakra-using humanity." He faced Hinata. "And after this world has been cleansed, we shall repopulate it with a new, purer incarnation. The Hyuuga clan is descended from Hamura's son who remained here on Earth. The melding of the Divine Sage chakra of the Ōtsutsuki clan and the power of the Byakugan shall give rise to that eye's ultimate form, the Byakugan's answer to the Sharingan's final Rinnegan state: the Tenseigan. With that holy power, our lineage shall repopulate the ravaged world, and never again shall Hagoromo's teachings be corrupted by the pursuit of power and violence!"
Hinata's eyes activated as she fixed the man with an angry glare. "Even without taking into account that you intend to steal me away from Naruto, if you think for even a moment that I would cooperate with a plan of genocide, you are sorely mistaken!"
Toneri sighed, and opened his eyes… revealing, to everyone's disgusted shock, that he had no eyes, his black empty sockets on display. "I was so hoping that you would come willingly, my princess. No matter. I will do what must be done, for the next humanity…"
Several humanoid figures in dark-grey robes emerged flanking Toneri, their heads wrapped in bandages. Most were identical, but there was an especially huge one at least 7 feet tall. Everyone got ready to fight, Naruto's body shimmering with an orange aura of Kurama's chakra.
"…Guys," he said, "Kurama says those things are chakra puppets – no minds, no will. Don't hold back."
The puppets charged, and the heroes moved to meet them. One of Toneri's puppets went for a flying kick at Naruto, who grabbed it by the ankle and slammed it to the ground with enough force to tear its leg off. Donald blasted another puppet with a Firaga spell, scorching its grey cloak, and when two of them leapt at Hinata, she used Hakkeshō Kaiten to fling them away, bent and broken. Toneri began to approach Hinata at a leisurely pace, only to leap back to dodge a falling strike from Sora, Keyblade clanging against the stone paving; he wasn't sure if the ancient magic of the Keyblade would be able to hurt him, but he wasn't taking chances.
As Sora kept Toneri on the defensive for the moment, the rest of the gang kept fighting the puppets. The puppets were more durable than regular people would be, able to keep going after taking damage that would cripple or kill organic targets, but they weren't indestructible. Goofy had taken a couple down, crushing their wooden heads and shattering mechanical joints, and Donald had burned a few of them to cinders with high-power Fire spells. Naruto & Hinata caught the big one in a pincer move with a double Rasengan, shredding into it and blowing it to bits.
Suddenly, Naruto's Omnitool lit up. "Naruto!" a familiar voice spoke over the comm.
"Sasuke?"
"Some puppet goons just tried to attack and abduct Hyuuga Hanabi. Neji & I stopped them; he's taking her to Hokage-sama for safety, and I'm making my way to you now. I can sense chakra flaring from your location; what's happening?"
Naruto grunted as he kicked another puppet away. "Ōtsutsuki Hamura had kids, and one of his descendants, a creep named Toneri, is here now. He's gone bad, Sasuke; he's trying to smash the moon into the Earth, and he's trying to kidnap Hinata as a concubine or something! Sora, Donald, & Goofy are here with me & Hinata; Sora's keeping Toneri busy at the moment, but I'd appreciate your help in bringing this guy in or at least chasing him off!"
"I'm almost there, and I can sense Guy-sensei closing in on you guys, too. Hang tight!"
Only a handful of seconds later, a green blur heralded a Dynamic Entry that sent Toneri flying into and through a playground structure in a nearby park; Toneri had sensed Might Guy coming, but Guy had moved so fast that he still had no chance to evade. Sasuke arrived on-site moments later, his sword crackling with lightning chakra as he split one of Toneri's puppets in half down the middle. Another puppet went for Guy from behind, but a Strike Raid from Sora took its head off, and Guy then crushed the head under his heel before the puppet could try to reclaim it.
Toneri strolled out of the rubble, unharmed but for a couple scratches & scuffs on his kimono. Sensing the Divine chakra in Sasuke, he frowned.
"Indra's reincarnated chakra as well? How disconcerting. And a powerful close-combat specialist joining the fray, too." He began to float up & away. "Savor what time you have left, Terrans. Your world will soon meet its end. And Lady Hinata… by choice or by force, sooner or later, you will be mine…"
With a flicker, he vanished, and the few remaining puppets vanished as he Summoned them away.
"Another Ōtsutsuki?" Might Guy asked.
"Yep" Sora replied. "From the sound of it, he's the Six-Paths Sage's great-great-whole-buncha-greats nephew – a direct descendant of the Sage's brother."
"We should report to the Hokage," Hinata said, "tell her everything we've learned…"
-Break-
Sora, Donald, & Goofy joined Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, & Guy in the Hokage's office; along with Tsunade, there was also Shizune (and Tonton), Kakashi, Sakura, Itachi, Jiraiya, Neji, & Hanabi. After the team who'd engaged Toneri gave their reports to Jiraiya, he'd collated them into a coherent narrative which he'd given to Tsunade, who in turn shared it with the other Kagé.
