Opening - Chase the World by May'n

"Bankai."

Black sand exploded from Gaara's sword in all directions, flooding the building around him and cracking the walls, floors, even the roof as it expanded. The Fourth Kazekage's undead body was ripped apart and swept away as the sand continued to flow.

"Kuroshi Tanuki," the Jinchuuriki and Bijuu called, towering over the reassembled Tsurugi.

"Gaara..." the Kazekage frowned with concern and disappointment. "You said you'd grown stronger."

"I've also grown wiser," the boy replied. "It was remarkably simple to strike a deal with Shukaku. In exchange for me temporarily freeing him..."

"I crush and scatter any enemies coming our way, and spare the fleshbag's allies," Shukaku continued. "The more cooperative I am..."

"The more I'm willing to set him free, even when not in battle..."

"Because there's only one thing I want more than to kill." Shukaku grinned. "And now I have it. Freedom!"

That's... The Kazekage flinched. That's brilliant. If I had thought of that, I might have saved Gaara thirteen years of torment... he shook his head. It's too late for that. At this point, all I can do is... "Gaara, Shukaku. This new power you have is impressive, and I'm not at full strength, but it isn't over yet. I can feel my chakra gathering against my will. Stop me."

Shukaku leaned out of the way of a spear of gold sand that aimed for his head. Gaara nearly lost his balance atop the Bijuu's head, but righted himself by using tree-walking to stick his feet to Shukaku's head. "How long can we maintain this form?"

"Not long this time around," Shukaku grumbled, "Which pisses me off, but whatever. You channeled enough of my red chakra into this sand that I can control it for maybe three minutes, less if I push myself to use something like a Tailed Beast Ball."

"...Tailed Beast Ball?"

"Remind me to explain that one later," the demon replied. "Look down there. Your dad's preparing each jutsu slowly and individually. Either he's fighting Orochimaru's control, or the snake fleshbag isn't focusing on controlling him in the first place."

"Naruto and Hinata, and the Hokage. They must be pressing Orochimaru and the other two summons." Gaara frowned. "Shukaku, put some distance between us and my father."

"Tch." The Bijuu stepped backward away from Tsurugi, just before the latter unleashed a tidal wave of golden sand. Shukaku growled, then raised his right hand and punched himself in the gut, violently expelling a blast of wind from within his sand body. "Drilling Air Bullet!" The wind struck the sand, blasting it back toward the Kazekage and buying them time.

"That first attack was to test our reflexes," Gaara realized. "A simple spear of sand wouldn't do much, and also wouldn't waste much chakra. When you successfully dodged its speed, he decided to use broad attacks like that sand wave."

"So how do we counter that?" Shukaku paused. "You can still use your own sand, can't you, with the first stage of your sword's power?"

"My 'shikai,' as Tenten says, yes." Gaara raised his sword, pulling a flood of sand out of Shukaku's body. There were two differences between the two seals full of sand on his sword. For one, the reserve in the blade was much larger than the one in the guard, as it had to be to form Shukaku's body. But more importantly, the seal in the guard contained sand laced with Gaara's chakra, for his own use. The seal on the blade contained sand with Shukaku's chakra, enough of it that the demon in his stomach could control it like an additional body.

The two reserves of sand were completely seperate, which meant Gaara could unseal and use both at the same time, as well as pull them apart with relative ease. "Shukaku. You have thousands of years more experience fighting with sand than myself and my father. What tactic would you suggest here?"

"Sand flows," the demon answered simply. "The option I'd take is to flow our sand around his defenses without ever touching them. If our sand mixes, he can use his heavier gold to pin down our carbon. He knows that, and it's probably gonna be his main tactic here. But at the same time, we can't attack from every direction at once, 'cause then he'll just think to make a dome around himself. We need a single attack that makes him use all of his sand to block, while we move another attack around that defense to hit him from behind. Now that I think about it... the Tailed Beast Ball is perfect for that."

"What is it?"

"I mix Yin and Yang chakra together at a ratio of eight to two. Then I apply shape transformation to shape it into a ball, compress it, swallow it, and spit it out again. It's strong."

