We'll Get Home, I Promise

Chapter 22: Night of the Oni

The Barrier Team kept tabs on the battle that now resides on the doorsteps of Konohagakure.

"Three troops are positioned throughout the front section of the villages. Troop A led by Konohamaru Sarutobi is in the western area, Troop B led by Kakashi Hatake in front of the village's main entrance, and Troop C led by Tenten in the eastern district. In addition, the Hyūga clan is in the far western district." One of the Barrier Team shinobi shared with his superiors.

"How's the situation with the Oni Zetsu?" Shikamaru asked, looking towards Ino and Clone Naruto, the latter still amplifying the Yamanaka with his natural energy enhanced chakra.

"It's worse than we expect. There really are around a hundred of them… but what's worse is that there are several separate beings that contain high signatures of natural energy… and several of them are big. Really big." Ino informed.

"And that's not the worst of it." Clone Naruto added.

"Oh, great. What is?" Shikamaru asked with a frown.

"So far, it feels like there's something out there that's trying to build up strength." Clone Naruto said.

"Whatever it is, it's not our biggest concern right now. The third wave is what I'm more worried about, and our forces are just about to deal with the second." Ino interjected.

"Um… what is the third wave?" Kohan Yamanaka asked with new worry and fear for the village.

"Naruto… please tell me what the original you and that Shinachiku clone are working on is going to be in time for 'them'." Ino looked towards the clone of the Hokage, who only frowned in response.

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With Troop A, led by Konohamaru Sarutobi, everyone was already charging into battle against the second wave of Oni Zetsu.

"Tsume-sama! You take the kid and get her to safety! We've got your back!" Kajiru said to the head of Inuzuka clan as he, his ninken and the rest of their clan members continued to defend Tsume and Wasabi from incoming Jinmenken. (Human-Faced Dog)

'Normally, this would piss me off beyond belief.' Tsume thought with slightly gritted teeth before her eyes looked down towards the unconscious and injured Wasabi. 'But just this once, I will make an exception.' Tsume proceeded to pick up Wasabi's body and hurried away to get her to safety. "None of You Better Lose! You Hear Me?! This Girl Showed More Grit Than Any Inuzuka I Have Ever Met! So You Better Not Let a Little Cat Lover Show You Up! Got It?!" Tsume shouted back to her clansmen as she rushed Wasabi to safety.

"Hai!" All the Inuzuka members who came to Tsume's aid exclaimed.

"Did she just praise, and made a quip about that girl just now?" Ato Inuzuka questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Questions for later! Here they come!" Kajiru exclaimed as Jinmenken charged towards them, barking with slobbering flying from their mouths.

The Inuzuka members roared as they charged forward with their ninken, ready to fight.

"Everyone duck!" A shinobi shouted out as he raised up a Gatling gun looking scientific ninja tool and upon the shinobi before him ducked and got out of range, started firing small fireballs towards the Oni Zetsu, nailing them and alighting them with fire.

"The hell is that thing?!" A shinobi on the floor with his hands overhead questioned with shock.

"It's some new scientific ninja tool that unleashes fire jutsu upon activation!" A shinobi also on the floor called out to him.

"Look at it go!" Another shinobi shouted with amazement as Oni Zetsu were being burnt up and drilled into with parts of their bodies being fired off courtesy of the jutsu.

'Kami-sama, I love this thing!' The shinobi using the Gatling gun ninja tool thought with a grin, but faster than he could comprehend, one Oni Zetsu blitzed him at a speed faster than the fire rate of the weapon he was using.

While the weapon was still firing, the surrounding shinobi noticed that the small fireballs were now being unleashed upwards.

They all turned only for their eyes to widen in horror as they found the shinobi using the ninja tool bisected with his legs still standing atop the ground while his upper body was on the floor, hands still on the trigger as bullet hell was being unleashed towards the sky.

The poor bastard still had a grin on his face. Didn't even know he was axed off.

Or I suppose in this case, scythed off, as what stood over his body was the upper body of what looked to be a pale skinned female with long black hair, standing on one hand while the other handheld a scythe that had some blood dripping off the blade.

The figure turned its head to reveal a sadistic grin behind ugly black teeth and black drool, with shining red eyes piercing through the night, which scared the ever-living crap out of everyone nearby.

"TEKE TEKE! One shinobi screamed out in fear before being sliced in half himself.

The rest screamed in horror as they scrambled to their feet and tried sending blades of golden chakra from their enhanced weaponry, while others tried firing out of their Shinobi Gauntlets, but the Teke Teke was too damn fast.

Just like the urban legend, the Teke Teke, who was giggling with manic glee all the way, was super-fast despite only being able to move on its hands. She dashed around their attacks and sliced at each one, bisecting any poor soul near her.

After severing a few, one shinobi fired a scroll at the ground before him that unleashed a sealing formula, and once the Teke Teke scurried after him, it went over the seal, activating it as the gravity around it increased and slammed the creature hard into the ground.

"Yeah! How do you like that?!" The shinobi called out with a victorious grin as he focused his chakra more into the seal to crush the legless bitch, who was letting out a scream of anger and agony.

The shinobi was so focused on trying to crush the Teke Teke to death, he didn't notice a Tsuchigumo (Ground Spider) landing behind him with the sharp ends of its legs ready to pierce him from behind.

"Gatsūga!" (Fang Passing Fang) Someone shouted out as a pair of drilling human-sized bullets struck the Tsuchigumo, sending it flying back, surprising the shinobi that was just saved. "Watch you back, will ya? This is a war zone right now." Kiba told the shinobi he and Akamaru just saved, with the elderly canine barking in agreement.

"H-Hai." The shinobi said, still in shock that he was almost just killed. He then heard some digging, making him look back to see the Teke Teke trying to crawl its way over with its scythe, fighting against the intensified gravity. "Just Die Already!" The shinobi screamed as he added more chakra, crushing the Teke Teke more and causing it to scream.

"Kiba!" Tsume called out as she ran by her son, surprising him. "Watch my back! I need to get this girl to safety!" Tsume told her son as she picked up the pace.

"Wait, did kaa-chan really just ask that? Now I know things are going straight to hell." Kiba said as he and Akamaru hurried after her before noticing a Hibagon and Futakuchi-onna (Two-Mouthed Woman) trying to blitz his mother on both sides. "Akamaru!" Kiba called out to his ninken, who barked in response, as they quickly leaped and performed their jutsu. "Gatsūga!" Both Kiba and Akamaru sent the pair of Oni Zetsu flying but that's all they managed to accomplish.

"You couldn't have killed them?" Tsume shot at her son as he and Akamaru covered her on both sides.

"Give me a break! These things are tougher than they look! It's like their skin is some cold, hard-ass coating of ice from a glacier or something!" Kiba retorted. His nose picked up a familiar scent which was unpleasant to him as he looked towards the girl in his mother's arms. 'Hey, wait… isn't that the girl who smells like cats from that mission a while back? The one with those bandits, the Byakuya Gang?' Kiba thought to himself.

Aways away, Chocho groaned as she opened her eyes, only to notice she was being carried away.

"What in the-?"

"Good, you're awake." Moegi said with relief as she ran off with Chocho heaved over her shoulder.

"Moegi-sensei?" Chocho was surprised to see her sensei carrying her, only for the area around them to burst with shockwaves of wind causing them to hit the ground. The pair groaned with pain and soreness as they looked up to see the Fūris (Wind Tanuki) still high above and tossing blades of wind down below. Chocho growled before she got to her feet and screamed. "I'm Tired of These Things! Bubun Baika no Jutsu!" (Partial Multi-Sized Technique) Chocho enlarged both her arms as then lightning coursed all around them. "Now Eat This! Super Chocho's Baika Inuzuma Dan!" (Multi-Sized Lightning Barrage)

At blinding speeds Chocho delivered a barrage of punches towards the sky that unleashed compressed forces of lightning that once making it towards the air where the Fūris occupied, exploded with lightning, shocking and killing all of the flying monkey weasel creatures.

The Fūris let out screeching wails as they fell towards the ground, dispersing into ash as their very being were fried from the inside out, killing them on a cellular level and destroying any pollen they could have released.

Chocho didn't stop there, as once she made sure the Fūris were gone, she aimed her sights towards the Oni Zetsu on the ground and unleashed more barrages of lightning, screaming all the way as she struck as many as she could.

'Impressive.' Moegi thought with amazement at her student's abilities.

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Tenten unleashed another powerful wind towards the charging Oni Zetsu, striking them and sending them all flying away. She panted with beads of sweat going down her brow.

'Dammit. Even with all that training with Lee to increase my reserves, I can't use this weapon for too long.' Tenten thought as she wiped away the sweat from her brow and sealed away her Bashōsen and took off one of the giant scrolls from her back and unsealed what was inside. She unsealed the contents inside to reveal they were thousands of kunai with bomb tags attached to them. 'Neji… look over me. I need your strength right now.' Tenten thought as she circulated her chakra around her entire chakra network before creating strings of chakra from every tenketsu in her body.

The strings of chakra stuck to all of the kunai, connecting to them not unlike the puppet jutsu.

The Oni Zetsu were getting closer as Tenten got into a stance as with the movements of her legs, arms and fingers, she controlled the tagged kunai in midair with her chakra strings. She moved them in a fluid motion, almost like they were dancing in the air. They all moved about to seemingly take shape of a dragon.

"Get ready." Tenten said, getting into a one-legged crane stance, as the tagged kunai made dragon circle around behind her. Once the army of Oni Zetsu before her began to charge, Tenten made her move. "Moeru Ryū no Mai!" (Burning Dragon Dance) Tenten thrust her body forward with her arm and leg outstretched forward with her hand in an upside-down snake strike.

The dragon of kunai and bomb tags rocketed forward and struck several Oni Zetsu on its path before Tenten willed it into the air with her fluid movements.

The Oni Zetsu growled at her in anger, when a Hibagon heard a hissing sound, making its eyes dart to see a tag attached to the side of its face, only for it to suddenly go off in a large explosion that actually was powerful enough to take of its head and send surrounding Oni Zetsu back from the force of the explosion.

The rest of the Oni Zetsu were shocked before more hissing sounds were heard as several more met the same explosive fate as the Hibagon.

Tenten let out a battle cry as with fluid motion, she guided the dragon to move all throughout the area, slicing through Oni Zetsu and tagging them with its explosive tags.

'This jutsu combines my bukijutsu with taijutsu I learned from Lee and the practice of manipulating tenketsu that I was gifted permission to learn from Neji's clan! It took years to master, but I have finally perfect this jutsu. One that can face a whole army single handedly!' Tenten thought to herself as she finished off the rest of the Oni Zetsu before her, sending them all to oblivion via explosions, as she then guided the kunai dragon that still had tags to spare to encircle around her as she then made a kung fu dragon style stance.

Metal watched the scene before him from afar, amazed by Tenten's new jutsu and fluid movements.

"Sugoi." Metal said with stars for eyes before Tsubaki rushed over and slashed away a Jinmenken that tried to bite him.

"Focus, Metal! We are in a warzone now!" Tsubaki scolded the taijutsu specialist.

"Suman!" Metal apologized as Tsubaki ran off.

Metal looked around himself to see all the shinobi on the battlefield using their bijū chakra enhanced weaponry, putting up the best fight they could against the attacking Oni Zetsu, who had trees and branches sprouting from the wounds they received thanks to Mamoru and Kurama's combined chakra. He then noticed sonic booms erupting throughout the battlefield, sending shinobi flying. Metal looked up to find Yama Orabi (Mountain Shouters) firing sonic waves from their very large mouths.

"Above us!" One shinobi shouted as then he and several other shinobi unleashed jutsus from their scientific ninja tools and bijū enhanced weaponry to strike at the flying Oni Zetsu.

Metal then noticed a flock surrounding Tenten from above, who was too focused on defending herself against the Oni Zetsu on the ground with her tagged kunai dragon. The moment he saw one ready to fire at her, he quickly leapt into action.

"Tenten-san!" Metal leaped up high, getting in between Tenten and the Yama Orabi in midair with his arms up to block just as the avian Oni Zetsu fired its shot.

Metal was hit and sent hurdling towards the ground hard.

"METAL!" Tenten screamed the boy's name in fear for his life. She growled with her teeth grit, glaring up at the avian creatures above, who were readying their sound-based jutsu. "You'll pay for that!" Tenten shouted as she spun, delivering a high roundhouse kick as her kunai dragon swerved in front of her, releasing numerous tagged kunai that traveled fast and far up.

The moment the Yama Obari flock unleashed their sonic waves, their collective jutsu activated the bomb tags attached to the kunai, causing them to explode, taking the flock with them as the sky was littered with fiery explosions and the screeches of agony from the bird monsters.

Tenten continued to glare up with her teeth grit, only for an Akabeko to rush at her from the side.

"Ryū no Dainamikku Entorī!" (Dragon's Dynamic Entry) Metal, with the third gate active, delivered a bulleting flying kick with his Ryōbi (Dragon Tail) chain wrapped around his leg straight into the side of the Akabeko, sending it flying away.

The Akabeko had the kunai end of Metal's weapon stabbed into its side as it then exploded, alerting Tenten, who turned in surprise to see Metal back on his feet.

"Metal!"

"Tenten-san! No matter what happens, I will make sure none of them hurt you!" Metal declared as he unfurled the chain from around his leg and replaced the kunai tip.

This caused Tenten to smile warmly at both the boy's gesture and that he used the new weapon she had made for him to save her.

'I'm glad he's using that new weapon of his to the best of his ability.' Tenten thought, feeling pride in the young boy, only to notice several Jinmenken trying to pounce at him. "Watch out!" Tenten shouted as she moved her tagged kunai dragon to intervene.

"I got it!" Metal said as he delivered a reverse roundhouse with his Ryōbi flying out.

Both the Tenten's kunai dragon and Metal's dragon tail delivered slices to the sides of the beasts, with tags littered on them that the end of Metal's kunai tipped chain ignited, creating a cluster of explosions.

"Metal, watch my back and I'll watch yours. Understand?" Tenten ordered with her back against Metal's as she made a kung fu dragon style stance again with her 'dragon' flying beside her.

"Hai, Tenten-san!" Metal proclaimed as he was in a crane stance with his 'dragon tail' raised and ready around his leg.

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"Konoha Senpū!" (Leaf Whirlwind) Lee and Shinachiku delivered a pair of flying roundhouses to the face of a Hibagon, sending it flying away.

"Doton: Dosekidake!" (Earth Release: Earth and Stone Bamboo Shoot) Iwabe littered the area with spikes from the ground, stabbing into many Oni Zetsu.

"Katon: Haisekishō!" (Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning) Mirai unleashed a whole field's worth of ash that covered the Oni Zetsu that were stabbed into and some unstabbed surrounding ones.

"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" (Multiple Shadow Clone Technique) Shinachiku screamed out as he made twenty-five clones that leaped high into the air as they immediately activated the fifth gate, and each formed a Chōōdama Rasengan (Ultra Big-Ball Spiraling Spheres) in their hands.

"Ryūsei-gun Rasengan!" (Meteor Shower Spiraling Sphere) The clones rain down upon the Oni Zetsu surrounded in the cloud of ash.

'Gotcha.' Mirai clicked her teeth with a grin causing the ash the ignite just as the hailstorm of Chōōdama Rasengans crashed into the coated ground.

"Yosha!" Shinachiku exclaimed with a grin and fist pump.

'That kid sure is something else.' Mirai thought with a smile as she looked towards Shinachiku.

"With all these promising shinobi, I barely need to make a move myself." Kakashi said with his arms crossed, seeing the immense cloud of dirt and ash that both Shinachiku and Mirai created. "Barely, but still needed." Kakashi added as he looked upwards to see a flock of Yama Obari and Fūris in the sky, readying to attack. Kakashi created several clones as they all leaped into the air with their hands coated in purple lighting. "Raiton: Shiden!" (Lightning Release: Purple Lightning) Kakashi and his clones unleashed bolts of purple lightning that fried the airborne Oni Zetsu.

"Oi, Mirai-san! You mind doing that ash jutsu into the sky for us?" Shinachiku asked the Sarutobi kunoichi.

"Uh, sure." Mirai said with confusion at his request.

"Hop on." Shikadai said as he unfolded his large fan for flight mode.

Mirai hopped on as she and Shikadai flew up into the sky.

"Katon: Haisekishō!" Mirai blew ash into the air, creating a large cloud of smoke.

"Don't ignite it just yet." Shikadai said as he then flew them both down back to ground level.

"So, what was that for?" Mirai asked, still very confused.

"This." Arata said with a handful of his storm pellets. He tossed them straight into the ash in the sky. "Ignite it."

Mirai clicked her teeth without hesitation, causing the ash to explode along with the storm pellets inside.

Arata brought his left hand up and encased it in lightning with bolts firing from it and striking the cloud above. The cloud of smoke and ash immediately became a storm cloud, earning everyone's attention as they all then heard the sounds of chirping from within the clouds. Blue light illuminated from within the cloud as there looked to be something moving inside.

"What is that?" A shinobi from below asked as they all stared up with widened eyes.

"Well, well." Kakashi said, looking up with his ever-present nonchalant expression.

"Gather above and strike." Arata brought his left hand down as a flock of large hawks made of blue lightning rained down from the storm cloud. "Chidori Arashi!" (One Thousand Birds Storm) Arata announced as the lightning hawks screeched as they rained down upon the Oni Zetsu in the area, striking them down.

Everyone watched in shock and awe at the speed and power of the jutsu they just witnessed, instantly destroying a remaining Oni Zetsu before the front gate.

"You know… for some reason I tend to forget how powerful you two really are." Mirai said aloud, referring to Shinachiku and Arata, with wide blinking eyes.

"I'm sure we're grateful that they're on our side." Shikadai said, with all other shinobi nodding in agreement.

'And yet they're still holding back. They're somewhere at the level of their fathers early during the war. Maybe even halfway through.' Kakashi noticed as he looked between Shinachiku and Arata. 'They grow up so fast.' Kakashi thought with a bit of a nervous chuckle and eye smiles.

"Attention to Troop B defending the gates of the village." A member of the Barrier Team contacted the group of shinobi through the mental link. "There is trouble in the far western district. The Hyūga is facing a powerful threat that is starting to overwhelm them. They need additional back-up. Your troop is having the least trouble out of the rest, so we implore some of your numbers to be diverge in their direction to assist them." The Barrier Team member explained.

This message caused Arata's eyes to widen. Hearing that his clan was in trouble made his blood run cold. It didn't matter if this wasn't the same clan he grew up with. A Hyūga is still a Hyūga, and family is still family.

"I wish to go to help my clan!" A member of the Hyūga within the group said.

"I as well!" Another member said.

"Alright." Kakashi said as he looked towards the rest of the group. "Several of you head off with your weaponry to help them." Kakashi ordered.

"Hai, Rokudaime-sama!" The shinobi said as the Hyūgas of the group and several other shinobi hurried off.

Arata tightened his hold on his chokuto's hilt, feeling frustration at the moment.

"Well?" Shinachiku spoke, looking towards Arata.

"Hn?" Arata looked towards his friend in confusion.

"Go help them out. We'll be fine, dattebaro." Shinachiku said, surprising Arata.

"Yes! Go help your clan, Arata-kun!" Lee said with a toothy grin and thumbs up.

Arata stared at them for a moment with widened eyes before nodding with gratitude.

"Arigato." Arata said as he disappeared from sight.

"Wait, that kid was a Hyūga?" One shinobi questioned in surprise.

"Never seen him before." Another stated, equally surprised.

"Everyone! Do not let your guard down! This night is far from over!" Kakashi ordered as behind the cloud of smoke created by Arata's lightning jutsu, were the gleam of more Oni Zetsu eyes.

"Seriously? There's no end to this." A shinobi said feeling fear grip him.

"There is!" Shinachiku yelled out, catching everyone's attention. "But that end is going to be either ours or theirs, and I am not going to let this village end, 'ttebaro! Not when my will is screaming at me to finish this with as many lives saved! I'm gonna endure to the bitter end! That's what a real shinobi does!" Shinachiku screamed out as he then crossed his arms in front of himself as the pressure around him started to build. "CHANARO!" Shinachiku snapped open the fifth gate before vanishing.

"Shinachiku, wait!" Mirai called out to the boy, who then appeared in the air and threw several three-pronged kunai towards the group of Oni Zetsu.

"Tajū Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" (Multiple Kunai Shadow Clone Technique) Shinachiku created around forty copies of his Hiraishin kunai that stabbed into the ground around the Oni Zetsu. "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Shinachiku quickly created forty clones that then appeared beside each kunai. "Asa Kujaku no Mure!" (Flock of Morning Peacocks) Shinachiku and his clones delivered blinding barrages of flaming fists, striking many Oni Zetsu with them. "Tajū Pekku!" (Multiple Pecks) Shina and his clones delivered morote-tsuki style punches that unleashed powerful vacuums of force through the Oni Zetsu, sending them flying farther away from the village and closer towards the forest, even hitting them into other Oni Zetsu.

"N-Never mind." Mirai said, now in a shellshocked state along with the other shinobi.

Despite using up a hefty amount of his stamina, panting with sweat on his brow and clones dispersing, Shinachiku remained standing tall as he then brought his fist up and gripped his bicep.

"This is what a shinobi of Konoha can do, konoyaro! Don't you dare underestimate us!" Shinachiku yelled out with pure gutsiness, causing the rest of the shinobi to roar with cheers and boosted confidence.

"I don't know who this kid is, but he makes me want to follow him all the way to hell and back!" One shinobi said with a grin.

"Let's show these bastards never to mess with Konoha-nin, everyone!" Another shinobi screamed out as they all let out battle cries and charged forward with more Oni Zetsu charging towards them in a frenzy.

"Hmph. That boy really is his father's son." Kakashi commented with a hidden smile, while Lee gaped with proud tears raining from his eyes.

"Shinachiku-kun! I am so moved by your drive! I am proud to be considered your sensei!" Lee uttered as he wiped away his proud tears. "Alright! I shall match your immense youth with my own hot-blooded vigor! Tomon, Kai!" Lee activated the fifth gate and leaped high into the air. "Burn Youth! Burn! Dainamikku Entorī!" (Dynamic Entry) Lee rocketed downward with a powerful dive kick that broke apart the ground around the Oni Zetsu and sent them flying via a powerful shockwave.

"I think we just might win this." Kakashi said as he readied his purple lighting jutsu in hand before disappearing from sight.

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Within the village, Naruto, the original, sensed everyone giving it their all to defend their village from this threat, yet despite the aid of his and Kurama's chakra sealed within their new weaponry and scientific ninja tools, they were still having trouble, as it seemed like with every single Oni Zetsu destroyed, two more took their place.

'Dammit. I wish I was out there helping them right now, 'ttebayo.' Naruto thought to himself with an aggravated frown.

"Oi, pay attention." Clone Shinachiku said, regaining Naruto's attention. "I know you're frustrated, but the sooner we get this fūinjutsu working, the better it is for everyone." Clone Shinachiku said to his father's counterpart.

The pair were standing atop the Hokage Tower with the younger blonde busy making a sealing formula that was meant to cover the whole floor of the top of the tower.

"You can't blame me for being like this." Naruto retorted.

"I know. Believe me. Being forced to hold yourself back like this… but if this isn't finished first, then there really will be no hope for the village." Clone Shinachiku said with a frustrated frown as he tightened his fists.

'You're holding back more anger than even I am, aren't you, Shina?' Naruto thought to himself with a sorrowful frown as he felt Shinachiku's emotional turmoil.

Yet despite his unrest, the younger blonde continued his work to make sure all of the village is protected.

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With Troop A, led by Konohamaru Sarutobi, it was an epic warzone.

Golden fire was being unleashed, ammunition and jutsu being spready about, shinobi falling and Oni Zetsu disintegrating.

"Taiton: Hadan!" (Typhoon Release: Rupture) Boruto sent a slash of wind and lightning that cut through several Jinmenken and Futakuchi-onna and the latter's hair. Boruto panted a bit, but he remained strong. 'So, this is war.' Boruto thought to himself as he looked around, seeing both shinobi and Oni Zetsu fighting to the death.

An Uwabami broke out of the ground beneath Boruto, but the blonde managed to leap away from being eaten whole by the snake. It hissed at Boruto, but the boy gathered wind chakra around his bokken, and when the large snake went for another bite, Boruto sped forward and sliced its head off. Once the giant snake's head hit the ground, he let out an exhale only to hear metal hitting metal hitting metal which caused him to spin around with his bokken ready.

Apparently, Sarada had intercepted a Teke Teke that had its sights set on him, only for its scythe to meet Sarada's kunai with purple sparks of lightning surrounding the Uchiha with her pigment being a shade warmer.

Sarada growled as she grabbed the Teke Teke by the hair as she then spun around at high speed like a tornado before letting go, causing the Teke Teke to fly off towards the distance, screaming all the way until it was out of sight. Sarada panted as she deactivated both her usage of the Hachimon and Raiton: Ōbādoraibu (Lightning Release: Overdrive), only to fall to her knees, panting with a groan as sweat went down her brow.

"Sarada!" Boruto ran over towards his friend, only to use his bokken to send an approaching Jinmenken away with added typhoon release. Boruto went to grab Sarada, but she let out a painful yelp as pulled away. 'She's been using the Eight Gates too much. She isn't used to it like Shinachiku-onii-chan is.' Boruto realized as he took out some Iyashi-satsu he had left over and carefully placed them on several points on Sarada's body.

"I'm good." Sarada said as she struggled a bit to stay on her feet.

"Don't talk big. Just rely on me for the moment, okay?" Boruto said as she readied himself to defend Sarada from anything that would come their way.

"Dammit… I really hate role-reversals." Sarada quipped with a slightly pain but joking grin. She then heard screaming, making her turn her head to see Chocho zipping around and slamming her electrified and enlarged fists into any Oni Zetsu that got in her range. 'She's really going at it.' Sarada thought, shocked and amazed by Chocho's new attitude.

Sarada had never seen her best friend so driven.

"I'll crush any of these bastards that are in my way! I'm tired of their rude attitude towards beautiful ladies! Chocho Densha (Train) is coming your way!" Chocho screamed out with a pissed anime expression as she attacked as many Oni Zetsu that she came across.

'Maybe a bit too motivated.' Sarada thought with a sweat drop.

A bit away, Konohamaru was throwing three-pronged kunai all over the place as he then started appearing all around the battlefield, striking down any Oni Zetsu with his bijū chakra enhanced sword and even a fiery Rasengan here and there. However, as he continued on, he noticed the area was starting to clear up more, which gave him a very bad feeling.

'What's going on? One moment they were coming out with ferocity and now they're spreading out.' Konohamaru looked around with confusion while keeping a steely expression. 'It's almost like they're…' Konohamaru's eyes widened as he realized what might be going on… or what might will happen in a moment.

"They're running back into the forest!" A shinobi pointed out as a number of Oni Zetsu retreated back into the forest.

"Don't let them escape! If they hide in the forest, then they'll be a problem for another day!" Another shinobi called out as he and several others rushed after retreating creatures to quickly end them.

"Wait, Stop!" Konohamaru called out.

"Bakas! If you go in there, you'll be at a disadvantage!" Moegi shouted out, but the shinobi continued on.

All of a sudden, a giant hand arose from the forest and slammed into the shinobi, creating a grand shockwave that sent nearby shinobi and Oni Zetsu flying away.

'I knew it!' Konohamaru thought as he brought his arms up to shield himself from the force and dust created by the very large hand.

"Nani?!" One shinobi exclaimed as he and the others stared in shock.

"Fuhuhuhuhu~." A loud, echoey laughter of a woman was heard throughout the battlefield as the giant hand retreated into the forest, causing a chill to run up every shinobi's spine.

The forest released an intense chill with streams of icy mist escaping the darkness hidden within. The shinobi gulped and shivered at the presence of whatever was hidden within the forest. The sounds of the trees breaking and being spilt open were heard as rising from the forest was a giant pale-skinned woman.

Everyone looked up in horror at the sight of this giant woman.

She was pale with a large, wide grin filled with sharp teeth that were white and stained black, eyes that were black with bright blue pupils that gleamed, and around 'her' face were wrinkles, like the kind you'd see on an old tree, and she frizzy ink black hair made of moss, algae and vines that was mostly done up like a geisha's Geiko Shimada hairstyle but with several long and thick vines hanging of from the back and sides. Its lips were lathered with dark sludge, looking akin to smeared black lipstick. It even had some sort of clothing on, looking similar to a kimono, but it was ragged as the ends of the sleeves, exposing a bit of its pale arms with black long claws acting like long fingernails, and though unseen at the moment, at the bottom a bit past the knees, exposing its shins/calves and feet with sharp, black toenails.

The Konoha-nin stared up at the giant with looks of fear, with the men of the Troop A looking more frightened by the result of being in the humanoid creature's presence.

"W… what is that?" Boruto asked with widened, horrified eyes.

All of a sudden, the giant started to giggle.

"Kuku… hee, hee, hee, hee, hoo, hoo, hoo, hahahaha, ah hahahahahahaha! Ki, ki, ki, AH HAHAHAHAHAHA~!" The giant's laughter unleashed a sonic wave that caused everyone to stiffen up as then shinobi were starting to hit the floor.

All of the ones hitting the ground were all male.

"What in the?" A kunoichi said in shock.

"What is going on?" Another kunoichi wondered.

"I… I can't… move." One of the male ninjas said as he trembled in place.

"Her voice… I think it's somehow laced with natural energy and only effective against males." Konohamaru deduced as he trembled as well, staring at his shaking hand.

"Then there's no question anymore… that's a Kerakera Onna!" (Cackling Woman) Moegi stated, glaring at the beast ahead.

The Kerakera Onna delivered a stomp onto the battlefield that created a wave of dirt and debris as it formed a crater, sending every nearby shinobi flying away.

"Things are looking bad! We need to gain some distance!" Sarada said to Boruto as she shielded herself from the force and specs of debris, only to notice no response from her teammate. "Boruto?" Sarada looked towards the golden blonde, only to see him frozen in place, trembling with sweat down his brow. 'He's affected too! This thing really is a menace to men.' Sarada thought with shock before turning to glare at the giant.

"Ho hohohohoho~." The Kerakera Onna chuckled, only to be struck in the eye by a ball of lightning, causing 'her' to scream and step back into the forest as 'she' held her eye. 'She' growled as 'she' used her good eye to look around only to find a slim dark-skinned kunoichi with electrified butterfly wings and an enlarged fist flying in the air.

"I'm not letting you harm anymore men with your wickedness! Cross my heart, hope to die! Here's a needle for your eye! Raiton: Yubi Uchi Senbon!" (Lightning Release: Finger Shooting a Thousand Long Cylindrical Object) Chocho pointed out her enlarged index finger, charged with lightning as then she shot from her fingertip an oversized senbon made of lightning that struck the Kerakera Onna right in 'her' remaining eye, causing 'her' to scream out in pain as she fell back, striking the forest back first. "Yatta!" Chocho exclaimed with a victorious smirk and fist pumping with her enlarged arm.

"Way to go, Chocho!" Sarada cheered as the rest of the kunoichi celebrated Chocho's victory.

"That a girl." Moegi said with a proud smile, staring up at her student. She heard something hit the ground, making her turn to see Konohamaru, now panting and drenched in sweat as he was on one knee. "Konohamaru-chan?" Moegi looked towards her old teammate with concern.

"The Kerakera Onna's been dealt with but I'm still feeling an aftershock effect now that it's incapacitated. The same might be said for the rest of the number of males in our group." Konohamaru said to Moegi.

"Then us kunoichi will just have to pick up the slack while you rest." Moegi said with a serious expression before turning towards the rest of her sisters in arms. "Listen up, ladies! The men are still affected for the moment, so we're going to have to continue the fight ourselves until they recover! Give it everything you have!" Moegi yelled out.

"Yosh!" Every female called out as they readied their weapons and scientific ninja tools.

"Alright then." Sarada said as she readied for the next assault, but flinched and held her bicep. Apparently, her muscles were still aching and likely some shredded from her usage of the Hachimon, despite using some medical ninjutsu and the added benefit of Iyashi-satsu to heal them. "Those gates really are no joke." Sarada said to herself as she pulled herself together and tried ignoring the pain.

"Sarada…" Boruto spoke, earning his teammate's attention, noticing he was down on his knees with his face covered in sweat. "I still have… some more of those tags… use them." Boruto offered as he panted.

Sarada stared at Boruto for a moment before gaining a serious expression.

"You hold onto them. Anything happens, I trust them to be in your hands than on mine." Sarada stated as she faced forward.

"Sarada…" Boruto looked unsure and worried.

Sarada brought up her fist and circulated lightning around it.