"I'm glad you three have come to visit us" Tsunade said to Team Sora. "I just wish you hadn't gotten caught up in such a mess."
"It's no problem, ma'am" Sora replied. "Happy to help!" His smile dropped. "Besides, it sounds like this Toneri character is major bad news; might as well stick around and help you guys see this mess through."
The blonde woman sighed and nodded. "Yes. After what you all have told us about what Toneri said…" She keyed in a few commands at her terminal, and four TSAB-designed holoscreens lit up, showing the other four Kagé – Gaara, Mei, Ohnoki, & Ay. "You all read the report on what's going on?"
"Yes" Gaara replied. "Seems the Ōtsutsuki aren't done causing us trouble yet."
"All the hard work we shinobi have put into ending the cycle of hatred," Ay growled, "how we've fought shoulder to shoulder, forging bonds and letting go of grudges, bringing peace to the world… and this cocky little shit has the gall to demean our bonds and sacrifices and decide to annihilate us all…!"
"And he can't seem to grasp that 'no means no'…" Mei added. "From what you kids told us, he acts as if he's entitled to Hinata-san…"
"And if he gets hold of her," Ohnoki said, "he could access a power on par with the Rinnegan…"
"So," Kakashi spoke up, "how do we stop Toneri from killing us all?"
"Keep any Hyuuga below a certain level of combat ability from getting anywhere near him, for starters" Ay suggested. "Hinata-san, her cousin, and her father are probably strong enough to fend him off, especially with similarly-capable backup, but as for the rest of their clan…"
"If we can beat Toneri," Sora said, "that'll probably stop the moon's approach, right?"
"He's probably retreated back where he came from" Jiraiya replied. "We'd have to pursue him to the moon and deal with him there. And not only would he have home-turf advantage, but even if we used Team Sora's ship to get here, I'll bet that whatever base of operations he's in has defenses against that kind of intrusion."
"So we'll need a different way to get to the moon," Mei said, "or a way to lure him back to Earth and keep him from retreating."
"That first one may actually be feasible" Itachi spoke up. "Recently, I've been traveling around the Elemental Nations, seeking for any information about Kaguya – ruins, scriptures, anything. In an old cavern, I found a complex gateway of sorts. I didn't pass through it, but my Eternal Mangekyō enabled me to read the inscriptions within. The gateway is a portal to the Moon. I assumed it was perhaps something the Sage and/or his brother used way back when, but regrettably I did not have time to investigate more thoroughly. Still, the portal should still be functional."
"Which means we can get to Toneri and put a stop to his crazy scheme!" Donald said.
"…Itachi, Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, Sora, Donald, Goofy" Tsunade stood. "Find that portal, see if it works. If it does, go through and neutralize Toneri, one way or another."
"Do you have a plan in case we are defeated?" Itachi asked.
"If all else fails," Ay replied, "we of Kumo have developed a surface-to-orbit chakra cannon. We're already bringing it out to help fend off the chunks of moon-meteor that'll be raining down soon. It also has a function that will let us catch the Moon in a dimensional dislocation that will shunt it into another dimension – likely in pieces. I have faith you folks can stop Toneri, but in the event you can't…"
"You'll do what needs to be done in order to protect the planet" Kakashi said. "Understood."
"Welp," Naruto said, "we'd better get a move on. Lead the way, nii-san."
Itachi smiled a little; since Naruto & Sasuke had basically adopted each other as brothers, that sorta made him Naruto's big brother now, and he was totally fine with that.
-Break-
A D79 Pelican outfitted for stealth ops made what would've been a several-day journey on foot (even at shinobi speeds) into one of just a few hours. It was still the middle of the night, sunrise a few hours away, when the team set down a few miles from their destination and made the rest of the way on foot, just in case Toneri or his puppets had a presence around the portal's location.
Itachi led them to the hidden cave he'd found previously, and everyone treaded carefully as they made their way inside. There were no signs of traps or puppets or anything, but they couldn't help but feel tense as they moved deeper into unknown territory. Soon, they reached a spacious chamber that Itachi claims was the last big room before the one that had the portal in it.
"There's a dark presence in here" Sora spoke up. "But it doesn't feel anything like Toneri or his puppet-things…" His eyes widened. "It feels like Unversed!"
Indeed, several Unversed of various types sprang up all around the heroes, who immediately went on guard, weapons ready.
"Such fascinating creatures" a flanging voice said. "Fledgling emotions given life and form by dark power, drawn to sources of negative emotions that they can then use to strengthen and make more of themselves… It's a shame that I can't reliably usurp and maintain control of them."
A small figure floated in, wreathed in dull red motes of light. Seeing the malevolent masked Mobian, Sora scowled and readied his Keyblade.
