Chapter Thirty: The first loss, the potential gain.
The sun rose over the Land of Lightning, casting it's rays through the morning mist between the mountainous ranges of the northern border.
Hitting a tuft of blonde hair, the sunlight revealed a group of seven ninja running down a small rocky mountain at just the moment the leader of the group pointed ahead.
"There's the new lighthouse, where to Grandpa?" Naruto asked as he glanced to the old man by his side.
Gohan smiled slightly, amused and happy with Naruto's nickname for him, "Then it shall take only a few minutes to reach the old one and the ruins considering where we are." He replied.
"Umm, Flash-san?"
Naruto glanced over his shoulder to the pink haired little girl. She calmly sat atop the swordsman's left shoulder since his katana came up to his right shoulder, "Yeah kid?"
The pinkette's face flushed red, "I-I'm not a kid! My name's Yachiru okay!" she shouted childishly while waving her pink tanto at Naruto.
Naruto chuckled with a nod, "Okay Yachiru, what's up?" Naruto asked before facing ahead again, following after Gohan.
Yachiru pulled her tanto back as she spoke, "Umm, if you can teleport then how come we've had to run all night?" she asked.
Naruto smirked, "I barely know you guys, I can't just show you all my techniques." Naruto used as a fake excuse since he didn't have any Hirashin seals near the ruins.
The swordsman spoke up, "How come we gotta follow you anyway huh? I thought I'd get to fight in this war not hide with you in some ruins." He complained.
Naruto chuckled before talking, "Look here Bloodstain-san, you are an A-Rank missing ninja so I'll respect your strength, but you joined us so I'm your captain for now and we have to learn how to work together before we go to war." Naruto said before his eyes widened in realisation.
"God I hate that name, my name's Kenpachi alright? Not Bloodstain or whatever that damned village wants to call me." Kenpachi said with a sneer directed at the back of Naruto's head.
Naruto nodded, "Yeah I got it." he said as his brain worked quickly. He ended up smirking as he realised just how useful it was for him to be put in charge of this group of rogue ninja.
After a few minutes of silence, Gohan spoke up once more, "We're here."
The group collectively leapt from the last tree around the base of the mountain and landed in front of a broken down old stone building.
Glancing around the ruins and the old lighthouse, Naruto smirked as he felt Fuu's chakra deep underneath the building, "Okay, now all we have to do is-"
"Naruto!" they heard a woman's voice scream
The group went quiet at the scream of Naruto's name, all of them knowing that it came from the stone stairway that lead underground, presumably to where Fuu's team were waiting.
The fire-wielding girl glanced from the stairs to Naruto, "I don't suppose that was your Fuu's voice?" she asked.
As if her question had snapped him out of a trance, Naruto jolted before he turned to the group, "Who're our best up close fighters?" Naruto asked urgently.
Kenpachi and Grandpa Gohan raised their arms at the same time the man with the clawed gloves did. Naruto turned to the others as we waved the three of them towards him, "Alright, the rest of you keep watch of this stairwell, if any of those Zetsu come here kill them immediately. If someone you don't recognise arrives watch and capture them." Naruto ordered before he ran towards the stairs and leapt down.
Glancing to his right, Naruto saw Kenpachi and Gohan. Glancing to his left, he made eye contact with the unfamiliar ninja of the trio, "What can you do?" Naruto asked as they ran down the stairs, Gohan taking the lead of the formation to lead them through the maze of tunnels.
The odd man smirked, "My name is Kuro, ex-Captain of the Mist Village's naval squadron." He said simply before readjusting his glasses with the palm of his hand.
Naruto's eyes widened in recognition, "Captain of the Black Cat Pirates?" he asked, glancing at the clawed gloves with a new light of respect in his eyes.
The man nodded, causing Naruto to smirk, "I want you to lead if there is going to be a fight then. Kenpachi, that gravity thing you can do, will it affect all of us?" Naruto asked.
Kenpachi shook his head, "No, I'm sure once you feel how it works then you'll understand how it works Flash." Kenpachi said as they turned the next corner.
They came to a stop as Gohan stopped at a large archway that lead into a massive room, seeing the back end of a massive group of white Zetsu facing the opposite wall where sounds of fighting was coming from.
Naruto's head snapped sideways, "Go Kuro!" Naruto ordered.
Kuro's body went slack as he fell forward slightly. The moment his front foot touched the ground, he was gone.
The trio watched as suddenly a hole in the group of Zetsu appeared, twenty or so of them falling into pieces as Kuro appeared on the other side, standing in front of the now visible group of ninjas protectively.
"Go Kenpachi!" Naruto ordered as the group of Zetsu began to turn towards them.
Kenpachi drew his damaged katana as he stepped forward, his eyes closing for a moment before they snapped open.
The closer half of the horde of Zetsu suddenly began to struggle just to remain standing as most of them fell to their knees. Kenpachi immediately attacked the left side of the group with his blade.
Naruto glanced over to Gohan, about to order him to attack, when he realised the man has just thrown forward a handful of shuriken as he formed seals, "SHURIKEN SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" he announced as the five became fifty, tearing into the Zetsu before Gohan charged the group.
Naruto's lightning armour kicked in and he destroyed four Zetsu in the two seconds it took him to cross over the room to Fuu's side, "What happened?" Naruto asked as he knelt down by her shaking and pale form.
To his surprise, Hana Inuzuka was part of the team and was the one to explain to him, "Everything was going fine until they managed to get her with a kunai, I think it was poisoned because she was down in less than a minute." Hana said as she reached over to comfort Naruto.
The blonde smacked her hand away, "Keep fighting them off! I will save her!" Naruto declared as he pulled out his herbal seeds kit.
Hana's eyes widened as Naruto began to extract some of the poison, 'He's a medic as well?' she thought in shock as her dogs growled at him for smacking her hand.
"Hana-san, Naruto-san is right, let's get back to work." Aoba said as he pulled out a kunai and stood to fight once more.
Hana nodded before she stood, joining back in the fight against the Zetsu.
##########
The next morning.
##########
Walking into the large room, Tsunade and A looked around expectantly, "Inoichi! What is it?" she shouted across the room.
Inoichi sat with an odd machine on his head, "The first attack ma'am! Coming straight from the border of Shimogakure's lands!" he announced.
A glanced at Tsunade, "Who do we have there?" he asked.
Tsunade looked up at the large sphere in the center of the room, "That's the First division's zone…" she muttered.
##########
"Sir! We have a battalion of ten thousand coming in hot!" A Yamanaka shouted after receiving the message from the Intel Division.
Kakashi nodded before leaping up to the branch of a nearby tree, "Listen up! This is war and many of us will die! But we will fight for our comrades and we will not let these damned plant bastards get past us you hear me?!" Kakashi shouted, earning a war cry in return.
