Author's Note: Merry Christmas, my loyal fans, and to those of you just joining. May this holiday season be everything you desire. And may the New Year bring in new adventures and goals for you to reach. You can only do your best, so fuck the rest. Happy Holidays, everyone!
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Chapter 89: Infinite Tsuyomuki
Normal P.O.V.
Madara carefully observed the renewed couple before him. Both exhibited signs of gaining new powers. And, based on his observation, he would have to think of a new plan.
"Very interesting. One also awakened the Six Paths Senjutsu and received his eighth and final tail, while the other awakened the Rinnegan in his left eye. This shall be an interesting battle,"
After finishing his observations, Madara readied himself for his next set of attacks. Next, he smacked his hands together and summoned his first attack.
"Sage Style: Thunder Blast!" he shouted as he thrust his hands forward and unleashed purple thunderbolts.
Naruto threw his black staff to deflect the attack as Sasuke teleported out of the way, surprising Madara. "Teleportation? At this distance? That's impossible! Even I had not accomplished this," he internally growled.
Naruto charged at his opponent while he was distracted. However, Madara caught him out of the corner of his eye and immediately used his limbo attack to stun Naruto. Sasuke was surprised by the attack since it was new to him. So, he stood back and watched to figure it out.
"Sage Art: Gale Style Fang of Light!"
Naruto managed to free himself in time to dodge a beam of purple lightning shot from Madara's mouth. Frustrated, the older, white Sage Paths used his limbo attack again. Luckily, both Naruto and Sasuke caught onto it this time. Thinking quickly, Sasuke threw his sword between them but cursed when it missed. Semotainiously, the force from Madara's limbo attack threw Naruto into a nearby stone wall.
"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled as he rushed over to check on his mate. "You alright?"
"Yeah. Don't worry about me. We need to stop him before it's too late." Naruto grunted as he stood up and dusted himself off.
"Naruto, did you see it? When he uses his limbo attack, he summons another Madara, almost like a shadow to hold you in place or attack you,"
"Hn. I thought I felt something like that," Naruto chuckled as he stood up straight. "I couldn't see it, but I could sense it. Looks like you'll have to be my eyes, babe."
"Physical attacks don't work on the other Madara. So we need to think of another way to stop him," Sasuke said as he stood next to Naruto.
"Hn. Based on his new abilities, it seems that Sasuke and I share a bond stronger than blood. In that case, his Rinnigan eye should do in place of Obito's. I shall take it!"
Suddenly, Madara flew towards them with an evil smirk on his lips. Naruto instinctively threw his arm out to protect Sasuke, but the raven feline was ready. Using his Rinnegan, Sasuke teleported his katana into Madara's chest and took its place. Madara gasped as he felt the sword being pushed deeper into his torso. Blood spilled from his mouth as he landed on his feet and tried to remove the katana. Once he pulled it, Madara threw the blade off to the side and turned, and glared at his descendant.
Sasuke matched his ancestor's furry as he walked back to Naruto's side with clenched fists, "If you think you're going to take my Rinnegan, then you're welcome to try. Unfortunately for you, we've already figured out how your limbo attack works. So it's not enough to kill you. We have to attack your shadow too. So first, you send your shadow to hold your opponent, leaving an opening for either of you to attack. However, it seems that your attack is short-lived. So after a while, your shadow and you need to stay merged. Isn't that right, Madara?"
The initial feeling of shock disappeared and was replaced by a grin. "Impressive observation. You truly live up to your reputation of being a genius of the times. Bravo. But, that won't be enough to stop me!"
"Naruto," Sasuke whispered, causing the blond fox to turn and listen to him, "I need you to get a Sage attack ready. Please make sure that it has sealing abilities,"
"You got it!" Naruto said as he did as he was told. Madara did not know what the two were planning, but he knew that he was done if he didn't get his other Rinnegan soon.
"Sage Art: Magent Style Rasengan!" "Six Path Chidori!" the couple shouted together as they ran towards their opponent.
They appeared on each side of Madara and allowed their powers to combine. However, as soon as Naruto was ready to seal him, Madara substituted his shadow and flew away.
"Damnnit! He's getting away," Sasuke cursed.
"Sasuke, look! He's over there, and he's heading for Kakashi-sensei!"
