The skies grew darker, and the winds began to pick up on the shores of Mountain's Graveyard. The sea began stirring, the tide picking up, and waves crashing into the land.
The gigantic mass of fused puppets that was Mukade looked back at the Ancor Vantian as it loomed high in the dark clouds above.
A storm began to gather, brought in by thunder and lightning so great that the living shinobi on the ground were terrified.
Inside the Ancor Vantian, Sasuke looked around the empty hallway. The boy was deeply confused by the sudden shaking a few minutes ago, and all the other unexplainable noises that followed. Sasuke shook his head clear of distractions and then raced forward in hopes of finding Kakashi.
On the ground, a harsh wind blew in Tenga's face, but the woman's eyes were wide with glee. "This is perfect. Now is the time to test the power of the Edo Tensei!" Tenga clapped her hands, dispelling the summoning for Pakura and Gari. A dark laugh escaped her lips as a burst of chakra shot out, bringing up three more coffins from the ground.
The first coffin lid fell open, revealing a young man with a narrowed face, sharpened black eyes, and pure white hair that was shaggy, spiky, and fell on his shoulders and down his mid back. He wore a high collared, black martial arts jacket that snapped together up the middle, and pure white pants with the shins covered in wrappings, and regular blue shoes.
The second coffin lid opened and showed a beautiful woman with dull green eyes, akin to Higure's. She had long, beautiful flowing pink hair, with her bangs parted down the middle, and pinned up behind her ears. She wore a white, sleeveless overcoat that went all the way down just above her ankles. On the back of the overcoat was a red circle. She wore a short sleeved, black shirt underneath it, and dark blue capris.
The last coffin opened up, and revealed a woman with unusually long, vibrant red hair, and violet eyes. Two long strands of her long red hair framed either side of her face, and a clip pinned it up on the left side. Her outfit was a sleeveless shirt, and a long green dress that covered everything but her feet, and was crudely tied around her waist.
"Now," Tenga stated as she snapped her arm up into the air, "Let the destruction begin!"
The five members of the Six Paths of Shinobi, Saiki, Junichi, Kushina, Higure, and Satoru, all shot towards the battlefield. In a few seconds, each of them had their personalities brought back to them, one by one.
"What's going on," Satoru asked with a deep, confused voice.
Higure's mind flooded with memories of his death, leaving only one outcome, "On no..." He looked up and saw his friends, and sister, all running alongside him. Higure then noticed Junichi looking at him most curiously.
"You're...older than I remember Higure..."
"I don't understand," Saiki murmured as she and Kushina exchanged glances.
"Up ahead," Satoru shouted. All heads snapped forward as a giant let came crashing down between them. The team scattered to opposite sides, landing a far distance away from one another.
"What in the world is that," Junichi asked as Higure and Satoru both stood next to him.
"That chakra signature...it's Dark Chakra," Saiki stated grimly.
"There's also a lot of anger underneath that," Kushina added.
The giant, centipede puppet looked down at the shinobi and a dark, human voice came from it, "You...the Six Paths!"
"That voice is definitely Mukade," Junichi murmured.
"The puppet user from Roran," Satoru questioned. "I thought we killed him already."
Junichi scoffed and then crossed his arms casually, "Maybe we're in hell after all."
"No," Higure stated. The other two men turned to their comrade who looked at his hand with a look of anguish on his face. "We're in the living world...about fourteen years after you all died." Junichi and Satoru both looked shocked by this news. Higure clenched his fist and looked back up at his comrades. "We're victims of the Edo Tensei jutsu used by the Alliance in their second war against the Lands of Lightning and Water."
"Oh, you're SO giving me a history lesson after we're done here," Junichi stated.
"Wait, how long have you lived then?" Satoru's question went unanswered as he was swatted like a fly by one of Mukade's puppet legs.
The undead ninja however had clung to the leg, sticking to it like glue before he let go just as the momentum reached its height. Satoru slammed his hands together, forming seal after seal, "Burning Skies Jutsu!"
Satoru exhaled a large amount of mud from his mouth, mixed with a bit of oil. The oil then ignited, catching fire. The mud itself hit Mukade's new form with immense force and weight, and then the fire catch on his form as well. Mukade cried out as he was being forced to the ground and was being set ablaze as well.
"Mukade doesn't have the Ryumyaku anymore," Saiki pointed out. "His power is still great with Dark Chakra, but not unlimited like it was before."
"So taking him down should be easy this time." Kushina narrowed her eyes and looked around. Saiki noticed the worry on her friend's face almost immediately.
"What's wrong?"
"If...we're all back from the dead, right? We're all here...except...Minato..." Saiki's eyes narrowed before reevaluating the area. She saw a large number of Sky ninja and the rest of her team along with Mukade. She didn't even sense Minato's chakra signature anywhere.
"I'm afraid Minato Namikaze's soul was...unavailable." The five undead ninja went rigid, confused and shocked by the voice in their heads. "You see Lady Kushina, I need access to someone's soul from the afterlife to bring them back with the Edo Tensei. And, well, Minato's soul rests in the belly of the Shinigami. You'll just have to make due with being the Five Paths of shinobi instead of six."
"Who are you," Saiki questioned.
"For all intensive purposes, your master. And you're focusing your attention on the wrong target. In the sky, that's your enemy's greatest weapon." Everyone except Satoru looked up, seeing the Ancor Vantian floating just below the dark clouds. "Be dears, and take it out for me."
"We're not miracle workers ya know," Junichi shouted. The white haired man then shook his head and sighed, "Oh who am I kidding, we're totally miracle workers..."
"Damn the Edo Tensei...there's no way to fight it," Higure scowled.
"I figured out that much chief," Junichi stated as his hand reached for his pouch. "I've been wanting to itch my nose since I woke up." In very precise, fluid movements, Junichi unraveled his scroll, bit his fingertip, dragged his blood across the writing and twirled the scroll back up into a roll. Higure watched his undead comrade, almost with conflicted eyes as a cloud of smoke appeared in Junichi's hands. "No reason to cry about it...we've just gotta take out that floating beast right?"
"You make it sound so easy..."
"Easy? For us? Never. Possible?" There was a pause as Junichi swung an unusual bo staff made of extremely light metal with several holes in it on his shoulders. Higure stared at the tanned skinned man who simply stared up quietly.
"Well?"
"Well...it might be possible for us..." Higure rolled his eyes, as he stared back at Mukade, who was slowly being encased in hardened earth.
Suddenly, Higure's body shot forward without warning, rushing towards the prison that held Mukade down.
Satoru landed with a heavy boom that caused the sand to shoot up beneath his feet as he landed next to Saiki and Kushina. The redheaded Uzumaki raced forward without a second glance as the couple watched in silence.
"Did you survive that day," Satoru asked, his eyes filling with worry as they shifted to his wife.
Saiki's stern face melted away, replaced by a smile, and a soft, warming look filled her eyes, "Yes. I gave birth a few months after the Kyuubi attacked. Her name...Higure named her Sakura."
Satoru smiled and looked up into the sky. The world seemed new and big again, just as it did the first day he and Saiki went on their first mission together. "She's out there somewhere...our...our daughter."
"I just pray that she's not victim to the Alliance," Saiki growled, her fierce demeanor coming back to her face.
As Mukade started to break free from his holding, Higure slammed his hands on the shell that encased him, having just finished performing the hand signs for a sealing ninjutsu. Several writings burned upward from Higure's hands, covering half of the hardened earth. Kushina appeared on the other side, casting the same jutsu as Higure.
The two shot towards the front of the beach as the writings began glowing brightly, blinking faster and faster. An enormous, fiery explosion erupted, shooting up to the sky in a colossal, towering inferno. Higure and Kushina stopped for a moment and looked back, seeing the pillar of fire swirling about as it burned its target to ashes.
The two then looked at one another, eyes widening before they looked away awkwardly. "Wh-what are you doing here," Kushina asked nervously.
"Well, I am a member of this team...and dead..." Kushina's eyes snapped back around to the back of Higure's head.
"You...died? L-like, when did that happen?" Higure sighed and looked back to Kushina. He recognized the worried, motherly look she wore, even long before she was ever pregnant with Minato's child.
"I...can't be sure how much time has passed. But...I gave Naruto up..." Without warning, a powerful blow struck Higure across his face, sending him spinning and crashing into the ground.
"YOU GAVE UP MY BABY?!"