"Infinite… What are you up to this time?"
"Hmph" the masked jackal crossed his arms. "You think I'd just let you put an end to the panic and mass destruction Toneri aims to cause without trying to stop you? I've always wanted to see what it's like to watch a world burn, and you people seek to deny me that…"
"So you and Joker really don't have some grandiose or nebulous goal like the Seekers or the Sorceresses" Sakura frowned. "You two just wanna see & cause death and destruction for the sake of it."
Infinite shrugged. "I don't really see much point in coming up with complex justifications for simple desires."
He raised a hand, calling upon the Phantom Ruby's power, and the Unversed's eyes flashed red as they fell under his control. As the darklings began to advance on the squad of heroes, a shimmering red barrier suddenly sprang up, trapping Sora and Sakura in with Infinite.
(BOSS MUSIC: Sonic Forces – Infinite 2nd Battle)
"I suppose I can help Toneri along by either killing a few of you 'heroes'," Infinite said, "or at least keeping you occupied and giving him a little more time to work with."
"Or," Sakura punched her palm, "we could put you down, here and now."
Infinite waved his arm, releasing a slicing wave of blood-red energy imbued with the Phantom Ruby's unique power. Sakura, informed beforehand of how the Ruby's power could pull its victims into literally-deadly genjutsu, leapt clear while Sora defended with a Reflect spell. While still airborne, Sakura flung a few exploding-tag kunai at Infinite, who let himself drop out of the air to dodge them; he then formed a shimmering barrier of red energy to block Sora's Keyblade strikes, but then grunted as the youth hit him with a Thunder spell that bypassed his shield.
The experienced shinobi quickly finished off the Unversed in the area, and now gathered around the edge of the crimson barrier, watching the fight. Sora fired a wave of Light-type Sagitta Magica that spread outward and then zipped in at Infinite from multiple angles, while Sakura charged at Infinite from behind, boxing him in. Choosing which attack he could deal with being hit by better, Infinite leapt high, dodging Sakura's bone-crushing blow, and some of Sora's magic bolts struck him, knocking him back a little.
Growling softly behind his mask, Infinite used his dark artifact's power to conjure a sentient 'phantom' of Akebino Jinin, the Mist Swordsman wielder of "Kabutowari / Helm-Splitter". Phantom-Jinin went after Sakura, the two shinobi starting to duke it out and leaving Sora to face Infinite one-on-one. Sora leapt and rolled around to dodge tendrils of red energy that looked vaguely like a mass of tiny cubes acting as single tentacles, and took advantage of a split-second opening to blitz in with a Sonic Blade strike that left Infinite reeling, the masked jackal snarling as a red aura 'glitched' around him.
"You are irritating" he growled.
"I've made a habit of ticking off villains" Sora replied with a little smirk.
Infinite's fingers twitched, and a wave of dark-red 'arrows' shot out – he was copying Sagitta Magica. Sora dodged some and swatted others away with his Keyblade, but then Infinite closed in and struck with a fist enveloped in red energy. As Sora was sent staggering back by the punch, everything around him was tinted red, and he suddenly found himself surrounded by a dozen Infinites, each of them readying deadly spears of energy. They all fired, and Sora surrounded himself with a Reflega dome, the interlocking hexagons of defensive magic shuddering as they withstood the impacts. The moment he lowered the barrier, the Infinites all charged at him, but Sora pulled off a "Circle Raid", making his Strike-Raid Keyblade orbit around him like a buzzsaw of light, cutting through all of the 'fake' Infinites and smashing the real one away, also breaking the Phantom-Ruby genjutsu.
As Infinite regained his balance and fought through the pain, Sakura managed to destroy the Phantom-Jinin and then came in from the side, catching Infinite by surprise enough that he didn't completely avoid her punch, his mask now bearing a couple of small cracks. Letting out a low growl, the Mobian flung a handful of energy 'daggers' at Sakura, but a Reflect spell from Sora protected her while she formed a pair of Earth Release Clones. The doppelgangers charged and engaged Infinite, keeping him on his toes as he tried to avoid their crushing punches.
Finally, Infinite managed to destroy Sakura's Earth Clones… and then Sora, in Valor Form, came flying in courtesy of Sakura's full-strength toss, crashing into Infinite fist-first. Infinite was sent tumbling back, crashing into the rock wall of the cavern. As he pulled himself free and got to his feet, his mask fell apart, pieces of twisted metal clattering to the rocky ground to reveal a canid-type Mobian, the top half of his face black-furred and the bottom white, with a yellow left eye and blue right eye, the latter bearing a white scar over it (from a previous injury where he just barely avoided losing the eye), along with another scar on his left cheek from his first fight against Shadow.
