Devil From The Heavens

Chapter 45: To The Hellfire

Another day alive, another day to ponder her failures. Hinata rose robotically and went through the motions of her pre-work routine. Natural energy quickly filled her veins as she performed her meditations. Using it every waking moment was not what Jiraiya intended when he suggested using it in her sentry duties but how could she not? She could have done something to prevent Naruto being stolen.

Even simply delaying the attempt would have allowed them the chance to fight off the Hybrid.

So from the moment her eyes opens to when she laid her head, Hinata remained a Sage. The change hadn't gone unnoticed but she rebuffed any attempts to speak with or console her. There was no desire for it. No need. She knew what she needed to do.

At her post, she shaped the chakra around her hands. Her final blow against Broly, the one that disrupted his seal, had given her the idea. The concept was similar to the chakra scalpels used by medic-nin but exponentially sharper and finer. The kind of chakra control necessary was simply beyond anyone else but between her Byakugan and the Sage training, she was uniquely suited for this.

Blades cut through flesh and cloth. This was meant to cut the space between atoms. Not unlike Naruto's Rasenshuriken funnily enough. Even if it couldn't hurt Broly, this would be enough to deal with the Hybrids. Hopefully.

She held up two of her fingers like she's done so many times with her Gentle Fist. Chakra swirled around their tips and she pointed them at a nearby stone. Its surface was marked by numerous smooth planes cut by previous attempts. Behind it rested a steel rod. Sweat poured from Hinata's forehead as she formed the blade. With a quick twist of her body, she thrust her fingers forward.

It was a subtle affair, what happened next. There was the slightest breeze along the path before the rod fell in two with the stone seemingly untouched. Hinata frowned as she walked over and picked up one of the halves. It was smooth like polished silver where it had been cut. Her execution still needed work. Not only was it too slow, her gut told her that it was not enough as it was.

Hinata tapped the stone and it split into two uneven hemispheres, cut in the same way as the metal in her hand.

It wasn't enough now and she feared if it would be enough before they went off for their war. She looked for more debris to use for practice.

The rest of the day went by and Hinata returned to where the Hyuga had decided to sequester themselves from the rest of the village. There were arguments among the elders that she did not care for. Probably still over who should be the clan head. Hanabi had been hesitant to make the decision. There was pressure for her to make it soon but Hinata and Neji made it clear that there would be consequences if anyone tried to force it.

She heard Hanabi crying before Hinata had entered her tent. Her little sister cleaned up her tears quick but she let the attempted facade drop when she saw that it was Hinata.

Without words, the elder sister sat beside Hanabi and wrapped her arms around her. Whatever tears she had failed to shed, her sibling made up for. It did not matter how long or how many times it happened, Hinata would sit with her. It was something both sisters had needed.

They sat together for a time all too brief as they were soon interrupted. The call was heard for shinobi to gather for their march to Madara's hideout.

"P-please come back safe."

She couldn't promise anything like that. More so than any mission she had gone on, death was likely. She's heard more than her share of talk around the remnants of the village. Few going on the warpath had hope of victory; most went for some small measure of justice or revenge, whatever they wished to call it.

"I'll come back." Hinata didn't look her sister in the eye but she did squeeze her just a bit harder before she stood.

There was something wrong in the air, a corruption that sat heavy in the lungs. It felt evil.

Even Kurama agreed that there was something unnatural around them. The fox said that it was clearly the presence of a Tailed Beast but one he did not recognize. He felt it be sealed right afterwards but the presence remained. No one here would give them any details and why would they?

The good news, the only bit of it around, was that his cell was damaged. Naruto examined the seals around his cell as much as he could. He didn't know much about seals but he'd seen Jiraiya create a few. These things were fragile and a disruption of their ink work could undo the whole thing. His problem would be to find the right one to disrupt to get his own chakra back. Once he did that, he should be scot-free. Well, there was a facility full of Hybrids, Zetsu, and Madara to escape but he could deal with those.

"It's the one on the lower right- no, a little left. That one."

"You know seal stuff, Kurama?"

"I've been around for centuries. You pick up these things, especially when they're used against you so frequently."

"That would've been nice against Broly." He thought as he focused his efforts on the chakra seal.

"I'm no master, welp. Those were far outside my capabilities to help with."

The two worked on it a few minutes at a time as the hours passed. As powerful as they were, the Hybrids were imperceptive and impatient so their attention wavered constantly. Eventually, they got it figured out. Breaking it was straightforward enough but doing it subtly enough that his guards wouldn't notice was another matter entirely.