If Shukaku considers it strong, then it must be... "How strong?"

"A full-size one can erase this village."

Gaara's eyes widened subtly. "Then use a little one."

"Obviously," Shukaku snorted. "Get your Third Incarnation ready, fleshbag." Shukaku opened his jaws, and began shaping his chakra.

Tsurugi finished gathering his own chakra, and smiled slightly. This is good. My chakra is flowing very slowly, much slower than when I started fighting. This body is growing weaker, which means so is Orochimaru's jutsu. Gaara can beat me like this... His gold sand gathered into a defense without any input from him. It continued to pile up into a mountainous wall between himself and Shukaku.

What is that jutsu they're using? It must be incredibly strong, to get this response from the my Shield of Sand. This much sand, to block one attack... That looks like all of my sand now... The Kazekage's eyes widened. I'm using all of my sand to block a single attack! That means-

Shukaku fired his compressed Tailed Beast Ball, which shot out of his mouth as a bloody crimson beam of chakra. The Kazekage's gathered defense managed to catch this restrained, weaker version of the jutsu, but he knew already that Gaara had planned that as well.

"Third Incarnation, Oppression!" Gaara reached around the war of sand and demonic chakra, curving his sand arm to catch his father from behind. The replica of Shukaku's arm caught him, and Gaara made a fist with the hand not holding Kuroshi. "Now, Sand Coffin!"

The Kazekage cried out as his body was crushed by the tightening fist of sand, but he remained in one piece even as his bones were crushed. The Edo Tensei body would take time to heal, and as long as his sand was holding off Shukaku's Tailed Beast Ball, he was unable to counterattack.

A Sand Clone formed within the arm of Oppression, and emerged in Gaara's likeness to slap a sealing tag onto Tsurugi's chest. "It's over, Father. You can't move, even if I remove this sand!" he called over the roar of the Tailed Beast Ball, which died down as if on cue. "In a few moments, the sealing will be complete, and your soul will lay dormant in this body until Orochimaru dies or releases his jutsu."

"Then we don't have much time," Tsurugi replied, noting his golden sand wall falling apart. "Not nearly enough time for me to explain everything to you. Gaara... you'll become the Fifth Kazekage, I know you will." As the black sand holding him retreated, Tsurugi fell to his knees limply. "When you do, speak to Chiyo-baa-sama. She'll tell you everything... I'm proud of you, Gaara."

Gaara blinked, and looked down at his father, who was almost out of time. "...Thank you, Otou-san. I'm proud that you're proud of me."

Then perhaps... I haven't completely failed you, Gaara.

X

"You're pretty fast, kid!" The First Hokage grinned with approval, even as he raised another volley of Wood Release-powered tree limbs to attack Naruto. The two of them were isolated in a dense grove of trees by this point, even compared to the forest surrounding the grove. In the first moments of the battle, Hashirama had used the Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees to change the battlefield to his liking. The Third was now alone fighting Orochimaru, and Hinata was most likely testing her Water Release against that of the Second Hokage.

After that, however, Hashirama had further formed more trees to isolate himself from Orochimaru's influence as much as possible, allowing him to restrain a bit more of his power and talk freely with Naruto. "So, you wanna be Hokage, huh? What made you pick that as your dream?"

Naruto sidestepped another cluster of sharp tree limbs, and flashed forward to attack his idol with kenjutsu, to no avail. "At first, I just wanted people to acknowledge me and respect me. I figured I could earn their respect if I was Hokage, even though they hate the Kyuubi who's sealed inside me."

"At first?" Hashirama repeated. "So that's not how it is now?" He formed three Wood Clones and sent them to use taijutsu on the Genin.

"No, 'cause I realized..." Naruto decapitated one clone, and blocked several punches from another. "I had it backwards. You don't get everyone's respect by becoming Hokage. You become Hokage by getting everyone's respect!"