Kakashi nodded before turning to face the other way as the ground began to shake, he lifted his headband to see an ocean of the Zetsu's chakra signature moving towards him through the trees.
Kakashi closed his eyes as he dug deep for the chakra he had been slowly getting used to, the tree branch under him exploded as a white shroud enveloped him.
White Kakashi looked over the battalion once more as he landed on the ground, his white lightning chakra cracking in the air around him, "Move out!" Kakashi shouted as the first wave of Zetsu became visible at the borderline.
"HAAAAAAA!" the many ninjas yelled as they charged forward into battle against the Zetsu.
##########
"There she is." Naruto said softly, looking down at the resting Fuu as she slowly opened her eyes.
The green haired girl yawned and went to stretch before her hand went to her stomach in pain, "N-Naruto-kun, what happened?" she asked as Naruto helped her sit up.
Naruto smiled gently as he placed a green glowing hand on Fuu's belly, "You were hit with a poisoned kunai. All the poison is gone but you're gonna be tender for a few hours so I want you to stay in here with Hana and Aoba alright? I've got a new team to keep in check." Naruto said before leaning down and kissing Fuu lightly.
She returned the kiss before cringing at a stabbing pain in her stomach, causing Naruto to pull away and lay her down gently, "Okay Naruto-kun, I'll stay here for now." She promised as she rested.
Naruto nodded before passing her his water flask, "I've put some herbs in here, it'll make the pain worse for the duration but it'll cut the healing time down to maybe less than an hour." Naruto explained before leaving the stone 'room' where they planned to sleep.
Naruto paused at the door, sharing one more smile with Fuu before he stepped out and faced Aoba, "How's it going?" Naruto asked.
Aoba lowered his hand from his forehead, "It seems to be going well. Shikaku and Inoichi are analysing and feeding the information from the fights into each division's mind users, but only Kakashi's division is actually-ah!" Aoba exclaimed as he jolted up straight.
Naruto and the nearby Hana were instantly in front of him, waiting for the information sent from Inoichi to be processed before they could hear it, which they did the moment Aoba was back in control, "Division three has movement." Aoba reported.
Naruto nodded, "Division three… that means Shikamaru, Ino and Choji are right in the thick of it now." Naruto thought as he looked up at the ceiling in thought.
##########
Darui waved his sword, "POWER HITTERS! GO!" he shouted while hacking through a line of average sized Zetsu before leaping backwards.
The enemies he gestured at appeared to be made up of around twenty Zetsu, they stood at the size of a house and were very physically strong.
"DARK STYLE: CAIUS THE SHADOW MONARCH!"
Shikamaru's giant shadow creature formed from the shadows nearby and slammed it's weapon into the nearest Giant Zetsu, breaking it apart until it exploded, releasing ten normal sized Zetsus to attack the ninjas from above.
"NINJA ART: EXPANSION JUTSU!"
Choji grew even larger than the Giant Zetsu and punted two of them off of the cliff and over the beach to land against the rocks sticking out of the water with an explosive impact. He lifted another before throwing it toward Caius, who killed it with it's swirling ball of dark energy.
"HELLS KICK OF PAIN!"
Ino used Sakura's skating technique to easily dodge around the Giant Zetsu's attacks before she kicked one of them up into the air with her chakra empowered kick learned from Tsunade before she leapt up after it, forming her chakra into a ball between her knuckles as she punched at it, "HELL PUNCH!" she screamed.
*BOOOOM*
The Giant Zetsu was launched into another, taking both of them off their feet and towards Darui, who had just finished his hand seals, "LIGHTNING STYLE: BLACK PANTHER!" he shouted as he summoned the beast to finish them off, showering the field in another onslaught of Zetsu clones.
Shikamaru seemed to become darkness himself before the dark shroud flowed up into the back of Caius' head, taking complete control of the massive being as it began to shrink. Shikamaru stepped from the dark shroud in Caius' armour with his swirling dark ball in one hand and a long black spear in the other, "DARK STYLE: CAIUS INCARNATE!" Shikamaru announced before charging forward, leaping off the ground not even a meter as Ino's fist slammed into the ground as he ran past.
"EARTH LIFTING FIST!" Ino shouted as her punch sent out a shockwave that launched a large mass of the new Zetsu into the air.
*POOF*
Giant Choji unsealed his massive club and swung it, collecting all of the airborne Zetsu and sending them flying into a nearby cluster of rocks and killing them painfully as Shikamaru began to destroy every normal sized Zetsu Ino punched towards him with the sphere while fighting off his own enemies with his spear.
Darui and a large group of ninjas stared in shock as the three teenagers destroyed the entire second wave of Zetsus, but Darui snapped out of his shock as he saw Shikamaru begin to tear another Giant Zetsu in half with his spear, "Come on! We have the upper hand!" Darui shouted before he led the other ninjas back into battle.
###########
"Kimimaro!" Kakashi shouted as his hand sparked with lightning chakra.
"Got it!" Kimimaro said as he landed, bones growing from his forearm in the process.
Kimimaro mirrored Kakashi's stance as they two charged at the first pair of Giant Zetsu attacking the first division.
"PURE LIGHTNING BLADE!" Kakashi shouted as he literally cut a tunnel right through the Giant Zetsu's main head, leading the way for Kimimaro to come through and leap at the second.
"ROSETHORN DANCE: FLOWER!" Kimimaro shouted as he stabbed his cone-like arm spear made of bone into the Giant Zetsu's stomach, where the bone began to spread throughout it's insides and stab throughout it continuously.
Kakashi turned back to face the first Giant Zetsu as the normal Zetsu began to pour out, "WATER STYLE: GIANT VORTEX JUTSU!" Kakashi shouted, sweeping all of them towards Sakura.
The second Giant Zetsu exploded from Kimimaro's attack as Sakura finished her hand seals, "FIRE STYLE: PINPOINT BLAZE!" Sakura shouted as multiple small flames began to shoot off from her spread out wings, impacting the Zetsu and the water before exploding in small violent bursts.
Lee blurred to a stop next to Sakura as Gai appeared next to Kakashi, "Kimimaro! Have the division form the wall hold, we're going in for the strike!" White Kakashi ordered.
Kimimaro nodded before retreating back towards the main cluster of the First Division while Lee pulled out his Thunder Fangs; Kiba. Gai smirked as his chakra began to swarm around him, "Ready Kakashi?!" Gai shouted.
Sakura and Kakashi lined up with Lee and Gai for the attack plan as Kakashi nodded, finishing his hand seals as he did so, "Do it! WATER STYLE: WATER DRAGON JUTSU!"
Lee moved the tips of his blades so that they were touching, creating a spark which generated a ball of lightning, "LIGHTNING BALL!"
Sakura's wings began to glow with chakra before they swung once, unleashing a powerful but focussed blast like a horizontal tornado, "ULTIMA PHOENIX ART: ULTIMA FORCE WIND!"
