Hello everyone I'm back once again to bring you another chapter of my story; if you are enjoying it please continue to support me and my other works. Now with nothing else to say lets begin.
Mist and Maelstroms: Chapter 40
With Naruto, Kisame and the swordsmen
Naruto, Kisame and the others rushed into the battle up ahead and Kisame turned his head and spoke "Raiga, Watasumi, Ranmaru, Chojuro; help out the troops, me and Naruto will help Tsunade".
"Right; follow me" Raiga said nodding and running off with the other swordsmen.
"Alright Naruto, lets help them out" Kisame said and Naruto nodded.
"Right" Naruto said as he and Kisame ran across the swampy grounds towards the enemy.
Tsunade ducked under a punch from the reanimated Han and countered with a punch of her own; Han seeing this sent another punch towards Tsunade. Han using his steam style Jutsu used it to propel his fist forward faster than Tsunade.
Tsunade and Han's fists collided and Han's fists began to crack; Tsunade with all he might used the punch to sent Han backwards across the muddy ground. Tsunade looked down at her fist and saw her skin was red and blistered due to the steam burning her skin.
Tsunade began to heal her hand as the other began to fight Han; Kakashi with a Raikiri in his hand rushed towards Han and was attempting to hit him with her lightning Jutsu. Han seeing this made a hand sign and spoke "Vapour Style: Unrivalled Strength"; steam began to emanate from Han's armor just as Kakashi neared.
Kakashi seeing this canceled his attack and jumped away 'Damn it, I can't use none of my close range techniques'; Kakashi landed and began to go through hand signs 'Oh well'. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu" Kakashi fired a massive fireball towards Han; Han seeing the fire ball also went through hand signs.
"Earth Style: Earth Dome" Han said as he slammed his hands onto the ground and a dome made of earth and mud formed around him; Han thought he was save until he heard something from outside his dome.
"Summoning Jutsu: Bring down the house" Han looked up and saw the roof of his dome cave in and he went wide eyed; Jiraya on top of his large toad crushed the dome that Han was hiding in "Thanks buddy; you can go now".
"No problem Lord Jiraya" the toad said as it jumped away while Jiraya jumped off at the same time; Jiraya landed next to the dome and looked in and saw Han was not in there.
Suddenly from behind him Han shot out of the ground, Han used the tunneling Jutsu in order to get behind Jiraya; Jiraya turned around to engage Han but before he could Han was knocked away.
"DYNAMIC ENTRY" Guy shouted as he kicked Han away, Guy landed and ran after Han giving him more kicks and punches; Han took a swing at Guy and Guy jumped back and landed next to Kakashi. "You're slowing down Kakashi; I thought my eternal rival's speed would be faster" Guy said and Kakashi groaned while rolling his eyes.
"Guy not everything has to be a competition" Kakashi said.
Han was about to attack when suddenly from both sides he was attacked by 2 water Jutsu; from his right a water dragon made by Naruto and on the left a water shark made by Kisame. Han seeing both Jutsu near him began to charge his chakra as they neared.
Han released his chakra in the form of high powered blasts of steam which hit both water creations destroying them; when they were destroyed both Kisame and Naruto stood side by side ready to face him.
"Naruto? What are you doing here; why aren't you on our flank" Tsunade asked and Naruto spoke.
"We took out Sasori and his army; the sharks are defending it right now" Naruto said and Tsunade sighed in relief "how're things going on here".
"Han here is proving to be very troublesome" Jiraya said and Naruto nodded "glad you two are here to help out".
Han looked at the newcomers and went wide eyed and pointed "wait a minute; you're the fishman who attacked me with you're black haired friend" Han said making Kisame go wide eyed.
"Oh yeah… me and Itachi were the ones who captured you" Kisame said remembering Han "how are you doing… hopefully it's been well".
"You bastards killed me" Han said making everyone sweat drop "that's it new plan, I'm killing you first".
"Just fucking great" Naruto said as he gripped his sword; Naruto activated his red chakra armor and his sword began to glow red 'Mei, I hope things are going better for you than us'.
With Mei, Temari, Utakata and Kurotsuchi
Mei went through hand signs as she looked at Konan who was still on the ground 'Boil Release: Corrosive mist'; Mei began to blow out a mist cloud from her mouth towards Konan. Konan seeing this made her paper surround her in a dome as the mist over came her.
At first Konan was safe until she saw that her paper dome was wilting and falling apart due to the intense heat from the mist; Konan not seeing any options began to encase herself in paper as an artificial armor in order to escape.
Konan busted out of the paper dome an flew into the air just above the boiling mist cloud; but as soon as she got into the air she was knocked down when she got hit by a rock the size of a bowling ball.