"I couldn't have said it better myself!" The First laughed. "Naruto... you remind me of myself when I was a kid. You'll make a pretty good Hokage." he nodded in approval as Naruto cut down his remaining two clones. "Listen, I was weaker than normal from the moment that creepy guy summoned me, and now that I've put my Wood Release between him and me, the life force of this forest is interfering with his chakra. That means I can make myself even weaker now, so finish me off, hurry!"

"Hurry?" Naruto questioned. "What's wrong?"

"This jutsu... my little brother created it, ya know." Naruto's eyes widened slightly when the First used the same catchphrase he was infamous for. "It should be stronger than this, and I think this weakness is only temporary. You should take me out before whatever's wrong with the Edo Tensei gets corrected, and I get my full strength back."

I don't have a chance in Hell of beating Hokage-sama at full power, Naruto realized. "All right! Just hold still and I'll have you sealed in no time flat, believe it!"

Believe it... another Uzumaki verbal tic. Mito-chan had both, and I even picked up her 'ya know' thing. It's kinda funny to see that it's survived for so many decades. Naruto flashed toward him with his sword pulled back, and Hashirama blocked the weapon with his left arm armored in Wood Release chakra. "Say, what's that jutsu you keep using?"

"I learned it from a former Kiri-nin. He based it on the Pulse Step, but never came up with a name for it." Naruto focused wind chakra into his cutlass and kept attacking the Hokage. "I could just call it Flash Step, but that's not an original name. It wouldn't be right for me to just steal the name, ya know?"

"Well, you use a lot of wind ju-"

"WIND SCAR!"

"-Crap-" Hashirama moved to dodge the blast of wind that shot forth from Naruto's blade, but the sword was already pressing against his arm, and in his weakened state he wasn't fast enough to dodge. Seven wind blades scored deep gashes over his arms and chest, leaking ash instead of blood. "Like I said, a lot of wind jutsu. Go with a wind-based name for this one. Maybe..." The First hummed thoughtfully, even as he attacked Naruto with flawless taijutsu, slipping past his guard and scring several solid hits.

"Yeah, I've got it!" Hashirama grinned. "Call it the Empty Wind Jutsu. Empty, 'cause you can use it to dodge-" He aimed a punch at Naruto's face, only to have the future Hokage dodge the former's attack in a perfect demonstration of his concept, "-almost any attack!"

"Empty Wind Jutsu (Japanese: 虚風 の 術 Kyokaze no Jutsu)..." Naruto grinned. "I like it! Now, let me show you what it can really do!" He blurred, then vanished completely.

He's pretty fast! Hashirama glanced around, trying to follow Naruto's movements, but the boy only reappeared for a moment before vanishing again. Wait... are those... "Clever! You mixed in a couple of genjutsu clones to make it look like you're going even faster! It almost looks like you're fast enough to appear in multiple places at once."

"Shoulda expected the First Hokage to see through that!" Naruto called, and emerged from the newly-named Empty Wind in front of his hero. The First moved to deflect the cutlass with his left arm and punch with his right, but both of his arms merely passed through Naruto's genjutsu clone. Hashirama dully felt his back get sliced open, and turned, but Naruto was already gone again.

"Come on, kid! Quit screwing around, come seal me before I get my power back!" Hashirama scowled, growing serious as his wound healed almost immediately. "I'm holding back as much as I can. I'm not even using my ninjutsu on you; the least you can do is use your speed to close the distance and finish me."

"...Right," Naruto replied solemnly, and pulled a sealing tag out of his pouch. "It's been an honor, Hokage-sama." He flashed forward with the tag in hand.

X

"Tenten, how are you holding up?" Jiraiya used taijutsu to crush the Oto shinobi that swarmed him, as Tenten took on the giant snakes above them with explosives and a ridiculous tolerance for putting herself in harm's way. She'd thrown herself into the open mouths of a dozen snakes with no sign of slowing down. Even ignoring the obvious problem of letting her enemy swallow her, most of these snakes were probably venomous. Without her barrier to prevent her from being pierced or crushed, she would have been dead a dozen times over.

"I'm doing alright!" she answered quickly, leaping backward to dodge one snake's tail. "This barrier use up my chakra, but-" she was cut off as another snake behind her opened its jaws, swallowing her whole. "...but I can hold it up for a while longer," she grumbled, and triggered it as she pulled out her scroll and moved to unseal several more explosive paper balls from it.