Snarling, his eyes glowing red with the Phantom Ruby's power, Infinite glared at Sora & Sakura with pure, utter hatred at being unmasked and exposed. He was unsteady on his feet, and his vision was a little blurred. Despite his rage, he knew that he couldn't take them both on while a concussion was hampering him, so he opened a red warp-gate and retreated for medical attention and a new mask.
(MUSIC END)
As the red barrier came down, the others hurried over.
"That's what he looks like under the mask?" Naruto said. "He doesn't even look that bad! Just a couple scars…"
"I don't think the scars were why he wore the mask" Kakashi replied. "It's probably his way of distancing himself from who he used to be, just like Obito and his 'Tobi' persona."
"As soon as these two have caught their breath," Itachi said, "we'll move on."
After a few minutes' rest, the squad headed deeper into the cave. Soon, they reached the chamber of shimmering light that was the portal to the moon…
"Well, that wasn't here last time" Itachi remarked, looking at the huge 'lake' of bright green chakra in a liquid-like form.
Sasuke activated his Rinnegan, analyzing the odd substance. "It's a genjutsu trap" he said. "It's Toneri's. …Nii-san, 'link' with me; between your knowledge of genjutsu and my Rinnegan's power, we should be able to get this outta our way."
Itachi nodded, pressing his fist to Sasuke's, and their minds & chakra linked. Together, the two brothers managed to destabilize the complex genjutsu trap Toneri had placed, watching as it came apart and then vanished in a burst of green sparkles. The team carefully made their way down through the dark pit that was revealed, using floating spherical rocks that littered the space as stepping-stones.
They knew they'd passed through the gateway when they fell through a wide ring of light and felt a brief static charge wash over them. Soon, they emerged from the cavern… and were stunned speechless at the world they found themselves in. They were in the heart of a forest bordered by a mountain, and there looked to be a village carved into the base of the mountain. Up above, an artificial sun shone down.
"Is… Is this world's moon a Shield World?" Sora asked.
"No" Naruto replied. "We know for a fact our moon formed naturally. This… This must've been something the Sage and his brother made."
"We should head for that village up ahead" Kakashi said. "Maybe we'll find something we can use, or at least some information."
-Break-
The village turned out to be long abandoned, its former occupants having either left or died off centuries ago. The heroes found a few odds & ends – old fables, genealogy records – but nothing truly useful. Then, however, they came across the entrance to a huge underground chamber filled with burial mounds, all in neat little rows. Donald and Goofy took their hats off, held to their chests, they and everyone else reverently quiet, as it sank in that they were in a cemetery.
"They all appear to have been placed at roughly the same time" Itachi observed. "Something wiped these people out in one fell swoop…"
Suddenly, everyone could feel a strange 'presence' in the air. It felt old and powerful, but not malevolent. Then, echoes of footsteps rang out as a figure appeared – transparent, wreathed in white light. He was an old man with long off-white hair, pale white skin, a pair of horns sprouting from his forehead, and Byakugan eyes. Seeing him and sensing the magnitude of his presence, the shinobi gasped and bowed.
"Ōtsutsuki Hamura…" Kakashi breathed out.
"Young guardians of peace…" Hamura's spirit began. "I wish to apologize. My ignorant young descendant, Toneri, has grossly misinterpreted the decree I gave so long ago. You must stop him before all that my brother & I worked for is obliterated. The primary weapon with which he is enacting his plan is an energy vessel composed of hundreds of Byakugan eyes, ritually removed by him & his clansmen over the century, imbued with our clan's chakra to approximate a Tenseigan."
"So," Sora said, "we smash or disable that, and the moon will stop falling?"
"Yes, but it is not quite as easy as you make it sound. Only divine chakra can destabilize and destroy it; the vessel will harmlessly absorb any other chakra used against it." He turned his gaze to Hinata. "Byakugan Princess, my descendant, so pure of heart and strong of will, I bestow upon you a gift, with which wayward young Toneri's plot can be stopped."
Hamura's violet chakra flowed into Hinata, gathering around her eyes. She gasped as she floated a few inches off the ground, a bluish-purple glow emitting from her eyes. When she descended a few seconds later, she opened her eyes to reveal a startling transformation. The pale pupiless whitish-lavender of her Byakugan had changed to bear blue pupils in the middle of overlapping white flower patterns that glowed faintly over sky-blue irises. The others could sense the power now within Hinata's eyes, while she was breath-taken by the pure, bright, otherworldly power she now carried.
"With the true Tenseigan," Hamura said, "the power inherited from me, you will be able to disrupt Toneri's pseudo-Tenseigan weapon." He turned his gaze to Naruto and Sasuke, a small smile on his lips. "I can sense my brother's donated power in your beloved, as well as that of his son. And my brother's eyes, the Rinnegan, in Indra's descendant. With all of that at your hands, as well as the chosen bearer of the First Keyblade, I am confident that you all can prevent the mass destruction Toneri seeks to bring about.
