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Chapter 90: The Embodiment of Shinobi History
Normal P.O.V.
Outside of Sasuke's Susanoo's protection, the remaining, unaffected Hoakes tried their best to free people from the Tree's grasp. Toshirama, Hiruzen, and Hashirama used their kunais and weapons to slice through the wraps around peoples' bodies. But every time the wraps gave way, they would rewrap themselves.
As they worked on freeing people from the Tree, the masked clone they fought against gave way and reviled Captian Yamoto. Hiruzen saw him first and went to his rescue before the Tree got him. However, their conversation was short-lived. As Yamoto tried to shake off his confusion, he admitted the last thing he remembered was being kidnapped by an unknown figure. However, before he could say anything else, the brown-haired male fell under the genjutsu and was wrapped up by the Tree. Hiruzen tried saving him, but the result was still the same.
"Damn, this is getting us nowhere," Hiruzen cursed.
"Agreed. It seems that no matter what we do, the Tree's hold on our fellow shinobis won't give," Hashirama sighed. "Did the shinobi you tried to rescue say anything?"
Hiruzen shook his head and sighed, "Nothing useful,"
"What do you suppose we do, brother? We can't just stand by and with this genjutsu activated,"
"I agree with Lord Second. However, there is something that puzzles me. How are we not affected by the genjutsu?" Minato asked.
"I'm not quite sure, but I know it has something to do with us being reanimated. Hn. It seems that being dead does have some advantages," Hiruzen said as he cupped his chin in thought.
"Brother, you faced against Madara before. You must know of a way we can stop him," Toshirama almost pleaded.
"The Madara I fought was not the man before us right now. The Madara we're up against is someone I don't even recognize. He possesses powers from both my cells and the Six Paths. I hate to admit this," Hashirama paused as he looked towards Madara's floating form. "But I think he has us beat, gentlemen,"
It wasn't something they wanted to hear, but it was something they were afraid to admit. Despite their years of training and legendary skills, the late Hokages seemed outmatched. Their only hope now was to pray for a miracle.
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Inside Sasuke's Susanoo, Naruto and Sasuke continued their embrace while Sakura and Kakashi stared awkwardly. Kakashi had seen his students be together before in secret, but seeing how far they've come with their public affection made him feel warm and awkward simultaneously; also as if he were a father watching his children grow up. Sakura, on the other hand, did not feel the same.
Awkwardness and heartbreak settled inside her heart. Seeing her male teammates be together made an unsettling feeling in her stomach. Although she agreed to move on from her love of Sasuke, how could she just be ok that the person who stole his heart was none other than Naruto Uzumaki? The same Naruto Uzumaki that used to be in love with her. She felt hurt, betrayed, and upset. But, most importantly, she felt left behind again.
It was no wonder she fell behind during their genin days. Naruto and Sasuke pushed each other to their limits. They challenged each other and formed a powerful bond over it. Now, as she stood there and watched them embrace, Sakura thought to herself…
"Is that why I was always left behind? Were they together even when we were genin? Was I the only one who didn't notice? Was I that blinded by my love for Sasuke to not know that Naruto was who he loved? But, wait, what Naruto who Hinata was talking about at girls' night? Did she know? And if so, how did she know? Either way… I feel like my heart is being ripped out of my chest. I can't believe it… how could they… how could they…."
A soft sniffle was heard as Sakura tried to hold back her tears. Now was not the time to cry over this. However, after the battle is over, she does plan to confront her teammates. But, for now, she will put her feelings aside and help bring victory. Unfortunately, this doesn't stop her from subconsciously pulling on her ears.
Seeing this, Kakashi placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and smiled. It wasn't much, but it was enough to help calm her anxiety. Finally, she released her ears, gave her sensei a slight nod, and cleared her throat to gain her teammate's attention.
Naruto and Sasuke pulled slightly pulled apart and faced her, "We should be focusing on our situation. So, Sasuke-Kun, do you know anything about what is happening out there?"
"Madara activated his most potent genjutsu. Everyone outside of here has most likely fallen under said genjutsu. Currently, they all should be dreaming of their greatest desires while the Tree feeds on their chakra. We might be the only ones who are safe, for now," Sasuke explained.
"Do you think that the reanimated Hokages were affected too?" Naruto worriedly asked.
"I can't say for sure. Of course, the Reanimated Jutsus might have an inverse effect, But without witnessing it, I can't say for sure," Sasuke replied as he shook his head.
"Hn. This is quite the genjutsu. Are there any weaknesses you know of, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.
