Hey everyone. It seems I keep on breaking my promises on the updates. All I can do, is apologize once more. I'm sorry.
Personal life is still a bit of a mess. I went to Italy to get a bit of a break, which helped somewhat. But enough about that!
The story wasn't tossed in the corner completely. I was writing the last chapter when I started double checking chapter 61 and 62. Something felt off so after thinking about it a bit, I decided to redo a large portion of both chapters. It didn't feel right. I'm feel much better about it now though.
My utmost gratitude for everyone who added this story to their lists, it still puts a smile on my face, seeing how many still add this story to their favorites and what not.
Reviewers:
Roswelll: Glad to see you still like it! Enjoy this one!
The-Tobi: And a big thank you for reviewing! It helps me with writing the story on the less motivated days. The Rinnegan wasn't planned, honestly. But as I mentioned in the previous chapter, it would be reallllllyy bad to ignore that, especially with the whole eye-transplant thing going on in the Naruto universe. But I'm glad you like it!
Nithi velu: I'm glad the story pulls you back. I hope this chapter is as interesting!
Gamesdean1: The ending is so incredibly close haha! This chapter significantly longer than the previous one and completely action packed! Enjoy!
Stalker1: He didn't, not really. Madara helped with transplanting the eye, after his death. Have fun with the chapter!
Starlight1701: I had the same thing. I stepped out of the whole fandom and parked the story. But it just kept itching. It didn't feel right to abandon it. I feel bad for having left it for so long, but I'm also a bit happy I did. My writing was pretty bad, back then. It's still nothing compared to other writers here on FF, but I do what I can!
I can't spoil anything on spies and what not, but I can tell you how many chapters are still left to go. After this chapter, there are still four chapters left. Which is hilarious, seeing as I said back in ch. 58 that there were only four left. You should basically ignore what I write ;p
Guest: Here ya go!
KingYamYam: thanks for the review! Glad you enjoyed it! Its going a bit better, still a bit of a mess hehe. Everything will turn out alright, but thank you for the kind words!
Alright, let's start the show!
Chapter 61: Back here again.
The fighters came to a chaotic halt in the middle of a dark forest, despite it being daytime, under clear skies.
"Where have you brought us?" Kenpachi asked as he stepped away from them and looked around.
"The Taoreta Mori." Naruto's heavy voice rumbled, his voice echoing throughout the forest.
"So, this is the forest of the fallen…" Micheru murmured. She could practically feel her hair stand on end.
It was a dark forest, with the trees blocking any daylight from coming through. It held a deafening silence, as if life itself was completely absent.
"I've heard it's a terrifying place." Itachi murmured.
"Why have you brought us here?!"
For the first time ever, Naruto could see a hint of fear in the eyes of Kenpachi. "Because this is going to be your tomb."
"Don't think you stand a chance, just because you've gained a new ability." Kenpachi growled.
From Naruto's hand black rods shot out, two hitting Kenpachi in the same shoulder. "We'll see about that."
A red blade appeared in his hand, lighting up the area around him. He pushed down his own fears of the forest and charged in, his blade swing with deadly precision.
Kenpachi mimicked his ability, summoning a large blade, blocking the blonde's attack. From his right, Madara came flying in, his gunbai aimed at the man's neck once more.
From the other side, Itachi approached, his sharingan morphed into its final phase. The mangekyō sharingan.
With a terrifying roar, Daghar slammed his fist down, creating an enormous wave of red chakra, sending the three flying.
"You're dying first." Kenpachi pointed at Madara, who in turn simply stared.
With flashstep, Kenpachi appeared in his blind spot, aiming his blade at his neck, but Madara was prepared and let the attack phase through, before twirling around, throwing his full weight behind his attack, catching Kenpachi off guard.
The Gunbai struck him in his ribs, right where the stab wound was, courtesy of Naruto. Kenpachi grimaced in pain and let the impact create distance between the two, tossing two red glowing knifes at Madara, who also passed straight through.
From above, Naruto hammered him into the ground, snow flying up, obscuring their view.
When the snow cleared, Kenpachi was still laying on the ground, unmoving. Wasting not a second, he formed the red blade once more and pierced the man's back. Right where the heart was aimed.
"Did we just?!" Itachi asked as he landed next to his friend.
Micheru came to a skidding halt, her eyes locked on the body. "I..I think we did?"
Black flames spontaneously appeared, all over the body of Kenpachi. "Just to be sure."
Madara came walking over, watching as the black flames consumed the massive Reaver. "I expected more."
Naruto looked down at his claw, his eyes narrowed. "This was too eas-"
The disturbing sound of metal piercing flesh rang in the silent forest, all eyes moved towards its origin.
Madara looked down at his chest, where a red glowing blade pierced out of it. "Try and phase through that attack."
"H-How?"
"You may be a master of optical illusion. But you can't prepare for something, no one's ever seen before."