Kurotsuchi dug her hand into the earth and used her chakra to pack together the loose dirt and form it into a solid rock "You're not getting away from me" Kurotsuchi said as she threw another rock at Konan.
Konan seeing the rock coming towards her put her paper wings in front of her to protect her; the rock hit her wings and was stopped before it could cause any damage. Konan retaliated by making several paper shuriken and sent them towards Kurotsuchi.
Kurotsuchi went through hand signs and slammed her hands onto the ground "Earth Style: Mud wall"; an earth wall formed in front of Kurotsuchi stopping the paper shuriken.
Utakata seeing Konan was still on the ground put his bubble pipe to his lips and began to blow more explosive bubbles towards Konan. Konan seeing the bubbles coming towards her began to fly low to the ground in order to out run the bubbles.
Konan flew across the ground as the bubbles followed behind her; the bubbles began to explode and Konan tried to remain as stable as possible. Konan banked hard to the left and did a roll sending another volley of paper shuriken towards Utakata.
Utakata sent several bubbles towards the shuriken and when they were hit they popped exploding and destroying the shuriken.
Temari seeing Konan flying carefully aimed as she got her fan ready; Temari swung her fan unleashing a wind Jutsu "Wind Scythe Jutsu" she shouted. Konan turned at the last minute as she was hit by the wind Jutsu and sent back to the ground once more.
Konan got onto a knee and was breathing heavily 'damn, I'm not making any progress' Konan thought 'A retreat is in order; I have no choice'. Konan got to her feet and raised her hands into the air "Zetsu's protect me" she shouted; several dozen Zetsu surrounded her and Mei became concerned.
"What is she doing" Mei said; suddenly from Konan's sleeves papers began to fly into the air at a rapid pace. Thousands, if not tens of thousands of papers filled the air and began to fall down towards Mei and the others; as Mei focused until her one visible eye widened in horror. The paper that was falling from the air were paper bombs.
"Paper bombs; take cover" Mei shouted as she began to go through hand signs; Kurotsuchi also began to go through hand signs and shouted.
"Iwa ninja; make cover for Suna and Kiri" Kurotsuchi shouted; the Iwa ninja all began to go through hand signs as they slammed their hands onto the ground. Mei, Kurotsuchi and the Iwa ninja all began to create various earth walls, domes or going into the earth using tunneling Jutsu in order to take cover along with the Suna and Kiri ninja.
A second later the paper bombs landed and all hell began to get unleashed; roaring explosions began to rock the area as the paper bombs began to explode.
Mei was in an earth dome she created with Utakata and Temari as well as a few random Kiri and Suna ninja; the sound outside was deafening and shook the earth dome and dust began to fall down on top of them.
Mei turned to her side and saw a young Kiri Kunoichi who looked no older than 13 covering her ears and crying as the explosions continued; Mei went over and grabbed her pulling her close as the explosions continued.
Temari was holding her hands to her ears as the explosions continued without stop "Son of a Bitch" Temari shouted over the roars of the bombs; the explosions went on for about 5 minutes until they died down.
Mei was still holding the crying Kiri Kunoichi as she opened her eyes and saw the explosions had stopped; Mei looked at the girl and spoke "it's ok, it's over" she said soothingly as the girl began to rock back and forth.
"Damn it" another Kiri ninja said as he crawled up and inspected the girl "she lost it" he said; Mei nodded and made a hand sign releasing the earth dome. When the dome came down Mei and the others were stunned at what they saw; all around them the ground was scorched black as craters littered the area.
Upon the ground there were scattered corpses and limbs of Iwa, Suna and Kiri ninja who were not fast enough to get to cover; as well there were dead Zetsu's as well. Across the battle field there were earth domes and mud walls and people began to come out from behind them; however there seemed to be several domes which were blown apart and the residents were dead.
One was close and Mei saw the remains of some Iwa and Kiri ninja inside; Kurotsuchi walked up next to Mei and spoke.
"T-their dome probably wasn't strong enough to withstand the multiple explosions" Kurotsuchi said "… they probably didn't have enough chakra to keep it up".
"Yeah" Mei said as she looked around; Mei saw that Konan and what ever Zetsu she had left had fled the battle "the enemy retreated; we won". Mei said this but it sounded hollow as Temari came up.
"If this is a victory… I'd hate to see what would happen if we lost" Temari said as she saw the survivors coming out and looking around 'I think we may have lost the majority of our ninja… in only a few minutes'.
"Lets look for any wounded" Utakata said "we need to help them back to the camp".
"He's right" Mei said as she got up "everyone look for any survivors and wounded not he ground; I want them back to camp and in the hospital tents in fifteen minutes". Everyone began to search around as the sound of the wounded began to fill the air as ninja called out for their comrades "goddamn" Mei said as she began to walk around to help.
