Welcome back everyone! More than a month has passed since the last update. Which is far longer than I had hoped, but its difficult finding spare time to wrap up the story.
Let's move on!
The well versed thank you to everyone who added the story to their lists! It sounds like I'm on repeat, but I truly mean it!
Reviewers:
Maxmax79: I want to, oh so badly! But unfortunately, its difficult finding the time! Enjoy though!
Nithi Velu: glad you enjoyed the last chapter. Good question, let's see if this chapter answers your question 😉
Gamesdean1: I am so very happy to see you liking the last chapter, and story as a whole! I can only hope I can keep it up until the very end!
Roswell: yeeees? Haha! Enjoy the chapter!
Neocoya1: First, I'd like to thank you for reviewing! Your criticism is accepted with gratitude!
I'll try and answer what I can without ruining too much.
-Sakura's infatuation with Sasuke has made her done questionable actions over the course of their time together. She had grown, certainly but I always felt it was not too out of the realm of possibilities. She was willing to abandon the village, just to be with Sasuke, on the night of his departure. She was clearly obsessed with him. To think that she'd lay the blame on Naruto upon their return isn't that crazy, to be honest.
- Majority of Konoha hated Naruto and loved Sasuke. I honestly think they would believe one over the other.
-Very true! But this isn't a flaw in the story, to be honest. It will be explained, that's all I can say!
-this is honestly something I hadn't really thought about. But it could be chalked up to arrogance or their ignorance in not realizing he would betray Konoha.
Once more, thank you for your post. I appreciate it!
KingKong101: All I can say is, please wait for the story to be finished. All I can really say.
Soulgamer109: yes?
Guest: I wish I could've posted faster. Enjoy though!
KingYamYam: He told Tsunade that. I hope that the resolution will be to your satisfaction :)
Alright, let's get this show on the road!
Chapter 62: From bad to worse.
Micheru weakly bashed her fists against Kenpachi's iron grip, but he ignored it. Blood dripped down her face, blurring her vision. What she did see was that they were back at the main battle.
"Micheru!" A familiar voice yelled from nearby, but she didn't have the energy to lift her head and instead let it dip forward.
"When are you going to learn that you can't defeat me. You have tried again and again, with your best fighters. They lay broken and defeated." He lifted Micheru up in the air.
"This is what awaits you."
Before he could set her ablaze, a green blur shot forward, planting its feet in the man's face who flew backwards. The follow up attack, broke his grasp on Micheru, letting her go.
A second green blur lifted her from the ground and dashed back, quickly gaining distance.
A green hue covered her face and slowly she felt her strength regaining her. Opening her eyes she looked at the face of a concerned Sakura. "S-Sakura?"
Slowly she sat up and looked to her right and saw someone similar to her age standing there. He had a green spandex outfit and a hideous haircut. What she saw on his face was nothing but pure determination.
Turning slightly, she saw his older counterpart standing next to him. He too held a look of determination and optimism.
He shot out his arm, his hand formed into a thumbs up. "Have no fear, Micheru Sun! the green beasts of Konoha will take it from here!"
Naruto's drooped eyes looked at the figure that was had appeared in front of him. "S-stay away from m-me."
"You don't belong here…"
"N-neither do you!" slowly he let go of his mutilated limb, and climbed to his feet, trying to ignore the wave of pain and nausea that came with it.
"Become one of us." Slowly she slid over to him.
He spat out a mouth of blood. "I-I d-don't think so."
Lifting his hand, he let out a weak chakra burst, dispelling the spirit. With a heavy sigh he made his way over to the tree, leaning his shoulder against it.
"Naruto?"
He looked up from the ground and saw Itachi approaching, carrying Madara on his back. "Itachi…"
Slowly he slid Madara off his back and sat him down on the ground, before running over to the blonde. "Kami, your arm."
Wincing, Naruto gave a nod. "I-I need you to stop the bleeding."
Itachi stared at the bleeding stump. He gave a slow nod. "I'll bandage it, hopefully that will delay, until you get to Micheru."