"Y-you're right about that…Yet, we w-were still one step ahead."
His body shimmered, along with the others and suddenly disappeared.
A large red blade crashed into Kenpachi, sending him soaring further into the darkened forest. Itachi appeared, clad in his ultimate defense, the Susanoo.
The others materialized as well. "That was a good trick!" Micheru said, her eyes stuck on the imposing form of Itachi's ability.
"Genjutsu is something he isn't familiar with. After using it to force the Reavers into retreat at Konoha, we figured it was something we should use." Naruto said as he stared towards where Kenpachi had been sent flying.
"I doubt this is going to work again. It's good we struck him with a mighty blow." Madara warned.
A spiral of red nucleus shot into the air, putting them on edge. Naruto's lip went dry as he felt the pressure of the chakra bear down on them. "He's angry…I've never seen him angry."
"ENOUGH!" Came the roaring response.
From the darkness a wave of demonic nucleus washed over the forest, rapidly approaching the group.
"ITACHI, MADARA!" Naruto roared as he held out his lone hand, forming chakra around it. The two others did the same, bracing themselves for impact.
Two slender hands appeared in his vision on his right, glowing blue in chakra. "Micheru?!"
"I'm not going to run!"
"There's nowhere to run to regardless, child. This attack is going to roll over this forest and disintegrate everything upon touch!"
Planting his heels firmly into the ground. Naruto with gritted his teeth. "Brace yourself!"
The attack impacted against the four, nearly buckling under the immense onslaught upon its first touch.
Looking to Micheru, he saw how she could barely keep her eyes open, the scorching heat enveloping them.
Despite their prepared posture, they still could feel that they were skidding back. It would only be a matter of seconds before they would be overwhelmed.
"G-g-g-guys! I got-got a plan, just take t-t-the weight for a few s-seconds!" Nauto roared over the soaring chakra.
"Do it, quickly!" Madara ordered back.
"G-g-et R-ready….now!" Naruto jumped away from the attack and held up his hand. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!"
Hundreds upon hundreds of clones appeared from the smoke and immediately jumped toward the wave, planting their feet firmly on the ground, their arms extended forward.
And it was working. The attack stopped dead in its track. Every second that passed, more clones exploded as the attack overwhelmed the defenses they could put up. The downside of the kage bunshin, little damage was enough to dissipate them.
Repeating his jutsu, another 100 appeared and aided in the desperate attempt to stop, while a few dozen stayed standing next to the real Naruto, their hands aimed at the sea of nucleus that was threatening to still overwhelm them.
"Shinra tensei!" the group yelled. The invisible attack collided with the wave and managed to push it back, as little as it had.
Naruto disengaged and disappeared with flashstep, charging straight for Kenpachi, who was holding out both hands to keep the pressure on.
Forming a red katana, he blasted forward, his blade aimed at Kenpachi.
He let out a painful gasp as Kenpachi's claw wrapped around his throat, making it feel as if his body collided, specifically his neck against a brick wall. Het let out a gurgling sound, as he tried to break free from his grasp.
"So unbelievably predictable."
Still clawing at the grasp. "I-I-it still d-did the j-j-job!" Naruto managed to say between gasps.
Kenpachi looked back at his attack, which came speeding back to him now. With a roar he threw Naruto towards it as he aimed both hands at the attack.
The blonde flipped in mid-air, landing with his feet on the snow, and instantly disappeared with flashstep, narrowly avoiding the deadly attack.
He appeared next to Micheru, who had her hands laid on the cold snow ground. Tears rolled down her face because of the immense pain. Despite this, her hands started glowing green, healing them slowly.
"Get ready." Naruto announced he straightened his back.
"A-already?" Micheru whimpered as she looked up, watching as the towering figure slowly walked over to them.
"I'm afraid so."
Kenpachi broke out into a sprint. It didn't look as if anything they had attacked him with had changed much. With a sigh Naruto met the attack straight on.
The fight had past the first two hours, and it was brutal. They could do little but fight, hoping that the Naruto and his squad could do the impossible.
Tsunade had briefly retreated, meeting with her strategist in the middle where the risk of danger was the lowest.
"Update." She barked at Shikaku
"We're hanging in there. They are trying their best to overwhelm us with their numbers, but for now we're in a stalemate. There are areas where there's chaotic fighting going on, where the fighting is everywhere. Intermingled is the best way to describe it. They are trying to accomplish that throughout, jumping over the frontline."
"The hawks and Que are preventing the majority from being successful." Shikamaru added to what his father explained.
"Any word on Naruto?" She said, rubbing her face in mental exhaustion.
"They have disappeared, presumably according to their plan. We'll have to be patient."
"From what I saw before, they were in control of the fight, for the most part. But that was at the beginning." The young Nara said.
"Let's hope they can keep it up."
Tsunade thought back of their plan. It sounded completely ludicrous. But they were convinced, without a shadow of a doubt. "What about our losses?"