The three attacks formed a massively electrical dragon typhoon which obliterated the next wave of Zetsu while clearing away basically anything it struck until it reached a Giant Zetsu which seemingly caught the dragon's mouth open, stopping the attack's momentum and making the energy fold outwards, creating an even larger clearing as Gai's part of the attack came up.
"LEAF RISING WIND!" Gai's voice rang out as he appeared and struck the Giant Zetsu holding off the attack from behind.
The Giant Zetsu was launched up into the air, letting the dragon typhoon hit the ground and explode as Gai used his speed to appear by Kakashi's side safely once more.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
#########
"How's the wound?"
It was nearing the afternoon when Kuro glanced up at Naruto from his place sitting on the ground before shrugging, "Could be worse. Your technique fixed me up quite well." He said, gesturing at his legs.
The clawed man's pants had been burned off as well as his shoes, his legs would've been covered in third degree burns but Naruto's quick actions reduced almost all of them to nothing.
Naruto smirked as he nodded, "No problem, can you walk?" Naruto asked.
Kuro nodded as he stood up, limping slightly as Naruto began walking, leading Kuro over to Kenpachi and the fire manipulator, both of whom were looking out of the newly made exit that Hana made earlier, utilising her skills to dig a wide tunnel directly from the basement of the lighthouse out to a mostly hidden collection of large boulders.
Clearing his throat, Naruto got all three of the ninjas' attention, "Alright, you three are next in line to go keep watch. Tell me a little about your fighting styles so I know how to utilise you the best and your tracking skills so I know who to send up to take watch first." Naruto ordered, gesturing first to Kenpachi.
Kenpachi smirked, "Tracking? Actually that's the one area I have absolutely no talent. Sorry but I don't think I can help too much with that." He said as if he told a funny joke before continuing, "My area Genjutsu affects the sense of touch in a person's body, tricking them to think that they are being crushed by a sudden increase in gravity. My Ninjutsu are basically all sword related techniques and other then that I got my lovely blade." He said with a chuckle as he rested his hand on his sheathed sword's handle.
Naruto frowned slightly, 'Okay, he's going third then.' Naruto thought before turning his gaze to the woman, "And you?"
The black haired woman gave Naruto a dead gaze, "My name is Azula, I originate from the Land of Fire's oldest clan, the Kagutsuchi clan. As such after a simple jutsu to conjure flames I can manipulate them will physical chakra manipulation. My Genjutsu is alright but the best part of my skill set is that I can feel the heat of anything for up to ten kilometres, so I'm a decent tracker." She explained.
Naruto's face twitched as her words hit him, 'Holy mother of Log! A real live Kagutsuchi member? I'm soooo lucky!' Naruto thought as he tried to act calm while nodding, "Seems pretty good, I thought that your clan could capture lightning or something as well?" he asked.
She smirked darkly, "Capture lightning? No, we create lightning." She said confidently as she folded her arms.
This time, Naruto couldn't contain his awe, "Like, proper lightning? Or the electricity created from lightning chakra?" Naruto asked.
Azula sighed before unfolding her arms and taking a wide stance, "Step back, it'll be easier to show you." she said as she began moving her body through a generating motion, making cracks of electricity appear over her arms before she pointed up through the tunnel with the pointer and middle fingers of her left hand, "HAA!"
*CRACK!*
The crack of the lightning was near deafening as the bolts of natural lightning shot from her fingertips, disappearing up and out of the tunnel in less than a second.
Naruto removed his hands from his ears as a grin covered his face, "Okay, that's awesome, you will be first up and if anyone comes close, that's your signal to tell the rest of us, got it?" Naruto asked, earning a nod before his attention turned to Kuro once more, "And you Captain Kuro?" Naruto asked.
Kuro adjusted his glasses with his palm, "My senses are all heightened, back in the day my main function was as a tracker because even though it was far from being my strongest asset, I was better than anyone else in the fleet." Kuro bragged unintentionally.
Naruto nodded, deciding that Kuro would take watch after Azula when Yachiru suddenly shouted out, cutting off his words.
"Hey Flash-san? Umm, there's a lot of chakra coming this way." Yachiru said as she slid into the room, coming to a stop against Kenpachi's leg.
Naruto instantly turned serious, "You can sense chakra signatures?" he asked, starting to reach out with his own chakra to feel what she apparently could.
"FLASH-SAN! WE'RE UNDER ATTA-!"
"AMATERASU!"
All of the members of Naruto's squad looked up through the tunnel towards Takeshi Birudotou's voice, only to see the burnt to a crisp corpse of the bowman begin to slowly slide down the tunnel.
The five were quiet as Takeshi's body came to a stop against the flat ground, until Naruto's mind kicked into gear.
'Dammit! One down already!' Naruto thought before shouting orders, "Yachiru! Go inform Fuu's team that we're under attack! The rest follow me!" he said as his lightning armour kicked in and he blurred up through the tunnel.
The moment Naruto exited the tunnel, he was forced to duck under a wicked three bladed scythe before he was suddenly yanked to the side from an unseen force and nearly slammed into an attacker's knee, though he managed to block the hit and thus electrocute one of his attackers.
Naruto pushed off from his attacker's knee and slid to a stop at the entrance to the tunnel as his squad took formation around him, causing Naruto's eyes to widen as he took in just who his opponents were.
With what he assumed was Orochimaru's reanimation technique, Naruto came to be face-to-face with the undead Nagato Uzumaki, Itachi Uchiha and Jashinist priest Hidan, backed up by a team of what Naruto estimated to be just over fifty white Zetsu.
After the split second analysis, Naruto began shouting orders, "Kenpachi! Maximise the gravity and attack the guy with the scythe! Kuro, attack the black haired one and be on guard because he IS stronger than you! I will take Nagato while you attack the White Zetsu clones Azula! Go!" Naruto ordered before his lightning armour kicked in once more and he charged at Nagato.
The red head's only reaction was lifting an arm, "SHINRA TENSEI!"
And everyone was scattered by the powerful blast.
The dust cloud cleared to show the lighthouse was no longer standing and that the only people in the area were Nagato and Naruto, who had protected himself with an explosive wave.
Naruto glared at Nagato, quickly taking the opportunity to try and communicate with him, "Nagato! Can you hear me? Are you in there?" Naruto asked.
Nagato's blank expression didn't change at all as he aimed his hand at Naruto, "BANSHO'O TENNIN!"
As Naruto was being yanked towards Nagato, he pulled out a kunai and threw it at the redhead. Nagato ducked the blade, letting go of Naruto and spinning quickly as Naruto's chakra sparked through the kunai.
*FLASH*
"RASENGAN!"
Nagato's earlier spin landed his palm right where Naruto's attack was when he appeared holding the kunai, thus absorbing the rasengan in a second before he kicked Naruto into the chest, sending him a few meters back.
