Naruto groaned in pain. His head was throbbing. His body was in so much pain he couldn't move. He couldn't open his eyes or hear anything around him. Kurama was doing his best to perform emergency healing as fast as possible.

Naruto wondered where they had gone wrong.


It all started a week ago. Preparations were ready for the attack. A lot of citizens were already evacuated. One of the rebels who Yagura didn't know was with them worked in the mission admission office.

He ensured that as many of Yagura's supporters as possible were on far-away missions. Their forces were ready. Everyone was under pressure to do their part. Naruto was still searching for the traitor.

His foxes were spying for him. they followed the rebels who still went into Kiri as much as possible to observe their behaviors. So far, they didn't have any leads. Naruto was still careful with all their interactions.

He kept watch of his team every second of the day. He was holding his sensory abilities on high alert. He was also maintaining an eye on the high-importance places of the camp. He was starting to become paranoid.

Kurama was also doing his share of preparations. Naruto also had some seals ready for his team. They were primarily basic iryo seals. They could heal minor wounds or slow bleeding. He didn't have time to work beyond those in either work, but they were life savers.

After making the special gift for Genma, he made more for kunai and shuriken. They weren't as good as the ones for Genma since they were hastily made, but they were a slight boost. Naruto had one ready for each member of the team.

He was also out of premade paper seals. He always kept his paper seals in a seal tattoo on his shoulder. But right now, he used all of it to supply the rebels and his team. He even used his color codes for them.

Right now, he was lying in bed meditating. He wasn't getting much sleep and passed out during his spar with Kakashi in the morning. He got a whole lecture and an order to stay in bed for the rest of the day and not to use chakra.

He was idly sensing the camp when he finally felt it. There was a chakra close to the back of the main tent where Kakashi was talking about some strategies. Naruto was bored, so he decided to throw subtlety out the window. He made a clone which immediately got to the plan.

His clone was taking a few seals to the tent to catch the eavesdropper in action. Naruto stayed sharp to feel the reactions. The man was annoyed at the discovery and trying to flee, but Naruto's clone was loud enough to bring Mei and Kakashi out.

The man was scared and nervous, but it all seemed too easy. Naruto believed himself lucky, but this wasn't a matter of luck. He decided to keep watch for a while.


It was finally the day of the attack. Naruto still hadn't found the traitor, and he was agitated. He made all the preparations he could to ensure everyone would survive, but he was still nervous.

He couldn't let anything happen to his team. He wasn't ready to lose anyone. Everyone was on edge. Last night Shisui had to put him under a genjutsu to ensure he would sleep. Kurama agreed, so he didn't dispel the genjutsu.

They were all in full gear and ready for the signals. With a large flare, the beginning of the fight was signaled. Naruto was sticking to Itachi's side with Mei and Zabuza ahead of them.

Ao and Yugao were in front of them, making them a path to the tower. They would stay there to make sure no one would interrupt them. Naruto was keeping tabs on all the groups to report to Mei.

They didn't have time to help others, but specific signals were set for different scenarios. Their group was silent and sticking to the shadows. Itachi covered them with a light genjutsu so they wouldn't be seen.

There were already considerable fights in other parts of the city to draw attention from them. Naruto could feel Kakashi engaging with a few strong chakras, but Shisui was with him. They could protect each other.

Their group finally reached the kage tower with little resistance. They were silent and deadly, killing any ninja in their way fast and without wasting chakra. They quickly descended the stairs and into a giant underground training ground. Naruto could feel Yagura and his bodyguards.

Naruto knew something was wrong but couldn't put his finger on it. It all came to him when they reached the doors to the training ground. It was all a trap. There really was a traitor.

The whole village was rigged, and it all started from this very cave. There were chakra paths going all through the village, connecting precisely to the areas where their forces would be fighting.

Chakra output could be transported to those output points. It didn't take a genius to figure out their function. If Yagura used his tailed beast transformation or even let out the tailed beast chakra, the excess chakra inside the cave would reach those output points.

The tailed beast chakra was destructive in its pure form. It could seriously harm those who came to its vicinity. This way, all Yagura's forces had to do was make sure their shinobi were in place and wait for a signal.

The rebels wouldn't have a chance to escape. Even if they could run, they wouldn't do so unharmed. Naruto sensed deeper. There was a lot more going on. The chakra path wasn't the only trap.

Naruto could feel hundreds of seals positioned all over the village. From this distance, he wouldn't be able to sense what kind of seals they were. There were also a lot of hidden shinobi, no doubt waiting to back up the others.

There was more going on, but Naruto's senses were getting overloaded with information. Someone was using something to limit his senses but not completely block them. They didn't have time to go back or wait. They needed to move forward.

