It didn't take long to leave the Land of Rain, but they were still a good distance from where the fighting was taking place.
No enemies had appeared yet. The biggest obstacle was the lack of information about where Orochimaru or Madara were. Until they found an information source, it was as good as guesswork.
Nagato tried to trace Orochimaru's energy back from the Edo Tensei, but it hadn't worked because he and Itachi were no longer under control, and therefore not receiving any orders that could be traced back to the source.
After traveling the better part of the day, the trio reached a wide, open lake. First Nagato stopped. Then Itachi. Naruto stumbled to a halt behind them.
"What—" Naruto started, but then he saw.
A flash of flaming orange flickered through the trees, moving so quickly it was at first hard to follow. Then it appeared up ahead, vaulted over a few tree branches, and landed smoothly down in front of them.
"Yo!" the older Naruto said cheerfully, putting two fingers to his temple and saluting. He had a wide grin on his face.
The younger Naruto stared at his older counterpart for several moments. He could barely recognize himself at first glance. He was somehow glowing, flames licking his entire body, giving off warmth and golden light like the sun.
There were other differences, too. He was taller, with broader shoulders and a more angular face. His eyes were yellow instead of a clear blue, but it didn't look menacing. Instead, it looked… almost comforting, somehow.
"W-what?" the elder said with a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"Ahhhh, so coooooooool!" the younger enthused, stepping closer and looking his counterpart up and down eagerly. "How are you on fire? Can you teach me how to do that? How did you find us? Where've you been this whole time? Can you show me a cool jutsu?"
"Eheheh…" The elder scratched his cheek, looking flattered. "Um… let's see… this is what it looks like when I'm in Kyuubi Chakra Mode. I don't know if I could teach you, there's some kind of waterfall test thing you have to pass first. I found you because I can sense you—the Kyuubi says there's some kind of connection with jinchuuriki, so I guess that includes you, too. I was in a weird forest on the back of a giant turtle training to use the Kyuubi's chakra. And something cool? That's an easy one."
The older Naruto held out his hand. Little chakra claws sprouted from the bright aura around him and waved around his hand, molding chakra in his palm. First it started out as a small, familiar ball of whirling energy—the Rasengan. Still, the younger Naruto watched intently, waiting for something to happen.
It didn't take long. A sharp, metallic whine started as tendrils of white swirled around the Rasengan, growing larger and larger, swirling around it in the form of spinning white blades. The elder raised it over his head and the blades got longer and longer, the spinning generating a wind that picked up dust and tossed his hair around.
"Fuuton: Rasen-Shuriken!"
He turned and launched the Rasen-Shuriken at the lake. It moved with incredible speed—but only for a split second. Before it hit the water, there was a splash as Nagato skidded out over the lake's surface and held up his hands, right in the path of the Rasen-Shuriken. When it hit him, it wobbled, unraveled, and finally dissipated into nothing.
"Nagatoooo!" the older Naruto complained, waving his arms. "You ruined it! It's not like it was gonna hit anything!"
The younger Naruto wasn't sure what was more amazing—the Rasen-Shuriken, or Nagato stopping it with his bare hands. Or that his older self didn't seem the least bit surprised when he did. For the first time ever, he felt like the most ordinary person in a group.
"I'm sorry, Naruto, but we're trying to be inconspicuous right now." Nagato walked over the lake back to them. "If that hit the water, there would have been a splash big enough to show over the tops of the trees. And if it missed, you would have cleared out a good number of the trees."
"Aw c'mon, I wasn't going to miss…"
"So coooool!" the younger Naruto shrilled again, hopping from one foot to another in excitement.
"Right? Right?" the elder turned back to him again. "And there's this other thing I've been working on recently—I don't have it completely down yet, 'cause I have to learn how to balance the red and blue energies, or something like that, but it should be really awesome—"
"I know you're both very excited to finally meet," Itachi interjected, not very loudly, but it still caught their attention. "However, we are in the middle of a war right now. We need to find Orochimaru as soon as possible, and stop the Edo Tensei."
