Author's Note:

HELLO NARUSASUNARU FANS! HAPPY NARUSASUNARU MONTH! I feel embarrassed not publishing more of this story to honor them. I just haven't had the time or mental ability to do so. However, I'm still working on one of my newer stories for them, gaming, and watching anime to fill the void.

Also, if you haven't already, you guys should watch the Netflix anime/ cartoon Scissor Seven. It's fantastic, wholesome, and well worth the wait of Season 4 (even though it's a long way away). I wrote a one-shot about my favorite couple and posted it here for anyone who wants to read it. I highly recommend that you watch it if you can!

It's also Domestic Violence Awareness Month! As much as I hate to think about it, unfortunately, this is our world's reality. Just know that I am here for anyone going through or who has been through this situation. I know that many of you don't know me outside of this website or my screen name. However, don't let that stop you from wanting to talk to me. I experienced domestic violence throughout my life, so I understand. No matter your gender, sexuality, or what you may identify as Domestic violence is NEVER ok! So please, if you ever want someone to talk to, just know that I will be here for you in the best way I know-how.

I have made many friends through here and cherish every one of you. But, please, use every day to try and take care of yourself. And, if all you can do is breathe, bathe, do your basic hygienic needs, get out of bed, stand in the sun, drink water, etc., then that is fine; you're still making progress. As long as you're still moving forward, progress is still progressing, no matter how little or slow. NEVER stop moving!

I love you guys! Take care and be safe!

"If you can't fly, then run, if you can't run, then walk if you can't walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward,"

-Martin Luther King Jr.

Side Note:

For anyone writing ANYTHING (emails, updating or working on their resumes, stories, school assignments, etc.), you should check out Grammarly! Grammarly is an excellent site used to help with correcting your spelling and grammar. I have my bachelor's degree in Creative Writing with a minor in English Literature, and even I still struggle with these issues, as some of you can tell. However, since I started using this site, I have seen an improvement. Now, I don't do anything writing-related (even if it is just sending an email or writing a note) without using it. It does have a free version for anyone who doesn't want to pay for it.

In my opinion, the free site works well, but if you can afford to upgrade, please do! I promise you it is well worth the money spent. The premium features can catch grammar issues that you may not have even considered. If you decide to upgrade your account, there are many affordable options (i.e., I pay $60 every four months). Just keep in mind that it doesn't always catch everything little thing, nor does it always understand what you may be typing or trying to say (i.e., slang from a particular character, specific events, etc.) So, while you're editing your documents, please take time to reread and pay attention to the suggestions and explanations given. The good news is that you can ignore any idea that doesn't make sense for what you're writing. I'm not trying to sell the site to you (I promise I don't get anything if you sign up for it). I just like to pass along helpful information to anyone in need. For those of you who decide to give it a shot, I swear you won't regret it!

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Chapter 80: Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki Evolution

Normal P.O.V.

Everyone on the battlefield stared up at their newly evolved opponent. Wide, terrified eyes stared in awe at what had just happened to Obito. From what they gathered, Obito merged with the Ten-Tails to gain his new powers. The sounds of hard swallows to moisten dry throats echoed throughout the battlefield. Heavy sweat drops drenched their bodies as their hearts continued to beat out of their chests. Although they didn't know just how powerful Obito's new form was, they knew that it was nothing good.

"This isn't good," Kakashi tsked.

"Stand back, everyone! I'm going to try and stop him! Wood Style: Gracious Deity Gates!" Hashirama yelled.

He raised his fingers to his face and summoned more of his wooden gates. Obito looked up as several wooden gates fell from the sky. Several of them landed on top of Obito, but it didn't seem to do anything. Not even a second after the last gate landed, the wood cracked, and every gate splintered into a million pieces. Suddenly, ten red chakra-like arms extended from his back and tore down the surrounding barrier. Hashirama bit back his pain as his chakra drained from him, and his clones disappeared. Everyone gasped as they watched, helpless and unsure of what to take next.