Both boys released their attacks and took off in the same direction. However, it was too late. Before he could understand what happened, Madara appeared before him and stole his Sharingan out of his left eye. Blood spilled from Kaskahi's empty socket as he watched the Six Paths figure insert his eye into Madara's left socket.
"Damn you, bastard!"
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled as they arrived at his side.
"I'm alright, boys. We just need to worry about him!"
Without hesitation, Sasuke charged at Madara with his Lightning Blade readied. Next, he sliced Madara in half at his midsection. Finally, however, the white Six Paths was ready. He activated his Kamui jutsu and teleported to the Space-Time Dimension, where Obito and Sakura still resided.
"Oh no!"
"What's wrong, Naruto?" Sasuke asked as he walked back towards them.
"He teleported to the Space-Time Dimension! After we received our powers from Super Gramps, I left Obito and Sakura there for safety!" he yelled as he pulled on his hair and fox ears.
"Sakura and Obito? What were they doing there in the first place?" Sasuke asked in confusion.
"While Sakura worked to keep Naruto alive after the Nine-Tails was extracted, I teleported them there to keep them safe as we battled Madara here," Kakashi explained before cursing. "Damnnit! And now we can't get there without my Sharingan. So I guess the only thing we can do is wait until one of them comes out. This would be a great time to think of a plan and for you two to explain what happened to you. Both of you seem different somehow. So it's safe to assume that both of you were saved by some supernatural being? I know that Obito gave Naruto Minato-sensei's Nine-Tail chakra, but how did you get saved, Sasuke?"
"Lord First and Orochimaru transplanted Lord First's last remaining cells into my body. That's about the time we woke up in Naruto's subconscious plane, where we met the original Six Path being, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki," Sasuke explained.
"Wait a minute! You two met the legendary Six Path Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki? But how?" Kakashi asked.
"It had something to do with me now having traces of chakra from all nine Tailed-Beasts inside of me. That happened during my battle with B and Octopus! While we were there, he told us how their mother Kayugra came to our world and ate the fruit from the Divine Tree. Next, he told us they had to seal her away to protect everyone from her corruption. Then, he said we were the reincarnations of his sons and hoped that we would be the ones to put an end to everything. Finally, he gave us his powers, I got my final tail, Sasuke got his Rinnegan, and wished us luck before sending us back home." Naruto proudly smiled.
"After I awakened, I freed Lord Second and had him teleport us back here. Unfortunately, Lord Second could only teleport one of us because of his weakened state. Lord First, Karin, Orochimaru, and the rest of my former team will catch up later," Sasuke finished.
"Hn. I see. That's quite the story. So, since the two of you have already fought Lord Madara with your new abilities, and since we cannot follow him into the next dimension, would the two of you care to share any insights on how we can defeat this monster?" Kakashi asked.
"Well, we might have a few. But we're gonna need your help, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said as he continued to smile.
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In the Time-Space Dimension, Sakura observed Obito using his staff to steady himself on his feet.
"Sakura, was it? I know that we haven't known each other long, nor do you trust me at the moment, but you're the only one who can help me."
"What… do you… need me… to do?" she whispered just enough for him to hear her.
Without losing eye contact, he beckoned for her to come towards him. Sakura hesitantly did as she was commanded to do. Then, she stood up and took heavy steps towards him on shaky legs until she was only a couple feet from him. Cautiously, he reached for the kunai still in her hand, grabbed her other hand, clasped them together, and raised them to his Rinnegan.
"I need you to destroy my Rinnegan,"
"What?! Are you insane?!" she yelled in confusion.
"Please! You must, or else Madara will get it. He already has one of mine. He can't get the other one if you want a chance at winning this war. You don't know what that man is capable of, especially in his current state. Sakura, you must do this. Please,"
Sakura stood over Obito's sitting form with her kunai in her hand and a conflicted look on her face. How could she go against her oath to heal and protect people when she's asked to do something like this? Sakuta knew that it wasn't as easy as others would make it out to be. However, she probably would have done the gruesome task if she was anyone else. But she wasn't. She was Sakura Haruno, a medical-nin professional faced with a life-altering decision. Unfortunately, her hesitation would soon cost them their needed advantage. Suddenly, a Kamui jutsu appeared beside them, and Madara emerged. Both shinobis gasped as Madara threw his staff towards Sakura's head.