Naruto slid to a stop and scowled, 'That's Nagato's Ninjutsu but his fighting style is completely different, as if he's completely under someone else's control.' Naruto thought as he stood tall again.
"Naruto-kun!"
Glancing over Nagato's shoulder, Naruto spotted Fuu and her squad along with Yachiru, "Go help the other quick! They want to take me alive so they won't kill me but they don't have the same concerns for the others!" Naruto shouted as Nagato slowly turned towards Fuu.
"ASURA: DISTANCE!"
*FLASH*
Naruto appeared in a flash in front of Fuu, holding Samehada in a block as the blade slowly but surely absorbed the powerful attack, "Go now!" Naruto shouted over the loud noise as he slid backwards slightly.
In the next second, everyone but Fuu was gone. She shared a glance with Naruto, both of them knowing what the glance meant without the need of saying anything.
'I love you, be careful.'
'I love you, I'll kill anyone who tries to harm you.'
With Fuu leaving a mere second later, Naruto swung his sword wide, knocking away the last of the chakra attack only to see Nagato mid-kick at his chest, landing a solid hit and pushing Naruto back against some of the rubble of the lighthouse that used to stand above the Lion's ruins.
Naruto and Nagato quickly began a full paced battle, which lasted for nearly five minutes straight before Naruto gained an advantage.
Naruto stabbed Samehada into the ground with one hand so he wasn't blasted away by Nagato's gravity push while he pointed at Nagato with his free hand, trying to gain a good shot even though he was being buffeted by the technique and small pieces of debris.
The moment the technique died down, Naruto focussed, "RASEN-BULLET!" Naruto shouted.
Using the Bone Bullet as a chakra anchor, a tiny yet powerful rasengan shot through the air, ripping off Nagato's left arm in a single movement and causing Naruto to smirk for a moment as Nagato paused to look down at his arm.
Naruto's smirk fell as Nagato's cut off arm turned to dust and a new one formed in its place, "Ah, right. I forgot they could do that." Naruto mumbled to himself as he once more entered a stance to defend against whatever came next.
##########
Kenpachi landed with a roll and came up to his feet, instantly swinging his sword in a block that caught Hidan's scythe cold, "Huh? Brother?" he asked as he got a closer look at Hidan.
The grey haired man didn't react other than to aim a kick at Kenpachi's chest, which that swordsman blocked before using the same style to kick at Hidan, launching the man back a meter only for Hidan to regain his balance and land perfectly safe and ready to fight.
Kenpachi chuckled as the two slowly began to circle each other, "Well, I never thought I'd see you again. Last I heard you failed Lord Jashin and actually killed yourself. How'd that happen huh? I thought you were granted the 'Impossible life' ability from our Lord?" Kenpachi asked, even though he was pretty sure he wouldn't be getting an answer.
And since Hidan charged the second Kenpachi finished talking, he figured his assumption was accurate.
Kenpachi clashed his sword with Hidan's scythe as the two stood at a standstill, giving Kenpachi a closer look at Hidan's off-colour eyes, "Guess something really is wrong with you but it doesn't matter." Kenpachi said as he began to shimmer.
A split second later, Kenpachi was standing back to back with Hidan, both of their weapons imbedded in the other's chest.
Kenpachi chuckled and ripped himself free from the scythe while hacking off Hidan's arm, both of their wounds healing almost instantly, though Hidan's healing came from the reanimation technique, Kenpachi's missing pieces of flesh seemed to pick themselves up and just reattach in the right places without a single drop of blood becoming visible at all.
Kenpachi smirked "A battle of two dead ninjas who just happen to be brothers of the same religion…I honestly don't know how this'll end." He said before attacking Hidan again.
##########
Kuro slid back against a large piece of stone before ducking under a handful of shuriken that were thrown with enough power to be imbedded in the rock.
Kuro quickly hopped to his feet, 'One, two go!' he thought before blurring towards his target.
Itachi's Sharingan flashed as Kuro's claws hit his stomach. Itachi burst into a flock of crows, moving around Kuro who quickly tried to retreat for safety. Unfortunately, Itachi reappeared behind Kuro in midair, his hand seals already finished.
"GRAND FIREBALL JUTSU!"
Kuro sent his chakra into his claws as he leapt sideways through the air, "WEAPON ART: CUTTING EDGE!"
Bringing his claws together, he cut the fireball into two halves so that it split around him, but as he came out of his spin, the first thing he saw was Itachi's foot.
*BAM*
Kuro nursed his bloody nose with the back of his hand as he was flung back through the air, landing sideways on a large piece of the fallen building as he sent his elemental chakra to his feet, "WATER STYLE: AQUA JET!" he shouted as water began to move towards him from the plants in the area.
Fuu arrived just in time to see Kuro charge at Itachi, the blade master covered in a full body veil of water that seemed to propel him even faster than before. She could barely even sense the chakra moving past her and towards Itachi, who was standing there calmly with his eyes closed.
Kuro hit Itachi hard.
*BOOOM*
And he hit the ground harder.
Itachi turned, his Mangekyou eyes glowing as Susano'o's arm held Kuro face down against the ground, "Target confirmed." Itachi said in a monotone drawl as his eyes locked onto Fuu's.
Fuu felt his chakra signature push against hers and she shuddered in fear as Susano'o lifted its arm towards her, 'Okay, just remember what Naruto taught me.' She thought as she connected her chakra with that of the Seven Tails' chakra.
Fuu's now bug looking eyes snapped open, "Let's go Choumei!" Fuu shouted as he was entrenched in chakra.
Itachi's Susano'o took its attention away from Kuro, who used the chance to get out of the area with a substitution, to face Fuu as the Seven Tail's chakra took a tight form around the now airborne woman.
With a bright flash, the chakra compacted and wrapped around her body tightly, forming a golden-brown chakra cloak.
Fuu opened her eyes and lifted her arm, catching the Susano'o's massive fist in her own small one, she smirked darkly as her bug-like eyes took in Itachi's form once more, "I've only got a few minutes in this form, but it's all I'll need!" Fuu declared as she lifted Itachi and his Susano'o up into the air, throwing it over her shoulder towards Naruto and Nagato's fight.
##########
Azula span quickly, "FLAMEVEIL SPHERE!" she shouted, forming a large ball of fire around her and clearing the area.
As she came to a stop, she glanced over her shoulder at the others who had joined her, "Well, I guess some back-up wouldn't hurt." She said before standing back in a combat stance.
Aoba, Hana, Grandpa Gohan, Yachiru and the escorting Cloud village ninja got into combat stances in an outward facing circle with Azula, though it was Aoba's sudden orders that everyone followed, "Hana! Give us some room!" he ordered.
"CYCLONE FANGS!" Hana shouted as she and her three dogs formed a single massive Tsuuga attack, carving a larger space around them as she came to a stop back in formation.