'I can't keep relying on the Hachimon for a boost. I have to rely on my own strength as it is right now… I have to take what I've learned from Arata-onii-chan now. It's time to evolve my technique!' Sarada thought to herself as her eyes flashed red for a moment with a surge of lightning running up her body from her feet to her head.

"Here they come!" A kunoichi shouted out as Oni Zetsu rushed back out from the forest and aimed to attack.

"Protect the men!" Another kunoichi called out as they readied to attack with their long-range weaponry and scientific ninja tools.

Sarada closed her eyes and took a deep breath in through her nose.

'No more over-relying on that boost. I won't rely on a single surefire way. I'm not going back on my word, Arata-onii-chan.' Sarada thought to herself as she focused on circulating lightning release all throughout her chakra pathways. 'Right now… I need pure technique.' Sarada's hair started to rise up with electricity circulating through it. Sarada took one more deep breath in before snapping her eyes open as she was surrounded by pure lightning.

"Everyone, now!" Moegi shouted out as all the kunoichi were ready to unleash their long-range assault.

"Shannarō!" A scream was heard throughout the battlefield, causing the kunoichi to stop before the ground across from them was broken into and shattered.

The ground around the Oni Zetsu was shattered to pieces with parts of the now broken ground upheaved and sticking upwards with Oni Zetsu now falling into the gaps of the debris. The broken ground unleashed bolts of lightning that struck the Oni Zetsu, falling or not, frying them from the inside. The damage travelled farther into the forest, damaging and breaking down trees along with any Oni Zetsu hiding within.

All that was left in the wake was broken earth, lightning and a very large cloud of dust.

Everyone stared in awe at the scene before them, wondering what had happened.

As the dust settled a bit, they noticed a figure with a coat of lightning sparking around them like armor, before dispersing. Once it cleared up, Troop A found the figure being a black-haired girl with the Uchiha symbol on her back, indicating it was none other than Sarada.

Sarada let out an exhale as she opened her eyes, revealing she had turned off her Sharingan. She looked towards her fist as it circulated with electricity.

'Not yet. I haven't gotten it down just yet.' Sarada thought to herself as the battalion of kunoichi cheered for her, before she was forced to react again.

"Way to go, Sarada!" Chocho cheered for her friend from above, only to notice Sarada being forced to zip around, dodging sonic waves and blades of wind from above. "What the-?!" Chocho turned to notice Yama Obaris and more Fūris raining sound waves and blades of wind, respectively, down towards her best friend. "Oh, hell no! Scram!" Chocho shouted as she expanded her other arm and brought both enlarged limbs back with her hands open and sparking with lightning. "Bakai Jinrai!" (Multi-Sized Thunderclap) Chocho slammed both her oversized hands together, unleashing a massive shockwave of lightning that struck and fried the airborne Oni Zetsu, causing them to screech in pain as they fell towards the ground.

"Arigato, Chocho!" Sarada called out to her best friend up above, only for her instincts to kick in as thorny vines and ropes covered in kunai and shuriken broke through the uprooted debris and chased after Sarada, forcing her to dodge more and gain some distance. "Dammit." Sarada cursed as she now rejoined the rest of the kunoichi.

Crawling out from the gaps of the debris within the forest were more Oni Zetsu, with the thorny vines and bladed ropes coming from an Abumi-guchi (Stirrup Mouth), which was accompanied by two more alongside some Furuutsubo (Old Quiver) and a Kura Yarō (Saddle Rascal), and different other Oni Zetsu following.

The Abumi-guchi fired more thorny vines and kunai-riddled ropes, only for large roots to shoot from the ground, crashing into its long-ranged weapons and went straight into its mouth. The Abumi-guchi's eyes widened as it felt the roots inside before several shot out from within itself, piercing its body all around from the inside out.

"Don't let them hinder you!" Moegi shouted out with her hands clasped together in a hand seal, revealing she was the user of the wood jutsu. "Unleash your attack now!" Moegi screamed out.

All the kunoichi unleashed battle cries as they swung their weapons, unleashing golden flames of tailed beast chakra and ammunition from their scientific ninja tools.

The new battalion of Oni Zetsu tried dodging or retaliated with their own natural energy enhanced techniques.

Both sides' attack collided with a number of Oni Zetsu perishing but more continued to break through and attack.

"Charge!" A kunoichi screamed out as they all charged forward to attack.

"You boys focus on getting your bearings back! We'll hold the line!" Moegi told the male shinobi populace, as they were slowly but surely regaining themselves again.

"Hai." Konohamaru, who was the nearest to her, responded as he watched her charge forward. 'I should make sure never to piss her off in the future.' Konohamaru thought with a nervous, yet happy smile and sweat drop down the side of his head.

.

.

"Hakke Dai Kūhekishō!" (Eight Trigrams Great Vacuum Wall Palm)

The Hyūga were all lined up and unleashed a barrage of simultaneous vacuum strikes from their palms, sending a whole wall of force and chakra towards a legion of Oni Zetsu, sending them all flying back.

Well… not all.

While the rest were struck and sent flying, one actually managed to not only take the barrage of compressed invisible chakra walls, but even overpower with its own invisible force of energy.

This being was several times larger than the average man, mostly in mass than height, as though being 12'4, it was wide with massive muscles and pale white ashen skin. It had a bald head, wide black eyes with glowing green pupils, long hanging earlobes, overly muscular torso, arms and legs, and dirty black sharp nails sticking out of its fingers and toes. It wore tattered pants that had algae and patches of grass growing from it, along with a blackened obi around its waist, and draped around its neck were wooden prayer beads in the shape of skulls.

The humanoid beast had hunched over with its arms in an X-block, not only taking the invisible charging barrier of chakra, but it also was waving over him like there was a layer of unseen aura around it. Its eyes gleamed as it snapped its arms out with a roar as it reeled back, unleashing an overpowering force of unseen energy.

'Damn, Ōnyūdō!' (Giant Monk) One Hyūga thought with gritted teeth.

The Ōnyūdō stood up straight and let out a low growled as it glared at the clan before it.

All the Hyūga quickly entered their Jūken (Gentle Fist), trying to be ready for anything this cretin tried to do. What they didn't expect it to do was vanish from sight, which shocked them all.

"Above us!" One Hyūga shouted, causing the rest to look upward as well to see the Ōnyūdō over them with its right palm reeled back.

"Hakke Kūshō!" (Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm) Several Hyūgas thrust their hands toward the airborne Oni Zetsu as it thrust its own oversized hand downward, both delivering invisible forced from their palms.

Unfortunately, the Hyūga members combined jutsu was overpowered in an instant by the Ōnyūdō's singular jutsu, which literally tore right through theirs and struck them head on, instantly forming a large crater via shockwave that sent the Hyūga flying, with each having their body crush severely or sizeable, depending on their standing from the Ōnyūdō's attack.

One Hyūga was on the floor, face-first, groaning in pain as he coughed up blood. He gritted his bloodied teeth as he noticed the others who were struck were not as fortunate as he was, and he could tell he had some broken bones and likely have internal bleeding.

The Ōnyūdō landed on the ground, standing up straight in a strong stance.

'Dammit…' The downed Hyūga member who was still conscious thought with anger as he spat out some blood and noticed a green aura surrounding the Oni Zetsu. 'This thing isn't using normal chakra. This has to be natural energy, and it has an insanely massive quantity of it!' The Hyūga thought assessed as he tried getting back up, but the moment he lifted his body a bit, it felt like his entire being cracked under an invisible pressure.

The Hyūga vomited out more blood as he writhed in agony on the floor. All he could do was pant, and it hurt more than anything as with every breath he took, it felt like his lungs were repeatedly being struck by countless senbon from the inside. Despite being wracked with pain, his agony didn't override his senses as he saw the Ōnyūdō making its way towards him. Unfortunately, he could exactly move since he was filled with so much agony that even moving an iota made it feel like a living hell!

The Ōnyūdō stood over the downed Hyūga member. It stared down at the pearl eyed man, before it raised its foot, prepared to end him.

The Hyūga's eyes widened in fear, before the Ōnyūdō suddenly delivered a side kick to block a palm strike from another Hyūga. The Hyūga attacking from the side was sent flying away, but that provided another Hyūga to rush in and grab their fallen comrade, leaping away to get him as far away from the Oni Zetsu as possible.

However, the Ōnyūdō delivered a roundhouse kick that unleashed a wave of natural energy that struck the retreating Hyūga members, sending them flying with their bodies cracking from within thanks to the pressure behind the strike.

"We have to bombard him!" A Hyūga shouted out as several tried to attack the Ōnyūdō from all directions, but the oversized Oni Zetsu brought its arms up and thrust its palms downward, unleashing a shockwave of natural energy and compressed force that sent the attacking Hyūga members flying.

It didn't matter where they attacked, the shockwave would have hit them all eventually.

The Ōnyūdō then started delivered strikes like punches, palms and kicks that delivered compressed forces of natural energy all throughout the battlefield, sending more Hyūga flying from the shockwaves when either hitting the ground or hitting them personally.

'This is looking very bad!' One Hyūga member thought with widened scared eyes as he stared at the Ōnyūdō. 'I think I'm so scared that my eyes are deceiving me, because I could swear that I'm seeing that this thing has-' His train of thought was interrupted when he noticed that Ōnyūdō turn its attention towards him, wracking the pearl eyed shinobi with fear.

A fear greatly found as the Ōnyūdō appeared over him with its foot raised up and ready to squish him.

The only thing the Hyūga could do was stare up in fear as the Ōnyūdō was ready to bring its foot down, but someone dashed over and delivered a powerful strike upward towards the bottom of its foot.

"Kūshōtei!" (Vacuum Palm Bottom) Hanabi shouted out as she delivered a strong palm strike towards the Ōnyūdō's foot, unleashing a powerful compressed force as she did so.

Whips of wind were being unleashed from the collision until Hanabi let out a battle cry, sending in more chakra as she managed to push the Ōnyūdō back a bit, allowing her to grab her fellow clan member and leap away from its range.

However, the Ōnyūdō slammed its foot down and delivered a dual palm strike towards Hanabi and the Hyūga's direction, delivering an invisible wall of chakra not unlike their jutsu, but infused with natural energy.

Hanabi gritted her teeth as she only could do one thing in the span of an instant. She threw her clansman out of range and tried to retaliate, but she didn't have time for the latter.

Fortunately, someone did have time to retaliate for her.

"Jūho Sōshiken!" (Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists) A female screamed out as she landed in between both Hanabi and the dual compressed force.

Surging around their arms were a grand amount of chakra in the shape of the heads of guardian lions that then collided with the Ōnyūdō's ranged dual vacuum attack, unleashing an intense shockwave.

"Hinata-onee-sama!" Hanabi was shocked to find none other than her elder sister had come to her aid, fighting against the attack that would have resulted in great damage for the younger sibling.

Hinata gritted her teeth as she fought against the natural energy enhanced force, clearly showing signs of struggle as she was gradually skidding back. With her Byakugan active, she saw all her fellow clan members on the floor broken, bleeding and dying. The normally genuinely gentle Hyūga felt a rapid increase in rage and aggression, knowing that this thing before her had been the one responsible, and it had intended to make her little sister one of the others.

That sort of rage bubbled over inside of her to cause her chakra levels to spike and her lion head palm jutsu, which was normally made of blue chakra, converted into purple chakra.

With one more battle cry, Hinata actually managed to overpower the natural energy enhanced jutsu, dispersing it with sparks of purple chakra circulating around her and her lion chakra palms.

Hanabi, along with nearby conscious Hyūga, gasped in shock and awe, staring at the ex-heiress with wonder at her shocking level of strength.

"Sugoi… Hinata-onee-sama." Hanabi said breathlessly. "Wait a minute, Onee-sama?! What are you doing here!?" Hanabi asked, shocked to see her elder sister on the battlefield, which she hasn't done since… she doesn't remember.

That's how long it's been!

"All Hyūga members were informed on the situation with the clan before anyone else. The second I heard this, I couldn't stand by and do nothing." Hinata said to her sister, but never took her eyes off the Ōnyūdō, who did the same with her.

"But what of Himawari?" Hanabi asked, concerned for her niece and her status.

"I left her in the care of your old caretaker, Natsu-san. She'll be fine." Hinata said.

"But onee-sama… this thing… it's extraordinarily dangerous. It's already taken out a sizeable chunk of our clan! If it… if it-"

"I won't die today." Hinata said, leaving her sister speechless. "Not today. Not tomorrow. Not for a long time. I promise… and I never go back on my word, for that is my nindo. My ninja way." Hinata declared as she got into her Jūken stance as the lion head shaped chakra around her hands flickered purple for a moment.

'Hinata-onee-sama…' Hanabi stared at her elder sister with awe, inspired by her words.

The Ōnyūdō let out a small growl as it then appeared in front of Hinata, ready to strike her down. Despite being ready to retaliate, Hanabi rushed in and defended her sister by delivering a vacuum palm strike to the Ōnyūdō, forcing it to make some distance, and surprising Hinata.

"Hanabi…" Hinata spoke her younger sister's name in surprise.

"What kind of sister would I be if I just let you handle this all on your own, one-sama. I couldn't look Boruto or Himawari-chan in the eye ever again if something were to happen to you, let alone proudly call myself a member of their family." Hanabi said without turning towards her sister as she then got into her Jūken stance as chakra surged around her own hands, taking the shape of lion heads just like her sister.

"I see. If that's the case…" Hinata smiled softly with pride as she walked over and stood by her sister's side in her own Jūken stance. "Then that's more of a reason to fight even harder. It's not often to fight by your side, so let us show this beast what the power of true Hyūga can do!"

"I couldn't have said it better myself, onee-sama." Hanabi said with a proud smile as she and her sister stood side by side in their clan's taijutsu stance, ready to fight together to the very end.

The Ōnyūdō narrowed its eyes at the pair before it reared its arms back into palm strikes, but the Hyūga sisters were already on the move.

Both Hinata and Hanabi let out battle cries as they thrust their palms forward, sending a pair of chakra lion projectiles towards the humanoid beast.

The Ōnyūdō thrusted its arms forward just as the chakra lions were about to strike it, meeting it with an aura of natural energy that collided with the chakra lions, creating a powerful shockwave that unleashed whips of wind and chakra.

"S-Sugoi!" One Hyūga shouted out as all the other members of the clan stared in awe at the clash of powers.

Both jutsu negated one another, causing them to disperse, but in came Hinata at high speed, letting out a battle cry as she thrust her other chakra surging palm towards the Ōnyūdō.

The massive 'priest' blocked with its arm which was enhanced with natural energy. Both parties struggled for a moment, before Hinata's chakra surged.

"Hakke Sōjishi Hōgeki!" (Eight Trigrams Twin Lions Crumbling Attack) Hinata screamed out as her chakra lion head turned purple and raged, resulting in a powerful shockwave that actually pushed the Ōnyūdō back, shocking everyone and the beast.

Hanabi then rushed over, leaping into the air, she let out a battle cry and slammed both her lion fists into the Ōnyūdō's face, nailing it and sending it towards the ground with a large thud as it bounced off it.

"No Way!" One Hyūga exclaimed in shock and awe.

"They took it down together!" Another shouted out.

'No way… Hanabi-sama has always powerful, but Hinata-sama… she hasn't been in the field since she had Boruto, and yet she still had this sort of power!' One Hyūga thought, shocked and amazed by Hinata's skills more than Hanabi's. 'To think… she was the one overlooked by the entire clan, starting from Hiashi-sama.'

The Ōnyūdō clenched its teeth as it flipped and landed on its feet. It roared as it sent a hard punch that unleashed a shockwave that forced the sisters to leap off towards separate sides. It rushed over towards Hinata, designating her as the bigger threat between the two.

Hinata gritted her teeth as she focused chakra to her legs, but not just regular chakra. She channeled lightning release chakra to amplify her muscles to assist in leaping over the Ōnyūdō's strike in time.

'I'm not adept in using chakra nature like Boruto and Arata-kun, but I know enough to keep me away from your grasp!' Hinata thought as she reared her palms back and thrust them forward towards the Ōnyūdō's head, but the humanoid suddenly retaliated with a loud shout that released a shockwave that struck Hinata and sent her flying.

"Hinata-onee-sama!" Hanabi called out her elder sister's name in fear for her life. Hanabi growled with gritted teeth, glaring at the Oni Zetsu. She sprinted at high speeds with her lion fists ready. The Ōnyūdō delivered a sweep kick, but Hanabi leaped over it and sent her chakra lion projectiles to the Ōnyūdō's arms to momentarily disable them. "Hakkeshō Kaiten!" (Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven) Hanabi spiraled in the air at rapid speed, creating a sphere of chakra that grinded against the Ōnyūdō.

The Ōnyūdō gritted its teeth as the rapidly rotating chakra sphere grinded against its chest, shaving off layers of its skin with friction emerging between the skin and jutsu.

Hanabi's chakra dispersed with a bit of a boom, sending the Ōnyūdō skidding back.

The Ōnyūdō growled with its teeth bare, then it roared as it rushed towards Hanabi with its hand cocked back. As it got close to her, it sensed a presence coming from behind.

It was Hinata, who came roaring in the air with her purple lion fists ready to strike.

The Ōnyūdō came to a halt and thrust its arms out to the sides, both aimed at the sisters, who clashed its hands with their jutsu, creating a pair of shockwaves, pushing both the sisters back, but they ran back right into the fray, clashing with the beast.

Hinata and Hanabi were now meeting the Ōnyūdō blow for blow, both trying to get a strike in on the other.

Everyone still conscious on the side lines watched with awe at seeing the two famous sisters of the clan meet this behemoth's blows with their own, and though there was signs of struggling, they held their own against the monster.

The Ōnyūdō gritted its teeth in annoyance as once the sisters tried pulling a pincer maneuver, it thrust its hands downward, unleashing a shockwave that pushed the sisters away.

Hinata had brought her arms up to shield her from the force as she skidded back. She then gasped with her eyes widened as the Ōnyūdō rushed her and delivered a horizontal chop. Hinata managed to duck under in time before thrusting one of her lion fists downward into the Ōnyūdō's foot, resulting in a burst of chakra that made the humanoid roar in pain as it stumbled back. Hinata then thrust her remaining lion fist into the Ōnyūdō.

The 'priest' tried to block the attack with its arms, but Hinata pushed through and managed to land a strong blow right into its chest, unleashing her purple chakra into it as then a purple tornado of chakra shot out from the center of its back.

Hanabi's battle cry was heard as she came diving down towards the Ōnyūdō with chakra circulating around her foot, as she then delivered a powerful heel drop right in the center of the Ōnyūdō's forehead. The impact was so powerful that the ground beneath the Ōnyūdō's feet cracked with pieces of debris shooting into the air.

The Ōnyūdō's eyes bulged from the pain of having not just its forehead smashed in, but also the tenketsu beneath it being struck hard.

Hanabi leaped off and landed beside her sister, both reigniting the chakra around their hands, creating powerful lion fists, one purple and one blue, both almost looking like they were alit with fire.

The sisters took their chance and rushed in, preparing to finish this fight.

"Two Palms!" Both women struck the Ōnyūdō in the abdomen before continuing. "Four Palms! Eight Palms! Sixteen Palms! Thirty-Two Palms! Sixty-Four Palms!" The sisters let out bellowing battle cries as they finished with their coup de grâce. "Hakke Hyaku Nijūhasshō!" (Eight Trigrams One-Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms) Both sisters shouted out as they finished their barrage, causing the Ōnyūdō to skid a good distance from them.

The rest of the Hyūga stared in amazement at the battle they had just witnessed. The two sisters of the main branch had worked together and pushed a massive beast of nature away together.

"Sugoi." A Hyūga said in amazement.

"They're both so powerful. So this is the strength of the daughters of the main branch!" Another Hyūga said in astonishment.

The Ōnyūdō was hunched over in silence for a moment, before it reeled back with its arms crossed and then roared as it released a shockwave from its body made up of natural energy, forcing all Hyūga to shield them from the force.

"After all of that?!" A Hyūga exclaimed in shock.

"Just then… I saw it!" Another Hyūga called out.

"Huh?" The previous Hyūga looked on in confusion.

"Yeah, I noticed it too. This is way too much trouble, even for our clan." A third Hyūga stated with a worried frown and starting to sweat.

Hinata and Hanabi stiffened but kept a strong disposition as they prepared for more.

"Hinata-onee-sama… you saw the same thing that I did, correct?" Hanabi asked her sister with a worried frown and stern eyes.

"Yes. It was hard to tell before because of the aura of natural energy disguising it." Hinata replied with the same expression.

"It goes to show how powerful it truly is, and how strong its manipulation of natural energy can be." A male voice spoke, causing the sisters to turn to see none other than their father, who had appeared behind them.

"Otōsan! / Chichioya!" (Father) Hinata and Hanabi spoke, shocked to see their father.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to get here. There was still so much to do in the village, and unfortunately, I am not as nimble as used to be." Hiashi said to his daughters as he walked forward.

"You could have fooled us. We didn't even sense you before you said a word." Hanabi said as her father walked pass her and Hinata.

"Both of you stand by… I'll handle the rest." Hiashi said, continuing forward.

"Otōsan, wait! You shouldn't do this!" Hinata spoke up, concerned for her father.

"Yes! Not without help!" Hanabi urged, just as concerned for her father as Hinata is.

"I will not accept any help. Not from the rest of my clan and not from the both of you." Hiashi said as he stopped, keeping his back turned towards his daughters.

"Chichioya, no!" Hanabi argued, not liking this one bit.

"Hanabi!" Hiashi raised his voice, causing his youngest to flinch, never hearing her father sound so stern in ages. "You are my successor. Now is not the time for you to risk your life like this. Not when there is still so much time for you before then."

"Chichi." (Father) Hanabi was shocked, touched and concerned by her father's words.

"Hinata… think of Boruto and Himawari. They still need their mother with them. There is still so much to learn that they can only find from you. Don't rob them of their mother like this." Hiashi said to his eldest, still not facing her.

"Otōsan…" Hinata looked to her father, shocked, touched and worried like her sister.

"A number of our own have fallen. I wasn't fast enough to come rescue them… but I can put an end to this demon in their name." Hiashi said, as then the Ōnyūdō appeared before him, sending a punch, only for it to be batted away by Hiashi's palm, shocking the Oni Zetsu, before it was struck hard in the stomach, sending it skidding away. "Please, allow this old man to fulfill his wish." Hiashi said, glaring at the Ōnyūdō with his Byakugan active.

Both Hyūga was still very worried for their father's safety. Despite his clear signs of skill and power that haven't waned over the years, they were still felt uneasy over the idea of allowing their father that they hold so dear to face this behemoth all alone.

However, they had come to accept that despite their worries, their father showed that he clearly still edged over them. He may not be youthful or had been blessed with Hamura Ōtsutsuki's chakra at one point, but his experience and decades of countless practice over their clan's signature taijutsu still made him the strongest of the clan by far. As much as they disliked the idea, they could not help but concede to his request, seeing him as the only one of them able to finally put down this menace.

"Hai, otōsan." Hinata agreed with a nod as she dispersed his jutsu.

"End this nightmare, for our clan! Our family!" Hanabi exclaimed, trying to pump up her father.

"You have my word." Hiashi said as he walked forward again towards the Ōnyūdō. "I can see why you gave my clan so much trouble. Not only are you several times the size of an average man, but you also have several times more tenketsu. Approximately, 1,805 tenketsu. That's five times the amount an average human possesses, and what's more is that you can reactivate any that has been locked by our clan's taijutsu. You truly are a menace." Hiashi said, furrowing his brow, while the Ōnyūdō growled with a glare and its teeth bare and grit. "I will no longer allow you to bring harm to my clan and Konoha."

The Ōnyūdō rushed forward and sent a punch, but Hiashi parried it away with a palm surrounded by a surge of chakra, creating a miniature shockwave from the clash.

Hiashi's palms surged with chakra, transforming into lion fists like his daughter's palms a moment ago, only his were much larger. Hiashi delivered a blinding barrage all over the Ōnyūdō's torso before it could react and delivered a hard dual palm strike that sent it skidding away.

The Ōnyūdō hunched over before roaring as it unleashed a shockwave of natural energy that Hiashi withstood.

"I see. You channel natural energy from your environment to reignite the chakra inside your pathways." Hiashi noticed, never taking his Byakugan eyes off of the creature. "If that is the case… then I'll have to go even further." Hiashi said as the Ōnyūdō dashed at him and tried to strike him, but Hiashi dodged and delivered palm strikes to its side.

The Ōnyūdō tried striking him, but Hiashi was keeping his distance. He saw that the natural energy circulating around the Ōnyūdō's arms and legs. It was trying to expand its striking range with it, but Hiashi's Byakugan saw its ploy and made sure to keep out of its extended range. He was patient throughout the battle, but the Ōnyūdō was starting to lose its own.

The Ōnyūdō lifted its foot and delivered a hard stop that broke the ground beneath for a decent radius as the earth shook with parts of the ground being uprooted.

The surrounding Hyūga stumbled from the quake, but Hiashi remained unflinching.

The Ōnyūdō started stomping along the ground, manipulating the earth with its natural energy to uproot the ground, making parts of it rise up under Hiashi's feet, forcing the head of the clan to dodge each new pillar made. The Ōnyūdō leaped high into the air, waving its arms over its head as it gathered whips of wind around its arms. As it crashed into the ground, it spun a complete three-sixty with the ends of the gathered winds to break the pillars and uprooted earth, causing them break to pieces and started to gather about, being pulled into the gathered wind like a vacuum and circulating with it.

A tornado full of debris surrounded the Ōnyūdō before it thrust its palms towards Hiashi's direction, sending all the gathered debris towards the elderly Hyūga.

Things moved in slow motion for Hiashi, as he took a deep breath in through his nose with his eyes closed as he got into his Jūken stance, before snapping them open as he started parrying all the debris.

Everyone stared in shock and awe as Hiashi seemingly effortlessly batted away the current of debris that had headed his way as whips of chakra started surrounding him from the front.

Hiashi furrowed his brow as he fought against not just the debris, but the natural enhanced wind. He felt his hands aching with them bleeding as he pushed on, actually fighting against the energy of nature itself within the wind, all to gain a chance.

A chance that he was gambling on to achieve.

After what felt like an hour but was really a few moments, the Ōnyūdō appeared right before Hiashi with lingering debris between him and the monster. Hiashi's eyes gleamed with a glare as in an instant, he stopped parrying and dashed forward. He avoided the debris coming at him the best he could, receiving grazes in the process and bleeding.

The Ōnyūdō tried striking the head Hyūga down with a palm strike, but Hiashi halted and immediately spun at intense speeds with chakra released from all his tenketsu.

'Hakkeshō Kaiten!' Hiashi unleashed an expansive and wide dome of chakra that met the Ōnyūdō's strike.

The Ōnyūdō's palm grinded against the dome until it enlarged, hitting the Ōnyūdō head on. The Ōnyūdō's body grinded against the dome that kept getting larger and larger, until it dispersed, releasing a shockwave of chakra that sent the Ōnyūdō flying far away.

The Ōnyūdō struck the ground, bouncing off it, before it clenched its teeth and slammed its hands and feet into the ground, halting its movement. It stood up, ready to attack Hiashi again, only for the elderly Hyūga to already be before it.

"Two Palms!" Hiashi shouted out as he slammed his palms into the Ōnyūdō, causing its eyes to widen in shock and pain. 'I can't just stop at just any number. I have to lock up every single one it has!' Hiashi thought to himself as he let out a battle cry, continuously striking at each of the Ōnyūdō's tenketsu, going around the beast to land a strike on each of them. The rest of the clan stared in amazement at Hiashi's speed and proficiency, making sure to not miss one. After a few more moments, Hiashi found himself back in front of the Ōnyūdō, prepared to finish off the beast's chakra system. "Hakke Sen Ha Hyakku Goshō!" (Eight Trigrams One-Thousand Eight-Hundred and Five Palms) Hiashi screamed out as he was just about to lock up the final tenketsu, when all of a sudden, Hiashi was struck in the side by a palm strike.

Everyone's eyes widened in shock, but none more than Hiashi's.

The head of the clan directed his eyes to the side to see the culprit was a member of his own clan… only he didn't have a body. He was transparent but retained his human form… like a ghost.

'Nani?!' Hiashi thought with shock as he fell towards the ground.

"Chichioya! / Otōsan!" Hanabi and Hinata shouted out with worry.

"Hiashi-sama!" The rest of the Hyūga screamed out in fear for his life.

The Ōnyūdō gritted its teeth and roared as it reactivated its tenkestu with natural energy, releasing it all in one shockwave, sending Hiashi flying away.

The clan stared in horror as their leader hit the ground, rolling against it to a halt.

"Hiashi-sama!"

"Hold on!"

The rest of the Hyūga were sprinting over to help, that is until several of them were struck and knocked to the floor.

They stopped and turned to see the culprits were more ghosts, but they were not ordinary ghosts. These were members of their own clan.

"Wha… what is this? This can't be!" One Hyūga member said with shock.

"Wait… is that… Kiran?" One Hyūga member noticed one of the ghosts was a Hyūga he knows wearing a bandana hitai-ate with shoulder length hair that was tied up at the bottom with long bangs framing the sides of his face.

"Help…" A voice spoke, catching some of the nearby members' attention to see Kiran lying on the floor nearby with mist nearby? "Someone help… I can't move… I'm frozen!" Kiran Hyūga pleaded as he lay there on the ground with a frightened and worried look on his face.

"H-He's alive!" One Hyūga member exclaimed in shock.

"His pathways are circulating just fine as well! What the hell's going on?!" Another member shouted out in confusion.

"Look out!" A member of the clan shouted as Kiran's 'ghost' went in for the attack.

"What the hell is going on?!" Another member shouted out before feeling a chin running up his spine as the area around his ankles were as cold as ice. He looked down to see the mist from before surrounding his feet. 'Mist? How?' The member wondered, only to gasp when he was struck hard by a dual palm from a 'ghost', sending him skidding against the floor.

The downed Hyūga member groaned with pain, cracking open his eyes, only to notice a pair of pale feet next to him. He looked up to see a pale skinned woman stand over him.

The woman had pale skin and long black hair with some strands draped over her face, wearing an ashen kimono with an obi wrapped around her waist and a thick rope belt hanging loosely around her hip with a sheathed attached to it. In her right was a katana and in her left was a folding fan. At first, she seemed like a normal woman, but that changed when 'she' looked down to reveal her horrific, demonic face complete with long horns, yellowish sclera eyes and hauntingly wide mouth with three pairs of fangs, one pair sticking out the bottom, one in the front of the top and a third much longer, curved pair sticking out the rear of the upper jaw.

The Hyūga member's blood ran cold as he stared with a look of horror at the 'woman' standing over him.

"HANNYA!" The Hyūga screamed out in horror, catching the attention of the rest. "Chūnari Hannya!" He screamed out before being stabbed in the gut by the Hannya.

"Haruki!" A Hyūga member screamed in horror and fear for his clansman's life.

The Hannya pulled out the katana from Haruki's body and with a wave of 'her' folding fan, a small whirlwind of mist surrounded his body and out came his spirit.

"Oh, Kami-sama!" Haruki screamed out in horror as he was laying there, watching as his spirit exited his body and started to move about all on its own. "I can't move! I can't move from the ground!" Haruki screamed out in terror as his 'ghost' then rushed off to fight the rest of the clan that still had their bodies and spirits as one.

"Ikiryō! (Living Ghost) That's what these things are, and that Hannya is the cause of this!" A Hyūga member called out before being forced to dodge an Ikiryō's palm strike.

One Hyūga dodged another Ikiryō's blow and countered, only for his palm strike to go right through the 'spirit'.

"We can't even touch them!" The Hyūga called out before being struck by the same Ikiryō, shutting off one of his tenketsu.

"But they can touch us!" Another Hyūga said before quickly dodging an Ikiryō's palm strike.

"Now what are we going to do?!" A Hyūga member asked with urgency as he was forced to dodge many strikes from an Ikiryō.

"Hohohohohohohohoho!" The Hannya chortled with vile delight as 'she' watched the clan's struggle with 'her' fan' covering the lower half of 'her' face.

Hiashi groaned upon the ground as he struggled to get back onto his hands and knees. He saw the struggles of his clan. His still active Byakugan saw it all with near perfect 360-degree vision. His own clan forced to fight one another, with a number of them stuck on the ground, paralyzed with all they're able to see is their own ghostly doppelgangers fight against their brethren. Hiashi couldn't help but bite his bottom lip as tears threatened to spill from his eyes.

