-Pain's Lair in the Mountains-
Before everything began, Konan had helped the immobile form of Nagato get set up in a paper building that was formed in the disguise of a rock. He controlled his paths from there and the mountain he resided on was in between the Wolf Head Mountain Range and the capitol of Iron Country. Pain had directed his paths from this location and after casting the 'Chibaku Tensei' he was trying to recover from expending so much chakra in his weakened form.
After coughing out his second mouthful of blood, he wiped his lips and saw a swirl appear in front of him. The swirl faded to reveal Obito Uchiha in his orange mask and the lone Sharingan eye was glaring down at him. The Uchiha began pacing in front of him and he spoke condescendingly to the crumpled form of the man.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, the mighty god brought so low by a single boy." His tone was saturated with derision and disgust. Pain looked up wearily from his throne, knowing that he couldn't best this man in his current condition. "Looks like the time has come for me to take my own action."
At that moment, a black shadow crawled out of the ground and took over the right half of Nagato that was still in his throne of sorts. A mouth formed on the black half of the face, and the voice of black zetsu spoke.
"Obito, he doesn't have enough chakra left to revive Lord Madara in all his greatness." The parasite sounded disappointed and disgusted by the discovery.
Obito frowned and scowled, "Damned fool, waste all of your chakra like that. Oh well, I guess I will settle with taking my eyes and your life then."
Nagato tried to resist the influence of the black creature that had paralyzed the right half of his body. In his current condition, he could do little to resist, and the effort caused him to cough out another mouthful of blood. After the irony taste of the blood cleared, he spoke in a weary tone.
"Why? Why betray me now?" His voice was weak and brittle.
Obito let out a dark chuckle that was mirrored by black zetsu before responding. "You are and always were a pawn for Lord Madara's plans. These eyes never belonged to you, they belonged to Lord Madara, and he chose use. You see, your Uzumaki vitality meant that you could use the eyes without immediately dying. However, the power they require seems to have crippled you. Oh well, you were always a sacrificial pawn." Obito scowled here and glared at Nagato. "You were supposed to revive Lord Madara when to his prime. You failed to secure the biju, you failed to deal with the boy and your final failure is your inability to resurrect our master. You are no more than a failure."
Before Nagato could respond, he cried out in pain as Obito's fingers glowed green and removed his right eye. Obito casually placed it in a jar filled with a light-green liquid before he rose his hand to remove the other Rinnegan. His fingers were in Nagato's left eye socket as he was forced to turn himself intangible. An orange blur crashed through his form and the Rasengan in Naruto's hand shredded the paper walls of the impromptu shelter.
Cold wind blew snow into the room as a standoff ensued. Naruto, in his Golden Kurama Sage Mode, glared with golden slitted orbs at Obito and saw that his hand held Nagato's second Rinnegan.
"Zetsu, to me!" Obito said urgently. "We have what we came for."
Naruto saw the black half of Nagato shiver as he glared at it before he growled, "You think I will just let you go? I know that you will need to be tangible to retrieve your little parasite there."
Black zetsu spoke up, "You will let me go or I will kill this man, the man you call a cousin."
Naruto growled and hung his head so that his golden hair shadowed his eyes. "Get the fuck out of here then. I will deal with you later. Tell Madara, when you revive him, that I will send him back to the afterlife." His tone was so thick with menace that Obito felt a shiver of fear trace down his spine. Black zetsu also shivered as he rapidly left the dying form of Nagato before crawling into the sleeve of Obito's jacket.
Obito overcame his fear and spoke in a menacing tone, "This is not over, Senju." With that, he phased out of existence and left Naruto to deal with a dying man. Naruto put his hands over Nagato's heart and head before channeling Kurama's chakra and some senjutsu chakra into his body to stabilize him.
"Why?" Nagato said as blood trickled down his chin. "Why do you insist on saving me?"
Naruto lightly dope slapped Nagato, "Family above all, always and forever."
Nagato chuckled lightly before he coughed out some more blood. "It is my time, cousin. Let me go."
"No." Was Naruto's firm and simple reply.
"Why?"
"Because you still have to atone for what you started. I also want to show you that pain is not the primary reason for life. It is a part of life. A big part, even; however, it is not the purpose of living. Pain is there to help us grow. By overcoming the pain of the past, we steel ourselves against the adversities of the future. Fight to live, cousin, and I will offer you a new home."
"Where is Konan?" Nagato asked wearily.
