A/N:
Hello everyone. You still around? For some time now I have had this story finished. Just need to have my editor take a look at the chapters. 58 Chapters. Solid for my first work but I tend to do better with the HP Rewrite I am working on and also the next Naruto Story I am currently working on. So... I will be around for some time longer.
Enjoy!
PS: Still don't own a thing;
Kakashi had his eye trained on the Daimyo. It was like a web of Charka strings that lay around his head. If Kakashi had not known it better the Genjutsu was attached to the Daimyo but not one but many. So he ignored the others mostly and stepped towards the Daimyo. Tsunade tried to communicate but the Jonin would not stop before he stepped right in front of the Daimyo putting his hand on the forehead of the struggling and profanities at his head throwing daimyo. Kakshi needed to focus on the Chakra and his Sharingan was madly spinning as he released one layer after another. Both former and standing Hokage quickly caught up with his actions as did the Anbu. It took Kakashi around ten minutes of concentrated work before he was finished but right as the last layer lifted the former hostile Daimyo blinked owlishly. "What, why am I here?"
Hiruzen and Tsuande took over and started explaining. After half an hour of updating the Daimyo, he looked sheepish and like somebody caught doing something very foolish. "...yeah maybe I should not dismiss the ninja guardians after the first idea to do so, but everything felt right. The last days were more like a dream to be honest. Hiruzen what can we do now?"
The former Hokage looked at his student who gave him a short nod. "Well, we should hope to convince those generals of yours not to attack? Else we will have to take back the capital by force and that will be a very bloody affair. Not counting the problem that our Jinchurkii has suspended the service based on a valid contract and I get the feeling that if we do not stand by this contract we would have to fight on two fronts." He looked at everyone as Kakashi gave a small nod. Hiruzen was not finished though. "Tsunade it is your call. I would advise keeping Daimyo-dono here and secure and sending out some Anbu. Thanks to Kakashi we now know that all this abolishing the ninja thing is based on a big cue from somebody very well-versed in Genjutsu."
An Anbu landed right next to the reigning Godaime and whispered into her ear. The facial expression of Tsunade was enough to tell that something bad happened.
Tsunade took over and her voice carried through the office. "Get me Shikaku in here this instant. I have the feeling that we may have the start of a war coming right up. Call the patrols back and fortify the village. Also, we need to start evacuation procedures immediately." She looked at Hiruzen. "They have killed our messenger and claimed we took the Daimyo hostage, which would count as high treason, and are preparing their troops for a full-on assault."
Those words triggered many actions at once. Anbus vanished into thin air. A siren could be heard throughout the village and a minute later a panting Shikaku arrived. It took the leader of the Nara clan one look at the assembled people in the office to get a feeling for the situation. Looking at a Daimyo that had to be calmed down by Hiruzen Sarutobi. Kakashi looking quite battle-ready and attentive, Tsunade calling out orders at random people he had one word for the situation and a sigh to match. "Troublesome."
One big army of Samurai had made camp in a big clearing in front of the Konoha gates. The generals looked at one Shimada his expression hardened as he prepared a map on a table. "I knew those shinobi would cross us. That they did so by capturing and holding his highness hostage is despicable."
Shimada nodded gravely. "I had hopes that he could have done the unthinkable and reach a peaceful solution with Konoha but even I may fail in my predictions from time to time." He looked at the General. "We need to get our esteemed Daimyo out of this mess as soon as we can. I am sure they have already started to brainwash him. You shouldn't believe in anything he says from this time forward." Even if he had the feeling it was unneeded his one Sharingan spun madly as he looked at the General to reinforce his words.
The General nodded. Shimada had always been right in his prediction of the Shonbis way. He just hoped that his messenger would reach the capital fast enough to alert the rest of the forces. Even with his fearless troops, he could only lay siege to the mighty Konoha. The attack would need to wait for the moment the main army joined this forwarded assembled security force.