"If you could let me finish a sentence for ONCE in my life instead of hitting me that'd be GREAT!" Higure stood up and rubbed his cheek, even though there was no real pain there. He could still remember what one of Kushina's punches felt like. "I gave Naruto to Jiraiya sensei." Kushina's eyes popped open with shock. "He was in danger...Danzo was about to take him whether or not he could prove Naruto was your guy's kid or not. I met Jiraiya by chance and...gave Naruto to his rightful godfather."
Kushina's face softened as she placed her hand gently on Higure's shoulder. Higure looked at his old friend, who smiled warmly at him. "Thank you...thank you so much." Higure shrugged, forcing a smile on his face.
"What else could I have done, huh? Don't bother thanking me."
Before Kushina could reply, a blast of chakra severed her arm off. Higure and Kushina both had blank looks on their faces before looking at the nub of an arm that remained. The two shinobi blinked before looking at each other, and then back to Kushina's severed limb.
"Does that...hurt?"
"Not...really..." Kushina's eyes filled with fury, and her long hair rose as her chakra exploded around her. "DOESN'T MEAN IT DOESN'T PISS ME OFF THOUGHT!" Kushina spun around and charged towards the Land of Sky's forces that blasted her arm off.
Higure smiled and shook his head as he watched her run off, "She never changes..." His eyes shifted to another pained stare before he looked back, seeing his sister already forming a strategy. "I don't think any of them gets what this means though..." Higure sighed before his body forced him to follow Kushina into the fray. His mind was filled with worry however, of what happened to Sakura, and whether or not that he would have to fight her later on in this war.
Junichi joined Saiki and Satoru, his staff still hanging across his shoulders, "So, what's the strategy oh brilliant one?"
"We need to bring down that flying fortress," Saiki stated, as if to remind herself of the objective. "We'll need some heavy, long range ninjutsus to do so."
"Meaning, you, Kushina, and Higure are probably the best choices."
"No, Kushina and her chakra chains are the best bet," Saiki stated, correcting Junichi. "We just need to find a way to get her chains up that high...and how to anchor them down."
"What if she used the Kyuubi's chakra," Satoru asked.
"No, if I'm right, the Edo Tensei only brings back the human's body. Since the Kyuubi was removed from Kushina prior to her death, it would make sense that the Kyuubi is no longer inside of her, meaning we can't latch onto that crutch."
"Latch eh?" Saiki looked over to Junichi, who was staring out into the other two tearing through the Land of Sky's forces. "Have Higure take and copy Kushina's chakra. That'll give ya the manpower you need."
"Perhaps if we elevate the ground high enough with Satoru's Earth Style, and then add my Blossom Style..."
"And I just stand around and look pretty apparently."
"Wrong again. You can go up the Chakra Chains those two provide, and start destroying the place from the inside out."
"Life, death, either way I'm stuck with the suicide runs." Junichi sighed and just shook his head. "Alright, but I better get praise for this one."
"Just shut up and carry the message." Junichi nodded and swung his staff around. The wind and air around the three shinobi seemed to follow and trail behind the staff. Junichi then swung the staff towards the battlefield where Higure and Kushina were.
The two undead shinobi stood back-to-back as their ears perked up. Hearing Saiki's voice, and her plan, the two immediately bolted back to their team.
Off at the edge of the beach, Tenga watched the scene carefully to see how the legends she heard so much about worked nearly unhindered. She was beside herself with joy, knowing that their power was her power to command.
Kakashi's eyes slowly opened when he heard a loud explosion coming through the wall, accompanied by the cries of a few shinobi. Walking through the pile of rubble and the ploom of smoke, was Sasuke. The boy was breathing heavily through his nose, clearly winded, and sweating from exhaustion.
"What took you so long," Kakashi jested. Sasuke huffed and cut down Guy with a kunai, as he was the closest. As the Jonin hit the ground with a waking groan, Sasuke threw the kunai and cut one of Kakashi's arms free. Kakashi snapped his arm back and caught the knife and from there, was able to free himself with ease. "Where's Lee?"
"I didn't find him. I figured finding you and Guy would have been the best choice to counterattack." Kakashi twirled the kunai around and handed it to Sasuke. Though his restraints were gone, Kakashi still felt weak due to the lack of muscle use, and his chakra system having to start up from scratch.
"We still need to find him."
"Why," Sasuke questioned bitterly. "He could be lost somewhere for all we know. The Land of Sky is an enemy to the Alliance, and taking them down should be our main priority!"
"And we'll stand a better chance with Lee on our side. Mine and Guy's chakra system, our entire body chemistry has been thrown out of whack due to their restraining us."
"So we're stronger with an idiot helping us."
"We'll have an idiot with us regardless," Kakashi muttered, shifting his eyes to Guy. Sasuke turned around just as the bushy brow sensei freed himself. "Besides, do you think we could convince him not to chance after Lee?"
"Fine. But the longer we wait means that the Land of Sky has more of a chance to strike Konoha again."
"You don't need to lecture me Sasuke." Kakashi walked past his student and helped Guy to his feet. "You ready to go?"
"I was BORN ready!" Guy laughed and then raced off through the hole Sasuke created in the wall. Kakashi sighed and shook his head while the young Uchiha walked past his sensei, arms crossed and a disgruntled look on his face.
Shinno sat in his throne room, eyes closed as he intently focused on what he could sense going on around the battlefield. In all his days, Shinno never believed that he would come face to face with the Six Paths of the Shinobi. He only heard stories about their accomplishments, and had never faced them personally. As such, Shinno wasn't sure what to expect from them until Ancor Vantian was fully charged. After that, no threat mattered.
He also sensed the presence of his Konoha escapees scurrying about his magnificent fortress. Shinno grinned to himself as his muscles bulged out slightly. He was beside himself with joy that he could crush at least a few of Konoha's forces with his own hands before dominating the world.
"I don't see how this plan is going to work honestly, but who am I to question the boss," Junichi stated.
Satoru slammed his hands into the ground, raising up a giant wall of earth up out of the sand. Higure craned his head from side to side, cracking his neck. After the wall was raised, and sturdy enough to make a stable defense, Satoru turned and closed his eyes to concentrate.
"I haven't tried the slingshot in awhile," Kushina stated as she stretched her arms out as if she were about to run a marathon. "Then again, I guess I have been dead a few years."
"Only bad thing about the slingshot is I don't get to do anything," Junichi said as he rested his staff over his shoulders, gently placing his fingers over the holes in the sides.
Satoru sat perfectly still, eyelids closed tight. All eyes were fixed on him. Though Satoru could feel his undead teammate's gazes, he focused his attention inward.
"Ready," Satoru bellowed, drawing everyone's attention back to him. A red circle appeared around the center of his forehead, along with markings that came down from the bridge of his nose, and ran down to his chin, where they came back up and formed a small swirl on either of his cheeks. "Remember, we only have one chance at this.
Saiki turned to both Higure and Kushina who nodded to her. The redhead and brunette held their hands out to one another, leaving a small amount of room between them.
Suddenly, an orb of air formed from Higure's hand, swirling and twisting rapidly and only picking up speed.
"Now," Kushina shouted. She and Higure both threw their arms into the air. Higure's wind ball extended upward into a rising tornado, lifting up Kushina's Chakra Chains that was carried inside.
Saiki motioned towards her husband. Satoru placed his hand on his bother-in-law's back, pouring his natural energy through Higure's body. The brunette's face began to take on the exact same markings as Satoru's, allowing him to increase the rising and acceleration of the wind tunnel.
The chain finally stuck into the Ancor Vantian, the end of the chain forming a hook that latched into steel.
"You're up Kushina!"
The redhead formed a hand sign, causing seals that covered her right arm to glow brightly. Kushina let out a loud, fierce cry as she surged her chakra through the chain. Halfway up the initial chain, several more sprouted out like hydra heads, multiplying within the dozens as they all latched and hooked onto the Ancor Vantian.
"Alright," Kushina groaned, tightening her grip as her unnatural body struggled to hold the gargantuan flying fortress in place. "You two are up!" The undead Uzumaki struggled to hold her own down as the pull from the chains started to literally tear her arm off.
"Why aren't we all going," Higure questioned for a moment. Kushina snapped her glare towards Higure to silence him, just as a nearby explosion went off at the top of Satoru's Earth Wall. "Stragglers, right."
"Will you all be fine on your own," Saiki asked.
"Peachy," was Kushina's strained response as both Junichi and Satoru jumped onto the Chakra Chain. The latter of the two stopped and stared at his wife for a silent, prolonged moment. Saiki merely gave her husband a smile. Kushina groaned and rolled her eyes with disbelief while clutching to keep her arm attached.
"I'll be alright. Can't exactly die twice, now can I?"