The beast twisted its body in an unusual way, as if to intentionally disrupt her movement, and it worked. She gasped in horror as she lost her grip on the scroll before she could unseal her weapons. "Shit!" she shrieked, and began to panic. Damn it, without that scroll I have no way out of this thing! This damn snake is gonna freaking digest me!

Wait... that's it. I'll... ugh, I'll end up in its stomach, along with my scroll. Once I'm there, I'll either have to find the scroll before it dissolves, or switch to Pain Without Suffering and hope that does the trick. She assessed her current situation grimly. She was stretched out in the snake's throat with one arm reaching futilely in the direction her scroll had vanished in the darkness. The creature's throat had constricted her tightly enough that she was completely unable to move, and slowly its muscles were pushing her downward toward its stomach. She also noted that she was upside-down inside the creature.

Damn it, this is the most disgusting position I've ever been in. She flinched as the snake's throat flexed around her, pushing her downward in the most uncomfortable way possible. Despite the pitch-blackness inside the creature's body, and her barrier ninjutsu surrounding her, she could feel the slimy texture of the beast's insides pressing against her.

No matter what happens, I am never using this tactic again after today. She squirmed downward, trying to crawl along the snake's throat and reach its stomach faster. I'll keep using it on these damn snakes until Jiraiya-sama finishes saving up chakra for his summon, but after that, never again.

She cried out in shock as the constricting flesh around her suddenly fell away, and she splashed headfirst into a steaming hot liquid that she immediately recognized as the beast's stomach acid. Luckily, her barrier ninjutsu was still active to keep it from burning her. "Just... so... damn vile," she groaned as she stood, and started wading around the creature's belly, feeling around for her scroll. "Never... ever... again..."

She gasped and smirked as her fingers touched paper, and she pulled her unfurled scroll out of the acid, noting with satisfaction that her seals had prevented the paper from dissolving. She unsealed a handful of explosives, and grinned viciously before rolling her scroll back up and putting it in her pouch. "From now on, snakes are my least favorite animal..."

With immense satisfaction, she triggered the explosives, blowing apart the snake's stomach from within. Now covered in flesh and blood along with stomach acid, Tenten screamed with delight toward the sky. "Ah, sweet Kami! Sunlight, I missed you!"

"You okay, kid?" Jiraiya asked, somewhat worried. In her current state, Tenten didn't seem quite sane.

"I'm fantastic!" she cheered, turning a half-crazed grin on him. "You know, aside from getting freaking digested!That was the grossest experience of my entire life, and I'm still covered in... in... this!" she flicked her arms downward, splattering a small amount of red and green onto the ground. "Do you have any idea what I would do to get a freaking shower!?"

"Hey, calm down for a second," Jiraiya replied soothingly. "This tactic was your idea, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember," she admitted grudgingly, "But it's really starting to squick me out. Have you ever been swallowed before?"

"Yep," he replied bluntly, and kicked an Oto Chuunin in the face. "Seven times by toads, and twice by snakes. Don't forget, Orochimaru and I go way back, and I've fought him several times."

"Huh. Wasn't expecting that... Anyway, tell me you've got enough chakra to summon Gama-whatever!"

"Gamabunta," he reminded her. "And no, I don't, but I might be able to get someone close to his size. Buy me some more time, will ya?"

Tenten sighed, and glared up at the approaching snakes. "...Fine," she grumbled, then drew forth her scroll again.

"Now!" Three snakes roared at the same time, shocking Tenten and Jiraiya. A ten-foot-long serpent flashed forward through a crowd of Oto-nin, lunging toward Tenten. She tried to dodge, but its jaws closed around her scroll and it immediately slithered away. "What? You didn't think we'd let you keep blowing us up forever, did you?"

Tenten was the first to voice the thoughts Jiraiya obviously shared. "Shit." Well, at least I don't have to let these things eat me alive anymore... "Do we have a backup plan?"