While Konoha prepared for the siege and the army did so too, Naruto and his team had arrived in the Land of Stones. With the old Tsuchikage gone and the village dealing with the power fallout and the new rules by their Daimyo, the team of three had neither trouble entering unnoticed nor establishing a forwarded base of operations.
They had demasked in their hidden and seal-enforced hideout and stood around the big map of the land of stones.
"Okay, our spies narrowed Orochimaru's movement down to this sector," Naruto said while drawing a square that was a quarter the size of the map. "Shisui, any insight on the shinobi activity?" The blonde-haired teen looked at Shisui who gave a small nod.
"I did get some of that. As we have already discovered, their borders are very open. Most patrols of the samurai forces are concentrated around the capital and in a ring around Iwagakure. I would make the bold assumption those samurai are just preparing to crush the remaining shinobi of Iwa. I mean I got all of that out of my aerial perspective. I may be wrong but it would match the reports of our spies." He said in a no-nonsense tone He was in his mission mode. Focussed and centred on the objective.
Naruto nodded and looked at Itachi. The older brother of their target looked into the distance before he looked back at Naruto. "Akatsuki is officially done for. Nagato and Konan have retreated to Amegakure. Kisame disappeared. Our masked man, Tobi, was not amused as was Zetsu. I believe they will maybe attack Amegakure soon."
"Cousin has one of my Kunai. If there is an attack I will know." Naruto stopped suddenly and closed his eyes. He blushed for a second before he opened them again with a sigh. "Hinata found one of my spy clones. It is looking like we are on a tight schedule gentleman. Konoha is under siege too. Those Hyuuga and their eyes." He looked back at the map before he returned his gaze to the two others. "I would have loved to do it a bit more quietly, but I have friends in Konoha and so we need to flush the snake out a bit more quickly as I had planned." He took out his pencil and marked different spots in the sector he had shown them before.
"I propose I will do some active sensing. With so few shinobi around his guards should stand out. Luckily I have our way of sensing figured out. No standard chakra suppressing works against that. Unfortunately, they will take notice if they are not completely braindead." Naruto explained.
"With our time limited, I have to say I don't like it but I see no alternative," Itachi said looking at Shisui.
The master of the Shunshin looked thoughtful for a moment before he looked at Naruto. "Could you put up a barrier or have a clone for us to intercept any of his henchmen peeking or even fleeing?"
Naruto returned Shisuis's look with one of his own. Unsealing his trusted notebook. He quickly leafed through the individual pages of the small, used-looking notebook. Most of the pages were scribbled with formulas down to the last free space. Mixed in with the odd interesting caricature of the Biju.
Suddenly he stopped and nodded slowly.
"I might have an idea. It would almost be a bit overkill and I might not be there for the first part of the attack on the base, but I've developed a new barrier that would fit perfectly."
The two ninjas looked at their team leader expectantly. It was Itachi who interrupted the pause with his usual rather emotionless voice. "Shisui and I can take the first part of the attack. How much preparation do you need and what can this new barrier do?"
Naruto scribbled a little on the map. Seven points were strategically placed on the map. He began to mumble something as he did so. "...Maybe I should go into sage mode here. The cost at the beginning is immense..."
Itachi and Shisui looked on and once again they just couldn't keep up as Naruto seemingly prepared his new barrier and became completely absorbed in the work.
"... Maybe 10 hours to the top? After that... Well actually, if I want to take clones for the start, then I would, no that would probably blow my mind..." Naruto still seemed to be thinking out loud.
"While it is very, interesting, to listen to your rumblings Naruto. I need an answer to my question. Will it help us contain Orochimaru and his men?" Itachi said in a voice that had some annoyance mixed in.
Naruto jumped as he looked up. He gave his foxy grin and nodded. "Yeah, I am quite sure that with the barrier in place, nobody with Chakra will escape. Good thing cousin Nagato and I talked about area sensing. With the sky cloudy as it is at the moment, a bit of drizzle should not tip them off."