With Naruto and the others
Watasumi threw her Nuibari at a group of Zetsu clones and pierced them; grabbing the thread she pulled them back towards her and Ranmaru who was by her side held his new Shibuki sword at the ready. Ranmaru swung his sword at the oncoming Zetsu and the result was an explosion from his sword destroying them all.
"Man I'm loving this sword" Ranmaru said holding his new weapon.
"Focus Ranmaru; we need to keep these guys off of Naruto and the others" Watasumi said as she looked to where Naruto and Kisame were fighting Han.
Han rushed towards Kisame going through hand signs "Boil release: Boiling mist dragon"; Han began to blow steam out of his armor and it formed together into a large dragon and Kisame cursed.
"Shit" Kisame said as he went through hand signs "Water Style: Water wall"; Kisame formed a thick water wall around him as the dragon hit it. When the dragon hit Kisame watched as his water wall began to boil but still remained up; when the attack was over the wall collapsed and Han was right in front of Kisame with his fist cocked back.
Han sent his punch towards Kisame using his steam in order to increase the speed of the punch; Kisame was hit in the face and sent skidding across the muddy ground. When he stopped he spit out a couple teeth and smiled at Han.
"That all you got punk" Kisame said and Han growled; before he could move Naruto rushed in and slashed at Han with his sword. Han dodged the first slash but Naruto quickly recovered and sent another; this slash scored a glancing blow on Han's shoulder.
Han made a hand sign and proceeded to blow a large stream of steam out of his mouth towards Naruto shocking everyone.
"Naruto" Tsunade shouted in horror; as the stream of steam died down everyone looked on and saw Naruto standing there completely fine. Naruto looked himself over and saw his Kyuubi chakra armor protected him.
"Huh… worked better than i thought" Naruto said surprised that his armor worked so well; Naruto refocused on Han and began to fight him while the others looked on.
"Damn it; what the hell can we do" Jiraya said "we can't engage him up close; what options do we have".
Kakashi narrowed his eyes and spoke "I have an idea; although I need to time this just right" he said making everyone look at him "Itachi helped me with my sharingan; I can use a technique but it's risky for me".
"In what way" Tsunade asked and Kakashi sighed.
"I'll go blind" Kakashi said "but I've only used it once; so I'll probably be ok".
"Ok so what do you need Kakashi" Guy asked and Kakashi spoke.
"Get him isolated and get him to hold still for a few seconds" Kakashi said and Jiraya nodded.
"Ok then; Tsunade, shall we" Jiraya said and Tsunade nodded as they ran in to help Naruto and Kisame.
Kisame swung Samehada at Han who jumped over the sword and landed behind Kisame; Han sent a steam powered punch to Kisame's kidney making him yelp in pain before spinning around with another slash. Han dodged the slash only to be greeted by Naruto who slashed at him with his sword.
Han ducked under the sword and sent a steam powered kick towards Naruto, kicking him in the chest and sending him across the ground. Naruto stopped and went through hand signs "Water Style: Water bullets"; Naruto fired a volley of water bullets towards Han and Kisame jumped out of the watt.
Han seeing the water bullets put his hands in the direction of the water bullets and began to unleash a large stream of steam towards them, evaporating the water bullets. As Han did so both Naruto and Kisame were about to attack until they saw something.
Han began to twist and contort as what seemed like a black hole appeared in the middle of his body.
Kakashi using his Mangekyo sharingan was using his Kami ability on Han "What is this! What are you doing" Han shouted as he began to get sucked away. After a few seconds Han's upper half was gone as it was no longer attacked.
Kakashi canceled his Kamui and looked at Han's legs; Han's legs began to crumble to dust as the lower half of the sacrifice appeared. Kakashi fell to a knee as he gripped his eye.
"Kakashi sensei; are you ok" Naruto shouted as he ran over and helped his sensei to his feet; Naruto saw that Kaakshi's eye was bleeding "what was that; that guy just disappeared" Naruto asked and Kakashi eye smiled.
"That was my Mangekyo Sharingan ability" Kakashi said "I can send a vortex and suck things inside it; although it puts strain on my eye".
"That technique… kinda reminds me of Madara's" Kisame said making Kakashi and Naruto confused "huh… maybe we should ask Itachi about it".
"Naruto, Kisame, Kakashi" Tsunade said gaining their attentions "help us finish off these Zetsu; we need to end this battle soon".
"Ok Granny; Kakashi sensei, can you still fight" Naruto asked and Kakashi nodded as he brought down his forehead protector to cover his eye.
"Yeah, I'm good" Kakashi said as he let go of Naruto "lets do this".