"Thanks to the toads and the hawks, the casualties are, everything considered, acceptable."
"Give me a number." She barked.
Shikaku scratched his forehead. "25 percent? That's an extreme rough estimate."
She sighed but nodded regardless. "They need to hurry it up."
They had no tricks or plans to shock the Reavers. It was a straight up brawl. With a shake of her head, she dismissed Shikaku and pushed past the crowd, cracking her knuckles. It was time she joined the fray.
A terrifying shriek erupted just ahead of her, and she almost immediately found its point of origin. It was the representative, Lena. Her appearance had changed significantly.
Dark eyes had been replaced with bright red. Her hair that had been tied in a knot was now floating with faint electric discharged around it. Her hand was snapping left and right, electrocuting shinobi with ease.
Shoulder slamming past two Reavers, Tsunade didn't slow down and crashed her fist into Lena, sending her flying through the crowd of Reavers behind.
She appeared just as fast, her blade glinting as she attempted to struck Tsunade.
Leaning back she narrowly avoided the attack and swung her fist once more.
But Lena was faster and she countered with her second short blade. Creating a large but shallow cut.
Twirling around, she back-swung wildly with her unharmed limb, backhanding the female Reaver atrocity.
Tsunade was slow, and she knew it. Prolonged fights against faster opponents wouldn't be in her favor. She needed to end it, before Lena would.
With a roar she planted her hands in the snow-covered dirt and pulled out a large slab of stone, hurtling it at Lena who held up her arms in a cross guard as it impacted against her with tremendous strength.
Jumping over the stone, Tsunade, with hands clasped together jackhammered her into the ground, snow flying up, covering her sight.
She never saw the blade coming.
Sasuke and Sakura worked together flawlessly as they cut down the enemies that got in their crosshairs.
With a grunt, Sasuke kicked the Reaver grunt away and used this chance to look around. "Come on,dobe. Kick his ass!"
Sakura wiped the sweat off her forehead. "They've been fighting for too long. They should've finished it by now, right?"
Ridou came into view, flipping over a series of jabs. "We gotta have faith. It's Kenpachi we're talking about here. Give Naruto some more time."
"Since when are you in his corner?" Sakura asked as she came sprinting over, a kunai in one hand.
The Reaver redirected his focus on the pink haired kunoichi and swiped his blade. She blocked it with her own weapon and countered with a mind-numbing blow, feeling his neck snap, unable to take the attack.
Ridou straightened his back nodding in thanks. "I had a good chat with him the other day."
"The two dobes getting along, that can't end well." Sakura muttered.
A large shadow fell upon the fighting crowd, causing the three to look up.
Flying overhead was the humongous form of Gamabunta, who had been sent flying. "Kami…" Ridou whispered.
The large toad's landing caused the earth to shake, causing a few to nearly lose their footing.
A towering figure came walking over, with red glowing eyes, and for a moment they thought it was Kenpachi, however with no small amount of relief they realized it wasn't him.
It was clear he was the one that had sent Gamabunta flying. He had now turned his focus on his new foe, killing the shinobi who approached him with ease.
His sharingan ablaze, Sasuke reached for a handful of shuriken. "Let's kill him."
Sakura and Ridou fell in stride next to him, and the Reaver now noticed their presence.
With a sickening grin he dashed forward, his hand grabbing the broadsword that he had strapped on his back.
Throwing the shuriken with deadly precision, he watched with narrowed eyes as they were deflected with ease, despite them being infused with lighting chakra.
Swinging the large blade, Sakura and Sasuke dodged the attack, while Ridou weaved through a series of hand signs.
"Suiton: Taihōdan!" A large stream of water shot out of his mouth and impacted against the blade, hampering its mobility.
Sasuke dove past the attack, his hands already wielding two kunai, aiming one for the Reaver's jugular.
The large man leaned back and let go of his broadsword, pushing against Sasuke's arm to catch him off balance.
Sasuke stumbled forward but instead of trying to catch his footing, he went with it, sliding into the ground, narrowly dodging the follow up.
Sakura came into range and poured a large of amount of chakra into her fists,. The Reaver held up his armored arm, blocking the incoming fists, but groaning under the impressive strength.
The broadsword shot up in the air by Ridou's suiton attack, far away from the man's reach.
The claw, that a second before attempted to skewer Sasuke, was now swinging towards Sakura, whose eyes widened in surprise.
With grunt, Sasuke pushed from the ground and wrapped his legs around the upper arm, while grappling the claw with his free hands, grimacing as the scorching heat burnt his hands.
Ridou, with his legs first, snapped it into the Reaver's face, who stumbled back and fell on his back, with Sasuke still wrapped around his limb.
Sakura jumped after them, elbow first and struck him in his gut, satisfied to see the armor denting underneath the pressure.
It wasn't enough and the Reaver kneed her away, before grabbing Sasuke and throwing him into the rapidly advancing Ridou.
