Sai watched from above as the battle intensified. It seemed like the white zetsu just kept coming faster and faster. Even so, the shinobi below held their own, but when those coffins had appeared, Sai had known the enemy had shown his full hand. Seeing Naruto's facial expression when they briefly locked eyes had only further confirmed that it was time to get the Kage. He had sent out birds immediately. The man in the mask had just kicked Naruto out into the bay when he saw their companions appear over the top of the mountain range. They circled above, their riders surveying the scene below with battle trained eyes, calculating, deciding who they would go head to head with. Despite his disgust Sai was impressed by the enemy's tactic. This was more than just a physical fight now. It was psychological, emotional. This battle would leave scars, the kind you couldn't see.
Anbu dropped down onto the battlefield from the backs of the birds to help with the white zetsu. Tobi had briefly looked up and taken in the new arrivals but appeared unfazed. That was the trouble with masks though, you could never be exactly sure what a person was thinking. Sai continued to rain down aerial attacks, but something was bothering him about the battle, he did a low sweep of the field to get a closer look, he didn't like what he discovered. They were regenerating. He jumped down from his bird and began examining the one that was regenerating, he checked a few more until he began to figure out a pattern. He jumped back on his bird and made his way to Kakashi who was fighting them from all sides. Sai flung kunai into the closest ones dropping them to the ground and making space, he jumped down beside Kakashi, they went back to back.
"They're regenerating." Sai stated.
"I noticed." Kakashi was slightly winded. With so many of them there were no breaks. "Any suggestions?"
"They only die when struck in the head." Sai was matter of fact. Kakashi groaned.
"Of course." He threw a kunai through the eye of one that had charged while kicking another one back. "There's too many of them to hit them all that precisely, we will tire ourselves out before we take them all down."
"We need to get them into a spot where they can't all attack at once."
"I'm open to ideas Sai."
"There's a path up the left side of the island, it's like a pass between the mountains, can you get there?"
"I'll figure it out." Sai gave him a nod.
"I'll meet you there." He jumped back up on his bird. "Get as many as you can to follow you."
xxx
The kage had jumped down from their birds and landed in front of their chosen adversaries. The Tsuchikage, Mu. Tsunade, Jiraiya. The Mizukage, Hashirama. Gaara, Deidara. The Raikage, Saratobi. The remaining reincarnates started to head for Tobi but before they could make it, they were intercepted, Killer B, Guy, and Yamato blocked the path forward. Orochimaru, Itachi, and Madara stared them down.
"Yo, yo, yo, where do you think you're going bro?" Killer B flexed his blended body for their opponents. "No way you're going to pass, Killer B is gunna bust yo ass! Yow!" Yamato smacked his forehead, but Guy was caught up in B's rap.
"That's right! We will take you down with the power of youth!" Guy gave a dramatic thumbs up as he said it.
"We must retrieve the jinchuriki, if you would be so kind to hand him over." It was Itachi. "It would really be so much easier. You are no match for us, and we will kill you if you stand in our way." He stated it plainly. Jinchuriki or not, the three of them didn't stand a chance, not against two extremely powerful Uchihas plus Orochimaru. A slight smirk ghosted across his lips. Even though he could tell he was being controlled by somebody else, Itachi couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of being in the living world again. He was even looking forward to fighting. In the end, he hadn't been at 100% anymore, his body had been too worn by heavy use. When he finally fought Sasuke, his body had just given out, but now, he could feel he was at full strength, back to that 100%, minus the whole being controlled by another person thing. He was glad they weren't going to surrender. He would enjoy this.
xxx
Suigetsu and Kisame had been exchanging blows, feeling each other out. Kisame still not having drawn his sword.
"Oh, come one, I've shown you mine, why don't you show me yours?" Suigetsu taunted the other partial aquatic.
"I've never been one to reveal things to a person I've just met." Kisame barred his teeth. Suigetsu pouted.
"Well now you've just gone and ruined the mood. I've never been one to force myself on someone, but I guess I could make an exception…just this once." Suigetsu suddenly disappeared. Kisame looked around, confusion briefly crossing his face. Where had that little bastard gone? Trying to pull some sneaky trick he was sure. Suigetsu suddenly materialized behind Kisame grabbing the sword from his back and then put some distance between them.
"Wow, I didn't think that was going to work. Whatever mix of human and fish you are, its not good." Kisame just chuckled and turned to face Suigetsu.
"Samehada. Be polite and greet our friend here." Suigetsu squealed when the sword suddenly turned on him and broke into a toothy grin. It was terrifying. The sword opened its mouth to take a bite so Suigetsu did the first thing that came to mind. He threw it. He chucked the sword as hard as he could towards the shore. He watched as it soared through the air, letting out a low whistle. Kisame watched in shock, the loud crashing sound created by the sword hitting the ground snapped him back to his opponent. He stared Suigetsu down with hatred in his eyes.
"You threw my sword. I hope you know he'll be back, and when he gets here. I'm going to cut you to ribbons and let him suck up all of your chakra."
