Author's note – Kishimoto Masashi owns Naruto while Guyver is written by Yoshiki Takaya.
I make no claim to either, I am merely playing in their sandboxes.
.
Chapter Fifty
Attack
.
"The next match will be Suchirukuran Taromaru and Hyuuga Neji."
As the two named shinobi began to move towards the staircase, Naruto felt a pulse of surprise from Ino.
#Naruto-kun…where is Fu?#
#She's sitting over there, next to Team Seven.# Naruto replied. #Why?#
#Well, if Fu is over there,Hinata's with the other genin and you're in the Hokage box… who is that up there?#
Naruto blinked, then stepped forwards, his sensors scanning the sky and homing in on the intruder almost at once.
"…what the…?"
His exclamation caught the attention of everyone in the box and they moved to the front to look up, their gazes focusing on the flying figure.
"That can't be good." Hiruzen said slowly.
#Ino, Hinata!# Naruto thought urgently as a series of memories suddenly crashed into his mind. #My clones report Orochimaru is attacking the base! Whoever that is is probably allied to him, so I need you to distract him to buy me some time!#
A dark laugh echoed through the link.
#Yes, kit. It is time!#
#Now, if only we had actually had a chance to test this out...# Naruto grumbled as he reached for his chest armor.
.
A section of road collapsed, startling the only pedestrian in the area, and ninja began to emerge from the resulting hole at high speed. The civilian started to turn in order to run away, only for a kunai to slam through her head, dropping her instantly.
"Come on, fuckers!" Tayuya shouted. "Start destroying shit while boss does his stuff and watch out for when the Sandakage does his thing on the other side of the village!"
As the mercenaries and combined Oto/Ame forces began destroying the buildings around their entry-point, one Jonin and his team vanished towards the Chunin Arena.
.
Pein looked down at Konoha through the first of his Paths. A slight trickle of power allowed the Deva Path to hover above Konoha even as he prepared the first of his attacks, then he jolted sideways as a blast of light passed through the space he had been occupying. A second blast rose and he reacted instinctively.
"Shinra tensei!"
His gravity attack hit the incoming blast and diffused it, but enough leaked through to knock him higher, his robes smouldering from the heat.
.
"Both Armours have been confirmed to be at the Arena." Pein's Animal Path stated to the shinobi surrounding him. "Begin the summonings."
"Hai, Lord Pein!" The leader of the Summoning group saluted, then the dozen shinobi vanished in shunshins, leaving Pein alone on the ridge of the Hokage monument. The man watched him go, then turned his ringed eyes back to look over Konoha, his attention focused on the two armoured figures rising to engage his fellow Path.
.
"Sir!" The ANBU shouted as he appeared on the lip of the Hokage's box. "We have multiple intrusions in the civilian sectors, casualties are mounting already! Intruders wear hitai-ates indicating they are from Amegakure and Sound!"
"Sound the alarms, all genin to get the civilians to safety." Hiruzen ordered, the seals relaying his orders. "All chunin and above to engage the enemy, no quarter to be given!"
The ANBU vanished even as Hiruzen threw off his robes, using the motion to mask the summoning of his war armour. Danzo pulled off his own hat, then glanced at his guards.
"Hiruzen and I can watch each others backs." He stated. "Taroku, cut loose out there!"
Taroku grinned as his skin shifted into living metal, then he leapt out of the Hokage's box, his mace materializing in his hand.
"Honoka." Danzo continued. "There are non-combatants here. Can you shield the arena?"
"It'll take me a few minutes, Lord Uzukage." Honoka said, pulling out a roll of blank tags and a brush.
Hiruzen nodded, then growled at the sight of the Kazekage leaping out of the arena, his son in his arms.
"It looks like Suna is no longer our ally." He ground out.
"But Kiri will be." Terumi Mei stated as she stepped forwards. "Kiri nin! Protect the arena at all costs!"
"You heard her!" Zabuza roared as he unslung his sword. "To the walls! We have killing to do! Ame and Sound shinobi will die today!"
"Damn, he is so going to get laid tonight." Mei whispered as she watched Zabuza leap away. "Ao?"