"Perhaps not, but I still love you and I want you to be careful." Saiki rolled her eyes, trying to suppress the smirk on her face.
"Hey guys," Junichi called out, being the only one who noted Kushina's spiking chakra. Past experiences told him and the rest of the team that Kushina was seething, "I know you think you can't die, but unless you wanna test that, GET RUNNING!" The four shinobi all cried out and then shot off in their separate ways. Immortal, undead, or anything in between, none of them wanted to face an angry Kushina.
Not too far away from the battle, Tenga watched with amusement as the five shinobi worked together in such an efficient way with literally no guidance or direct control necessary. Everything was so natural for the legendary team that Tenga was beside herself with how much power she wielded.
The masked kunoichi turned her head slightly, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "You're not fooling me. Come out now if you just want to watch."
Shinno felt his base rock suddenly. He scowled bitterly, knowing that it was impossible for anyone to stop him from the ground. The old man stood up from his throne and went to check on Amaru and the Zero-Tails.
An explosion went off, causing Shinno to stop and turn. A figure flew through the smoke and kicked the Land of Sky's leader across the face, causing him to go smashing through a stone wall.
Guy slid to a halt and grinned, sticking his thumb straight up into the air, "Haha! Dynamic Entry at its finest!"
Lee pumped his fist into the air from across the room and cheered, "That was amazing Guy Sensei! An amazing kick! A fantastic display!"
"I couldn't agree with you more Lee! Why I impressed even myself with that Dynamic Entry!" Kakashi and Sasuke walked through the smoke, both wearing the same look of annoyance at the energetic duo. Guy turned his head as he heard a pained grunt from where he kicked Shinno. "You should stay down old man. Fighting isn't a game for people of your advanced age."
Shinno laughed and then spat out a wad of blood before grinning up at Guy, "Honestly, an inferior human such as yourself, talking down to me?"
"You're just an old man," Sasuke hissed angrily. "You're not threat to Konohagakure's elite!"
Shinno laughed and clenched his fists tightly forcing his power to the surface from its dormant state. A dark smoke-like aura rolled off of his body, lightly at first and then in waves. His muscles began to grow rapidly, giving the old man another half of a foot to his total height. Shinno's robes began to tear apart as his muscles continued to expand. His wrinkles began to vanish, and his grey, wavy hair turned into a wild mane of brown, and his beard spread to cover more of his face.
Kakashi, Guy, Sasuke, and Lee all watched with mixed expressions of shock and horror. Kakashi and Guy could sense the ominous feel of Shinno's unusual power, something they had never felt before in their lives. The physical morphing of the old man's body was hardly the strangest thing the jonin pair had ever seen before in their career, but it was still something noteworthy.
Shinno disappeared in a flash and reappeared crashing Guy's head into a stone wall. The taijutsu master's mouth hung open in a silent scream as his consciousness quickly faded. Shinno grinned and punched Guy's kidney, making the unconscious jonin cry out, coughing up blood. The leader of the Land of Sky grinned before hurling Guy at Kakashi. The masked jonin caught his partner against his body with a pained grunt that caused him to slide back a few feet.
The bulky leader vanished once more, but this time he was stopped from assaulting Kakashi by double-kick from Rock Lee and Sasuke both. The force of both the chunin's kick sent Shinno coasting away a few feet before he corrected himself and simply skidded to a stop across the ground. A slight bruise was shown on the man's cheek as he sneered at the shinobi in front of him. In a few short seconds, the bruise faded away as though it were never there to begin with.
"Medical ninjutsu...highly sophisticated too," Kakashi stated with narrowed eyes. He gently set Guy on the ground, putting him in a direction away from where the fighting would take place. "You'd likely be on par with Tsunade wouldn't you?"
"Try superior to the Slug Queen," Shinno corrected.
Kakashi gave an unimpressed huff. Whether or not Shinno's words were true, Kakashi was determined to pay the Land of Sky's leader back for the imprisonment, and the torture his men caused him for a few weeks now.
"Sasuke, Lee, take his left and his right," Kakashi ordered.
Shinno simply chuckled before crossing both of his arms over his muscular chest, "Sending in the pawns to leave me wide open for a frontal attack? Rather ruthless to sacrifice children in your place."
"Neither of them have the power to take you down," Kakashi stated as he prepared the seals for his signature technique. "Get ready boys!"
Sasuke moved faster in his hand signs, forming a Chidori that coursed with power, and the pent up rage Sasuke had been carrying while in prison. Lee tensed up in his and his sensei's signature fighting pose, ready to repay the damage Shinno had done.
The two boys moved with blinding speed. Shinno's grin widened before he thrust his knee to the left, and then snapped his foot out to the right. The movement with his one limb managed to hit both Sasuke and Lee before either of them could even touch Shinno. Both boys however threw a handful of smoke bombs at Shinno's feet, much to the older man's surprise.
Shinno was momentarily blinded, and disoriented, but the split second opening was all that was needed for a searing pain to shoot through the left half of his abdomen. Shinno looked down, seeing a huge chunk of his body missing, and blood pouring out of his wound. Standing on the opposite side of the room, Kakashi mentally cursed himself for missing a fatal hit on Shinno. What the White Fang wouldn't give for the Sharingan in moments like these.
Shinno fell to his knees, clutching his wound with a howl of pain as he coughed up a mouthful of blood. Kakashi dispelled his jutsu and simply stared down at his foe, content with letting the man bleed out in pain until death took hold. Standing on either of Shinno's flanks were Lee and Sasuke who followed the lead of their superior and simply watched.
Groans of pain and agony quickly switched to a dark chuckle before Shinno stood back up on his feet. The Konoha team looked on in confusion before Shinno turned his sinister expression towards Kakashi, "Was my performance convincing enough I hope?" Kakashi felt a cold chill of fear go down his spine. He knew that nobody should be able to stand after having part of their body cut away like that. The masked jonin then noticed that the bleeding from the wound had stopped completely. "Watch carefully..." The gaping wound began to heal, the skin and even internal injuries beginning to grow naturally before closing up entirely.
"Th...that is impossible," Lee stammered, hardly believing what his eyes witnessed.
"What kind of monster are we fighting," Sasuke murmured.
Kakashi scowled behind his mask, staring Shinno down. He knew that the man's claims about being superior to Tsunade in medical ninjutsu might not be so farfetched after all.
Shinno cracked his knuckles while staring down the major threat, "Now...shall we begin?"
On the battlefield, the only force opposing the Land of Sky were two undead siblings against thousands of ninja. Saiki and Higure moved through the enemy forces swiftly and without pause, perfectly synchronized in their actions and tactics. They stuck close, switching seamlessly between attack and defense against the troves of enemies they faced.
Under the Edo Tensei, the Six Paths of the Shinobi all realized they had a subtle mental link with one another, as though they knew what their comrades were going to do before they did it. It was something that they picked up on rather quickly, as it was fairly obvious to the team that had otherwise possessed flawless teamwork in the past.
Higure and Saiki were the prime examples of their group's teamwork. The siblings while growing up were often referred to as being cut from the same cloth. They knew each others movements and actions as though they were the same person, and always had even before becoming apart of the same specialized squad. Junichi jokingly stated that the siblings were somehow the same person, as they knew each other better than any married couple.
However, Higure could tell Saiki was off in their ongoing battle. Though neither sibling had slipped up the entire time, his sister's undead eyes were staring off into the distance. Higure wondered to himself is Saiki's mind was somehow working a way to dispel themselves from the Edo Tensei. He wouldn't doubt it at all, having guessed that Saiki would have somehow figured out the worst case scenario for their resurrection.
Higure paused for a moment when he saw something unusual moving through the sky. He stared up, seeing Kushina pulling herself up to the Ancor Vantian by her Chakra Chains. Saiki sensed Kushina's movement, but chose to remain focused on the battle.
'She senses it too...the Kyuubi's chakra...that negative energy...'
Higure's mind snapped to attention as his sensing technique automatically turned itself on. With the Sage Mode his sister gave him, and Higure's natural sensing ability, he quickly felt the same thing Saiki and Kushina sensed. A dark power, along with the Kyuubi's chakra signature.
"Naruto," Higure whispered.
Kakashi and Shinno moved about the room in scarcely traceable blurs. Sasuke and Lee desperately wanted to help out, but they could hardly follow the two senior shinobi's battle with their eyes.