Aoba shouted as he began hand seals, "Gohan! Let's give Azula some fire to play with!" Aoba shouted before he finished his seals, "FIRE STYLE: FIREBALL JUTSU!" Aoba shouted, sending the fireball ahead into the Zetsu fray.
Gohan finished his own seals, "FIRE STYLE: FIRE BLAST!" he shouted as he spat out a five pointed star of fire.
Azula smirked as she leapt up into the air, her chakra naturally reaching towards the active flames as she began to spin once more, her fists clenching as she made her chakra 'grab' the center of the two sources of flame and spinning them in a widely spreading arc.
As she spread the fire, Aoba turned to the Cloud ninja, "Wind jutsu! Now!" he ordered.
"WIND STYLE: GREAT BREAKTHROUGH!" the ninja shouted as he spat forth a wall of air.
The wind chakra compounded the fire and made it shoot outwards, the end result of their combined jutsus throwing the flames over the entire area that the Zetsu were inhabiting.
The group went quiet as the flames slowly began to die, only to show that some Zetsu had survived and had already begun a counter-attack.
Aoba waved his arm, "Team up and fan out! Twos and threes maximum!" he shouted before he and Hana dashed forward.
The others quickly began to move as well, and soon the Zetsu were slowly being picked off one by one.
##########
Naruto smirked as he floated in midair, glancing past his opponent and towards Fuu as she hurled Itachi through the air, 'Heh, I'll end one of them now.' He thought as he took his absolute control of Kyuubi's chakra and tried to form a rasengan.
Naruto looked down at his hand in shock as a dark dense ball of chakra began to form before he lost control and dropped it, 'What was that?' he thought to himself before looking up, seeing that not only had the extra second given Itachi to right himself, but that Nagato was ready for some Taijutsu.
*SLAM*
Naruto gasped for air as Nagato pulled his knee back, once more aiming to hit Naruto in the sternum. But thanks to Naruto's quick block, he managed to evade and separate before aiming his hands at Nagato, "DECAPITATING AIRWAVES!" Naruto shouted.
Nagato flexed his muscles, easily stopping the attack with a Shinra Tensei as they separated before the redhead once more charged at Naruto, this time pulling out a chakra pole in the process.
Seeing Nagato charge, Naruto pulled Samehada from his back, 'Time for something new!' Naruto thought as he swung his blade to block the pole, though at the same time, he channelled chakra into the new handle.
*POOF*
Nagato squinted through the smoke only for his eyes to widen as a massive hammer came from nowhere and hit him square in the face, launching him back.
Naruto glanced over to Fuu and Itachi to see that not only had his timing passed, but Fuu was in trouble, "No Fuu-chan!" Naruto yelled in worry as he flew to help her.
##########
Fuu was extremely confident now that her chakra cloak was in place, giving her the speed to easily dodge any attack Itachi was throwing at her, and throw he did.
Itachi once more brought his hand up to his lips as he turned to face Fuu, "FIRE STYLE: GRAND FIREBALL JUTSU!" he announced, launching the attack.
Fuu fell backwards, underneath the attack before she charged forwards, her arm's chakra forming a stinger as she approached the Susano'o, "You're going down!" she shouted as she thrust her stinger at Itachi's shield, "TOXIC LUNGE!"
Itachi's shield shook with the force of the attack as crack like marks began to appear on the shield, Fuu smirked, thinking that she had Itachi on the ropes as all she could see was his soon to be broken shield.
"No Fuu-chan!"
Fuu glanced in Naruto's direction as she pushed forward with her stinger still, her eyes widening as she saw what Naruto was warning her about.
Itachi knew his shield wouldn't hold up, so as soon as Fuu hit it, he swung his sword around to attack her from behind.
Fuu quickly span, thrusting her stinger towards the sword and clashing against it heavily, causing a stalemate in power for a moment before Fuu pulsed her demonic chakra, throwing the sword away from her as well as the shield.
But the moment her pulse hit, the entire Susano'o shattered.
Fuu stared in shock as the massive sword broke to pieces before her eyes widened, 'He's right behind me!' she realised as she spun around to quickly see where he is…
…just as Itachi appeared in front of her.
His red eyes shone, "TSUKUYOMI!" Itachi said as he passed the midair Fuu.
Itachi landed softly before turning to face Nagato and Naruto as Fuu's chakra cloak shattered, causing the girl to fall to the ground in unconsciousness.
##########
Naruto was almost to Fuu when the Susano'o shattered, causing the blonde man to breathe in relief for a second before Nagato's chakra wrapped around him.
"BANSHO TENNIN!" Nagato shouted.
Naruto was pulled from the air down towards Nagato, causing the blonde to grind his teeth in anger as he turned to dive down at Nagato, "Stay dead this time!" Naruto exclaimed as Nagato threw a chakra pole at him from each arm.
The blonde spun, hitting the first two poles away with each half of his weapon and letting the third pole narrowly move under his arm, missing his chest by mere centimetres as he approached Nagato.
The redhead ducked under the first sword strike before jumping over a hammer attack, Nagato then leapt back as his arm formed the chakra cannon again, "DISTANCE!"
Naruto smirked as he swung his sword into the ground, throwing him up and over the sphere of chakra as he held tightly onto the hammer. As the sphere moved underneath him, Naruto was pulled back down thanks to Samehada, letting the blonde stand on the ground as he continued the rotation of his move, throwing the sword at Nagato in a full speed pitch as the hammer resealed.
Nagato leapt up into the air as he flipped backwards, holding out a hand as he went, "SUMMONING JUTSU!" he shouted, letting Samehada fly off until it imbedded itself into a tree.
Naruto frowned slightly at the massive smoke cloud, but he didn't slow as he unsealed a battle shuriken and threw it, "SHURIKEN SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" he shouted with a single seal.
Naruto scowled as all of his shuriken bounced off from whatever was in the smoke cloud, 'Dammit! I need to finish this now so that I can help Fuu!' Naruto thought before a spark of electricity shot across his chest, "LIGHTNING ARMOUR!" Naruto shouted, before disappearing.
The smoke began to fall to show a large turtle with Nagato standing on it's back. The Rinnegan user looked left as Naruto appeared there, punching up at the redhead's face.
Nagato barely moved his hand in the way in time to absorb the chakra from Naruto's attack, only for Naruto to smirk and mould his own chakra.
"EXPLOSIVE WAVE!"
*BOOOM*
The explosion pushed the turtle down to the ground and knocked Nagato away as Naruto quickly moved a hand to his weapons pouch.
Nagato flipped around to land on his feet, but he still slid back nearly twenty meters after he landed, coming to a stop next to Itachi just as the Uchiha landed from incapacitating Fuu.
Naruto turned to face them and his eyes widened as he saw Fuu falling unconscious through the air, "FUU-CHAAAN!" Naruto shouted with eyes full of fear before pegging his kunai at Itachi.