"And, to tip the odds in our favor a little more…" he then looked to Kakashi. "The one who gave you that eye used a fragment of my brother's chakra to do it. Some of that chakra still sleeps within; I shall awaken it…"
A tiny tendril of purple chakra from Hamura reached out and flowed around Kakashi's left eye. The veteran shinobi stiffened as he felt power pulse within his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, and suddenly everything he saw with it looked even clearer, and he could see flows of energy and presence he'd been blind to before. As Kakashi looked to his former students, Sasuke's Rinnegan eyes stared into the single Rinnegan that now sat within Kakashi's left socket.
Hamura's spirit began to fade. "The artificial sun outside contains Toneri's base of operations, as well as the Tenseigan Energy Vessel. Go, children, and save our worlds. I know you can do it…"
With that, the ancient spirit returned to the afterworld. As the heroes made their way back to the surface outside, Kakashi suddenly spoke up:
"Naruto? Throw something at me."
"Huh?" the blonde tilted his head. "…Okay."
Kakashi got a bit of distance from everyone else, and Naruto lazily threw a fist-sized rock, aimed at the thickest-armored part of Kakashi's jacket. The rock was promptly pulverized into dust by the Shinra Tensei shockwave Kakashi produced, a tiny crater formed in the ground beneath his feet. Then, having 'seen' and felt the power Kakashi called on and realizing she could feel it inside herself too, Hinata extended her palm at a boulder several meters away, focused her intent and incanted "Banshō Ten'in". Attractive force pulled the boulder to her, to the others' surprise.
"Does the Tenseigan have the same powers as the Rinnegan?" Sakura asked.
Closing her eyes, Hinata focused her awareness on her new power. "…Not all of them, I don't think" she replied. "Manipulating attraction & repulsion, and being granted affinity for all five of the core chakra elements, but not the Rinnegan's other abilities like resurrection, soul removal, creature summoning, and the like." She turned her Tenseigan's gaze on the artificial sun. "I can see a mass of energy that must be the pseudo-Tenseigan energy vessel Hamura-san told us about. I can also make out what looks like a portal leading into and out of the fake sun. It's shut right now, and I don't know how to get it open."
"Why don't we get 'em to open it for us?" Goofy suggested. "We could get in close enough to draw some of the bad guys out, and then use that chance to slip inside!"
"That could work" Kakashi replied. "Normally, I'd give myself and Hinata a bit more time to get used to our new abilities, but time isn't something we have much of to spare right now. We need to get up there as soon as possible."
Sora summoned his Keyblade and converted it into its Glider form, hopping aboard. Focusing his chakra, Sasuke summoned four enormous hawks.
"Two per person" he told the group.
Naruto & Hinata got aboard one hawk, Sasuke & Itachi on a second, Kakashi & Sakura on the third, and Donald & Goofy on the fourth. Everyone took off, heading for the huge artificial sun high in the 'sky'. Goofy put his goggles over his eyes, the shinobi all pulled out and donned protective goggles from their field pouches, and Donald used magic to protect his & Sora's eyes from the bright light.
As they got in close, Kakashi and Sakura flung exploding-tag kunai at the surface of the huge bright sphere. Seconds later, a big circular portal opened up, and a large squadron of Toneri's puppets flew out riding large black & grey bird summons. The puppets started firing ki blasts at the heroes, who returned fire as best they could while making a beeline for the open accessway. Once inside, they were met by the sight of numerous floating islands and chunks of rock, with two particular formations near the 'center': a chunk of stone over half a mile across that had a sizable estate and castle built into its top, and a huge crescent-shaped formation of floating stone with a sphere of stone floating in the middle. Kakashi, Itachi, Sasuke, & Hinata all focused their gazes on the two formations.
"Toneri is in the castle" Hinata said. "And there's a huge amount of Ōtsutsuki chakra in that sphere-shaped mass; I'll bet that's the pseudo-Tenseigan energy vessel Toneri is making use of."
Kakashi nodded. "Naruto, Hinata, Sora, Donald, Goofy, head for that energy source and shut it down. Sasuke, Itachi, Sakura, & I will keep Toneri busy."
"He'll likely have a small army of those puppets of his stationed in his estate" Itachi said. "Should be good stress relief…"
The two groups broke off, heading for their respective destinations. Naruto, Hinata, & Team Sora soon discovered an entrance hole on the sphere's far side, dismounting Sasuke's summons (who waited outside) and heading in. Making their way inside, they found themselves traversing across multiple concentric rings of varying diameter that surrounded an object in the center that thrummed with power: a massive sphere of golden & white energy, lighting up the entire chamber.
"Somethin' tells me this is what we're looking for" Sora remarked.
"What gave you that idea?" Donald snarked.