"I'm heading for the center of the arena." Ao explained as he leapt on the railing. "I'm a sensor, I can alert the defenders to any incoming attacks."
"Understood." Mei said with a proud smile. "I'll take the main gate."
"Shall we, old friend?" Danzo asked and Hiruzen nodded.
"My people are dying, old friend. Let us correct this state of affairs!"
"It's been too long since we fought side by side, God of Shinobi. Lead the way."
.
"Yosh!" Gai exulted as he punched an enemy Jonin through the nearest wall. "Let us see how many of these unyouthful invaders we can kill, my eternal rival!"
Kakashi negligently threw a kunai that speared another enemy ninja through the eye, dropping him instantly. "Hmm? Did you say something?"
"There's that hip and too-cool attitude of yours again, Kakashi!" Gai roared as he delivered a spinning kick that sent a pair of Oto ninja cartwheeling through the air.
.
Orochimaru unleashed a spray of snakes that cut down the remaining clones trying to escape from the empty archive chamber. Strolling over to the giant scroll that they had been so desperately protecting, he tied a cord to it and slung it over his back before creating a Kage Bunshin.
"You know what to do." He stated and the clone nodded.
"As Deidara would say, Art is a blast!"
Both Orochimaru's smirked at each other, then went their separate ways.
.
Around the inside of the walls, four plumes of smoke marked the appearance of four giant snakes that promptly struck out at the walls behind them, tearing them down in an attack from the one direction that no-one had expected an attack to come from, then they began to forge their way into Konoha itself, occasionally snapping up and swallowing a panicking civilian or a ninja that tried to stop them. Behind them, swarms of ninja began piling in through the breaches, then all three of the three-headed-snake's exploded as chakra-spheres slammed through them.
"Yes!" Fu shouted in triumph as Chomei began charging three more Bijudama to replace the trio that had just been used. "Chomei did brilliantly!"
"Chomei was lucky they slowed." A voice replied that only Fu could hear. "But there are three more sna… no, two more thanks to that giant toad…"
"Jiraiya." Fu realized as she stared at the flattened snake and the giant armoured toad that had fallen out of the sky onto it. "Fu will take the next snake. Will Chomei help?"
"Always, little one. Always."
.
Rasa activated the storage seals in his sleeves, unleashing his entire store of Gold Dust as the skin around his eyes darkened. An instant later, his other two children landed beside him and Rasa held out one hand.
"Kankuro, revival vial. Now."
Kankuro reached into a hidden pocket and pulled out a small vial which he handed to his father. Rasa used a thumb to flip open the cap, then he held it under his youngest son's nose. Gaara twitched and rolled away.
"Gaara." Rasa commanded as the Jinchuuriki slowly rose to his feet. "Release the Ichibi and start destroying Konoha. Try to take out their hospital first. Kankuro, Temari, with me."
Gaara nodded as the wisps of sand around him drilled into the pavement, grinding the slabs to create more sand for him to use. As the shield started to form around him, he saw his family leaping away, surrounded by a golden cloud.
Once more, he was alone…
A growl forced its way out of his throat as the newly-created sand rose, moulding itself onto him to form his innermost defence once again.
.
The attacking force that had been charging down the main high street, killing anyone they had met without regard for age or gender, were caught by surprise when two attacks hit them silmutaneously. The first attack was a blast of almost-solid slicing air which virtually shredded the front few ranks, then the ground heaved up in a wave that hurled the rest from their feet.
The two aged defenders grinned.
"You were right, old friend." The one holding a black staff said with an almost-feral grin. "It has been too long."
The duo shifted into a defensive stance as a six-armed man dropped down in front of them.
"Those eyes!" Hiruzen gasped. "The Rin'negan!"
Danzo froze, then he glanced round at the ANBU who had appeared to aid them.
"Can we take him?" He asked quietly, doubt appearing in his voice for the first time that day.
"I don't know." Hiruzen said just as quietly. "But we have to try."
.
Honoka's chakra chains arced up and over the arena, doubling and redoubling to create a dome anchored by the tops of the reinforced walls. Ao glanced at her with his uncovered eye.
"How long can you keep this up?" He asked over the sounds of battle from outside and the weeping of the civilians sheltering in the arena.