Naruto came up with a quick change of plan. Naruto had a seal he used during the war, and he needed to activate it, but it would take some time, and he wouldn't be able to fight during that period.

Itachi had to stay close to defend him and also provide long-range support to Mei and Zabuza while Mei fought Yagura, and Zabuza held the ANBU away from her. They couldn't afford to waste chakra or waste too much energy.

They entered the cave. Yagura was waiting for them. Naruto didn't have time to listen. He was immediately focused on his task. The seal was a combination of ninjutsu and fuinjutsu. It resulted from the collaboration between Shikamaru and Naruto during the war with the help of the previous Hokage.

Naruto needed to activate his inner gates to get full access to his chakra. Then he would net his seals into the ground to cover a vast range. His sensory abilities would help him locate all his targets within his field.

The next step was for Kurama to gather nature chakra and mix it with sage's chakra. When everything was ready, Naruto would push the chakra through the network to the targets—giving them a boost.

The senjutsu would sharpen their senses and give them a physical boost, while the sage chakra would heal them and fill their reserves. Basically, it was similar to what he did at the beginning of the war with the help of Ino to give everyone a boost. But this one was more advanced and precise.

He had to keep feeding the seal, but after the first initiation, he would be able to move. He knew that as a result of using the gates, he would be out of commission for a while, but he had to risk it.

Plus, the results weren't nearly as severe with the help of Kurama. A great advantage this seal had in comparison to the previous method was the chakra cost. No chakra would be wasted. He would only spend as much as the people were using.

While he had chakra reserves larger than other jinchuriki, he couldn't still provide for so many people even with the help of senjutsu. The seal could help him control his output to each individual person.

It would be helpful to ignore minor injuries or dents in chakra reserves for people who didn't use ninjutsu as a central way to fight. Of course, he would try to keep everyone at an efficient level, but he had to ignore more minor things.

Right now, he is working on connecting people to his network. He trusted Itachi to keep him safe, so he gave this his whole focus. He had a few more minutes to go. Everyone was busy with their fights, and both sides had already lost fighters.

Finally, with a colossal pulse, the whole seal was activated. The people affected all felt the surge, but they got back to their fights quickly.

"Itachi, go help Mei we can't afford Yagura going through a transformation. Naruto Shunshined to Zabuza. He was busy holding the ANBU back. There were already many bodies fallen to the ground, but they kept coming.

Naruto unsealed his swords and summoned two clones to help. "Zabuza-san. I can sense another swordsman approaching us. Based on what I sense from the sword, it must be Kurosuki-san."

"We can't have him entering the cave. You should engage him outside. Send Uzuki-san here. I will hold the ANBU back in the meantime." Naruto said as he slashed an ANBU's stomach.

Zabuza just groaned. Naruto could feel annoyance from him. Finally, Zabuza rushed through the exit leaving a trail of bodies in his path. The number of forces coming in was getting lower.

They were skilled ANBU and very hard to kill, but Naruto didn't have the luxury of backing down. He could sense their forces passively. Despite his slight boost to their soldiers, there were heavy casualties on both sides since the primary purpose of the seal wasn't yet activated.

Naruto felt it before others. With an inhuman roar, Yagura went through a total transformation. The ground beneath their feet crumbled right into a deep body of water. Naruto could sense sharks in the water, and he quickly used his chakra not to sink in the water.

Unfortunately, a few ANBU weren't as lucky and fell right inside along with the dead bodies. The sharks went crazy with the amount of blood in the water, trying to attack the shinobi standing on top of the water.

Naruto could feel the extensive and rapid dent in his reserves, trying to shield their forces from the chakra. They had to finish this quickly. Naruto made a few clones to finish the ANBU.

He then took a look at Itachi and Mei. They were both injured and ragged, trying to subdue the jinchuriki. Naruto had to do something. He quickly got his seals and jumped to the roof.

He was probably going crazy, but this was his best idea. He Shunshined quickly, placing the seals in strategic positions. As soon as he set the last one, he grabbed Mei and Itachi, activating his most robust barrier, and everything went white.

The explosion was massive. The roof came down upon them in heavy chunks. They were pushed underwater with the spherical barrier as their only protection as soon as they came back up. Naruto's last clone, who was hiding in a protected area, attacked the disoriented jinchuriki with electrical seals, knocking him out.

The barrier finally gave out. Naruto was on the verge of chakra exhaustion. His vision was hazy. Itachi put him on a boulder that was on the water. Mei went to check the unconscious jinchuriki before joining them.

They were asking him a question, but Naruto couldn't hear. Something was wrong. If Yagura was knocked out, why didn't he transform back?

And that was when his vision focused. One moment he saw a bijuu bomb coming toward them. Itachi and Mei were unaware of the danger coming toward their back. And the next moment, Naruto used his last bit of energy to push the two into the water, and everything went black.