"This isn't good. We're in trouble if we can't stop him," Hashirama inwardly growled before turning to the Allied Shinobi Forces, "Everyone! Stay focused! We don't know what he's capable of in his new state!"

Without hesitation, Obito jumped from his previous location and landed in front of Gamakichi.

"Obito! Please, you must stop this!" Minato called out, but it fell on deaf ears.

Before he could move again, Hashirama, Tobirama, and Hiruzen jumped in Obito's path. Obito summoned a sizeable black orb to get rid of them and used it to attack the Hokages. However, this was all a part of Tobirama's plan.

"Saru! Fourth Scar!" Tobirama yelled and activated his trap.

Secretly, the Second Hokage placed several paper bombs on Obito's body. Then, at his command, the bombs exploded. Once the first set of bombs went off, another set followed shortly after. Soon, a continuous cycle of paper bombs exploded around Obito.

"What is happening?" Naruto asked.

"It's one of Lord Second's jutsus. He calls it the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags Jutsu. In exchange for taking damage, he places the paper bombs on his opponents. What makes his paper bombs more special than any regular ones is that each tag summons more once they go off. Thus, the attacks result in continuous paper bomb explosions against at least one opponent. This is a great jutsu to use against a stronger opponent, such as Obito or Madara," Minato explained as they continued to watch from the top of Gamakichi's head.

Everyone watched Tobirama's continuous paper bomb jutsu until it stopped. After the Dust cleared, Obito had moved to another part of the battlefield.

"You sneaky bastard! Take this! Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Hiruzen yelled as he summoned the first giant Shuriken.

With his strength, the Third Hokage launched his weapon towards Obito. As they got closer, more of them appeared. Without hesitation, Obito summoned another black orb and aimed it at the shurikens. When the attacks interacted with the other, the black balls turned the shurikens turned to dust.

"Of course, he'd have an ability like that," Hiruzen tsked.

Before he could ready another attack, Obito appeared in front of him. He placed his hand over Hiruzen's face and used his black orbs to disintegrate half of the Third Hokage's body.

"OLD MAN THIRD!" Naruto screamed.

"Don't worry, son. The Reanimation Jutsu will bring back the parts of our bodies that were destroyed. However, it can take some time to work, but we seem to have some more time. Look," Everyone turned towards Obito. As the gray feline rushed towards them, his body began to blow up, and he fell to the ground. "It seems that Obito and the Ten-Tails didn't completely merge and caused a disruption. This is our chance to attack. I shall go first and create an opening,"

Minato summoned one shadow clone and sped off. Hashirama tried to assist in the attack, but Madara interfered, forcibly earning his attention. Although this was not how Hashirama wanted the battle to go, he also knew that the fight couldn't be avoided. Madara had waited long enough to fight him, making it impossible to assist in future attacks currently. Luckily enough, Naruto, Sasuke, and Minato were capable enough to deal with Obito independently.

As Minato and his shadow clone sped towards their opponent, Naruto sensed something coming towards them from underneath the ground.

"Gamakichi! Below you!" Naruto warned, but it was too late.

The top half of Obito's body emerged from the ground and knocked Gamakichi, Naruto, and Sasuke to the ground. As Naruto fell, Obito took this opportunity to attack him with a black orb. However, Sasuke was faster and summoned Susanoo to protect and save his mate.

"You will not harm Naruto, not while I still stand," Sasuke growled.

Angered, Obito rushed toward them and grabbed their faces before they could react. But, first, He summoned his black orbs and readied his attack. Fortunately, Minato was quick enough to save them before the attack was executed.

"Thanks, dad. I thought we were going to die," Naruto panted.

"Keep your guard up, boys; we're not done here yet,"

Obito turned his body towards where the trio was and tried to attack again. However, the effects of the uncompleted merge with the Ten-Tails caught up and caused the right side of his body to swell up. Desperate, Obito launched his black orb attack towards them. Minato used his teleportation jutsu to send the attack further behind them. Suddenly, another black orb attack appeared, but it hit Obito instead.