The two experienced Uchiha could confidently agree. They continued to talk about their strategy and when Naruto finally explained that within the barrier, any person with the chakra capabilities of a classic academy student became a target for his Hiraishin, Naruto had even the sceptical Itachi on his side. They needed to prepare some more things but all three of them were motivated to their fullest to see this seen through. The snake would die.
Back in Konoha Tsunade looked at her assembled council. Not the usual one of clan leaders and civilians that would help her rule the village. No. This was a war council. Division Commanders, her teacher, and some of the heavy otters had assembled. Yesterday the main army arrived and while most civilians could be evacuated successfully some elderly still were in the village and needed protection. Not counting that they would not give up Konoha, a village that once stood as the end of a dark era and the beginning of a new one. Preparations had been made and defensive barriers raised. She looked at the assembled men and women.
"Well, this is it. They will attack soon. The messengers are on their way to inform the other Kage about the Genjutsu on our Daimyo." Tsunda had put on her old battle uniform, which to her amusement was quite snug around her upper body. All of them had put on the armor they had. It was a difficult sight to see Hiruzen Sarutobi in his black gear again.
Getting herself out of her inner musings she got back to addressing the room.
"I had hoped to avoid something like this in my time as your Kage. Minor border conflicts are okay but full-on war, yeah, I never had thought of it. Nevertheless, we won't bow down to this manipulator that managed to assemble that big of a force. Is the next generation prepared to do their duty?" She looked at Shikaku.
The Nara clan head gave a slow nod before he started in a calm voice. "While some of them are not approving to flee if we get overwhelmed they will obey your order Tsunade-sama."
The blonde woman nodded and looked at Iruka.
"You will join the last group and take the academy students and the fresh genin to the civilian shelters. Some of your fellow Chunin will accompany you." Iruka nodded at Tsunade's words. The woman was not finished though. "Any word on our possible reinforcement?" She looked at Kakashi.
The Jonin had his sword on his back and answered Tsunade with a small nod.
"I managed to reach everyone. Your friend is on his way back and will arrive in a day. Regarding the others. They agreed to leave those matters on hold for most of the time. Unfortunately, they could only give me vague information about their arrival. They are probably about to complete a long-planned operation. It sounded like they wanted to close a possible front before it became one."
"Good." Tsunade looked around. With one last intense look at everyone in the room, she collected herself before she began. "Go back to your stations. Impress upon your people that we have a marathon ahead of us. The winner will be the one who knows how to manage his strength better. Our enemy's troops feel no pain and ignore minor injuries. Our attacks must therefore be precise and deadly. All others are just a waste of valuable energy."
Her words had the necessary effect as the relevant people stood at attention for a moment before she dismissed them with a simple wave of her hand. Surrounded by her confidants and having erected a barrier for privacy, Tsunade allowed her shoulders to slump. "Am I doing this right sensei?"
Hiruzen looked at his former student. He could understand her. As someone who had already led through one war, those things were never easy. This time is even more complicated with a government using plant soldiers and taken over by some unknown force. The villages still not united would have a hard time fighting back. They would need to coordinate and lay down old grudges and this would be the biggest problem. It looked grim but they would endure.
"Tsunade. You did everything you could in the situation you were in. Now, we hope that the Will of Fire burns hot enough in all of us to take us through this."
The attack finally came in the middle of the night. Balists fired their spears against the barriers. This was followed by the first attacks of the samurai, who threw cuts against the wall and barriers with their swords. But shortly after the first wave, a single person stood on the wall of the main gate. The barrier was already battered after this first wave and had to regenerate. Dressed in black and holding a Bo staff, the former third-generation Hokage used two shadow doppelgangers and unleashed a firestorm that reduced an entire battalion of attackers to ashes. Followed by the cry of the defenders, the first counterattack of the ninjas from Konoha began. Again and again, they advanced and retreated to avoid being surrounded. However, the sea of attackers did not visibly diminish even after hours.
