Part I: Episode 5
"J-Jiraiya-san?!" Kushina exclaimed, involuntarily. She then felt a jolt go up her spine and turned to see an enraged Tsunade standing behind her.
"You idiots!" She shouted, clearly talking to Kushina and Minato. "Were you really going to throw your lives away? For what? The safety of the village? Dammit Minato, be selfish for once in your life! You two...your son isn't even a day old and you were both ready to sentence to such a cruel fate." Tsunade said, her shoulders shaking.
"Tsunade-san..." Minato breathed. Even her old teammates looked taken back by Tsunade's sudden burst of emotion. Once she had managed to somewhat compose herself, Tsunade looked directly at Kushina, but somehow, she made it clear that she was yelling at Minato too.
"Do you know how many families have been torn apart tonight? They had no choice but to see their children and parents ripped from this world into the next without even saying good-bye, and you...you ingrates were just going to throw your family away?! You should be ashamed of yourselves! Being a parent..." Tsunade stopped again, this time unable to keep the tears from escaping her eyes.
"Being a parent is a higher honor than anything! Even if you have nothing else, live for your family! As long as you have that, everything else, it'll work out." Tsunade's eyes softened as she looked at Kushina and extended her hand. Slowly, painfully, the younger woman stood up. A roar bought the group back to reality. Kushina realized that the jolt she felt earlier must have been Tsunade breaking her chakra chains. The massive fox growled before it began charging a massive ball of dark red chakra from its mouth.
"Ultra Big-Ball Rasengan!" Jiraiya's voice shouted. There was a flash and suddenly a gargantuan version of Minato's Rasengan collided into the Kyubi. Kushina involuntarily jumped when the demon fox was sent tumbling sideways. The Shinigami that Minato had summoned slowly began to fade away, somehow looking irritated at having been summoned for no reason.
"What the-?" He said when a figure suddenly appeared before him. It looked gross and misshapen, but Minato recognized the mane of white hair that traveled down the figure's back. He also recognized the two shapes on the figure's shoulders as toads.
"J-Jiraiya-san?" Minato said, stunned. The figure groaned.
"Minato, get your wife and kid outta here. Sorry about the wait, Danzo apparently thought it was a good idea to stay back for some reason." Jiraiya explained. Minato looked at his former teacher, not even noticing the Nine-Tails slowly beginning to rise again.
"But why would Danzo-"
"He wanted you to seal the Kyubi into your son." A voice suddenly stated, much to Minato's surprise. He turned to see Orochimaru, dressed in the Hokage's robe along with Hiruzen. As usual, Orochimaru had a cold calculating look in his eyes. Minato looked in the direction Orochimaru was and saw the seal he had prepared.
"Danzo knew the only way the fox could be stopped without us is if it were sealed into a jinchuriki. He was planning on using you, Minato, to create a jinchuriki that could then serve as a weapon for Konoha. I see that now." Minato looked at Hokage, stunned. Had Danzo really planned all this out?
"Minato, get Kushina and your son and get them out of here. Now! Leave the fox to us!" Tsunade ordered as purple markings began to appear all over her face and neck. Minato nodded, but before he could move, Orochimaru grabbed him by the arm and handed him a piece of paper.
"If I don't return, you will be the Fifth Hokage." He said.
"B-But-"
"Go, Minato." Orochimaru said evenly. Minato slowly nodded and rushed over to where his wife and child were. Carefully, he scooped Naruto in his arms and then allowed Kushina to climb onto his back. He made his way out of the battlefield quickly, not knowing when the fox would strike again or where.
"Orochimaru, do you really believe that Danzo-"
"You know him far better than I do, sensei." Orochimaru said coldly. Hiruzen let out a deep sigh.
"Tsunade," Orochimaru called out before placing his palms on the ground. Hiruzen jumped to the side as a giant snake appeared under Orochimaru. Similarly, Tsunade summoned Katsuyu to battle her.
"Jiraiya, get out of the way!" Tsunade ordered, much to Jiraiya's annoyance. Regardless, he moved to the side. He needed to remain still in order to recharge the natural energy for sage mode anyway. Hiruzen stood beside him and watched as Orochimaru and Tsunade rode their summons into battle. He had understood Orochimaru's silent order to stand back. The Kyubi's endurance was nearly endless and there was little doubt that it would outlast the two summons. That's when Hiruzen would enter the battle.
"Orochimaru, I demand-"
"Now isn't the time, Manda." Orochimaru said, cutting off the giant purple snake. Before Manda could respond, the Kyubi threw a massive paw and the snake was forced to lunge to the side in order to dodge. Both he and Katsuyu launched an acid spray attack, but the fox managed to dodge the bulk of the acid. Without leaving it time to react, Manda surged forward, fangs bared.
"Manda, if you attempt to bite the Nine-Tailed Fox-"
"Shut the hell up, Orochimaru. I can feel how evil this thing's chakra from here," the snake growled. In under a second, it had surrounded the Kyubi and with a jump, Manda jumped out of his former skin. The shed skin then coiled around the fox and even from a considerable distance, Hiruzen could hear the cracking of the Kyubi's bodies under the pressure.