Lifting his mangled limb, he gave a curt nod. "H-he took h-her. Said he w-was going to make an example out of her…I gotta go after her."
Itachi quickly went to work, lifting the damaged short sleeve of his outfit. "You're in no shape to fight. I'll get her."
Naruto shook his head, gritting his teeth as Itachi tightly wrapped the stump. "H-he t-took her to the others…I can't take you with me. I don't think my body can handle another 'passenger'.
Tying a knot in the bandage, he quickly inspected the wound, while with his other hand he rummaged through his pouch on his belt, pulling out the same medical beverage that Kisame had during the battle of Konoha. "Use this."
He took the small bottle with a nod of gratitude, taking a large sip of it. Almost immediately he felt his body strengthen. "Arigato…Itachi."
He gave him a small smile, grabbing his shoulder in brotherly gesture. "We need to get Madara back to Micheru or any of the other medic-nin. I patched him up as best I could, but he needs a more capable hand than mine."
Naruto inspected his outfit quickly. His outer robes had various tears in it. The pants he wore underneath had the same, revealing patches of his bleeding leg underneath. The elbow sleeves of his outer robe were fine, but the long sleeve underneath was torn off, during Kenpachi's atrocious act.
"Itachi…We need to henge ourselves. The others can't know. They will interfere. The plan-"
Itachi gripped him by the shoulder. "I know. Let's do it quickly."
Both looked each other in the eye before holding up a one handed sign. "Henge no jutsu."
With a puff of smoke that temporarily obscured their sight, the two stepped forward, looking as if they hadn't been beaten to a pulp.
Itachi quickly grabbed Madara and threw him over his shoulder, rejoining Naruto's side within seconds. "was the tincture enough for us to-"
"It's okay…Let's just go." Naruto said with hesitation as another wave of pain caused him to sway.
"Are you even able to use flashstep?" Itachi asked.
Naruto nodded, anything to keep his focus away from the remains of his arm. "We'll be fine."
Itachi placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder who in turn took a few deep breaths. His eyes glanced down to his stump and a wave of sadness washed over him. 'My last real connection to Kurama…gone."
"Kuso…" and with that they disappeared.
Neji watched with a shocked expression as his old teacher and teammate were capable of holding their own against the strongest being on the planet. "I-I never…"
Tenten stood next to him, her mouth equally ajar. "I remember Lee fighting against Gaara, using this technique, but never to this extent."
Kakashi pushed through the fighting crowd to look upon the fight as well. "The eight inner gates, and by the looks of it, they're both at gate six."
Lee crashed into Kenpachi, delivering a flurry of blows against the Reaver, who staggered back. He too was surprised by the sudden turn of events.
Gai came in with a flying kick, sending Kenpachi tumbling to the ground.
"They can't keep this up. Kenpachi is being pushed back for now, but he's able to take the hits so far." Neji said as his eyes darted from left to right, following the three fighters.
The words hadn't left his mouth or Kenpachi dashed forward, jackhammering Gai into the ground, and formed a red blade in his hand, swinging it toward Lee, who barely dodged it, but was unable to avoid the follow up.
Lee slammed headfirst into the ground, groaning as he struggled to get back up.
"Heads up!" A chunin behind them said as a wave of reavers broke through and charged at the spectating Konoha-nin.
"We got a job to do!" Kakashi yelled as he grabbed both Tenten and Neji by the collar of their vests and pulled them around.
Tearing a scroll out of her vest, she quickly summoned a massive ordnance of weaponry, floating in front of her. "I'll show them not to mess with us!"
Kunai, shuriken and other sorts of weapons shot forward, hitting reavers everywhere.
Kakashi slashed wildly, wounding or killing reavers that Tenten wasn't able to. Ducking underneath the last one, he slashed open his throat before kicking him away, where he crumpled to the floor, clutching his throat as blood poured out from between his fingers.
"Who else of our group is in the area?" Tenten yelled over the sound of fighting.