'A sight I wished to never see… members of the clan cursed and robbed of their own free-will, fighting their own family to the bitter end. The circumstances may be different, but the pain remains the same. How pitiful. Otōto (Little brother) … Neji… gomen… I am too weak to help. Forgive me.' Hiashi thought with tears in his eyes and teeth grit as his body trembled, yet he still fought to get back up.

"Chichioya!"

"Otōsan!"

Hanabi and Hinata were rushing towards their father's side. Several Ikiryō tried to intercept the sisters and attacked, but the pair dodged their strikes. Their fluid movements looked as if they were dancing around their strikes as they managed to slip pass the ghostly group. The sisters continued to sprint towards their father with the Ikiryō still hot on their trail.

Hinata noticed the Ōnyūdō marching over towards Hiashi's downed body, before noticing it ripping off on of its skull shaped beads from its prayer bead necklace.

"Hanabi! I need you in front of me!" Hinata ordered her sister, catching her attention as the younger of the two noticed Hinata surrounding her palms with chakra for a specific jutsu.

"Hai, Hinata-onee-sama!" Hanabi agreed as she ran in front of her sisters before leaping forward and spiraling fast in the air while releasing chakra. "Hakkeshō Kaiten!" Hanabi shouted as she became a dome of chakra.

"Hakke Kūhekishō!" (Eight Trigrams Vacuum Wall Palm) Hinata shouted as she thrust both palms forward, unleashing a strong compressed force of chakra from her palms.

"Hakkeshō Kaiten Roketto!" (Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven Rocket) Hanabi screamed out as she rocketed forward thanks to her sister's jutsu, becoming a drilling bullet that went at high speed towards her father's direction.

The Ōnyūdō threw the skull-shaped prayer bead as its 'sockets' started glowing green.

Hanabi managed to arrive at her father's side, dispersing her jutsu and grabbed him before leaping away in time to avoid being struck by the skull bead. Unfortunately, as the skull bead struck the ground, a massive booming shockwave of natural energy was unleashed that struck both Hanabi and Hiashi, sending them flying further away and wounded.

"Hanabi! Otōsan!" Hinata cried out in fear for her family's life, but it was this moment of fear that allowed the Hannya to rush over with her katana ready.

"Hohohohoho!" The Hannya laughed with 'her' wicked grin revealed as she thrust her blade towards a shocked and horrified Hinata. Before the tip could meet the eldest daughter's skin, it was cut to pieces. "Eh?" The Hannya looked in surprised as it brought its severed blade up before the sounds of cutting echoed into the night as several wounds opened up throughout the creature's body, shocking both it and Hinata. "W-What is this? How can-?!" Those were the Hannya's final words before she was split apart into several pieces.

Hinata gasped in shock at the sight, but what shocked her more was that the Ikiryō suddenly stopped before they were sent flying into the air as whisps of energy that re-entered their original bodies.

Upon the Ikiryōs return, the rest of the conscious prone Hyūga regained feeling in their bodies and got back up.

"N-Nani?" One Hyūga questioned in shock, looking toward his hand.

"How did this happen?" Another questioned, moving their hands to make sure they weren't hallucinating.

"I-I was staring right at that ogress… and yet I didn't even see how she got cut to bits!" Another Hyūga spoke out, surprising the others.

The Ōnyūdō growled with frustration as it saw its ally chopped to bits and now it was back to dealing with the entire clan single-handedly again. It directed its eyes towards Hanabi and Hiashi, with the youngest daughter of the man it was fighting managed to get back to hands and knees.

Hanabi panted with pain as she held her side. It felt like her muscles and bones were screaming of agony and mercy. Just moving alone felt like torture. The second she saw her father on the ground beside her, she immediately threw all concern for herself and crawled to his side, ignoring the pain the best she could.

"Chichioya! Chichioya! Please, get up!" Hanabi begged her father as she gently placed her hands onto him, lightly shaking him and being careful not to harm him any further.

Hiashi groaned in pain as he turned his head towards his youngest daughter.

"Ha… Hanabi…" Hiashi spoke, causing Hanabi to gasp with a relieved expression. "Look… look out!" Hiashi spoke out, shocking Hanabi as the Hyūga heiress' face contorted into shock and terror upon noticing that a very large shadow loomed over them.

The Ōnyūdō let out a low growl, glaring down at the two before it, before raising its hand up as green chakra flame-like alit around it.

"Hanabi! Otōsan!" Hinata screamed out in fear and horror.

"Hanabi-sama!"

"Hiashi-sama!"

"No!"

"Stop It Now!"

The rest of the clan screamed as they rushed over to help but given how badly they were hurt and the distance between them and the Oni Zetsu, things looked bleak.

The Ōnyūdō roared as it thrust its green flame-like palm strike downward with Hanabi turned with her palms ready to retaliate, only for a blade to stab right through the back of the Ōnyūdō's head, going through its mouth and out the bottom of its jaw.

Everyone stopped and gasped in shock with the Ōnyūdō's eyes widening in shock and confusion.

"I know this isn't technically accurate, but… don't you dare lay a hand on my obasan and Ojīchan." Arata said as he was crouched over the Ōnyūdō's shoulders with his chokuto stabbed right through its head.

"A… Arata?" Hanabi was shocked to see the boy she once was wary of had come to rescue her and her father.

"Arata-kun!" Hinata was beyond surprised to see her 'son' had arrived.

'Arata?' Hiashi was shocked to see his trans-dimensional grandson.

"Nani?!" A Hyūga member screamed out in shock.

"Obasan?! Ojīchan!?" Another shouted out, flabbergasted.

"What in the world is going on here?!" Another Hyūga exclaimed in confusion.

'Susano'o.' Arata activated his Mangekyō Tōmeigan (Kaleidoscope Transparent Eye) and summoned a pair of large skeletal arms to grab Hanabi and Hiashi.

The Ōnyūdō let out a roar of anger as it tried squishing the boy above it with a seismic clap, but the blunette already leaped away with Hanabi and Hiashi in his Susano'o's skeletal grasp, and even slicing the Oni Zetsu's face in half before its palms could even collide against one another.

By the time the Ōnyūdō's palms came into contact with one another, unleashing an audible and strong shockwave, Arata already landed beside his 'mother', with Hiashi and Hanabi safely placed onto the ground before dispersing his Susano'o.

The Ōnyūdō screamed in pain as it held what was left of its head, stumbling back, as then Arata sent a strong slash with the bladed end of his chokuto, sheathing in as the Ōnyūdō's foot was sliced off by the force of Arata's sword swing, bringing the oversized beast to its knee.

The rest of the Hyūga clan stared in shock and awe at what they had just witnessed. The beast that had given them so much trouble was now brought to one knee and holding its now split open head, all done in not even five seconds.

"Sugoi…" Was all a single member of the clan could utter as the rest were speechless at such proficiency.

"Arata-kun… what are you doing here?" Hinata asked as she and the others were surprised by his appearance.

"I came to help my family. What other reason would I need?" Arata answered, surprising Hinata, Hanabi and Hiashi, who were immediately touched by his words.

The rest of the clan were confused.

"His family?"

"Is he a Hyūga too?"

"Bakana! (Impossible) I've never seen him before!"

"Wait a moment… he called Hiashi-sama 'Ojīchan' and Hanabi-sama 'Obasan'! Does that mean he's a member of the main branch?!"

"No way! That can't be possible!"

"The only way that would be possible is if he is Hinata-sama's child! But he looks like neither her nor Hokage-sama!"

"He has her blue hair though… and look… his clothes look similar to her own when she was a genin!"

"I can't make heads or tails of what exactly is going on!"

The Hyūga clan were in an uproar of shock and confusion over the appearance of this stranger, claiming to be a descendant of the main household.

Hinata, Hanabi and Hiashi were now worried over how to explain the matter. They never expected to share the knowledge that only they knew to be out in the open like this, especially considering the dire situation that the village was in.

"Everyone!" Arata shouted out, catching everyone's attention. "I know you have a lot of questions, but they have to wait. Konoha is in dire need of the Hyūga clan's strength, so we cannot take curiosity take precedence when so much more is on the line! I promise you that when this nightmare is over, you will have your answers, but for now, we need to lend our strength to the village!"

"Arata-kun…" Hinata stared at her 'son' with surprise and awe.

"Whether I am Hyūga, Konoha-nin, or just a stranger, know this… I am here as your ally. So can I ask you all to lend me your strength… in protect the place that we all call home?" Arata addressed them as he unsheathed his chokuto. "Will you all fight alongside me… as your brother in arms?" Arata turned his head towards the clan to reveal his Mangekyō Tōmeigan to them.

"Those eyes… they look so much like…"

"But they're different."

The Hyūga was now even more confused by both his appearance and the appearance of his eyes, but after a moment, they felt a well of strength building within them. This stranger, claiming to be one of them, for some reason, when they stared into his eyes, they felt assured that the nightmare they were all experiencing could be overturned.

In his eyes was strength yet gentleness. Strict yet caring. Ruthless to his foes yet compassionate to his brethren.

These were the eyes of the Yin and Yang. The core strength the Hyūga lived by.

Though his eyes were different, in their eyes they saw a brother.

A brother that they will gladly fight beside.

"Hai!" The Hyūga clan shouted in unison.

"We don't know who you are, but you saved Hanabi-sama and Hiashi-sama! That speaks volumes!"

"Whether you are a Hyūga or not, you are our ally!"

"We will fight alongside you, just as we would any other member of the clan!"

"We will lend you our strength! Please, do the same for us!"

The Hyūga was all in agreement and felt empowered in the presence of this new shinobi.

This new member of the clan.

Hinata couldn't help but smile with pride with tears in her eyes.

'Everyone… arigato.' Hinata thought, happy that the clan accepted Arata.

"Goodness gracious… I've never seen them so fire up." Hanabi said with a smile.

"You really have a way with words, Arata-kun." Hiashi said with a proud smile directed towards the youth who had just saved him.

"I just spoke the truth." Arata responded.

"The truth often is the most powerful thing there is." Hiashi said with a smile, before his lip started to quiver, and he started to tear up.

"Nani?" Arata looked towards his grandfather's counterpart with confusion.

"You called me 'Ojīchan'!" Hiashi said with sentimental tears pouring from his eyes, causing Arata to flinch with his eyes widened and his cheeks flushed.

"I-It just c-came out. P-Please calm y-yourself until everything is d-done." Arata stuttered, hanging his head with his bangs shadowing his eyes as his face reddened.

"Arata-kun, from now on, call me 'onee-chan' instead of 'obasan', okay?" Hanabi said with a chipper yet cheeky smile.

"Not going to happen." Arata said, regaining his stoic composure as he looked towards Hanabi.

"Hmph." Hanabi pursed her lips with disappointment as Hinata giggled beside her.

The Ōnyūdō roared as it re-grew its foot and the rest of its head, now standing again and glaring at the boy who cut it. The Ōnyūdō hunched over a bit before unleashing a powerful roar that echoed throughout the area, before directing its glare back at the boy.

"Ōnyūdō. Masters of natural energy, wielding it with their taijutsu, and as I'm sure you've noticed, have several times the tenketsu of any being, and can reactivate any of them with natural energy, so long as one is still active. We should be grateful that this is an average one instead of one that can manipulate a certain element or two. Worse, some can actually use kekkei genkai." Arata explained to the others.

"Oh, I see. We were facing a weak one. Just thrilling." Hanabi said with a pout.

"How's that for thrilling?" Arata pointed towards the forest in the distance as more Oni Zetsu started to arrive. "It called for back-up." Arata said, causing the rest of clan to frown.

"Things are getting even worse." Hinata said with worry yet kept a steely resolve and expression.

"We can handle the others ourselves!" One Hyūga called out to the head family.

"Yes! We'll make sure they're attention is off you while you handle this monstrosity once and for all!"

"Looks like we'll be finishing our fight without any interruptions." Hanabi said as she was gearing to finish off the behemoth before them.

"This will still be difficult. I spent a lot of vitality in that last clash, so I won't be to match as well as I did before. I'm not as spire as I was years ago." Hiashi shared, silently cursing the effects of his old age.

"I got hit hard by weird bead bomb of his." Hanabi said, as just then, the Ōnyūdō dug its hand into the ground and pulled out a skull shaped oversized bead with roots hanging that attached itself into its bead necklace, restoring it to as it was before. "Oh good… he made another one." Hanabi said with a frown and furrowing her brow.

"We'll have to work together on this one." Hinata said as she readied herself.

"Agreed. Fortunately, I have just the jutsu to end this." Arata said, catching the three elder Hyūgas' attention. "I just need help in gaining an opening. You don't mind lending me a hand?"

"Of course not." Hanabi said with a smirk.

"We'll provide you that opening. I promise you." Hiashi said, never leaving his steely gaze from the super-sized Oni Zetsu.

"We'll work as one and end this together. Your family is with you, so you have nothing to worry about, Arata-kun." Hinata said, giving her 'son' a gentle yet caring and confident smile.

"I know I won't. I'll have nothing to worry about with all of you with me." Arata said with a subtle smile as he sheathed his chokuto. "After all…"

The four of them got into their Jūken stance and glared ahead with their active dojutsus reflecting their steely resolve.

"The Hyūga clan are the strongest in Konoha!"

.

.

Back with Troop C, led by Tenten, so far, the group was pushing the Oni Zetsu they were facing back.

So far, the brigade was holding their own, but they were suffering some heavy hits on their end. Despite being armed to the teeth with ninja tools, fūinjutsu and bijū powered weaponry, the Oni Zetsu were still coming in hard and laying down some punishment.

Still, the Konoha-nin persevered. It didn't matter how badly they were suffering, how exhausted they were, how much blood was being spilt… what mattered was protecting their home.

Tsubaki let out a strong battle cry as she leaped up high and brought down her katana, slicing off the arm of a Hibagon.

The Hibagon roared in pain, but then it delivered a hard uppercut towards the samurai, who brought up her blade to block it.

Tsubaki gritted her teeth hard in pain as she took the hit, oversized fist meeting the side of her blade, before being sent flying away. Tsubaki flew far, but as she came back towards the ground, she rolled against it until she back flipped and skidding to a halt in a crouching position.

Tsubaki panted as she brought her katana up with the sealing formula on its side glowing green for a moment.

The Hibagon growled at her as it got ready for a charge.

Tsubaki closed her eyes and tried easing her breathing as she sheathed her katana. Focusing on her other senses, she readied herself into an iaijutsu stance. By focusing, she could sense the booming footsteps of the Hibagon. She wasn't hearing it, though they were pretty loud, they were still deafened by the conflict all around them. She could feel them. Each step onto the ground, she felt each one.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Every step closer, Tsubaki could sense it all. She even felt the instance when the Hibagon reared its remaining arm back, clenching its hand hard into a fist as it started radiating an aura invisible to the normal human eye. Natural energy… which her katana had absorbed earlier.

Tsubaki let out an exhale before inhaling through her nose.

The Hibagon had gotten into her range. It roared as it sent its fists downward onto the girl.

The fist was an inch or two away from Tsubaki's face.

In that instance, Tsubaki snapped open her eyes and dashed forwards, unleashing a sword strike that was unseen, even to the Hibagon. She appeared behind the Oni Zetsu with her katana mostly sheathed.

Both Oni Zetsu and samurai remained still and silent.

The moment Tsubaki sheathed her katana fully, the sound of cutting was heard as a green gleam shined across the Hibagon's waistline before its upper body was sliced off and sent flying. The massive upper body of the hairy humanoid Oni Zetsu hit the ground with a powerful thud before the lower body fell a moment afterwards.

Tsubaki let out an exhale before fully standing straight.

'Arigato, Arata. Had it not been for this fūinjutsu you made on my blade; I would not have survived this encounter.' Tsubaki mentally thanked her fellow kenjutsu specialist as she kept a firm hold on her katana.

Denki let out a battle cry as he shot several tiny scrolls from his Fūin Ite (Seal Archer) into several Oni Zetsu, before making a hand seal.

"Jūryoku: Hiku." (Gravity: Pull) Denki shouted out as the Oni Zetsu he hit with his scrolls struck the ground hard and were now prone there with gravity slowly crushing their bodies. He sighed with relief but then noticed several Jinmenken surrounded Tsubaki, who remained still. "Tsubaki, watch out!" Denki called out, but as the Jinmenken pounced, Tsubaki instantly sliced them all to bits. "Never mind." Denki said before noticing a rather large shadow had flown overhead.

"Hmm?" Tsubaki noticed the same thing, causing her to look up only to gasp.

A little away, Tenten and Metal delivered a combination attack of Tenten sending her paper bomb dragon towards a large number of Oni Zetsu, attaching numerous bomb tags upon them, with Metal sending an explosive kunai from his Ryōbi that caused a chain reaction of explosions that annihilated the creatures.

Tenten panted as she willed the paper bomb dragon with her chakra strings to coil around her and Metal in a defensive manner.

"Are you okay, Tenten-san?" Metal asked as he replaced the kunai tip of his 'tail' with a brand new one.

"Yeah. It just takes a lot of chakra control to use this thing. I'm literally using every tenketsu in my body with proper succession to make this thing even move the way I want it to." Tenten shared as she wiped some sweat from her brow.

"Tenten-san, you're amazing! No wonder papa admires you so much!" Metal proclaimed with excitement as he stared at the weapons specialist with awe.

"Nani?!" Tenten looked surprised with her cheeks reddened upon hearing that her former teammate, Rock Lee, thought so highly of her.

The two then noticed a large shadow looming over them before the wind started picking up with the audible sounds of flapping echoing throughout the area.

The two looked up, only to gasp in shock.

"What is that?!" Metal wondered aloud.

Flying above the battlefield was a large avian Oni Zetsu with the face of a man that had a pointed beak filled with sharp tomia teeth and having a long dragon-like tongue, a mane of feathers behind its head, the body of a snake with large bird wings that span 4.8 meters (15.7 feet) and the legs of a bird with long, sharp talons at the ends.

The rest of the shinobi noticed the chimeric Oni Zetsu flying above, circling around the night sky over them.

"Is that-?" One shinobi questioned with widened eyes.

The flying Oni Zetsu flew up and straightened out as it gave a screeching cry.

"Itsumademo?" (Until When?) The chimeric bird screeched out, echoing throughout the battlefield.

"Itsumade!" (Until When) A shinobi screamed out.

The Itsumade flapped its wings some more, creating harsh winds, before it reared its head back and unleashed a breath of fire that grew bigger thanks to the harsher winds it created.

The shinobi screamed in terror as the flames were eclipsing the area.

"Bashōsen: Kaze no Maki!" (Banana Palm Fan: Coil of Wind) Tenten shouted as she used her giant feathered fan to unleash winds that battle against the raging inferno.

She quickly tried unleashing the winds all around the area to spare the rest of her troop, but there was still so much fire littered around the area, and she was panting from exhausting so much chakra.

To this day, the Bashōsen was no joke. Powerful but exhausting to wield, which was no surprise since its original master was the original jinchuriki of the Jūbi.

"Tenten-san! Are you alright?" Metal asked the brunette with much concern. He then noticed a Jinmenken skulking out of the raging fire before them, slowly making its way towards their direction. "Stay away! I will not let you hurt Tenten-san!" Metal ordered as he got into his Gōken stance, ready to face the human-faced canine, only for it to fall before Metal. "Huh… I guess it was taken out by the inferno." Metal deduced.

All of a sudden, the skin of the Jinmenken was moving above, almost like it was bulging in several places.

Metal was a bit on edge as he saw what looked to be something crawling inside of the Jinmenken.

"Metal, get away!" Tenten ordered with urgency.

Suddenly, something burst out of the Jinmenken and went to pounce on Metal.

It was a stout humanoid being with empty sockets, dried up lips, stained yellow teeth with black spots, strands of weeds sticking out in various places of its head, lanky long arms with long broken nails, a pot belly and withered legs lunged out of the Jinmenken to attack Metal.

Tenten quickly pushed Metal aside, saving him only to be grabbed by the new creature that dug its broken nails into her skin and bit into her, causing the weapons specialist to scream in pain.

"Tenten-san!" Metal screamed out in shock as he watched in horror as the humanoid creature was glowing blue from the inside with whips of chakra coming from the bite wound it inflicted upon Tenten.

"G-Gaki." (Hungry Ghost) Tenten grunted out as tried pulling off the creature, but it had an iron clad grip on her. Tenten quickly brushed the feathers of her Bashōsen against the Gaki, causing it to ignite in flames, but it never lost hold of its grip on her. 'Dammit!' Tenten lamented the fact that she just made it worse.

Metal walked up, extended his arm out with the ends of his fingers pressed against the Gaki's temple as he then delivered a one-inch punch, completely shattering the Gaki's head to bits with a nasty splatting sound accompanying it.

Tenten sighed with relief as the Gaki's headless body fell onto the ground.

"Thank you… Metal…" Tenten managed to say before she fell onto her hands and knees, panting and drenched with sweat.

"Tenten-san!" Metal gently grasped onto her with concern.

"That… damn thing… drained me… of so much… chakra." Tenten managed to speak out very weakly.

"Itsumademo?" The Itsumade screeched out as it flew around in the air in a circle at high speeds, creating a tornado of wind with the flames of the battlefield being sucked into it, becoming a vortex of fire.

"Retreat!" One shinobi screamed out as the shinobi ran away from the raging blaze.

Metal quickly picked Tenten up, bridal style, and hurried off.

Tenten's paper bomb dragon was sucked up into the inferno, leading to a vast collection of explosions, widening the range of the fire tornado.

Tenten gritted her teeth in frustration at her troop being pushed back like this.

"Dammit. If only I had enough chakra to use my fan… I'd handle this fire myself." Tenten said, biting her lip as she glared down.

Metal looked to Tenten for a moment before gaining a serious expression.

"Oi, you!" Metal called out to a nearby shinobi. "Take Tenten-san!" Metal ordered, surprising both the shinobi and Tenten. Metal handed Tenten to the shinobi before he immediately took her Bashōsen.

"Metal, what are you-?!"

"I shall handle this!" Metal declared as he rushed towards the inferno.

"METAL, NO! THAT THING EATS UP WAY TOO MUCH CHAKRA! YOU'LL DIE!" Tenten screamed out, in fear for the boy's life.

"I Will Not!" Metal proclaimed as he continued rushing forward. 'I trained for this. I dedicated so much time, went through many challenges and pushed my body to the most grueling of exercises! I broke through my limits over and over again, just so I can be here. So I can match them!' Metal's mind envisioned Shinachiku and Arata, before he then envisioned his father. "So I Can Surpass Papa's Teachings! That Is Why I Am Here Ready to Put My Life on the Line!" Metal screamed out as his eyes started going blank, skin started turning red and intense pressure surrounded his entire body. "TOMON, KAI!" Metal immediately snapped open the fifth gate as he rocketed up into the air.

The rest of the battalion stopped and turned to see what was going on.

"What is that?"

"Is that a child?!"

"What's that idiot doing?!"

"Metal!" Denki noticed that it was his teammate, now incredibly worried.

"Metal, Wait!" Tenten screamed out to the green-clad youth.

"Tenten-san! Watch This!" Metal screamed out as he reared the Bashōsen back. "This Is the Perfect Union… Between Bukijutsu and Taijutsu!" Metal screamed out, surprising Tenten from his claim. "Bashōsen: Konoha Senpū!" (Banana Palm Fan: Leaf Whirlwind)

Metal spun in the air at intense speed with the Bashōsen in hand, becoming a living tornado of chakra and wind that grew to immense size, unleashing a powerful tempest that met with the raging storm of fire, and to everyone's shock, overpowering it!

Everyone's eyes widened in shock as they saw the massive and powerful windstorm overwhelming the torrent of wind.

"ITSUMADEMO?!" The Itsumade screamed out in shock as it was consumed by the raging fire it had unleashed, now thrown back into its face and more as it was completely consumed.

Tenten let out a silent gasp of astonishment as her eyes were locked solely on Metal, who stop in midair, skin red and steaming but maintain his grip on the Bashōsen.

"HOW'S THAT?!" Metal wailed with his screams echoing throughout the area.

"Sugoi…" Tenten said breathlessly.

The raging fire soon dispersed, leaving in its place the Itsumade, which was charred all over, but remained in the air.

"Is it dead?" One shinobi wondered aloud.

The Itsumade gritted its tomia teeth before screeching towards the heavens in anger.

"ITSUMADEMO?!" The Itsumade screeched out in anger.

"Nope." One shinobi said with widened eyes and a look of fear.

The Itsumade opened its mouth which was lit ablaze from within and aimed its open maws at Metal.

"METAL!" Tenten screamed out the bowl-cut haired genin's name in fear for his life.

"Namida Sanjō no Jutsu!" (Calling on Tears Technique) A female voice called out as a compressed sonic wave rocketed over and struck the Itsumade in the side, completely covering its head.

Everyone watched in shock and disbelief as the Itsumade descended towards the ground with a crash.

Metal followed suit, but before he met the ground, Denki came running in while writing a new sealing formula that glowed purple before shooting it out onto the ground that Metal was about to crash into.

"Jūryoku: Hobā!" (Gravity: Hover) Denki quickly activated the sealing tag he made, causing the sealing formula to grow several times in size from out of the paper as Metal halted in midair, now hovering right over the sealing formula.

"Arigato… Denki…" Metal said as he deactivated the fifth gate.

"What in the world was that?" Denki wondered aloud, looking towards the sky to notice a bird high above with three people his age riding atop of it.

It was none other than Inojin, Namida and Yodo.

"Ohayo~! Back-up has arrived!" Inojin called out with a smirk.

"You guys okay?" Namida asked from above.

"Thanks to you guys!" Denki said with a relieved smile.

Yodo suddenly sensed movement from below.

"You two! Look out!" Yodo called out to Denki and Metal.

The Itsumade shot up, not standing on its feet, screeching with its beak wide open and filling with fire, shocking everyone.

"ITSUMADEMO?!" The Itsumade screamed out as it unleashed the flames upon Denki and Metal.

Everyone stared in fear for the members of Team 5's life, but one ran towards them at high speed.

It was none of the shinobi who charged forward to their aid, but instead a samurai!

Tsubaki raced over, leaping high as she got in between the flames and Metal with Denki.

"Tsubaki!" Namida screamed out her teammates name in fear as she saw her consumed by the inferno.

A moment later though, the flames were shrinking, shocking everyone. They were sucked into the sealing formula written on Tsubaki's katana.

The samurai's eyes gleamed as she readied her katana with the blade now glowing bright red orange.

"Kenpō: Katon: Nijū Hadan!" (Sword Art: Fire Release: Dual Rupture) Faster than the eye could see, Tsubaki unleashed a pair of slashes that unleashed blades of fire that sliced off the wings of the Itsumade.

Everyone stared in awe at Tsubaki's immense skill, while the Oni Zetsu that was struck was left in shock from both disbelief and pain.

"Itsuma… demo?" The Itsumade reeled back in shock that it was 'clipped' by a single human with a blade.

"Tsubaki-san, sugoi!" Denki said with awe at the sight.

"That friend of yours is no joke." Yodo said with shock at the samurai's power.

"You bet! Way to go, Tsubaki-chan!" Namida cheered for her teammate with a relieved and super proud smile.

The Itsumade staggered back, growling with a hiss as it glared at the samurai, who landed upon the ground, glaring back.

"I will handle the rest." Tsubaki said.

"N-No!" Metal raised his voice, catching his comrades off guard. "I… I have a plan… to finish it… Denki…"

"H-Hai?" Denki gained mild surprise from being addressed by his teammate.

"I need you… to make a whole slew of paper bombs." Metal said, surprising Denki and Tsubaki.

"Nani?! Why!?" Denki asked, shocked by Metal's request.

"Please, trust me… I need them… to finish it off once and for all." Metal said, causing Denki to shuffle in place, still very much unsure of whether to grant his friend's plea. "Please, Denki… I need your assistance." Metal pleaded, looking towards his teammate with his eyes reflecting how much he needed the Kaminarimon's help right now.

After a moment, Denki sighed before giving a nod of confirmation.

"Alright. I'll do my best." Denki said as he focused to gently let Metal back down onto the ground through his gravity sealing formula.

"Arigato." Metal said as he landed onto the ground safely on his feet, but still grunted in pain.

"I'll provide you support. I don't know what you're planning, but until you are ready, I'll keep this demon's attention on me." Tsubaki said as she readied her into an iaijutsu stance.

"Arigato, Tsubaki-chan." Metal thanked the samurai with a nod.

"Itsumademo!" The Itsumade screeched with its head back.

Tsubaki let out a battle cry as she sprinted forward and leaped to go for a cut to its neck.

The Itsumade thrust its pointed beak towards Tsubaki, who sent a slash that clashed with the tip of the beak, creating a shockwave that resulted in Tsubaki being sent flying back.

Tsubaki flipped in the air and skidded to a halt on her feet, but she gasped when she saw the Itsumade already over her with its talons ready to stomp and claw her.

It let out a screech as it was ready to swipe its talons down, but it was suddenly struck in the head by a soundwave, throwing it off, giving Tsubaki the chance to dodge and move out of the way as it skidded against the ground.

The Itsumade glared up to see the blonde girl of the trio riding the living art bird above, gripping her hair in one hand.

"Take this!" Yodo shouted as she sent a volley of soundwaves just from the force of whipping her hair forward.

The Itsumade managed to dodge them as it was surprisingly nimble on its feet. It noticed Tsubaki running towards it, gripping the hilt of her katana as she sent a slash towards its feet. The Itsumade started back peddling as Tsubaki tried repeatedly slashing at its legs, with the now flightless beast occasionally sending swipes of its talons at the samurai, who parried them away with her blade.

The Itsumade leaped up and blew fire down towards Tsubaki, who used her katana to slash at and absorb the fire, only for the samurai's eyes to widen as the Itsumade came down for a stomp.

Tsubaki leaped back avoiding the stomp but was forced to parry as swipe from its talons, sending her skidding back.

"Chō Yōkai Giga: Shitsuryō Tenome!" (Super Strange Apparition Imitating Drawing: Mass Hand Eyes) Inojin unleashed an enormous amount of ink hands down towards the Itsumade, which grabbed and wrapped around the creature like a mound of snakes.

"Itsumademo?!" The Itsumade screeched out as it raised its head with its beak open, conjuring up flames, only for many of them wrapped around the Itsumade's neck and their hands to reach over and all together clamp its beak down before the fire could be unleashed.

"Nice, Inojin!" Namida cheered, causing the Yamanaka to smirk victoriously.

"Incredible." One of the shinobi spectating were amazed by the sight.

"I can finish it now!" Tsubaki said as she rushed over towards the Itsumade with her red orange glowing katana ready. "Kenpō: Katon: Nijū Hadan!" Tsubaki was ready to unleash her now fiery katana when something unexpected happened.

'What in the-?' Yodo heard the sound of swallowing of something coming from the Oni Zetsu, which both confused and worried her.

The answer came in the form of the Itsumade's stomach expanding like a potbelly balloon that was glowing bright orange.

Tsubaki had already swung her katana before realizing what happened, leading to her cutting open the now orange potbelly as a large wave of fire was unleashed from the wound.

Tsubaki gasped as she was consumed by the fire, shocking everybody.

"TSUBAKI!" Namida screamed with fear for her friend's life.

"Crap, No!" Inojin said with gritted teeth as he then noticed that his ink arms were instantly melted by the heat of the unleashed flames. 'Dammit! My jutsu's done! Freaking Bird!'

'I can't believe it… a split-second decision like that?! I didn't think these things could actually be that smart!' Yodo thought with shock and gritting her teeth.

Tsubaki fell to the ground with her right arm burned all over and right sleeve incinerated up to the shoulder where it was charred at the edge.

"Tsubaki-san!" Metal shouted with worry and fear as he was ready to charge forward, but instantly felt pain and fell onto his knee. 'The Hachimon… and this fan… it caused more fatigue than I thought.' Metal thought with gritted teeth.

The Itsumade stabbed its beak into the ground, pulling out a large root and sent natural energy into it as it immediately wrapped around its belly to cover up its wound. It fought through the pain of the volley and unleashed a wave of fire from its beak down towards Tsubaki, only for something to come out of the ground in between it and the samurai.

It was a large salamander puppet that had a metallic frill-like shield poking out atop its back with a face similar to an Oni's. Wasabi was atop the puppet's back with the frill shield protecting her from the flames. The salamander puppet leaped away to keep Tsubaki from danger.

"Huh?" Namida and Metal questioned as everyone watched as the salamander puppet landed in front of a masked Suna-nin.

"Araya, thank Kami-sama." Yodo said with a relieved smile.

"I managed to get out of the village and came to this. What a day." Araya said, only to hear the rush of large footsteps as he noticed the Itsumade charging towards him and Tsubaki. "Oh Crap!" Araya shouted with fear, only for a barrage of small fireballs to suddenly whizz past him, striking the Itsumade.