"It seems the genjutsu runs on moonlight. Which, in a normal circumstance, would wane away gradually. But as long as there is light, it is useless. The only thing we can do is wait for the light to dissipate. It shouldn't take too much longer,"
And he was right. The bright light started to disappear, and the cloudy night sky reappeared. Once it was safe, Sasuke dismissed his Sasunoo and freed them.
"So, you pests are all that's left, Eh? How do you propose to defeat me now?" Madara chuckled as he continued to float above them.
"Sasuke, do you know how we can save everyone and dismiss the genjutsu?" Naruto asked.
"Rinnegan genjutsus can typically be undone by Rinnegan users. I might be able to undo the genjutsu if we can weaken Madara enough,"
"I won't let that happen," White Zetsu growled as Madara appeared in front of him.
"Do not concern yourself with them. I shall deal with them," Madara smirked. "You should learn when you have exhausted all of your options. I just severed the Karmic Cycle of this world. I have freed all of humanity from their pain, suffering, and futility. Now, they can dream peacefully as the Tree absorbs their chakra, blissfully unaware of what is happening to them."
"You disgust me. All you are doing is deceiving people. What they are experiencing is not reality, but dreams," Sasuke growled with clenched fists.
"You're wrong. I am saving them from themselves. I am bringing peace to a world engulfed by ago old wars and choas. Just know this, little ones… It's all over…."
Madara's smirk suddenly disappeared as a white hand pierced through his chest. White Zetsu gave a wicked smile from behind him as he leaned in close to Madara's ear.
"You're wrong, Madara. You are not the savior, nor is this the end…."
"What… are you… doing? How… could you… do this… to me…?" Madara struggled to say as he threw a look over his shoulder.
"You are confused, child. Allow me to explain," White Zetsu said as his smile spread wider on his lips. "You see, you have also been inside of a phantom dream I created."
"How dare you… I created you…!"
"Wrong again, Madara. I was created by Kaguya. My will is her will,"
"Are you guys seeing this?" Sakura asked as she pointed towards them.
"Yeah, it seems they're having a falling out of some kind. So this would probably be a good time to attack," Kakashi suggested.
"No, don't. He just mentioned Kaguya, the Six Path, and his brother's mother. Could she have been our true opponent all along?" Sasuke gasped as he took a step back.
Suddenly, blue chakra wrapped around the cocoons and into the branches. Madara's painful scream could be heard throughout the battlefield as this was happening. And, before they knew it, the ground below them broke apart as more chakra was absorbed from the earth below them.
"What's happening?!" Sakura screamed as they lifted off the ground.
"It seems that all of the chakra absorbed by the Tree is absorbed into Madara!" Kakashi answered.
As they were lifted off the ground, the four teammates used their chakra to find stable ground and watch from afar.
"This is bad," Sasuke panted before he summoned another lightning blade and ran towards Madara and White Zetsu. "Naruto! We have to stop them before it's too late!"
Naruto didn't say anything as he summoned his staff and followed his mate. However, it didn't take long before they were captured and wrapped up in long strains of… white hair?"
"Sasuke!"
"Naruto!"
"Sasuke! We need to break free!"
"I know that! I'm working on it!"
Both boys yelled as they tried to cut their restraints, causing White Zetsu to chuckle. "It's no use. When Kaguya unleashed the Infinite Tsukuyomi, she kept everyone alive and preserved them to turn them into her soldiers. Whatever was left of them remained in the previous genjutsu. That is how she created me. White Zetsus are just the remains of those people formed over extended periods."
"You're lying! The Infinite Tsukuyomi is an Uchiha genjutsu! The one who will bring eternal peace to the shinobi world!" Madara yelled as he was being engulfed.
"You are not the clever man you think you are, Madara Uchiha. I have been around eons longer than you. After finding the stone tablet left by her son Hagoromo, I have had plenty of time to make preparations for this day. This jutsu does not just create dreams for its victims. It also amess enormous amounts of chakra from the individuals enslaved by it."
As more chakra was absorbed into his body, Madara ballooned into a large round shape. Soon, this black mass covered his body until there was nothing left.
"Hashirama… where did I… go wrong…?" Were his final thoughts as Madara was consumed by the black mass.
Everyone watched in horror as Madara's body continued to blow up with more chakra entering him. Soon, before their very eyes, a woman's figure with large, white horns sticking out of her skull, a vertical, red Rinnegan in the middle of her forehead, and long, white hair appeared. She wore a long white dress, similar to Hagoromo's. Everyone's eyes widen as they can face-to-face with their greatest opponent yet, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
Piercing white eyes opened and stared down at the two boys still wrapped in her long strains of hair. Fear struck their bodies as her eyes narrowed after sensing their markings. Naruto and Sasuke were flung into the earth with a flick of her hair. Sasuke recovered first and used his lightning blade to defend himself. Sasuke dodged most of her attacks with his cat-like reflexes and even managed to cut her hair. However, it wasn't enough as Kaguya grabbed them with her hair again and flung them into a nearby rock wall.