"Kami he's strong!" Ridou yelled as he quickly climbed to his feet, pulling Sasuke up with him.
"I'm one of Lord Kenpachi's handpicked lieutenants. What did you expect?"
Sakura appeared in a flicker from above, her hands clasped together, aimed at the Reaver.
He disappeared with flashstep and countered with a wave of red chakra, impacting it against the two men who were barely able to put up a defense.
With them occupied, the intimidating man twirled around and hammered his fist into Sakura's face, who had been dashing towards her teammates.
Her body hit the ground with a thud, a deep cut above her eyebrow. With a groan she tried to get up but immediately dropped back down, her consciousness fading. "Kuso…"
"Sakura!" Sasuke yelled as he climbed back to his feet, his clothing scorned but otherwise still in working condition.
Ridou climbed to his feet, his eyes darting to the prone form of Sakura. "We need to get her to safety."
The sound of hundreds of a birds drew his attention. "I'll give you an opening."
Sasuke looked at him and nodded. "Let's go!"
Both charged forward, with Ridou taking the lead. The beating they took had severely impacted their speed, but it didn't matter, The Reaver was waiting with open arms.
Ridou feigned a left attack, but changed course last moment with a right jab, causing the Reaver to stumble back slightly.
But as he stumbled, he let off a nucelus discharge, hitting Ridou square in the chest.
Sasuke sprinted past his teammate and slammed his Chidori straight through the Reavers, piercing his heart, before the Reaver had a chance to block the attack.
With one last act of defiance, he jackhammered the Uchiha into the ground, before collapsing in a heap on the ground.
With a heavy groan he crawled out of the manmade crater, blood dripping down his face, obscuring his vision.
"Get up. Teme!"
With a blurry vision he looked up. "N-Naruto?"
The figure crouched down in front of him, pulling at his arm. "Of course not. He's busy fighting the big guy!"
The young face of Inari popped up, a frown on his face. "I'm not gonna ask again! Get. Up!"
Slowly he pushed to his feet. "Where's Sakura-chan?"
He pointed to Konohamaru, who was carrying Sakura towards the rear, where the Reaver presence wasn't as dense.
"And Ridou?"
"Right here," He muttered, his hand pressed against his chest. "We-we got really lucky there."
"Let's quickly get you guys patched up." The voice of Inari almost drowned out over the loud sound of a massive object impacting on the ground.
"I don't think so."
Turning back around, another massive figure stood, two curved blades in his hands.
"Kuso…" Sasuke whispered, lowering himself in a defensive stance.
Groaning, Naruto sat up. He watched as Madara and Itachi darted around the large frame of Kenpachi. Attempting to whittle down his defences.
Micheru gave a hard tug at his leg and gave a grim nod, ignoring the yell of pain that erupted from Naruto. "It's back in place."
His hand planted against the berk of the tree, he slowly pulled up. "Thank you, Michu-chan.,"
She gave him a short smile, one that turned into a frown. "Why aren't they appearing?"
Naruto looked around, his eyes solemn. "They are. I've spotted one, not too long ago. It takes time, but I hoped that our blatant 'disrespect' would force them to act faster."
"How long did it take for them to attack when you visited?"
"A day when I travelled with the others, at least somewhere along those lines." He slowly applied pressure on his feet, happy that the motion didn't do too much damage.
"Let's hope they are faster this time…" She murmured, her eyes looking back to the trio that were fighting.
The sound of glass shattering caused Naruto to look up. Itachi came flying out of his ultimate defense, the Susanoo and landed in a heap onto the ground.
Naruto gritted his teeth and charged forward, red chakra blasting outward. He sent a series of black chakra rods towards Kenpachi, who all blocked or dodged them. The moment the last one was avoided, he hurled his large axe to Naruto, who leaned back to let it soar past his face.
Aiming his hands behind him, a blast of chakra sent him back on track, flying quickly towards Daghar. His claw connected with Kenpachi's face, but he went with the blow and used it to elbow Naruto as he came skidding past him.
A large red wave of chakra at the blonde's exposed back sent him into the darkness.
"You..."
Kenpachi stared at the pale figure that appeared out of nowhere. "You don't fear me, spectre."
"You don't belong here."
"I decide that. Go back to whatever hole you crept out of."
"T-They are not going to rest. W-we woke t-them up." Naruto came stumbling back into view.
"Is this your plan? Using these spirits against me?"
Before Naruto could respond the girl plunged her hand into the chest of Kenpachi, who gasped and looked down in shock.
"NOW!" Naruto roared as she sprinted forward, a red glowing blade in his hand.
Itachi and Madara came from the other sides, both aiming towards Kenpachi's vital spots.
Naruto jumped forward, dragging his weapon behind, while Madara did the same with his. Itachi had formed a spear, made purely out of black flames, throwing it at Kenpachi.