A shinobi let out a powerful battle cry as he was unleashing the fireball volley from his Gatling gun ninja tool as the rest of the battalion charged with their weapons ready.

"Itsumademo?!" The Itsumade screeched out as it stumbled back from being struck by projectiles.

"We'll handle it! You get her to safety!" A shinobi called out as he swung a large sword with a blade similar to an oversized cleaver that sent a blade of bijū chakra that struck the Itsumade.

"Roger!" Araya said as he rushed away to get Tsubaki to safety while everyone attacked the Itsumade. "Got to get out of range." Araya said as he willed his puppet, Sanshōuo (Salamander), to follow him as they rushed away.

"Turn… back…" Tsubaki grunted out.

"Huh?" Araya looked back in shock that Tsubaki was both conscious and upon what she said.

"You're going the wrong way…" Tsubaki groaned out as she fought to sit up with her teeth grit. "That monster… is in the other direction… and I'm not done yet!" Tsubaki shouted as she quickly shot up and leaped over Sanshōuo's frill shield and rushed back into the fray.

"Hey, wait!" Araya called out to the samurai, but Tsubaki ignored him. "Dammit!"

Troop C was unleashing hell towards the Itsumade, which got so annoyed that it unleashed waves of fire from its beak.

"Fūin!" (Seal) Several shinobi unfurled large scrolls that absorbed the flames unleashed by the wingless Oni Zetsu.

"Itsumademo~?" The Itsumade hissed out in anger before it suddenly started thrashing its head about against the ground, digging its beak into it with each swing of its head, uprooting the ground and sending debris everywhere towards the shinobi forces.

The shinobi were forced to move away and back off to not get struck or consumed by the tossed-up debris.

The Itsumade was then struck by several sound waves, causing it to screech in response as it noticed the blonde girl from earlier doing the same trick with her hair again. The Itsumade took in a big gulp of air as it then unleashed a massive wave of fire upwards toward the ninja on the living bird painting.

"Dammit! Can't dodge!" Inojin shouted out as he prepared for the worse.

Namida mirrored the Itsumade's actions as her chest expanded some from taking a large inhale through her mouth as a large six-winged trumpet made of chakra formed in front of her mouth.

"Namida Sanjō no Jutsu!" Namida unleashed a massive sound wave through the winged chakra trumpet.

It rocketed downward, completely overwhelming the wave of fire as it then struck the Itsumade so hard that it was sent slamming hard into the ground.

"Itsuma… demo?" The Itsumade said with dizziness reflected within its eyes. It laid on the ground, back-first, for a moment before regaining itself to notice Tsubaki leaping high over it with her katana ready. "Eh?!" The Itsumade flinched with a look of surprise that the girl was already back on its case.

"Die!" Tsubaki shouted as she sent a slash, only for the Itsumade to clash her blade with a kick from its talons.

Tsubaki gritted her teeth as she sent a barrage of slashes with each swing meeting a slash from the Itsumade's talons. The two entered a power struggle with Tsubaki swinging her sword and the Itsumade kicking up its talons, both in rapid succession. With one last clash, Tsubaki was sent back where she landed on the ground, feet first.

The Itsumade got up and swung its head towards Tsubaki, forcing her to leap away more to cover the distance.

"Get It!" A shinobi screamed out as the battalion was able to charge again with the debris now gone.

"Itsumademo?!" The Itsumade screeched out as it started blowing fire while it continued to swing its head about, and thanks to its long neck, it was able to increase its range and distance of attack while defending itself.

"Retreat!" A shinobi shouted as they all hurried away to save themselves from the waves of fire.

Tsubaki did not run though. Instead she blocked the flames with her katana, absorbing them, but she gritted her teeth and was forced to back away from both the intense heat and knowing that there'd be a limit to how much she could seal away into her sword.

Suddenly, the Itsumade stopped its attack, surprising Tsubaki, but it suddenly stuck its head upward and unleashed a volley of fireballs up towards Inojin, Yodo and Namida.

"Crap!" Inojin cursed as he willed his avian art beast, but one of the fireballs destroyed it and sending Inojin, Yodo and Namida fell towards the ground. "Goddammit! Chō Yōkai Giga: Mini-Umibōzu!" (Super Strange Apparition Imitation Drawing: Mini-Sea Priest) Inojin quickly made a sizeable blob of ink with beady white eyes that was used to cushion their fall.

Inojin, Namida and Yodo landed upon the mini-umibōzu, saving them as the ink creature was like an oversized gelatin trampoline.

"Nice work." Yodo complimented her fellow blonde's quick thinking. A large shadow loomed over the trio, making them look up to see the Itsumade ready to strike them with its talons. "Oh, dammit!" Yodo cursed as the Itsumade thrust its talons downward, only for something to actually block its talons.

Tsubaki held off the Itsumade's talons with her katana, which was glowing bright orange as she then let out a battle cry, sending the Itsumade stumbling backwards.

"Eat this!" Inojin shouted as he made an ox hand seal causing the mini-umibōzu to sprout out ink tendrils that stabbed the Itsumade in several places, causing it to screech in pain.

"Here's desert!" Yodo shouted out as she readied her hair and Namida created a new winged chakra trumpet.

The two kunoichi unleashed their respective sound-based jutsu towards the Oni Zetsu, which combined together and struck the Itsumade hard and sent it skidding away.

"It's lost a lot of its power. It's taken too much damage that it's on the verge of collapsing." Tsubaki informed.

"Which means we just need one last big jutsu." Yodo stated.

"Yeah, but do we have enough chakra for one last super powered jutsu?" Inojin interjected, not sure if they would be able to use a jutsu powerful enough to take this wingless beast down for good.

Suddenly a powerful shockwave created by a large surge of chakra spread throughout the area, dissipating any lingering flames, clearing the battleground and causing everyone to turn towards the direction of the source.

"Maybe we don't have to find out." Namida said as she and the others looked to see the surge of chakra coming from none other than Metal, who reactivated his gates, the third to be precise, with paper bomb tags scattering around him in the air and the Bashōsen placed right beside him.

'I hope this will be enough.' Denki silently prayed with a serious yet worried frown on his face.

"Denki…" Metal spoke, earning his teammate's attention.

"Yes?"

"… Arigato." Metal said before he vanished from sight. "Dainamikku Entorī!" Metal kicked the Itsumade hard, sending it flying back as Metal kicked off of it and going upward into the air. Metal scrunched up into a ball with his arms crossed as he then surged with greater chakra. "Tomon! Kai!" Metal snapped his limbs out as long chakra threats shot out from the tenketsu around them which were all attached to the bomb tags Denki had made.

"Amazing! So that's what he was planning!" Denki said in awe.

"I am not as skilled as Tenten-san… but I will give my all with this nonetheless!" Metal shouted out as he swung his arms upward, sending the bomb tags upward and overhead. He circled his arms overhead in a fluid motion, causing the bomb tags to swirl over him becoming a paper bomb tornado. 'I will end it… with this!' Metal readied himself as he was about to make contact with the ground. He brough the bomb tags in front of him with both arms reared back, hands clenched into leopard fists, before his feet touched the ground. "Ryū no Michi!" (Path of the Dragon) Metal thrust his arms forward, unleashing a powerful force that created a large tunnel of pressure that sent the paper bomb tags rocketing forward as what sounded like a roar was heard courtesy of the vacuum force.

"Sugoi!" Denki exclaimed, shielding himself from the force with his arms, only to notice someone run past him. "Huh?" Denki looked on in surprise as he saw none other than Tenten charging forward as she grabbed her Bashōsen along the way.

"Bashōsen: Hi no Maki!" (Banana Palm Fan: Coil of Fire) Tenten screamed out as she skidded beside Metal, swinging her large feather fan, sending a massive spiraling wave of fire that became one with the vacuum force Metal created.

The tunnel of power struck the Itsumade head on, hitting it hard and causing its eyes to bulge as the bomb tags following hit it all over as well. The flames of Tenten's attack came afterward, igniting all the bomb tags, leading to an enormous explosion so powerful that it sent Inojin, Namida, Yodo, Tsubaki and the mini-umibōzu flying away, despite being a good distance away from the Oni Zetsu.

Troop C watched in astonishment as a tower of fire and explosions on top of one another with the Itsumade in the center of it all.

"Itsuma… demo~?" Were the final words of the Itsumade, but they were deafened by the booming sounds of the collective explosions.

The Itsumade was soon completely incinerated as the booming tower of explosions and fire raged on.

Inojin, Namida, Yodo and Tsubaki groaned as they all sat up, only to look in awe at what Metal and Tenten had done together along with Denki's assistance.

"Sugoi…" Tsubaki said as she and the others stared in awe.

The raging inferno soon ceased as the booming sounds from the mass of explosions were replaced with the cheers of Troop C.

Tenten panted with her face drenched in sweat and hands on her knees. After wiping her brow, she turned to see Metal in a similar position, but he soon stood up straight and faced her.

Metal looked towards Tenten with a smile before giving her a toothy grin and a thumbs up.

The classic Nice Guy pose.

Tenten couldn't help but stare for a moment with a soft smile and blush, before returning it with a Nice Guy pose of her own.

Araya stared at the decimated battleground before him with his arms slumped, not really in the mood to cheer along with the others when he saw how outmatched he truly was.

"I got to train more."

.

.

Everything was black. No sound. No sight. No feeling.

However, soon enough, feeling was returning with sound following soon after. The sound of battle started out as a muzzle only to grow louder and louder until it was all that could be heard.

Wasabi groaned as he felt her whole body was sore but was at least regaining feeling.

"I think she's coming to." A female voice was heard.

Wasabi felt her body being healed. She could tell since she felt a warm, soothing sensation spreading around her body starting from her chest. She could never forget the revitalizing feeling only medical ninjutsu can provide.

"Huh?" Wasabi cracked open her eyes to see a kunoichi working on her with medical ninjutsu.

It was a brunette kunoichi with Inuzuka markings on her cheeks, her hair done up in a ponytail and two locks poking out the border of her hair, framing her face over her large, black eyes.

"How are you feeling?" The Inuzuka kunoichi asked.

"… Like crap." Wasabi answered.

"Finally, you got her to wake up, sis." Kiba pointed out as he looked over the ruffed up Izuno.

"I'm still not as good healing humans as I am with animals, so I couldn't make this a speedy recovery." Hana said to her brother, Kiba.

"Thank Kami-sama that we have these things that blonde kid handed the medical teams guarding the civilians earlier." One shinobi said, bringing up an Iyashi-satsu (Healing Tag).

"Good thing we were ordered to pick them up thanks to Ino-sama." A kunoichi said.

"Huh?" Wasabi looked down to see her sleeveless hoodie opened up to reveal her fishnet mesh sleeveless shirt with Iyashi-satsu scattered around her torso. "Thank God for you, Shina." Wasabi said as she laid her head back down onto the ground. She then heard an explosion, causing her to flinch. Wasabi turned her head only for her eyes to widen in shock as the horrors of war were before her. Shinobi fighting and dying against the forces of the Oni Zetsu. "What the hell is going on?!" Wasabi questioned, horrified by the terrible sight.

A Jinmenken pounced at Hana and Wasabi, only for Tsume to intercept and claw at it, sending it flying back.

"War." Tsume said with a frown and furrowed brow, keeping her stance low and claws ready. "This is what shinobi were bred to do in the past, kid. It ain't pretty, but this is shinobi's life. Laying down their lives for the sake of those who can't fight against threats like these things." Tsume said, keeping her attention on any Oni Zetsu that would attempt to attack her group.

Wasabi watched as the shinobi fought against the Oni Zetsu. Every attack from both sides, explosive jutsu, Oni Zetsu dispersing into pollen that were quickly absorbed by fūinjutsu, while a number of shinobi were falling, and that number was rising.

Wasabi bit her bottom lip as she glared at the sight before her.

"I don't like it…" Wasabi uttered.

"Well suck it up, gaki. This is your life now." Tsume said.

"No… that's not what I'm talking about…" Wasabi said, catching Tsume and the others' attention as she then fought to sit back up. "I don't like… laying on the ground like this… I didn't train like hell just to sit on my ass while other people fight! Fights that I can handle myself as well!" Wasabi exclaimed with her fangs grit and slamming her hand against the ground.

"Don't be stupid! You were wounded really badly and have just been healed! Don't be an idiot!" Kiba reprimanded the girl.

"Zip it, Big Mouth!" Wasabi shot back.

"What'd you say?!" Kiba retorted with his own fangs grit.

"I'm not the kind of girl who will let others fight for her… nor will I ever be! I know this fight doesn't just concern me, but what good am I lying here?! I have to fight as well!" Wasabi argued as she fought to get back to her feet.

"Please, don't move." Hana said, trying to stop Wasabi as she gently placed her hands on the younger brunette.

"No way!" Wasabi shouted as she pushed Hana's hands away.

"Don't push yourself." Tsume said.

"Don't boss me around. I can fight… I can win!" Wasabi said as she pushed ahead, charging forward.

"Oi! Hold it, brat!" Kiba called out to Wasabi as he ran after her.

'Chakura Hige!' (Chakra Whiskers) Wasabi quickly summoned her chakra whiskers to protrude out of the sides of her face.

She immediately sensed danger from below, forcing her to dodge as thorny vines shot from out of the ground. Several more followed suit, which Wasabi was pressed to dodge as well.

'She's good.' Hana thought with awe, seeing Wasabi, the girl who she had to heal for some time and wasn't even at a hundred percent, managing to dodge the thorny vines from beneath the ground.

Several shot up from around Wasabi and attacked all at the same time.

The Izuno girl gritted her teeth as she was then forced to jump. She earned a couple of grazes along her body with trinkles of blood flying out, but she managed to avoid any serious injury from the thorn riddled vines.

"Chakra no Tsume!" (Chakra Claws) Wasabi shouted out as she spun around, delivering a 360-degree claw slash that destroyed new thorny vines that came from the ground.

The sound of shout of pain was heard as a distance away from her was a Harionaga (Hook Girl), who retracted her locks of thorny vine hair. The Oni Zetsu glared at the chakra whiskered girl with its 'hair' raised and ready for assault.

Wasabi let out a growl as she got on all fours and rushed towards the Harionaga, who sent 'her' thorny vines to attack the short-haired girl.

"Tsūtsume!" (Passing Claw) Wasabi spiraling in the air as her chakra claws sliced through the thorny vines like butter.

Wasabi landed on the ground and leaped with her chakra claws ready to strike at the Harionaga's head, only for said Oni Zetsu to grin wickedly.

Just then, a pair of Jinmenken leaped over the Harionaga and were aiming to strike down Wasabi.

"Gatsūga!" Kiba and Tsume screamed out as they became one another's partner for the moment to deliver a double team drill to the pair of human-faced canines, sending them flying away with their underbellies shredded, and allowing Wasabi the chance to slice off the surprised Harionaga's head off with her chakra claws.

"See?! You almost got killed there if it hadn't had been for us!" Kiba shouted as he and his mother were on their feet with their claws ready.

"Just stand back and let us handle the rest, Wasabi." Tsume ordered.

"But I can-"

"No! You've done enough! Now get back to safety this instant!" Tsume yelled at the young kunoichi, surprising her and her son at her risen volume.

Hana and the other shinobi, along with other Inuzuka, caught up to them, ready to assist, just in time to hear Tsume barking orders at Wasabi.

Said Izuno stared in surprise at this order only for memories of her other self and Tsume's counterpart to flash through her mind. The same memories she viewed through Shinachiku's eyes. What she saw made her tightened her hands into fists with her regular nails digging deep into her palms, making them bleed. Just seeing the other Wasabi and Tsume getting along so well with upmost confidence in the other, while this version of Tsume didn't share the same with her… it was just boiling her blood way too much.

After gritting her teeth hard, with her fangs biting into the side of her bottom lip causing it to bleed, Wasabi spoke a word that no one has ever said to Tsume once she gave an order.

"No."

Everyone stopped and stared in shock, with the members of the Inuzuka clan being the most flabbergasted.

"What was that?" Tsume glanced towards Wasabi with her fangs grit and brow furrowed.

"I am not stepping back. Not now… not ever." Wasabi responded.

"Dammit, brat! I told you-"

"And I'm telling you I am not!" Wasabi shouted out with her teeth grit hard.

"As a kunoichi, I expect you to follow orders!" Tsume reprimanded, gritting her teeth even harder as she directed a glare towards Wasabi.

"I'm not just a kunoichi!" Wasabi screamed out, surprising and confusing everyone. "I'm more than that… I'm someone who doesn't back done, doesn't roll over and never lets anyone get the better end of her. I don't just roll over and die! I'm way too much for that!"

"Then what are you?" Tsume asked, sensing something powerful coming from the cat-loving girl.

"I'm just like you." Wasabi said, catching Tsume and everyone else off guard. "I'm something that these bastards can't even measure up to. Something they should never have crossed paths with from the start."

A Hibagon suddenly stood before them all, catching their attention with the sounds of its large footsteps.

"Crap!" An Inuzuka shinobi said as they all noticed the Hibagon, who was accompanied by several Jinmenken, Tsuchigumo and a Futakuchi-onna and Harionago.

Tsume and Kiba growled with their claws ready only to notice Wasabi marching forward.

"O-Oi! Hold it!" Kiba called out.

"I am something way scarier than these bastards could ever hope to be!" Wasabi growled out as all eyes were on her.

The Hibagon and others rushed forward with the simian-esque giant rearing its fist back, readying a punch for Wasabi. The moment it got close, it was ready to smash her into the ground, but when it was right in front of her, it felt an intense pressure it had never felt before from a human. This sensation, causing it to hesitate for a moment but kept going, only for alarms to go off in its mind telling it to back away from such an action.

Before it could address and respond to its instincts, it was already too late as Wasabi snapped her head up with his eyes gleaming bright yellow.

"I'M AN ALPHA!" Wasabi screamed out as she took a deep breath in through her mouth, causing her chest to expand. "Arufa no Hōkō!" (Roar of the Alpha) Wasabi unleashed a booming roar that sounded like it was the combination of the roars of a lion and a black panther.

The roar echoed throughout the whole battlefield, heard by everyone, but while the shinobi were in shock, the Oni Zetsu that heard the roar were instantly paralyzed.

The monsters of nature all frozen in shock will looks of apprehension on their faces as for the first time ever, they felt the fear of something superior before them, rendering them of movement all together as even that felt futile.

The Hibagon let out a fearful moan as it stared down at Wasabi with a fearful look and widened, scared eyes.

Wasabi reared her arms back with her hands taking the position of tiger claws with her chakra claws growing and glowing brighter with a lighter shade of color as more chakra was being focused into them, causing them to shine brightly like silver.

"Ryō Gin Shishi Yashi: … Gin Mairu!" (Dual Silver Lions Palm: Silver Mile) Wasabi thrusted her palms and claws forward, striking the Hibagon in the stomach as her chakra claws not only went right through its body, but also expanded even farther, becoming super long as they then exploded with chakra.

The Hibagon's abdomen was completely destroyed, leaving only its upper body starting from the bottom of its chest and its legs, which both went flying.

Wasabi's jutsu not only destroyed the Hibagon, but they also sent the surrounding Oni Zetsu away from both the shockwave and several being at the edge of the explosive chakra.

Everyone stared in shock and awe at Wasabi's feat. She clearly was no ordinary kunoichi that needed to be watched over. She proved that.

Wasabi panted some but quickly regained her composure and got on all fours. Narrowing her eyes as chakra surged all around her body, she sped around, slicing into the Oni Zetsu that were with the Hibagon with her chakra claws.

"Neko Hikkaki-netsu!" (Cat Scratch Fever) Wasabi appeared behind all of the Oni Zetsu that had tried attacking her earlier, slicing into all of them as they had glowing bright claw marks that dug deep into their bodies, with chunks of them flying into the air. Wasabi's chakra continued to surge even after the Oni Zetsu fell to the ground, defeated. "This is what an alpha can do! Now stay out of my way!" Wasabi proclaimed as she charged forward on all fours, joining the fray.

The shinobi that were behind her were in shock, as then suddenly Tsume started letting out some chuckles before they became full blown laughter.

"That's the way! That's what I want to see out of my fellow kunoichi!" Tsume said, releasing a jovial laugh.

"Okāsan?" Hana was surprised by her mother's cheerful behavior.

"But even still… I am not going to be outdone by a brat!" Tsume said as she gave an animalistic grin and proceeded to get on all fours. "Nobody better get in my way! Got it?!" Tsume shouted out as she sped forward, entering battle again without hesitation.

"Great… now there's two of her." Kiba said with a dull frown before slashing away a Jinmenken that tested its luck against him.

High above, Chocho was watching everything unfold from above. Apparently, that roar really affected the Oni Zetsu, as the shinobi were now able to get free hits on them thanks to the intimidating nature behind it.

"Yes! Now this is what I'm talking about! We're kicking all their butts and sending them back into the ground! That's the way!" Chocho cheered with a proud smile and fist pump. All of a sudden though, a giant hand shot up and grabbed her hard, causing her to shriek in surprise and pain. "What in the-?!" Chocho turned her head, only to look in shock and horror to see the Kerekera Onna was back on its feet with its eyes regrown but squinted in pain thanks to her. "Oh, nuts! You're still alive?!" Chocho exclaimed in shock before she was suddenly squeezed hard in the Kerakera Onna's grip, causing her to scream out in pain.

"Chocho!" Sarada noticed her friend screaming in pain followed by everybody else.

"Oh crap! It's not dead!" A male shinobi shouted out in fear, now worried over being paralyzed by the giant 'female' Oni Zetsu's voice again.

"Mura, huhuhuhu~." The Kerakera Onna giggled as it squeezed Chocho even more, causing the Akimichi to scream even louder. "Ah, Hahahahahaha!" The Kerakera Onna laughed with sadistic glee as 'her' voice echoed throughout the battlefield, causing the men of Troop A to freeze again.

"Dammit, not again!" Boruto cursed as he then noticed Sarada sprinting forward with lightning sparking around her body.

"I'm coming, Chocho!" Sarada shouted out.

"Dammit, let go!" Chocho screamed out as she then growled before unleashing lightning from her body with a scream.

The Kerakera Onna reared its head back as it was struck by a bolt of lightning, but it gritted its teeth in pain and anger, glaring at the kunoichi in its grip as it tightened its hold, making Chocho scream even louder.

"CHOCHO!" Sarada yelled out in fear for her friend's life as lightning started to encase her entire being.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" (Summoning Technique) A male voice shouted out as a giant snake appeared from behind the Kerakera Onna and wrapped around its neck, choking it.

"Na… Nani?!" The Kerakera Onna questioned as it gripped massive snake causing it to react by tightening its hold around 'her' neck.

"Raiton: Hebi Ikazuchi!" (Lightning Release: Snake Lightning) A pair of snakes made of lightning shot out and bit the Kerakera Onna in the wrists, right where a vein would be found on a humanoid being.

The jutsu combined with the giant summoned snake choking it out caused the Kerekera Onna to release 'her' hold on Chocho, allowing the Akimichi girl to fall towards the ground as the behemoth 'woman' fell onto 'her' knee.

"Chocho!" Sarada called out as she was ready to save her friend, but someone else had beaten her to the punch.

A mysterious figure grabbed Chocho into their arms, bridal style, and landed upon the ground.

This figure was a surprise to see, but none more than for Boruto and Sarada.

"Y-You're…" Boruto was in shock to see this familiar face.

"Mitsuki?!" Sarada spoke her other teammate's name, surprised to see that he returned, and during this time of crisis no less.

"Hello, everyone. Sorry to have kept you waiting." Mitsuki greeted the shinobi forces with a mock smile and pair of eye smiles.

Chocho groaned and grumbled as she soon raised her head to notice someone was over her.

"Huh? Who's that?" Chocho asked as she regained her senses and noticed that it was none other than the missing member of Team 7. "Mitsuki?"

"Hello, Chocho." Mitsuki greeted the Akimichi with that same mock smile. "I see you were in a bit of trouble there."

"Yeah… did you save me?" Chocho asked.

"I did." Mitsuki answered before flitting away in time to avoid the Kerakera Onna's grasp. "And now I plan on finishing this." Mitsuki added as he appeared right beside Sarada. "Watch her." Mitsuki said to his bespectacled teammate, as he lied the Chocho down next to her.

"Huh?" Sarada looked towards the pale genin in surprise before he flitted away from sight again. "Mitsuki, wait!" Sarada called out to her teammate with her hand extended forward, seeing him rushing towards the giant Oni Zetsu.

Mitsuki retained his smile but had a determined look in his eyes as he glared towards the giant 'female' Oni Zetsu.

The Kerakera Onna growled at the snake summoner before she let out a haunting and ear bleeding wail towards him, which met Mitsuki head on and paralyzed the entire male population on the battlefield even further. The only thing was, Mitsuki continued charging forward without any signs of hesitation.

"That won't work on me." Mitsuki said, widening his smile as his eyes gleamed quite menacingly.

The Kerakera Onna leaned back in shock that a biological male was immune to its voice, so it tried the old fashion way and smashing its hand atop of the pale boy.

Mitsuki dodge to the side, avoiding the Kerakera Onna's hand by a hair.

"Bad move." Mitsuki said, widening his smile more as his body surged with the green aura of natural energy, shocking the Kerakera Onna. "Senpō: Orochi Ikazuchi!" (Sage Art: Great Snake Lightning) Mitsuki created a large number of large green ethereal snake made of natural energy.

The huge snakes made of natural energy shot upwards and attached themselves to the Kerakera Onna, with one of them biting into 'her' wrist, digging inside to enter the creature's veins. The ethereal snakes made of nature and lightning bit into the Kerakera Onna, with several digging into the massive Oni Zetsu's body, slithering deep inside, with several entering through the torso, a pair going into the legs, one going right into the other wrist, and a pair biting into and traveling inside the neck.

The snake Mitsuki had summoned moments earlier vanished via a puff of smoke before things got too much even for it.

The Kerakera Onna screamed in distress as it felt the ethereal lightning snakes bite into and slither inside of its body.

"You made a very fatal mistake… you messed with my friends and the place I have come to call home." Mitsuki said, still smiling as he summoned a pair of nature enhanced lightning snakes that bit into the eyes of the Kerakera Onna, digging into 'her' sockets. "And for that… I'll have to make you pay." Mitsuki added as his yellow eyes shined bright menacing gold.

The Kerakera Onna screamed as 'she' tried pulling away, but the ethereal lightning snake held onto her tightly, before they all unleashed a powerful surge of lightning, each from their very being. The Kerakera Onna screamed bloody murder as 'she' was being electrocuted from the inside out, feeling lightning being shot into it by their fangs like poison, and feeling the ones inside its body slithering deeper within as the lightning surrounding them traveled throughout its internal system.

Everyone watched in shock and even horror at seeing the once dangerous massive Oni Zetsu, screaming in palpable agony as lightning coursed around it with varies places in its body bulging from the slithering ethereal lightning snakes inside of it.

Over time the Kerakera Onna's body began to char from the inside out with its skin turning into a crisp and shedding with its 'hair' falling off soon after.

"This is where it ends… Shokei Hito no Inazuma." (Executioner's Lightning) Mitsuki spoke as the Kerakera Onna was soon reduced to a charred black skeleton with its jaws wide open, reflecting the giant 'female' Oni Zetsu's final expression of pain and horror. The ethereal lightning snakes constricted the charred bones of what was left of the Kerakera Onna, crushing them into ash as a cloud of soot bathed the area. "All done." Mitsuki said, continuing to smile as he dispersed the green lightning snakes and his aura of natural energy.

"W… Whoa…" Chocho said with shock and a bit of fear as everyone was left speechless from what they had all just witnessed.

Even the surrounding Oni Zetsu were shocked by this event.

"Mitsuki… what the hell have you been doing since you've been gone?" Sarada wondered to herself as she too was left shell-shocked by her formerly absent teammate's new level of power.

"Wow… way to go, Mitsuki!" Boruto cheered with a huge grin and fist pump.

"I… I can finally move again!" A male shinobi said, regaining the feeling of movement.

"Me too!"

"I guess with it dead, we're no longer under its spell."

Konohamaru sighed as he repeatedly clenched and unclenched his hands.

'It's possible that with her voice, the Kerakera Onna infected the male populace with some kind of odd pheromone that was enhanced with natural energy. Maybe even in the form of some microscopic pollen. With the source destroyed, their effects went as well. I'll have to ask the medical team to look over the men of our division to see if there are any lingering abnormalities inside of us.' Konohamaru deduced as he then looked up towards his once missing student. The same whose father took away Konohamaru's grandfather but had now saved his and the lives of many other Konoha-nin. 'Good work, Mitsuki. And thank you.' Konohamaru thought with an appreciative smile.

Suddenly, several Jinmenken pounced on Mitsuki.

"Mitsuki!" Boruto and Sarada shouted out their teammate's name in worry.

Many snakes came out of Mitsuki's sleeves, wrapped around the pouncing Jinmenken and bit into them.

"Thank you for the help." Mitsuki said to the pack of Jinmenken as they howled in pain and agony as they all became bone dry, drained off their mass and energy. Mitsuki gained a greenish aura as he released the pack of Oni Zetsu, letting them fall onto the ground. "Raiton: Hebi Ikazuchi!" Mitsuki delivered several snakes made of lightning that fried the Jinmenken into ash. "Better safe than sorry." Mitsuki added as he finished his jutsu.

"Mitsuki!" Boruto called out as he hurried over towards his friend.

"Hello, Boruto. It's been a while." Mitsuki greeted his 'sun' with his usual smile, as if nothing had just happened.

"Alright, you're back!" Boruto cheered with a fist pump and grin, stopping before his pale teammate. "And you're stronger now!"

"Yes, I am." Mitsuki replied.

"Where have you been? How'd you get so much stronger? What did you do just now to those Jinmenken? And what's with the old fashion hero's entrance?" Boruto listed the questions that popped into his mind at the moment.

"I've been with my parent. He helped augment my body and trained me to face off against these new creatures. I can now drain them of their natural energy and use it for myself, as you witnessed just now. As for my 'entrance', I have someone to thank for bringing me here so soon since they were on their way to the village as well." Mitsuki answered one by one.

"Who?"

.

.

"Done!" Clone Shinachiku said as he wiped the sweat from his brow and let out an exhale.

"Wow. You left no tile unwritten." Naruto said, staring down at the floor of the top of the Hokage's tower, which once was spotless of any mess, now was written entirely in a sealing formula. "So, I just have to mix in mine and Kurama's chakra into this thing and it'll amplify the power of the barrier ninjutsu, correct?" Naruto asked, making sure he got the gist of the before, or technically beneath him.

"That's right. After you filled up enough, you just need four kage level shinobi to activate the jutsu. Thankfully, Kakashi-ojisan, Tsunade-O bāchan and kaa-, I mean, Uchiha-san to help out there." Clone Shinachiku explained.

"I just have one more question. Can only mine and Kurama's chakra be infused into this seal, or can anyone else add their own strength as well?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, well, anyone can if they want to. Why do you ask?"

"You hear that, teme?" Naruto asked looking upwards as standing atop a large hawk was none other than Sasuke.

"I've been here the whole time, dobe." Sasuke responded as he activated his Mangekyō Sharingan. (Kaleidoscope Copy Wheel Eye)

.

.

Arata delivered a power slash with his chokuto, just as the Ōnyūdō sent a powerful nature enhanced punch towards him. The Uchiha-Hyūga absorbed as much natural energy into the blood written sealing formula on his chokuto blade during the power struggle, but the force behind the Ōnyūdō's punch was still winning out.

"Raiton: Hakke Kūshō!" (Lightning Release: Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm) Arata thrust his palm upwards towards the Ōnyūdō's head before he was sent flying away from the force behind the large 'priest's' punch.

The Ōnyūdō got struck by the compressed force of chakra and lightning that it stumbled back, which provided Hanabi and Hinata time to charge towards its sides with their palms raging with lion-headed shaped chakra, slamming them into the large humanoid's ribs, breaking them from within.

The Ōnyūdō coughed up green fluid from its mouth, before gritting its teeth in anger and then slamming its hands together, delivering a thundering clap that unleashed a shockwave of natural energy.

Fortunately, Hanabi and Hinata managed to leap away from the attack's epicenter, but they were still sent flying away by the shockwave.

Hiashi came rushing in as his chakra was being released from all his tenketsu simultaneously before leaping into the air.

"Hakkeshō Kaiten!" Hiashi spun at rapid speed, becoming a flying dome of spiraling chakra.

The jutsu grinded hard against the natural energy enhanced shockwave until Hiashi unleashed a shockwave of his own that negated the shockwave. It took a lot out of him, but he continued forward, just as then the Ōnyūdō was ready to thrust its palm towards the elder Hyūga with its hand glowing green with natural energy.