Before Kakashi could respond, another wave of Reavers poured through, clashing against their thinning numbers.
Kakashi briefly looked around. He noticed that they were more towards the edge of the fight, near the southern forest. "I think my team is nearby! They were helping Micheru."
"We can use their help!" Tenten yelled back.
Neji and Tenten met up and together they sent a series of jutsu into the rapidly approaching Reavers, staggering them, but failing to stop them altogether, and instead retaliated with nucleus attacks of their own. Flashes of red and roars of fire shot towards them.
"Hakkeshō Kaiten!" Neji shouted as he jumped in front of Tenten. A shield made of pure chakra wrapped around him, expelling outwards, blocking all attacks that were sent their way.
Tenten jumped up and opened another scroll, immediately sending her weapons flying into the exposed Reavers.
They were struck down once again and Tenten let gravity pull her back down.
"TENTEN!"
A thin red beam shot forward and pierced her abdomen. With eyes full of shock and fear she looked down at the gaping wound. With a shake of her head her body crashed into the ground.
Neji came to a skidding halt in front of her. "Tenten! Hold on okay, just-just hold on!"
The pool of blood that was forming underneath her, was rapidly growing. Neji pressed down on the wound while frantically looking around. His usual calm behaviour gone completely. "We need a medical-nin!"
A flash of green shot overhead and impacted further down, closely followed by another. Lee and Gai were certainly not pulling any punches.
Kakashi reached for his neckband and activated his mic. ~Sasuke. We need you guys at the outer edge, near sector 1. Tenten is down and needs help!~
A cold sweat slid down his back as he heard no response. ~Sasuke?!~
A heavy presence bore down on them, causing Kakashi to slowly turn around. Across from him stood a tall broad man. He had his arms crossed, staring at the group of people across from him.
Kakashi let go of his neckband and locked his gaze with the imposing Reaver.
"You look like a worthy foe."
Kakashi pulled his headband up, revealing his sharingan. "You have no idea."
Sasuke crawled forward with difficulty, covering his head from the falling bodies as best he could. Another body dropped in front of him. With difficulty he climbed over it, only to be met with even more obstacles. The snow that had originally covered the ground, had turned into a combination of mud and blood, and slippery to boot.
He wiped away a trail of mud, only making it worse in the process. Pushing away a stack of bodies, he was happy to see an end to the chaotic mess he was in.
He climbed to his feet with a grunt, glad to finally stand again. He looked around and saw Ridou and Sakura crouched down, next to Micheru.
Pushing past a few men and women, he quickly approached them. "Everything all right?"
Sakura turned to Sasuke and gave him a reassuring nod. "Micheru is okay."
"Naruto isn't! I've gotta get back to him!" Micheru groaned, wiping away the blonde hair out of her face.
"What do you mean?" Ridou asked as he leaned closer.
"Sasuke!"
The Uchiha turned and saw Inari rapidly approaching. "What?"
"Kakashi needs your help at sector 1!"
"Alright. Micheru, can you move?"
"Hold on, Sasuke. What do you mean Naruto isn't okay?" Sakura pressed as she helped Micheru back to her feet.
A loud explosion shook the ground. "I-"
"Listen, Kakashi needs our help. We can't worry about Naruto now. Let's help Kakashi and then we can focus on Naruto!" Sasuke said with finality as he took the lead. 'Hang in there, teme.'
The fight happening around them was brutal and horrifying. It was nothing like the fight at Konoha or Nami no Kuni. It was a straight up, close quarters engagement. The bodies lay where they had fallen, only for others to climb over them, or even fight atop it.
Flying past them were dozens of jutsu, colliding with the Reavers. But where one fell, two more took its place.
There were no inexperienced fighters here either. All the genin had been excluded from the fight. Only chunin, jonin and the samurai had been summoned. The thought of kids having to fight, were they to lose. He shook his head, clearing his mind.
"Over there!" Inari yelled, jabbing his finger to a recognizable set of grey-silverish hair.
They quickly made their way over, pushing past the mass of bodies that were pressed against each other.