"Interesting,"

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"That attack just now was aimed at Obito and not us."

"But that doesn't make sense. Why would he attack himself and not us?" Naruto questioned.

"I'm not quite sure, but it seems that Obito's sanity is barely hanging on. When he merged with the Ten-Tails, the ritual was incomplete, and the two must battle for control,"

What happens if Obito loses?" Naruto asked.

"Obito's mind will forever be lost. Unlike the other Tailed Beasts, the Ten-Tails, in its current state, is mindless. It requires a host or someone who can command it. Let to its own devices; the Ten-Tails will only rampage until there's nothing left to destroy. Luckily for us, we can use this to our advantage," Minato summoned several of his special kunai and readied himself for his next attack. "I'll create an opening. You two follow behind me with your strongest attacks!"

"Right!" the couple nodded as they readied themselves.

Minato threw his kunai in several locations. While the trio readied their attacks, Obito continued his internal battle against the Ten-Tails. Finally, his vision started to fade as his bloated body engulfed him. It seemed that he was going to lose the battle for control shortly. The last image he saw, although unrecognizable to him, was his Sensei running towards him. Obito screamed in pain inside his subconscious as he felt both his memories and body being ripped apart. Piece by piece, with every faded memory, some of his body was ripped away. Soon, he would be nothing.

"I'm sorry, Rin. I promised not to forget you, but it seems that I failed you that way too…."

Mentally exhausted, Obito closed his eyes, ready to give himself to the Ten-Tails. But, as the last of his memory and body was ripped away, Rin's smile was all that was left. Suddenly, Obito opened his eyes and growled low.

How could he give up so easily? He started this war to create a world of peace for the Ruins of the world. Memories of his late love rushed back to him, along with some of his other memories and body parts. The Uchiha feline struggled as he fought to win his internal struggle. Soon after, his memories and body became whole again.

Back in reality, Minato continued to rush towards Obito. However, he stopped when the dust cleared. Before he stood, he did not see the bloated Obito just a moment ago, but another evolution form. Standing tall, a fully formed gray and black Ten-Tail Jinchūriki. The scales on half his body became less noticeable. The ten large spikes on his back migrated to form a collar around his shoulders, leaving the six magatama markings visible and coattails of a haori behind him. Two long gray horns sprouted on his forehead, with the left being slightly shorter than the right. He wore black pants, his hair remained short, spikey, and white, exposing his feet. Behind him floated six black orbs to match his long, black staff with six medium-sized rings (three on each side). He was indeed a terrifying being.

Minato cursed as he saw this but did not falter. Instead, he ran, kunai in hand, until his kunai clashed with the blackened staff, breaking the blade.

"Finally, sensei, we can finish things," Obito said calmly before hitting Minato's right arm with a black orb attached to his hand.

Minato got away and reappeared in front of Naruto and Sasuke with his arm missing.

"Are you alright, dad?"

"He got me, but I'll be ok,"

"Are you sure about that?" Obito smirked.

Everyone gasped as they saw the black orb attached to Minato's right side, "When did he~."

The older blond didn't have time to finish his thought as the orb started to explode. Naruto tried to help his father but was stopped by Sasuke while he summoned his Susanoo again. Time slowed down almost entirely as the explosion happened. Luckily, a clone of Tobirama appeared, grabbed the orb, and teleported to Obito. In the distance, a bright light appeared along with a loud boom, indicating that the explosion had happened.

To their right, the real Tobirama appeared, "Don't worry, I sent a clone,"

"Do you think it worked?" Sasuke asked while looking towards Obito's last known location.

Everyone waited for the dust to clear before making their next move. As the dust settled, a giant black orb floated above the ground. Then, slowly, it disappeared and reviled a safe but frustrated Obito.

"Looks like he survived. Damn, he's fast," Tobirama smirked.

Naruto growled low in his throat as he glared at their opponent, 'I've had enough of this guy. Let's finish him, Sasuke!" Sasuke nodded as he ran after Naruto.