Finally, the two stopped for enough time for both Sasuke and Lee to see them in the center of the room. Shinno had blocked a knee and an elbow from Kakashi, but the jonin's free hand was covered in pure lightning. Kakashi screamed as he snapped his hand to Shinno's face and gripped it tightly, pouring all of his chakra through to his hand. Shinno screamed out in pain as he felt lightning surging throughout his skull, slowly turning his brain into mush shortly before death took hold of him. The bulky figure fell to the ground as Kakashi held his grip firmly until the man's head exploded from the top from all the lightning build up.
The White Fang panted softly, having exhausted a fair amount of chakra before standing up from the corpse and stepping back. Shinno's corpse gave the occasional twitch as blood rushed out from the opening in his head.
"That was...incredible," Lee stated to Sasuke. "Your teacher certainly is amazing..."
"Yeah," was all Sasuke replied with.
Kakashi continued to pant as a light sheet of sweat rolled down his face. He narrowed his eyes, noticing an unusual amount of spasms from Shinno's body. Kakashi's eyes moved up, seeing the opening in Shinno's skull was full with a fully functional, undamaged brain.
Kakashi quickly tried to move away, but Shinno snapped up to his feet with a blood curdling grin on his face. Darkness gathered in both of the man's fists before he aimed his palms at Kakashi, "Revival Fist!" A powerful shockwave was unleashed from the dark energy. The ground shook violently from the release of energy, but the brunt of the attack hit Kakashi dead on.
Kakashi's entire being screamed in agony before he was thrown back and slammed through a solid stone pillar. The masked jonin lied on the ground, convulsing and trembling in pain as he clutched his chest.
Sasuke and Lee simply stared in fear at their incapacitated hope before turning to Shinno himself. The man's skull was still wide open, bare skin hugging the little bit of his skull that was visible, and a huge chunk of his brain that was also just out for the world to see.
"That was truly impressive Kakashi. Under normal circumstances, frying the brain of any ninja who can regenerate their cells is the best course of action." Shinno flexed his hands, clenching them and then unballing them repeatedly, "However, my medical ninjutsu comes from the understanding of life and death. Muscles grow stronger by destruction and reforming. This form you see is due to the affects of my ninjutsu, the Body Revival Technique. It rapidly destroys my muscles and repairs them just as quickly. To do this however, requires my cells to regenerate my body at such a rate that even Hashirama Senju's medical prowess looks like a child's game!
"But my Body Revival Technique is fueled by the same source of power as the Ancor Vantian: Dark Chakra! As such, my cells are constantly working, even to repair any part of my body." Shinno's hole closed up, and his wild hair grew over to cover what would have otherwise been unrepairable damage. "I must admit though, I didn't even expect Dark Chakra to be so...powerful."
Sasuke scowled and tensed up, catching Shinno's attention. "Fine, if you just regenerate from any injury, then I'll burn your body to ashes!" Sasuke performed a rapid series of hand signs, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" The young Uchiha took in a deep breath and then exhaled a large ball of fire several times his own size.
The leader of the Land of Sky simply stared at the jutsu, and let it hit him head on without budging an inch. The fireball exploded, consuming the bulky fighter in an inferno.
Sasuke didn't stop there as he quickly appeared on all sides of the cloud of smoke that formed, unleashing fireball after fireball, bombarding Shinno from all sides continuously. Sasuke intended to burn the man down to nothing, even if it cost him all of his chakra.
Inside the Ancor Vantian, Satoru and Junichi focused on their forced mission: to bring down the sky, so to speak. Both of them were rather surprised by the lack of hostiles in the fortress.
"Gotta say, I feel kind of ignored," Junichi stated as both of his arms were behind his head. Satoru remained silent, his eyes drifting back and forth to watch out for any unusual signs. Junichi noticed this, and kept to himself how ridiculous it seemed to be on guard. They were immortal and indestructible, which meant for Junichi that he could let his guard down even more than he usually did while he was alive. "So do we just start smashing things?"
"I'm not sure," Satoru murmured. Silence hung between the two for a moment before Satoru stopped. Junichi followed in kind, but gave his partner a confused look. "It was subtle, but our summoner...she was always keeping tabs on us." Satoru gently poked the side of his head as he looked at Junichi, "I could feel it. I'm sure you could too if you paid enough attention." Junichi simply rolled his eyes and ignored the comment. "But now she's not there...she wouldn't give us free reign, so she must be otherwise distracted with something."
"Well now I really feel ignored," Junichi stated. "First no enemies, and now even our babysitter doesn't think we're important enough to watch over now."
"No...not to sound too arrogant, but we'd be too valuable to just...let us go off the rails. Something has to be drawing her attention away..."
Junichi swung his pole around by the end, playing with it like it was an oversized baton, "Well then, let's just take this moment to seriously fuck some stuff up." The tanned, undead ninja started by slamming his pole into the stone wall. With a simple flick, a resonating echo from the rod carried throughout the hallway. There was a slight pause before all of the walls and floors cracked and blew apart as though there was an explosion that went off.
Junichi laughed to himself as he continued forward to destroy Ancor Vantian. Satoru followed, but looked immensely concerned and troubled by his own thoughts.
Tenga's visible smile disappeared as she pulled her mask back down over her face. Standing across from her was a hooded Orochimaru, whose mouth was pressed into a hard line. "So, I think that explains quite a bit don't you?"
It was quite the understatement to say the least. After fleeing the battlefield and regaining his head, Orochimaru knew that watching and observing Tenga would likely be better for information gathering rather than just attacking her blindly. Though he wasn't expecting to be caught, Orochimaru had already discovered more than he even believed to set out to learn.
"I didn't believe Danzo would have such...sophisticated experiments running around all on his own..."
"Give the man some credit, Orochimaru," Tenga stated with a lofty tone. "He's your senior by a full generation, and commands over half of this continent. Do you truly believe that he wouldn't know more forbidden techniques, and have performed countless more experimental projects than you?"
Orochimaru had never considered Danzo much of a scientist, and more as a corrupted, bull-headed political leader. The Sannin always believed that's what gave him the edge if he ever became Hokage. The information Tenga told him, if even half of them were true, meant that Danzo posed a much more serious threat than Orochimaru ever would have believed.
"Oh don't get me wrong, I'm the pinnacle of what the man was capable of," Tenga said with a downward motion of her body. "Everything else he's doing, the spuds coming from the First's DNA? That's just so he doesn't have to deal with the other members of the Alliance if he doesn't have to. Think the Uchiha Police Force, but on a global scale."
"Then why...why have me work so tirelessly on the Yamato clones?"
Tenga shrugged and folded her arms over her chest, "Most likely to try and one-up himself. The numbers he's got already...if he had that many clones that were based from an actual shinobi...well, he'd have quality and quantity. For now, he's just got the latter of the two."
It was all making more and more sense. The entire time Orochimaru believed Danzo to be an incompetent old man, and that the Hokage's secrets would be the end of him. Now things turned out to be the exact opposite. Like Orochimaru, Danzo's secrets only held an immense power that nobody could see coming. The only thing that bugged Orochimaru was why Tenga divulged so much information.
"Why are you-,"
"Sharing this with you?" Tenga laughed a little before letting out a heavy sigh as she looked up into the sky. The imposing fortress still floated above, reminding Tenga of her original mission. "You and I share more in common than just what I've shown you. This world is simply boring. War is fun, sure, but it's clear that Danzo has this in the bag. I might as well mix it up."
"You think I can upset...this? Even I have my limits."
"You may succeed, you may not succeed," Tenga truthfully pointed out. There was a pause as her yellow colored eyes narrowed with glee behind her rounded pupils, "Either way though, you're going to fight against this. Which means that it will upset the 'natural' order in Danzo's plans...which makes things more exciting. Whether or not you survive your own little war against Danzo is irrelevant, as it distracts him and leaves him open to the Akatsuki, or the Union to strike him should he falter."
"I thought you wanted to see your master win," Orochimaru murmured, his golden eyes practically glowing under his hood.
"Are things ever simple with us," Tenga asked. Orochimaru simply stared at the mysterious girl in silence. After a few moments, the scarred Sannin turned around and walked away, much to Tenga's giggling amusement.
Sasuke continued his barrage, appearing in one place only for a split second before moving onto the next. His movements became slower, but he still moved fast enough to be a hardly visible blur. After a few more dozen fireballs, Sasuke jumped back next to Lee. The sweat of exertion poured down the young Uchiha's face as he stared at the giant cloud of smoke in the center of the chamber.
"Are you finally done," a voice called out. Sasuke and Lee both gasped in terror at the sound of Shinno's voice. The smoke cleared, and most of the soft tissue on the man's body bad been seared off. In some places, Lee and Sasuke could even see exposed bits of bone. Shinno's face was halfway scarred, with all tissue gone, leaving only exposed nerves and a very round eye that pierced through the young duo. "If your temper tantrum is over, I think I'll be breaking your necks now."