Eventually, Naruto found his mind wandering. He hoped Hinata didn't blame herself for his capture; granny too. He shouldn't have gone alone like he did. He hadn't seen Sakura in a while. He scratched a bit of ink and there was the barest hint of chakra rushing through his body. Naruto glanced over his shoulder. Neither Hybrid seemed to have noticed.

It'd be nice to see her again soon. With Sasuke in tow too.

"Do you think Sasuke was telling the truth? About hurting Tsunade?"

Kurama groaned. Was the fox taking a nap?! "Of course. The hate within him is palpable even to me. I'm almost envious." Naruto heard the fox stretch and shift positions. "He can do something about it while I'm stuck in here with you."

The blond shook his head. "No, no, I can convince him. He's angry. If I can just calm him down and talk to him-"

"Pah, I'd pity you but that'd be wasted effort." The Kyubi huffed and settled down. "Will you believe him when his sword is in your chest? When he claims your Kage's head? Or maybe when he takes the Hyuga's eyes from her skull?"

Naruto broke a chunk off the stone and more chakra flowed through him. He quickly snuffed it but he heard one of the Hybrids shift behind him. He froze where he sat until he heard a clap. The blond looked; the Hybrid had crushed an annoying bug in its hands. It rubbed its hand on the bare wall.

"Really sit and think on it. Don't throw your life away to the Uchiha; that'd be inconvenient for me."

The Kyubi grew quiet as Naruto continued to whittle away at the seal.

The sun rose on the final day and Madara woke. He felt...different. Not the barest hint of pain. Whole of body. At peace.

There was no sign of any surgeries; his new body and the Ten-Tails healed nearly as fast as Kabuto made cuts.

"The operation was a success." Kabuto wiped his glasses clean before he picked up a chart. "Everything looks spectacular; suspiciously so admittedly."

He looked over one of his hands. It wasn't his flesh but it didn't feel foreign. "What do you mean?"

"I was expected some level of rejection of the new tissues. Even the smoothest single organ transplants require copious care and pharmaceutical help to make sure they take." He lifted a page. "Instead, I've seen the opposite. It's more like the old tissues were the ones being rejected and these are being treated like original hardware so to speak."

Kabuto looked over the chart at Madara who was clearly distracted. It'd be on him if he didn't pay full attention. "I think the Ten-Tails caused massive changes to your physiology before this operation began. I can't say how this will affect you long term."

The veins under his skin writhed like worms as he squeezed a fist. "You said I will be able to complete the Eye of the Moon plan tonight. Does that still hold true?"

Kabuto nodded. For all the gambling that was going on here, it seemed this was a jackpot. "All that and more."

"Good. Leave me."

Once he was alone, Madara looked to a mirror in the room. His scars, save for the ones on his face, were gone now and the gray flesh had paled. Were it not for the pair of horns on his forehead and the unnatural pallor of his skin, he would appear as a normal shinobi albeit one who might have specialized in taijutsu for all the additional musculature.

His humanity, what little of it that remained, was gone now. He was more Saiyan and Zetsu than man now.

What would Rin say to him now? Looking as he did? Could he even call himself Obito? That name, that identity, felt foreign to him now. He moved and he was on a mountain peak in the next moment. The Sun was rising over the horizon.

Madara was a facade but what it hid was no longer there. He was man born anew.

So he would take that legendary name and make it his alone. He deserved it. His master would agree when Madara brought him back into a world at peace.

All he had to do now was wait for the Sun to set.

It'd been a few hours since he woke up that the thought emerge unwanted.

Konan had left them. Left him.

Jiraiya managed to convince him quickly enough to stay. Any delays now meant he would not have the time to remove any of the seals. That would mean their chances of victory lowered considerably. Broly wanted to scoff at that but the Sharingan remained in Madara's head. Even with the damage to the seal caused by his fight with Naruto, Hinata, and Konan, neither of them were sure if Madara could get him back under his control.

So he sat. Waiting.

"What could she be doing? She can't have run away."

"If it eases you at all," A cold stroke of ink swiped across his upper back. "I agree. Konan, Nagato, and Yahiko were all tough kids when I taught them. If she didn't run from Amegakure as a defenseless brat, she won't run now."

"Than what's your idea?" Broly felt another small drop of his power flow back into his body.

There was a brief period of silence. "She was a co-founder of the Akatsuki. Konan is not one to sit back and wait for others to do things. Not when that's failed her so many times in her life." Jiraiya poked him in the rib. "Straighten up."