"Kakashi!"
But Kakashi wasn't responding. Instead, he was ducking and weaving under the flurry of attacks that were thrown his way.
Tossing a chakra pill in his mouth and ignoring the bitterness that came with it, he charged forward, his sharingan ablaze.
"Chidori senbon!" From his hand a series of senbon shot forward, narrowly avoiding Kakashi as they struck the massive Reaver one by one, sending him skidding back.
Kakashi gained distance and landed next to Sasuke. "Good timing."
The chirping sounds of birds disappeared as he let go of his jutsu. "What's going on?"
Kakashi turned to the other newly arrived. "Sakura, Micheru, Tenten needs help and quick. Follow me!"
The group immediately followed the order and together they pushed towards Tenten's last position, with a tired and wounded Micheru following close behind.
"Incoming!"
Sasuke dove out of the way, quickly looking over his shoulders to the others, glad to see everyone dodged the attack that came in form of a storm of red demonic nucleus.
"Hold on…I know that guy!" Inari yelled as he got a good look at the approaching Reaver. "He led the attack on Nami no Kuni. He killed Nawi!"
"I was at that pitiful place. We took it with ease."
Inari unsheathed his katana. "He's mine!"
Kakashi grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back. "Maa, Inari, don't throw away your life that quickly."
Inari narrowed his eyes but relented and gave a nod. "Fine! But I'm not sitting this one out."
"I never said you did," Kakashi turned to Sasuke. "Keep pushing that way, Tenten and Neji are close. Group up with us once you're done."
Sasuke looked at the two and dipped his head. "Alright, Let's go!"
Kakashi unzipped his jonin vest and stretched his arms. "You ready, Inari?"
Lacing his blade with wind chakra he gave a quick nod. "Let's avenge my sensei."
The Reaver gave a snarl. "COME THEN!"
The two, shoulder to shoulder charged forward, one swinging his katana, the other forming his trademark jutsu.
Naruto came to a stumbling stop, clutching the remains of his arm as a wave of pain nearly overwhelmed him. His eyes darted to the henge that made it seem as if his arm was whole again.
"Okay, let's find Micheru," He said but hesitated, he reached for Itachi's arm and stopped him from moving. "We need to cover his face. If the others find out about…Madara...We just can't handle that at the moment."
Itachi's eyes narrowed but nodded regardless. He had been deceived by the imposter, something that didn't happen often. He would have his chat with the man sooner or later. "Let's use one of the anbu masks." Pointing to a few of the the bodies that lay on the ground.
Naruto limped towards the body and pulled the fox mask off. If the anbu agent were still alive, it would be impossible to pull it off, using his chakra to firmly keep it in place. Making his way back over, he slid the mask over 'Madara's face, using the strap.
"Henge no Jutsu." Itachi muttered once more, his fingertips resting on the mask. With a small puff of smoke, the anbu mask turned into Madara's trademark mask.
Naruto gave him a nod of approval before turning his focus back on rescuing Micheru.
Itachi straightened himself, shifting slightly to keep Madara on his back. "Let's check in with the others."
Naruto reached for the destroyed remains of his headset. "You?"
Itachi shook his head. His had been destroyed earlier as well. He reached over to Madara's neck but found the same result.
They quickly looked around, to see if they saw a few familiar faces, but were unsuccessful. The people fighting here were mainly samurai and were being pushed back.
They ran towards one of the safer areas, towards the village, nearly falling over the bodies that lay strewn about.
"This isn't looking good Naruto. We need to find Micheru and then kill Kenpachi before it's too late."
"I know…" Naruto muttered as he looked around.
After a few minutes of roaming the area, Naruto grew worried that they wouldn't be able to find anyone. That was until he heard a familiar voice.
"Is that all you got! Please tell me you got something left!"
A familiar purple haired kunoichi came 'dancing' past them, fighting against three legionnaires simultaneously.
Naruto reached for his pouch and threw a few shuriken in quick succession, hitting them in various spots. One dropped to the ground, while other two were dispatched by the kunoichi quickly.