Kakashi and Sakura, frozen in fear, could barely take their eyes off the celestial figure as she floated by them.
"These two boys… are my grandson's reincarnations… Interesting…" she said with a blank expression. She used her eyes to activate her Byakugan to see their chakra paths. "I see. So my meddling son, Hagoromo, gave you this jutsu. I'm interested to see how you two plan on using them."
"What are you're intentions?" Kakashi bravely asked.
Kaguya threw a slight glare over her shoulder at him before returning to look at the couple before her. "It is of no use talking to you when all you do is tamper with chakra without knowing its true meaning. This place, this land, is my precious nursery. I cannot allow it to be damaged any further. Let us stop fighting. I shall erase all of you here!"
Suddenly, everyone looked around and saw that she had teleported them somewhere with lava and rocks. However, they were not teleported onto the ground and fell to their deaths. Thinking quickly, Sasuke summoned a large hawk and saved Naruto. Kakashi used a kunai and rope to hand off the side of a rock wall with Sakura in his arms. They looked around and saw that Obito's forgotten body was saved when Kakashi used a kunai to pin his hand to the side of another rock wall.
Sasuke commanded his hawk to fly towards Kaguya. As they stood in front of her, Sasuke felt his heart jump out of his chest.
"Naruto," he called out. "I'm going, to be frank with you… This world will end if either of us dies. This is because only your Six Path Senjutsu has the touch of Light Style, while mine has the dark style." Naruto quietly stood as his mate continued to talk with his hand outstretched. "Together, we can seal this monster away. You probably noticed it too. When Madara activated the Infinite Tsukuyomi, Sakura and Kakashi just so happened to be near you. Do you know what that means?"
"I understand everything you're saying and get what you mean. But, you can't deny that this was just another situation where your body moved on its own; just like that time, we fought Haku." Naruto said with a slight glare. The rope Kakashi and Sakura hung from burned just then, and they plummeted towards the lava, "Hold on! I've got ya!"
Naruto extended his chakra's arm and saved them in the nick of time. Angered, Kaguya summoned an abundance of spikes and aimed hurled them at her opponents. Sasuke called his Susanoo's shield to protect everyone. Unfortunately, some of her spikes got around his shield and hit the hawk's chakra points. This caused everyone to fall together towards the lava. Sasuke tried to summon his full Susanoo, but one of the spikes hit his chakra point too. Without thinking, Naruto focused on his chakra and extended more arms from his body while he remained in the air.
"Naruto? You can levitate?" Kakashi gasped.
Naruto looked around and saw that his sensei was right. Naruto discovered that levitation was one of his new abilities thanks to his new powers. With a wide smirk, he summoned more shadow clones to help out. He commanded the clone to protect Sakura and Kakashi as he levitated towards Kaguya with Sasuke.
With her Byakugan activated, Kagayu flew towards them. "One more time… I shall reunify all chakra!"
Both Kaguya and Naruto unleashed chakra blasts to combat the other as they collided. However, the force of the attack caused Naruto to fly backward. Sasuke finally removed the spike blocking his chakra point and summoned his Susanoo.
First, he had it shoot an arrow at her. Next, he used his Rinnegan to teleport closer and ready his entity's swords. Kaguya, covered in chakra, raised her hand to block the attack. And, just like with Naruto, Sasuke was sent flying from the force of their attacks. Luckily, Naruto caught him with his extended chakra arms.
"You alright?" Naruto asked as he floated towards Kakashi and Sakura.
"Yeah. But, not even Susanoo works against her," he tsked in frustration.
"Don't worry. We'll figure out how to defeat her. But, in the meantime, we should take Obito and put his body somewhere safe for now," Naruto freed Obito's hand from the kunai and took everyone to safety. "Here, Sasuke, you can use this as a foothold," he said as he used one of his Six Path spheres to form a mini platform.
"Thanks," Sasuke mumbled as he hopped on.
During their conversation, Kaguya created a portal to travel through. Before they realized what she did, Kaguya appeared behind them and cupped their chins. Emotions like fear and confusion showed on their faces as tears streamed from her eyes. To Kaguya, even though she knew that Naruto and Sasuke were reincarnations of her grandsons, this moment reminded her of her own sons. The identical sons worked together to seal her away all those years ago.