"Katsuyu, attack now while the Nine-Tails is unable to move!" Tsunade ordered.
"Yes ma'am, Tsunade-sama!" Katsuyu responded before launching another spray of acid. The fox roared, launching another ball of chakra at the acid.
"Tsunade-sama!" The giant slug exclaimed as the chakra ball easily burned through the acid. Tsunade nodded and jumped off her summon. Katsuyu could easily take the attack, but Tsunade would be less fortunate. Without skipping a beat, Tsunade charged the fox, activating her Strength of a Hundred technique. In one quick motion, she jumped forward and slammed her fist into the fox's side.
The Nine-Tails let out a pained roar as it tumbled to the side. Tsunade gave it no time to recover, launching another punch and then another. The fox howled loudly as Tsunade continued to wail on its side until she was no longer able to take the burning and returned to Katsuyu. Tsunade looked down at her hands, which were already nearly healed. Still, she knew she wouldn't last long using TaiJutsu against the beast. The fox began to charge another ball of chakra when several blasts of wind were sent careening into it, sending the Kyubi sliding backwards.
Angrily, the beast broke through Manda's shed-skin barrier and opened its mouth towards the sky. Before either Orochimaru or Tsunade could react, however, it launched chakra ball after chakra ball after chakra ball. Within seconds, most of the battlefield was completely destroyed. Hiruzen and Jiraiya had barely managed to move out of the way.
"Dammit!" Manda roared as he forced himself out of the damaged skin he was in. Even with his speed, he had barely managed to get underground before the Kyubi's assault and most of his back half had been scalded by the demon fox's chakra. On the opposite side of the fox, Tsunade slowly climbed out of Katsuyu who had been able to take much of the assault.
"I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama, I can't-"
"Don't worry, Katsuyu, you did great. Thank you for your help." With that said, Tsunade felt Katsuyu vanish and let herself fall to the ground. In the distance, she could hear Manda's cursing and threatening Orochimaru with all types of punishments before he too vanished. Quickly, Tsunade made her way back to Hiruzen and Jiraiya. Despite herself, she was actually having fun. For the first time in decades, she was fighting with her old teammates against a legitimately powerful enemy. Part of her almost wished that there was someone to witness the epic battle.
"I'm guessing it's time for phase two of the battle?" Jiraiya asked, clearly itching to fight again. Even Hiruzen looked ready to have his go at the fox.
"Prepare yourselves," Orochimaru said somberly as the the ground began to shake. The fox was coming. The four shinobi held their ground for a few more minutes and then charged forward. Hiruzen jumped into the air, his staff prepared. He swung it and the staff extended to at least ten times its normal length, slamming into the Kyubi's head.
"Doton: Swamp of the Underworld!" There was a splash as the Kyubi suddenly dropped into the mud created by Jiraiya who quickly went to work, launching a massive fireball towards the fox, who was unable to block the attack. With a roar, it forced itself out of the swamp and sent its tail towards Jiraiya, only for it to be stopped by Tsunade dropping her signature kick on the appendage.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu" Orochimaru chanted softly, summoning an army of clones. The clones rushed forward, until they were closer to literally jump onto the fox. With a command from the original, the dozens of clones exploded, causing the Kyubi to cry out in pain before responding with an even larger version of its chakra ball. All four of the Konoha ninja were sent flying backwards and the fox launched another volley of chakra balls towards them.
"Shit, it's like we're not doing anything to him!" Tsunade shouted, once the volley had ended. Like her teammates, she had just managed to avoid the attacks themselves, although the resulting explosions had sent her flying all over the place. She winced as he skin slowly stitched itself back together. As the smoke cleared, she could see her teammates beginning to rise as well.
"I see tales of the demon fox's power certainly have not been exaggerated. We'll need an army if we truly intend on defeating this monster." Hiruzen said before launching into a coughing fit. He was beginning to feel his age catch up with him when Orochimaru spoke up.
"No, I have a plan. We just need to weaken him some more." Orochimaru stated. Jiraiya looked at him incredulously.
"Are you insane, Orochimaru? We've barely dented it as is! You want us to keep fighting it?! Sensei is right, we'll need the rest of Konoha if we hope to stand a chance at stopping this thing!" Orochimaru silenced his teammate with a glare before turning back to the fox.
"I need you to trust me Jiraiya." He said in his usual cool and calculated tone. Jiraiya sighed.
"Dammit Orochimaru, you better have a good plan."
"Glad you guys have gotten over your little lover's quarrel because here it comes!" Tsunade announced as the fabled Kyubi no Kitsune again appeared before them.
Author's Corner:
This chapter is really short, I know. As it so happens, this chapter wasn't originally in the story so it was just kind of made up as I went if it fell kind of flat, that's probably why. I kind of wanted to extend the Kyubi arc just a little bit, so this was the result. Anyway, hope you liked it. If so, leave a review if you'd be so kind and have awaiting the next chapter. As always, thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites. Y'all are the best!