Face turning serious, the older Naruto nodded. "There are Edo Tensei zombies everywhere, plus those white things. And—!" He turned to give Itachi his full attention. "Itachi, what's going on with the Uchiha clan? They just started showing up all over the place! They've been working together to get rid of any Kage Bunshin I send to the battlefield. I have to do it, though, because I'm the only one who can tell the white-plant-things apart from real allies when they transform! I think I can dodge them now I know they're targeting my bunshin, but it's going to take some time to send them back out. I won't be able to hold the Kyuubi Chakra Mode much longer."
"The White Zetsu?" Itachi asked, tilting his head slightly. "They can transform into other people? And only you can tell them apart from the real thing."
"Yeah, like I said! You mean you didn't know about that?"
"We have been out of the loop somewhat. Most of our information has come from intercepting messages sent to Allied Shinobi Force HQ."
The younger Naruto felt a creeping sense of foreboding at this revelation. It was bad enough that Orochimaru had been the one to bring him here.
"Does that mean I'm a fake, too?" he blurted anxiously, surprising the others. "This body is made out of those plant-things. How do I know I'm not just like them?" He felt real, sure. Most of the time there was no difference. He wouldn't care so much about the strange form, if the Zetsu weren't clearly on the enemy's side. It was the same old fear, the fear he could lose his free will at any time and turn on everyone.
His older self looked at him silently for a moment. Then he crouched down in front of him, making the older's face level lower than the younger's.
"You're not fake," the elder said. "I can tell you have the same soul as me. And tou-chan and kaa-chan, I can feel them watching over you, too. You'll get to meet them someday, you know. And there'll be a lot of really hard and painful things along the way, but you can do it. I believe in you. You're gonna show everyone what we can do."
He held up a golden fist, and the younger looked at it in confusion until he realized the other wanted him to fist bump. A slow smile growing on his face, the younger Naruto held up his fist. But right before they touched, the golden flames retreated from the elder's hand and down his arm, dissolving into his normal skin tone and clothes. The younger Naruto's eyes widened as their fists met.
"I told ya it wasn't going to last much longer," the elder said. "We should probably try not to touch when I'm in that form, anyway. I don't know if it would happen, but those white Zetsu things turn into trees when I do that." He closed his eyes for a moment, before nodding decisively to himself. "Yep! There's no doubt about it! Ne, Kyuubi?"
You've gotten way too cheerful, brat, the younger heard the voice echo through his head. What happened to all that hatred of yours?
The older Naruto opened his eyes slightly, eyes on his other self, where the seal was. "You'll find out."
Hmph. He's annoying, but he really gets under your skin, this one.
This time, the voice came from without, but also from within, in a way. The younger Naruto realized it was the other Kyuubi he was hearing.
The older Naruto stood and gave a thumbs-up. "Yosh! As soon as I can use the Kyuubi Chakra Mode again, I'll send more bunshin out to the battlefields. In the meantime, I need to meet back with Bee-occhan and help out Kakashi-sensei and the others. What are you guys gonna do?"
"I'm going with you, of course!" the younger said excitedly. "But first, we have to think of what people should call us when we're in the same place. It could be confusing if we're in a fight and someone tries to call us." He crossed his arms and nodded his head.
"Ehhhhh," the elder sounded dubious. "I'm oldest, so I should be the one to keep my name. You can be, uh… Shorty."
"What?" the younger Naruto pointed at the other accusingly. "You just called yourself short, you know that?"
"C'mon, gimme a break here…"
Luckily, no enemies had noticed the small stunt with the Rasen-Shuriken, and their group was able to start toward the battlefield without any problems. They brought each other up to speed about what happened so far in the war and in Ame, while they ran and waited for Naruto to be able to use the Kyuubi Chakra Mode again.
He told them about the Edo-Uchiha and the trouble they were causing for the units on the field.
"Kakashi-sensei's group got split up, and I'm worried about them the most," he explained as they ran. "But with you guys here, I won't have to wait to get them some backup. We can find them and help them out."
Itachi looked across at Nagato and the younger Naruto. "We're trying to avoid the ASF. We need to find Orochimaru and get him to stop the Edo Tensei. That's the best way we can help."
The elder went quiet for a moment. "And Konan decided to stay in Amegakure alone?"