"You will do no such thing!" Both Shinno and Sasuke turned to Lee, whose eyes were now hardened and ready for battle. "I am still here and I will not go down without a fight!" Shinno shook his head and gave a disappointed sigh. Lee made an X with his arms right in front of his body, his palms facing outward and his fingers bent halfway. "In order to survive...I will have to use that technique...forgive me Guy Sensei, but I will do what I must!"
Sasuke stared at Lee as though he were crazy. There was literally no stopping Shinno when both Kakashi and himself failed. What could Lee possibly do by pounding his fists when burning him alive and blowing out his brain didn't work?
The ground beneath Lee's feet suddenly gave out, forming a deepened crater. Sasuke took a hesitant step away from Lee as the air quickly became heavy around the taijutsu user.
Shinno's eyes narrowed quizzically as the boy's chakra levels began to spike noticeably.
Lee started to yell loudly, his voice building up as the air around him grew heavier and heavier, his chakra swirling around madly from his feet. The boy's skin started to turn a shade of red and his hair began to flow upwards. "Fourth Gate of Pain: Open!"
Lee's chakra exploded with tremendous force before the boy disappeared in the blink of an eye. Sasuke had no clue where Lee could have vanished to before he looked up and saw the taijutsu user right behind Shinno, less than a fraction of a second away from landing a kick on the man's head.
Surprisingly, Shinno lifted up his thick arm and blocked Lee's kick by the shin. The impact sent out a small shockwave, and sent cracks snaking out from beneath Shinno's feet. Lee's blurred out eyes widened as Shinno stared back at the boy with an uncaring, neutral expression.
"Wh-what?!"
Shinno grabbed Lee's ankle and quickly jerked the boy out of the air with enough force to dislocate his leg with a loud 'pop' and a pained howl. The Land of Sky's leader then slammed his fist into Lee's gut with enough force to send any dust or loose rubble flying away from their location. Lee froze as his gut folded around Shinno's fist and literally threw up a massive amount of blood as his skin faded into a paler tone.
"The Eight Gates...impressive for a boy of your age to unlock any of them, let alone getting to the Fourth Gate." Shinno used his other hand and grabbed Lee by the back of the neck before tossing him into the air like a sack of potatoes that hit the ground and rolled to a stop. "However, with my Body Revival Technique, I can activate all Eight Gates without any negative repercussions to my body, thanks to the rapid cellular regeneration."
Shinno turned to Sasuke, who froze with fear. The sinister man simply smiled and started to walk towards the only remaining obstacle in his way. Sasuke readied himself to fight to the bitter end, though his mind and his ego were screaming at him.
Kakashi and Guy were both bested by Shinno without using his full power. Even Rock Lee who managed to unlock so much power at once was taken out in a second by the man. The young Uchiha trembled in place, keeping his eyes focused on Shinno.
The bulky figure suddenly stopped in place, eyes widened in shock. His expression changed into one of bitter hatred as his entire, rigid body tensed up.
"You..." Shinno took a pivot around to look back, seeing two masked, robed figures standing in the room.
Sasuke looked completely bewildered at where the newcomers came from, but was relieved that they drew Shinno's attention away from him.
"I'm surprised you got this far with your plans, Shinno," the tallest masked figure spoke. His mask stood out from the shorter figure's, as his was orange with a strange swirl-like pattern around the right eye that was completely darkened in. "I thought you required Dark Chakra from Moryo."
Shinno huffed with a smirk on his face, "That was before I found a suitable host for the Zero-Tails. The beast was on the edge of fading away with no negative emotions to feed on. And while sealed away, its power was hidden, but it couldn't feed. I needed Dark Chakra to revitalize it and prolong its life until I could find a suitable host." A sneer found its way on Shinno's face, "Little did I know that my personal little slave girl, Amaru, would be the perfect host for it."
Sasuke didn't understand a word of what they were saying, but he couldn't find the strength or courage to move. The tension and dark intent was so heavy in the room it felt like it was weighing Sasuke down like an anvil on his back.
"So, your source of Dark Chakra is...elsewhere," Madara murmured. The shorter masked figure, wearing a fox-like mask, huffed bitterly and turned to walk away.
"Where does that little brat think he's going," Shinno questioned. The boy stopped in his tracks and turned to the taller man.
"You're a vessel for the Dark Chakra in this place...I'm supposed to be after the source."
Shinno's muscles bulged out even larger than before, the darkness rolling off of his body again as he growled angrily, "None of you are leaving! I'm going to kill you and Madara both!"
Sasuke's pupils nearly shrunk out of existence when he heard that name. He wasn't even slightly curious anymore, and was now just filled with terror and fear. Shinno's impossible power was terrifying enough, but to hear that he was in the same room as Madara was a whole new level of hell he had to prepare for. There had always been rumors that Madara was still alive, though nobody ever believed them except a select few. Sasuke had always been hopeful that another member of the Uchiha Clan had been alive, until he knew exactly how powerful his ancestor had been. On the way back from a mission, Kakashi showed Sasuke and the others the result of a battle between the First Hokage, and Madara Uchiha that tore the land itself asunder.
Shinno shot forward, leaving the ground he stood on into a crater. Time seemed to slow as Shinno appeared in front of Madara, fully prepared to strike the masked figure down. In mid-assault, Shinno didn't noticed the other masked boy that had closed in on his open half and struck with tremendous force.
Shinno flew through the wall in the blink of an eye as Menma landed next to Madara. Both sets of masks were staring at the dust settling before Shinno came back out, launching himself at his attacker. In Shinno's hand was a dark orb with two rings circling around it, readying to land the jutsu on Menma.
"Eat this!" Menma simply raised his gloved hand and ended up catching Shinno's hand. The jutsu never hit, much to the horror and confusion of Shinno. "Wh-what in the world did you do?!" Menma's iron grip held onto the larger man's hand, not letting him move away for a moment. A similar dark aura began to slowly drift off of Menma's body, surprising Shinno. "N-no...y-you?!" Shinno finally managed to free himself from the boy's grip and jumped a fair distance away, scowling furiously. "How...how can you use Dark Chakra!?"
"The boy is...unique," Madara stated as he looked to Shinno. "Unlike you, he's a proper user of Dark Chakra, and not some medium that suckles off its energy like the leech you are."
Shinno scowled as he stared at the masked boy. With a swipe of his hand, a powerful wave of Dark Chakra was released in a semi-invisible force. The attack destroyed much of the area in front of Shinno, but the attack seemed to pass right over Menma. Shinno gasped and stepped back from the young boy.
"I-Impossible! How are you doing this?!"
Dark Chakra began to lift off of Menma's body gently. Unlike Shinno's aura which seemed to be just a black smoke-like substance, Menma's was pitch black, dense, and had a purple afterglow. Shinno recognized this power as pure Dark Chakra, and only had one option left in mind.
"Fire the main cannon of the Ancor Va-," Shinno's order was cut off with a solid kick to the face that sent him crashing into the ground. Menma then came down on Shinno hard, slamming both of his feet into the bulky man's abdomen, making him cough out a mouthful of blood.
Sasuke simply stared in awe as this masked boy who couldn't have been much older than him did what nobody else could have just moments ago. The invincible tyrant was being completely dominated by this boy who didn't seem to be exerting himself in any capacity. Sasuke looked over hesitantly at his ancestor and was immediately thankful that his attention was on the fight. The young Uchiha swallowed nervously and tensed up nervously.
Menma's hand came at Shinno's face, encasing his mouth to give the man only muffled screams. Shinno's Dark Chakra rolled off of his body, and encompassed both combatants in the same aura. However, each second that passed that the aura was up, Shinno grew smaller and smaller, his muscles declining, his hair color fading and falling out. Shinno tried to pry the boy's hand off, to scream at him to stop, but nothing helped at all as his energy was slowly sucked out of him.
Madara watched in silence as Menma sucked the Dark Chakra out of Shinno. It wasn't a surprise that Menma could easily dominate the leader of the Land of Sky with such ease. After all, Menma had the unique fusion of Moryo's spirit and a bit of the Kyuubi's chakra to power him. Shinno, taking the energy from a power source outside of his own body, made him weak in a battle of Dark Chakra users.
"I wouldn't think you as stupid, Sasuke," Madara spoke. Behind the masked man, the young Uchiha in question froze in place. His body was completely consumed by terror as his hand clutching a kunai trembled. "I understand your willingness to end a threat to Konohagakure, but did you really think sneaking up on me with a knife no less would benefit you in any way?"