However, Arata shrouded his chokuto in lightning chakra and the recently absorbed natural energy as he then unleashed an iaijutsu slash that was so strong, the force traveled far and actually cut the Ōnyūdō's hand in half, causing the monster to roar in pain and hold its severed hand, buying Hiashi time to retaliate as he leaped high into the air.

"Hakke Kūhekishō!" Hiashi thrust his palms downward, striking the Ōnyūdō's head and upper body, sending it slamming hard against the ground, back-first, bouncing off it and falling back down face-first.

Arata sprinted forward at high speed with both hands shrouded in lighting chakra before leaping high into the air himself.

"Raiton: Hakkeshō Senbon Ame!" (Lightning Release: Eight Trigrams Palms Thousand Long Cylindrical Object Rain) Arata thrust his palms down towards the Ōnyūdō, delivering a rapid storm of senbon shaped lightning upon the creature.

The Ōnyūdō quickly rolled towards the side to avoid being struck all over by the jutsu, only for its arm (the one with the severed hand) and its leg to be struck by a multitude of them, rendering them useless. The Ōnyūdō managed to get on one knee, just as Arata landed upon the ground, and delivered a palm thrust, unleashing a wave of natural energy from its palm.

Arata brought his lightning covered palms back to chamber just as Hiashi, Hinata and Hanabi ran over towards his side, mirroring the same action.

"Raiton…" Arata started.

"Hakke Dai Kūhekishō!" All four shouted out as they thrust their palms forward as a massive invisible wall of compressed chakra mixed with lightning raced all the way towards the Ōnyūdō, who was struck head on by the wall, which struck all of the tenketsu in its fronts region as it went skidding back on its knee.

The massive Oni Zetsu was actually panting with exhaustion and pain, but it kept its steely glare focused on the main branch of the Hyūga before it.

"Now's our chance while its weakened. Let's end it before it absorbs enough natural energy!" Arata said as he brought up his left hand, encasing it completely in lightning.

"Hai!" The others said as they all rushed forward.

Hiashi and Hanabi sped over first at high speed just as the Ōnyūdō was gathering enough natural energy to get back to its feet. The father and daughter delivered several palms strikes and finger jabs to its body to slow down the prowess while avoiding the Ōnyūdō's strikes, which were much slower and weaker in its current state.

"Hakkeshō Kaiten!" Hiashi and Hanabi became domes of rapid spinning chakra that dug into the sides of the Ōnyūdō, so much so that they were shredding off its skin and 'muscles'.

The Ōnyūdō was sandwiched between the two rapidly spinning domes of chakra, roaring in pain as its layers were being shredded right off its body, until both jutsus burst, unleashing powerful shockwaves that the Oni Zetsu was in between.

Hiashi and Hanabi leaped away, leaving the Ōnyūdō stunned and with its sides and arms shredded so badly you could see its bones made of black wood.

"Hakke Sōjishi Hōgeki!" Hinata ran in with her palm shrouded in a massive amount of purple chakra in the shape of lion heads that she then proceeded to slam in the Ōnyūdō's stomach, causing its eyes to bulge and mouth wide agape, as a tornado of purple chakra shot out from its backside.

She then followed up with several strikes all throughout its front with her chakra surging through its body and going out its back. Hinata then ended it with a hard flying palm strike to the Ōnyūdō's chin, sending a shockwave right through its head as she then went flying overhead, leaving the Ōnyūdō disorientated long enough for Arata to deliver his jutsu.

Arata sped over as fast as lightning, perhaps even faster, with his Mangekyō Tōmeigan shining bright for a moment as he then arrived in front of the dazed Ōnyūdō and slammed his lightning covered palm into its abdomen.

"Jū Chidori!" (Gentle One Thousand Birds) Arata sent a powerful current of lightning all throughout the Ōnyūdō's chakra pathways, striking at every tenketsu within it and frying its internal system. After a moment of silence, Arata's eyes gleamed bright white again as a long, large sword made of white lightning shot right through the back of the Ōnyūdō. "Murakumo." (Gathering Clouds) Arata announced as he was surrounded in his Susano'o's white ribcage form with its skeletal arm surrounding Arata's own.

In the next instance, black smoke shot out from every single tenketsu of the Ōnyūdō and the longer it went the more the Ōnyūdō started to decrease in mass. Its muscle mass was instantly deteriorating until it was all skin and bones.

The Ōnyūdō, once a mass of muscle and power, now looked like a mummified corpse with its bandages stolen.

"Sugoi." Hanabi said as she, Hiashi and Hinata stared in awe at Arata's capabilities.

Arata leaped a good distance away before forming the complete upper body of his Susano'o, now looking humanoid with long flowing hair.

The Ōnyūdō, though massively weakened, was still able to move its feet while it was lurched over with its head hanging. It let out a lengthy moan from its open maws, before clenching its teeth together. Letting out a ghoulish moaning wail, it sprinted towards Arata to the best of its ability, but because of Hyūgas, its strength was zapped, massively decreasing its once incredible speed to a more lumbering pace in contrast to its original.

Arata dispersed his Murakumo and reared his Susano'o's palms back.

"Susano'o: Hakke Kūhekishō!" (Susano'o: Eight Trigrams Vacuum Wall Palm) Arata's Susano'o unleashed a massive sized force of unseen chakra that rocketed forward and completely disintegrated the Ōnyūdō upon contact, finally putting an end to the beast.

"Yatta!" Hanabi cheered with a grin and a pair of fist pump. "That took a lot of effort, but we managed to finally bring that thing down! We make one hell of a team, eh, onee-sama, chichioya?" Hanabi said, looking towards her father and sister, only to notice they were staring at Arata's Susano'o with somber eyes that reflected a melancholic joy within them.

Hanabi was confused by their reaction, so she turned her head to see the back of Arata's white Susano'o, which was in a Jūken stance with its long hair flowing in the air.

"Neji…" Hiashi spoke, causing Hanabi to look to her father with widened eyes before looking back towards Arata's avatar as the image of the back of Neji flashed in its place for a moment.

This caused Hanabi's eyes to soften with sadness as well, but with an underlying hint of happiness to see the missing pieces of their family had come back to them in some form.

Arata let out an exhale from his nose as he deactivated his Mangekyō Tōmeigan with his Susano'o dissipating. He reached into his jacket pocket and took out his eyedrops. He proceeded to apply them to help heal his eyes from the effects of the Mangekyō, just as three Jinmenken rushed him and pounced, only for Hiashi, Hanabi and Hinata to intercept and send the trio of Oni Zetsu flying.

"Arigato." Arata thanked his familial counterparts as he finished applying his drops.

"We should be the ones thanking you, Arata-kun." Hiashi said to the younger Hyūga, who pocketed his visual medication.

"Yeah. Honestly, I didn't see us winning against that monster. At least, not without being drained of all our strength in the process. Even though, we'd just be sitting ducks as a result. Easy picking for the rest." Hanabi agreed with a soft smile.

Arata blinked his eyes in response. He didn't want to reply to that, considering that what Hanabi shared was highly accurate. He did believe in the strength of his family, but the idea that they would have been killed by other less powerful Oni Zetsu as a result is something he did not want to acknowledge.

No one wants to imagine their family dying.

He then noticed his mother's counterpart was now right in front of him, her jutsu deactivated and giving him a gentle smile.

"Arigato, Arata-kun. You came through for us. I knew that you would since the second I saw you arrive." Hinata said giving her 'son' a warm, gentle smile, causing his eyes to widen a bit.

"I just wanted to help my family." Arata said upon instinct, surprising the three, who then smiled to him.

"Family…" Hiashi repeated as his eyes softened. His lip then quivered as he got teary eyed before suddenly hugging Arata, lifting him off the ground. "You called us your family, Arata-kun! Arigato!" Hiashi thanked the boy he saw as an actual grandson of his.

"T-This isn't the t-time for this, Sofu!" Arata replied with his face reddening in embarrassment at the love and closeness Hiashi was displaying for him.

"He's right. There's still many more of these creatures that our own clan is handling on their own. We need to help them." Hanabi said, pointing towards the rest of the Hyūga, who were still fighting a wave of Oni Zetsu.

"You're right." Hiashi agreed as he released Arata.

The sound of thunder echoed from above, causing Hiashi, Hanabi, Hinata and the rest of the clan, along with the Oni Zetsu, to look up to see an accumulation of storm clouds hovering over the battlefield.

"What in the-? How is this possible?! Another one of those things!?" Hanabi questioned, shocked by this development.

"Partially. I used the chakra from the Ōnyūdō's pathways to make these with Murakumo." Arata explained as he then activated a Chidori that shot lighting up above into the clouds, causing more lightning and thunder to form. "I advise telling the clan to pull away for the moment." Arata informed.

"Everyone, fall back this instant!" Hiashi ordered towards the rest of the Hyūga.

Though confused, the rest of the Hyūga followed their leader's orders. As they ran off, the Oni Zetsu noticed them retreating. The beasts aimed to follow, but then suddenly, one of them, a Jinmenken, was shot by lightning, causing the rest of the Oni Zetsu to freeze in shock and caution.

"Fall in countless number." Arata said with his Chidori raised overhead before reactivating his Tōmeigan. "Senbon Kōu!" (Thousand Long Cylindrical Object Rainfall) Arata brought down his Chidori as a rain of lightning senbon came down upon the Oni Zetsu, striking them all in each one of their tenketsu.

The Hyūga clan watched in shock and awe as the Oni Zetsu that had given them so much trouble was now defeated in an instant, laying defeated upon the ground, paralyzed with their eyes widened and jaws, for those that had some, agape.

"Sugoi…" A Hyūga said in awe.

"Sayonara." Arata said, making a ram seal as the lightning senbon, which were still stabbed into the tenketsu of all the Oni Zetsu, burst into explosions of lightning that littered the entire area.

"Unbelievable." One Hyūga said in disbelief.

"Hey… is this kid… really a Hyūga?" Another asked with a bit of a nervous smile, pointing towards Arata.

"Of course he is! Why would you say such a thing?!" Hanabi shouted, reprimanding said clan member, causing him and the rest to flinch at her angered and defensive behavior.

"Forgive me, Hanabi-sama, it's just… I never knew our clan had a member that was so strong." The nervous Hyūga responded with genuine surprise.

"I didn't even know we Hyūga could become this strong." Another commented, staring at the damage Arata had done to the pale monsters.

"How come our clan never combined our elemental natures into our jutsu? It seemed like something that could have been practiced ages ago." Another Hyūga wondered aloud.

"Because it is part of our tradition! The Hyūga clan has been worried that doing so would lead to over-reliance on our nature affinities that we'd neglect our core training with the Jūken. Going against our custom is considered a sign of weakness!" A Hyūga retorted.

"Not all traditions can continue to carry water." Hiashi stated, catching everyone else's attention. "Especially when times continue to change."

"Hiashi-sama…" The Hyūga from before was surprised by the words of the clan head, and he wasn't the only one.

Hiashi looked up just as thunder struck once again, causing everyone else to look up to see the storm clouds still overhead.

"Those clouds still persist." Hiashi said with a knowing frown.

"Then that could mean only one thing…" Hanabi said as she and Hinata looked towards Arata.

'Arata-kun…' Hinata was worried about what this could mean… what her 'son' was waiting for.

Arata furrowed his brow, glaring ahead at the forest as within its shadows in the distance was a quantifiable mass of green aura with glowing orbs from within, not unlike eyes. It was like staring into the abyss within a vast ocean, and he knew just what kind of dangers were lurking within the waters.

'Yare yare.' Arata thought with a frown, before his eyes caught notice of something from beneath. "Hn?"

.

.

"Channarō!" Shinachiku screamed out as he sent large Jinmenken flying with a punch before several more attacked him from all sides. Shinachiku immediately snapped open the fourth gate as he proceeded to retaliate. "Konoha Ryū Haku!" (Leaf Dragon Sweep) Shinachiku sent a 360-degree sweep kick so fast that it both sent the Jinmenken off their feet, then delivered a spinning capoeira kick that kicked one in the face as they were all then hit from being carried by the kick, smashing them against one another before they were sent flying away, all while the move created a powerful whirlwind. "Sokkyū Rasengan!" (Fastball Spiraling Spheres) Shinachiku immediately got to his feet, created a Rasengan and then threw it towards the collection of Jinmenken he kicked away, striking them as the jutsu then exploded into a powerful blast of chakra and wind. "Yatta!" Shinachiku cheered with a grin and deactivating his gates, before getting serious again as he delivered a back kick towards a Tsuchigumo that broke from the ground behind him.

"Dainamikku Entorī!" Lee came rocketing over, delivering a hard kick to the Tsuchigumo's side, crushing its body and sending it flying before Shinachiku could land the hit. "I'm glad to see your instincts are very sharp." Lee said, smiling at Shinachiku.

"You trained me well." Shinachiku said returning a smile of his own. "Well, not you, the other you I mean… well, you know." Shinachiku corrected himself before a Hibagon charged over with its fist ready and radiating with green naturally enhanced chakra. "Channarō!" Shinachiku screamed out as he and Lee delivered dual hard kicks to the Hibagon's abdomen, causing its eyes to bulge and lips to stick out before it was sent rocketing away where it made impact with another Tsuchigumo.

"You learned well!" Lee said with a proud and supportive smile.

"Kagemane Kage Shibari no Jutsu!" (Shadow Imitation Shadow Bind Technique) Shikadai extended his shadow towards several shinobi who were engaged in combat with several Oni Zetsu, linking his shadow to theirs without restricting their movement. "And now, Kage Nui no Jutsu!" (Shadow Sewing Technique) Shikadai unleashed a multitude of tendrils made from his own shadow, stabbing into the Oni Zetsu in front of the shinobi whose shadows he was linked to.

"Every Nara follow Shikadai's lead!" A member of the Nara clan called out to his clansmen, which there was a decent number of to defend the gates.

The Nara members did as Shikadai had done, stabbing into and binding Oni Zetsu in place, managing to hold off a good number of them.

"Doton: Dosekidake!" Iwabe shouted as he summoned a large quantity of spikes from the earth, stabbing into the Oni Zetsu that the Nara clan had captured.

"Katon: Haisekishō!" Mirai blew out a massive cloud of ash from her mouth that surrounded the pierced Oni Zetsu, who were starting to break down into pollen. "Shikadai!"

"Right!" Shikadai got the memo as he quickly grabbed his massive fan and ran straight ahead with it ready. "Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" (Sickle Weasel Technique) Shikadai unleashed a powerful gust of wind that rocketed towards the ash.

'Bingo.' Mirai clicked her teeth causing the ash to explode into fire with the combination of Shikadai's wind jutsu increasing it into a roaring inferno that left no trace of the nature born beasts.

"Whoa." Shinachiku said with amazement as everyone stared in awe at the hellish blaze before them.

"I think this wall of fire will keep us safe for a while." Mirai said with a smirk.

"Don't jinx us." Shikadai said.

Just then, coming out of the fire was a Basan, letting out a screeching cawing noise and blowing a flamethrower of fire, forcing everyone to move back with some being injured and covered with flames.

"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique) Kakashi blew out a strong volume of water from his mouth which doused the flames that got onto members of Troop B, and the now charging Basan, which became a bit disorientated afterwards, buying Kakashi enough time to appear in front of it with his hands ready and sparking purple lightning. "Raiton: Shiden!" Kakashi unleashed a powerful bolt of lightning that went through the Basan's body, piercing it right through.

"Rokudaime-sama!" One shinobi called out in surprise at the save.

"Everyone, fall back and help the wounded!" Kakashi ordered his troop.

"Way ahead of you!" Shinachiku called back as he had already created clones to help carry the wounded and burnt shinobi from danger.

The sounds of shouting were heard from above, causing everyone to look up as sonic waves struck around the area, sending numerous shinobi flying away from shockwave and impact.

"What the-?!"

"Yama Obaris!" A shinobi shouted.

"Oh, come on!" A shinobi exclaimed in frustration.

Another screeching cawing noise was heard, followed by several others as then more Basans and even numerous more dog-faced fire birds charged out of the inferno with flames surrounding their feathered hides.

"More Basan!"

"And Furaribis!" (Aimless Fire)

"Fall Back!" A shinobi shouted.

'These things are too much of a pain!' Kakashi thought, gritting his teeth behind his mask. A loud screech of pain was heard as a Yama Obari fell to the floor, catching Kakashi and several others off guard. "Hmm?" Kakashi looked confused right before more Yama Obari were falling towards the floor, giving one last screech of agony as their dying breaths.

"What's going on?" A shinobi wondered aloud at this strange turn of events.

The Basans and Furaribis stopped as they too finally noticed all the Yama Obari raining from above.

One of them landed in front of a Basan, catching the giant rooster's attention. It noticed that the big beak mouthed Oni Zetsu had a black spike stabbed right through its chest. It let out a confused caw as it nudged the impaled Yama Obaris body with its beak, only to get no response.

The collection of fire Oni Zetsu then noticed looming shadows covering them overhead, causing them to look up to see a collection of black meteorites filled with other Oni Zetsu, like Namahage (Peeled Blisters), Futakuchi-Onna, Kasa-Obake (Umbrella Ghost), and even Yanari (House Squeaker), all clumped up into jagged clusters of iron sand.

"These… belong to you." The voice of a young boy spoke as he brought his hand downward, causing the clusters of iron sand to come down atop of the fire-based Oni Zetsu.

The meteor shower of iron sand and crush the Basans and Furaribis to death, along with the captured Oni Zetsu they had, and after impact sprouted out to form a massive wall of spikes in between the forest and Konoha's gates.

"Incredible." A shinobi said in awe.

"Who did that?" Another asked.

"Only one person I can think of." Shinachiku said with a knowing smile as he turned to see it was none other than Shinki. "Arigato, Shinki!"

"Sorry for the delay. I had some leftover filth to take care of." Shinki said.

"Where did you get all that iron sand from? No way it all came from just you." Shikadai asked as well as pointing out that quantity his cousin had unleashed, who still had his cloak of iron sand on him as well.

"Your father and the Hokage had provided me with enough of a supply that they had lying around within the village. Thanks to them, my range and power of attack has increased greatly." Shinki answered.

"Thank goodness. Things will definitely be easier now." Shinachiku said before the sound of ringing metal was heard upon impact.

"Why'd you have to say that?!" Shikadai reprimanded Shinachiku as everyone turned to see parts of the iron sand being sent flying from the barricade.

On the other side of the spiked barricade, the Oni Zetsu were punching, clawing and unleashing any kind of physical attack or jutsu to break right through the iron sand. Even with their attacks enhanced by natural energy, it was still taking time.

"Everyone with long range jutsu and weaponry form a line and be ready to attack!" Kakashi ordered.

"Hai!" Shinobi shouted out as a number of them formed a row with their weapons, hand seals and scientific ninja tools ready.

After a few moments, a Hibagon's fist punched right through the iron sand barricade. It used its hands and superhuman strength to split open the blockade even more, allowing it and more Oni Zetsu to start squeezing by.

The shinobi stiffened when they heard the giggling and cackling of Futakuchi-Onna and Harionago, respectively, with both Oni Zetsu leaning their heads in with grins on their faces as their hair was stretching out through the opening the Hibagon was making.

"Useless." Shinki said as he willed the iron sand to increase their number of spikes, stabbing into the invading Oni Zetsu all over their bodies.

While the rest had died instantly, the Hibagon was pushing forward.

Shinki frowned as he focused to stab into it more, only for the sound of rumbling to be heard as then more spikes came from below and stabbed right into the Hibagon.

The only thing was these new spikes weren't made up of Shinki's iron sand.

These spikes were like sprouting out like the branches, all made of a clear liquid that had traces of white specs inside.

The Hibagon's eyes widened as it was being raised up high into the air from the branch that stabbed into its abdomen, before being struck by several more around its body.

Once the branches of liquid stopped growing, everyone looked up with widened eyes as now a tall barrier of spiked branches made of solidified clear liquid the surrounded the front of the village and went even further in both directions.

"Whoa… what is that?" A kunoichi wondered aloud.

"It looks like it goes on for miles." Another shinobi said, looking off towards the side to see the new barrier went on farther than their field of vision could detect.

"That… that's Udon-sensei's jutsu!" Iwabe exclaimed, catching everyone's attention.

"Ew~. You mean the same one that he makes by using his snot?" Shinachiku said with a disgusted frown.

"Gross!" A kunoichi screamed out as she and the other shinobi felt queasy and flabbergasted that they were saved by snot.

"Hey! Don't go complaining just because of what it's made of!" Iwabe reprimanded everyone for their reactions.

"He's right. As unorthodox of a source it is, this just helped us and the village greatly." Kakashi said.

"But where did he get the chakra to make all of this?" Shikadai wondered.

.

.

Udon was on one knee, panting in front of a cracked space in the center of the village with a bubbling orange cloak surrounding him thanks to a clone of Naruto in his Bijū Chakura Mōdo (Tailed Beast Chakra Mode) right behind him with the clone's hand placed upon his back.

"Arigato… Nanadaime-sama…" Udon thanked his Hokage, panting as he did so.

"I should be the one thanking you, Udon. With your jutsu, the village will be protected. At least for a bit." Naruto replied with gratitude for Udon's efforts.

"I wouldn't have been able to do all of this without your reserves of chakra." Udon countered with a smile, before taking in a few breaths into his nose. "I don't think my nose has ever been this clear before." Udon commented.

"Well, you did have to use up a lot after all." Naruto said, putting on a grin, albeit an uneasy one as this does mean that their efforts resulted in a wall of mucus protecting the village.

Not something to easily shake-off there.

"Well, I did need to use it all up, considering what's mixed in there." Udon said, looking towards the large empty gourds surrounding them.

.

.

Shinachiku's nose picked up a specific scent coming from the, uh… 'water' trees.

"There's salt mixed in there." Shinachiku pointed out, catching everyone's attention.

"How do you know that?" A shinobi asked the sunshine blonde.

"Oh, uh, I was born with more acute senses than most. Scent being one of them. I'm no Inuzuka, but at least this nose is more useful than any normal one, dattebaro." Shinachiku said, pointing towards his nose.

"Dattebaro?" The shinobi questioned, causing Shinachiku to flinch upon realization of his slip up.

"Why salt though?" Iwabe asked in confusion.

"It's not just any salt. It's salt that's been purified by using chakra." A voice spoke for all Troops to hear, not just Kakashi's brigade.

"Tōsan?" (Dad) Shikadai was surprised to hear his father's voice within his own mind.

"Udon had combined his Hanamizuki (Nose Water Tree) with what we call Chakura Shio (Chakra Salt), which can be used to cause harm onto the Oni Zetsu, so as to make this barricade. With Naruto and Kurama's chakra to help, now the village is defended by this barrier." Shikamaru explained through the mental link as back within his location he had a hand placed on Ino's shoulder.

"Hold on, we had that kind of stuff with us?! Why didn't we use it before?!" A shinobi questioned with an incredulous and annoyed attitude.

"And why salt? I thought these things weren't actual Yokai." Another shinobi questioned.

"Doesn't salt dissolve mucus or something?" Another inquired, still very much confused.

"Unfortunately, making this stuff isn't that easy. Each grain of salt has to be worked on one at a time, and the chakra control and manpower required to accomplish such a feat is taxing without the aid of scientific ninja tools, which are still being developed to assist in that department. What's covering the village is weeks' worth of preparation, all done by Konoha-nin working tirelessly. Fortunately, since this salt has chakra infused into each grain, Udon was able to have less worries over its dehydration properties by manipulating it with his own chakra, along with the Hokage's own vast reserves. The Oni Zetsu don't have that same luxury, seeing as they are made up of the same substance as Mokuton (Wood Release), they are essentially living plants, and like any other plant, salt is very bad for them, let alone chakra infused salt. It would take ones of massive amounts of power and reserves of natural energy to deal any real damage to this blockade." Shikamaru explained through the mental link.

"Let's not waste time then! Everyone! Quickly retrieve the injured! We need to get them to safety before anything happens! We're given a window here, so let's use it, dattebaro!" Shinachiku yelled out for everyone to hear.

"R-Right! What the kid said!" One shinobi shouted out in agreement.

"Let's move people!" A kunoichi called out as everyone quickly helped out their wounded.

"Shōmon (Gate of Pain), Kai!" Shinachiku quickly snapped open the fourth gate once again before making a cross hand seal. "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Shinachiku quickly made fifty clones to help before deactivating his gates, causing him to pant a bit and wipe some sweat from his brow.

"Shinachiku-kun, you must be careful. The gates were not meant to be used in such a way." Lee warned the boy who could have been his student.

"He's right. The Hachimon is a forbidden jutsu that is meant to unlock the raw power of the body's chakra, eliminating all necessary restraints. Snapping them open for just a momentary boost in chakra for a jutsu like that does far more damage to the body than one would think." Kakashi warned the 'son' of his students.

"I'm more than aware of the damage such a whiplash can cause, but in times like these, I don't have the luxury to be careful. I have a healing factor and can fix my own body with medical ninjutsu, they can't. Right now, they're suffering worse than I am." Shinachiku retorted as he hurried off to help his clones with retrieving and healing the injured.

"He's as good-natured as his parents." Lee said, watching Shinachiku hurry towards the side of an injured shinobi, who was being carried by a kunoichi.

"Yes… but he's even more reckless than they ever were." Kakashi countered with his eyes softening for the moment.

.

.

"Ain't that the truth." Shikamaru agreed upon hearing Kakashi's words through the mental link.

Clone Naruto sighed with a frown, worry clearly evident in his eyes for Shinachiku's health and safety.

Ino suddenly started chuckling, confusing Shikamaru and Naruto.

"Seriously? And here I thought they knew these bakas better than that. If Naruto and Sakura had the same abilities, they would do the same thing in a heartbeat." Ino said with a knowing smirk.

"… Yeah. Who are we kidding?" Shikamaru responded with his own smirk and shrug after taking his hand back.

"That was a little too blunt." Clone Naruto muttered, pursing his lips and glancing to the side with annoyance.

"I-I'm sorry… what was that?" Kohan Yamanaka asked, causing Ino and Clone Naruto to flinch, forgetting they were in the company of the Barrier Team.

"You'll know when this night is over. Hopefully." Shikamaru answered a bit too easily.

"Shikamaru! Don't sound so grim!" Ino berated her teammate.

"Like Shinachiku said, we only have a brief window, so let's not waste time. We need members of the Medical Team deployed out into the village to meet with the recovered to heal them of their injuries. Send the word out." Shikamaru ordered.

"H-Hai, Shikamaru-sama!" Everyone responded as they quickly got back to work.

"Ino, Naruto… the worse has yet to come, right?" Shikamaru asked, though he already had a feeling what that answer was going to be.

"You weren't wrong when you said that it was brief." Ino answered as she and Clone Naruto had serious and grim expressions on their faces.

.

.

"Alright everyone, listen up!" Tsunade called out from within the shelter, earning everyone's attention. "Thanks to the Hokage and Udon Ise we have a small window to recover the wounded! I need half of the Medical Team to come with me back into the village! We'll meet with shinobi carrying the wounded halfway through by the center of the village! The Barrier Team will assign which will follow, so pay close attention and be prepared if you've been selected!" Tsunade explained audibly for everyone to hear.

"A small window, eh? So, the night isn't over yet." Shizune said with a frown as she stood beside Sakura. She then noticed her fellow disciple of Tsunade marching away, confusing her. "Sakura?"

"Hey, you!" Sakura marched over towards a certain shinobi who was bandaged up. "You're part of the Yamanaka clan, right?" Sakura asked.

"Y-Yes, ma'am." He answered, a bit nervously.

"I need you to connect me to Barrier Team. More specifically, Ino Yamanaka." Sakura requested as she stopped before him. "Can you do that?"

"Hai!" The Yamanaka said with a nod, then offering Sakura his shoulder, allowing her to gently place her hand atop it. The Yamanaka shinobi made a hand seal, focusing on connecting to the head of the head of his clan. After a couple of moments, he finally made the connection. "Got it!" The Yamanaka said, causing Sakura to furrow her brow as she needed some extra info.

.

.

"Hmm?" Ino noticed a connection made to her specifically. 'Who is this?' Ino demanded an answer, now gaining a serious look.

"Ino-sama, this is Gento Yamanaka. Sakura Uchiha wishes to have a word with you directly." Gento informed, surprising Ino and Clone Naruto, who was listening in as well.

'Understood. Making the connection now.' Ino responded as she connected to Sakura's consciousness. 'I'm listening, Sakura.'

'Ino, I need to know how bad things are out there.' Sakura asked through the mental link, not wanting anyone to hear what she has to say in her area.

'As bad as you can imagine.' Ino responded with a troubled frown. 'These things really are no joke. If it hadn't been for those weapons from Tenten, the scientific ninja tools and the knowledge of fūinjutsu we added to the shinobi force's curriculum… I don't want to think how worse it would have been.'

'That bad, huh?' Sakura thought with a grimace.

'Fortunately, there have been more injured than KIA. Unfortunately, our forces have been nearly cut in half. Natural energy really is no joke, and these things are capable of using it in ways that truly is frightening.' Ino explained with a worried and somber frown.

'Ino… Sarada and Shinachiku… they aren't-'

'Don't you worry, Mama-Gaku. Your precious children aren't one of them. In fact, they're the ones who are saving a good number of their asses. They may be genin, but right now, they're stronger than most Jonin out there. They're doing you proud in making sure to protect as many lives as they can. They're all grown up now.' Ino responded.

Sakura remained silent for a few moments as Ino stayed on standby in case she had any more to say.

'Ino… I'm going out there.' Sakura responded, surprising her best friend, but not by much at all.

'Kind of figured… but Sakura, with how many people within the shelter-'

'They'll be fine. I have faith that the shinobi here will protect them no matter what and the medics remaining will pick up the slack.' Sakura interjected.

Ino sighed, knowing arguing with Sakura wasn't going to do much.

'Then you shouldn't keep them waiting.' Naruto's voice was heard between the two, surprising the two, but more Sakura than Ino.

'Naruto?'

'You know it's rude to get in between a conversation between two ladies, Hokage-sama.' Ino mentally responded, turning her head towards the Naruto clone behind her with a bit of a pout and half-lidded eyes.

'I get where she's coming from, dattebayo. Besides, Sakura-chan's help is needed, and not just to assist in the injured.' Clone Naruto responded, surprising and confusing the pair of Jonin kunoichi. 'Sakura-chan… I need you and Tsunade-O bāchan's help with something, so for now, let's just do what we've been doing so far… and believe in Shinachiku and the rest.' Naruto encouraged his former teammate with a warm smile.

A warm smile that despite not in person to see, she somehow felt it through the link they were sharing at the moment.

After closing her eyes and staying silent for the moment, Sakura finally responded.

'Understood.' Sakura responded with a serious expression and determined mental tone.

'Arigato, Sakura-chan.' Hokage thanked the Head Medic with his warm smile widening. 'And don't you worry. Whatever is coming next, Sasuke and I have got it handled!'

'Eh?! Sasuke-kun is back!?' Sakura asked, surprised to hear her husband has returned once again.

.

.

Arata stabbed his chokuto straight into the liquid-based blockade jutsu, focusing to seal away a sizeable portion of it into the sealing formula written on the blade.

"Did… did you really just stab your sword into that?" Hanabi questioned with disgust and an expression reflecting that feeling.

"It's necessary. It has traces of Chakura Shio in it. Very useful. Especially for what's to come." Arata said, causing unease among the clan before proceeding to pull his blade out and re-sheathe it.

"W… what is to come?" A Hyūga asked as the clan was now getting nervous over what else could be out there, and from the way Arata was acting, it looked like it was going to be worse.

"You'll see if you activate your Byakugan." Arata answered as he then flitted away to gain some distance from the blockade.

A number of the clan gulped before they all activated their dojutsu… only to gain looks of horror upon noticing a massive wave of natural energy on the other side of the barrier jutsu… and it was getting closer.

Arata stood in front of his clan, gripping the hilt of his chokuto as his hands sparked with lightning and his Tōmeigan narrowing into a glare.

.

.

Back with Troop B, they succeeded to get the injured off the battlefield, but they only now were getting them pass the village gates.

'That's everyone, right?' Shinachiku mentally asked Mamoru.

"Everyone that I can sense." Mamoru answered.

'Great. We just got to get them to-' Before Shinachiku could finish that thought, a very powerful and super audible roar echoed from within the forest, causing everyone to flinch and look towards the giant liquid branched blockade with widened eyes. 'Oh no…' Shinachiku thought with worry and fear as his heart started to race, knowing exactly what made that roar.

"What… what was that?" A shinobi wondered aloud with a scared look on his face.