A few hours later: Kiri camp
Naruto with the help of Kisame lifted the body of another Konoha ninja and put him in another line; Naruto and Kisame looked at the row upon row of dead bodies. Some of the bodies looked like they were peacefully sleeping while some others were so torn apart that identification might be impossible.
Dead ninja from all 5 villages were laid out side by side in no particular order and Naruto sighed "so this is war huh" Naruto said and Kisame nodded.
"Trust me kid, it doesn't get any easier" Kisame said and Naruto nodded sadly.
"Naruto" came a shout and Naruto turned around; Naruto saw Mei and her group returning to the camp "oh thank god". Mei ran over to Naruto and Naruto ran over to Mei and both embraced upon reaching each other "are you ok" she asked and Naruto nodded.
"Yeah I'm fine" Naruto said as he looked at Mei's group; many in the group had burns and minor injuries, along with that her force seemed a lot smaller than when it left. As Naruto looked at them he saw Temari and a familiar face approach "Kurotsuchi; what are you doing here" Naruto said surprised.
"Hey Naruto; it's been a while" Kurotsuchi said giving him a smile and a wave "me and some Iwa ninja are here to help".
"Glad you could show up" Naruto said before looking at Mei "Granny Tsunade wants to see us as soon as possible". "I'm guessing she wants casualty reports" Naruto said and Mei nodded.
"Ok girls; lets go" Mei said to Temari and Kurotsuchi who followed Naruto.
In the command tent
Naruto was standing next to Mei as Tsunade, Jiraya, Hiruzen, A, Itachi, Temari, Kurotsuchi and Kisame were all present.
"First order of business is to find out about casualties" Tsunade said "Sensei; would you like to begin"; Hiruzen nodded and came forward.
"Me and the monkeys defeated the enemy with very few casualties; I'd say less than ten percent" Hiruzen said and Tsunade nodded.
A came up next and spoke "my unit lost a quarter of our strength; most are wounded and cannot fight anymore while the others died" he said "that being said my brother Bee and Yugito are still combat capable; so the two and eight tails are still in play".
Kisame spoke up next "Sasori is dead and out of action" he said "the sharks took twenty percent casualties; however none of the seven swordsmen were killed and in fact thanks to Naruto here we have a new one"; everyone looked to Naruto who was smiling and rubbing the back of his head.
"Yeah I kinda did" Naruto said "during the battle they reanimated dead seven swordsmen and gave him the Shibuki sword". "After I took him out I got the sword and gave it to Ranmaru; so now we have a total of six swordsmen" Naruto said as he took out the scroll holding the Kabutowari "all we need to do now is find number seven".
"Wow Naruto, that's wonderful" Mei said giving him a hug and a kiss "now all of Kiri's treasured swords are returned; I'll make sure to put you in for a commendation".
Tsunade hearing this smiled and nodded "that's good to hear, now we have another ace up our sleeve to defeat the Akatsuki" she said before looking at Mei "Mei… I saw the casualties, how bad was it".
Mei looked to Tsunade and sighed "we took fifty five percent casualties" Mei said holding her head down "Konan… the paper user in an attempt to escape unleashed thousands of paper bombs upon us; lots of us took cover but for some it was too late". "Suna and Kiri lost the most while Iwa took only a few casualties due to them being the ones who made the cover from the bombs; although several were killed" Mei said and Kurotsuchi spoke up.
"I'm sorry we were late; technically speaking me and my Iwa ninja are here under a false flag" Kurotsuchi said "My grandfather knows about us being here but we all are doing this on our own against our councils permission; when we go back home we will probably face jail time".
"Then why are you here" Temari asked "if the price is that high then-".
"I cannot stand by while you all fight for the salvation of the world" Kurotsuchi said "the least I could do is bring some of our ninja over to help". Everyone nodded at this and Tsunade spoke.
"We thank you Kurotsuchi and we will never forget this" Tsunade said "our battle against Han and his army of Zetsu's went fine and we suffered minimal casualties; how about you Itachi".
Itachi cleared his throat and spoke "Sasuke is dead and his Oto forces were sent back in a route" Itachi said and Naruto went wide eyed "we took very few casualties considering at how much of a numerical disadvantage we were at".
"Wait, you killed Sasuke" Naruto asked and Itachi shook his head.
"No, Kurama did; he used a Biju bomb" Itachi said and Naruto sighed.
"I never did like Sasuke; he was an asshole, but he was your brother" Naruto said as he looked at Itachi "I'm sorry for your loss"; Itachi nodded and Jiraya spoke up.
"Today was a hell of a day, we sent the Akatsuki running scared and we inflicted heavy damage" Jiraya said "my our body count we estimate that half to seventy percent of their Zetsu forces have been killed". "We will rest for the night and then move into their territory" Jiraya said "I will personally fight against Nagato or 'Pein'".