"Oh no, you don't!"
Thinking quickly, Obito activated his own Kamui jutsu and teleported Sakura to safety. Simoteniously, Sakura tried reaching Obito, but it was too late, and she was gone before their eyes, leaving only Obito and Madara in the Time-Space Dimension.
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As Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke discussed their options and plans, the Kamui jutsu appeared, and Sakura fell to the ground.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled as he ran over to her and checked for injuries. "Sakura-chan, are you alright? Madara didn't do anything to you, did he?"
Sakura just shook her head slowly, without looking up from the ground. Only at the sound of Sasuke's voice did she lookup. "What is happening in the Tima-Space Dimension, Sakura?"
Sakura stared at her former crush with wide eyes for a moment before lowering her head again and clenching her fists. "I'm not sure. One minute, I talked to Obito, and the next thing I knew, I was back here. Madara had appeared, so Obito teleported me here to save me, but I… I…" she choked on her words as tears spilled from her eyes.
"What's wrong, Sakura-chan? What happened? Did Obito say anything?" Naruto asked as he kneeled beside her.
"Obito… he asked me… he asked me to destroy his Rinnegan. He could sense that Madara was coming and asked me to destroy it so that Madara wouldn't get it. But I was too much of a coward to do anything… I couldn't… I couldn't…" she cried.
"Hey, hey. It's ok. You don't have to cry. Let us handle this," Naruto comforted her as he pulled her into his chest.
"But how can I call myself a worthy shinobi if I couldn't even handle a simple task!" she screamed with tears still streaming down her face.
"Because you're not the only shinobi to hesitate in a crisis, and you won't be the last," he smiled as he wiped her tears away with his thumb and kissed her forehead. "Don't put so much pressure on yourself,"
"But you should accept the blame for making this battle harder for the rest of us," Sasuke huffed with his arms crossed and his glaring eyes off to the side.
Naruto sent an intense glare towards his bitchy mate. It didn't take Naruto long to figure out that Sasuke felt jealous of his contact with Sakura. Although Sasuke is the calmer one between them, sometimes his omega emotions will shine through and cause him to be jealous. Feeling his alpha's glare on his body, Sasuke just shrugged him off with a dismissive and dramatic exhale through his nose.
"I'll deal with his bitchy ass later," Naruto internally sighed before continuing to comfort Sakura.
"Don't listen to him. He's just… in a mood… But, nonetheless, it is not your fault. So just focus on the now and help us find a way to defeat him, alright?"
Sakura's eyes widened as she stared at her more mature friend. It still amazes her that the same knuckleheaded ninja she graduated from the academy and joined Team 7 turned into an excellent leader. This is the Naruto she would follow anywhere. Admiration filled her eyes as she whipped her tears away and stood between her teammates.
"Thanks, Naruto. You always know how to make a girl feel special," she smiled before turning her attention to Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei! What happened to your eye?!"
Kakashi, lost in the moment between his students, gasped at Sakura's question. "Madara took my Sharingan before he teleported into the Time-Space Dimension. But, don't concern yourself about me. I will be fine," the silver wolf smiled with his hand still over his bleeding eye.
"The hell I won't! I may have failed Obito, but I won't fail you too. Now, let me see your eye," she commanded as she stomped over to him and removed his hand. Sakura added her healing chakra to her hand without any hesitation before placing it over his eye. However, while she tried to heal his wound, a strange feeling hit her. "Oh no!"
"What is it, Sakura-chan?!"
"It's Obito! He's reached his limit and can't fight anymore!" she screamed with more tears forming in her eyes.
"That means that Madara will get his Rinnegan. Just fucking great," Sasuke harshly sighed as he rubbed his face with his hands.
"Don't let this distract us from our goal. Regardless of whose fault it was, we still have a monstrous Madara to deal with. Does anyone have any more plans?" Naruto asked in a commanding voice.
"Damnnit," Sakura cursed as she tried to focus on healing Kakashi's eye. However, her mind was elsewhere.
Seeing his friend struggle, Naruto walked behind her, placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and smiled. "Let me take care of that, Sakura-chan. You rest for a bit," Without arguing, Sakura stepped aside and let Naruto stand in her place. He placed his hand on Kakashi's face for a second before removing it. "Try opening your eyes, Kakashi-sensei,"
Doing as he was told, Kakashi slowly opened his eye to revile a replacement there, much to everyone's shock.