The Uchiha turned into a flock of crows as Naruto disappeared.
*FLASH*
Naruto appeared aiming a normal rasengan at Nagato, who was hit in the back and launched back towards his turtle as Naruto turned to hit Itachi.
The murder of crows enveloped Fuu for less than a second before they dispersed, showing that Fuu and Itachi were gone.
Naruto's wide eyes were shaking in shock as Fuu was taken away, 'No…my Fuu-chan…' he thought as he felt the ground rumbling.
Naruto slowly turned to see Nagato's turtle had gone into a Rapid Spin, launching itself through the air towards the blonde leaf ninja at high speed.
For a moment, Naruto could barely comprehend anything other than the pain of losing Fuu, he had no idea where they would go to do the sealing. But suddenly, something overtook the pain, an incredible dark force from deep inside, an unfathomable and unstoppable rage.
Nagato leapt off of his turtle just before it made contact with Naruto, but instead of having to brace from the shockwave as he expected, Nagato made a soft landing back on the ground and thus, looked up to see why.
##########
Kabuto gasped as he opened his eyes, "Orochimaru-sama, get ready for your fight." Kabuto said as he shuffled slightly further down the large scroll he knelt in front of.
Turning away from Tobi and the Mizukage, Orochimaru smirked as he dashed over, sliding to a stop as he formed a hand seal before placing his hands on the scroll as well.
Orochimaru looked up through the new eyes of his puppet and saw Naruto's creation, 'Kukuku, and here I thought Danzo said this boy had full control over the Nine Tails...' Orochimaru thought as he delved into direct control.
##########
**BOOOOOOOOOOM**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Naruto's eyes became stark white as his chakra suddenly exploded red from him violently, immediately dispelling the summoned animal. He fell to the ground as a shockwave exploded from him, his chakra wrapping him in a red cocoon as the shockwave blew back near everyone in the vicinity.
Nagato floated slightly into the air as is the shockwave was merely a light breeze, using the Rinnegan to try to see through the smoke.
The smoke cleared to show that the red chakra had began to turn into muscles, tendons and raw flesh, forming a massive Eight Tailed fox, similar to an almost a skinless version of the Kyuubi.
'Kill them, Kill them AAAALLLL!' "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Naruto thought before a deep demonic roar ruptured throughout the area.
The fox's eye locked onto Nagato as a large black ball began to form in front of it's mouth, but before the ball was complete, the fox ate the massive house-sized ball.
***BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM***
The fox opened it's mouth at the same time Nagato began to raise his arms, but instead of countering, Nagato froze as the fox's chakra exploded in a beam of white light towards him.
##########
Orochimaru's hand was pushed from the scroll as Nagato's body was destroyed, causing the pale man to scowl, 'I ordered him to absorb it, why did it not work?' Orochimaru thought as he stood up tall again.
Kabuto's brow furrowed as he tried to keep his focus while asking, "Orochimaru-sama, what happened?" he asked.
Orochimaru shook his head, "You made an error in the sealing array. Nagato was not entirely under my control." Orochimaru said as he turned to walk over to Tobi, now the only other person in the area.
Kabuto slid his hand back into control as he pulled Nagato back together, but at the same time he couldn't hold back his initial reaction, he scoffed before he began mumbling, "My sealing array is flawless thank you very much." He mumbled to himself with a frown.
Watching on, Tobi's single eye narrowed as his Sharingan read Kabuto's lips, 'So, this boy is the one who controls Orochimaru's key weapon? That technique is the reason I decided to keep the snake under my thumb. But if this Kabuto can do it without Orochimaru…' Tobi thought in the few seconds it took Orochimaru to make it to his side.
##########
Having obliterated its target, the massive fox turned it's burning gaze to its right, seeing the largest group of living beings as a potential target as chakra began to form at its mouth once more.
Kenpachi scowled as he looked over his enemy's shoulder to see the giant fox turning towards them, 'Crap, what the hell is that?' he thought before quickly changing his grip into a two handed stance.
Hidan leapt up to swing down at Kenpachi, but the swordsmen made a simple strike at the zombie man's scythe, hacking right through the weapon and detaching the top half of Hidan's body from his legs.
Before the top half could rejoin the lower half, Kenpachi span with a high kick, smashing Hidan's face and launching the torso towards the giant fox so that the two halves would be slower to regenerate.
Hidan's torso hit the slowly forming calamity of chakra and disintegrated instantly, making Kenpachi raise a brow, 'Is he directing that…oh shit!' Kenpachi said as he realised that Naruto had targeted the group right behind him for attack.
Kenpachi turned towards the group as his chakra manifested his signature technique, "NINJA ART: GRAVITY PRESSURE!" he shouted as he opened the first two of the eight gates with sheer willpower, just like Lee and Gai.
Time seemed to slow down for him as the many white Zetsu began to fall to their knees, Kenpachi sprinted through the crowd to grab Yachiru, pushing off the chest of another Zetsu to rapidly change directions, sprinting back towards the ruins.
Glancing towards the others, Kenpachi couldn't hold back his shocked expression as Gohan had an unconscious Kuro over one shoulder and was dragging Azula with him by her collar as Gohan moved past at high speed, already taking cover as Kenpachi had only just made it to the ruins in time.
"TAILED BEAST BLAAAAAST!"
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Kenpachi barely ducked behind cover which he looked out from hiding to see the damage.
The massive white beam obliterated more than half of the ruins and tore through the massive number of Zetsu before the light was too bright for him to look at. Kenpachi turned away, surprised to see Gohan standing calmly watching the destruction take place.
Gohan stood with a slight frown on his face as almost every single Zetsu was disintegrated, along with the majority of Hidan's body, 'Only threats left are a handful more of these Zetsu things and the one with the blue Doujutsu. But maybe Naruto should be on that list…' he thought before the beam suddenly cut out.
Gohan assessed the situation in a second, seeing that only ten or so of the plant men escaped and all of them were running to attack Naruto's multi-tailed form, he began to look for any other survivors of Naruto's attack.
The old man's eyes squinted as he spotted Hana holding one of her unconscious dogs as the others stood in front of her protectively, 'She's the only other one that survived? Damn, guess I may have to show these people some of my other skills after all.' Gohan thought before turning towards the sudden shockwave of chakra that Naruto let out.
Gohan's eyes widened, "Kenpachi! Let's go!" Gohan said at nearly a yell before charging towards the new battle.
##########
Red. That's all there was.
'They took her! Kill them all!'
Kill. Maim. Find her!
'DESTROY THEM ALL!'
"STOP THIS NARUTO!"
Naruto's eyes snapped open as he gasped, the red chakra dimming slightly as he began to look around him, 'That voice, it's the same one from before..' he thought, not realising that the simple words snapped him from his blind rage.
He shook his head, letting the red chakra that was flowing from Kurama's cage begin to envelope him once more.
