"I do not particularly care who hunts down the Akatsuki." Hiruzen noted. "Only that the Akatsuki is, in fact, hunted down." He pulled his pipe out of his mouth, tapping it on the side. "And while I would prefer that we have the freedom of movement to pursue them in other countries, such a thing would not be completely necessary if the other villages were also acting to hunt them down."
"And why, precisely, should we hunt them?" Onoki asked.
"Leaving aside the fact that they've already proven they're trying to capture the Jinchuuriki from all the villages, -" Hiruzen looked at him. "- they should be wiped out before they can complete whatever it is that they're trying to do with the Juubi."
A pause ran through the room.
"Juubi?" Mei asked. "There's a ten-tailed Bijuu?"
Hiruzen nodded, gravely.
"Han told me of it." Onoki leaned back in his chair, releasing a deep sigh. "Is there truly such a thing?"
"Unfortunately." I gathered more Darkness, layering it invisibly onto the room. Then, I shifted it, and the room shimmered.
The room went black. The table between them all vanished. Around them, strange terrain stretched out; over there a massive conflagration of fire, over here a forest of ice and frost, the sky an endless torrent of lightning and black clouds, the ground now ravines, and pillars of earth, and places that were just missing. Above was the gravitational distortion that trapped some of the Juubi.
Below, of course, was the rest of it. Still massive, even after the last week. Still angry, still roaring, still fighting, still spitting Bijuudama in every other direction.
An echo of sound rang throughout the room. Low rumbling and pitched screaming. Faint light from the explosions of its Bijuudama.
The gathered Ninja, and the one Samurai, all took it in quickly. The Kage were pretty calm, their attendants... a bit more varied in their reaction. The young boy behind Mei looked around in caution. The older man barely even moved his head.
"That is the Juubi?" Naruto asked. "It's huge. It's several times the size of the Kyuubi."
"Yes." I said. "It is not called the 'Juubi' for no reason, Naruto."
"If you're going to have a conversation about the Juubi-" Had I been speaking aloud? Yes. Whoops. "-, you could at least involve us."
I shook my head, but did as asked. Only moments later, another set of images settled in place. Shukaku, Isobu, Son Gokū, and the Yin half of the Kyuubi became visible, all of them seemingly floating in mid-air.
Yin-Kyuubi raised an eyebrow, before reaching out with a claw. He tried to poke Naruto in the chest, but his claw went straight through. "A double sided illusion? Intriguing."
"Yo!" Naruto smiled at him, completely ignoring the claw that was waving through his chest.
"Hmm." Yin-Kyuubi pulled his claw back.
"What." Three of the ninjas, the younger attendants of the Mizukage, the Tsuchikage, and the Kazekage spoke as one.
"How. The. Fuck." Shukaku moved forwards, leaning down to stare at Gaara. "You were dead. What is this bullshit?! WHY ARE THINGS THAT ARE MEANT TO BE DEAD NOT STAYING DEAD?!"
"Ichibi." Gaara's head tipped. "You haven't changed at all. Then again, it has only been less than a month."
"I assume-" Hiruzen's head turned in my direction. "That these surroundings are the dimension that you were taken to?"
"Correct." I answered, though I didn't get to say anything else as the Juubi roared again, it's voice loud enough to make even Shukaku quiet down.
It was odd, seeing from two perspectives like this. One, an aerial view, and the other, from the ground, facing it directly in battle.
I watched as its body ballooned, literally, before it popped like a balloon, again literally, and sent out thousands of glowing little bolts of Chakra.
The bolts curved in the air, and all converged upon a tiny speck.
"Is that you?" Naruto asked.
"Yes." I raised my Keyblades. Deflect, deflect, deflect, deflect deflect deflect deflectdeflectdeflectdefl-
There were far too many bullets in far too short a time span to block them all with just my blades. A shimmering, mirror-like barrier radiated from my chest, and scattered the blasts in every direction.
A ring of explosions started around me, spreading out rapidly as the blasts landed and carpeted the ground. More than a few hit the Juubi itself, and the beast screamed as it was pelted.
Naruto whistled. "That's a lot of destructive power."
"Hardly." Yin-Kyuubi growled. "This kind of power is next to nothing in the face of its full strength. The fact that it was revived in such a weakened state is incredibly fortunate."
"Weak?" Naruto looked up at him. "That is weak?"
"The full power of the Juubi would have been sufficient to wipe out the entirety of the elemental nations." Yin-Kyuubi's eyes narrowed. "The Juubi has no sense of restraint. It will attack, and attack, and attack, until it has killed all things and consumed every scrap of Chakra it can get its vile hands on."
"Including the Bijuu." Naruto grunted.
"Including us." Yin-Kyuubi nodded. "If that fool who revived it thinks he can control it..." He looked away from the Juubi, facing the gathered Ninja. And Samurai, I suppose. "Well, regardless; every bit of Chakra it acquires will strengthen it. Above all else, the Bijuu will bring its power to monstrous heights. As the Akatsuki is hunting us in order to feed us to it, it is in your own best interests to wipe them out."
"That is simple sense." Hiruzen exhaled a puff of smoke. "The Akatsuki was fool enough to attack the Jinchuuriki and unleash the Juubi. To just let them run around... who knows what else they might do if we let them?"
A feeling twinged my senses. I looked below us, staring at a pair of Hearts and Souls that overlaid each other, both of which were quite familiar. The first was a reflection of the manifold Hearts and Souls within the Juubi, while the second... seemed a reflection of its guiding Heart and Soul, the Juubi itself.
My eyes narrowed.
But how could that be?
Hmm. It had a weird way of moving, too. Coming closer to us in a straight line despite the fact that it would have had to pass through several walls and a good bit of solid ground to do so.
I let My Darkness spread further, corrupting the materials that the overlaid beings were passing through. As they passed through, I caught the shape of them, and I suddenly knew who this was.
"Send somebody to spy on this meeting, for starters." The illusions collapsed immediately, the room returning to normal. I moved into Sasuke's shadow, hiding there. "I'm going to lay a trap. Everybody act natural."
Hiruzen briefly glanced at Naruto, who nodded. "I am well aware of the bad blood between our villages, Onoki-dono."
Onoki's eyes narrowed, but he played along. "'Bad blood' is a weak way of putting it, Hiruzen-dono."
Alright, they've got that.
Now, for my part.
I see you, Zetsu.