"She wants Ame to remain neutral in the war," Nagato said. "And it can't be ruled out that Madara will show up there again. He must be growing desperate, given Orochimaru's failure to get information out of us through emotional manipulation."
"She'll be fine! You saw the way she completely blew Orochimaru's plans up in his face," the younger Naruto said.
"Naru-chan is right," Itachi said with a perfectly straight face.
"NO," the younger Naruto said very loudly. "You guys are NOT gonna call me that. Aniki, how could you betray yourself like this?"
It caught on the moment the elder suggested it. What made it worse was that Nagato and Itachi played along completely seriously.
"Sorry, it was just a joke. A joke," the older Naruto insisted, but ruined his already lackluster apology by laughing. "Don't take it so seriously, Naru-chan~."
The younger growled and jumped forward to tackle his older self, but when he made impact, the elder vanished in a puff of smoke.
A bunshin.
"What? When did you—hey! Where did you go?"
"In the end, it's her decision," Nagato answered Itachi, unfazed by the other two. "Konan will do whatever it takes to protect the village, and keep herself from being used by the enemy."
That made the younger Naruto forget about attacking his older counterpart for a moment, and look over at Nagato. Originally, it made sense to him that the non-zombie member of their group would stay away from the war and Orochimaru. He didn't really think staying back might be more dangerous than coming along.
"It'll be okay," he said, pouring as much gusto into it as he could. "We'll give them so much to worry about here, they won't even think about going near Ame again. They won't know what hit them!"
"Y'know, it's kind of weird you know these guys already," older Naruto said, dropping down in front of them after his brief disappearance. "No one's told me what's happened since you got here. It's like, you've done stuff I don't know about, even though you're me."
The younger caught up to him, running along in his stride. "You want to know about stuff I've done? I've been wondering about you since I first got here! And I really want you to teach me how to use the Kyuubi's chakra. Please! You know things would be a lot better if I could do it now instead of later!"
The elder frowned thoughtfully. "Yeah, but like I said, there's this waterfall test thing you have to do before you can start. I didn't get why at first, either, but I understood it after I started working on separating the Kyuubi's chakra from its evil intent. And I can't really tell you how to do it, because it doesn't work unless you figure it out on your own. For all we know, it'll be different for you than it was for me."
"So, I'll just do the test on my own, no problem! That doesn't seem too hard."
The elder kept looking on ahead, looking unusually serious. Younger Naruto wondered if the test was really something terrible.
"Anikiiiiiiii-ttebayo!"
"You're definitely not the same as those creepy white things," he murmured. "But you're still a long way from letting go of hatred."
His words and heavy tone brought the younger to surprised silence for a moment. He looked at Itachi and Nagato, and they seemed just as serious. Their expressions had none of the confusion he felt.
"What does that mean?"
"This isn't the time," Nagato said. "You two can discuss training techniques after the current battle settles down."
"Right!" The older Naruto nodded, his serious demeanor melting as if it had never been there. He flashed a large grin at his younger counterpart. "I'll tell you everything I can, little bro. But we gotta help everyone against those white creatures, first. You guys are helping me, right?"
"Yeah!"
Itachi shook his head. "Are you willing to take the risk?"
"You guys don't have to go if you don't want to. But I'm sticking with aniki," the younger said. "What d'you have to worry about? You can run away if the ASF thinks you're the enemy."
"We can help this time. But let's make it quick," Nagato warned.
"Yes!" The two Narutos high-fived one another.
They were now close enough to the nearest battlefield to see the occasional flash of light or smoke from an attack. The late-autumn days were cooler, but the grass and trees stretched out far below them were still green. It was sunny and clear out. It would be a beautiful day, if not for the war.
The rag-tag group went down a slight hill toward a shadier tree line, the atmosphere shifting into something ominous as they entered the forest. They were within range of the battle now. Hidden enemies could be lurking anywhere among the trees. The younger Naruto was a little nervous, but his older self seemed unaffected.
"Wait 'till they see what kind of help I brought," the elder said excitedly, jumping up and vaulting over some tree branches. "Kakashi-sensei and the others are just up ahead, you guys! Come on!"