Kenpachi whose mouth was ajar in shock slowly looked at Naruto, glowing red eyes locked with his.
A tap with his foot was the only warning they got.
Red chakra spears erupted from the ground, dozens of them. It blocked Itachi's attack, and successfully stopped Madara dead in his tracks. Kamui had saved his life again.
Naruto dodged around the first two attacks but bit his lip in pain as a third scorched his shoulder. Regardless he pushed on and swung his blade.
A large claw grabbed him by the head and pulled him down, planting his knee in his stomach, stopping Naruto's attack altogether.
With a twitching hand he tried to gasp for air but the follow up attack dropped him to the ground.
"What this 'entity' did is undoubtedly the most accurate representation of how death feels. It's unfortunate for you that I've felt this before. It doesn't freeze me as much as you'd have hoped."
A large spear appeared in his hand and aimed it at Naruto's unmoving back. "Your plan failed again."
He thrust the weapon and the glowing red tip met flesh. But before the attack could pierce any crucial organs, Madara came charging in, His gunbai impacting against Kenpachi.
Kenpachi turned at the last minute, the Gunbai struck him, but used its attack to his advantage. Madara flew past him, and he reached for his back, but phased right through it.
Madara swung his fist and connected it with Kenpachi's jaw.
The momentary lapse of Kenpachi's usual calm behaviour was the only evidence that he had been deceived.
A red sphere emerged from the claw and aimed it right at Madara's bicep. It tore through with little resistance.
Madara stared at shock at his disintegrated arm before Kenpachi grabbed him by the side of his face and rammed him into the large slab of stone next to them, his mask cracking under the pressure.
With wide eyes, Naruto looked at Madara as he stumbled back. 'No…'
While his leg was protesting at the sudden movement, he ignored it and dashed forward, tackling Madara to the ground before Kenpachi could finish him off.
"Chakra push!" aiming his hand at the ground, he blasted them both out of immediate danger.
Recollecting himself immediately, he turned to Madara, who had white goo dropping from the hole in his sleeve. "Nani?"
Madara slowly stood up. "I'm fine. I need to-"
A single ping could be heard, and a second later his red mask burst apart, revealing the scarred face of the Uchiha. Blood spurted from above his ear.
Embedded in the tree behind them, was a throwing knife. Both looked at it in shock before turning to the person who threw it.
The sound of flesh being pierced force Naruto into action. He grabbed Madara by the arm and used flashstep to gain distance. Both of them came to a crashing halt.
"It's too fast!" Naruto yelled as he looked at the new wound that creating a pool of blood beneath Madara.
"I'll find Micheru, you keep Daghar busy."
Naruto took in the features of the revealed face of Madara, his eyes widening in disbelief. "Y-you?"
With narrowed eyes he faced Naruto. "So, you know who I am."
"You're not Madara…"
The man stood up, a flicker of flame appearing in his hand. With a grimace he pressed it against his stump, cauterizing it. Gritting his teeth in pain. "I'm not."
"You're…You're Hatake's old teammate, Obito." Recalling the picture Kakashi had shown him.
Slowly he moved his hand from his stump to his wound on his abdomen, stopping the bleeding there as well. "It's not important now. We need a new plan."
Naruto shook his head. "We're sticking to this plan. This will work!"
"Stop running."
Naruto climbed back to his feet, turning to face their relentless foe. "Get to Micheru. I will hold him off." In his hand a red blade materialized, aiming it at Daghar.
He rushed forward, swinging the blade with deadly precision, but Kenpachi dodged it with little effort.
But Naruto didn't let up, increasing the speed of his attack even more. Kenpachi leaned back and dodged the last swing and retaliated with a glowing blade of his own, slamming it against Naruto's.
He nearly buckled underneath the strength of the attack, but pushed back regardless, freeing his claw with difficulty.
"S-Shinra tensei!" Pouring an enormous amount of chakra into it.
Kenpachi was prepared for the attack and firmly planted his feet onto the ground, but it wasn't enough and got sent flying into the trees.
Itachi jumped from his hiding spot and planted his foot in the side of Kenpachi's face, sending him back down to the ground. But he wasn't done. Immediately his Susano emerged, wrapping him in the protective casing. "Yasaka Magatama!"
Three large round 'shurikens' were sent hurtling towards Kenpachi, crashing into the ground, causing the terrain to shake due to the impact.
Naruto looked towards Itachi as he landed back on the ground, still protected by his Susanoo. "Ready?"
Itachi gave a firm nod, holding out his glowing arm, a blade appeared.
"Banshō Ten'in!" Naruto roared, feeling his arm spasm at the sudden pull.
Daghar came flying out of the smoke-filled crater, unable to defend himself, or to dodge out of the way.
Like a baseball bat, Itachi swung the large blade, colliding against Kenpachi who was sent soaring away.
Naruto dropped his hand, panting slightly. "Good job, Itachi."