Landing on her feet, she immediately recognized the blonde and made her way over. "Is he dead yet?"
"Have you seen Micheru?" Was his response, trying to take a deep, yet quivering breath to regain his composure, which earned him a quirked eyebrow from Anko.
"I know Kakashi needed some help in sector 1, towards the southern edge. They might know more."
Naruto gave her grim smile. "Arigato. Itachi let's go."
"Don't die on us, baka."
Naruto his eyes lingered on her for a few moments. "Same goes for you."
She gave a grin, patting him on his face. "Not planning on it!" Twirling around, she jumped back into the fray.
Naruto and Itachi made their way to the southern part of the fight. From time to time, they would see a familiar face, only to disappear in the masses soon after, unable to find them again.
In the distance they could make out green blurs, dashing all over the place, but ignored it for the most part.
"Did you hear?!"
"What?"
"Kenpachi's been sighted again. Might Gai and his old student are fighting him at moment."
Naruto's ears perked at the bit of information and lingered for a second moment longer.
"What happened to the other team?" one of the Jonin asked.
"No idea, all I heard was that they had pushed him away from the fight.
"It doesn't matter, let's focus on-"
Naruto tuned it out and instead followed Itachi who was slightly ahead, pushing past the crowd of fighting men and women. The sound of metal clashing could be heard everywhere, only masked by the roars of jutsu being used, or the screams of the wounded and dying.
He closed his eyes for a second, trying to ignore it all.
"You okay, Naruto?" Itachi appeared in his vision, a look of concern on his face.
"I'm o-okay, let's push on, we gotta be close."
After a few more minutes of wading through a sea of bodies, they eventually reached the southern edge. Almost immediately he could make out Sasuke. He was struggling against a much taller opponent, but wasn't on the backfoot yet.
Before he could offer any assistance, he could see Sasuke faking a misstep, which the Reaver, ignorantly 'used', charging forward, swinging his fist wildly.
A swipe of his kunai was all he needed to dismember his foe. Sliding past him in one fluid motion, he jabbed his kunai in the Reaver's throat. With a simple push, he sent the Reaver to the ground, hitting it with a thud.
His eyes settled on them a moment after. "Itachi-nii? Naruto?"
"Is Micheru here?" Naruto asked as they closed the gap, turning his body slightly to avoid any questions.
"She's here. Sakura patched her up. This way."
A sigh of relief escaped Naruto's lip and he quickly followed Sasuke's footsteps.
"What happened anyway? I thought you guys were luring him away?"
Naruto glanced down to his 'camouflaged' arm. "He got us good. Took Micheru and dragged her here."
Sasuke looked over his shoulder for a bit, nodding in understanding. "Over here!"
They squeezed past the few remaining people, they finally arrived at Micheru and Sakura, who were busy trying to keep Tenten alive.
"Give me another blood-replenisher."
"Got it!"
Wiping the sweat of her brow, Micheru looked at Tenten with a slight frown. "She's going to live, but she got extremely lucky…"
"Micheru, are you okay?" Naruto asked as he pushed past Sasuke.
Micheru's eyes widened, and she quickly jumped to her feet, embracing him in a tight hug. "I'm fine, are you-" she gently moved her hands to his limb he was trying to keep out of sight, her eyes widening in shock. "How?"
Naruto gave her a quiet shake of his head. "It's a henge, Micheru-chan." He whispered.
She bit her lip but quickly understood why he had done it. Micheru slid a hand through his hair, trying to comfort him.
"Are you okay?" Sakura asked as she started examining him from top to bottom, her eyebrows furrowed as she took in his outfit, lacking any wear or tear.
He gave her a smile. "You worry about Tenten, Sakura-chan."
There was a flash of red, and a second later, a green blur came flying to the ground, creating a crater, and a plume of smoke.
"Holy shit." Ridou muttered as he tried to look past the people who were also trying to get a better look.
With tired eyes, Naruto looked at Micheru. "Are you ready?"