"Well, as soon as your eyes were taken, the jutsu you placed over the area fell. I was able to Hiraishin her back to New Uzu and she should be resting there. She only suffered chakra exhaustion, so she will be fine." Naruto kept his glowing golden hands over Nagato's head and moved from his heart to his gut. He growled in disgust before he created four shadow clones. The clones began carefully removing the rods from Nagato's back and as each one was removed, the core in his gut became easier to stabilize.
"Can you … can you recover … Yahiko's body…?" Nagato said through labored breaths.
"Sure." Naruto answered plainly while trying to concentrate on repairing the damage done by the Yang chakra drain caused by prolonged use of the Rinnegan. "You will be alright, Nagato. Can I trust you if I leave you in New Uzu?"
Nagato chuckled dryly, "I am a broken and blind man. My dreams have been torn asunder and I am lost in the darkness."
Naruto dope slapped him lightly again. "Idiot, I am going to heal you. In time, I will find a pair of eyes that will suit you. Consider the temporary darkness your punishment for being a stubborn fool."
Nagato laughed and was surprised to hear that the laugh was dry, as if all the blood and liquid that had pooled in his lungs was no longer plaguing him. "Very well, cousin. I thank you for this chance and I shall not waste it."
Naruto nodded with a victorious smile on his face, "Good. I can only tolerate so much stubbornness. Does that mean you will finally ask Konan on a date?"
Nagato coughed in surprise and turned his blinded head toward Naruto, "She doesn't love me. She loved Yahiko."
A third dope slap rang out in the paper shelter and Naruto looked at his cousin like the true, stubborn idiot he was. "She doesn't love you? She just followed you and your dreams into the darkest pits of despair and hell. She stayed by your side for over two decades and she doesn't love you? Are you really that fuckin' stupid?"
Nagato remained in a contemplative silence while Naruto tended to him. His body suddenly jolted and his stomach threatened to enter his throat and exit his mouth as he felt a chakra surge. He then heard the sweet lull of the ocean and smelled fresh and warm ocean air. Naruto placed him in a bed and put a sleep seal over his forehead.
"Welcome to New Uzu, cousin. Sleep and rest." Naruto said before flashing back to Iron Country.
-Battle for the Port – Part 3-
After the second wave of zetsu crashed into the defensive formation, problems arose in the western flank. A zetsu had imitated a Kumo shinobi that had fallen during a charge and the ranks had temporarily sagged as they dealt with the intruder. This momentary distraction caused the lines to be breached and chaos reigned on the western flank. This caused Itachi to send reinforcements from the center, which caused the center to start sagging.
"Fall back!" Itachi bellowed and the allied forces fell back to the first barrier that Naruto had erected. It was a messy retreat, and the allied forces suffered their first casualties of the fight. The retreat took a total of five minutes and only 120 of the 168 shinobi present managed to make it back into the safety of the barrier. Naruto's clone groaned in concentration as the barrier began absorbing attacks.
That was when the battlefield froze once more as the image of a giant gorilla with Sharingan covered eyes appeared amidst the ranks of the Iwa and Ame forces. Then it was joined by a giant three-tailed turtle and a six-tailed slug. Naruto screamed out to Bee, Yugito, Temari and Gaara.
"Four corner crimson flame formation!" He shouted since he knew that a jinchuriki powered barrier was the only way the barrier would hold against the bijudama that were forming at the mouth of each beast.
Bee, Yugito, Temari and Gaara all spread out around the fallback point and quickly weaved through the hand seals to erect the crimson barrier. The barrier was still rising as the bijudama shattered Naruto's clone barrier. The barrier held just long enough for the crimson barrier to rise and cover the allied forces. The massive explosion deafened all present and the crimson flame formation rippled as it held up against the mighty blasts from three biju.
"Maintain the barrier!" The clone shouted as its Sage mode faded. It had expended far too much chakra for a simple wood clone, and it was on its last legs.
The allied forces scrambled in the barrier to regain their footing and tend to the wounded. Of the 120 shinobi inside the barrier, there were over 50 wounded, which included Samui who had a gash in her side. Ino was suffering from chakra exhaustion, which was a common condition among the allied forces. Temari was sweating as she worked with Kokuo to protect the remaining forces. Gaara was synced with Shukaku, and a bright brown chakra cloak was emanating from him, but both man and biju were getting tired from the repeated 'S' rank jutsus.
Killer Bee was in the best condition since he was far more used to integrating Gyuuki's yokai with his own chakra. "Eh, yo, no problems here, bro. Gyukki got us covered, I don't need to be mothered." Bee said to Ai, who had come to check on him.
Yugito was panting and sweating profusely as she held up her corner of the barrier. Through her pants, she yelled at Bee. "Damnit, Bee, cease that incessant rap!"