"You can't do it alone" Naruto said and Jiraya nodded.
"Yeah I can't; which is why you are coming with me" Jiraya said and Naruto smiled "I will be taking Naruto, Kisame, Itachi, Sensei and Kakashi; we are the one's who have the highest likelihood of successfully defeating his six paths".
"Sounds good to me" A said as he cracked his knuckles "I want to end this as soon as possible".
"I always wanted to go against Pein; now I get my chance" Kisame said with a smirk.
"Patience Kisame; eagerness to rush into battle can have unfavorable results" Itachi said and Kisame nodded.
"I hope I'm able to keep up; after all this old man isn't in his prime anymore" Hiruzen said.
"Come on Ji-ji; you're as fit as a fiddle, you got this" Naruto said as Hiruzen chuckled while smoking his pipe.
"Get some rest; we leave before dawn" Jiraya said and everyone nodded.
With Naruto and Mei
Naruto and Mei were in their tent and they were both taking off their cloths as they were damaged and covered in blood and dirt; Naruto took off his shirt and threw it to the ground and Mei looked at his body.
Naruto had bruises and cuts along his body and had medical bandages wrapped around his ribs but no serious injuries. Naruto looked at Mei and smiled "nothing too bad; just some bumps and bruises".
Mei smiled as she took off her dress and Naruto looked at her ; Mei had several cuts from paper shuriken and had her right leg and left hand wrapped in bandages from 2 direct hits. "Pretty nasty paper cuts huh" Mei joked and Naruto chuckled; he then walked over and wrapped his arms around her and gave her a kiss on the back of the neck.
"At least she didn't damage the goods" Naruto said as he reached up and grabbed her breasts "I don't know what I'd do without your 'girls'" he said wiggling his eyebrows. Mei rolled her eyes and pushed him away.
"We are at war, no time for any of that" Mei said and Naruto chuckled.
"How about a cuddle then" Naruto said and Mei relented.
"Fine, but no funny stuff" Mei said and Naruto nodded; Naruto laid down on Mei's cot and Mei followed shortly after. Mei put her head on Naruto's chest and wrapped her arms around him "today was awful; and tomorrow is going to be worse" she said sadly.
Naruto hearing this leaned down and gave her a kiss on the forehead "don't worry Mei; just stay positive and we'll get through this" he said and she nodded; Naruto then smirked on how to get her mind off of their situation. "So after the war where do you want to have the wedding" Naruto said getting Mei's attention "I was thinking Kiri at that waterfall you took me to that one time".
Mei smiled as she realized what Naruto was doing "I was thinking Konoha; Tsunade told me we could use the Senju compounds garden for the wedding" she said "but we need to think about catering; I was thinking the Ichiraku's can feed us".
Naruto perked at this and spoke "Ramen for our wedding; that sounds awesome" Naruto said "but I also want sushi too; from that place in Kiri you like".
Mei hearing this smiled and looked at Naruto "Sushi and ramen for our wedding" Mei said with a raised eyebrow "we are going to take one hell of a nap afterwards". Naruto chuckled and held her closer "I'm going to have Tsunade, Yugito, Kurotsuchi and Fu as my maids of honor" she said.
"I'm thinking Percy Sage, Kisame and Itachi as my best men" Naruto said "you think Watasumi can be the flower girl and Ranmaru can be the ring bearer".
"Sounds good to me" Mei said; both Naruto and Mei continued to talk about their future wedding as they tried to take their minds off the battle that was going to happen tomorrow.
With Kisame, Raiga, Ranmaru, Chojuro and Watasumi
"Ah shit" Raiga whined as Chojuro stitched a sound on his back "be more gentle would you".
"Sorry, sorry; I'm almost done" Chojuro said as he continued; Kisame and the other swordsmen were all at their camp relaxing and eating as they began to rest for the battle that was to take place tomorrow.
Kisame was eating cooked rabbit he killed and was looking at Watasumi and Ranmaru "hey Watasumi, Ranmaru; what did you think about your first real battle" he asked and both of them looked towards Kisame.
Watasumi smiled and spoke "it was pretty fun; i took down a lot of bad guys" she said and Kisame chuckled.
"Why am I not surprised a shark enjoyed a feeding frenzy" Kisame said and Watasumi stuck her tongue out playfully "how about you Ranmaru".
Ranmaru fidgeted a little bit and spoke "I was a little scared" he said and Kisame raised his eyebrow "I was scared the entire time… does that make me weak". Kisame scoffed at this.
"No kid, fear is good" Kisame said "fear keeps you alive in battle, it keeps you alert; you only lose the fear when you get skilled enough". "Now you got that sword of yours; you will get better" Kisame said and Ranmaru looked to his Shibuki sword "master that sword and you'll become as good as me, Raiga or Naruto".