"How… how did you do that?" Sakura asked.
"It's hard to explain. I'll have to tell you when all of this is over," Naruto chuckled as he scratched the back of his head.
"Heads up, guys. Looks like we have company," Kakashi announced as he stood up.
Everyone stood in their battle-readied stances as a Kamui jutsu appeared in front of them. They waited to see what would come out of that black hole.
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In the Time-Space Dimension, the upper half of Madara held Obito off the ground by shoving his hand through Obito's torso.
"Well, well, well. Here we are, Obito Uchiha. How does it feel knowing that you're about to help me achieve my ultimate goal?"
"If I could, I'd spit in your face," Obito struggled to say as he glared.
"Fiesty until the bitter end. Just like the rest of our clansmen. While I have you, tell me how you removed the Curse Seal Tag I placed on your heart? I know you didn't do it on your own."
"I had Kakashi stab me and remove it. I took a chance on my life because I didn't want to be your puppet anymore,"
Madara chuckled, "Actually, you did exactly what I wanted you to do. In fact, you exceeded my expectations. I placed the Cursed Seal Tag on Rin, and you were meant to be broken. Personally, I find it ironic that Kakashi got rid of both the exact same way," Suddenly, Obito's eyes opened wide as he thought back to that particular memory. "Come now, don't tell me that you didn't know that almost everything up until now was just a coincidence. Well, if I'm being honest, I guess you could say it was if you understand that I was that coincidence,"
Obito stared at his ancestor in complete and utter shock but didn't say anything as he remained in Madara's hold. "Here, before I put you out of your misery, allow me to tell you my tale. I waited until Minato was away on another mission before putting everything into place. First, I manipulated the Mist Shinobi to kidnap Rin and make her Jinchūriki. This caused Kakashi to follow them and attempt to rescue her. Once he killed her, I stood back and waited to see the full extent of your power. This also would have been the push you needed to join me without me having to do much convincing. Now, knowing what you know, do you still want to believe that it was a coincidence that White Zetsu goaded you and that you could escape from my underground lair at the precise time? Well, it doesn't matter what you think, does it? All that matters is the final piece of my plan." Madara slowly brought Obito towards his face with an evil smirk. "I'll be taking my left eye back now,"
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Back in reality, Team Kakashi held their stances as Obito and Madara appeared in front of them.
Madara's chuckle sent a chill down each of their spines, "Well, this is interestingly sweet. Do the four of you plan to die together then? Fine by me, it makes no difference,"
Naruto's eyes scan the two figures, trying to search for Obito's lifeforce. But when he didn't sense anything, he tried calling out, "Obito! Obito, can you hear me?! Are you in there?"
"Don't waste your breath. Obito is gone now. I have taken over his body," White Zetsu chuckled as he stood next to Madara.
Naruto tsked as he tried to keep his emotions in check. Then, as his mind started to rack around itself for a plan, something important came to mind. "Kakashi-sensei, did Lee, Pervy-Sage, my Otousan, and the others take Bushier-Brow-sensei to Granny Tsunade?"
"Yes. Gaara used his sand to transport them there. I made sure they left safely,"
"Good. Alright, we need to attack them head-on, but we need to be smart about this," Naruto said as he continued to rack his brain for a solution.
The auras from Madara and White Zetsu sent evil chills down her spine and caused her to subconsciously take several steps backward. However, before she got too far, Sakura stopped and forced herself to steel her nerves.
"No. I've come too far to act scared now. I need to be brave and face them with my teammates." Sakura internalized while practicing her deep breathing.
When she was ready, Sakura activated her Strength of a Hundred Seal. Once the seal was unleashed entirely, she raced towards Madara and White Zetsu. Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi called out to stop her. But it was too late. Sakura had made up her mind to become the distraction for her teammates to attack. She only hoped that they understood her plan and followed her lead.