"My boys… how I've missed you. Now, come to your mother," she said with a gentle smile.
Both boys gasped as half their bodies were taken over by Black Zetsu, an entity they thought was dead.
"Kaguya sees her sons when she looks at the two of you. Isn't that sweet," Black Zetsu chuckled.
"Black Zetsu? But how? Why are you here?" Sasuke grunted as he tried to resist.
"I am Kaguya's son. Throughout history, I have recorded everything while Mother was gone. And molded it as well. The tale of shinobi is the tale of restoring Mother to glory. Since you know mother's name, I assume that you met her son Hagoromo.
If you did, you must know that his bother and he sealed her with a powerful seal; the jutsu that transformed the Ten-Tails into a Catastrophic Plantenary Devastation seal. But, before the seal was completed, she gave birth to me. So, it was my job to make sure her dreams of being restored came true."
"My boys. My handsome boys. You are all mine and mine alone!"
"You shall return with me to the almighty God that is Mother," Black Zetsu said.
"You two aren't the entirety of our history!" Naruto yelled as he used his chakra and ripped Black Zetsu from Sasuke and his body. "And besides, mothers are supposed to be happy about their children leaving their homes! That's part of what being a mother is all about!"
"Mother, it seems the teenaged rebellion from my bothers continues,"
"Naruto, we need to make an opening so we can seal her already,"
"Right! But the only thing that will work is that jutsu,"
"Wait for a minute, what jutsu?" Sasuke asked, genuinely confused. Naruto turned to look at Sasuke and winked with a large grin. Suddenly, the raven could feel a vein pop inside of his head. "You cannot be serious. Naruto, no offense, but we don't have time for games now. If you don't know, the fate of our lives and the world depends on this one-shot."
"I know that! But we don't know if we don't try. Trust me on this one, babe," Naruto continued to smile as he gave a thumbs up.
With no room to argue, Sasuke sighed and focused on Kaguya. "Fine, I'll get my Rinnegan ready. But you better not fuck this up,"
Ready to attack, Sasuke slammed his hands together and summoned his black flames. As he suspected, they had no effect on her, but they did their job as a distraction. Again, Naruto rushed towards her and called forth several shadow clones during this time. Finally, Kaguya was ready with her Bakugan ready; she saw Naruto's special attack unfold.
"Sexy Style: Reverse Harem Jutsu!"
Several different, naked men appeared before the celestial being and flirted with her.
An enraged Sakura shook her fist at Naruto and scolded him, "Naruto, you giant idiot! How dare you play with our lives and use that jutsu at a time like this?! This is a celestial being we're up against here! Not some school girl! Why I oughta clobber you when we get out of here!" However, her words fell on deaf ears as the distraction continued. As the men flirted with her, Naruto dismissed them and landed a hard punch to her face. "It actually works?!" Sakura said as she fainted with a slight nosebleed. Kakashi was unamused.
"This is the history of the shinobi world, ya fool!" Naruto cheered.
Kaguya quickly recovered and rushed towards them. Using this as their opportunity, Naruto and Sasuke prepared the seal. When she was close enough, Sasuke teleported her in between them. However, right before they were about to activate the seal, the land and they were encased in ice. This allowed Kaguya to summon a portal and remove herself from the ice.
"She can travel through dimensions? Just fucking great," Sasuke sighed before he summoned his black flames again.
Naruto used his black Six Path balls to release himself from the ice. Once it was gone, they landed on the ground with determined looks on their faces, "This time, we're going with my strategy. Follow my lead,"
"Mother, might I make a suggestion? Split them up and take them on one at a time," Black Zetsu said.
Kaguya didn't say anything as she used another portal to put her hand through. It appeared behind Sasuke and yanked him through to a desert dimension. "Sasuke!" Naruto screamed as he raced towards the portal. By the time he got there, the portal was already closing, so he tried to hold it open with his strength. However, it didn't work, and the portal closed, with the last thing he saw was Sasuke reaching for and calling his name. "Damn you! Bring Sasuke back right now!"
"I will suck the chakra out of you, boy," Black Zetsu laughed as Kaguya opened another portal and shoved her hand through.
Naruto was on the defensive and jumped out of her reach. But, just as he did this, Kaguya went through her portrayal and caused an avalanche. Several mountain tops collapsed on top of him and buried him under a couple hundred pounds of snow and ice. All was quiet as he lay buried under all of that terrain. As the snow settled, Kaguya, Sasuke, or Naruto was found anywhere. With the boys separated and Kaguya on the move, something had to be done soon, or their world was doomed.