Devil From The Heavens

Chapter 46: Honeypot

The Zetsu continued on its normal patrol as it had for the last year. They were in greater numbers now but its duties remained the same. Madara had expected resistance to his plans to come today but nothing had shown up yet. There was a movement of shadow but it did not flinch as a rat came out from the underbrush. It had become familiar with how things moved and knew what to ignore-

The Zetsu keeled over, its last thought interrupted by a sword through its head, and the Konoha Jonin caught its body. She let it down without a sound and swiftly pulled her weapon before continuing. Six teams, two from each village, moved like shadows through the forest. The tip of the spear. Five to assassinate Madara, one to save the remaining Jinchuriki, Naruto.

The battle proper would be started within ten minutes. They had to make as much progress to the hideout before the villages made their moves to begin the fight. Once things got chaotic, their enemy would be made less predictable and their chances of getting caught go up.

She signaled for the rest to keep moving but Hinata stopped the team moments after. There a flash of energy above and it was clear the Hyuga was focusing on it with her Byakugan. After a few seconds, the Sage made the decision to disregard it as a false alarm and prompted her team to move. There were Hybrids abound but nearly all of them were patrolling the skies above. According to reports from Mei's spies, they seemingly lacked the subtlety for normal patrolling and were easily avoided otherwise so they stayed up above to make better use of their abilities.

Hinata didn't know the shinobi she worked with. Anyone she did were still Chunin and weren't eligible. The power she'd gained was great but it left her lonely. She missed Kiba and Shino. They would've been perfect for this mission.

The Byakugan wasn't perfect and there were methods of escaping its sight. Holes that could be plugged by an Kiba and Akamru's heightened senses and Shino's Kikaichu. Maybe they could give her more information on that...thing at the center of the hideout. Like a dark star of suffocating violence, it was a volatile mix of ki and chakra that ate away at the natural energy that surrounded it. She could only assume that was Madara.

Their allotted time soon ran out. Ten minutes felt like seconds in this environment. The opening of the battle was loud. A multi-point encroachment that surrounded the Zetsu that guarded Madara's hideout. The Zetsu around Hinata's group raced away as all hell broke loose. The Hybrids rocketed out overhead and falling stars followed. Hundreds died within seconds.

The massacre was expected but seeing shining domes of eldritch power erasing unseen comrades put fear into her and her team nonetheless. Despite that fear, they moved on. They were shinobi on a mission.

Madara's sentries were clever with their unique abilities. That was Hinata thought as she spotted the Zetsus hiding underneath them. A couple taps of hers fingers and a near instant push of chakra and the two pale plant creatures were dead. That would've caught most others. Despite a few snags, and the loss of one of their group, their movement across the forest to the hideout had gone smoothly.

Nearly too smoothly. Resistance was waning as they got closer. Conventional wisdom would posit that it should grow stronger instead. Why did Madara leave himself so defenseless? Was he that assured of his power or was it a ruse for a trap? She drastically expanded the range of her Byakugan and a flood of information raced into her mind. A spike of pain hit her skull but she endured it.

There were pockets of Zetsu and Hybrids throughout the hideout. Any alternate routes were infested with them. It was a funnel. It'd be easy for her group to get surrounded once they entered through the easy path. One of Kumo's assassination squads found that out quickly as they were instantly overrun.

She felt Naruto through her Sage-enhanced senses just as much as she saw him through her Byakugan. He was thinner for his time there but he was alive. A huge weight was lifted off of her shoulders. The guilt that had threatened to crush her was quickly replaced with a dogged conviction that he'd see the sun today.

Besides Madara, there was one other notable chakra. One seething, full of hate, and snake-like in its readiness to strike. Sasuke. It took her a few moments to map out a path.

"I found a route. Follow me."

The coalition of villages fought with all they had. They had no other choice if their world as they knew was to live passed today.

With all but one of the Yamanaka dead, their most efficient way of communicating with a force so large was gone. Orders had to be relayed down from on high through short range ear communicators like a game of high stakes telephone. Between this and the immense firepower of the Hybrids, their advantage was quickly lost.

Madara's forces quickly turned from confident to arrogant and began indulging in their baser instincts. Bombardment from above soon became rare as the Hybrids chose to land among the ninja and brutalize them with their bare hands.

This allowed Kakashi's team to slip passed unnoticed. He slid out of the shadows, old ANBU instincts still as sharp as ever, and he wrapped an arm around a Zetsu just he stabbed it in the temple. The other fell as it was decapitated by his fellow ANBU.

He peered around the tree and signaled the rest of his team to move. Every second they took here, uncountable lives were taken behind them. Sacrificial lambs for their mission. This immense pressure is why he chose the team he did; he could count on them to take the time needed for success. Failure meant everyone died.

A white shape flew past his head and he ducked instantly. Another Zetsu, one he failed to detect, dropped dead next to his feet. Its face landed some inches away from its skull.