Groups of defenders fought against the samurai of the attackers in all directions. The viscous amber blood of the samurai flowed more frequently than the dark red of the defenders, but with each passing hour, the fighting continued. The wounded defenders were replaced by fresh comrades. Eventually, the supply of fresh defenders would be exhausted and then it would not be long before the defenders would begin to suffer losses similar to those they were attacking.
Black smoke rose from various areas. The smell of burnt earth hung in the air. Sakura and Hinata both had bloody hands. The green glow of medical jutsus enveloped their hands. Hinata also had her Byakugan active. Both women sorted incoming injured people in the triage system and used their skills for first aid. After the first waves, where Konoha still had the upper hand, those with the first injured followed. Shortly afterwards came the first strategic retreats. Now the flow of wounded no longer stopped.
Chunin who looked as if their wounds had been inflicted with teeth. Others were missing limbs, cleanly severed by blades. Not that this was a permanent injury. Tsunade's lessons brought with them many skilled healers. These med-nins and doctors were now busy reattaching those limbs, if any.
Sakura wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked at Hinata. "If this goes on, we'll soon be treating ourselves for chakra exhaustion."
Hinata gave her fellow sufferer a brief nod while she drew a certain kanji on her patient before sending him in the direction where he would be treated further. "I'm afraid you're right. I really hope Naruto can come and support us soon."
A hopeful nod from Sakura was all the interpersonal communication the two could manage for the next few hours.
Naruto was busy preparing his Jutsu. All three of them had put their masks back on and claimed their positions. Also, Naruto made the seven clones needed and they started the row of hand seals needed. Chakra build up in the air for a moment. Only the best of sensors would recognize the chakra used to manipulate the clouds in the sky.
Naruto had entered sage mode. His markings glowing and the red flame wings were a save giveaway of that. He had tried it without using sage mode first but he just noticed how big his reserves would be impacted without the use of sage chakra and stopped immediately. Now he had entered sage mode. If he was honest he had abstained from entering it beside his exercises. He had the strangest feeling that his body yearned for the nature charka if he did it too often.
However, the young man knew one thing very well. He would need this skill in the fight against Orochimaru. A deep rumbling began above him. The clouds slowly darkened and a gentle rain began to fall. Naruto, the real Naruto that is, was sitting in a special part of his seal formula. Flanked by two of his images, both holding Naruto's katana in their right hand.
This moment was the most critical. As soon as the individual raindrops began to form a regular pattern, the barrier was complete.
This would be the moment Naruto could activate the Tracing. Shortly after, the snake's men would fall. It took him half an hour of concentrating and channeling nature chakra into the jutsu. Continuously gathering and pumping chakra into the barrier or uses his wings to let it get back into his surroundings. Using his communications device Naruto informed his teammates. "Barrier going up in 3…2…1…now." At that very moment, the rain entered a regular pattern. It took him a good minute to sort the different signatures before he gave his orders. "Two of his to your right Raven. One to your left Crow."
Just short of half a minute later Crows voice came through the speaker. "Target eliminated."
Naruto noticed the signature going dark and also one of Ravens Contacts did go dark.
No further information came for over a minute. Then finally his voice sounded a bit muffled.
"Eliminated one and interrogated the others. We may have a problem. The compound goes deep underground. After we had base after base they retreated to their strongest here in stone. Hoping to throw us off in the land of Konohas Arch Nemesis. I advise that we should stay in position for now await the guard shifts and thin out the numbers. As long as you can hold the Jutsu Fox, we should use that advantage to its fullest before we go underground."
Naruto accepted his idea quickly. He wanted to train this jutsu either way. Nobody would get out unnoticed. He would see to that!
It took the team more than three hours to eliminate and interrogate enough guards to get a feeling for the defenses. The barrier was stable now and Naruto had joined the other two right at the entrance. "Alright, let's do this. We don't take prisoners. If we can, we will free prisoners though. I will provide the distraction. You go in and raise hell. If the snake comes out of his hole we strike him down fast."