"Hehe" Raiga chuckled making Kisame look at him "look at you Kisame; giving a pep talk… you're getting soft". Kisame flipped him off and spoke.
"I blame Naruto and his positive attitude" Kisame said biting his food "happy little shit".
With Pein, Konan and Sasuke
Pein looked at the injured Konan and Sasuke and spoke "so Sasori is dead, our forces have taken significant losses and we failed on all five fronts" he said and Konan nodded.
"Yes but the alliance has taken casualties as well" Konan said "our estimates is that they took about twenty percent casualties; also about a fifth of their forces were summoned monkeys, toads and sharks". "We will be getting reinforced with another five thousand White Zetsu's tomorrow; we will have eight thousand in total along with the remainder of the Ame shinobi" Konan said.
"And Sasuke… why did you kill your Oto ninja" Pein asked and Sasuke with his severed arm now bandaged up and a bandage covering his blind eye spoke.
"Cowards ran away from a numerically inferior force and left me for dead" Sasuke said "they were dead weight".
Pein nodded and spoke "never the less; we have achieved a lot this day" he said making both Sasuke and Konan confused "we have engaged the enemy and they have taken losses". "We lost half our forces and Sasori but… we have an opportunity" Pein said.
"And what is it" Konan asked and Pein looked at her.
"They will think they have the upper hand; so they will attempt to take the initiative" Pein said and Konan and Sasuke nodded "we will lure them into a trap and hit them with overwhelming force; and I will personally lead the charge".
"And how do you intent to do that" Sasuke asked "we don't have any Edo Tensei left nor do we have the numerical advantage". Pein looked at Sasuke and began to speak.
"That is where we come in" Pein said "I have an a plan that involves you; although it will be very painful".
"If I get to kill Itachi; then it'll be worth it" Sasuke said and Pein nodded.
"Very well" Pein said before looking to Konan "Konan, come to me; I'll require your assistance".
"Yes Lord Pein" Konan said as she created wings and flew off making Sasuke confused as he had no idea what they were talking about.
The next day: Kiri camp
Tsunade looked at the amassed group of ninja who remained and spoke "we will be heading out to engage the enemy once more; when we move out we will be in three separate units" she said. "Unit one will be with my command; I will be taking Jiraya, Naruto, Kisame, Itachi, and Lord Third with me along with my Konoha ninja". "We will be attacking up the center" she said
Mei walked up next and spoke "I will be leading a combined force of Suna, Kiri and Iwa ninja; Temari, Kurotsuchi and the seven swordsmen will be with me with Utakata and Fu coming with us to provide the power of their Biju" she said. "We will be responsible for protecting the right flank" Mei said.
A finally walked up and spoke "I will be leading my Kumo forces; Bee and Yugito will be with me to cover the left flank" he said.
"This is it everyone; one more push and we can defeat this enemy and return home" Tsunade said as the crowd erupted into cheers and shouts "move out".
With Naruto, Tsunade and the rest of the Konoha ninja
Naruto and the rest of the Konoha force were running through the forest to find the enemy; Naruto was nervous as he along with Jiraya, Itachi, Kisame, Hiruzen and Kakashi were going to face the leader of the Akatsuki Pein.
As they ran along the forest floor Naruto looked to his side and saw Kakashi "you doing ok Naruto" Kakashi asked "you're not nervous are you".
Naruto chuckled and spoke "scared shitless" Naruto said; Kisame who was next to them spoke up next.
"Haha; at least you're honest" Kisame said as he smirked "I can't wait to take a crack at Pein; I always wanted to face him in a full on fight".
"Well you're going to get your wish soon enough" Kurama said running up beside them "frankly I hope they have something else in can fight; that Uchiha I killed wasn't that satisfying".
"Sorry to hear killing my brother was boring for you" Itachi said his words laced with sarcasm.
"Will you two shut the fuck up" Karin said to the both of them "this is serious".
"Sorry honey buns" Kurama said with a smile making her roll her eyes.
With Mei, Temari, Kurotsuchi, Fu and Utakata
Mei was leading the others along the beach in order to secure the Tsunade's flank; as she and the others ran along the beach Mei looked up into the sky and saw a figure up above.
Konan was once again flying above the combined force looking down at them; Mei halted her shinobi leaving 200 yards of beach between them and the water. Mei looked at Konan up in the air and narrowed her eye "There she is" Mei said "she probably has more Zetsu with her… but where".
Mei didn't have to wait long as a force of about three thousand Zetsu emerged out for the water to face Mei and her forces. Mei cursed as now the forces were at about even numbers so she didn't have a numerical advantage.
"Well that answers that question" Temari said as she took out and opened her fan.