"I could switch to ninjutsu and take them out," Jiraiya replied, noting that the Oto shinobi had retreated, "But then I wouldn't have enough to summon a toad to fight Manda."

The three snakes hissed and slithered forward, shaking the earth and shattering buildings as they approached. Tenten scowled, and drew forth her Pain Without Suffering scroll to unseal nine kunai. She threw three into each snake's mouth, but two of them snapped their jaws shut and deflected the blades with their protective scales. The third screamed and flailed in sudden agony as Tenten detonated the three kunai in its mouth.

Tenten wrapped the scroll around her waist several times, and tied the ends of the paper together, then took a defensive stance. "You didn't take away my only weapon," she declared angrily, "but you did take away my favorite one, and you're gonna pay for it." Her hand swiped over the paper on her right hip, producing four kunai that she held between her fingers. I can't believe it took me until now to think of this trick, she scolded herself, then unsealed four kunai in her left hand as well.

The injured snake instinctively fled from the battle, vanishing back to its home to recover from the wound in its mouth that made fighting impossible. The remaining two snakes moved forward, then hesitated. "Come on!" Tenten called. "Attack me, I dare you!" Still, they stood and thought in silence. Their opponent had killed thirteen giant snakes and critically injured a fourteenth.

Suddenly, the two snakes turned to face a sound neither Tenten nor Jiraiya could hear, then visibly relaxed before turning back to their enemies. Together, they hissed, "Manda-sama is coming to deal with you himself," before vanishing in a cloud of white smoke.

Tenten sighed in relief. "I can't believe that worked," she breathed. "What are we gonna do when Manda gets here?"

"I guess I'll either try to summon something, or fight him head-on... you should probably just run," he decided grimly. "Not just to save yourself, but to help somewhere else. Sorry kid, but your help really isn't going to make that much of a difference against Manda. He's on a completely different level from these snakes you've killed."

"But I killed thirteen of them!" she protested.

"Thirteen of the weakest breed of giant snake. Weaker, dumber, smaller. These ones can't even use ninjutsu like the middle-tier snakes."

"Can Manda use ninjutsu?"

"I've never seen him put into a situation where he'd have to. Now get out of here."

Tenten paused for a moment. "I'll... I'll go get backup for you!"

Jiraiya grinned. "That would be nice."

X

Tobirama Senju glanced around at the massive Wood Release forest his brother had generated. "That's intriguing... my brother's chakra is partially interfering with the signal from our Edo Tensei summoner. I'll still be required to fight you, but I can hold back much more of my power." he held out his right hand, and summoned a katana from a seal on the sleeve of his armor. "And... I can feel your chakra..."

Hinata blinked. "My... chakra?"

"I'm a sensor, little girl, and a rather skilled one," he replied evenly. "I can sense your chakra, and its nature." He paused. "Water Release? Unusual for a Konoha ninja."

"But don't you have the Water Release too?" she pointed out.

"I should have been born with the Wood Release, as my brother was," Tobirama answered, then pointed to his red eyes. "Instead, I was born with a slight... shift in my DNA. My kekkei genkai never properly developed. Initially, everyone thought I was merely an albino, born without pigments in my skin, hair and eyes. Such an occurence wasn't particularly rare among the Senju Clan. But as time passed, I became a shinobi and quickly learned that I was born with only the Water Release affinity, and no Earth Release to combine it into the Wood Release."

He smiled. "For the first few months, I feared the Senju would look down on me for it, but it never got to that point. I developed my water nature further than anyone else in history, and the Senju decided that 'no matter how tall it grows, the forest cannot survive without water.'" Tobirama readied his sword, and laced it with water chakra. "I can sense that your mastery of water is impressive, considering your age. Show it to me."

Hinata nodded, then triggered her Byakugan and formed a single hand seal. "Water Release: Eight Trigrams, Guardian Sixty-Four Palms."

Tobirama blurred forward and whipped his sword against Hinata's newly formed defense, noting with approval that the dome felt like solid steel against his blade. "You can manage an impressively rigid shape transformation, and judging from the name of this jutsu, you adapted it from a Hyuuga Clan jutsu."