Getting two nods, Naruto held out one hand as a Rasengan began collecting in the middle of his palm. Little rocks spun around the blue ball of chakra that darkened and got to a deep purple. Right after Corw and Raven disappeared into the base through hidden entrances they found before, the little rocks caught fire and looked more like little blocks of lava.
With a big smirk on his face, Naruto aimed and like a pitcher threw his Jutsu at the closed door. "Knock Knock Snakeface…"
The chakra ball hit something invisible right in front of the door but it shredded through the barrier only to explode with a big bang. Parts of the door melted in an instant as the high heat of the lava rocks expanded, while the Rsangan itself ground away layer after layer of protection in the blink of an eye.
In the bowels of the hideout Orochimaru and Kabut got shaken as just a second later one of the guards entered the room. "Security breach on many Levels my Lord."
The man in the body of Orochimaru looked at his guard with a look of anger and disappointment. "You don't think I can see that." Pointing at the claxon of noises and warning lamps flashing. "Fight them back you moron" He hissed before he looked at Kabuto.
His right-hand man understood his task without even one word spoken. Using some commands the monitor showed the image of one Warrior. The mask at the side of his face. With the black katana in its black sheath on his left hip, he looked bored at the camera. the blond hair with its red tips had been put into a warrior-like ponytail. Intense-looking black spirals of crimson looked straight back into the source of their picture. "Is that… Naruto?" Kabuto asked a bit in disbelief.
Orochimaru took a closer look. The red wings out of chakra were also new. It looked like his bingo book entry was not as exaggerated as he had thought prior. But his new body should give him the edge. He looked at Kabuto. "Secure the base. After that join me at the gate. I will deal with him myself." Another explosion rocked the base. Naruto was not alone it seemed.
"This will be fun. Kukukuku" The snake sannin chuckled before he vanished into the Shunshin flames.
Naruto felt him before he even saw the telltale signs of the Jutsu. Turning on the spot his sword was unsheathed and the metallic sound of metal hitting on metal echoed through the place. His Sharing eyes got wider as he took in the appearance of the attacker. It did not match the vile and corrupt feeling of the chakra signature he felt so he had only one word. Spoken with unhidden malice. "Orochimaru."
As they disengaged, for a moment the bespoken chuckled. "And greetings to you to Naruto-kun. I see you have done some growing up, haven't you? What do you say to my new body? I feel so powerful and finally and won't fall to those Uchiha parlor tricks." Orochimaru said as Sasuke's Mangekyou Pattern appeared. But it looked a bit different. Naruto was wondering where the snake could have gotten access to another Mangekyou. Seeing his frown the Snake chuckled. "Ahh. You are wondering where I got the upgrade right? Maybe I tell but first I will need to stop you. Little Sasuke is screaming inside his own body for you to run away you know?" He added with an evil smirk.
Naruto took a deep breath. His markings glowed and started to pulsate in a deep rhythm of drums that nobody could hear. "You…" He said looking at Orochimaru. "You will meet the Shinigami today."
"Awww. You don't want to hurt your poor friend's body, wouldn't you? The body that finally enables me to access everything I know." With those words, the exposed skin got scaly and much more white in the blink of an eye.
Naruto flinched as he could feel the corrupted way Oochimaru collected nature chakra. It felt like he had poisoned it before he took it in. Paired with the fact, that he had hopes that Sasukes mind was somewhere in there his emotions were running wild.
"Naruto. You know I don't like the Uchiha. But this thing took one step too far. Even I can feel the corruption. And I thought our Biju Chakra was corrupted. This, This thing feels outright disgusting. Keep a cool head and take as much chakra as you need. We can figure out how we can get your friend free after to put some seels on snakeface." Kurama said. Naruto, filled with an unshaken conviction nodded once.