Fu looking at Konan spoke "I guess this is where I come in" she said; Fu brought out her wings and got ready "how are we going to do this".
Mei turned and looked at her and Temari "the both of us will take on Konan since we have long range Jutsu and Fu can fly" she said "Kurotsuchi, Utakata; I'll leave the Zetsu to you".
"With pleasure" Kurotsuchi said and Utakata nodded.
"It will be done" Utakata said as he activated his six tails version 1 cloak.
"This is it people; this is what we are here for" Mei said stepping forward "lets end this battle and the Akatsuki, once and for all".
With A, Bee and Yugito
A, Bee, Yugito and their Kumo ninja were all rushing across a large field full of grass to secure Tsunade's other flank; as they ran through the field A felt a disturbance.
"Everyone halt" A ordered as he began to look around; Bee and Yugito walked up and spoke.
"Lord Raikage; what's wrong" Yugito asked before Bee spoke.
"Yeah bro; what's wrong with your flow" Bee said and A narrowed his eyes.
A looked around at the area; there were no trees or vegetation other than patches of long grass to hide in, now were there any sign of the enemy.
"This almost seems…" A began until he activated his lightening cloak and balled up his fist "like a trap"; A proceeded to punch the ground and to everyone's surprise the ground cracked open and a dozen white Zetsu popped out of the ground. "AMBUSH" A shouted at his troops.
Suddenly white Zetsu's began to shoot out of the ground and from underneath the Kumo ninja; some Kumo ninja were unfortunate and were grabbed before being dragged beneath the earth.
A used his hand to chop a Zetsu in half before spinning around and doing a kick hitting another Zetsu; as the battle began A saw the last remainder of the Ame ninja come out from under the earth as well.
One of them had an umbrella and threw it up in the air and it began to spin; the umbrella began to fire poisoned senbon down onto the surprised Kumo ninja killing several.
"Goddamn it" A cursed as he looked around "we walked into this shit; they were waiting for us"; A jumped out of the way of a volley of senbon and began to engage both Ame ninja and Zetsu alike. 'Sorry Tsunade; looks like we are going to be busy for a little while' A thought.
With Naruto and the others
After running for a while Naruto and the others stopped at the edge of a steep cliff overlooking the ocean on the ocean there were about 3000 white Zetsu stood on the water. However this wasn't even the main focus as Naruto, Tsunade, Jiraya and everyone else was looking up at the sky in shock.
There was a large amount earth and rocks combined together into a sphere that was floating in the air way above their heads; Naruto's jaw dropped and he spoke "And now I've seen everything" he said. "What the hell is that thing" Naruto asked and Jiraya spoke up.
"Nagato" Jiraya said clenching his fists "that has to be his work". "Karin, use your sensory abilities" Jiraya said and Karin nodded.
"Right" Karin said as she closed her eyes; after a few seconds she opened them and spoke "there are eight chakra signatures; one inside and seven outside".
"Eight" Jiraya said confused as he looked at the floating sphere more closely and saw something "Uh… Itachi; you're not going to believe this".
Itachi activated his sharingan and saw what Jiraya was talking about "Sasuke" he said and Kurama went wide eyed.
"What?! Are you serious" Kurama shouted as he looked to the sphere 'how is that weakling still alive'.
On top of the sphere the six paths of Pein stood on top ready for battle; the Deva Path, Asura Path, Human Path, Animal Path, Preta Path and Naraka Path all looked down on the amassed Konoha ninja. The Deva Path turned to Sasuke and spoke.
"Sasuke; are you ready" the Deva path asked and Sasuke nodded; Sasuke had a bandage over his left eye.
"Yes I am, and remember Itachi and Kurama are mine" Sasuke said as he took off the bandage; upon taking off the bandage Sasuke opened his eye and revealed a single rinnegan that was implanted.
Inside the sphere Nagato was in his mechanical mechanical walker smiling; his right eye was his regular rinnegan while his left was a very dull and hazy rinnegan. Nagato due to his poor health decided to give Sasuke one of his rinnegan in exchange for his blind Sharingan; so far the eye was healing and slowly morphing into a rinnegan due to his Uzumaki genes.
"We will show this world true Pein" Nagato said "do it now Sasuke".
Outside the sphere Sasuke nodded "lets do this" Sasuke said as he made a hand sign "Summoning Jutsu: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path".
Naruto and the others on shore felt the ground begin to shake as the waves down below began to crash "what the fuck is this" Naruto shouted. Suddenly out in the middle of the water a giant geyser shot out of the water and something came out; Naruto and the rest of the ninja present all looked on at the monstrosity that appeared.
It was a giant earth colored humanoid with spikes coming out of it's back; it had long arms and legs that had shackles on it and a face which looked like it was blind folded. The weird creature's blind fold began to split open as 3 eyes appeared.