"Are you injured?" Konan whispered as a bloodied paper crane landed on her shoulder.

He shook his head and they continued on. Some of his initial concerns with the former Kage ebbed away as their infiltration continued. Ame's Angel was as lethal as her S-Rank denoted but she maintained a thankfully level head.

With the massacre occurring behind them, defenses on the inside were already loosening. As the minutes passed, they saw fewer and fewer of Madara's forces until they seemed to reach a break point.

"Odd, there are none left in our way." Konan's brows furrowed as she mentally maneuvered her paper butterflies around. "There's a clear path straight towards the hideout."

Kakashi glanced to his side and their sensor confirmed the kunoichi's findings. Why would Madara's forces leave such a wide open hole in their security?

"They're expecting us." He concluded quickly. "Our plans were leaked or he predicted we would try something like this."

The other ANBU glanced at each other with wariness. That meant their chances of success went down drastically. Not that they were high to begin with.

"This is a pretty obvious way of showing his hand. It would have been to his advantage to act ignorant to surprise us." One of the ANBU replied.

"He is not opposed to being directly confronted, it seems." Konan speculated though she did so with conviction. Despite her hate for him, Madara deserved the fear and caution they were treating him with. "Whether this is arrogance or confidence, I cannot say. I'm inclined to believe it's the latter."

The Copy-nin stayed quiet for a moment. Madara couldn't have possibly thought they would just go along the easiest path. It would be nice if he underestimated them so much but they didn't have the luxury of such luck. They would have to avoid this but that was the most logical next step for him to take and thus the last Akatsuki would most likely fortify the alternate paths with additional defenses.

"Hmm, what to do..." He glanced at Konan. Of course, they'd encounter a unique situation that suited her particular abilities. "How many of those butterflies can you make?"

If she was surprised by the question, there was no evidence of that. She replied as paper peeled off of her and self-folded. "Hundreds, if needed."

'She was ready for that question.' He idly thought. She was thinking the same thing. "See if you can map out a good route for us with them. For now, we'll be moving off of his path. Be on alert, Madara's prepared for us."

It took a few minutes but it was revealed he was half right. Outside of the red carpet Madara had laid out for them, there were more defenses but it was still far less than reports had initially made them believe. They were seemingly all in the hideout or out at the front lines.

"Sir, I've got a bad feeling about this. Where are all the Zetsu?" The ANBU to his right asked, unknowingly echoing his concerns.

"Konan, any new information?"

"The numbers of Zetsu are accurate but they thin out all the way to the hideout." The Angel of Ame answered. There was the slightest edge of uneasiness in her words which, for what he know of the missing-nin, meant she was very unsettled. "He does not strike me as so arrogant as to leave his hideout so unguarded."

"He lowered the gates to welcome us into the castle." Kakashi rubbed at his chin in a pensive manner. There was no time for waiting. "I guess we walk through."

His prison shook violently and Naruto was thrown off of his cot with a yelp. He quickly got up with a curse as he rubbed the back of his head. His guards were looking around seemingly as bewildered as he was. The confusion didn't last long as a sudden excitement overtook the two of them and they raced out

Leaving him alone.

There were precious few reasons why this place would be shaking. Something in his gut told him there was an attack on Madara's hideout. This meant there was a huge distraction and there was no better time for him to break out.

He grinned. "Ready, Kurama?"

The fox chuckled darkly. "Of course."

Naruto put his hands together in a seal just as the Kyubi's chakra erupted from him. The bars to his cell were blown clear off as dozens of clones raced out in every direction. Among the crowd, indistinguishable from the rest, Naruto shut off Kurama's chakra to avoid being too obvious as the real one.

Within seconds, clones started to be popped as they encountered resistance. That was frustrating, he thought he'd have a little more time before his clones were found. A couple Zetsu spotted him just as he rounded a corner. The clone next to him transformed into a massive shuriken that he grabbed and infused with wind chakra before he threw it at the Zetsu. Before they could raise an alarm, they were decapitated.

The clone transformed back and gave him a thumbs up right before a fist crushed its skull and popped it. "Shit!" He yelled as the Hybrid turned to his group. It raced at him, eyes crazed with bloodlust, as he put his hands together. Several dozens more clones appeared between him and the Hybrid but it sliced through them like a scythe before wheat.

The clones did their job however and confused the Hybrid enough to let him sneak out of the melee. Luckily, the clone he left in his cell finished meditating and popped itself. Nature chakra flooded his veins and he entered Sage Mode a moment later. He felt everything in the complex. Even the sneakiest Zetsu couldn't avoid his expanding senses. He cringed at the feeling of Sasuke's chakra followed by the quick deaths of a few clones. As much as he wanted to bring him back, his best friend simply wasn't the priority.