"Oh, so now you want to talk dirty to me? I guess I will just have kill you before then." Suigetsu and Kisame charged each other attacks flying furiously. For every punch, kick, or sword swing there was a block or a counter. Kisame would attack, Suigetsu would turn into water. Suigetsu would attack and Kisame would dodge or block. Even without his sword Kisame was incredibly powerful. Suigetsu was going to have his work cut out for him.
xxx
Suddenly, a sword came crashing down beside the tense group of six. They were about to engage each other until the flying sword had interrupted. Killer B looked down to find the spiky looking sword grinning up at him. It suddenly popped up onto its spikes and began moving across the ground heading back the way it had come.
"Yo! Slow down bro! You got nowhere to go! Yow!" Killer B reached down to grab the sword only to have it latch onto his arm like a leech. The enemy took the opportunity to attack. Madara and Itachi both summoned Susanoo while Orochimaru had turned into snakes and was lashing out with superhuman speed. Itachi and Madara wreaked havoc with the swords of their respective Susanoo. Yamato had immediately launched attacks using his wood jutsu, keeping up with Orochimaru's snakes.
"Sixth gate, Gate of View, open!" Guy's voice rang out over the battlefield. Yamato briefly glanced over at Guy, worry crossing over his face. Guy had just gone straight to opening the sixth gate, if he went any further, he would sustain significant physical damage and more likely than not, die. Guy noticed the quick but concerned glance. "Don't worry Yamato, I'll be fine, focus on the fight! These abominations will be defeated by nothing less than our best! Fight with the power of youth!" Guy yelled the last part out like a war cry and charged the two Uchiha.
Killer B followed quickly behind him he connecting with Madara while Guy faced down with Itachi. The sword was still firmly attached to his arm. He had chosen to ignore it for the moment, it wasn't hurting him, and he had bigger problems to worry about as he traded blows with the giant blue chakra warrior before him, its double swords slashing at unnatural speeds. In addition, Madara was continuing to fling attacks at him from within. Eight tentacles and two arms didn't feel like they were enough. Not to mention, B felt like something was weakening him, pulling the chakra from him, was it some kind of jutsu? It dawned on him suddenly, the sword.
"Hey yo! I don't got time for this bro! You need to let go!" He grabbed the handle, manage to pry the chakra sucking sword off of his arm. He managed to look at the sword for a brief moment between blocking attacks. "Say now, don't you want some real chow? Let's throw down!" B gestured to the giant chakra warrior in front of them. The sword gave what seemed to be a smile of agreement in response. As if to confirm it the sword released a little bit of chakra back into B. "Yow! That's what I'm talking about now!" With a yell he lashed the sword out, it extended grabbing onto the giant chakra warrior and began absorbing, passing some of the chakra to B, strengthening him. B put all eight tentacles to work, whipping furiously at the Susanoo in an effort to reach the man inside.
xxx
Itachi was impressed with Guy's speed. He had never seen the sixth gate opened before. So even in death he could learn new things. Guy was too quick in this form for his Susanoo, he had come right through before it could fully form its defense and Itachi had been punched out.
"It's only fair that we meet on the battlefield like real men. Don't you agree Itachi?" He slowly made his way towards him. "No need to hide behind giant warriors." Itachi had just smirked. He would most definitely have preferred to stay where he was. He looked up quickly making eye contact with Guy, he locked him in a genjutsu. Guy only laughed.
"Your little tricks won't work on me." He broke out of the jutsu, not in my current state. He charged Itachi, the force of his blow throwing Itachi back despite his block.
"Very well. No more little tricks." Itachi clenched his teeth and took off his Akatsuki robe allowing it to fall to the ground. He charged Guy making the signs for Water Fang Release, pulling from the ocean he launched a torrent of piercing water droplets towards Guy. Just as he reached him, instead of attacking directly he dodged allowing a clear path for more droplets. Guy delivered a fierce kick, sending Itachi flying into the air. Blood dripped from his body where the droplets had connected. He ignored it. He jumped in the air.
"Morning Peacock!" Itachi's eyes went wide. There would be no dodging this. Guy's punches came so fast they were creating fire.
"Amaterasu" Black flames shot out connecting with Guy forcing him to draw back. He quickly flung off his blazing shirt before his skin could catch fire, although he still had burns from the heat of the flames on his clothes. The trees where he had thrown his shirt had caught fire and were blazing black. He looked at Itachi, blood running from his eye. He got back into a fighting stance.