The creature then let out an ear piercing roar and everyone covered their ears as to avoid them from being popped; when the roar died down Tsunade looked at it and spoke "what in Kami's name is that thing".
"The Gedo Statue; the husk of the ten tails" Itachi said shocking her, Naruto and everyone writhing ear shot "the Akatsuki had been using it to seal the tailed beasts… but I never imagined it could do this".
Sasuke smirked as the plan worked, Nagato told him that the reason why he couldn't summon the Gedo Statue was due to it draining his life force once before and if he did it again he'd die. However since the 3, 4 and 5 tail Biju have already been sealed in there was no risk for Sasuke.
"Now for phase two" Sasuke said as he jumped from the sphere and landed onto the Gedo Statue's head; Sasuke activated his EMS and shouted "SUSANOO". Sasuke's Susanoo activated and. Began to cover the Gedo statue from head to feet until it was completely encased in the purple Susanoo with Sasuke on top of the Gedo Statue's head.
"Oh shit" Itachi said in worry 'what are we going to-'; Itachi stopped when he heard chuckling and turned to his side and saw Kurama chuckling with a wild expression on his face.
"This… this is excellent" Kurama said with wide eyes and a smile "Finally, a worth opponent; our battle will be legendary". "BOY, HOKAGE; THAT THING IS MINE, STAY OUT OF IT" Kurama shouted before he ran and jumped off the cliff; as Kurama fell down from the cliff he made a hand sign "No holding back now".
In a flash of red the ground shook once again and everyone looked on and saw something that they haven't seen in over 17 years; in the water facing the Gedo Statue was the 9 tailed fox in all it's glory. Kurama looked on at the Gedo statue and realized he was smaller that the 10 tails husk; Kurama was about to move until he felt something land on his head.
Itachi landed on Kurama's head and Kurama spoke "What are you doing here" Kurama said annoyed.
"Here to stop my foolish brother; now shut up and let me help" Itachi said as he closed his eyed; Itachi opened his eyes and revealed his EMS "SUSANOO". Itachi's Susanoo appeared and began to cover Kurama until Kurama was covered in Itachi's red/orange Susanoo; Itachi's upper torso appeared out of Kurama's back and Itachi had both his Yata Mirror and his sword of Totsuka at the ready. "I'll support you Kurama; just get me in close" Itachi said from his Susanoo and Kurama chuckled.
"With pleasure" Kurama said as he and Itachi got ready to face off against Sasuke and the Gedo statue.
"Well our plan is shot to shit" Jiraya said "Guy help us with the paths of Pein; we're going to need you". Guy walked up and nodded.
"I will give it my all" Guy said.
Naruto, Kisame, Jiraya, Kakashi, Guy and Hiruzen all looked at the six paths as the Animal, Naraka and Asura paths jumped down to join the Zetsu's while the others stayed on the sphere.
"Me, Guy and Sensei will fight the ones on the sphere" Jiraya said before looking over to Naruto, Kisame and Kakashi "you three fight the ones down below".
"Yes Lord Jiraya" Kakashi said as he raised up his forehead protector revealing his sharingan.
"Leave it to us" Kisame said before looking to Naruto "no holding back Naruto; give it everything you got". "Wait a minute… can you use sage mode and that chakra armor thing at the same time" Kisame said; Naruto and Jiraya went wide eyed.
"Shit why have I never thought of that" Jiraya said making Tsunade and Hiruzen smack their foreheads "give it a try kid".
Naruto nodded and made a hand sign "here goes nothing" Naruto said water began to surround him; after a few seconds Naruto activated his shark sage mode before manipulating his Kyuubi chakra. Naruto's red chakra armor formed over him but him and began to morph; Naruto's chakra began to turn purple and and the fox head helmet began to change shape.
Naruto's helmet turned from a fox head to a shark head and 4 tails of the Kyuubi's chakra came out; Jiraya was worried at this as he thought Naruto was going to lose control but Naruto looked at his hands.
"Woah… this feels, awesome" Naruto said surprised as he reached back and grabbed his sword; Naruto's sword began morph with the armor as it got covered with water that began to form on the edge in a serrated fashion. The blade of the sword began to turn purple as well and Naruto looked to Kisame "Do I look tough" he said and Kisame chuckled.
"Yeah, but I can still kick your ass left, right and center" Kisame said impressed slightly but still jabbing at Naruto.
"Thanks you dick" Naruto said as he gripped his sword and took a deep breath "lets finish this thing".
Ok another chapter done; I hope you all enjoyed it. I don't know why I never thought of combining Naruto's Kyuubi armor and his shark sage mode; I'm such an idiot. If you enjoyed the chapter please like, comment and share with your friends; and until next time bye.