Itachi's Susanoo disappeared and almost immediately the fatigue hit him. His shoulders slumped and he fell to one knee, his hand covering one of his eyes as blood started leaking out of it. "The Susanoo is taking its toll on me."
"ENOUGH!"
Kenpachi came barreling towards them, his eye ablaze with anger, enhancing the glow of his eye even more. He threw his fist to Itachi, who barely was able to put up a defense, grimacing as he could feel the bone snap underneath the attack.
Two twirling kunai appeared in the blonde's hands and he ran forward, swinging them wildly at Kenpachi.
A red wave of nucelus blasted him away, leaving Itachi behind to face Kenpachi alone.
Itachi stared at the darkness that had swallowed Naruto whole. Slowly he faced his foe with gritted determination.
"You're as persistent as he is." Kenpachi's voice rumbled.
"I'll accept that as a compliment. I wish I could extend you the courtesy."
Kenpachi lashed out at him, swiping his deadly claw towards Itachi's exposed face.
The attack hit its mark, but instead of blood spurting everywhere, the Uchiha's body morphed and exploded into dozens of crows.
Daghar's eye widened in surprise and tried to jump back to gain distance, but his world shifted and felt frozen in his spot. "What is this?!"
"This is Tsukuyomi. Something you've never experienced before." Itachi's voice echoed all around him.
The reaver tried pinpointing the source of his voice but found out he couldn't move a muscle. With a lot of effort, he looked down, only to find his body bound to a stake.
Hundreds of Itachi's appeared around the man, all wielding a deadly blade. "In here, I control everything. There is nothing you can do to stop it."
"T-this is just an illusion! You can't kill me in here!" Kenpachi roared as he struggled against the bounds on his body.
"I can't. But I can endure endless hours of torture on your body and mind. While in reality only a second will have passed. Your mind will be a broken mess."
The first blade pierced Kenpachi's chest, eliciting a groan of pain. "D-don't underestimate me!"
"I never have," Another blade entered the Reaver's torso. A small smile appeared on Itachi's face. "I'm not one to enjoy the torture of another. But I think I'll make an exception in your case."
Dozens of blades attacked the Reaver without hesitation. The groans of Kenpachi soon turned into terrifying roars, as he desperately tried to break free.
After what seemed like an eternity, the image reset and Kenpachi was looking around with a rageful eye.
Itachi appeared in front of him. "Only one hundred forty three hours, fifty nine minutes, and fifty nine seconds to go."
The roars of anger and pain could only be heard by Itachi.
Blood dripped from her mouth as Tsunade stumbled back. Slowly she looked down at the blade that had pierced her body. "This blade…"
"Tsunade Tsunade. I haven't seen you in a while."
With a shaking head she looked back up, anger and disgust appearing on her face. "You…"
Standing in front of her with dark long hair, a pale skin and golden eyes, was Orochimaru. He held a cunning smile, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "Surprised to see me?"
She spat out a mouthful of blood. "I can't believe you're siding with them. They are going to end the world, and you'd join them, just because you can't let go of the past?!"
Orochimaru let out a dark chuckle. "I don't care. As long as Konoha is taken down along with it."
Tsunade gripped the handle of the blade and pulled it out, gritting her teeth in pain. "Over. My. Dead. Body." The wound in her chest healed.
Orochimaru wasn't impressed, only Lena was cautious. "That won't be a problem."
He darted forward, while Lena disappeared with flashstep. Tsunade locked eyes with Orochimaru and charged forward, her fist already pulled back.
At the last possible second, she came to an abrupt halt and ducked, avoiding Lena's deadly attack from behind. With a loud yell she slammed her fist into the exposed throat of Lena.
She almost immediately dropped to the floor, clutching her throat as she desperately tried to breathe.
Tsunade looked down at her. The anger hadn't left her face. "I crushed your trachea. Good luck recovering from that."
She twirled around and dashed for Orochimaru, who was now rapidly approaching, snakes lashing out from underneath his sleeve.
Tsunade could barely dodge them and retaliated with her fists. Unfortunately for her, she lacked speed and Orochimaru knew. He avoided her attack and got within her defenses, connecting the palm of his hand with her chin, causing her to recoil in pain.
But as she was stumbling back, she focused her chakra into her foot and swung it down, to stop Orochimaru from pressing the advantage. Regaining her stability, she glanced at the ground, which was now a small crater.
"Surely, you can do better than that, Tsunade."
Her hands started glowing blue, holding them up in an offensive stance. "Let me show you, Snake."
His lower body morphed into that of a snake and he shot forward, greatly enhancing his speed, picking up the blade Tsunade had dropped along the way.
Jabbing the tip of the blade forward, she was ill prepared to avoid the attack and the blade slid into her side.
A painful wound, but not life threatening. A smirk appeared on her face and she swung her hand towards the now exposed Orochimaru, who used his speed to dash past her.