"One that I created, yes." she reached out with her right hand, and commanded, "Hollow Water Dragon Bullet."

Tobirama willingly allowed the dragon head that formed out of the dome to bite him and carry him a solid distance away before slamming him into a tree. "A new Dragon Bullet? Also your creation, I presume." She nodded again. "That makes sense. This version of the Water Dragon Bullet seems to require less chakra and more chakra control, playing to your obvious strengths." he resealed his sword and folded his arms thoughtfully. "I didn't create my second original water jutsu until I was fourteen. How old are you?"

"Twelve," she replied quickly.

"Hm. You can't manage quite the same level of power as I could at that age, but still, your mastery of water is... worthy of praise. As I said, I can limit my power freely, although I'll still be forced to fight you... I'll come at you with the skill and power I had at your age, and see how you manage."

"Thank y-" Hinata yelped as Tobirama teleported in front of her with his sword in hand once more. On instinct, she managed to unseal her staff in time to block his attack and save her own life. That was... "The Flying Raijin?"

Tobirama nodded. "One of my original creations."

"Where's the seal?" She asked quickly.

"Flowing through the water of your jutsu," he replied evenly. "Before I started holding back, I hit your defense with my sword, and used two skills I developed much later in my life. One, to apply fuinjutsu to water, and two, to apply the Flying Raijin Seal through my sword."

"I didn't know that was even possible..." Hinata jumped away from Tobirama, and resealed her staff. "I'll be sure to remember it, though." She formed a few rapid hand seals and called, "Hollow Water Dragon Horde." Seven water constructs flew out of her opening mouth, and aimed themselves at the Second Hokage.

"Water Dragon Horde," Tobirama immediately countered with two seals. He chose to match Hinata's attack by creating seven dragons for himself. Each dragon fought its counterpart one-on-one, but this only lasted for a brief few seconds before Tobirama made another hand seal. "Water Release: Water Wall." Hinata blinked in surprise as her dragons were destroyed along with Tobirama's, and the water that had been their bodies was shaped into a wall between herself and the Second. He turned the water I created against me?

Her eyes widened when Tobirama suddenly pushed the huge wall forward as a tidal wave, forcing her to retreat further away from him. I know what to do here. She formed a Rasengan in each hand, and threw the one in her right, directly at Tobirama's Water Wall. Her eyes lit up with relief and pride when the Rasengan turned deep blue and formed an additional bubble of teal chakra around itself. It works, even when I throw it! "Sage Art: Rasensuigan!" she named the jutsu, and watched with satisfaction as it tore through the Water Wall.

The Second Hokage saw the attack coming and dodged. He watched the technique fly by him, interested. What sort of jutsu is this? I can sense a small flow of natural energy inside it, and the level of shape transformation that composes it is impressive, even by the standards of a Kage.

As he watched the jutsu with a critical eye, he failed to notice Hinata's spear fly through the hole her Rasensuigan had torn in the wall. It stabbed through his left arm, into the side of his chest. She Substituted with it, grasping his shoulder with her free right hand before slamming the sphere in her left hand into his solar plexus. "RASENGAN!"

He grunted in mild surprise and dulled pain as his torso was obliterated by the jutsu, scattering ash in all directions. Hinata wasted no time in drawing a sealing tag from her pouch and dashing toward his newly disembodied head and shoulders. "Yes, seal me quickly," he commanded her, then his eyes widened in horror. No, not this, not now!

Close to half of the power he'd wielded in life had now returned to him. His body regenerated in a matter of moments, and he swatted Hinata's arm aside to save himself from her sealing tag, then punched her in the jaw with Kage-level strength and precision, knocking her out.

X

"The least you can do is use your speed to close the distance and finish me."

"...Right," Naruto replied solemnly, and pulled a sealing tag out of his pouch. "It's been an honor, Hokage-sama." He flashed forward with the tag in hand.

Hashirama's eyes widened as his chakra levels tripled and his skills increased to match. He caught Naruto's seal-wielding right arm with ease, and yanked the arm viciously, dislocating it from his shoulder. "Sorry kid! Listen, the Edo Tensei command I've been given is to defeat you, not kill you, so stay down!"