*FLASH*
The red chakra was suddenly gone thanks to the bright yellow flash. Feeling a sudden grip on his shoulder, Naruto looked up to come face-to-face with the person he least expected.
"Wow, you've grown a lot huh?" the Fourth Hokage said with a smile as his hand rested on Naruto's shoulder.
Naruto stared at Minato in shock, "Y-Yondaime?" Naruto whispered with wide eyes.
*FLASH*
The cage room was gone, suddenly replaced with a plain of never-ending white, Naruto and Minato being the only things in existence within view.
Minato Namikaze smiled happily at seeing Naruto, who was stunned silent at the man's sudden appearance, "Seems like something bad has happened huh son?" Minato said questioningly, trying to play cool.
Naruto's heart shuddered, "Son?" he asked. Though he already knew that he was the son of the Fourth, it was a completely new concept to have a conversation with the man who gave him life, only to condemn him to the fate of a Jinchuuriki.
Minato sighed, his smiling falling slightly, "Look, I know there's a lot that needs to be said between us but unfortunately, we don't have much time." Minato said as he glanced off to the side as if looking at something that Naruto could not see.
*BAM*
Minato was thrown back from Naruto's powerful punch, slamming the Hokage into an invisible wall as Naruto appeared in front of him once more, one hand on his father's chest while the other was pulled back ready to splatter Minato's brains over the white plain.
Naruto couldn't hold the tears that threatened to spill over, "YOU ASSHOLE! HOW THE FUCK COULD YOU DO THIS TO YOUR OWN SON?!" Naruto screamed, obvious pain in his voice.
Minato's eyes widened in shock. He had been watching Naruto's life from the moment he had sealed a part of his being into the seal, yet not once had he seen Naruto look or act so vulnerable until this moment. Minato stared into his son's eyes as the tears began to spill over, 'My son…there's no way I can explain it all to you as well as fix the seal, I wasn't sure about this but…' Minato thought as he calmly placed his hand on the hand holding him to the wall.
Naruto nearly jolted at the unfamiliar contact between him and his father, his anger began to drop as his entire life's worth of sadness began to show itself, making him nearly collapse as he tried to not look away from him and his father's joined hands.
Naruto lessened the force of his grip, allowing his father to slowly slide down the wall to stand on his own feet. But before Naruto could say anything else, his father's grip on his hand changed to be holding his son's wrist.
Naruto watched as Minato calmly lifted his hand so that it was resting on Minato's forehead, the Yondaime smirking as his son's eyes widened, "You know Naruto, this'll be the fifth Kage that you've got in your coils. You're going to have to stop suppressing the others, and with my knowledge you'll know how to handle it." Minato said to his son.
Naruto's facial expression was frozen for nearly a full minute before he nodded, "Dad… how did you do this?" Naruto asked softly.
Minato chuckled lightly as he mirrored Naruto's position and rested his own hand on Naruto's head, ruffling his hair, "You know that the moment you do this you'll be able to find out. But as much as I hate to say it, we can put this off for now okay? Your wife needs you." Minato said with a small lopsided smile.
Naruto's thoughts of the outside world came rushing back to him, "How do I stop the fox? His chakra has overloaded my system, it's got more control over my body then I do right now." Naruto said, trying to think of a way to suppress Kurama's influence.
Minato chuckled, causing his son to look up to him again, "Trust me, you'll know." Minato said before putting more pressure from his head against Naruto's hand, "There's no time Naruto. Do it now."
Naruto took a deep breath as his tears paused for a moment, 'We'll talk later, I need to find Fuu-chan.' Naruto thought as his chakra formed.
Since they were in his mindscape, Naruto's chakra was visible as it sent a shockwave out across the plain before snapping back, coming to Naruto's hand before wrapping around Minato's chest.
Minato smirked at his son and winked as he let his hand fall from Naruto's hair, "See you on the other side Naruto." Minato said as he felt the little piece of him that was there begin to be compacted.
Naruto smiled with tear filled eyes at his father before his jutsu activated, "NINJA ART: SOUL DRAIN!"
A white flash enveloped the two of them.
##########
Gohan landed between the oncoming Zetsu and the red chakra mass that was Naruto at the same moment that Kenpachi's gravity technique hit them, the old man finished his hand seals, ending on an odd seal that was not classifiable, "FORBIDDEN JUTSU: DIMENSIONAL SLICE!" the old man yelled as he swung his rainbow glowing arm horizontally towards the Zetsu.
The Zetsu group dispersed, most going left or right while a few leapt up or dove underground, but to the shock of everyone who was watching, a dimensional rift open where Gohan had gestured, spreading out to destroy everything in a horizontal length of three kilometres.
Gohan fell to one knee as a small piece of his life force disappeared, 'So, that's how they work.' He thought as his mind somehow gained all the information on the Zetsu he had managed to kill with the strike.
Gohan went to charge at some of the survivors, but he stopped when a certain forgotten redhead landed less than a meter behind him, Rinnegan blazing as Kabuto controlled him, "SHINRA TENSEI!"
Gohan was thrown up into the air painfully, but Kenpachi quickly leapt up and caught the old man as Nagato turned towards the suddenly still fox.
Nagato raised his hand, aiming it towards the fox's head as a sphere of chakra began to appear.
**FLASH**
A white flash enveloped the fox's form and forced everyone to look away or else be blinded from the massive chakra output.
The light died down to show Naruto falling limply through the air, causing Gohan and Kenpachi's eyes to widen in disbelief that Naruto had seemingly just stopped what they assumed was his ultimate weapon.
Nagato's weapon lowered as Naruto's red chakra was gone with the white flash, causing Kabuto to smirk at what he saw through the Rinnegan wielder's eyes, 'So that's it then, time to clean up.' The grey haired medic thought as he managed to achieve what Orochimaru could not.
Hana looked up to see Naruto nearing the ground, her eyes filling with tears, 'Oh Log, what do we do now? We're screwed without him!' She thought as she hugged her dog tightly.
Nagato stepped forward as Naruto was about to hit the ground, 'It's over.' Kabuto thought with a smirk.
At the very last moment before he hit the ground, Naruto kicked into action, flipping to land in a wide crouch as he hit the ground.
Naruto's gaze snapped towards Nagato's as his eyes gained two side by side slitted pupils and his lightning armour kicked in, 'I get it dad! I can see it!' he thought as his father's knowledge on seals let him understand the one that kept Nagato's body in existence.
Nagato's eyes widened as Kabuto was caught off guard, 'Wh-what?' he thought as something seemed to shift in Naruto's crouch.
Time seemed to slow down for Naruto as he pushed forward at full speed, his legs becoming a single reptilian like tail as the lightning armour enhanced his speed from a visible blur to nearly untraceable.
The blonde shot off, winding his way between the few Zetsu between him and Nagato in less than a second as the Rinnegan user quickly lifted a chakra pole to block his oncoming attack.