The couple ran towards their opponent with a plan in mind. First, Sasuke summoned his Amaterasu flames, but Obito countered them by twirling his staff. Despite this, the boys were ready. Together, they gathered two of their more powerful jutsus to counterattack.

"Wind Style: Rasen Shuriken!"

"Inferno Style: Flame Control!"

With their attacks readied between them, Naruto and Sasuke continued to run towards the new Jinchūriki. Behind them, Tobirama and Minato combined their teleportation jutsus and assisted in the attacks. Suddenly, Tobirama appeared behind Obito as Minato appeared before Naruto and Sasuke. Once their attack landed against Minato, the late Hokages performed their teleportation jutsus. Tobirama held onto Obito's back as the attack landed. The attack's force was so powerful that it pushed them back several hundred meters. Tobirama added more power to Obito's back when they were far enough away to finish the attack before he teleported to Minato's side. In front of the older shinobi, Naruto and Sasuke panted with smirks on their faces as the episode finished.

"Do you think we got him?" Naruto asked.

As the couple looked for Obito, their smiles faded with what happened next. The tails of his haori acted as a shield while Sasuke's blackened flames burned out. Once gone, Obito lifted himself off the ground to float above them.

"What a pain," Sasuke tsked as Naruto, and he returned to Minato and Tobirama. "Well, now what should we do?"

"Watch your tongue, boy and let me think," Tobirama growled before looking at Minato's arm, "That is quite strange,"

"What is the matter, Lord Second?" Minato asked.

"Your arm doesn't seem to be regenerating. You were attacked a little while ago, correct? There should be dust swirling around you to regenerate your arm. It seems that Obito is using some sort of technique that nullifies all ninjutsu,"

"Nullify all ninjutsus? So that means we can't use any of our jutsus at all?!" Naruto whines as he uses his hands to rub his face.

"You're as goofy as my brother and your father. That is exactly what I am saying, so be mindful of your next move," Tobirama sighed with his hand over his face before turning to Minato, "You, be sure not to get seriously injured again. Even with our reanimated bodies, we still have limitations,"

"Yes, I will be sure to do that, Lord Second," Minato nodded.

"Well then, we need to figure something else out and fast. We're running out of time," Naruto lowly growled.

"Naruto, we're at the end of our summoning. I'm sorry, but I must go now,"

Naruto turned to smile at him and thumbs up to Gamakichi, "Thank you for your service. Please, go and get some rest. We'll handle it from here,"

"Don't die on me, Kid. We're all counting on you," Gamakichi said before he disappeared.

"Are you guys finished already? What a shame. We still have so much to do before the night is over," Obito said before he glared at Minato, "Sensei, I must thank you. Having you as my Sensei before you became Hokage made it easy to give that dream up. It's quite sad. I used to look up to you. You used to be a force to be best of the with now that you've been exposed as a fraud in front of your son and his mate. How does it feel to know that your student is above you, a Hokage? I Hope you can swallow your shame before returning to the afterlife," Suddenly, the sound of someone chuckling filled the battlefield. Confused, everyone looked around until eyes landed on a chuckling Naruto, "Did I saw something funny to you?"

"I just find it funny the way you talk to your Sensei and elders. I understand that things may not have gone your way, and you lost someone important to you when you were younger. However, that is no excuse to disrespect any Hokage in front of me, especially my dad," Naruto said as he formed a Rasengan in his right hand, "And, to be honest, I will not put too much merit in the words of someone who couldn't even become Hokage,"

Tobirama appeared behind Naruto and used his teleportation jutsu to get closer to Obito. Before the older feline could react, Naruto and Tobirama appeared and used his attack to damage Obito's back. The two appeared behind Obito as the attack landed, effectively forcing Obito into the ground. With all his might, Naruto screamed as he increased his jutsus' attack with some of his Sage Mood powers. Shortly after, he and Tobirama teleported back to where Minato and Sasuke stood, "Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, will NEVER disrespect anyone close to me! Believe it!"

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To Be Continued…