The chakra around him formed a chakra armor. "You know snakeface. I would have offered you to surrender. Getting you out of this body, keep you as a pet in a nice glass tank before sending you to Shinigami-Sama. Now, I will give you pain you can't even fathom." Without further talking Naruto closed the distance. Untrained eyes could not follow the battle of blades that followed. The earth shook as both sages clashed. Quickly Naruto found out why this battle would certainly not be an easy one. Orochimaru was fast. In his sage mode paired with the Sharingan, certainly fast enough to react in time to his attacks. Also, the snake had one advantage. He could deliberately leave vital points unguarded. Naruto needed to focus on not hitting them by pure accident. The fight was on.
Back in Konoha, the fight had entered its second day. Craters and various columns of black smoke bore witness to the fighting over the last 24 hours. Countless corpses could be found on the various battlefields around Konoha's wall. While the numbers of the attackers had thinned out, the sheer superiority was still undiminished.
Kakshi was in the process of rallying his team of chunin and jonin for a charge when a cloud of chakra smoke appeared outside the gates of Konoha. For a moment, he thought his former student and teacher's son had arrived.
He quickly led his men across the rooftops and trees to the epicenter of the smoke. However, the smoke quickly dissipated and a person who looked familiar to many stood on Gamabunta's head. Sitting on the large scroll on his back were the two oldest of the toads. Kakshi's Sharingan saw even more than most.
Unlike usual, Jiraiya's features were not puffy and toad-like. His pupils looked similar to the toads' and were golden with a black bar. The yellow-gold kabuki-like makeup on his face was striking. Covering both cheeks and his eyes fixed on the attackers, the war veteran radiated a feeling that not only incited Kakashi but demoralized their opponents. It reignited the will of fire in the defenders. The battle was far from lost.
It wasn't long before Tsunade and Hiruzen appeared at his side. His former teacher nodded approvingly. Tsunade looked at him briefly and huffed. Her hair showed the stress and the blood on her armor indicated the challenges and battles she had already faced. "Did you have to take so long?"
Jiriaya looked slightly apologetic. "You know princess, I always try to get back as soon as I can, but this," he pointed to his eyes, "took longer than I thought. The last delivery to Amegakure wasn't as easy as I thought either. But now I'm here and ready."
Before Tsunade could say anything, Hiruzen cleared his throat, the former Hokage also had visible battle scars and pointed in the direction of the opponents. "While I applaud your accomplishments Jiraiya. We should concentrate on our opponent. A general that consists mostly of a kind of plant doppelganger."
Jiraiya nodded. "Of course sensei. Ma. Pa. Bunta. Let's show these idiots who's the best." While the two wise men just snorted, Gamabunta pulled out his tanto. Shortly afterward, devastating jutsu rained down on the opposing army.
On a hill and away from the fighting, the general of the armed forces looked to one of his non-commissioned officers. "It's time to release the prisoners," the general spoke calmly. Soon Konoah's joy at the reinforcements would fade as they were confronted with their sins of the past. All thanks to Mr. Shimada's foresight. Why not use the prisoners just like your disposable troops? Let the ninja exterminate each other. The prisoners had been promised reductions in punishment or even freedom. Of course, they wouldn't keep that promise. Even if it went against the general's code of honor, it was his master's orders. He would free the daimyo from the clutches of the ninja even if it cost him his last man. They would all pay for their betrayal.
In a room that seemed to consist of infinite nothingness, a person sat in a meditative posture while hearing another voice speak. "The battle has begun. Can you feel how it corrupts the energy of its surroundings before absorbing it? Find the spot! Feel it with your senses and use it to protect a part from being poisoned. Take it into yourself. Feel how much power it constantly uses, and then you will know what ratio you need. When you are ready, use your energy and the point to gain control"
The person was completely motionless until only his lips moved. "That will trigger the seal and push me back."
The voice without a body almost sounded like it was smirking. "Perhaps, but your friend needs one last impulse to help you throw off your shackles. While you could try to force yourself back. Without him, it would take you years to do so. You have trained long for this moment. As long as you want to get out of your prison the both of you are destined to find a way."
The voice was silent again and the mouth of the meditating person closed.