Sasuke dropped the metal weapon noisily and then started to step back. The boy was brash, and even arrogant at times, but he wasn't going to take on Madara Uchiha in a frontal assault.
As the man turned to face his distant relative, he was rendered immobile when something wrapped around his entire body. Madara's eye shot open in confusion before he felt a numbing surge course throughout his body as he saw familiar glowing chains wrapped around him.
"No...impossible!" Madara snapped his head up to the entrance and the source of the chains around his body.
A woman with long red hair, cracked, pale skin, and undead violet eyes that stared with immense hatred at the masked man. "Well, well, isn't this my lucky day?"
Sasuke simply stared in shock as Madara was rendered immobile before turning around and seeing the unusual looking redhead in the doorway. It took Sasuke a moment before he even developed a theory about who she was, 'Edo Tensei? Then...Orochimaru is here now?!'
"Kushina," Madara greeted with a strained groan. "Nice to see you as always..." The masked man let out a stifled groan as Kushina tightened the chains around his body, the numbing surge becoming much more painful.
Kushina's eyes widened and filled with blinding, murderous intent, "You took away everything from me." The chains continued to tighten, and Kushina would continue until Madara was torn into pieces, "I'm going to take the only thing you care about then...your life Madara Uchiha!"
Kushina's head snapped down when she saw a dark figure appearing right below her. The masked boy held a dark swirling ball in his hand with two light rings around it before he thrust the jutsu at the redhead. Kushina brought up her leg up and kneed the attack away from her before planting that foot on the ground and bringing up the opposite leg to try and kick the boy's head. He managed to duck just in time, only for his mask to be knocked off of his face.
The undead Uzumaki's expression twisted into one of confusion as she saw a somehow familiar face that she had never seen before. With a swift kick to the chest, Kushina sent the boy coasting back before flipping around and landing on his feet. Kushina's attention was now completely fixated on the young, fierce looking boy.
His hair was black and spiky, and he had three whisker marks on each cheek that were darkened in a bit noticeably. Despite his dark looking face, his eyes, a bright, shimmering blue, stood out amongst his features. Kushina knew those eyes anywhere. They were the eyes of her husband, Minato.
"It can't be...Naruto...?" Menma's eyes widened a bit as his posture loosened. "Is that you...Naruto...?"
Sasuke stared at the black haired boy in disbelief. He knew Naruto was blonde, and working with Akatsuki, not Madara. However, after staring at the boy for a long enough period, he managed to see that the face was exactly the same, even if the hair color was different. Sasuke's mind raced with what this could mean before settling quickly that Madara was working with Akatsuki.
"Who...who are you," Menma questioned.
Kushina cracked a smile, her features softening in sharp contrast to what they were before, "It's me Naruto...I'm your mom..."
Menma's arms fell to his sides, and his mouth hung open. His heart skipped a beat, and then filled with joy. "M...mom...?"
"Menma," Madara shouted, snapping the boy out of his trance. "Shinno is gone! Track him down instantly!"
"B-but my mother!"
"She's a pawn of the Alliance," Madara shouted. "Your mother was killed and now she's being used in the Edo Tensei!" Menma looked reluctant and hurt at the idea of having to fight his mother. Thankfully, he could chase down Shinno to avoid the confrontation.
"Naruto wait! He's the reason I'm dead!" Kushina snapped her eyes towards Madara. The young boy froze and stared at his mentor for a moment.
"She's being controlled by the Alliance! Do you really think that they can't control what she's saying?! Hunt down Shinno now!" Madara's eye burned brightly at his last word. Menma's form tensed up for a moment before relaxing, all emotion draining from his face as he turned and chased after Shinno.
"Naruto wait!" Kushina scowled before turning her fury filled eyes back at Madara. The glowing, gleeful eye behind the mask was evident to the redhead. "You bastard! I swear I'm going to kill you!"
"Didn't Minato often advise you on your temper," Madara said insultingly. Kushina roared in fury as she swung Madara about the room via the chains like a rag doll, careful not to hit any of the unconscious or conscious beings in the room.
Sasuke stared at the redhead in fear akin to the category he held Madara in moments before. He quickly turned towards where Menma ran off to and then chased after him for some kind of answers.
Shinno stumbled forward as he tried desperately to reach the Zero-Tails in order to regain his power and to absorb that brat into it to increase the Ancor Vantian's power output. His last hope for survival was the Zero-Tails.
Amaru floating in stasis, the liquid in her chamber a dark purple color due to the Zero-Tail's corruption. Shinno reached out as the darkness began to stir, causing some discomfort on Amaru's part. Shinno's body began to regenerate its deteriorated stated, as the old man grinned.
A hand grabbed Shinno's wrist, snapping it within a second. The old man howled in pain as he stumbled back and fell onto his knees, clutching his wrist in pain. Looking up, Shinno saw Menma staring at Amaru's encapsulated state.
"This...this is a very unusual power..."
"Y-you stay away! That power belongs to the Land of Sky! Not to Madara Uchiha!" Menma simply looked up and placed his hand on the capsule. Shinno expected the Dark Chakra to burn Menma's skin, as was the nature of the energy source, but surprisingly enough, it started to snake on his hand and seeped into his skin. "W-what...how!?"
Menma ignored Shinno's questioning before raising up his other hand to continue to absorb the Dark Chakra from the Zero-Tail's liquified state. Completely outraged that his weapon was being used against him, Shinno formed a series of hand seals with his bony features.
Menma's body was overcome with an unusual feeling as the Dark Chakra started bubbling furiously around the boy's arms. Shinno grinned as he let out a cry of rage, surging the jutsu as the Dark Chakra began corroding Menma's skin. The dark clone screamed in agony, trying to pull his arms away as smoke started coming off from his skin.
Shinno burst with laughter, his thin, pale form standing right across from the black haired boy, "You think you were the only one who could control Dark Chakra?! You damned fool! You are in my fortress! You are in my world little fool! Trying to steal away my power! I won't allow you or Madara to take this away from me! No one in this world shall take this from-," A sudden shrieking sound was heard, followed very quickly by Shinno's grunt. His chest exploded outward in a blast of blood that dripped on the ground as Sasuke stood behind him, the young boy's hand covered in lightning, and fingers dug into Shinno's back.
The Dark Chakra was passive again, no longer hurting Menma, and flowing back into the boy's system. Sasuke watched as Shinno fell over and finally died at the young ninja's feet. He glanced up at the boy in front of him, who was much more focused on absorbing the Dark Chakra from the naked redhead in the capsule.
"What are you doing," Sasuke finally dared to ask. Menma's eyes drifted downward a bit before they went back up. Sasuke could tell that the boy wasn't focused on the unconscious being in front of him, but rather the amount of power he was taking in. "How are you absorbing Dark Chakra?"
"Shouldn't it be your mission to stop me," Menma questioned. The black haired boy looked over to Sasuke, and the two simply stared one another down intently.
Sasuke knew in the back of his head that he should be trying to take down the enemy in front of him, even if it would very clearly cost him his life. But something else interested Sasuke even more.
Ever since the mission to assassinate the Tsuchikage, Sasuke has witnessed time and time again how average shinobi possessed such power that they could even stand their own against the highest tier ninja. Zaku's Curse Mark, Dosu's serpent jutsu that clashed with Onoki's famed Dust Style, even Rock Lee who had been nothing more than a masterful practitioner of taijutsu could unlock his Inner Gates to give him immense power, despite how easily Shinno dispatched him.
Sasuke's pride and natural talent made him slip. He was coasting with his talents and abilities while those with no natural feats managed to grow in such leaps and bounds that they left the Uchiha prodigy in their tracks. Sasuke needed something to increase his own powers, something that could send him rocketing up the ladder.
"What can you tell me about the Dark Chakra?"
"It's not something you want," Menma immediately replied, turning back to the energy he was draining from Amaru. Sasuke simply hardened his stare at the boy. "It's not something I want...Madara tells me that since I possess Dark Chakra naturally from the demon inside of me that if I don't control this power properly that it can kill me, consume me."
"Then why are you taking more of it in your body," Sasuke asked, genuinely curious.
"Madara states that my body is naturally adept to handle Dark Chakra. People like Shinno cannot, and only seek to use its power to destroy others."
Sasuke scoffed, cracking a taunting sneer as he crossed his arms, "So you're a hero then? Give me a break."
"I didn't claim to be a hero. I just want to make sure that Dark Chakra isn't put into the wrong hands. The amount of stress this girl's body is under is too much for anyone. She may be a suitable vessel for Dark Chakra, but not this amount. This much will kill her."