Hinata flared with purple chakra, forming a Rasengan as she leapt high and infusing it with the purple-hued energy coursing through her, changing the chakra sphere's color and making it half-again as big. She slammed it down into the Pseudo-Tenseigan Energy Vessel (PTEV), and energy crackled across the PTEV's surface as it began to destabilize, fighting to stay together. Sora charged his Keyblade with magic and gave a mighty swing at the vessel, and that finally pushed it over the edge. The huge golden & white sphere crackled, its shape beginning to distort, and finally it burst apart with a flash of light, disintegrating into hundreds of little green orbs of light floating all around.
"Ewww!" Donald exclaimed. "They're eyes!"
"The energy that thing was giving off has vanished" Naruto said. "Let's go catch up with the others, see if they need any help handling Toneri."
"I don't see why they would…" Sora replied as he & the others got moving.
They made their way over to the 'main' floating island, setting down in the courtyard. Kakashi, Sakura, Itachi, & Sasuke were there, surrounded by the burnt & broken debris that was once a small army of puppets. As they set down to join them, the two groups hurried together.
"Mission accomplished?" Sasuke asked.
Naruto nodded. "Toneri's fake-Tenseigan artifact thing has been destroyed. The moon should stop approaching the Earth now."
"Now we just gotta deal with the baddie in charge of this whole mess" Sora said.
"Don't think it'll be so easy, Keyblader~"
The heroes startled at the new voice, looking around and soon spotting a familiar harlequin jester dressed in purple and white, his face half-hidden by a bone-white mask, looking at them with a fanged grin and an oppressive evil presence.
"Joker…" Sora scowled. "So you and your little sidekick are here."
"Mm, yes," the clown replied, "and he was quite upset that you broke his mask. I've put him into a healing sleep to take care of that concussion you gave him, too; he'll be out for at least a day… Anyway! I heard about what was going on and decided to use my magic and my Phantom Ruby to give a little… gift."
"As if we'd take anything you offered us" Sasuke glowered.
Joker chuckled. "I didn't say the gift was for you people…"
He vanished in a shimmer of purple. Seconds later, a brilliant blue-green light shone from within the top chamber of Toneri's castle, and a near-overwhelming presence settled over the area. Toneri leapt/flew out at high speed, landing in the middle of the courtyard, a bluish-purple aura surging around him. He began to let out low, evil chuckles, and as he looked up with a near-manic grin on his face, his eyelids opened to reveal a shimmering pair of Tenseigan eyes.
"This is it!" he exclaimed gleefully. "This power! With the holy power of the Tenseigan, I shall fulfill my ancestor's decree to purge the world of wickedness and corruption, and together with the Byakugan Princess I shall bring forth a new, pure humanity upon the ashes of the old!"
In response, Hinata activated her own Tenseigan, eyes shining as she glared back at Toneri, who barely held in a gasp as he saw.
"The spirit of Hamura himself gave me this power" she told him. "And he told me that you've misinterpreted his decree! This isn't what he wanted!"
"Lies!" Toneri's manic grin instantly transitioned into a near-feral grimace of rage, teeth bared. "You must have stolen that power from him! You've been deluded by the hate and shed blood that is the foundation of the shinobi world! And when I've taken your eyes and wiped your mind, you will see the truth!"
Toneri's body was then engulfed in a flare of energy that took the form of a flame-like shroud of opaque cyan chakra. There were dark markings on & around his eyes, a set of magatama markings on his upper chest, and a single horn sprouting from his forehead. A set of nine Truth-Seeking Balls floated behind him.
"Behold the true power of the Tenseigan!" he cried out.
In response, Naruto went to enter his Stage-2 Kurama Cloak… but Kurama decided that no, this situation required more than that, and soon the other eight "prime" Tailed Beasts all sent a little of their self-replicating chakra to the fox's Host, and Naruto's body lit up as the familiar gold & black chakra shroud of Six-Paths Sage Mode enveloped him, his irises red and his pupils forming crosses as a set of Truth-Seeking Balls formed behind him. Then, he took Hinata's hand in his and gave her new power a bit of a jump-start, and soon she is engulfed in a cyan-colored chakra shroud like Toneri's, Truth-Seeking Balls floating behind her, a pair of solid-chakra 'horns' much like Kaguya's sprouting from her forehead. Finally, Donald & Goofy 'willed' their strength to Sora, who flashed with golden-yellow light as he assumed his Master Form transformation, the Kingdom Key in his hand and Star Seeker floating behind him (truthfully, his two allies and one enemy were as strong as or stronger than his Final Form, but that transformation only seemed to come to him when it was really "needed").
Toneri made the first move, firing a ki blast at Sora, who batted it aside with one Keyblade while flinging the other at Toneri in a Strike Raid. The attack barely missed as Toneri flipped over it, heading at Naruto, only for Hinata to blast him away with a Hakke Kūsho made much stronger than usual by her power-boost, sending Toneri hurtling into the far wall of the courtyard. A second later he came flying out of the rubble, shooting at Hinata like an angry teal-colored rocket, but she spun in a violet-hued Hakkesho Kaiten that forced him to screech to a halt; Toneri started flinging energy blasts at her rotating chakra shield, until Sora caught him while he was distracted, landing several blows with his Keyblades and knocking him back.