The rest of Troop B had a growing sense of fear rising within them. They had already fought so many Oni Zetsu, but this was different. In fact, it was the same for every other battalion defending Konoha.

This presence was powerful… and terrifying… even to the most hardened of shinobi.

"Shina!" Mamoru spoke up as Shinachiku's eyes widened upon sensing something approaching fast.

"Dammit!" Shinachiku quickly entered his Bijū Chakura Mōdo and quickly went into his three-tailed avatar, which was a bit smaller than the village's gates.

Everyone stared in shock, but before anyone could question anything, the large golden three-tailed fox avatar made an X-block and brought its tails to up to work as a shield for the other shinobi.

Just then, an invisible force of energy broke through the 'water' tree barrier like a missile through glass and met Shinachiku and Mamoru's avatar head on.

Both jinchuriki and bijū's eyes widened as they were then sent flying away overhead of the forces they had just defended.

Troop B watched in shock and horror as the large-three tailed avatar broke right through the gates of Konoha, creating a rubble that it now laid in.

"Dammit… that hurt." Mamoru said with pain and annoyance.

"What in the hell? … How? What is going on?" One shinobi asked as everyone stared at the Bijū Avatar, still in shock with looks of fear on their faces.

They all heard the sounds of strong footsteps, making them turn only to gain looks of pure horror from seeing what was traveling from the distance.

'Oh no…' Kakashi thought with distress and eyes widened.

.

.

Troop C led by Tenten heard a roar followed by a booming noise towards the direction of Troop B.

"What was that?" A shinobi asked with concern and rising fear.

"Whatever it is, it's definitely not good." Araya said, before noticing the look on Yodo's face. "Yodo… you can hear it, right? What's going on over there?" Araya asked his teammate, only to receive silence.

Yodo had an expression of unadulterated terror with her eyes widened and face drenched with sweat. She gulped out of fear as she could hear it. The stomping. What was worse was that the same sound was echoing throughout the borders of the village… even where they were.

"I'm going to go check things out." Inojin said as he made an ink bird and leaped onto it. "I'll report back." Inojin said as he flew away.

"No, Don't!" Yodo yelled out, catching everyone's attention at her sudden outburst.

Out from behind the giant barricade of liquid branches was something that stretch up high into the air and decapitated Inojin's ink bird, following by delivering a shockwave that dispersed it in its entirety while sending Inojin bulleting towards the ground, where he slammed into it hard, leaving a small dust cloud.

"INOJIN!" Namida screamed out the Yamanaka's name in fear for his life as everyone was in utter shock at what happened.

It just occurred so fast that no one had time to catch a glimpse of whatever had struck him and his jutsu already receded back behind the barricade.

"Oh no!" Metal said as he hurried over towards Inojin's side.

"Metal, take these!" Denki tossed his teammate several Iyashi-satsu, which the bowl-cut boy grabbed and hurried faster towards Inojin's side.

"What's going on?!" A shinobi questioned with shock and fear.

"Everyone, Be Quiet! I Hear Something!" Yodo called out, earning silence and everyone's attention. "I hear footsteps… heavy ones…" Yodo shared, causing some of the forces to gulp with new rising fear. "They keep getting closer…" Yodo said, causing everyone to turn towards the blockade with their weapons ready but with looks of panic on their faces. Yodo stiffened a bit upon what she heard next. "They… they just stopped… the ones here." Yodo said, causing everyone to be really freaked out now. Yodo furrowed her brow as she listened carefully. "One of them is lifting something…" Yodo said before she gasped. "IT'S GOING FOR A SWING! EVERYONE, MOVE!" Yodo screamed out, alerting everyone as just then the giant barrier that had protected them was shattered apart like glass.

A force of invisible energy broke through the battlefield, creating a giant rut that stretched out towards the distance, and striking an unlucky shinobi in its way.

Shinobi who were by the edges of the force were sent flying along with debris, either having their bones broken, body parts snapped or contorted the other way, or buried and/or impaled by the debris and its shrapnel that were sent flying with them.

However, they were the lucky ones.

The unlucky ones who met the force full force instantly had their bodies broken completely with them being even being crushed open with blood, guts and even remnants of brain matter flying. Some even just exploded into masses of blood with not parts of their bodies left behind.

The force went on until it broke right through the wall of the village and tore down a block's worth of buildings like tissue paper.

Given the distance between the starting point and everything that was meant to 'block it' during travel, this was a frightening display of power indeed.

Everyone stared in utter shock and horror at what had just happened.

Yodo broke into a sweat as she stared with widened eyes and a look of silent terror. Suddenly, images of her own village being attacked by such a similar force of destruction came flooding back to her mind. Her body shook with fear as the lone figure of a one-armed beast in human skin flashed within her mind.

Suddenly she was grabbed and shaken, causing her to reach for her kunai and go for a slash, only for her arm to stop mid-swing.

Regaining herself, she realized that it was Yodo who had shaken her to bring her out of her stupor, and who had also stopped her arm by using his chakra strings that he normally used on puppets to halt her arm's movements.

"That was close…" Araya said with momentary relief. "But you got to snap out of it! What was that and what's going on now?!" Araya pleaded for answers since Yodo was the only one able to notice what whatever was coming was doing.

After calming herself down, Yodo focused her sense again, only to regain an expression of fright with her teeth grit and eyes widened.

"IT'S GOING FOR ANOTHER SWING!" Yodo screamed out, pointing towards the direction it was going to come from.

The rest of the shinobi screamed and scatter, but there were three individuals who decided to run towards the direction of the impending attack.

"Tenten-san! Namida! Tsubaki-san! Don't!" Metal called out in fear for the pair of kunoichi and samurai's life.

Tenten readied her Bashōsen, Tsubaki her fūinjutsu-enhanced katana gripped tightly with both hand as the sealing formula glowed bright orange and Namida taking in a huge intake of air.

"IT'S SWINGING NOW!" Yodo screamed out.

"Bashōsen: Kaze no Maki!"

"Mifune-Ryū Ichi no Tachi: Homura!" (Mifune-Style First Tachi: Blaze)

"Namida Sanjō no Jutsu!"

Tenten unleash a massive vacuum of wind, Tsubaki a powerful slash unleashing a blade of chakra and fire from the Itsumade that built up a powerful force around it, and Namida unleashing a large soundwave that traveled far and had a lot of power packed behind it.

An invisible force of energy rocketed over like before, meeting all three jutsu halfway, creating a massive power struggle that unleashed deafening sonic booms and a backlash of wind and force that sent many of the troops flying away regardless of distance from the point of collision.

Tenten, Tsubaki and Namida gave it their all with the former two gritting their teeth while Namida blew harder, turning a bit blue in the process.

However, despite their best efforts, the large invisible energy overpowered their jutsus and bulleted towards them.

Fortunately, the force weakened some, but it still hit hard.

However, Tenten and Namida weren't the ones who were hit by the jutsu.

Tsubaki had focused her chakra into the sealing formula on her katana, attempting to absorb the force that was made of chakra into her blade. The remaining sleeve of her robe shirt was slowly being shredded the longer she fought against the attack. Her teeth were grit, eyes shut tightly with sweat perspiring throughout her face as her arms shook violently with pain with traces of blood appearing from her nails. After what felt like hours of excruciating pain for the samurai, when in reality it was merely seconds, she let out an intense battle cry as the veins around her forehead bulged.

Just then the force burst with Tsubaki meeting what was left of its full force, sending her flying as her entire white robe shirt was ripped to shreds, leaving nothing but the bandages wrapped around her torso stopping above her chest.

Everyone watched in shock and horror seeing the samurai who took the full brunt of the attack for them being sent flying over the battlefield until she crashed onto the ground, hard.

None were more horrified by this sight than Namida as she was the samurai's teammate and one of her closest friends.

"TSUBAKI!" Namida screamed out the samurai's name in fear for her life as she then ran after her downed friend.

Tenten panted with her face drenched in sweat from both fatigue and shock from both the power of the jutsu and how it not only took the might of one of the Sage of Six Paths' tools and two powerful jutsus from a pair of prodigies just to cancel it out, but that it also took the samurai under the village's care to sacrifice herself to negate the rest of it.

The sound of loud, booming footsteps reached Tenten's ear, along with everyone else's, with the weapons specialist gritting her teeth with a look of rage on her face, readying her Bashōsen, only to lack the strength to properly pick it up.

"Dammit… not now!" Tenten cursed as her arms trembled from exhaustion. She looked up to see the 'thing' that had arrived… and it was not alone. "Oh no…"

.

.

Ino's eyes widened in horror upon seeing not only the blockades being easily destroyed, killing a number of their forces, injuring many more and sending an avatar of a tailed beast born from Kurama's power flying, but also seeing her own son taken down in such a devastating way.

The poor Yamanaka woman was feeling her heart cracking as she felt onto her knees, shocking the others.

"Ino!" Shikamaru spoke his teammate's name with worry.

"Ino-sama!" Kohan rushed over towards his superior's side with concern.

"Ino, what happened?" Shikamaru asked as he walked over as well with a stern yet concerned expression.

Clone Naruto had seen the same damage as her, giving him a grim expression. He knelt down to help her, only for when he reached his hand over for Ino to grip it hard.

"Naruto… if you have anything planned on how to handle this… do it now." Ino ordered, giving the Hokage a fierce glare.

.

.

Troop A had all but moved from all the noise they were hearing between the roars and the sound of destruction and rubble.

"What's going on over there?" A shinobi wondered aloud.

"I don't know man… but my skin keeps crawling!" Another said with a worrisome look on his face.

While everyone was scared and confused, several people were stricken with fear as they recognized the roars they heard.

These ones were Boruto, Sarada, Konohamaru, Moegi, Chocho and Wasabi.

They had heard this roar once before… back during their mission to retrieve Team 5.

"That… that roar…" Wasabi said with fearful, widened eyes.

"You know what that is?" Kiba asked as he and his mother looked towards the cat girl with raised eyebrows.

"Moegi-sensei…" Chocho spoke but was unable to finish her sentence, displaying a clear demeanor of fear on her person.

"I know." Moegi said, furrowing her brow with her teeth grit into a frown.

"Oh crap." Boruto said with sweat trinkling down the side of his head.

"It can't be… why them?!" Sarada exclaimed with a look of worry and fear on her face.

"So, you both are acquainted with them as well. That's unfortunate." Mitsuki said with a serious frown and furrowed brow.

"Y-You Met One Too, Mitsuki?!" Boruto asked in shock.

'This… this is…' Konohamaru gulped as he was frozen in place with a look of horror on his face with his eyes widened and pupil shrunken from the fear. 'This is not going to end well.'

All of a sudden, the blockade Udon made was shattered to bits with pieces flying as a shockwave behind it sent shinobi flying and gathered up a cloud of dust.

The shinobi still on their feet, that included our core heroes, started coughing with some waving away the cloud of dust.

Though their vision was impaired by the cloud of dirt, they all suddenly took noticed of a large pair of glowing eyes.

Followed by another… and another… and another, as more glowing eyes appeared all around the other side of the now destroyed blockade in front of them, with a bellowing growl echoing throughout the area, causing everyone to lose all feeling in their bodies except for the chills that ran down their spines.

The dust soon cleared and with it the color vanished from everyone's complexion as there stood a group of Oni of varying size and color.

There was the Red Oni, who ranged around 9 feet in height, with a muscular frame and pale complexion with designs of red veins scattered all throughout its body with a large hardened red lump over its chest, mostly covering its left side, and along its shoulders and back were red spots. Its nails were long and sharp in the form of claws, long vines draped from below its waist to its knees, a long dark green mane of prickly leaves and its face was demonic looking with sharp teeth that had two pairs of outwardly curved tusks (one from the top jaw, the other at the bottom) sticking out from its mouth, pointed ears, had two pairs of horns with one being small and the other much larger, and its eyes were also purely white, and it had a super large, spiked club (kanabō) made of wood.

Blue Oni, which had blue veins running around its body, and it had a slimmer yet fit body type than the Red Oni, which was surrounded by overwhelming muscles. This one's body type was comparable to a swimmer's body, in contrast to the red Oni's bodybuilder like physique. It also had a more pronounced jawline with its chin sticking out forward with a sharp tip at the end. Its limbs were also a tad longer as well. It was even taller in comparison, ranging at 11 feet in height, and its mane of 'hair' was more teal in color.

There were also Yellow Oni, which are much shorter than the previous two and with yellow veins. It was about 7 feet in height and had a body frame that looked almost in between like a sprinter's body, but with more muscle around its legs, which were also hocked. Its mane of 'hair', which was black in color, was spikier, looking like the quills that were sticking out long and sharp stopping halfway at its hocked legs with zaps of lightning coursing around it, and even had spikes, thorns and prickles sticking out from its shoulders, back and arms. Its jaw possessed an underbite with long, thicker lower tusks sticking out upwards with a row of spikes sticking along its jawline like a beard. Because its jaws were bigger and more open, it was able to hold its wooden spiked club between them.

Finally there were the Green Oni, which were the shortest and most slim, being 5 foot even with barely much muscle to them yet still having green veins. It had bent legs with two toes with long, black talons, with skinny arms that had three fingers with long, thick curved talons and very long and thick black spikes sticking out of its elbows, and rows of smaller spikes down its back and sticking out of its shoulders. Its mane of 'hair' was white and floating in the air. However, its lack in size, height and mass were made up for its more unique quality. These ones were floating in the air, as if the winds themselves were carrying it. Surprisingly, unlike the rest, it did not possess a spiked club in its hand, making it without a doubt the oddest of the bunch.

Everyone stared in horror, fear and even frustration upon the grizzly sight before them. The sight of the beasts, and what was to come next, which in all sense of the word, was not going to be pretty.

Konohamaru shook in place as he clenched his fist and teeth hard.

"Do or die, huh? Alright then… let's go." Konohamaru said, glaring ahead at the beasts, with the Red Oni leading the pack narrowing its own eyes into a glare as well.

.

.

Arata let out a battle cry just as a Red Oni roared, both sending their respective weapons towards the other, resulting in a clash where both weapons weren't touching. The space between the chokuto and club was occupied by the invisible force of natural energy and the shockwave of both shinobi and Oni's attacks.

A thundering sound echoed throughout the battlefield as lightning now surrounded Arata's chokuto with bolts firing around from the center of impact.

The rest of the Hyūga stared in shock to see Arata, not only being brave enough to fight against an actual Oni, regardless of technically not being the real deal, but also being strong enough to match it for the moment.

"Incredible!" One Hyūga said in awe.

Hiashi, Hanabi and Hinata watched in awe, but also deep concern for the boy who took the first charge for the sake of protecting them.

'Arata-kun.' Hinata was worried about her 'child's' safety.

Arata gritted his teeth as his Tōmeigan shined brightly as the Red Oni growled with a glare before unleashing a roar as it sent Arata flying away.

"Arata-kun!" Hinata screamed out the boy's name as she and Hanabi rushed to help him, but Hiashi grabbed them by the arms, shocking the sisters by his action.

Hiashi kept a strong look on his face as he knew Arata was not finished yet.

Arata skidded back on his feet to a halt. He noticed the Red Oni rushed towards him with its kanabō reared back with both hands. Arata quickly summoned his Chidori, connecting it to the still present raincloud above and with a swift downward motion, willed a bolt of lightning to strike him, shocking everyone.

The Red Oni delivered a horizontal swing with its club, striking the bolt of lightning and destroying it, only for the boy to not be in the same spot.

Arata was shrouded in his Raiton Chakura Mōdo (Lightning Release Chakra Mode) with his chokuto's blade covered in a layer of lightning. He delivered a swing towards the midsection of the Red Oni, only for his lightning covered blade to meet an invisible armor of natural energy.

Arata gritted his teeth as he fought against the aura of natural energy with all his might, while the Red Oni just looked down as if nothing was really happening to it.

The Red Oni raised its kanabō up high, ready to slam it upon the blue-haired boy, only for a burst of white lightning to completely surround the chokuto and elongate far out. The Red Oni's eyes widened in surprise at the added force and lightning that it actually skidded back an inch or two.

Arata's Mangekyō Tōmeigan shined bright as his Susano'o's ribcage and skeletal arm had appeared with the hand holding Murakumo, which was surrounding Arata's chokuto. Arata let out a powerful battle cry as his whole being, especially his Susano'o, exploded with lightning as he managed to send the Red Oni skidding far back towards the rest of its group.

The Red Oni growled, baring its fangs as it glared at Arata, who panted from the sizeable usage of chakra just now.

Despite his Ration Chakura Mōdo not using up his stamina, he had to increase the voltage very high to even send the damn thing back.

Suddenly, the limbs of the Blue Oni shot from out of the ground and went for Arata.

Arata willed his skeletal Susano'o to deliver a pair of palm strikes to parry the elongated strikes, but the Blue Oni packed so much strength that both leopard strikes from it shattered the skeletal hands of his Susano'o.

'Susano'o: Raiton: Hakkeshō Kaiten!' (Susano'o: Lightning Release: Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven) Arata and what was left of his skeletal Susano'o spiraled in place, creating a very large dome of white lightning that the stretched limbs grinded against the dome before being sent back.

The Blue Oni receded back to their original length as the Red Oni from before sent a swing from its club, delivering an invisible shockwave of natural energy towards the dome of lightning.

Upon collision, the dome burst into sparks as Arata was flying backwards with his Susano'o shattered to pieces.

Arata skidded back on his hand and feet with his other hand holding the hilt of his chokuto. He growled with a glare and teeth grit as the group of Oni before him with the Red and Blue one in the front, glared back at him. Arata pushed his hand off the ground and coated it in a Chidori as he tried summoning his Susano'o again, only for someone to appear before him.

It was none other than his 'mother', Hinata, readying with both her palms reared back.

Arata's eyes widened upon seeing his mother's counterpart standing before him in his defense, and though he wasn't staring at it, he could see the fearless look of determination of Hinata's face, and not because of the ability of his Tōmeigan.

Hiashi and Hanabi then suddenly appeared on both sides of Hinata with the rest of the clan showing up to form a line in front of the Uchiha-Hyūga, all mirroring Hinata's actions.

"Arata-kun, we'll be your back up." Hanabi said giving the boy a small smirk.

"Whatever you have plan, we'll buy you that time to fulfill it properly." Hiashi assured with a stern expression kept directly towards the mass of Oni before them.

"We trust you." Hinata said as chakra surrounded her palms.

Arata blinked his eyes in surprise as he felt a sense of warmth within him. He closed his eyes, silently giving thanks with his head bowed.

"Arigato." Arata thanked the clan as he quickly bit his thumb and slammed his hand down. 'Kuchiyose no Jutsu!' (Summoning Technique) Arata summoned a large black hawk with vibrant green feathers. Riding atop it, the two flew up into the air towards the storm clouds. "Hope you don't mind." Arata said as he placed his hand onto the back of the hawk. "Raiton ChakuraMōdo: Tsuin Den'atsu!" (Lightning Release Chakra Mode: Twin Voltage) Arata quickly shrouded both himself and the hawk in a coating of lightning, increasing the hawks speed as it immediately arrived within the heart of the storm.

The Onis noticed this, but they focused their attention on the clan before them, who were all building up their chakra and syncing it up with one another. The Onis took their weapons and reeled them back with natural energy surrounding them.

"Hakke Dai Kūhekishō!" All members of the Hyūga clan thrust their palms forward, delivering a massive wall of chakra towards the group of Oni, as they in return roared and delivered swings from their kanabōs that sent a wave of natural energy infused shockwaves.

Both jutsus collided causing an immense explosion of force from the center, breaking apart the ground in the process, creating an immense crater that continued expanding from both powers meeting.

The Hyūga clan gritted their teeth with sweat coming off their brows as they fought against the literal force of nature, but the attacks of the Onis were overwhelming their jutsu.

The clan started to shake from fatigue as they were putting their all into their jutsu that was being overpowered with each passing second.

Hinata gritted her teeth and fought back the best she could. Her mind then went to earlier today when a Namahage tried to take away her daughter, and now her son Boruto was fighting against these monsters and Arata needed to rely on her for time. The fact that these monsters are trying to rob her of her home and her family lit a new burning fire within Hinata. Her Byakugan gleamed bright white as she unleashed a battle cry with purple chakra shrouding her very being.

This caught the eye of the rest of the clan, who were all surprised by this rise in chakra and coming from Hinata of all people.

"Hakke Hōkūhekishō!" (Eight Trigrams Crashing Vacuum Wall Palm) Hinata screamed out as the vacuum wall increased in size and force with a purple aura surrounding it.

The wall actually shaved through the natural energy shockwave and actually struck the Oni, who all skidded back with new scratches and tears in their skin.

Once the jutsu was finished, Hinata was hunched over, panting with her face drenched in sweat.

"Onee-sama…" Hanabi was in shock and awe at Hinata's strength, along with her father and the rest of the clan.

'That's all I can provide at the moment… I don't have much chakra left.' Hinata thought, feeling self-disappointment that she wouldn't be able to fight on as she did some time ago.

The Onis growled with angered looks, which worried the others.

"T-They're still standing!" A Hyūga shouted in shock.

"Even with our strengths combined… all we managed was to make them angry." Another Hyūga said in fear.

"Don't worry." Hinata spoke, catching everyone's attention. "Our part is over… we now leave the rest to him."

Just then the sounds of multiple strikes of thunder were heard from the sky, making everyone look up to see the dark clouds were practically shining from within with a blue hue. The thunder was then replaced by what sounded like roars. Streams of lightning in the shape of a serpent were seen within, and in the center was what looked to be a giant avian creature.

"Raiton Chakura Mōdo: Tsuin Den'atsu: Go Jū Man Boruto!" (Lightning Release Chakra Mode: Twin Voltage: Five Hundred Thousand Volts) Arata announced as he and his hawk summoning were surrounded by an intense cloak of lightning. 'This is the best I can do without relying on that damn mark, but it'll have to do.' Arata thought with a frown as then his hawk generated a long field of lightning from its wings creating a much larger wingspan that now went up to fifty feet long on each wing. "Ready? Taka no Inazuma: Hane no Arashi!" (Hawk Lightning: Feather Storm) Arata shouted as the hawk swung its wings down, causing its larger lighting wings to break apart and bullet downwards into feather shaped projectiles, travelling at the speed of lightning itself.

The Oni sensed the incoming attack. Upon noticing the attack from above, they all took deep breaths, inhaling an amount that expanded their bellies in an instant and they all then unleashed roars fueled with natural energy that met with the feather shaped lightning.

Arata furrowed his brow as his Mangekyō Tōmeigan shining a blinding bright white light as he unsheathed his chokuto a smidge.

"Kenpō: Yama Kizuato!" (Sword Art: Mountain Scar) Arata delivered a slash with so much power and speed that it actually cut right through the roars, despite being infused with natural energy, which shocked the Oni that unleashed them. "Now, Tasuku-san!" Arata shouted earning a screech in response from the hawk.

Arata summoned Susano'o's skeletal arm, encasing the hand with lightning as he then unleashed a bolt of lightning with Tasuku opening his wings wide to unleash numerous bolts from his feather.

The lightning bolts struck each of the Oni, who just growled in response, not really registering the pain thanks to their massive bulky and overtly inhuman durability.

'This is still one in the making… but better to give it a try than let them have their way!' Arata thought to himself, as a giant serpent made of azure colored lightning surrounded him and Tasuku. "Guard what is dear! Seiryū!" (Lightning Release: Azure Dragon)

An eastern dragon made of azure colored lightning with blue bolts of lightning coiling around and a mane of blue lightning surrounding the back of its head and reaching halfway down its back came speeding downward at high speed towards the Onis.

The jutsu hit them and coiled the area, hitting every last one of them before rising its head up and unleashing a roar as it exploded into a spiraling dome of azure and blue lightning.

The Hyūga stared in shock and awe at the immense size of what looked to be their clan's secret jutsu which completely consumed the Onis.

"Sugoi." A Hyūga said in awe.

"How long has he had that jutsu?" Hanabi asked as she, her father and Hinata were the most shocked at so much power behind a member of their clan.

Unknown to them, up above, Arata was hunched over, his dojutsu and lightning cloak deactivated and blood trinkling from his eyes. He panted with his face drenched in sweat. His left arm was shaking with his gloves, sleeves and hand a bit charred with the cloth of his sleeve being burnt with holes in them.

"Still… still not… good enough…" Arata said as he fell onto his knees and held his left arm.

Tasuku flew downward towards the ground, sensing how weary his summoner was. He landed, but never left, just in case he was needed again. He lowered his head for Arata to get off, which he did.

"Arigato… Tasuku-san." Arata thanked the black and green hawk as he got off him, albeit a bit carefully as his left arm still twitched some. "Let me and the others handle the rest… I don't want you getting involved any further." Arata said to the hawk, earning a worried 'kree kree' sound.

Regardless, Tasuku got the message and nodded before disappearing via a cloud of smoke.

After a moment, Arata fell back onto one knee and held his left arm again.

"Arata-kun!" Hinata called out to her 'son' as she ran over to him with Hanabi, Hiashi and soon the clan following. She went over to Arata's side, kneeling beside him as she saw the damage to his left arm. "That jutsu…"

"It's still not complete… at this point, it was merely a gamble." Arata informed, glaring down at its charred limb.

"That was incomplete?!" Hanabi questioned as she and the others were shocked.

"That jutsu was practically meant to be the equivalent to the Rasenshuriken. By focusing so much power and lightning into my arm, I gather all the lightning in the storm like with the Kirin, but instead of just changing its shape, I condense all the lightning together and hold it as it takes that form, increasing its power, force and attack to extremely deadly levels. It's practically made of the pure plasma of lightning… however to do all that requires immense control and power to hold together and form, even in its launch." Arata explained.

"That explains your arm." A Hyūga member said with a worried frown as they all looked towards Arata's arm.

"By forming it, I practically have to sacrifice a portion of the feeling in my arm by using my body's own amplified electrical current from my nerves, and even my very cells just to make it work. How much though varies."

"You said it was incomplete. Why?" Hiashi asked as walked over to help Arata to his feet with Hinata also helping, of course.

"I'm afraid the payoff wasn't what was originally intended to happen. The idea is that after I make a mark by striking a single tenketsu of the target, it automatically follows at a speed even greater than natural lightning and unlike Kirin, will continue to follow until it catches the target. Once in its grasp, it coils around at intense speed to replicate the Hakkeshō Kaiten, but with the target in the center, where the lighting it stores is unleashed all throughout the interior, ricocheting everywhere with bolts of lightning that strike every tenketsu and cell in the body, severing the chakra pathways and frying the target from the inside out before exploding with a roar." Arata explained, shocking the entire clan at the concept of such a devastating technique. "Problem is… it wasn't fast enough… and it didn't have enough power or longevity to sustain itself. It just half-assed everything."

Just then the sounds of stomping were heard, causing everyone to turn to see the Onis charred with their one mostly pale skin now blackened like coal, yet they still stood, albeit a bit weakly compared to before.

Emphasis on 'a bit'.

"E-Even with a technique like that… even if it wasn't complete… how can they be standing?" A Hyūga questioned in shock.

"There's a saying where I come from… 'Taking on a single Oni take a powerful shinobi… taking on more than one is for legends.'" Arata took out his eye drops. "I'm no legend…" Arata managed to put his special drops into his eyes before taking in a deep breath through his nose as he put away the small bottle. "But I am still a shinobi of Konoha, and a Hyūga at that." Arata started walking forward and before Hinata or Hiashi could stop him, he started summoning his incomplete humanoid Susano'o with his Mangekyō Tōmeigan. "And I'll do what I've been entrusted with like so many others before me…" Arata created a Chidori with his left hand, ignoring the pain. "I'll protect the home… and the family that is precious to me." Arata unleashed a bolt of lightning that made its way into what remained of the storm cloud above.

The next second, Arata and his Susano'o were struck by a massive bolt of lightning, consuming them.

"Arata-kun!" Hinata cried out the boy's name out of motherly instinct.

When the current of lightning subsided, it was revealed that Arata was completely fine, but his Susano'o changed.

The Susano'o now had its long flowing 'hair' becoming a mane of pure lightning with arm bracers, a coating around the torso and a tengu-esque mask made of lightning with streams of bolts coming from out the back of them, and Murakumo was two to three times its size with blue lightning around it shining brightly.

"My name is Arata. It means 'New', representing a new beginning for my bloodlines! I am a descendant of two strong clans who possess love so strong it can breed fear… I am not fearless, but I will never let fear rule my life. Come what may, I will not relent… I will remain as I am… I hold no fear for you, only for what you can do, and for that I will stand in your way. On my honor as a shinobi and proud member of my clan… I will not let any of you take those that matter to me the most! I will not let any of you lay a hand on my family!" Arata declared as his Susano'o got into the Jūken stance with Murakumo raised up high. "Any dare to try… I'll teach you why it was a mistake." Arata said as his dojutsu shined bright white.

.

.

Troop C was having major trouble. So far, they were the group that was having the worst of it with them suffering the most casualties.

The Oni were sending shinobi left and right with their attacks, breaking their bodies and rendering them useless.

Metal tried attacking with his Ryōbi, but the Oni were easily batting it away with their kanabōs, and thanks to their exertion of natural energy around themselves and infused into their weapons, they were able to tank the explosions of the kunai tip no problem.

"Dammit! They are too strong!" Metal cursed with gritted teeth. Suddenly, a leopard strike broke out of the ground, stretching over and delivered a blow to Metal's abdomen. The taijutsu specialist's eyes bulged with the wind completely knocked out of him as he was sent flying away by the sudden attack.

"METAL!" Denki and Tenten screamed out in fear for the boy's safety.

"You Damn Monsters!" Tenten yelled out as she was ready to use her Bashōsen again, but the moment she took a step forward, she buckled under the strain of her low chakra reserves and fell onto her knees. 'Dammit… I've wasted too much chakra. I… I don't think… I can…' Tenten fell forward onto one hand, panting with her whole face drenched in sweat. 'No… I have to… I have to keep going… even if it costs me my life!' Tenten pumped herself up, gritting her teeth as she fought to get back to her feet.

Tenten then noticed a shadow had completely overshadowed her, making the weapons specialist look up to see a Red Oni, raising its club up high to smash her. Tenten's eyes widened in horror as she felt her life was coming to an end.

Fortunately, something had struck the spiked club as then it became many times heavy to the point where it slammed hard into the ground, taking the Oni's arm with it and weighing it down.

Tenten and the Red Oni were shocked by this development, both confused about what had just happened. The two turned to see Denki across from them with his Fūin Ite aimed at the Oni.

"Tenten-san, move!" Denki called out as he fired another paper seal bullet towards the Oni.

Tenten mustered the strength to leap and roll away as the paper unfurled in front of the Red Oni's face and fired a powerful compressed force, actually managing to send it crashing onto its back.

Denki looked around to see many more shinobis being attacked by Oni, so he quickly took out a multitude of tiny scrolls and started to load them up one by one into his Fūin Ite.

"Tajū Jūryoku Shotto!" (Multiple Gravity Shots) Denki started firing out multiple shots, one after another, of pre-made tiny scrolls that struck the kanabōs and even their limbs, weighing them down with gravity seals, allowing his fellow shinobi to escape their grasp or retaliate with an opening. Denki reached for more ammo, only to notice a bolt of lightning speeding towards him. "Raiton: Ōbādoraibu!" Denki quickly surrounded his entire being in lightning with most surrounding his hands and brought them up in time to try and block the lightning.

The problem was it wasn't a bolt of lightning coming his way.

It was a Yellow Oni that was running on all fours and covered in lightning. Faster than Denki could register the true danger he was in, the Yellow Oni took out the kanabō from its mouth and delivered a swing, just as Denki finally realized what was going on. The Yellow Oni slammed its spiked club into Denki's abdomen, causing the bespectacled shinobi's eyes to widen in pain.

The Kaminarimon boy was sent bulleting far away like a comet made of lightning.

"DENKI!" Namida screamed out her friend's name as she watched him go flying.

"It's Coming This Way!" Yodo called out as the Yellow Oni was now heading towards their direction.

Namida gritted her teeth as she started taking a deep breath in. Just as the Yellow Oni came in close, she unleashed a powerful screamed that disorientated the yellow veined creature.

"Eat This!" Araya shouted as he had a replica of Karasu coming over with its bladed tipped limbs detached, and managed to take advantage of the opening Namida gave by stabbed the blades all over the Yellow Oni's head, making sure to kill it in one go by going for the head, as one should. The Yellow Oni fell to the floor, dead and dispersing into pollen. "Hey, I killed it!" Araya said in surprise and relief.

Yodo took out three tagged kunai and threw them towards the area, managing to stab them into the ground where the Yellow Oni dispersed and made a hand seal to absorb the pollen.