Ai chuckled and shook his head, "I would listen to the kittie, brother. Once this is over, she will make you pay."
"I ain't scared, big bro. I can take the kittie fo' sho'. Rappin is a way of life, it is even more important in this strife." Bee answered his brother, which earned a groan from the tired Yugito.
As the Kumo group tried to recover, Tsunade was tending to the wounded. She was disappointed that Ino was so reckless with her chakra. She had told Ino that her primary objective was to provide medical care. That being said, Tsunade was concerned about the current state of things. If her watch was to be believed, then they still had 20-30 minutes before their own forces arrived. That was a big ask for their jinchuriki to maintain this barrier against three released biju.
After a second volley of Bijudama, Tsunade's concerns grew. She idly played with the necklace that Kurama gave her, and she felt the chakra boost he gave her helping her to heal. She then decided that they needed help and pulsed chakra into the seal on the necklace. Moments later, Naruto arrived in a golden flash and soaked up the current state of things.
"Everything okay on your end, brat?" Tsunade said as she returned her attention to a Kiri shinobi missing an arm.
Naruto looked around the barrier and felt everyone as he answered, "Nagato is neutralized and in New Uzu with Konan. Obito took his Rinnegan before I could get there. That is an issue for another day."
"Okay, well, want to go tame those jinchuriki? I don't know how much longer those four can hold this barrier." Tsunade said as Itachi approached Naruto.
"She is right, Naruto. Our forces are too far away, and we were forced to fall back too quickly." Itachi added.
Naruto nodded in understanding, before thinking internally, 'Kyu, what's the damage?'
Kurama opened his eyes from his meditative position, 'You are somewhere around 50 to 60percent capacity. Don't bring out the big guns, but we should be able to handle them.'
Naruto's head turned as he sensed something peculiar through the barrier. "They are falling back." He said out loud.
Itachi's head snapped toward the enemy position, and he saw them moving away from the red barrier. "Why?"
Naruto scoffed, "Because they sensed me and Zetsu probably told them about the pincer attack. We need to write to our forces on the western flank and tell them not to engage. It is not worth it at this point."
Itachi frowned and each Kage joined the group. There was a brief discussion once Naruto told them what was going on.
"We should go and crush them! Our western flank can hold long enough for us to surround them!" Ai shouted passionately.
Naruto shook his head, "No, we want to avoid open engagements. If Zetsu is able to fully infiltrate our ranks, then chaos will reign. There are still thousands of Zetsu and a couple thousand Iwa and Ame shinobi."
"So, we just let them get away?" Raza said sounding disappointed.
"Seems like a waste." Mei added.
"I wouldn't say it was a waste." Itachi chimed in. "We held off thousands and killed thousands more with less than 200. That is a morale boost. However, Ruto, care to give them a going away present?"
Naruto smirked, "I was thinking the same thing. I don't have too much left in the tank, but I have enough to scare the fight out of them."
"Do it." Itachi said firmly.
"Give them hell for me, brat. Can you do that giant statue thing?" Ai asked.
"No, the fight with Pain took a lot out of me. I will have to avoid that level of jutsu." Naruto answered. "They are two miles out now. Drop the barrier, I want to rest and gather my chakra. I will give them a going away present once they are out of Iron Country."
Itachi groaned, "What are we going to do about Iron Country? This battle was far too destructive for them to easily forgive us. You obliterated their national monument, Ruto."
Naruto shrugged as he sank into a lotus position and calmed his chakra. "Blame Pain for that one. Sure, I reduced the mountains to rubble, but it was Pain that truly obliterated them."
"I think that is beside the point, Ruto." Mei said through a girly giggle.
"What are you going to do, Naruto?" Tsunade asked as she felt the amount of natural energy he was gathering.
Naruto's eyes opened and he formed into the synchronized mode with Kurama and Chomei. "Sage Arts – Wrath of Heaven and Earth" Was Naruto's short answer before he flew out of the port area with the four chakra wings granted by Chomei's yokai.
"Umm, that sounds bad." Raza said.
"It sounds destructive." Gaara added.
"It sounds like a lot of paperwork." Itachi groaned.
"It sounds badass." Ai said in a longing way, as if he wanted to see the jutsu firsthand.
"What a man!" Mei moaned as she clutched a hand over her heart.
Kitsuchi was beyond enraged. They had the Kage of each village on the ropes and Madara showed up and ordered a retreat. Ame was disheartened when he announced that the Kyuubi brat killed their so-called god. Then, the golden form of the Kyuubi brat appeared in the barrier and everyone was eager to retreat. They left thousands of fallen warriors and they were forced to endure the humility of a retreat. Sure, he understood that they were about to be surrounded, but it would have been worth it to destroy the Kage.