The Saiyan did as asked as the pieces fell into place for him. "She's gone ahead to join the fight."

"Bingo." Jiraiya placed a sheet of paper on his back and there was the slightest glow. Broly didn't feel anything that time. "Probably thought you might try to keep her here when things get started." The alien didn't deny that. The idea had been in his head for a while. "Or she wants her own pound of flesh before the chance disappears."

He frowned at that. He didn't know how well Madara and Konan compared but that mattered little when he had his Hybrids. She wouldn't last long.

"That's fucking stupid." He spoke with a frustrated snarl. He was reminded of all the hopeless last stands he'd been personally witness to. How it just led to more pain for everyone involved except him. "He'll kill her or make an example of her for trying."

"Probably...but it's better than laying down and accepting fate."

Broly silently agreed with the man. That didn't mean he had to like it.

"Will you get done in time?"

"I don't know."

Kakashi gave his gear yet another inspection to make sure he had everything he thought he needed. He hadn't felt anxiety before a mission in years. Not even his plentiful S-Ranks had him nervous like this. It wasn't a mystery why but it felt strange all the same.

His lone eye glanced at Konan. Try as she might to hide it, he recognize the air of suicidal desperation about her. The want to throw herself into the fire until she was burned away. It was how he was when he first joined the ANBU. A poor coping mechanism after the death of his teammates and the failure to keep his promise to Obito.

But unlike him, she had no loyalty to the Leaf. It was an immense liability. When Tsunade assigned her, he naturally objected. Everyone in the mission had been assigned and knew their roles. Another person threw a wrench in all that and having the new addition be former Akatsuki only made things worse. For things to go as smooth as possible, they had to trust each other and no one trusted her.

But Tsunade was the Hokage and her decision was final. Their 'discussion' nearly devolved into a shouting match but the Sannin put her foot down. It was...out of character for her, something worthy of investigation even, but there was no time left. He was forced into the hand he was given and he was going to play it.

All he could do was keep an eye on her and react.

"We both want the same thing, Hatake." She spoke without looking at him.

"It's more the how than the why I'm concerned about." He lazily replied. "Were you in my position, you'd have the same reservations."

She looked over to him, eyes hollow and lifeless. "What do you plan to do about it?"

He shrugged. It's not like he'd tell her. "If the fallout of whatever you're planning hurts the Leaf, I will stop you. Simple as that."

Konan looked away. "I wish you luck."

"I just want to say, I'm proud of all of you. Let it never be said that the Leaf broke before the world ended. You stay strong even now and you go with heads high towards possible extinction. Not matter what happens, whether this is the end or the beginning of something new, Madara will be burned by the Will of Fire."

Tsunade gave the order to move. It was a short speech, hardly rousing, but that wasn't the point. It was the truth and she hoped that it was enough for her shinobi to start. Their anger and grief would carry them the rest of the way. Their small numbers made moving provisions much quicker as a result. A small silver lining.

They met up with Kiri about ten miles from Madara's hideout. Their spies had informed them of zero Zetsu presence passed five miles. Incredibly lacking from a security perspective in comparison to the Hidden Villages whose security can extend all the way to their nation's borders but, given the point was secrecy and the quality and number of his troops, it made sense.

She quickly rendezvoused with her fellow Kage and plans were put into motion. They had laid everything out in their correspondences beforehand; it was more a formality to take care of any last minute snags that they meet.

What she remembered about the journey was...how quiet it was. During the early hours of the day, the shinobi essentially snuck off so as to not disturb the civilians. The people knew what was about to happen, what the remnants of the Leaf were about to do. Tsunade wondered if any of her troops had any doubts? Any private, traitorous thoughts? Perhaps, but no one said a word.

Not when they leapt through Konoha's forests. Not when she gave her orders, and not when they marched into Madara's territory.

Not a word.

Author's Notes

We're beginning the final battle(s). I think I'll be focusing on this story solely for the time being so I can finish up this year before I return to AUF so consider that story on a light hiatus.

I'm getting close to back to where I was before the big depression so the next chapter will come around much faster thankfully. Thanks to everyone for all the kind words.

Let me know what y'all think.

Ent out.

Review Responses!

fightingchampion: You know what they say, when all else fails... (I also really enjoy writing Broly and Konan.)

M: I don't know if naughty is the right word for what Konan is planning...

Guest: The story isn't finished quite yet. Barring something catastrophic happening to me or this website, this story is getting finished.

Isaiah Navarro: Back might be a strong word but I am actively working on this story.