Sasuke and Naruto did just that and followed her lead. Madara stared at the three shinobi in boredom as they approached him. Once Sakura was close enough, Madara thrust his staff into her torso and held her into the air. Sasuke and Naruto readied their attacks. Despite being impaled, Sakura riled her fist back and tried to punch Madara. Unfortunately, just like Naruto and Sasuke, she met his shadow's limbo jutsu. To free her, Sasuke tried to distract Madara as Naruto rescued Sakura. Once she was released, the couple jumped to a safe distance with Sakura in Naruto's arms.
"Sakura-chan, are you fucking insane! You could have been hurt!" Naruto angrily scolded as he removed Madara's staff.
Sasuke activated Rinnegan's visual prowess and noticed four more Madara shadows. "Heads up, there are four more shadows on the ground. So we need to take care of them first," he announced.
"Enough of this sideshow. It's time to end this," Madara said as he flew into the air and summoned several black balls around him. Next, he slammed his hands together, causing the groud to magnetize towards them. Once they were complete, he sent them hurtling to the ground onto his opponents.
"Don't be distracted by what's above! We need to take care of his shadows!" Sasuke commanded.
"Right, I'll deal with them!" Naruto said as he summoned some of his shadow clones.
He ordered his shadow clones to deal with the shadows while Sasuke and he dealt with the falling meteorites. Then, Sasuke summoned his Humanoid Susanoo to attack. Naruto offered aid by creating a Tailed-Beast Bomb Rasen Shuriken. Naruto's attack took out one of the meteors while Sasuke and his Susanoo destroyed the rest. However, it wasn't enough to stop Madara. As they dealt with his distraction, Madara used his Rinnegan to activate his Infinite Tsuyoumki.
"According to the stone tablet, when the one who possesses the Rinnegan, should drawl near the moon. Then, the eye that can reflect off of the moon, and grant the Infinte dream, shall open." Madara's eyes were closed as his third eye opened to reveal a vertical red Rinnegan. Next, the moon reflected the same image upon it. "Shine upon the world, Infinite Tsuyoumki,"
No matter where they were on the battlefield, everyone trembled at the sight above them. Their worst fears had been realized. The Infinite Tusyoumki was activated. Not everyone knew what was about to happen, but they understood it was nothing good. Naruto and Sasuke still did their best to fight it off despite this.
As Sasuke tsked and returned to his team's side, Naruto summoned more Tailed-Beast Bombs to destroy more meteorites. The ground trembled as Sasuke's Susanoo roughly landed before them.
"Hey! Can't you land softer!" Naruto scolded.
"Just shut up and hold still!" Sasuke yelled back as he used Susanoo's wings to shield them.
As the Infinite Tsuyoumki unleased, a bright light engulfed the earth, affecting everyone. As people gazed above or felt the effects of the jutsu, Rinnegans appeared in everyone's eyes. Except for the revived Hoakges, no one could do anything even though they were limited. Instead, they tried their best to save people as the enormous tree emerged from the ground. Soon, almost everyone was wrapped up by the tree and lifted into the air.
Naruto, through his senjutsu abilities, could sense all of this. However, he couldn't sit back and allow this to happen, so he tried to go to his friends. Luckily, Sasuke was there to stop him.
"Naruto! You can't go out there!"
"But Sasuke~."
"Without my Sasuanoo's protection, you'll fall victim to the jutsu too,"
"But what are we supposed to do, Sasuke?! We were supposed to be the ones protecting everyone! But how can we do that from in here?!"
"I don't know!" Sasuke screamed back, his body shaking with anger. Seeing the shocked expressions from his teammates, he took a few deep breaths to calm down and crossed his arms over his chest. "I know all of this, ok. But I had to make a choice. I chose to save us because I couldn't save everyone. If I thought like that, we would be under that genjutsu too. I'm sorry I can't be like you. I have to think logically, and unfortunately… I don't have a plan outside of this…."
Seeing his mate's distress, Naruto moved to comfort him. Sasuke gasped as he felt his alpha pull him into a broad, muscled chest. Strong arms wrapped themselves around his lean frame and pulled them together as much as their bodies would allow. Soon, with the help of Naruto's earthy and cinnamon scent, Sasuke calmed down and wrapped his arms around Naruto's midsection too. Both stood there for a while, not moving or speaking, and forgot about the world around them. They forgot about Kakashi and Sakura's presence, but they didn't forget their situations. In fact, that was the only coherent thought on their minds. Just how in the holy hell were they going to get through this mess?
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To Be Continued…