Itachi moved to run by the younger's side. "Everyone stay on guard. With the enemy's Edo Tensei, the situation can change in an instant. Younger Naruto, I think you should avoid them and concentrate on the Zetsu clones. They may be slower to attack you at first, since you seem like one of them in disguise. You should have a strength advantage over them, anyway."
"O-Okay."
Maybe it was because he had been protected and pushed back over and over since arriving in the future, but he hadn't expected to plunge straight into the war so abruptly. He knew it was dangerous, and running into shinobi from their own side was a problem all its own. But the prospect of helping out with something real melted his apprehension away. He could feel the excitement, the rush of battle bubbling up from within.
They dropped into a crowded clearing, attracting the attention of Sealing Corps standing near the edge. They were defending a collection of sealed bodies. Much worse were the few unsealed bodies strewn haphazardly across the large clearing, which were simply dead—people from their own side. Their losses looked fewer, but it was different to lose real, live people in exchange for an Edo Tensei zombie or Zetsu clone.
How many were already lost, here and on the other battlefields?
The older Naruto jumped down in front of the Sealing Corps, the bright flames of the Kyuubi Chakra Mode enveloping his body once again.
"Don't go after these guys, they're alright!" he said immediately, indicating Itachi, Nagato, and his younger self. "It's kind of hard to explain, but they're here to help, so don't try to seal them."
"Hurry and find the impostors!" A member of the Sealing Corps urged. "We can't move from our spots until you do, and Kakashi-san needs help."
"Yosh! Those two over there," Naruto pointed at a pair of Iwa shinobi near the treeline, "that guy with the bandana hitai-ate right behind all of you… and there's another small group coming this way that are all Zetsu. They should be here in just a few minutes." He whirled and jumped toward the battle with the Edo Tensei still happening nearby. Itachi and Nagato followed him.
The younger Naruto stood in front of the Sealing Corps by himself, attracting confused looks that quickly shifted toward the impostor in their midst. The fake Konoha-nin glowered at them and stepped back as they advanced on him.
It looked like they had that situation under control. Naruto turned around and saw the two Iwa-nin impostors trying to sink back into the tree line.
This was it. A chance to fight. He tightened the headband that future-Iruka had given him, a fierce grin on his face.
"Alright, here we go!"
He rushed toward the retreating figures, calling into existence a mini battalion of Kage Bunshin. Some jumped up, trying to land on the impostors and knock them over. Others swarmed around them from below. They ran in with fury and shouting; not very organized, but overwhelming enough both in energy and numbers to bring the enemy some unexpected pain.
The Zetsu clones were not particularly skilled, but they were resilient. The two he attacked were off guard for a moment, then they growled and stabbed at his bunshin. He couldn't tell if they'd mistook him for one of their own, but they clearly hadn't expected such an attack. Dozens of fists wailed on them with enthusiasm, and the impostors whirled around searching for him in vain, yelling and slashing around in frustration.
It continued like that a while, each bunshin taking whatever chance it could to land a hit on the enemy. It was a free-for-all.
Many of his bunshin had already been dispelled, but the real Naruto jumped out of the group and landed a good solid hit on one of the impostors' jaw. They both landed hard on the ground, Naruto holding it down with his weight.
That was when the thing underneath him suddenly changed. The borrowed features of the Iwa-nin melted away, leaving behind a blank white face with creepy eyes.
So this was what these things really looked like?
Naruto saw something out of the corner of his eye and jumped up as the other impostor slashed at him with a sword. But his reaction was slightly too slow, having been too busy staring at the Zetsu creature.
He threw his arms up against the attack without thinking. His remaining bunshin tackled the Zetsu immediately after, but Naruto felt the cold sting as the blade scraped across his skin.
Cursing loudly, he rolled back and looked to make sure his bunshin had completely dogpiled the enemy before giving a quick look at his injury. The slash was long, but not very deep, and it was sealing up right before his eyes. But even more strangely, it was not bleeding. It was a thin line lighter in color than his skin, without even a hint of red.
"What the…?"