"How are you holding up?" Yodo asked as she hurried over towards Namida's side with Araya doing the same.

"I'm fine… but I'm very angry." Namida said with a glare.

"Sounds like you're not the only one." Yodo pointed out as she turned to see all the Oni started to take in big gulps of air.

"I don't like where this is going." One of the shinobi said with worry.

"Retreat!" Another shouted as they all ran off.

Namida watched as everyone started to run away. She looked towards the group of Onis, but instead of fear, she was feeling very angry over them. They killed people, they hurt her friends and now they're aiming to do so much worse.

Without a second thought, Namida sprinted forward, shocking Yodo and Araya as she was the only one charging towards those monsters.

"Wait, Stop!" Araya called out with worry.

"Don't Be a Fool!" Yodo called out.

"Dammit." Tenten cursed at the sight of what might be the end for her and the shinobi under her care, only to see Namida rushing pass her. "No, Wait!" Tenten shouted out, only to be ignored.

Namida had been taking in the biggest breath of her life, kneading chakra within her lungs, causing them to expand further as they held in an immense amount of chakra and air within her. Namida's chest was hurting, but she didn't care. She knew she had to give it her all. Even if it meant truly giving her all.

'One last jutsu… that's all I need to do.' Namida chest expanded to great proportions with the group of Oni doing the same. 'Take this!' Namida thought as chakra surged around her as she let out her most powerful shout ever. "Bōon Kabe Kuchiku-kan!" (Sound Barrier Destroyer)

Namida unleashed a massive scream of sound waves so powerful that no noise was heard, until a moment afterwards as her scream echoed throughout the battlefield, forcing everyone to cover their ears.

The Onis unleashed their own collective roars that combined together, matched Namida's jutsu.

The ground itself was being split apart, creating a deep chasm as debris and of earth with waves and clouds of dirt going everywhere from the epicenter of collision from both jutsu.

Everyone watched in shock that this one child was actually matching the collective power of the Onis' natural energy roars.

Despite matching them, Namida was skidding back bit by bit as her throat was already being strained to its limit.

The Onis increased the power of their collective roars, pushing back Namida's jutsu along with the girl herself who fought to stay on her feet.

"She's being pulled back!" A shinobi screamed out with his voice practically being deafened by the intense roar of sound and wind created from the shockwave.

Lying on the ground, Metal gritted his teeth he managed to lift his head up to see everyone just standing by and letting Namida fight on her own.

"What are you all doing?" Metal questioned weakly, but his voice went unheard. "Why are you all… just standing there?" Metal gritted his teeth as he fought to get off of his back with an aura of chakra slowly starting to form around his body. "Why are you all… just letting her fight on her own?!" Metal pushed himself to sit up, taking in a big gulp of air, causing his stomach to hurt from the blow he took earlier but he tolerated it. "There is nothing…" Metal gritted his teeth harder as his hair started to rise. "There is nothing…" Metal's skin started to steam. "THERE IS NOTHING YOUTHFUL ABOUT THAT!" Metal screamed out as chakra exploded, causing everyone to turn only for the ground beneath Metal to instantly break into many pieces.

Metal rocketed forward towards Namida's direction. He passed by Tenten and took her Bashōsen again, surprising her. Metal gritted his teeth as he reared the Bashōsen back. He imbued his chakra into the ancient ninja tool, causing the feathers to spark with flames.

'I HAVE TO GIVE MORE!' Metal thought to himself as the veins around his face bulged. He let out a scream as chakra exploded from his very being with flamed sparking from his movements and around the Bashōsen. "Bashōsen: Ryūho no Maki!" (Banana Palm Fan: Coil of Dragon Fire)

Metal appeared right beside Namida and swung the Bashōsen, unleashing a giant coil of fire in the shape of a dragon with its jaws wide open.

The giant fire dragon traveled with the sound, rocketing forward where it met with the roars of the Onis. Despite having the power to push it back, the combined powers still weren't enough to push back the roars.

Tenten watched as the pair fought on all by themselves. She felt disgusted that she was doing nothing to help. She gritted her teeth and let out a battle cry as she ran forward, grabbing a pair of long thick bladed weapons from the ground beside fallen shinobi. She sent chakra into them, causing the blades to erupt with the golden flames from Kurama as she then started sending swing after swing, delivering blazes golden of fire to help out the pair of genin.

Upon seeing their leader and these two fighting alone, the rest of the shinobi felt the same disgust in themselves that Tenten was feeling. They all mirrored her actions, unleashing their full long-range arsenal while releasing battle cries.

Everyone was unleashing hell together, but it was only helping them budge bit by bit.

The Oni continued roaring; no doubt able to do so much longer than the shinobi could keep up their assault.

Just before they could increase the decibels, a whole swarm of birds made of ink came at them from above, landing upon them and unleashing a collection of explosions.

The explosions didn't bring them real harm since they were tough enough to shrug them off, but the combined power of them caused the Onis to falter and cease their roaring nature enhanced ninjutsu, allowing Troop C the edge they needed.

They all gave one last push and roar as their gargantuan collaboration of jutsus came together, charging forward and completely consuming the group of Oni, resulting in a massive explosion that covered them and the section of the forest by them.

The explosion was so massive, you could see it from the roofs of the village if anyone was standing atop them.

Soon the explosion subsided with the members of Troop C panting with a good number of them falling onto their knees with the rest hunching over.

Metal released his hold on the Bashōsen as the sleeves of his jumpsuit were burnt up to the shoulders with the bandages around his hands and forearms burnt and blackened with holes in them made by the intense heat of friction he created. Metal's arms shook and hands trembled as they were reddened and charred with dried up blood around the palm of his hands and fingers.

Namida suddenly fell onto her side, catching Metal's attention.

"Namida-san!" Metal rushed over towards her side. He ignored the pain of his arms with all his might as he picked her up in his arms, seeing blood coming down the sides of her mouth as she silently panted with the underside of her eyes darkened some. 'She used what she had left in that last attack.' Metal thought with a worried frown and softened eyes. He reached into his pouch and took out the remaining Iyashi-satsu he had left, which were three, and placed two on her chest and one against Namida's throat. "Hopefully this shall help." Metal said, praying that the tags will heal any damage to Namida's throat.

The dust settled to reveal a giant crater in place of where the Oni and section of the forest once stood.

"We… we did it?" One shinobi asked, still in shock over everything that had just happened.

"Nice work!" A voice was heard from above, making everyone look up to see none other than Sai, flying atop a large bird.

"Sai-sama!" One kunoichi said in surprise at his presence.

"Attention everyone! Gather up and wounded and return towards the village! The Medical Unit will meet you and heal up the injured!" Sai called out.

"But the village-"

"Will be defended! Trust me! For now, retrieve the wounded!" Sai called out.

"H-Hai!" Everyone listened and quickly did as they were told.

Tenten sighed with a sense of relief as she then looked towards Metal, still cradling Namida in his arms.

"Well, you heard him." Tenten said to her former teammate's son.

"Yes… I did." Metal said as he suddenly grabbed Tenten and heaved her onto his back.

"W-What are you-?!"

"You are injured and are low on chakra as well! What kind of unit would we be if we ignored our own leader's health like this?" Metal declared, surprising Tenten, as he got up to his feet, now carrying Tenten on his back and Namida in his arms as he marched his way back towards the village.

Inojin groaned as finally regained consciousness and sat back up, only to notice the mess before him with all still standing shinobi retrieving the wounded and the large crater in the distance.

"What did I miss?" Inojin asked with widened eyes.

"A lot." Sai answered as he floated down towards his own son. "Let's get you checked out, son." Sai said as he helped his child onto his ink bird.

"Well, at least it's over." Araya said as he and Yodo were helping out a pair of injured shinobi.

"For us at least." Yodo said, only to stop and gasp with her eyes widening in horror. "No…"

"Y… Yodo?" Araya spoke his teammate's name, now in fear as this could only mean one thing.

"Why… Why Won't They Stay Down?!" Yodo yelled out, alerting everyone.

The sound of something making a hard impact was heard, causing everyone to turn to see the large burnt black hand of a beast at the edge of the giant crater.

Crawling out of the hole was one of the Red Oni, now all blackened yet still alive and sporting a look of pure rage as it bared its fangs and glared angrily at the shinobi.

Troop C watched in horror as more started crawling out of the enormous crater.

"Crap… what now?" A shinobi said in pure terror.

The Red Oni released a powerful roar, before suddenly it was struck in the forehead by something that then glowed purple as its head was slammed hard into the ground, breaking it apart.

The other Onis and shinobi looked in surprise to see the state of hulking beast.

"WE FIGHT!" A voice screamed out causing everyone to turn to see none other than Denki, shrouded in bolts of lightning as he aimed his Fūin Ite ahead. The abdomen area of his scout uniform shirt was shredded with the entire area being red and burnt, no doubt going to leave a scar after this. He took out more ammo from his pouch as he started letting out a battle cry out. "RAITON: PURASU ŌBĀDORAIBU!" (Lighting Release: Plus Overdrive) Denki screamed as his body exploded with lightning with his muscling increasing in mass and bulging some.

Denki let out a battle cry as then faster than the eye could see he was loading and firing out tiny gravity scrolls, nailing as many Oni as he could.

Everyone stared in awe as he was nailing a multitude of them at a blinding speed.

Thanks to everyone's combined efforts from earlier, the Onis were weakened enough where it was possible for Denki to nail them without having to rely on their focus on something else.

After a few intense moments, Denki had run out of premade sealing ammo, so he started making more by hand, and with his upgraded speed, he was managing to make them and fire them fast enough before the Onis gained their bearings to retaliate again.

Denki's muscles were killing him, but he refused to stop. The more Oni kept climbing out, the more he fired out to meet them.

Denki let out a battle cry as he released his jutsu, finally reaching his limit.

Most of the Oni were held in place by gravity seals, but few were still freed. Thankfully, they haven't regained themselves enough to attack like before.

The Onis, despite mostly being held in place, growled in anger as they all focused their attention on the spectacled shinobi.

"Glare at me all you want… that's what I want… after all… I'm not the one you should be focusing on." Denki said with an exhausted, yet proud grin.

A green gleam appeared far behind Denki as then a large surge of green chakra exploded behind him. Not just any chakra. It was natural energy infused chakra.

Everyone's eyes widened as they saw none other than Tsubaki, back on her feet with natural energy infused chakra erupting from her katana, and her own chakra shrouding around herself as wisps, starting from her legs.

Her robe destroyed and body injured with many cuts and bruises, but she retained a serious and intense glare.

"Now it's my turn." Tsubaki spoke as she sheathed her katana and rocketed forward at high speed. Despite her injuries, she ran with all her might thanks to her added chakra. Tsubaki sped past everyone as she charged towards the group of Oni, holding her hilt tightly as green wisps of nature chakra escaped from the scabbard. "Hiken…" (Secret Sword) Tsubaki spoke as she then appeared before the Onis. "Ma Fūsetsugiri!" (True Snowstorm Beheading)

Tsubaki unleashed Battōjutsu strike, releasing all the stored-up nature infused chakra with such power and speed that she created an intense force that transformed into a gargantuan tornado that was white, blue with a green hue.

Everyone stared in shock and awe at the size of the tornado as it eclipsed the explosion that they had made all together.

The Onis roars went silent as they were all completely consumed by the gigantic tornado made up of their own power that was now thrown right back at them.

Soon enough, the tornado exploded, unleashing an intense squall of wind that was unleashed throughout the area, uprooting what remained of the forest and sending the collection of Oni fly away.

Thanks to Tsubaki, a distance was made between the Onis and shinobi, who all stared in amazement at what just happened.

"OI!" Tenten screamed out, earning everyone's attention. "What Are You Waiting For?! Don't Waste This Opportunity! Take the Injured Back! Now!" Tenten ordered, causing everyone to quickly follow her orders.

"Tsubaki-san…" Metal spoke the samurai's name, facing towards her direction, seeing her backside in the distance.

Namida managed to crack open her eyes after being healed enough to see her friend back on her feet and standing triumphantly in the distance.

'Tsubaki-chan…'

Tsubaki panted as she held her katana in her right hand. Regardless of the tight hold she had on her sword, her arm was fidgeting as it was now bruised all over.

'That attack carried so much power… it almost took my entire arm with it. I can feel the bones in my arm cracked in several places. I can't use it anymore… however…' Tsubaki grabbed her katana with her left now and brought it up as she glared ahead towards the distance where the Oni now laid. 'I still have my left… and that's more than enough.'

.

.

Sarada rolled against the ground before leaping off her hands and landed in a crouching position. She panted as her Sharingan blazed red, before then leaping towards the side, avoiding an outstretched strike from below.

It was the limb from a Blue Oni that stopped and then spun around like a whip, forcing Sarada to leap back off her hands to gain some distance, but before she landed, the other limb from the Blue Oni shot from beneath her.

"Shannarō!" Sarada yelled out as she met the strike with a punch, creating a shockwave from the clash that sent Sarada flying back and hitting the ground.

She fought to get back to her feet, only to notice the Blue Oni had stretched its neck forward, aiming to bite her with its fangs.

Sarada gasped before someone came to her aid.

"Taiton: Hadan!" Boruto appeared right between Sarada, and the Blue Oni's outstretched head, delivering a swing of his bokken, surrounded in a tornado of wind and lightning.

Boruto's tornado bokken and the Blue Oni's fang grinded against one another, creating a collection of sparks as the two fought against one another. With a battle cry, Boruto managed to push away the Blue Oni's head, but it also sent him flying back into Sarada.

Sarada managed to catch Boruto as the two teammates skidded back some. Before the two could say or do anything, their eyes widened upon seeing the Blue Oni stretching its arms out to attack them for a dual strike.

This time they were saved in a similar fashion to Boruto, but it was from Mitsuki, who had a pair of ethereal snake heads around his heads as he actually managed to catch the Blue Oni's hands into his own.

"That was a bad move." Mitsuki said with a smirk as his golden eyes gleamed, surprising the Blue Oni, before the ethereal snake heads bit into the monster's arms, making it roar in pain.

Mitsuki summoned a more ethereal snake that bit into the arms as they started absorbing the Blue Oni's chakra.

The Blue Oni tried pulling back but its life force was fading fast. It started to shrivel up and turned gray. Its jaws went wide as its eyes bulge upon now becoming a shriveled up, bone dry corpse.

Mitsuki released his hold on the once Blue Oni, allowing it to fall back where it instantly broke apart into flakes.

"Whoa." Sarada said in shock and awe.

"Mitsuki is officially the strongest on the team again." Boruto said with widened eyes.

"Am I? I could have sworn there was more hiding inside you two." Mitsuki said, smiling to his friends. Suddenly a Yellow Oni appeared above him, but it was pierced all over by ethereal snakes. The Yellow Oni gritted its fangs as it unleashed currents of lightning into the snakes that travelled back into Mitsuki. "Once again, bad move." Mitsuki said as he turned his head back towards the Yellow Oni. Suddenly it was sliced in half by a blade of wind, forcing Mitsuki to leap away and summon white snakes from his sleeves to grab Boruto and Sarada to save them from the attack as well. "That one wasn't." Mitsuki said upon landing.

Team 7 looked up to see the culprit was the Green Oni, who was floating in the air with its arm crossed in front of it.

The Green Oni stared down at the trio before it started flipping in the air, creating a sawblade of wind that expanded far.

"Look Out!" Sarada shouted as the three leaped away to avoid the now giant-sized wind sawblade.

The Green Oni ceased its actions before letting out a shrilled roar as it started spinning around at high speeds, creating a giant tornado within the battlefield.

"Guys! I think this one's actually the worst!" Boruto called out.

"Look out!" A shinobi cried out as a blade of wind fired out from the tornado and sliced through another shinobi and exploded, creating a shockwave of wind similar to the Rasengan's own.

Boruto watched the action in horror before glaring and growling at the tornado, only to flinch and quickly leap away to avoid another wind blade. Unfortunately, it burst into a shockwave upon hitting the ground, sending Boruto flying away.

The tornado was unleashing a barrage of wind blades throughout the area, attacking all shinobi the surrounding shinobi, killing several and injuring many.

"That Enough!" Konohamaru shouted as he charged towards the tornado. He created a pair of clones with all three dodging the blades of wind.

Flames appeared from their hands before they all leaped high into the air, now being in front of the massive tornado. They all put their hands together in one spot before combining their flames and strength to form a massive blazing Rasengan.

"Cool…" Boruto said breathlessly as everyone saw the massive fiery jutsu.

"Katon: Chōōdama Rasengan!" (Fire Release: Ultra-Big Ball Spiraling Sphere) Konohamaru shouted as his thrust his massive jutsu down towards the tornado.

The Green Oni tried to send wind blades at Konohamaru to stop him, but the clones took the hit for him, allowing their creator to slam the fiery massive Rasengan into the tornado.

Wisps of flames and currents of wind were being sent everywhere as both jutsus collided against one another.

Konohamaru released a battle cry as his fiery Rasengan actually increased in size as it overpowered the tornado, unleashing a vacuum of fire that traveled far.

"Amazing." Boruto said with awe from seeing his sensei actually overpowering a massive force of natural energy. Suddenly, he sensed something causing him to look up to see the Green Oni higher above the battlefield. 'The… The Oni! It got out of the tornado before it was overpowered!' Boruto realized in shock before looking around to see everyone nearby still had their eyes on Konohamaru. 'No one else notices it. Am I the only one?' Boruto thought with surprise and confusion.

The Green Oni raised its arm up high as wind gathered around its hand and stretched out above, forming a giant sharp blade made of wind.

Boruto's eyes widened upon seeing the giant jutsu that no doubt was going to come down before anyone would notice. So far, he was the only one. In this moment, he was alone.

However… it felt like he wasn't.

A sensation was emanating from within Boruto as he had a feeling. A feeling of someone telling him that he can act, and he must do it now. Whatever this sensation was it filled him with the assurance and support that he needed.

Boruto's brow furrowed as his eyes gleamed gold. With a new surge of power, Boruto leaped high into the air at breakneck speed as a burst of golden flames burst from where he stood.

Rocketing high into the air, Boruto gripped his bokken with both hands as golden flames started to surround it with his eyes shining bright gold.

'No one else notices what's going on but me… so bring it on! I'll meet you halfway, 'ttebasa!' Boruto thought as golden flames started coming from his back and more surrounded his bokken.

So many golden flames raged from the bokken that a giant blade made of it was formed, almost matching the size of the Green Oni's giant wind blade.

The Green Oni brought its blade of wind down with Boruto giving out a battle cry as he swung his golden flaming sword.

The two blades collided, creating a brand-new shockwave of fire and wind.

Boruto gritted his teeth as he fought against the wind blade, which was difficult with it also being infused by natural energy, but he persisted. Boruto let out a growl as he felt the muscles in his arm ache, but he could not relent. He would not! He can't afford to lose, and he won't!

Because he is not just a shinobi of Konoha… He Is an Uzumaki!

Boruto's eyes became slit as his whole being was shrouded in a cloak of golden with his whiskers now more defined and his bokken gained nine wisps of golden flames that surrounded the air. Boruto let out one last battle cry as he immediately overpowered the wind blade, dispersing it as his attack struck the Green Oni. Boruto sent the Green Oni flying off towards the horizon with it giving a shrilled screamed as it bulleted away.

While everyone's eyes were on Konohamaru, the remaining two members of Team 7 had noticed what had happened thanks to Sarada's Sharingan and Mitsuki's heightened superhuman senses.

'Astounding.' Mitsuki thought to himself as he noticed how everyone was still paying attention to Konohamaru, who was still in the air. 'No one has registered what had just happened. They didn't even realize they were in danger a moment ago. In fact, it all just happened within a moment.' Mitsuki looked back up towards his 'Sun'. 'How much stronger have you become, Boruto?'

'Boruto…' Sarada stared at her golden-haired teammate with wonder.

The shockwave from the attack was felt by everybody as in the battle ground, causing them all to look up to see the blade of golden flames.

They all stared in shock until the golden flames dispersed, leaving behind Boruto, who was in midair with his bokken broken from the sheer power behind his swing and the massive amount of chakra.

"How's that?" Boruto said with a grin as he fell back towards the battlefield.

"Boruto!" The members of team 7 shouted out the Uzumaki's name.

"I got him!" Chocho called out as she flew over and caught Boruto in her arms. "I don't know what just happened, but I'm pretty sure it requires a 'Good Job'." Chocho said to Boruto with a smile.

"Thanks." Boruto said with a bit of a tired smile, before Chocho was forced to have them dodge a shockwave of natural energy. "Whoa!" Boruto shouted as he and Chocho noticed Onis below swinging their kanabōs upward, sending compressed forces of natural energy.

"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Konohamaru created a mass of fifty clones as he landed upon the ground. He and his charged forward with fiery Rasengans in their hands. "Katon:Ōdama Rasen Tairengan!" (Fire Release: Big Ball Spiraling Serial Zone Spheres)

The Onis noticed this barrage and decided to focus their barrage upon the Jonin and his clones. The Onis unleashed forces of natural energy from the swing of their collective kanabōs towards the battalion of Sarutobi clones and master.

Konohamaru and his clones clashed their flaming Rasengans against the wave of natural energy, but after already exerting himself so much a moment ago to deal with that tornado, he didn't have the strength to overcome the collective attack. He and his clones managed to disperse the attack, but it unleashed a shockwave that destroyed the clones and sent the original flying with any nearby shinobi flying away now.

"Konohamaru-chan!" Moegi leaped up and caught Konohamaru in her arms, but he was sent flying with so much force that the two were sent bulleting into the ground, forming a dust cloud.

"Konohamaru-sensei! Moegi-sensei!" Sarada shouted out the pair's name with worry for their safety.

"Sarada, Look Out!" Mitsuki shouted as he sped over and pushed Sarada away, only for him to be sent flying by the strike of a Yellow Oni's spiked club.

"Mitsuki!" Sarada shouted as she rolled against the ground.

The Yellow Oni unleashed a howling screech only to then move away from being hit by a volley of fireballs made by a shinobi's scientific gatling ninja tool. It appeared overhead with its kanabō and slammed it down upon the man's head. It then started to bullet around and attack any shinobi who got in its way.

Sarada got on her hands and knees, only to gasp as she looked around herself. She saw shinobi dropping like flies left and right. They were being hit by the sneaky and cunning movements of Blue Onis. They were being blitz by Yellow Onis zipping around the area. They were being crushed, smashed and destroyed by Red Onis.

It was all hell.

Sarada clenched her hands tightly into fists as tears started escaping from her eyes. She was watching people dying… her people… the people that she wanted to protect… as their…

"Sarada!" Wasabi rushed over towards the Uchiha, noticing her on her hands and knees and now hanging her head. "Sarada, come on! You have to get up!" Wasabi said as she grabbed her friend's arm to help her up, only for Sarada to take her arm back, surprising the Izuno as she got back up to her feet.

"I know." Sarada said as her hair started to rise up with electricity sparking around her.

Sarada's body suddenly exploded with lightning, shocking Wasabi (not literally), before disappearing from sight along with the lightning.

A Blue Oni was receded its limbs back before stretching them out again to attack a pair of kunoichi, only for them to suddenly be punched away in separate directions from something that was too fast for even it to notice. It perked its head up in surprise before it was given a roundhouse kick to the jugular, knocking it down hard against the ground, back first.

"Huh?" Both kunoichi looked surprised to see the blue veined monster on its back when a moment ago it was still standing and a hair off from striking them.

The Yellow Oni dashed around the area, smashing away shinobi left and right. Its eyes then ended up on a shinobi, kneeling over and panting from exhaustion. It sped over at lightning speed, literally, and was already about to strike the ninja dead with its kanabō, when something just appeared between them and grabbed hold of its club.

After a moment, whatever grabbed hold of the kanabō clenched their hand so tight that they broke the spiked club to pieces.

The Yellow Oni's eyes widened in shock, but before it could process what had happened, it was given a hard punch atop its head as it was then smashed into the ground, shattering apart the ground.

"Huh?" The shinobi who had been exhausted turned his head to see the crushed Yellow Oni a distance away.

Weirdly enough, he felt something was off. Like he had actually been closer to that spot a moment ago. Even weirder, he felt strength returning to him with a warm sensation around his both. Looking down he found his body was covered in Iyashi-satsu. Now he was even more confused.

Moegi groaned as she sat up with Konohamaru in her arms. She heard him moan, making her look down to see him scratched up all over.

"Konohamaru-chan, are you alright?" Moegi asked her former teammate with concern.

Moegi then heard a roar, making her look up to see a Red Oni in the distance. The beast had its eyes set on them. It rushed towards them at intense speed.

Moegi tried to get herself and Konohamaru back to their feet, but once she did, the red veined creature was already on them with its kanabō raised up high and ready to smash them. As futile as it might have been, Moegi tried to make an earth jutsu with one hand before impact, but she was too slow to the draw.

Fortunately, someone else wasn't.

Bulleting over at unseen speeds, someone had appeared and slammed their fist into the Red Oni's abdomen, causing its eyes to bulge and jaws to widen as its stomach area was stretched back from the sheer power behind the blow. The next instant, the Red Oni rocketed away, smashing into several other Oni along the way.

"N-Nani?" Moegi questioned aloud in shock.

"Huh?" Konohamaru managed to regain consciousness as he then looked up to see the back of Sarada, who was surrounded in a cloak of lightning.

Sarada suddenly dashed forward towards the large number of Oni. She stabbed her hands into the ground and with her newfound might, she uprooted the ground, creating a slant of earth that she proceeded to flip over, sending numerous Oni flying away. She was not finished yet as she then cocked her fists back.

"Shannarō!" Sarada unleashed a blinding barrage of punches that destroyed the slant of earth she created, breaking it apart and sending the small debris flying as projectiles that stabbed the Onis all over.

"Whoa! You see that?!" A shinobi said in awe.

"Sarada!" Chocho was ecstatic by the display made by her best friend.

"Whoa." Boruto stared down at Sarada in wonder.

Mitsuki got back to his feet as he held onto his broken arm.

"Impressive." Mitsuki said as he then made a ram seal as nature infused chakra surrounded his arm that started to heal.

The Onis that were assaulted by the overtly powerful kunoichi growled with rage and glared at her while she kept a stern demeanor.

"Sarada, watch out!" Boruto shouted out as he noticed a pair of Yellow Oni rushing Sarada from behind.

'We can't have that now.' Mitsuki thought to himself as he started to shroud his form in sage chakra.

"Toss Me!" Boruto told Chocho who threw him without a second thought. He outstretched his broken bokken out to the side and focused to exert chakra from it. 'I don't need a blade or whatever… I am the sword! It's all me!' Boruto mentally shouted as a golden twister of flames came out from the hilt of his bokken as more golden flames were emanating from his being.

"Senpō: Orochi Ikazuchi!"

"Hadan!" (Rupture)

Mitsuki appeared behind Sarada in his Senninka (Sage Transformation) state unleashing a green ethereal snake of green lighting, while Boruto came from above slamming down a blade of golden flames.

Both their jutsus met the spiked clubs of the Yellow Onis, fighting against them before sending the monsters flying.

"Thanks guys." Sarada said before vanishing from sight, surprising her teammates.

Sarada suddenly appeared and grabbed the still flying Yellow Onis by the head and slammed them into the ground, breaking apart the ground and uprooting pieces of it.

Everyone stared in shock and awe at Sarada's speed and might.

"Katon:Gōkakyū no Jutsu." (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique) Sarada blew a large flame of fire onto the corpses of the Yellow Onis, which surrounded her as well.

At first, everyone was worried, but with a swing of her arm, Sarada dispersed the fire and marched forward.

Everyone stared in awe upon seeing the Uchiha kunoichi walking out of the flames and shrouded with lightning as embers followed her for a moment.

"Did you even really need us?" Boruto asked as the golden flames around him left and Mitsuki released his Senninka.

"Always." Sarada said as she walked past her teammates, before stopping. "Will you guys help me?" Sarada asked.

"Always." Boruto answered with a smirk.

"Now and forever." Mitsuki said with a smile and eye smiles.

"Arigato." Sarada thanked her closest friends without facing them.

A Red Oni reared its kanabō back, infusing a strong amount of natural energy into it and took a swing, releasing a powerful shockwave.

"Look out!" A shinobi shouted out.

Sarada's eyes widened with a red blaze as she reared her fist back and delivered a punch that met the shockwave head on. She gritted her teeth before surging with more lightning as she actually overpowered the force with her punch, shocking everyone, even surprising the Onis.

"It will take more than that now." Sarada said with her outstretched fist, which was now covered in dried blood gained by the strong force and the lightning shrouding her immediately after. "It'll take more… to have me fall before everyone… and I won't fall at all. Not with what that means for everybody else."

"Sarada…" Boruto stared at his dark-haired teammate as she lifted her glasses up over her forehead.

"I swear… I will not let you monsters harm anyone else any longer. Not this village. Not these people... not my people. I swear, I'm going to defend everyone! This village is my family, for I… Am Going to Be the Hokage!" Sarada declared aloud with her three tomoe Sharingan glaring ahead at the Onis before her.

Everyone stared in shock at Sarada upon her declaration, but none more than Konohamaru, as in that moment, the Sarutobi saw the images of his grandfather and Naruto right beside Sarada. The sheer presence of this vision before him sent shivers down his spine and a new surge within him.

Boruto and Mitsuki smiled upon this declaration.

"And I'll be your supporting shadow." Boruto said as he then stood beside Sarada as chakra surrounded his broken bokken, creating a blade of chakra out from the hilt with lightning sparking around.

"And I cover anything else you need, 'Hokage-sama'." Mitsuki said with a smile as natural energy surged around him.

"Thanks guys." Sarada said as the three got into their fighting stances.

Everyone stared at the three in awe as at that moment they saw the previous Team 7. In that moment, they felt assure. Their spirits were being lifted in their presence. They all regained their resolve as they all stood tall once more, now reinvigorated with willpower to fight on once again.

Konohamaru even found the strength to stand on his own again as he lightly pushed away from Moegi's grasp.

'I'm proud of you all.' Konohamaru thought to himself as he readied a three-pronged kunai.

"Let's do this!" Boruto said as he got into a battle stance with both hands gripping his chakra bokken.

"On your word, Hokage-sama." Mitsuki said to Sarada, still smiling as he got into his own stance.

"Let's end this nightmare, right now! Charge!" Sarada shouted out as she, Boruto and Mitsuki charged forward with every shinobi letting out battle cries and following their lead.

This was their last stand.

.

.

Troop B were giving their all to fight against the Oni in their section, and so far, they were the ones doing the best.

"YOUTH!" Lee screamed out as he rocketed forward with the sixth gate active, delivering a hard blow to the face of a Red Oni, breaking apart its fangs as he sent it flying away.

A Blue Oni tried attacking him with a stretched limb, but Lee delivered a kick, sending its trajectory off before kicking off its elongated limb to avoid the Oni's other one. The creature growled with frustration before it suddenly felt itself stop moving for a moment.

"Downside about those stretchy limbs; they make longer shadows for me to grab." Shikadai said with a smirk. "Kage Nui no Jutsu!" Shikadai launched shadow tendrils that stabbed the Blue Oni's arms all over like a pincushion, keeping them in place for the moment.

"My turn!" Iwabe shouted as he made several hand seals. "Doton: Gizagiza noDoryūheki!" (Earth Release: Jagged Earth-Style Wall) Iwabe slammed his hands onto the ground, forming a large wall with spikes littered around its surface. "Doton: Gagankon." (Earth Release: Rock Brick Cane) Iwabe formed a large mallet head made of stone at the end of his jō. "This'll Hurt!" Iwabe slammed the stone head against the back of the wall, sending it speeding forward and striking the Blue Oni, sending it flying but thanks to Shikadai's shadows, its arms were ripped off from its body.

"Nice combo." Kakashi said.

"Arigato, Rokudaime-sama!" Iwabe thanked him with a smile.

The Blue Oni reared its head back and stretched it far to attack any of the three, only spikes of iron sand to stab it all around its neck, then expand to slice it off, effectively beheading the monster.

"Never let your guard down." Shinki said as he willed the iron sand back towards him.

"Thanks, Shinki." Shikadai thanked his cousin, while Iwabe pouted.

"Iwabe, you mind doing that jutsu again for this guy?" Kakashi asked as he noticed a Red Oni marching its way over.

"Sure. Doton: Gizagiza no Doryūheki!" Iwabe created another spiked wall and sent it charging forward with his makeshift mallet, only for the Red Oni to easily break it apart.

However, that was what Kakashi was expecting as he already launched his own jutsu.