"By using the chakra in my armour, about six hours." Honoka said calmly. "It should be all over far before then."
Ao nodded, then tapped at the small microphone that Zabuza had thrown to him. "Kimimaru-san, there is a hostile group approaching from your left."
"None shall pass." The white-haired warrior stated.
.
Fugaku spun and twisted through the rampaging battle, his blade carving a bloody swathe through the enemy ninja, but for every one that he cut down, three more seemed to take their place.
"Kage ya no bunshin!"
A veritable blizzard of arrows scythed past him, briefly silhouetting him before they continued into the enemy ranks, killing dozens and injuring even more. Taking advantage of the repreive, he glanced round to see Hiashi and Hizashi nocking new arrows into their bows.
"Thanks!" he gasped and the Hyuuga twins nodded at him.
"We have our differences, but when it comes to the defence of Konoha, we stand together." Hiashi stated.
"What he said." Hizashi added, causing Hiashi to sigh.
.
The civilian girl uncurled slightly to look up at her saviors. To her astonishment, all five of them looked exactly the same, boys with blond hair and whisker-marks on their cheeks.
"You." One of them said to one of the others."Take her to the shelter then find another group to join."
The girl's eyes widened as the indicated boy picked her up. Although he looked human, he felt like an animated statue of shifting rock.
As she was carried to safety, she spotted several more groups and one of the boys exploding in a blast of lightning, taking out four ninja in the shockwave.
.
Orochimaru emerged from the escape tunnel and shunshined across Konoha. Turning, he grinned as he saw the new crater where the Jinchuuriki's house had been until it had been pulled into the sinkhole caused by the activation of the self-destruct seal. Part of the cliff itself had been pulled down, along with one of the hidden civilian shelters, thus killing all within and weakening Konoha further.
Patting the end of the scroll, Orochimaru glanced round at the chaos and smoke before nodding.
His forces could take it from…
"Hello, little snake."
Orochimaru spun round and stared at the impossability before him.
"What… The… Hell?"
The monster grinned, the jaws of its helmet briefly parting to reveal a mouth filled with sharp fangs.
"No, Hell is where I shall send you. Die!"
As Orochimaru frantically dodged and spun out of the way of the slashing claws and lashing tails, only one thought remained that wasn't directly linked to his immediate survival.
How the hell had the nine-tailed fox appeared in one of the Uzumaki Armours?
.
"SHINRA TENSEI!" the Deva Path shouted, sending a sphere of devastation straight into the middle of the Uchiha compound, then a massive Bo slapped him out of the air, crushing him into an impact crater. Rising via his power, the Deva Path turned, preparing to use his power on the giant Akamichi who had attacked him, then the world went white and hot.
.
Animal Path stiffened, his piercings glowing red-hot, then the metal studs melted and he collapsed, falling off the edge of the Hokage Monument.
.
Asura Path froze, the weapons of his six arms firing randomly and causing more damage to his own side than to Konoha's defenders, then he collapsed, his piercings turned into molten tears of metal carving their way through his flesh. Hiruzen looked up from where he was applying a touniquet to the stump of his leg while Danzo sagged, grabbing at the blade that had snapped off after spearing through his left shoulder.
"What… happened?"
"I… don't know." Hiruzen whispered. "But with any luck, things'll start to die down now."
A massive roar echoed across Konoha and both men plus the two surviving ANBU turned to see a giant sand Tanuki ripping its way towards the Hokage Tower.
"You always were an optimist." Danzo sighed.
.
Several miles outside the village, an emaciated man trapped in a mechanical chair screamed in pain as the chakra-metal rods piercing his back briefly glowed almost red-hot. As he slumped forwards, his eyes glazed, a shower of paper seals surrounded him, then they fluttered to the ground to reveal that he was no longer there.
.
Toraku hefted his war mace as he stood in front of the rampaging sand-monster, his metal skin reflecting the light of the flames that were rising from various points in the village.
His weapon's blade smeared with blood and the spikes dripping more of the red liquid onto the ground, he ignored the corpses wearing the Sound and Rain hitai-ates as he slowly smiled, his teeth briefly glinting.
"At last." He said. "A challenge."