That didn't make sense. He had definitely been able to bleed before. Maybe it was just a fluke—a special sword technique or something. Maybe the cut was simply too shallow. Either way, there wasn't time to worry about it now. Naruto felt along the rapidly vanishing injury, but soon turned his attention back to the second fake shinobi, pressed under the pile of his remaining bunshin. It was also transforming from a human into one of those plant-creatures. His bunshin had managed to finish it off.
"Alright, everyone!" Naruto threw a fist in the air. "Aniki said more will be here any second, so let's be there to meet them when they do."
It felt just like commanding troops in battle. His bunshin roared and chattered in agreement, and the original turned around to face the incoming threat. He cracked his knuckles with a grin. Things were just getting started. He felt good enough to take on any number of Zetsu pawns right then.
Suigetsu gave an exaggerated cough as a dust cloud went up in his face. He batted away the offending clouds with a deep frown on his face, one snaggled tooth poking out from his lip. "Man, this place is even creepier with no one in it."
"Are you sure your sword would be in a place like this?" Juugo asked, ducking into the dark and dusty room Suigetsu had just entered. "It doesn't look like anyone has been here in ages. Not down here, at least."
"Are you just gonna complain, or are you going to help me look?" Suigetsu said crossly, digging around in seemingly random places inside the room. "If you want us to go find Sasuke, we have to find my sword first. He can wait a little while after ditching us at the Summit. Serves him right."
Juugo obligingly walked into the old storeroom, though he didn't see much point in searching here. Orochimaru's hideout was huge, and this was just one of them.
Fortunately, most of them were abandoned now. He and Suigetsu certainly weren't the only test subjects that had managed to escape since Orochimaru's downfall. Since he was rumored to be dead, many of his own subordinates had even drifted away, moving on to other ventures.
"Ohoho! What is this?" Suigetsu said, and Juugo turned around to see what he found. There wasn't a sword anywhere in sight, but Suigetsu had a dusty-looking scroll in his hands and was intently reading its contents. Juugo walked over to look without bothering to verbalize his curiosity. It was quicker just to see what the fuss was about.
He towered over Suigetsu's shoulder to look down at the scroll. "This looks like…"
Suigetsu gave a low cackle and rolled the scroll back up. "It looks like we found something nice to bring to Sasuke, after all. He should find this pretty interesting." He tucked the scroll into the front of his coat. "Alright now. Let's keep looking!"
Tobi walked out into the cheery sunlight, a scene that did not match his mood at all. His gaze traveled up one of the large, ancient bones that framed the cave's entrance.
A Mist shinobi he didn't recognize was crouched there as if waiting. When Tobi stepped into the sun, the stranger hopped down and started toward him. When the man got close, he could see the cracked features and black sclera that marked him as an Edo Tensei summon.
"I am beginning to seriously question whether you are wasting my time for the sake of your own amusement," Tobi said, cool on the surface, but roiling with anger underneath. "I kept my end of the bargain. If you aren't going to be of any use to me, then stay out of my way."
"What, you don't think I tried hard enough to find the Rinnegan for you?" Orochimaru said through the body of the nameless Mist shinobi, his tone light and unconcerned.
Apparently, he was too busy with his own business to bother meeting in person.
Tobi kept walking.
"Or are you frustrated at your own incompetence? You do realize they could have destroyed it by now. They could be leading you on a fruitless chase just to stall for time, and here you are dancing right along. Your desperation is only too obvious. How pathetic."
"Be quiet," Tobi said harshly, turning to pace restlessly toward the cave so they could, at least, discuss things out of sight.
Orochimaru's puppet followed him, wearing a smirk as they ducked in out of the sunlight.
Tobi knew his impatience was showing more than it should, especially around Orochimaru. But they were at the crux of the plan. Everything that happened in the next few days would determine its success or failure. His many years of preparation could disappear in an instant.
"They won't destroy it," he said. "Not until the second they're certain it will fall into my hands. They will need to keep it, to drag it out as bait in the event I make a move against the Allied Shinobi Force. They have likely set some kind of trap that will destroy it if I get too close, but they don't know the extent of my power. I can get around anything they have set up to stop me."
"Is that so?" Orochimaru rasped with an undertone of amusement. "Do you intend to call their bluff? Or will you continue to run around frantically, searching wherever crosses your mind first?"