"Well played Itachi, but the power of youth will still prevail!" He charged once more.
xxx
Tobi watched from his spot on the temple as the battle raged on before him. The entire island was in shambles. Almost every tree had been flattened, and the ones that hadn't were ablaze. The Mizukage was responsible for a large portion of the fire damage due to her lava style. A large portion of the white zetsu had ened up collateral damage. It was no matter though, no matter how many times they hit the reincarnated individuals they would keep coming back until the jutsu was reversed or they were sealed away. The Tsuchikage had shot holes all through Mu only to have him recover and start fighting again. The same could be said of the Kazekage's fight. He would have probably killed Deidara ten times over if he had been alive, but he wasn't. They didn't weaken, they didn't tire, they just kept fighting. He just needed to be patient. The living would all tire out and be killed eventually. He would jump in if he really needed too. He turned his focus back to the fight that was going on in front of him. Naruto was matching his father's speed as they fought, but he wasn't surpassing it. Which meant he was holding back. He didn't want to hurt dear old dad. Tobi smirked inside his mask as the thought crossed his mind. This must be worse than death for his father, having to abandon him at birth to save the village only to be pulled back from the dead to have to fight and kill him. Naruto missed a beat, a kunai cut his arm.
"Naruto!" He father cried out even as he threw another one. "You must fight me! Stop holding back!" He threw a forceful kick that Naruto dodged.
"No! There has to be another way!"
"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there's not!" Tobi taunted him from his seated position a few feet away. His head cocked to the side as if he was bored. Naruto could feel his rage bubbling below the service.
"You will pay for this!" Naruto delivered a swift kick that sent his father flying off the temple top, he made a lunge for Tobi but he simply teleported to another spot and by the time Naruto had turned to make another pass his father was back to intercept him. Naruto growled in frustration. He was getting nowhere, and by the looks of it, neither was anyone else. They couldn't keep this up forever, they needed to find a way to stop their reincarnated enemies. A kunai whizzed past his face. And soon.
xxx
Sai had been on his way to meet Kakashi when he had caught sight of Tsunade signaling him. As he circled lower in the sky, he could see evidence of the intensity of Tsunade and Jiraiya's battle in the earth. Craters, flames, and oil littered the ground. It was odd to see so much destruction and yet so little blood. It was just further proof that the enemies they were all facing weren't human. Once Sai had gotten closer to the ground, he called out to her.
"My lady! How can I assist?"
"Do you have any ink and paper left?" She delivered a powerful punch to the ground forcing Jiraiya back. It offered a brief break the from the fighting.
"Yes, my lady."
"I need you to create sealing tags with what you have left. Jiraiya remembered reading about this technique, and to his knowledge, short of forcing the person who enacted the jutsu to reverse it, that is the only way to stop it."
"You must speak to Hashirama!" Jiraiya called out as he prepared another attack. "His brother created this technique! If anyone knows another way of stopping this, it's him! Needle Jizo!" Jiraiya's hair suddenly doubled in size, turning into sharp spikes. He bent forward and launched a volley of spikes at them.
"Go!" Tsunade reverted her attention back to her opponent working to dodge his endless barrage of spikes.
Sai wasted no time shooting back into the air and making his way towards the glowing lava field that was the Mizukage's battleground with the First. He began making sealing tags as he flew. He quickly realized that he wasn't going to have enough, not for everyone. He hoped for everyone's sake that the First would have another way of combating the jutsu. As he neared the area he dropped lower in the sky. When he attempted to make an approach wood suddenly shot up from the ground coming at him from multiple directions. He managed to evade most of wooden tendrils, but one caught his bird in the wing knocking him off course, another wooden shoot heading directly towards him. Before it could connect it was engulfed in lava. Sai used the opportunity to swoop lower, jumping off the back of his bird, he sent it back up high into the sky. He didn't dare risk the paper sealing tags.
"My lady." Sai gave a quick bow. "I must talk to the First. He may know a way to counter this jutsu." She nodded.
"I'll cover you. Be quick." Sai didn't need to be told twice. He took off towards Hashirama who immediately began launching attacks. The Mizukage met most of them with her own attacks, Sai dodged the rest.
"Lord First!" Sai clashed with him hand to hand. "Is there anyway to stop this jutsu?"
"There are only four ways to counter this jutsu." He spoke has he threw punches and kicks. The Mizukage swiftly combating any wood style he tried to use. "One, the person who used the technique ends it." Punch. "Two, the reincarnated individual is sealed away." Kick. "Three, the reincarnated individual gains closure for regrets they had in life." He slashed a pair of kunai aggressively at Sai. "Four, a vital spot is hit with a Yin-Yang release. These are the only ways." Sai nodded.
"Thank you, Lord First, I promise you, we will succeed." His bird suddenly dove down forcing the Hokage to turn in order block. Sai threw a kunai with a sealing tag attached at the Hokage's back. It hit it's mark, the tag fluttering down onto his back. Upon contact the tag quickly exploded to life, strands of paper and binding words shot out wrapping around Hashirama, quickly binding his arms and legs. Just before it covered his face he spoke.
"So, you shall. Good Luck." With that he was fully encased. Both Sai and the Mizukage let out a relieved breath they hadn't realized they'd been holding.
"You have more of those, I hope?" The Mizukage raised one eyebrow in question.
"Not enough." She frowned at his response. Sai jumped onto the back of his bird and stretched out his hand. "Come on, we're needed elsewhere." She nodded, accepting his hand and climbing up. They took off into the air, the sealed Hokage clutched in one of the bird's talons.