Naruto formed one of his Truth-Seeking Balls into a bō staff and came at Toneri with it, beating him around a bit until Toneri formed two TSBs into a spiked shield. Deflecting Naruto's blows and then bashing him away, Toneri fired a Katon: Gōkakyū at him, but Hinata intercepted the fireball with a Suikōdan, the water-shark dousing the flames and being evaporated in the process. She flung another one at him, but he countered with a wall of stone that blocked the sharky projectile. The wall shattered into a deadly fusillade of stone, but Hinata formed a whip of lightning that smacked them all away. She swung it at him, but a blast of slicing wind from Toneri's hand destabilized it, only to be turned against him when Naruto used Son Gokū's chakra to fire flame blasts at him.
"The Rinnegan awakens non-inborn element affinities one at a damn time, but the Tenseigan all of 'em right off the frickin' bat…" Sasuke grumbled.
"Actually no," Kakashi replied, "Hinata has two inborn affinities – Water and Lightning. And I think Joker gave Toneri a little boost to let him use all of them straight away."
Kakashi then leapt into the fray, his speed and silence meaning that Toneri barely reacted in time to avoid being skewered from behind by a Raikiri. Snarling, Toneri shifted one of his Truth-Seeking Balls into a crude sword and swung at Kakashi's neck, only for Sasuke's blade to block the swing while Sasuke's foot met Toneri's midsection, knocking him back.
Sasuke and Naruto chanced a look at Sakura, who'd been eerily still for the past minute or so… and then, with a flare of power, they figured out why. Her irises turned yellow, and forest-green pigmentation formed intricate patterns around & beneath her eyes, while a circle appeared around her forehead seal. Recently, she & Tsunade had petitioned Katsuyu to teach them the sacred art of Shikkotsu Forest, the ability that had made Hashirama Senju even more stupidly powerful than he already was: Forest-style Sage Mode.
Sakura kicked off the ground, and Toneri's eyes widened in split-second instinctual panic as he realized he had another Sage coming at him very fast, and he brought up a Truth-Seeking Ball shifted into a large shield. Sakura's punch tore through the shield like it was barely there, and Toneri was sent flying clear off the floating island, tumbling through the air. Naruto, Hinata, & Sora took flight in pursuit (Sora could always fly in his Final Form, and had recently figured out how to make it work in Master Form too), watching warily as Toneri regained control and brought himself to a halt. Snarling, Toneri took one of his Truth-Seeking Balls and grasped it in his hand, flooding it with energy. It turned into what looked and 'felt' like an entire tornado compressed into something the size of a fist, and then he let it loose:
"Ginrin Tensei Baku!" {Silver-Wheel Reincarnation Explosion} {銀輪転生爆}
Pointing his hand down at the three heroes flying up at him, Toneri fired a massive silver cyclone of tearing energy. Naruto had to use Chōmei's wind control to get him, Hinata, & Sora out of the line of fire and far enough away not to get swept in by the attack's ferocious gale. The attack continued downward, boring into the ground far below and punching through. When the silver wind faded, the starry blackness of space could be seen through the hole; it had punched through to the Moon's outer surface!
"How come air isn't gettin' sucked out by the vacuum of space?" Goofy wondered.
"Something must be maintaining a breathable atmosphere around the moon" Sakura replied. "Jeez, every time I think we've figured out the limits of what Kaguya and her sons could do…"
Toneri flew down through the hole, reappearing on the moon's surface, and Naruto, Hinata, & Sora followed. Kakashi pulled Itachi, Sasuke, Sakura, Donald, & Goofy into Kamui-space, then vanished into it himself; he reappeared 'outside' and let everyone else out. Already, Naruto & Hinata were double-teaming Toneri, pushing him back until he blasted them both away with Shinra Tensei. Sora moved in to give Hinata & Naruto a few seconds to recover and to keep the pressure on Toneri, battering away at Toneri's Truth-Seeking Ball shields and then catching him off-guard with a close-range Thundaga.
As Toneri recovered, Sora got some distance, dodging wild swings of Toneri's Truth-Seeking Balls. Sasuke, Kakashi, Sakura, & Itachi having all learned ki-based flight from the "Z-Team" over the past several months, took flight and moved to re-engage; Sakura reached Toneri first, and he frantically tried to get distance, remembering what happened the last time he tried to defend against her monstrous Sage strength. His retreat from Sakura brought him in range of Hinata, who formed a big lion head of purple chakra around her hand with fangs of Lightning-type chakra and punched him toward Kakashi with it. Kakashi angled a Shinra Tensei to bounce Tensei at Sasuke, who Chidori-punched him at Itachi, who used a Susanō fist to hammer him down hard enough to leave a 'small' crater in the moon's surface.