Tobi hated being condescended to, but retaliation was completely out of his reach. He considered taking it out on the puppet Orochimaru was currently using as a mouthpiece, but reigned in the impulse.
"Have your pet army of Uchiha found anything? I'm sure you brought back the former clan head and his wife, as well. Don't they know where their son would hide something?"
"Itachi has always been inscrutable—to his parents more than anyone," Orochimaru said. "Regardless, I have done what I promised to do. You are on your own after this. I am about to regain my true form, and then my real work can begin."
"Your true form?" Tobi demanded. "You mean you want more than directing the war? What are you planning?"
"Don't worry, what I'm doing has nothing to do with your war. Keep focused. You have plenty to keep yourself occupied already."
It seemed Orochimaru had decided the conversation was over. A long wooden coffin materialized behind the revived shinobi, landing with a loud clap that made Tobi turn around quickly. He snarled under the mask, but the Edo Tensei summon was already gone. He pulled the mask off and let the frustration show as a shadow came out of hiding.
"We need Madara," Black Zetsu said in its gravelly voice, watching from the wall as Tobi stalked agitatedly around the underground hall. "At this rate, we're never going to capture the Eight and Nine-tails. And I don't like what Orochimaru is doing. What will you do if he decides to take the bijuu for himself?"
"We can't revive Madara without the Rinnegan. I can still summon the Gedo statue without it. We can still capture the bijuu. For now, Orochimaru is keeping the Allied Shinobi Force busy. He's not interested in the bijuu—all he wants is to gather enough samples for his little pet project."
"Would you stake your life on that? We need Madara. What about the Edo Tensei?"
Tobi paused. The plan was not to revive Madara using the Edo Tensei. He wanted to be fully alive again when he came back, not some pale imitation of it. The old Uchiha had made that very clear before his death. He would undoubtedly complain if they used that method.
Still, it was an appealing option. It meant they wouldn't have to wait for the Rinnegan. It meant he wouldn't have to sacrifice his life to use the Rinne Tensei.
"Madara wouldn't be happy about that, or the state of our plans right now," Tobi admitted. "Though I can't deny it would help move things faster. We can't rely on Orochimaru. I doubt he's seriously trying to defeat the Allied Shinobi Force. Unfortunately, we must either convince Orochimaru to resurrect Madara, or force him to reveal the method."
"Negotiating with him has the potential to be really annoying," Black Zetsu said. "But if necessary, we will force it out of him."
The Edo Tensei was such a heavily-guarded secret that only the Nidaime Hokage, Orochimaru, and Kabuto had learned how to do it. Curse everything! They should have forced the secret out of Kabuto when they had the chance. He would have been easier to handle. But now, no matter what they did, they would have to deal with the Snake Sannin.
Unless…
"He said he was going to regain his own form," Tobi said, turning to Black Zetsu. "That means he won't be sharing a body with Kabuto anymore. If he lives through it, Kabuto will be weak after the transfer. Especially if Orochimaru intends to take back all the power he originally absorbed from him."
"Kabuto can summon Madara, and he may be able to control Itachi and Nagato as well," Black Zetsu said, catching on quickly. "Good. And Kabuto's body already contains the spores we need to track him. Will you go after him before the bijuu, then?"
"Whichever comes first." Tobi put the mask back on and his voice changed back from his normal one to that of his 'Madara' disguise. "We don't know how long he will continue to fight them, or exactly when he will be getting his own body. We will confront Kabuto after he becomes conscious again."
Tobi didn't know what Orochimaru intended for Kabuto after the transfer, but that was their opportunity to bring Nagato and Itachi back under their thumb. When they had Madara and the Rinnegan, everything would finally turn around in their favor.
"Good," Black Zetsu said, slowly sinking back into the floor. "I've grown weary of trying to cooperate with Orochimaru. Once we have Madara, it won't matter what he's planning."
Tobi watched the Black Zetsu leave. No doubt it was intending to follow the spores embedded in Kabuto's body, to strike the moment Orochimaru left. That meant there was only a little time before everything started. He walked back toward the entrance to the cave feeling determined, and calmer than he had in days.