Too distracted by the clones, the Hybrid failed to notice his creation of a Rasenshuriken until he threw it at the pale thing. The Hybrid held out a hand and caught the massive jutsu and, for a moment, it was smug in its power. Naruto gave it a two-finger salute just as the technique exploded. Where the Hybrid once stood, there was an incredibly smooth carving of a sphere in the wall and ceiling and a mangled pair of legs. The blond Jinchuriki let out a sigh of relief. He knew the Hybrids were significantly weaker than the real deal so he had hoped his gambit would work. Otherwise, this would have been a very short escape.

That said, he couldn't use an unlimited number of those. He had to be extra careful of any more Hybrids. He refocused on his sensing.

'Kakashi?' He thought as he felt the Copy-nin's chakra along with others he failed to recognize around the complex. Another moment later and he nearly stumbled. 'Hinata too?!' Were they coming to save him or stop Madara? Either way, their help would be amazing-

Naruto stopped in his tracks. Natural energy, the very reason he was able to enter Sage Mode, was in all things both living and not. Even the rocks had it! But, at the center of this complex, there was an...emptiness. No, that wasn't the right word. Natural energy swirled around whatever it was but it disappeared within it. This wasn't some hole or a bottomless pit; it was a chakra so dense as to swallow everything around it.

It had to be Madara but what did he do?

He shook his head and went to where he knew Hinata to be. Once he found her, they can meet up with Kakashi. All of them together could put a stop to things.

Ape floated above Kumo. The first to fall today. With the sun to his back, they could not see him even in his golden glory. Any survivors would believe their gods struck them down.

There was an explosive anger at the order from Madara. There were hundreds of thousands of warriors right there but he, suffering as he was, was sent away with no outlet for his rage. Kidnapping the boy did nothing. It was Broly he wanted and the Saiyan would inevitably show up at that battle. It was obvious.

But Madara explained himself and the head was cut off from his fury. His leader did not explain himself; he demanded and you obeyed. This was a privilege he extended for Ape and the Hybrid knew it. Was it a loving hand to assuage his grief? Did Ape earn his place at Madara's side? This, his progenitor did not clarify. He listened with rapt attention all the same.

"He is not with them. Broly has abandoned his allies yet they still march here." Madara explained to him. "They would rather doom their children and their children's children to the pain you feel in your heart than accept change. You will be my judgement for their evil. Show them what happens when you fight against the inevitable."

His muscles swelled as his ki raced out of his body. The day became brighter still as he shone like a second sun. With a silent cry, hundreds of ki orbs shot out of him to the earth below. There were screams, he knew that, but none could be heard over the devastation. The bombardment didn't even last a minute.

When he finished, Kumo and several of its surrounding mountains had been relegated to myth. A legend that warned against defying gods.

Next was Kiri then he would finish Konoha.

Once all said and done, he would wait. Maybe the Saiyan will find his spine and fight him then. He'd rip it out and keep it as a trophy.

Madara sat on the air with his legs crossed. In his meditative state, he delicately moved six colorless spheres around his floating body. Ki and chakra lived in unison in his new flesh. Each had its own pathways, one layered on the other, within him but when the two joined outside, the results were...unstable.

But he was Madara. A prodigy of the highest caliber. The one who would save the world. From the moment he realized the incompatibility, minutes after he stripped away his previous self, he studied his power. He molded it into infinite shapes and ratios while the beast within, wild and rampaging, beat against its cage.

This inconvenience was nothing.

Madara reached out and every sphere converged into his hands. They melted and reformed into a Shakujo with six rings looped around its head. All the versatility of chakra and all the power of ki. A weapon to be used once and never again after this full moon.

The Uchiha felt the battle around him. It looked like his honeypot worked as half a dozen- no, scratch that, five squads were already approaching his hideout, Shinobi were nothing if not predictable. He would break them and display them for all to see. If their allies were smart, they would surrender and he would drag them into the new world whether they liked it or not.

Once they saw his peace, they would be pacified. They would know.

The very thought made his blood rush. Perhaps he would draw out his punishment. They would have the illusion of a chance before he would crush them. If he was lucky enough, they might even prove a challenge. Something to make him sweat before he won.

It drew a chuckle out of him.

Author's Note

The final battle has started. There won't be much play by play with the ninja forces because I find those kinds of sequences boring to read and write so we're getting straight into the meat of things.

Let me know what you think.

Ent out.

Review Responses!

Artful Lounger: I love the visual.

JohnnyJazz: The closest we've gotten was a brief appearance as a full-fledged Super Saiyan. Also, thanks for catching that reference, I was wondering if anyone would. Goku will not physically appear in this story.

DTLA1992: Cross your fingers for speedy work from Jiraiya. Based on this story, it'd make more sense if Hinata was Hokage with Sakura as her right hand given Sakura's lacking presence.

SilverJoJo: I won't fully confirm nor deny but I will say this is mostly on point.

Guest: I get the concern. Last chapter had a pretty fast pace as it mostly served as a reminder of where all our characters were right before the start f the fight. I'm confident you'll find the pace more agreeable once we get into the swing of things.