"Think that was enough?" Sora asked.
"Don't count on it" Sasuke replied.
Seconds later, Toneri shot back up, seething with rage, his Tenseigan Chakra Cloak showing some 'damage'. He focused power into another Truth-Seeking Ball, which glowed a brilliant golden color as he held it high.
"Kinrin Tensei Baku!" {Golden-Wheel Reincarnation Explosion} {金輪転生爆}
As he swung his arm downward, the orb somehow expanded impossibly fast into a ludicrously long blade of golden energy. Naruto and Kakashi barely avoided being obliterated as it swung down, and a shudder ran through the celestial body as Toneri's attack cut the damn moon in half. Thankfully, the moon's own gravity held it together, but the fact Toneri had an attack big & powerful enough to even do that was disturbing, and the heroes were not keen on letting him get off another of those.
Naruto came flying at Toneri with a Raiton Rasengan, courtesy of Gyūki's chakra, and surprise attacks from Hinata and Sasuke broke Toneri's guard, letting Naruto's attack hit home. As Toneri was blasted back, his chakra cloak visibly wavering where he'd been hit as paralyzing sparks ran across his body, Sora flew in and started bombarding him with Keyblade strikes. Toneri blasted him back with a Shinra Tensei, and then his Truth-Seeking Balls glowed green and started firing a storm of ki blasts in all directions, locking onto the nine heroes and curving through the air to shoot straight at them. Donald protected himself & Goofy with a Refleza spell, Sora doing the same, while Kakashi, Sasuke, & Itachi shrouded themselves in Susanō. Hinata formed a sizable purple-hued Kaiten barrier around herself, and Naruto simply surrounded himself in sacrificial Shadow Clones that took the blasts for him.
Naruto and Hinata came together, beginning to meld their chakra, and when Toneri tried to go after them, the others got in his way. He lost a Truth-Seeking Ball to one of Sakura's senjutsu punches, and then another to Kakashi's Kamui. Toneri used Banshō Ten'in, aiming to skewer Sasuke on a TSB-turned-spear, but Sasuke used Amenotejikara to swap with a torso-sized chunk of stone. Sora bombarded Toneri with Ragnarok mana bolts, battering his chakra cloak with magic-based hits. Snarling, Toneri began to shift one of his Truth-Seeking Balls into a weapon, but then Itachi set it ablaze with Amaterasu, the Conceptual flames consuming and annihilating it. Sora, Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi, & Itachi all flung ranged attacks at Toneri at once, but he roared out as a powerful Shinrai Tensei deflected them all.
Then, as Toneri seethed with fury and panted for breath, he became aware of a bright glow approaching. He turned, and eyes widened in shock as Naruto & Hinata flew at him at high speed, his left and her right hand holding forward an Ōdama Rasengan that glowed with a mix of gold and purple chakra – the power of Hagoromo & Hamura's successors melded together in order to carry out the brothers' will to protect the world and its people. Unable to use Shinra Tensei again so soon, Toneri pushed all of his remaining Truth-Seeking Balls out front to block the attack, but it grinded right through them without even slowing down.
Naruto & Hinata slammed their 'Divine Rasengan' into Toneri's chest, his cyan chakra cloak being worn away and destabilized. With a roar, they pushed forward, and the explosion of power sent Toneri rocketing down into the moon's surface, regolith spraying out as a new, "small" crater formed. As the dust began to clear, they saw as a battered & beaten Toneri lost his Tenseigan Chakra Cloak. Then, the Tenseigan eyes in his sockets broke apart into red mots of light that winked out. Donald cast a Bind spell on him, too, just in case.
"How…" Toneri croaked weakly.
Everyone set down surrounding the fallen Toneri, wary in case he tried anything else.
"There's something we need to show you" Hinata told him.
-Break-
Brought to the underground burial chamber, Toneri collapsed to his knees as Hamura's spirit calmly but firmly reprimanded him and explained the truth. Crushed with guilt, he refused Naruto's offer to come to Earth, deciding instead to remain on the Moon in solitude as penance, watching over the world from afar.
The heroes returned home, tired but victorious, and the people of the shinobi nations celebrated as, for the second time, the end of the known world was averted. After catching up on sleep, Team Sora got ready to go, the Keyblade already bidding them to find another world with people who would need their help.
"Good luck out there, Sora" Naruto said. "And when the time comes to take the Seekers down once & for all, I'll be there to help however I can!"
Grinning, Sora nodded. "Looking forward to it. Have fun with Hinata~!"
As Naruto blushed and sputtered, Sora chuckled as he & his friends boarded the Gummi Ship and headed out, bound for another world.
-CHAPTER END-
Next Time: San Fransokyo