A large explosion erupted, throwing the two boys off balance. Menma's connection with the Dark Chakra was disrupted momentarily as Amaru's eyes snapped open. The capsule exploded outward, throwing Menma back a few feet.
Sitting in front of Sasuke and Menma both was an odd creature, limbless and serpent-like with only a single mask and five red, odd looking strands coming out from the top of the mask. Menma narrowed his eyes, tilting his head to the side as he inspected the monster closely. Sasuke's body tensed up, trying not to quiver with fear at the sight of such an unusual creature.
"I won't let you take me without a fight you child! I am the Zero-Tails! Will of the Shinju!"
"Shinju," Sasuke muttered.
Menma screamed as he lashed his arms outward, sending two blood red, spiked chains out from his sleeves that wrapped around the Zero-Tails and held it firmly in place. The beast roared and tried to break free, only for the chains to squeeze it down and hold it in place.
"A corrupted slug from the Shikkotsu Forest, and you have the nerve to call yourself a Tailed Beast?!" Menma's chains began to glow and pulsate with dark power, sucking it out directly from the Zero-Tails itself as it squirmed and roared in pain. "You've run rampant too long you little leech! Time for you to become one with the darkness!"
"You...arrogant child!"
The Chakra Chains began to glow and form in color similar to Dark Chakra. The Chains themselves started changing shape into something more serpent looking, with the ends of each chain forming a small head with glowing red eyes, akin to Moryo's.
"Th-this can't be! Moryo?!"
"Is gone," Menma stated as he yanked forward with both arms, beginning to painfully tear the leech from Amaru's body. "Just as you will be once you're inside my body! You will no longer exist you evil freak!"
With another forceful jerk forward, the Zero-Tails was ripped free from Amaru's form, and at the mercy of Menma's Chakra Chains. The bindings pulled towards the spiky haired boy, who held his arms out and puffed out his chest to embrace the newest addition to his power.
The Zero-Tails went howling as he was slowly forced into Menma's body through his chest as the chains that held him started dragging him down. The monster felt his being fading away into nothingness as he was pulled into Menma's being. It was a feeling that terrified the evil creature to its core, which was the last thing it felt before being completely consumed in Menma's body.
The spiky haired boy gave a moment to pause, allowing the new power that surged through his body to take hold and get accustomed to him. Menma finally gave a satisfied sigh as his body relaxed before he turned back to Sasuke.
The Uchiha, to his credit, held his own hardened stare back at the boy who would undoubtedly be his superior now. Sasuke needed some sort of power to boost him forward, and Dark Chakra seemed to be the thing to do it.
Menma saw a familiar look in Sasuke's eyes, filled with hatred and emptiness. The dark clone knew that he and the Uchiha were two of a kind. The only difference between them was that Menma doubted that Sasuke knew why he sought more power.
"According to Madara, the Uchiha Clan have a natural darkness within their Clan's bloodline." Sasuke's head perked up at this as Menma approached him. "Unlock that inner darkness, that Curse of Hatred that runs in your Clan, and you'll have your own power. You won't need Dark Chakra." The black haired boy stopped as he felt something grab his ankle. He looked down at the barely conscious form of Amaru, looking up at him with half opened eyes.
"Where...is Master...Shinno...?" Amaru then passed out on the ground, her hand falling on the ground next to Menma's foot.
"So you really won't give me any of that Dark Chakra," Sasuke questioned, his expression growing angrier.
Menma stared at the redhead in silence before kneeling down next to her. He took off his robe, leaving his upper body bare to cover Amaru's naked form before lifting her off of the ground.
"Your vessel isn't properly equipped to handle Dark Chakra. With the Curse of Hatred...you might have a chance."
"And if it is able to handle Dark Chakra?" Menma cracked a smile as he stared at the unconscious girl in his arms before looking up to Sasuke.
"We truly are alike, you know that?"
A series of explosions went off, drawing Sasuke's attention to the crumbling walls around him. Before he could question Menma further, a familiar masked figure with a missing arm appeared behind the black haired boy. In a moment, Madara's jutsu sucked up Sasuke's only immediate hope for power, and his ancestor too.
"Damn it!"
A hand grabbed Sasuke and suddenly he was thrown over someone's shoulder. He immediately saw a long flowing trail of red hair before something very close exploded. Sasuke looked back, seeing the undead face of Kushina carrying him over her shoulder. The Uchiha took a moment before noticing that they were now outside of the Ancor Vantian, free falling down through the air.
"What the hell?! Maybe you forgot I can still die!"
"Jeez, you complain as much as your dad," Kushina snapped. Sasuke was taken aback by the statement before he looked to either side, seeing two more undead ninja falling alongside them. A bulky man with a lighter shade of red hair spiked backwards carried Kakashi and Guy both, while a white haired man on the other side carried Lee. "Hold on tight kiddo."
Chakra Chains shot out of Kushina's back and latched onto a solid piece of the Ancor Vantian that Junichi and Satoru didn't destroy. Kushina stuck both of her hands out, grabbing Junichi and Satoru's hands in order to help slow down their fall as the Ancor Vantian started to exploded all over and plummet out of the sky.
"Damn I'm good," Junichi shouted. "Even undead I didn't take a hit!"
"I still lost an arm," Kushina muttered bitterly.
"Stay on guard next time," Satoru joked with a smiled. Kushina stuck her tongue out before looking down at the ground.
Sasuke clung to the older woman as they still descended at a rapid rate. Kushina then released her Chains, letting them all fall towards the ground as one final explosion completely obliterated the Ancor Vantian, sending rubble and debris flying everywhere.
"Woo-hoo!" Kushina shouted as she and her teammates rocketed towards the ground.
"You're crazy," Sasuke screamed at the top of his lungs.
Suddenly, the winds seemed to gently sweep the group aside and allowed them to spiral down to the ground gently. As soon as their feet planted down in the sand, Sasuke was dropped off of Kushina's back with a slight grunt as his butt hit the ground.
"Sorry for the rough ride kiddo," Kushina apologized, even though she was looking more intently at the familiar, adult faces of Kakashi and Guy. 'It really has been awhile...'
Saiki and Higure walked onto the scene, the former of the two kneeling down to heal both the jonin at once, one hand each on their chests. Higure looked to his friend and brother-in-law, both of whom thanked Higure for the soft landing.
The sound of clapping drew everyone's heads to the side, seeing a masked woman walk up towards the group. Her mask consisted of black flames reaching up to cover the orange underlying layer to hide glowing yellow eyes. Despite the different styled mask, Higure recognized the woman immediately as his captor moments before his untimely death.
"Tenga..."
"A splendid performance! Truly, you five exceeded my expectations entirely!" Junichi, Satoru, and Kushina all gave the masked woman wary stares.
"I'm guessing you're our summoner," Saiki asked, her eyes on Kakashi as he had the most internal damage when compared to Guy's relatively minor head trauma.
"Very observant Miss Haruno." The name caught Sasuke's attention almost as much as the undead uncle of one of his colleagues. When exactly did Higure die? "My name is Tenga! I'm Danzo's right hand woman, and new practitioner of the Edo Tensei for the Alliance in our war against the Lands of Water and Lightning. Although, they call themselves the Union now."
Junichi laughed a bit at that, leaning against his pole that was stuck in the ground, "Well, I'm surprised it took them so long to finally unite. Hell, if they worked together in the last war we woulda lost."
"Things must be bad regardless for Danzo to resort to...this," Satoru stated.
"Or he's just the immoral asshole he's always been..." Junichi slowly, VERY slowly, turned to Higure who kept glaring at Tenga. "And someone tried to have their usual pissing contest with Danzo..."
"And was blackmailed I might add," Higure said, seething through his teeth. "I was brought out of retirement so you four wouldn't have to be used like this! And then the Alliance goes around and-," Higure froze entirely like a statue. His face and body didn't move at all, as if he were stopped in time.
"Now, now, can't be sharing secrets with the class." Tenga formed a single sign, and a coffin popped up from the ground, encased Higure, and then vanished in a cloud of smoke. As soon as the smoke dissipated, Tenga waved her arm out jovially, "Well, as I was saying, you all did splendidly. You did alone what an entire battalion couldn't have hoped to achieve."
"Stop, you're making me blush," Junichi deadpanned, now having more than enough reason to dislike the woman in front of him. "How come we've never heard of you if you're so high up on Danzo's food chain?" A sigh came from Tenga before she formed the same seal as earlier, and entrapped Junichi in a coffin that vanished.