"Are you even able to fight?" Micheru whispered worriedly.
"I still got some fighting spirit left." He joked, giving a wink that didn't feel genuine.
"Are you sure you're able to continue, Naruto?" Itachi asked softly as he joined them. Madara lay on the ground behind them, where Sakura was now doing what she could, wiping the sweat of her face.
He gave her a reassuring, yet unconvincing nod. "You know the plan, we got this."
"You still think you can beat him?" Ridou asked incredulously.
"Of course, we do, Teme."
"You're the teme."
"No, you."
"No, you."
Micheru watched the exchange with concern. "I know what you're doing." She leaned closer, whispering in his ears.
He turned to look at her, his bright blue and purple eyes locking with hers. "And what is that?"
In the background she could see Ridou getting scolded by Sakura, barking at him to stop. Fazing that out, she continued. "You're putting up a façade. Don't do this to me, not after everything."
He pulled her in a hug, embracing her tightly. "I promise, this war ends today. Kenpachi is going to die."
She closed her eyes, accepting the loving gesture. Her worry didn't fade though. "Are you sure?"
"Let's show the bastard how we, as shinobi really fight." Naruto smirked, ending the embrace.
Sasuke and Ridou were peering over the shoulders of the others. "That's Lee!" Ridou exclaimed in surprise.
"Leave it to us." Naruto said as he slid past them.
"Be careful, teme!" Sakura said as she joined them again for a moment.
Naruto snorted and gave him a thumbs up, his eyes meeting Sakura's, smiling at her before turning to Sasuke. "Show them the power of team 7."
"You show him the power of the dead last."
"Baka!"
"Dobe!"
As he passed Ridou, he patted him on the shoulder. "Keep them alive."
Ridou tapped his fist against Naruto's retreating back. "Of course."
His eyes narrowed, he pushed forward, increasing his speed and shoving people out of the way as the four of them quickly moved to the front of the circle.
Laying on the ground, was Lee. He was a complete mess. His legs were broken, and his face was beaten to a bloody pulp.
Standing off to the side was Gai, who wasn't looking to good either. The joyfulness that the man usually held was nowhere to be seen.
Across from them stood Kenpachi. His arm was covered in blood, and he had a few new bruises, but other than that, he still looked more than able to continue the fight. "An interesting transformation, but I felt no malice. This wasn't any demonic ability. This was purely your own nucleus."
Itachi stood next to Madara, who was breathing irregularly, having regained consciousness only moments earlier. "Are you sure you two are able to fight."
Naruto took a deep breath and gave a nod, which Madara mimicked. He took a step forward, out in the open. Almost immediately Kenpachi noticed him.
"Glad you caught up, Ghost." His eyes darted to the arm and narrowed his blazing red eyes. "Another illusion." There was no doubt in his voice.
Naruto ignored him and moved over to where Lee was laying and knelt down, searching for a pulse. "Gai. Lee is still alive. You need to get him to safety."
Itachi joined him to his right, while Micheru placed her hand on his shoulder, giving him a comforting squeeze.
Gai turned to face Naruto, his eyes widening upon seeing the blonde, his face strained. "I'm going to open the eighth gate. That will finish him."
Naruto shook his head. "No it won't, and you know it. It's not the worth the sacrifice."
"It is, if he's left exposed."
"Gai, listen to me. He is fast enough to dodge your attack. He can just wait you out. It's not worth it. Leave him to us."
"Arrogance."
Gai limped towards the prone figure of Lee, stepping past the bodies that lay about. "Let me help." He whispered as he closed the gap between them.
A new wave of pain caused Naruto to close his eyes for a few seconds. "Follow the plan, Gai." He whispered back.
The Jonin stared at him for a few moments before he relented. "If you're sure."
Naruto stood up, straightening his back, ignoring the stabbing pain. "Team 1. Diamond formation. Itachi you take the lead. Madara and I will be support. Micheru will be backup."
They immediately moved into position. Kenpachi looked at them in amusement, while the other onlookers slowly 'dispersed' and focused on their own struggle.