"N-No way," Naruto gasped, and reached toward his right hand with his left, unsealing the cutlass to wield it with his left hand. "I never give up, ever!"

"Well good for you," Hashirama replied grimly, then vanished. "But it means I have to do this." He reappeared behind Naruto and chopped the back of the Genin's neck, swiftly knocking him out. "What crappy timing for the Edo Tensei to stop malfunctioning," he shook his head sadly.

He turned toward the silent, invisible signal Orochimaru was radiating, and stepped in its direction before disappearing with the Body Flicker Jutsu.

On his way to Orochimaru, he met up with his younger brother. "Tobirama," he began quietly, leaping through the forest he'd created, "did you kill the Hyuuga girl?"

Tobirama shook his head. "I was able to neutralize her without killing her. And you?"

"Same," he replied with a small smile. "I don't know about you, but the kid I fought was overflowing with potential. He said he wants to be Hokage, and I think he'll get there."

"The girl never mentioned any of her dreams or goals, but she showed exceptional skill with the Water Release, enough to make me think she'll one day reach my level." he paused, then added meaningfully, "She also briefly used natural energy against me, along with a trace of my own power, by exploiting the Water Release's ability to immediately become part of nature and absorb its energy."

"Really?" Hashirama asked, intrigued. "Did she show any animal traits?"

"None," Tobirama shook his head again. "Then again, I only sensed natural energy in one jutsu she threw at me, and none in her body."

Hashirama sighed. "Then there's no way to know for sure." Still... she might turn out to be a Human Sage after all. "Listen. We're gonna have to fight Hiruzen now, and with this much of our power restored..." he trailed off meaningfully.

"I have faith in our student," Tobirama replied. "Hiruzen will defeat us."

"I hope you're right," the older Hokage murmured, just before Hiruzen and Orochimaru came into view. The snake summoner didn't look injured at first glance, but since his foe was wielding a blunt staff, it was probable that he bore at least a few bruises under his undamaged clothes. Similarly, the Third Hokage wasn't bleeding, but he looked more winded than Orochimaru.

"Damn it," the Third sighed. "Are Naruto and Hinata dead, then?" he asked miserably.

"No," Hashirama replied immediately, "we took them down without killing them."

"Good," Hiruzen allowed himself a brief, grim smile. "At least the Will of Fire will live on in them, even if I die today."

"So you've resigned yourself to death then, Sarutobi-sensei?" Orochimaru sneered. "I can't say I blame you, given how soundly I've beaten you."

"I don't want to die," the Third replied evenly. "It's human nature to want to live one more day, and then another day after that. But if I have to choose between Konoha and my own life, I won't hesitate. I don't have that many years left in me anyway..." he sighed sadly. "I've even had a month to prepare the village's future without me. I'm ready to die."

In truth, however, Hiruzen had already decided to keep fighting without using his last resort, the Reaper Death Seal, for one simple reason. In his pocket, he was carrying a white scroll sealed with the red kanji for fire, and if he failed to pass that scroll along to someone who could deliver it after his death, then the contingency plan outlined within would never be started. Danzou Shimura, for various reasons, would have the scroll destroyed if it was found on his body.

I will carry on. To die now would be to fail Konoha yet again! I have enough regrets as it is, and I won't let my final act as Hokage be a failed gambit. I'll carry on! He readied his staff, and glared at Orochimaru. "You are no student of mine. Never call me Sarutobi-sensei again."

X

Jiraiya panted. He could tell that these Oto ninja couldn't be above Chuunin-level, but he was facing dozens at a time, restricting himself to using only taijutsu, and to top it off, he was fifty. He'd kept himself fit and continued to train himself to ever-higher levels of mastery in the ninja arts, but when it came down to straight-up taijutsu, he was past his prime, plain and simple.

However, he noted as he knocked out another foe and blocked a flurry of strikes from two more, human opponents were the least of his problems right now. The shaking earth that told him of Manda's location was fast approaching, and he still didn't have enough chakra to summon Gamabunta.