Naruto was just about to clash with the defensive manoeuvre when Kabuto realised the blonde was smirking.
Instead of attacking, Naruto dropped as low as he could go, slithering between Nagato's legs as he spun, aiming his open palm at Nagato's lower back before Kabuto could even register that Naruto had changed his attack plan.
Naruto's hand hit Nagato's spine as a seal made from chakra writing appeared on the redhead's back, "SEALING ART: PHANTOM RESTRAINTS!" Naruto shouted as he came out of his super-charged mode.
Nagato turned to face Naruto as the blonde stood calmly, but as Kabuto went to lift his arm, it wouldn't move, causing Kabuto to turn Nagato's head down in confusion, 'What's that?!' Kabuto thought.
Nagato's advanced eyes could see that Naruto's seal had basically glued his arms to his sides for a moment, though with the Rinnegan, it would only be a few seconds before he could break out.
Nagato looked up at Naruto, just in time for the blonde to place his palm on Nagato's chest, Naruto smirked, "Heh, got ya." He said before a seal began to grow out from the point of contact.
"SEALING JUTSU: CONTROL RELEASE!"
##########
Kabuto gasped as his left hand was pushed from the scroll, 'How did he sever my control?!' Kabuto thought as he placed his hand back on the scroll to try and 'feel' for Nagato again.
"What will you do?"
Kabuto glanced up at Tobi, seeing that the masked man was the only one in the area and was watching him carefully, "What?" Kabuto asked.
Tobi's Sharingan sharpened as he stared into Kabuto's eyes with, "You're the one in control of their false life. But you just had your full manipulation taken right? What will you do?" Tobi asked.
Kabuto looked down at his scroll, already knowing his course of action as he found the seal keeping Nagato alive, 'If you're not on my side then you're against me!' he thought as he channelled his chakra.
######### #
Nagato's eyes snapped into realisation as he gained control over his body, though he knew for a fact that he only had a short time before something happened. He quickly looked to Naruto as he realised what would be most useful to his friend and sibling student of Jiraiya.
"Fuu is at the Mountains' Graveyard! Across the cove! She will be getting sealed any time now! Hurry Naruto, you can't let them win!" Nagato said desperately.
Naruto nodded, placing a hand comfortingly on Nagato's shoulder, "Thanks Nagato, I'm sorry you were used like this." Naruto said softly.
Nagato smiled softly before his thoughts travelled to his teammates, "Konan? Yahiko?" he asked.
Naruto's smile grew, "They're with us, got a few tricks up their sleeves to." Naruto said.
Nagato relaxed as his smile came back, "That's good, I…hope that they're…happy…in the end." Nagato said as the light faded from his eyes.
Naruto's smile fell as he had to watch his sibling student die for a second time, though this time the redhead began to fall into nothing but dirt and ash.
Naruto was quiet for but a moment as Nagato blew away in the wind, he didn't have time to rest as he stood tall once more.
"Fall Nine Tails!" a Zetsu said as he leapt at Naruto from behind.
*SLASH*
Naruto turned calmly as Kenpachi wiped his sword clear of blood, "Where do we go?" Kenpachi asked with a smirk as the Zetsu fell into two halves.
Naruto turned away again to look out towards the expansive sea in the distance, "The Mountains' Graveyard. Wherever that is." Naruto muttered, wracking his brain to try and think of why the name sounded familiar.
Gohan appeared, his lip bleeding as he held Hana's unconscious dog in his grasp while she and the other two fought their way to the old man's side a few seconds after, "It's a neutral zone walfway between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth, though it's closest to the Hidden Waterfall village rather than either of the great villages." Gohan informed Naruto.
Hana arrived to hear the end of Gohan's information, "The Mountain's Graveyard? Tsunade-sama and the other Kage sent out Pikkon and Anko's team to see if anything of use was up that way." Hana said as she stood defensively, the few Zetsu that were left forming a circle around them.
Naruto nodded, "Everyone, on three I need you to drop below my shoulder height. I'll finish the rest of them and we'll be on our way." Naruto said as he tried to form one of the few jutsu he had learnt from his father that he didn't already know.
Gohan had begun to count for the group, "One…Two…Three!" he said in a quiet shout.
The others dropped to the ground as Naruto sharpened his chakra with a new hand seal. He was holding his hands almost as if in prayer if not for the fact that his palms were facing outwards instead of towards each other, "HOKAGE'S TECHNIQUE: WIND STYLE: WAR SCARS!" Naruto shouted as he wrenched his hands apart, a sudden pressure bursting over the top of his comrades' heads.
The wind blew over all of the Zetsu with seemingly no harm before they tried to move, "GAH!" The first Zetsu that moved yelled.
Naruto smirked as he saw the technique working, 'This jutsu creates a 'sleeve' of chakra around the opponents, the moment in which they directly contact this sleeve, it shatters into devastating blades towards the point of contact. It's too fast even for the shunshin and the only way to dodge it is to already know that it's there and using the substitution to escape.' Naruto thought as he clenched his fists, 'Or I can activate the wind blades at will!' he thought as his War Scars absolutely obliterated the remaining Zetsu.
The others stared in shock as after the strong breeze, the Zetsu suddenly exploded. After a few seconds of silence they all turned to look at Naruto, only to see the blonde had once more turned towards the sea between him and Fuu.
Naruto's hard eyes seemed to sharpen as his gaze travelled across the water, 'Fuu-chan, I'm coming for you.' he thought seriously before his eyes rolled back.
Gohan caught the now unconscious Naruto before looking off in the direction of the Mountains Graveyard. The old man turned to Hana, "I'm going to take Naruto to Fuu. We can only hope that he wakes up before I get there. Who is coming with me?" he asked.
The group was quiet for but a second which is when Yachiru appeared, sitting on Kenpachi's shoulder and waving her tanto around above her head, "We are! Right Kenny?" she said with a grin.
Kenpachi's eye twitched at the nickname but he stood up none the less, "Alright fine." He agreed with a groan.
Azula dropped the unconscious Kuro at Hana's feet, "We're doing what now?" she asked tiredly.
Aoba limped out of hiding, "You guys, better get going," He said between harsh breaths, "I'll get the message through, Hana with me." He said, lifting her unconscious dog up and over his shoulders.
Hana nodded as she stood alongside her other two dogs, she glanced over her shoulder once more at Gohan and the others, "You guys better look after him." She said forcefully.
Gohan chuckled, "If we don't then those Akatsuki boys are gonna kill everyone else right? Like I'm gonna let a bunch of S-rank children run the show." The old man said with a Naruto-esque smile.
##########
Chapter End.
This is extremely late out, sorry guys. But hey I can't rush typing if I don't have a keyboard to type on in the first place haha.
Hope ya'll enjoy, please R&R
Alky out!