But despite his increased speed, he was still too slow, and Tsunade hit her mark, cutting her old teammate clean in half.
"Orochimaru-sama!"
Looking over her shoulder, she could see Kabuto pushing past the crowd of fighters, wielding to scalpels.
A painful yell escaped her lips as Orochimaru used her distraction to attack, sinking his teeth deep in her neck.
"W-what? I cut you in half…" her gaze turned to the rest of his body. She could see snakes reconnecting his body, healing as if there wasn't a wound to begin with.
With all her strength, she grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him away, wincing in pain as his teeth left deep gashes. She threw him towards the rapidly approaching Kabuto.
"I've learned many new tricks since leaving Konoha. Did you really think you had a chance of beating me? You, who has spent years gambling away her fortune…Kukuku naïve little Hokage."
The wounds in her neck healed and slowly she stepped forward, a sneer on her face. "I'll show you what I've been doing in my time." She signaled with her hand and an anbu landed next to her.
"I want you to order our forces to disengage in the eastern part. But only for a few seconds. They will know when to reengage." She softly spoke, careful not to let Orochimaru know.
"Understood Hokage-sama." With a flicker the anbu disappeared again.
"Then show me!" the snake sannin said with a sickening grin.
Lowering herself into a crouch, her fingertips touching the ground. A smirk of her own appeared on her face. "Gladly."
Gritting her teeth, she put a large amount of chakra in her feet and jumped up. Shooting into the sky with immense speed.
She looked down at the rapidly shrinking armies below, her eyes settling on her last known location. Slowly she aimed her hands behind her as she reached the pinnacle of her height. "See how you like this, teme." She muttered.
Gravity took hold of her body again and she was now freefalling towards the army again gaining speed at an alarming rate. To make it even worse, chakra started blasting outwards from her hands, not unlike Naruto's ability.
At a neck break speed, she was charging towards Orochimaru, her leg outstretched. "Sōtenkyaku!" she roared as she crashed into the ground. He had barely been able to dodge the attack.
Or so he thought. The entire eastern area of the fight got turned upside down as the ground spat open in a humongous crater, large rocks flying into air or crashing in to the Reavers, hitting them by the dozens at a time.
Orochimaru wasn't able to avoid the second part of her attack and got the full force of it, disappearing from sight completely, swallowed by the earth.
Tsunade slowly righted herself and looked at the area in front of her. "Naïve hokage huh?" the entire area was one huge crater, filled with the bodies of their enemies.
Shinobi around her started filling the crater, using it to press the advantage, reinvigorated by the sudden shift in battle.
Tsunade stared at the ground, a frown on her face. She knew that he had managed to dodge the deadly strike for the most part. He had most likely survived the aftermath.
The rumbling of the ground underneath was the only warning they got. A split second later, Orochimaru came flying out. The smile that had been etched on his face throughout, was gone. Anger now filled his mind.
His outfit was in tatters, and his body adorned a series of new cuts and wounds. Not that it deterred him much. He was already inching closer to her.
"Ready for round two?" Tsunade asked, trying to bait him even more, waving with her hand for him to come closer.
"You'll regret that." He bit back.
And with that, the two-remaining living sannin closed the gap, trading more blows.
Itachi stared at Kenpachi in pure shock, ignoring the claw that was wrapping around his throat. "That's not possible…"
Breathing heavily, he pulled Itachi close. "The Reaper itself tore me apart, flayed my mind. A pitiful illusion like yours is nothing more than a nuisance. A distraction!"
His transformed fingers started digging into Itachi's neck. "Itachi Uchiha. Murderer of his own clan and parents."
Itachi kicked against the thigh of Kenpachi, but without proper momentum, he could do little damage. He locked his red eyes with Kenpachi's, letting his gaze ask the unspoken question.
"After Sunagakure, I learned everything I could about you. The abilities you have are certainly interesting, but its nothing compared to the power of the Reaper. What I do admire is your unwavering loyalty you have to Ghost. Your death will surely hurt him."
Itachi groaned, desperately trying to break free with his own usable hand. "You…talk…too…much."
"I apologize." And with that his claw pierced his neck, blood spurting gurgled and started coughing up blood as he frantically tried to break free.
Madara's gunbai slammed into Kenpachi's head, sending him staggering away. The weapon quickly retracted, returning to the owner's hand, who stood swaying on his feet, with Micheru close behind.
"Micheru, quickly!" he ordered as he nudged his head to do little else.
Micheru didn't need the order, she was already sprinting over, her hands glowing green. "Itachi move your hand!"
Itachi fell to his knees, his hand had been pressed to his neck, in a bad attempt to stop the extensive bleeding. "h-h-he-"
"STOP TALKING!" Micheru screamed as she pushed his hand away. Instantly a spray of blood hit her face, but she ignored it. "He hit your artery. Don't move an inch! Madara I need you to cover me!"
Madara took up a defensive stance "Where's Naruto?"