"Raiton:Raijū Tsuiga!" (Lightning Release: Lightning Beast Tracking Fang) Kakashi had unleashed a mass of purple lightning in the form of a hound that rushed towards the Red Oni. The Oni managed to smash the attack with its kanabō, but instead of destroying the lightning, it became one with the spiked club. "Just as I was hoping for. Shinki, you mind taking that from him?"

"Understood." Shinki said as he willed his iron sand to reach over in the form of a giant hand.

The Red Oni tried to smash his attack away, but spikes of iron sand shot from the ground and stabbed into its legs and arm, causing it to lose its grip on the spiked club.

Once Shinki grabbed the electrified club with his iron sand, Kakashi finished making several hand seals.

"Raiton: Hiraishin no Arashi!" (Lightning Release: Lightning Rod Storm) Kakashi shouted as the purple lightning shrouded around the kanabō unleashed multiple bolts of purple lightning that struck the nearby collection of Onis right in their heads, causing portions of their skulls to explode as they then fell to the ground.

"Damn… so that's kage strength." Iwabe said as he and Shikadai stared in awe. Suddenly, a Yellow Oni appeared and struck Kakashi so hard that he split him in half. "ROKUDAIME-SAMA!" Iwabe screamed out as he and Shikadai were in shock and horror.

Fortunately, Kakashi's split body was replaced by a split log, surprising and confusing Iwabe, Shikadai and even the Yellow Oni, before several spikes of earth stabbed right through the Yellow Oni all over.

"Always appreciate the classics." Kakashi said with a hidden smirk, undoing his hand seals after killing the Yellow Oni.

"Katon: Haisekishō!" Mirai and several members of the Sarutobi clans spewed out clouds of ash that came together to become a massive wave of ash that consumed the rest of the Onis before clicking their teeth, causing the ash to explode, consuming the monsters in fire.

"These guys weren't as tough as I thought." Mirai said with a smirk, only to be proven wrong as the Onis were sucking up the flames like vacuums. "I was wrong." Mirai said with widened eyes and a worried frown. Just then, a Green Oni appeared in the air as it spun around so fast it created a tornado that absorbed the remaining flames, becoming a blazing twister. "Oh Come On!" Mirai shouted with frustration.

"Earth Users Form a Wall!" Kakashi ordered as he along with all users of earth formed a line in front of everyone.

"Doton: Tajū Doryūheki!" (Earth Release: Multiple Earth-Style Wall) Kakashi and the rest slammed their hands into the ground, forming a giant barricade of earth.

The Red Oni fired out giant fireballs from their mouths, all infused with natural energy that the gathering of them were powerful enough to break through the entire earth barrier.

'Dammit.' Kakashi mentally cursed as the flames were about to consume them all.

Shinki was ready to use his iron sand to defend as many as he would be able to, only to notice a blonde blur speed pass him.

Sprinting forward with a battle cry came Shinachiku, back on his feet as he then sped pass everyone and leaped into the flames, shocking everyone.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Iwabe screamed out in shock.

"WHY'D HE DO THAT?!" Shikadai screamed out, flabbergasted by Shinachiku's insane action.

Shinki blinked his eyes in surprise and confusion at this but knew there was a method to this madness.

Kakashi's eyes widened in shock from what he witnessed as the wall of flames got closer, but suddenly they started to recede, surprising everyone.

The sound of a bellowing cry was heard within the flames, catching everyone's attention.

Within the shrinking inferno was Shinachiku, who had seals scattered around his very being as the flames were absorbed into him.

"What is he-?"

"Is he… sealing the flames inside of himself?!" A shinobi questioned in shock.

"Impossible…" Another said in shock.

"Shinachiku…" Mirai spoke his name in shock and awe at his skill and nerves of steel, and she wasn't the only one. That changed when everyone started noticing him starting to glow bright orange. "What in the-?!"

"It's too much." Kakashi said with a worried look.

Shinachiku gritted his teeth as he hunched forward.

'Too much… too much… not ready, so…' Shinachiku glared ahead as he let out a battle cry, charging forward deeper into the flames as he leaped towards the Onis on the other side before exploding into a powerful blast.

"SHINACHIKU!" Mirai screamed out the boy's name in horror.

"He didn't…" Shikadai said as he and everyone were in utter shock and horror.

"Shinachiku…" Iwabe stared in horror at what had just happened.

Kakashi and Lee were also staring in shock as they clenched their fists in frustration.

"You… YOU BAKA!" Mirai shouted out with tears in her eyes.

"Hey come on…" A voice spoke, making everyone turn to see Shinachiku making his way over, a bit bloodied but still fine. "I'll admit, I have my reckless moments, but I'm not that insane, 'ttebaro." Shinachiku said with a grin.

"Shinachiku!" Mirai spoke his name with relief.

'Impressive.' Shinki thought to himself.

"How is the hell did you do that?!" Shikadai asked in pure shock.

"Teleportation?" Iwabe wondered aloud.

"No way. The Hiraishin wouldn't be able to save the user from something like that." Kakashi stated.

"It was just a new form of clone I've been working on." Shinachiku answered. "Sadly, it's not finished, and it didn't get the job done like I wanted." He said as growls were heard from within the cloud of ash, before the flaming tornado from before tore right through it. "Plus it didn't do anything about that tornado…" Shinachiku added with a frown.

"Then I shall handle it." Lee said, stepping up and catching everyone's attention. "All of you better retreat back into the village." Lee ordered, surprising everyone before he crossed his arms in front of himself. "Kyōmon (Gate of Wonder), Kai!" Lee opened the seventh gate as he vanished from sight.

"Where did he go?" Iwabe asked.

"Above us!" Kakashi alerted everyone as Lee was high up in the air.

"Lee-sensei!" Shinachiku spoke out, knowing exactly what his sensei's counterpart was going to do.

'He's about to do that, isn't he?' Kakashi deduced the same as Shinachiku as he now had to act quick. "Everyone, Retreat Back into the Village and Make More Earth-Style Walls!" Kakashi ordered.

Everyone didn't question it as they all hurried back towards the gates.

All except Shinachiku, who stared up with a look of concern.

'Lee-sensei…'

"Shina, come on!" Iwabe called out to his friend as he passed him by.

"We have to go!" Mirai grabbed his arm, only for Shinachiku to pull away, which was not only an action that surprised her, but unbeknownst to Mirai, was a not a move he would pull with her.

Shinachiku stared upward with a serious and determined expression, but before he could make a move, he was halt and he knew how and by who.

"I don't know what you're planning, but don't you dare even try it." Shikadai said, holding Shinachiku in place with his shadow, only for the blonde to exploded into golden fire as he rocketed into the sky. "Of course." Shikadai said with a frown.

Up above, Lee was gathering his strength to prepare for a jutsu passed down to him by Gai-sensei!

'Gai-sensei… so this is the pain you had to endure when using this technique… please, give me strength!' Lee thought to himself as he prayed for the strength to pull this next move off. The next moment, his prayers were answered as he felt a hand placed on his back as a surge of chakra that was both empowering and healing him surrounded his very form, giving him a bubbly orange cloak of chakra. "Huh?" Lee turned to see none other than Shinachiku in his Bijū Chakura Mōdo with his hand placed on his back and the outline markings of his Fukanzen Byakugō no In (Imperfect Strength of a Hundred Seal) scattered around his being, mixing with his cloak's own markings.

"The power of Youth isn't just found in a single person alone, dattebaro!" Shinachiku said with a wide smile.

"Shinachiku…" Lee stared at the boy with proud, teary eyes before wiping them away. "Let Us Do This, Shinachiku!"

"Hai, Lee-sensei!" Shinachiku exclaimed with a grin.

"Doton: Tajū Doryūheki!" The earth release users made the collective barrier once after everyone made it back into the village.

Kakashi stared up, sensing the increased pressure within the air.

'Good luck, you two.' Kakashi mentally wished Shinachiku and Lee luck.

"Now Take This! The True Power of the Combined Youth of Both Generations!" Lee yelled out as he made several movements with his hands before delivering a punch against the palm of his hand so fast, he created an impossible gargantuan shockwave that took the form of a white tiger. "HIRUDORA!" (Daytime Tiger)

Rocketing down towards the flaming tornado and group of Oni, biting into them all into its mighty jaws. The giant tiger shockwave took all the Onis through its vacuum and traveled deep into the forest where it then exploded.

In the distance a white dome covered a mass majority of the forest and unleashed a shockwave that hit the village walls, cracking them and the earth barriers the shinobi made.

Despite being protected from the shockwave by the barriers, the earthquake created by it was a different story, as many of them lost their footing, especially after fighting so hard for the past hour. The barrier soon broke apart, causing everyone to feel the harsh winds and dying power of the shockwave as it was in its last moments.

Soon the shockwave subsided, allowing everyone who was still standing to look ahead to see the forest in the distance destroyed with a gigantic crater in the center.

Safe to say, they were all speechless upon what they witnessed.

Lee and Shinachiku landed upon the ground, both deactivating their powered-up states.

Shinachiku was hunching forward with his hands on his knees and panting with his face drenched in sweat. He heard a thud, making him turn to see Lee now on his back.

"Lee-sensei!" Shinachiku quickly kneeled beside his sensei's counterpart and started applying medical ninjutsu to him to alleviate his pain while making sure not to make physical contact so as not to hurt him. "Your ligaments and muscle tissue suffered as expected from opening the seventh gate, but it's not as bad as it normally would have been." Shinachiku detailed.

"Thanks to you." Lee pointed out with a grunt as he was still very much in pain, regardless of the healing buff he gained during usage. "Arigato, Shinachiku-kun."

"Teachers support the students, but it's never a one-way street, dattebaro." Shinachiku said with a smile.

"Isn't that the truth?" A voice spoke, causing Shinachiku to turn to see Naruto standing right beside them. "I will admit though, I wish my support to Ero-sennin resulted in something this amazing instead of making sure he wasn't killed by angry women." Naruto joked with a smile.

"Naruto, there's still more." Sasuke spoke on the other end of Shinachiku and Lee, making the former turn to see him staring towards the distance of the forest. "A good number of them suffered, but there's still more than to our liking."

"Ojisan… you're here too?" Shinachiku spoke with mild surprise to see Sasuke had returned in the village's dire of need.

"Shina." Naruto spoke, earning his 'son's' attention. "Once you've healed Lee enough, get him out of here. Sasuke and I will handle the rest."

"Yes sir." Shinachiku said, watching his father's counterpart marching his way towards Sasuke's side. 'Those Onis don't have a chance.'

Naruto stopped beside Sasuke as the two sensed the threat still out there. Though the Troops handled a good number of the Onis, there were far more marching from within the forest.

"Something tells me this isn't normal, even for a Hyakki Yagyō." (Night of One Hundred Demons) Naruto said.

"Then this was actually orchestrated. Each sectioned was lined up like an army, which means somewhere out there, is a general." Sasuke deduced.

"Then let's thin them out completely before focusing on finding their leader." Naruto said as he made a cross hand seal. "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

.

.

"Shannarō!" Sarada delivered a hard punch that clashed against a Yellow Oni's kanabō, causing a clash of lightning between the two.

Sarada gritted her teeth as the lightning around her started sparking purple bolts as then she completely destroyed the Yellow Oni's kanabō and sent it flying.

Sarada panted as she looked around, seeing everyone giving what they had left in this fight.

'I can't fall… not yet. I still have more to give.' Sarada thought to herself, ignoring the pain in her trembling arm. 'I'll keep on fighting and opening the gates until my dying breath for this village. Because that's what the Hokage does!' Sarada then heard something hit the ground, making her turn to see a Red Oni in the distance with its kanabō tip slammed against the ground. 'I swear I won't fall; I give my word just like Nanadaime-sama, and I'll conquer all obstacles in my way, just like mama and papa.' Sarada crossed her arms in front of herself as the pressure around her increased and the lightning cloak around her started turning purple. "Seimon (Gate of Life), Kai!"

Sarada's being exploded with purple lighting as she rocketed forward with a purple lightning cloak around her.

The Red Oni roared as he charged forward with its kanabō ready.

Time seemed to slow down as the two were in front of each other. Sarada had her fist reared back while the Red Oni held its kanabō up high. Sarada thrust her punch forward and the Red Oni swung its kanabō downward.

Despite the increased speed from Sarada, the Oni's kanabō was about to strike her down first.

Things wouldn't have turned out well had it not been for the kanabō being sliced to bits by blades of black fire.

The Red Oni's eyes widened in shock and confusion before Sarada's fist caved into its stomach, causing its eyes to bulge.

"SHANNARŌ!" Sarada screamed out as she sent the Red Oni flying.

She watched as it was sent flying as cracks formed around its entire being starting from the spot on his abdomen where it was punched.

"Not bad." A voice spoke before the Red Oni she punched away was suddenly lit ablaze by black fire, causing everyone, even the other Onis, to stop and turn. "You have gotten a lot stronger since I last saw you, Sarada." Sasuke said as she walked past his daughter.

"Papa." Sarada was shocked to see her father had returned.

"Shishou!" Boruto was surprised and happy to see his mentor, before the sound of poofing was heard.

"Ōdama Rasen Tairengan!" (Big Ball Spiraling Serial Zone Spheres) The clones of Naruto slammed their Rasengans into the surrounding Onis, sending them all flying away.

"Nanadaime-sama!" A shinobi cried out with joy.

"Oh, thank Kami-sama." A kunoichi said with relief.

"Sorry it took so long. We were busy with certain precautions. For now, return back into the village. Sasuke and I can handle the rest from here." One of the Narutos ordered.

"You heard him! Everyone, fall back!" Konohamaru ordered.

Everyone followed suit, except for Sarada, who was staring at her father's back.

"That includes you as well, Sarada." Sasuke said without facing his daughter.

"Papa… I-"

"We'll talk later. I promise." Sasuke said before turning his head to look his daughter in the eye. "I'm proud of you."

Sarada's eyes widened in shock upon hearing these words. Upon instinct, she dispersed her lightning cloak only to then feel a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see it was Boruto.

"Let's leave it to them. For now, this is our predecessors' fight. Ours place is with the village now." Boruto said, offering Sarada a soft smile.

After a moment of silence, Sarada nodded in agreement as she and Boruto hurried off.

"End this right now! I'm not ready to take the Hokage's seat just yet, so come back as soon as you can!" Sarada called out to her father and the clones of the Hokage.

"I'll support her 'til then!" Boruto called out as well.

"Hn." Sasuke couldn't help but smirk.

"My seat, eh?" One of the Naruto's said as he watched the two run off with a smile. 'The future sure is looking bright.' Naruto thought with his smile widening.

.

.

Tsubaki panted as she stayed affirm in her spot. She watched as the Onis were returning, and with brand new ones who weren't as damaged.

One of the damaged one glared at her as it marched over with the intent to kill.

Tsubaki brought her katana up with her only good arm, ready to fight.

The beast, despite being injured and charged, appeared in front of her and brought down its kanabō.

Tsubaki moved to the side then had to flip back away from a horizontal swing. The Red Oni tried charging in with a head-butt, but Tsubaki managed to leap back in time. It then let out a roar, which Tsubaki blocked with her katana. Though she skidded back, she did absorb the natural energy infused with it. The Red Oni was already on her delivered a swing that Tsubaki tried parrying with her katana, but the force was too strong, and she was very weakened, she skidded away.

Tsubaki grunted as she was on one knee and her left arm shook in pain from the force behind the blow she parried. The Red Oni came charging in again. Tsubaki's instincts took hold as she held her katana to her right hip, being in a knelt iaijutsu stance.

The Red Oni swung its kanabō down upon her just as Tsubaki dashed forward with a swing of her katana.

Before the Oni's kanabō could meet her head, it was met with another blade, this one shrouded in lightning and black fire.

The ground beneath their feet broke apart, but Tsubaki remained vigilant as she delivered her sword slash, slicing right through the neck of the Red Oni.

The Red Oni took steps back as it held it sliced open jugular, giving out irregular breathing as it did.

Tsubaki panted with widened eyes as they then traveled to her side to see the one who saved her.

"You're very skilled and very brave. I shouldn't expect no less from a samurai." Sasuke said, keeping his stoic gaze upon the Oni he had defended Tsubaki from.

Tsubaki's eyes widened further upon being in the presence of the man who had killed several of her own people years ago.

Sasuke Uchiha.

The Red Oni growled as it tried coming back for one last assault, but faster than the eye could see, Sasuke had sliced the monster in two, starting from the head. Its halves fell to the ground, shocking Tsubaki immensely as she could not detect the speed that had been swung.

It felt no different than when she witnessed Arata using the bladed edge of his own chokuto.

'Tsuyoi…' (So strong) Tsubaki thought with shock and awe, and a bit of frustration.

"You should go. We'll handle the rest." Sasuke said just as a whole legion of Naruto clones popped into existence around the area.

"N-No! I-"

"You're a one in a million warrior. Don't waste it." Sasuke said as he marched forward.

Tsubaki stared at Sasuke's retreating form as in the next instant she saw a visage of Arata beside him. This calmed her down some as she decided to listen to the Uchiha patriarch's words.

"Tsubaki!" A voice called out, making the samurai turn to see Inojin and Sai riding on a single ink bird, coming down towards her from the sky. "Take my hand!" Inojin said as he extended his hand out towards her.

Tsubaki gave one last glance towards Sasuke before sheathing her katana and taking Inojin's hand.

"Thank you." Tsubaki said.

"You didn't think we were really just going to leave you out here alone, did you?" Inojin said with a smile.

Thing is, she wasn't just thanking him and his father, as her eyes went back to Sasuke once more.

"Everyone has already retreated back into the village. Go ahead and let loose!" Sai informed his kage and the kage's supporting shadow as he, Inojin and Tsubaki flew away.

"Just what I like to hear." One of the Narutos said with a smirk.

.

.

Arata swung Murakumo, slicing into the ground as it then exploded with lightning, cutting off a chunk of Oni, before being forced to deliver several palms strikes from its Susano'o to defend and bat away more Onis and their kanabōs.

"Susano'o: Hakke Kūhekishō!" Arata delivered a dual palm strike from his Susano'o, sending a powerful compressed force that a pair of Red Oni and a Yellow Oni fought against with a swing from their nature infused kanabōs.

Arata gritted his teeth and faltered a bit from the pain of sustaining his Susano'o for so long, causing him and his ethereal avatar to skid away from the shockwave of both forces canceling one another.

Arata panted but kept focus. He fought against the pain every single cell was feeling from using his Susano'o, especially around the eyes.

Several Blue Onis then unleashed a barrage of their outstretched limbs to attack him.

"Susano'o:Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō!" (Susano'o: Protecting Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms) Arata's lightning enhanced Susano'o swung its palms around, creating thin lines of chakra that doubles as a net made of chakra blades. They clashed with the Blue Onis' outstretched fists, causing them to bounce off the attack with new cuts along their knuckles. "Susano'o: Hakke Kūhekishō!" Arata used his Susano'o to send another force of chakra that sent the net of blades towards the Onis.

A whole group of Red Onis charged forward and swung their kanabōs, delivering a collective shockwave of natural energy infused force that held the net of chakra blades back, once more fighting against Arata's jutsu in a power struggle.

Arata gritted his teeth as he felt himself getting closer to the end of his rope, but then noticed the rest of the clan charging towards his side.

"Hakke Dai Kūhekishō!" The entire clan sent a whole barrage of vacuum forces of chakra, combining them together with Arata's Susano'o sized own.

The combined strength was enough to give one last push to overpower the Red Onis' own, causing the net of sharp chakra to strike the group of Onis before bursting right in their faces.

"Did we do it?" One Hyūga asked with some hope, only for it to be dashed when they all still saw the wave of natural energy still there and coming from the hulking beasts.

"Dammit… is there no way to defeat these things?!" Another Hyūga shouted out with anger and frustration.

Hinata panted a bit but ignored her own fatigue when she noticed Arata, who was more tired with his face drenched in sweat and dried blood from the bottom of his eyes.

'Arata-kun…' Hinata stared at the youth that could have been her child with concern and worry for his safety, the only kind a mother would have.

Arata gritted his teeth in irritation and glared ahead at the Oni, still standing as defiant as they were, only to notice something. After a moment, Arata let out a sigh as he deactivated his Susano'o and Mangekyō Tōmeigan, catching everyone's attention and worry. Arata stood up straight, chokuto already in sheath and had his hands in his pockets. He proceeded to then take out his eyedrops once again from his jacket.

Just then, the Blue Onis unleashed their barrage of stretching limbs to attack the clan with their biggest target being Arata.

"Arata!" Hiashi looked towards the youth with worry for his life, while the boy prepared to pour in his eyedrops.

Hinata had already gotten in front of him with her Jūken ready, only for the arms of the Blue Onis to be sliced to bits and explode with black flames, shocking her and everybody else.

Minus Arata.

"I was wondering when you would arrive." Arata stated as he applied his eyes drops.

"Nothing gets by you." Sasuke said as he just appeared in front of the Hyūga clan.

"Sasuke-kun?" Hinata was surprised to see Sasuke had returned and arrived at their rescue. She then detected clones being created to surround the front of the clan, which, of course, were all clones of her husband. "Naruto-kun!" Hinata was overjoyed to see her husband's arrival.

The Naruto clones formed large Rasengans in hand and suddenly appeared above the Onis.

"Chōōdama Rasen Tarengan!" (Many Ultra-Big Ball Spiraling Serial Spheres) All the Narutos shouted as they slammed their oversized Rasengans into the Onis, crushing them against the mass collection of jutsus, resulting in many explosions as the clones landed back onto the battlefield.

"All of you head back into the village! Sasuke and I are going to end this!" One of the clones ordered.

"Understood." Hiashi said with a nod before facing the clan. "You heard the Hokage! Back to the village!" Hiashi ordered as his clan members nodded and hurried back.

Hanabi herself stopped when she noticed her sister hadn't moved at all.

"Hinata-onee-sama." Hanabi spoke to her sister, hoping to get her attention.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata was worried to leave her husband's side.

Even if they were clones and she believed in his strength above all else, she still didn't like the idea of leaving him to face such beasts. Even if he would have Sasuke by his side. She did wish she would be the one by him though.

Hinata suddenly felt a hand gently grasp her own, making her turn to see it was Arata.

"Let's give them some space. Last thing we want is to worry them about being too close." Arata said to his mother's counterpart with a gentle tone.

After a moment of silence and blinking her eyes, Hinata nodded, fully understanding the intent of what would then go on.

"Too close? Too close for what?" Hanabi asked, blinking her eyes in confusion.

"You'll see." Arata said as he guided Hinata away with Hanabi following.

'Good luck, Naruto-kun.' Hinata silently wished her husband luck as she gave one last glance to his clones.

"You ready for this, Sasuke?" One of the Naruto clones asked, albeit rhetorically.

"Hn." Sasuke said with a smirk. His way of saying 'Always'.

All throughout the front of the village's border, the clones of Naruto appeared high into the air with their hands raised up high. They all started to form Rasenshuriken from their hands.

"Now, Sasuke!" All the Naruto called out as they entered their Bijū Chakura Mōdo.

Down below, Sasuke and his clones summoned their full body Susano'o and flew into the air to close the distance. Once in the air, Sasuke and his clones' Mangekyō Sharingan activated as black flames started to surround and become one with Rasenshurikens.

Everyone stared up in awe at the immense number of black flaming Rasenshuriken into the sky that were unleashing powerful screeching sounds.

"Now, Naruto!" Sasuke and his clones shouted out.

"Take This!" All the Narutos shouted as they threw the black flaming Rasenshurikens towards the Onis within the forest.

The Onis sensed the immensely powerful combination of powers making them all look up. They all stared in shock and fear as raining down upon them were bladed meteor-like projectiles of black fire.

Upon collision, an impossible gargantuan wall of explosive black flames surrounded the front of the village like a great wall, defending them from the horrors of the night.

The earth shook as the sound of roaring flames was heard throughout the whole portion of the land the village occupied.

Everyone who was a distance from the jutsu but was still close to the battlefield stared with widened eyes. All were in awe at the wall of pure power before them.

Everyone was left speechless.

The only ones who managed to say something were both of Konoha's mysterious new residents, who just said the only natural thing that could come from them.

"Hn." Arata went with a smirk.

.

.

"Channarō." Shinachiku said with a smile as he was already a good distance away with Lee on his back.

All the Naruto clones dispersed, leaving only the original, who landed in front of the village gates with the original Sasuke by his side as the wall of black flames and energy dispersed as well, leaving what once was a luscious green forest, into a destroyed, scorch land.

"We're gonna need to plant a lot of trees after this." Naruto said.

"Hn." Sasuke responded.

Shinachiku created a clone and handed Lee to it before hurrying towards Naruto and Sasuke.

"Is that it? You took them all out?" Shinachiku asked, stopping behind the pair.

"Pretty sure we did." Naruto said, looking towards Shinachiku.

"I'm sure we took them all out, along with most of the forest." Sasuke pointed.

"Man, it really is something to see you both come together like that, as always." Shinachiku said, beaming with an amazed and proud smile. "Nice jutsu by the way. Wasn't that one you used during the war? I remember hearing about it from tales my tou-chan told me."

"Yeah, but on a much larger scale this time. I remember through my connection with Kurama that tou-chan called it: Shakuton: Kōrin Shippū Shikkoku no Ya Zeroshiki. (Scorch Release: Halo Hurricane Jet Black Arrow Style Zero) What do you think?" Naruto shared, causing Shinachiku and Sasuke to stare at him with dull expressions.

"Just go with what Hanami calls it: Shakuton: Shikkoku no Shuriken." (Scorch Release: Jet Black Shuriken) Shinachiku said.

"Your father did always suck with naming techniques." Kurama pointed out, causing Naruto to chuckle and rub the back of his head with embarrassment.

.

.

The Hyūga clan stared in shock and awe at the power and destruction of the combined might of the Hokage and his Supporting Shadow.

After the clones of Naruto disappeared, Sasuke headed towards Arata, who remained silent with a stoic expression.

"How are your eyes?" Sasuke asked.

"They hurt… but they'll be fine." Arata answered.

"So… is that it?" Hanabi asked, though every wary as in times like these, such a guess was always proven wrong.

"I don't know. We'll just have to wait for word from the Barrier Team to know for sure." Sasuke said.

In the next instant, Arata's Tōmeigan immediately activated. Meaning one thing… Danger Sense.

"Oh no." Arata said as he noticed giant roots from below the ground carrying natural energy and chakra, but the chakra wasn't just from itself. "Susano'o!" Arata activated his Susano'o, alerting everyone, as he quickly summoned Murakumo and stabbed it into the ground where it extended to stab into the roots and electrify them with a pulse of lightning spread throughout the earth.

After this, the roots broke out from the ground and raised up high to reveal themselves.

"Those are the roots from earlier!" A Hyūga shouted out.

They all then heard moaning which caused their eyes to widen in horror upon seeing the faces and bodies of reanimated corpses, being one with the roots and travelling through them like fish down a riverbank.

"What… what is happening?" A Hyūga wondered aloud with a horrified look.

"Are those… corpses?" Another questioned, deeply disturbed look.

Arata used his dojutsu to follow the trail to affirm something he was deducing, only to gasp as he had assumed correctly.

"The Cemetery!"

.

.

Within Konoha's Cemetery, several Nekomatas (Forked Cat) were stabbing their tails into the graves, reanimating the corpses of Konoha's fallen.

The reanimated corpses moaned within their caskets before something broke through and dragged them further down, where they were consumed by the giant roots that had been littered throughout Konoha's underground.

The zombified beings travelled through the roots that extended far out into the far reaches of the land, a great distance away from Konohagakure.

When arrived at the point of origin, the reanimated corpses were absorbed by something. Something very, very large. Their very beings were broken down into their purest form of chakra that was assimilated into this large being that was made up of wood and natural energy.

Upon a few more moments and after so much of Konoha's reanimated deceased were sacrificed… a large heartbeat echoed throughout the ground… before a green gleam appeared.

It was awake.

.

.

The ground started to shake, causing everyone on the battlefield to shake and tremble, while those in the shelters screamed.

"What is going on?!" Shikamaru questioned, having an extremely bad feeling about this.

"Something…. Something Is Out There! Something Big!" Ino shouted, shocking everyone.

"Nani?!"

.

.

Half of the Medical Unit led by Tsunade and Sakura were within the village center with the injured who had been brought back. The team tried staying on their feet and keeping the injured in place and keeping them safe during the earthquake.

'What is happening?' Sakura wondered to herself only to notice small cracks forming in the ground, which now worried her even more.

.

.

"What the heck is happening?!" Mirai shouted out as Troop A were fighting to stay on their feet.

Shinachiku stumbled from the earthquake, while Naruto and Sasuke remained on their feet, but fought to stay on them.

They never felt a seismic occurrence like this since the war. It may not have been as bad, far from it, but it definitely was far from good as well.

"What the heck?!" Shinachiku wondered aloud as he fell onto his hands and knee.

"Shina! You feel that?!" Mamoru spoke up, using his chakra to expand Shinachiku's senses, allowing him to feel the same sensation he was feeling, and it was coming from below.

Shinachiku's eyes widened upon sensing the many traces of chakra from below.

"This is…"

"Naruto! You sense that?!" Kurama spoke to his jinchuriki.

'I wish I didn't!' Naruto mentally responded as he had a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Just then, cracks started to form all throughout the entrance way and extended far out towards the far reaches of the village. All the crack converged into one spot specifically. The same spot where all the roots originated from.

After what felt like ages of seismic terror, it all suddenly stopped.

Everyone held their breaths with nothing, but an eerie silence bathed the area in exchange for the thunderous rumbling moments ago.

Just then the sound of a heartbeat echoed throughout the land, causing everyone's eyes to widen and their own hearts to stop.

Shinachiku gulped. His eyes widened with fear before instinctually speaking his next three words.

"This isn't good."

After another moment of silence, something broke through the ground in the far distance, blowing it all apart with debris uproot and sent flying upwards and scattering about.

Everyone turned towards the distance to see a gigantic skeletal arm made of dark brown wood in the distance. It slammed its skeletal hand into the ground as then three more broke out. The earth gained a huge crack that extended far as then the body of a giant creature broke out of it. This entity rose out of the ground like a swimmer from the water with their head hanging. Or should I say, heads.

Breaking out of the ground was the upper body an immensely enormous skeleton mark of thick, dark wood with four arms, spikes protruding along its spine, roots upon roots held within its giant ribcage in the form of a giant heart that glowed green from within and had a large, audible beat, and finally it had three skulls with one facing forward and one sticking from each of its side with all three possessing long horns that were curved at the ends.

The gargantuan skeletal monster let out a growling exhale before taking a deep breath. Within the front skull's right sockets came a green gleam as it then lurched back, releasing a deafening roar that spread throughout the land, forcing everyone to cover their ears.

The roar lasted long and once finished, the skeleton broke the rest of its lower body out from the ground, which was animalistic with four clawed feet and a long spiny tail with a sharp tip, not unlike a spear-shaped stinger.

Everyone watched in horror as the monster far away from the village stood there at full height, rivaling Kurama at full-size.

The creature's sockets shined green as they landed upon the village in the distance. Upon sensing the mass collection of chakras hidden within, the creature started taking steps towards it.

It was very hungry… and it needed to feed.

End of Chapter 22

Holy~ Shit! Haven't had one this long since Chapter 10! Damn!

Told ya. I couldn't stop myself! I had to split this in half, or from the looks of it, a third! The only reason that I didn't want to split this one in half is because I wanted to end this arc with Chapter 23, which I swear will be shorter. At least, I'm pretty sure.

Anyway, I promised that this month would have been a double post, and I did. I was hoping it would have been posted last week or the second week of December, but like I said in the last chapter, I couldn't stop, and this right here is proof of that. Had I split this and the last chapter apart, it would have been nearly 90,000 words long! Yeah, so, not a bad call.

Like I said, the only reason I kept myself from splitting this one too is because I want the next chapter to be the end of the arc, also I didn't know where the best spot was to split it, and also, I wanted to give this to all of you as a present, since by the time of this update it is December 25th, 2023.

A little secret between you all and I, it's also my birthday! Yup, I'm a Christmas baby, and baby here wanted to give you a big, long chapter as a present from me to all of you! It's funny, I posted a chapter of NaruSaku Birthdays last year on Christmas Day as well. Lord help me if this becomes a habit.

Anyway, thank you again for all the support and I hope you enjoyed this behemoth of a chapter filled with all kinds of action! I hope it was to your liking!

It took a lot of effort, with admittedly some hiccups when it came to work, family, the holidays and bouts of procrastination thanks to my A.D.D., but all and all, I'd say it was all worth it. After all, I made an action pack chapter just for you, and that's all that matters. He said with a bright smile on his face that no one else can see while reading this.

Have a wonderful day and hope you stick around for more to come! Thank you for your support!

Takeshi1225, OUT!