"Remember. We need him back at the forest. Nothing else matters. Pin him down and I'll take us back." Naruto muttered as he lowered himself into an offensive stance.
Itachi's eyes blazed red, his sharingan morphing into the Mangekyo form. "Amaterasu!"
The flames nearly hit Kenpachi, were it not for his flashstep at the last second.
"NOW!" Madara roared.
Naruto slammed his hand on the ground. "Doton: Chidōkaku!"
The moment Kenpachi appeared in their midst, the ground underneath him was already shooting upwards, taking him along with it.
Unsheathing his katana, Naruto followed after Kenpachi, using flashstep, appearing in mid-air, next to the Reaver. He swung with his blade and nicked his shoulder, but was unable to hit anything else as Kenpachi stopped the attack with his claw.
He pulled on the handle and let go, flying past the blade and engaging Kenpachi in close combat. "Rasengan!"
The attack hit him dead on, sending him airborne even further. With a split second decision, he grabbed the handle of his blade tight and was sent flying high, along with Kenpachi.
Their flight reached its apex and slowly gravity took hold. With difficulty, Naruto wrapped his legs and arm around Kenpachi, preventing him from slowing his descent.
Kenpachi glared at him tried to break free. "Don't think I won't break free."
In response, Naruto tightened his hold even more, his eyes shut and his jaw clenched.
Their speed drastically increased and were now divebombing to ground. True to Kenpachi's word, he broke free from Naruto's grasp without much difficulty.
Naruto kicked away from Kenpachi before he could retaliate, into the outstretched hand of Itachi, or rather his Susano.
The glowing blade collided with Kenpachi, sending him crashing into the ground at near meteoric speed.
The Susano dissipated almost immediately, but not before he placed Naruto safely back on the ground.
Standing over the crater was the red-headed Kazekage, a sliver of sand floating around him. "Is he?"
"Of course I'm not." Came the grunted response from within the crater. Slowly the Reaver limped out. His outfit was in tatters and he was dragging his leg slightly.
"You're done. Even if you beat Naruto's team. You won't be able to fight against another team of kage strength."
Tsunade pushed past the crowd. Her eyes darting around, looking for her old traitorous teammate. Their fight had temporarily been paused after more Reavers broke through and in the chaos that ensued, she lost eyes on Orochimaru. "Where is Orochimaru!"
Kenpachi barely gave them a glance. "Lord Kazekage, Leader of Sunagakure. You don't interest me. I want Ghost. My army will finish you off."
'Orodochi Ghost' joined the two Kage. Closely followed by Itachi, Madara and Micheru. Gaara gave them a side glance before responding. "Lord Kenpachi. We have been fighting your monsters for two years now. We've faced overwhelming odds since the very beginning. We've cut your horde in half at Konoha. We'll cut down what remains! No matter the odds."
The Raikage now joined the group as well, his eyes ablaze in rage. "The Kazekage is right. You haven't beaten us! You're army is a shadow of what it was. You are going to die today!"
I pity your lack of comprehension. Let me clarify." Kenpachi gestured to one of his subordinates who stood behind him. In turn, he shot a flare of nucleus into the sky.
There was silence. A silence that didn't last very long.
The forested areas that covered both sides of the warring armies drew their attention. From the edge of the treeline, another sea of reavers emerged. All of them held glowing red eyes.
Gaara and the others couldn't mask their shock. Fearful eyes darted around, their mouths wide and trying to form some kind of sentence.
"AS you can see, you haven't cut down our numbers. All you've done is postpone the inevitable."
Micheru gripped Naruto by the cloth on his shoulder, nearly overtaken by emotion. "H-h-how?" she looked into his eye but found no shock or sign of distress. "N-naruto?!"
There was no response as he too locked his sight on the approaching sea, on a single person to be specific.
He had white long hair, wearing a red sleeveless vest with an olive outfit underneath. What stood out the most were his glowing red eyes.
I hope you liked the chapter. Until next time!