Itachi tried to speak up but was immediately stopped by Micheru. "I SAID STOP TALKING!"
The bleeding stopped a few seconds later. She watched as she punctures in his neck slowly closed, leaving nothing more than a light scar. "Okay…Okay…We got lucky. If you had lost too much blood, I wouldn't have been able to save you."
The sound of air being displaced caused the others to tense up. A few seconds later, Naruto appeared in their field of view. His hair was a mess, drenched in blood. His outer robe had been damaged on various spots.
His glowing eyes locked with all of them. "Everyone okay?"
"All things considered, as well as can be." Madara said with a strained voice.
Naruto's eyes lingered on the man's wounded body, a flicker of sadness on his face. "We're not going to regain the upper hand in this fight anymore."
"You barely had to begin with."
They barely had time to react. Naruto shoved Micheru out of the way, before spears of red chakra emerged from the ground, skewering Naruto's arm, reopening the gash that had been fixed earlier.
Madara tried countering with his Gunbai, but Kenpachi dodged the attack and pulled on the chain connected to the weapon, swinging him into Itachi with immense strength. He followed with a wave of red nucleus, sending both Madara and Itachi flying, into the terrifying dark that surrounded them.
Naruto turned to face the now rapidly approaching enemy, forming a red shield in front of him.
Kenpachi's fist broke through the defense with ease and followed up with a kick to his chest, battering him into the rock behind.
Naruto weakly lifted his hand. "S-shi-"
The Reaver batted the hand away, piercing it with a throwing knife, embedding it in the cold ground below.
"You…"
Kenpachi briefly looked up at the spirit that stood in front of them. "Entity, don't bother me."
"T-they d-don't l-listen to us." Naruto managed to say between gritted teeth.
Kenpachi ignored what he said and planted his feet on Naruto's chest. "Once more, you're underneath my boot, like the ant you are."
Naruto glared at the man. "F-for an ant, w-we put up quite a fight."
And Naruto had been right. Kenpachi was sporting all manner of bruises and cuts. His outfit was in ruins, revealing the bare skin underneath, which also was riddled with wounds.
"And still, you lost."
"H-haven't lost y-yet."
Kenpachi grabbed him by the wounded arm, lifting it up to inspect his claw. "Only able to go toe to toe with us, because of this. Stealing our ability."
Naruto tried to move but regretted it instantly. The kick had definitely broken a few ribs. "I-I stole n-nothing! I a-always held this power."
Kenpachi didn't listen. Instead a cold smile appeared on his face. "Time to take back what belongs to us."
Naruto's eyes widened, slowly shaking his head, struggling against Kenpachi's hold.
He gripped Naruto's arm tight, pressing his feet even harder against the blonde's chest. "I'm going to enjoy this."
Micheru came charging in, the palm of her hand aimed at Kenpachi. A stream of fire flew towards him at a terrifying speed. But Kenpachi merely swatted it away, barely giving her attention.
Gritting her teeth, she reached for two kunai and resumed her sprint, but faltered when she heard Naruto's voice.
"Don't! Stay away from him!" Naruto aimed his pinned hand as best he could, whispering something.
Micheru came to a tumbling fall, partially hit by Naruto's surprise attack. "LET HIM GO!"
"I don't think so." Kenpachi's claw was digging into his skin, drawing blood. Locking eyes with his foe laying underneath his feet, he started pulling.
Naruto started writhing underneath. "Y-you're not going to h-hear me beg!" he spat back. Kenpachi's face held a terrifying smile, and applied more pressure with his feet.
Naruto's protests turned into inhuman screams as he felt his arm could no longer resist the immense strength and started to give way.
"Naruto!" Micheru screamed as she climbed back to her feet, her kunai laying forgotten on the floor.
With a roar of his own, that was drowned out by the screams of pain, he tore Naruto's arm off with a sickening sound, blood spurting everywhere.
Naruto's eyes were closed shut as his agonizing cries turned into whimpers, his breathing shallow and irregular. His body slid from the rock and landed with a thud on the ground, no longer being held in place by Kenpachi.
Kenpachi turned to face Micheru, who was within striking range. He held up Naruto's limb for them both to see, and then disintegrated it with a small eruption of demonic nucleus.
Micheru came flying in, her fist cocked back, swinging it wildly at the man, but blocked it and retaliated by hammering her into the ground. Her face slammed into a protruding piece of rock, creating a deep gash across her forehead.
Naruto watched the attack with barely any consciousness left. His eyes had turned back to their original hue and kept closing. "L-l-let-"
"Time to make an exception out of her. Say goodbye to your girlfriend." And with that, Kenpachi disappeared, leaving a heavily wounded Naruto behind.
I do love torturing Naruto, not gonna lie.
Chapter was a bit longer orginally, but I cut out the end. You'll see it next chapter.
I'm not going to make any promises to update faster, but I'll try my darnest.