"Father, we will have another shot at them." Kurotsuchi said while placing a calming hand on her father's shoulder.
A swirl appeared and Obito, still Madara to these fools, appeared running next to him. "Your daughter is right. There is another day. I secured the Rinnegan, and I will bring back Madara Uchiha to fight on our side. With Madara on our side, we will secure victory and destroy the Senju brat."
Kurotsuchi stumbled mid-step and gawked at Obito, "I thought you were Madara!"
Obito chuckled darkly, "I am Madara's agent in this world. I carry out his plan for world peace. Who I am is not important."
Kitsuchi growled, but his attention was grabbed by a massive chakra flare coming from the sky. He looked up to see a golden-orange comet heading for his formation. "Take cover!" He shouted at the top of his lungs before erecting his strongest barrier.
Obito looked up and said, "Oh, fuck…" Before he phased into his pocket dimension with Kitsuchi and Kurotsuchi, which earned a violent protest from Kitsuchi over leaving his men.
Naruto flew over the enemy formation and gathered as much yokai and senjutsu chakra as he could. He finished his hand signs and saturated his body with as much of the combined chakra as he could. Once he was finished, he dropped from low orbit with as much speed and power as he could. His chakra wings flapped as fast as they could until Naruto reached terminal velocity. Every cell of his being was hardened and reinforced with yokai and senjutsu chakra to protect him from the recoil of this attack.
As Naruto descended, his senjutsu chakra gathered the wind and air as he passed. A godly dragon appeared behind him and it glowed golden through the power of his chakra cloak. As he was a mere 100-ffet from the ground, he saw all of the minor protections that the shinobi erected, and he offered a sincere apology to Kami for all of the paperwork he was about to send her way.
A millisecond later, Naruto's Golden form impacted against the rigid earth, and he brought divine wrath down upon the world. The ground shattered in his wake as his momentum carried him down over 300-feet into the earth. A massive wave of earth erupted and chased the earthquake that was easily a 10 on the Richter scale. The wave of earth rose hundreds of feet into the air and spread from his impact zone like a wrathful tsunami of earthen terror. Naruto flashed to the Hiraishin beacon in the port before the sky dragon impacted. eMoments later, the sky dragon impacted a zone that covered nearly half a square mile and the two explosions collided with each other and pushed a blast wave out in a terrifying crash of nearly divine power.
Back at the port, the allied forces watch their hero take to the skies and they traced his trajectory upwards. They watched him fall like a comet nearly ten miles away and their jaws dropped at the size of the wind dragon that followed in his wake and acted as the tail of his comet. They all shielded their eyes as a brilliant flash erupted after moments of impact and in less than 20-seconds they struggled to remain standing as the earth shook violently. That, however, was nothing compared to the blast wave that flattened trees in a planar wave of snow and ice that hit them a minute later.
The whole allied force had one thought ring through their minds at the same time, 'thank Kami he is on our side.' The reinforcements were close to the port, and they had all frozen from the earthquake and subsequent wind blast. They looked toward the event horizon in a mixture of awe and terror as they were filled with the fear of Kami. It took them five minutes to shake off their shock before they were able to resume their march to the port.
Once the dust cleared, a bird's eye view would show that there was a terrifyingly massive crater that was two miles wide. Around the crater were chunks of earth and stone the size of small hills that had been tossed about haphazardly. The trees were flattened to the ground away from the blast zone for miles and there were scant signs of life within the crater. Bodies of Iwa and Ame were scattered around the outside of the blast zone and some men ran around like ants to gather their fallen. The fear of Kami coursed through their veins and all they wanted was to return to their homes and forget this fruitless quest.
Roshi, the jinchuriki of Son Goku, cleared the ringing from his ears and pushed off the rubble that had covered him. His eyes widened and he was nearly freed from the effects of Obito's Sharingan before said man appeared beside him. The jinchuriki listened to the orders of his master and gathered the surviving men while traversing through the uneven landscape of the crater. The total survivors were now less than 1,000 and only despair filled their thoughts and minds on this day.
Naruto recovered from the massive chakra drain and backlash as he lay on his back among allies in the port in Iron Country. He winced when he felt the earthquake and he balked when he felt the power of the wind blast from this far out. He immediately knew that he would need to spend time in Iron country to rebuild and help them recover from this battle. In the middle of his girls, Naruto found the comfort of sleep in the arms of his women as his consciousness faded to black.