Fighting Manda without the aid of his own summon would be a close fight, since Orochimaru was absent, but he was already out of breath, and he knew just what Manda was capable of using only his massive body. If he'd angered the snake boss enough for him to use ninjutsu, Jiraiya would lose.

Unless...

It was a gamble, but if he were to use a ninjutsu like Swamp of the Underworld to neutralize the human ninjas, he could possibly buy enough time to gather natural energy, enter Sage Mode, and summon Gamabunta with it. On the other hand, the battle surrounding him was disrupting the natural energy in Konoha's atmosphere. If Manda reached him before he could overcome that handicap and use Sage Mode, he'd have even less chakra to fight the snake boss, and nothing to show for it.

His mind and heart raced, searching for a way out of his predicament, and the decision he eventually came to was that if he expected to soundly beat Manda without Gamabunta, he'd need Sage Mode. Grimly, he began making hand seals, and called, "Earth Release-"

"Jiraiya-sama!" Tenten called in a singing voice, drawing the attention of himself and the Oto shinobi swarming him. "I'm back!" she sang again, grinning.

"What the-" his eyes widened, taking in the sight of the backup she'd gathered. To her right stood Asuma Sarutobi, Zabuza Momochi, and Haku. To her left stood Kankurou, Temari, and Sasuke Uchiha. It was Sasuke in particular that most unnerved the Oto ninja, since a pattern of black flames had spread over all of his exposed skin, his Sharingan eyes were glowing, and he was grinning viciously, almost insanely.

Jiraiya recognized it as a very Orochimaru-esque expression. The 'Last Uchiha' was obviously seething at his loss in the first round of the tournament, and apparently he was looking for something to rip apart. Clearly, Tenten had convinced him that the enemy shinobi flooding Konoha were ideal targets.

Jiraiya inwardly sighed. I knew this would happen. That look in his eyes, it's the Curse of Hatred. Stronger than I've ever seen it before. Just great.

The moment Sasuke made his first hand seal, the Oto shinobi began retreating. Jiraiya assumed Orochimaru had given them orders not to engage Sasuke, but it was also remotely possible that they were just scared of that Cursed Seal, and those eyes. Given their sheer numbers, Jiraiya found it unlikely, but still possible.

Regardless, Sasuke watched them flee before lowering his hands and deactivating his Sharingan. The Cursed Seal of Heaven remained very noticeably on his skin, but at least he seemed stable. "Hn," he growled. "Cowards."

"Cool it, Sasuke," Tenten commanded. Even she was surprised when Sasuke grunted and obeyed, withdrawing his Cursed Seal. "Save your strength for when Manda shows up."

The Uchiha's eyes lit up for a moment. "Right..." he smirked with anticipation. "I can almost see it now. My Chidori through his neck."

"I like this kid," Zabuza admitted. "Reminds me of myself at that age."

Jiraiya approached the seven that had come to his aid. "Thanks for your help, but you should know Manda's gonna be here soon. Are you all ready?"

"We're four of the most powerful Genin in the world, two elite Jounin, and one..." Tenten glanced at Haku. "Come to think of it, what is your rank, anyway?" He paused thoughtfully, giving her time to continue. "Whatever. The point is, we can handle it."

"For the record," Haku said quietly, "I was never assigned any formal rank in Kiri or here, but Zabuza-sama judges my skills as being ANBU-level. Hokage-sama agreed with that assessment."

"See? Four stupidly powerful Genin, two Jounin, and an ANBU." Tenten grinned.

"Against a Kage-level boss summon, who's probably pissed enough to use his ninjutsu now." Jiraiya turned to face Manda, who was now completely visible in his approach. "We can't afford to get overconfident, but I'd judge this fight as being pretty even." He sat down on the ground and closed his eyes. "Buy me a little time to enter Sage Mode."

Sage Mode? Tenten shrugged. "Right." What the hell is Sage Mode? She unsealed several explosive kunai from the scroll she now wore like a sash from her left shoulder to right hip. "We'll cover you."

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