Satoru and Kushina stared in silence at the area Junichi was standing before slowly turning back to Tenga. "I swear, free will is such a hassle with you all. No wonder Danzo didn't like you all on a personal level."
"So the trick I guess is to stop asking questions," Saiki guessed, even though it sounded more like a statement.
Tenga held herself in a confident posture before gently cradling her arms under her chest, "My, you truly are the smart one. How are their injuries?"
"They just need rest and then they should be fine," Saiki replied.
Kushina looked over at Sasuke, who wore an emotionless mask on his face. It was clear that the boy was just trying to process everything that had happened. Between Madara Uchiha, undead ninja, demon leeches, falling from the skies on the back of a zombie, Tenga and her display of power over the team, Kushina herself had to admit she would have been bewildered too. She was rather impressed that the boy just stayed silent to analyze all the information given, much like Saiki or Minato would.
Tenga turned her gaze to Sasuke. The young Uchiha felt the weight of the older woman's stare on him as he met her eyes. Sasuke couldn't shake the feeling that Tenga's eyes were somehow familiar.
The masked woman turned to Lee, "And I suppose the child will need healing as well. Though his injuries are less...severe, aren't they?"
"His leg is dislocated...and he took a pretty serious blow to the stomach while trying to Open the Eight Gates," Sasuke answered as he kept his gaze down on Lee, and away from Tenga.
"Sounds rather severe to me," Saiki pointed out as she took her hands off of the otherwise undamaged looking jonin. Tenga silently agreed with the undead pinkette as she approached Lee and knelt down. With a loud crack, she popped Lee's leg back into place. The boy awoke only to scream out in pain and then pass out unconscious again. Saiki placed both hands over Lee's stomach and began pouring her chakra into him to fix any ruptures and breaks in his body. "So what does Danzo intend to do with this power?"
Tenga raised a brow and leaned her head to the side, "Pardon?"
"He could have used the Edo Tensei at any time. Only now, during this new war he decides to use it? And he still hasn't done a thing about Madara from the sound of things." Kushina and Satoru both looked up at Tenga for answers, even though they knew that she was more likely to dispel them instead of answer.
"Perhaps the stakes are more serious in this war," Tenga replied without missing a beat. "This is the final war before the Five Great Nations are finally united under the Alliance's banner."
"That's what he thought when Saizo Hideyoshi invaded the Land of Fire. How can you say the stakes are more serious when the former Mizukage is dead now?"
Tenga folded her arms and chuckled a bit, "My, we certainly had faith in Saizo's abilities."
"When you witness his power firsthand, yeah, one tends to respect him."
Kushina looked from Saiki back to Tenga, "She has a point though. Why is Madara still running around free?"
"You all know how hard Madara is to track down. Plus you six were the ones who knew more about him than anyone else in the Alliance, except maybe the former Tsuchikage Onoki." Satoru and Kushina glanced over to one another when Onoki was referred to in past tense. Tenga let out another little laugh before waving her hand about, "Silly me, I forgot you all have been dead for the past fourteen years. Onoki turned out to be a traitor to the Alliance, having worked with Akatsuki in the past. So, Danzo put out a hit on the old man, and a team of Konoha and Suna shinobi managed to assassinate him in the heart of his own village."
"Then that team is likely dead," Satoru stated firmly. Tenga glanced over to the otherwise silent giant with a glint in her eyes. "And the Alliance must be fighting a war on two fronts. That could explain why we were brought back when you factor in the Land of Sky as well."
"A battle on ever front except the south," Saiki murmured thoughtfully to herself. "You all certainly know how to screw the pooch while we're gone."
"A very sound theory, but you're wrong. The young, lucky, kunoichi that killed Onoki managed to sway the hearts of Iwagakure to stay within the Alliance with their new Tsuchikage." Satoru gave a disbelieving huff. He knew the people of Iwagakure were fanatical to the Tsuchikage, no matter who it was, and that most of them hated the Alliance. "You see, the fateful night most of you died fourteen years ago when the Kyuubi attacked, Konohagakure was...well, in a vastly weakened state. The village had lost a sizable portion of its former strength thanks to the demon's attack, as well as losing the new Jinchuriki, the fabled son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.
"After losing so many people and resources, Konoha needed to rebuild before our enemies took advantage of our weakened state. With Sunagakure and Amegakure in the Alliance as trusted, loyal factions, Danzo targeted Iwagakure specifically for resources and income to rebuild. Simply put: Iwagakure was gutted for Konohagakure's survival, and Danzo made sure that everyone knew it."
"All the more reason for Iwagakure to rebel after killing Onoki," Satoru pointed out. In his past life, Satoru would have been as upset as anyone on the team about the Alliance's actions. However, lacking free will or the capabilities to change anything, Satoru remained stoic in the face of the history lesson.
"Ah, but that's where Danzo's spies came in. He made sure, over the years to make sure Iwagakure knew that the only reason they were treated so poorly after their defeat was because Onoki refused to cooperate with them. As you could imagine, this hardly worked with many of the older, harder veterans of the village. But after years of poverty and famine that made Sunagakure in its 'glory days' look like a paradise, people start looking for someone to blame. It was a little secret, but Iwagakure was highly unstable during Onoki's remaining years, especially with the younger generation that had to grow up as little more than peasants."
"Get to the point," Saiki said as she stood up from Rock Lee's body after healing him. The boy would recover perfectly, though the chances of him being active were slim to none for a few weeks at best.
"The village's unofficial mascot was Onoki's granddaughter, Kurotsuchi. Everyone in the village loved and idolized the girl, as she managed to become the only chunin from any of the Alliance villages in the Chunin Exams before the last one, as well as being a shining example of Iwagakure pride on all of her successful missions. Onoki's mistake came when he nearly killed his own granddaughter to finish off one of his assassins, who would later end up killing him for it.
"The young girl who killed Onoki had befriended Kurotsuchi, and due to Onoki's withered power thanks to his age, and a lot of luck from the young chunin, Onoki met his end. Put in a sappy speech here from the new Tsuchikage, and the fact that the assassin healed Kurotsuchi and saved her life, as well as the Alliance being more than willing to give supply and trade to Iwagakure again with Mao in charge, and you have a loyal, obedient little faction. And of course, we have the darling Sakura Haruno to thank for Onoki's demise."
Satoru and Saiki wore the same looks of shock on their faces at this news. The first of any information they received about their daughter, and she had murdered the Tsuchikage and made the Alliance more powerful than before.
"Oh don't worry too much. She ended up being a traitor in a little misfit organization known as Akatsuki." Tenga turned to Kushina and narrowed her ember eyes at the redhead, "Your son, Naruto Uzumaki, also happens to be a member of Akatsuki."
Kushina remained quiet with this information, intending to keep what she knew to herself. The undead mother snapped her eyes to Sasuke, who was already staring her down. Her plum eyes looked at the boy beseechingly, hoping and praying that he wouldn't utter a word about Naruto, or at least who she believed was her son, being in league with Madara Uchiha. If a rumor about that was even started within the Alliance, Naruto would be shown no mercy, likely so amongst her teammates even. For the time being, Kushina knew that she would just have to spend any and every conscious second trying to figure out what exactly was the truth behind her son.
Sasuke stared back at Kushina aloofly. He didn't care about her love or concern for her son. Sasuke encountered Naruto only once during the Chunin Exams, but he knew that the dark child with Madara was anything but Naruto. For starters, the hair color was completely off. Regardless, Sasuke intended to keep this information to himself. The dark child's words about the Uchiha Clan's hidden, dark power was something Sasuke was going to have to work towards now in order to prove himself and the Uchiha Clan as the most powerful.
"Well, I believe it's time for the rest of you to take a good, well deserved nap," Tenga finally said after a few moments of silence.
"Just one last thing," Satoru spoke, drawing the masked woman's eye. "Tenga, was it?" Said woman just stared at Satoru, waiting for his point to come across. "I just felt I should give you fair warning, Tenga. If you make me or Saiki harm one hair on Sakura's head, I will find a way to make you suffer, in this life, or the next."
A pleased breath escaped behind Tenga's mask. Satoru held his firm stare, but lifted his head a bit to look down his nose at the sadistic kunoichi. "Oh, don't tease me like that...now I'm all too tempted to try that." Satoru's lip quivered a bit with restrained rage. Saiki just stared the masked woman down intensely. "We'll see what Lord Danzo orders for us next...until then everyone, goodnight." Tenga slapped her hands together, bringing up coffins around the three parents.
A trio of loud slamming sounds were heard as the coffins closed around the undead soldiers, stuffing them away in limbo until they were to be summoned again.