The Sun was slowly crawling up on the horizon. The light coming from it served well to brighten Naruto's already bright blonde hair. Madara's face, on the other hand, was slowly turning darker due to shadows that covered it.
"Zetsu... What is going on?" He finally asked, turning his head back toward the wooden prison.
The prison was empty.
"Nobody has escaped that prison before!" Hashirama thought as he frowned and started to get up from his chair, in sync with his old war buddy.
Madara couldn't get up from his chair fully as he felt a burning sensation in his chest. The coming gasps from the other side of the table were not a good sign. That hunch proved itself true when he looked down at his chest and saw a black hand going through it.
"Wha-What is the meaning of this?!" Madara shouted as he felt his heart crumbling in on itself, the hyper-awareness brought by the magnificent power of the Ten-Tails did not leave out a single nerve ending that was crying for help.
He didn't get a verbal answer. Instead, he felt a spark going from Zetsu's hand into his body. That spark traveled from his heart to his forehead, exactly at the center where the Rinne-Sharingan was fully open. When the spark turned into a flame that gave him the feeling of burning from inside. Then a shockwave burst out of his head.
Thousands of cocoons that were still acting as perfect beds for the people to dream in suddenly started absorbing the chakra of their tenants. Blue streams of potent energy rushed toward the trunk of the God tree from every direction.
The shockwave forced team seven and the four Hokage to hold onto their surroundings just to keep themselves standing where they stood. Not even Hashirama managed to keep standing and was forced back into his chair. The table and all eight chairs were completely still, however. They were made by the First Hokage, with their legs going straight into the trunk of the God tree. They would not budge that easily.
The ninth chair was forced into its place since Zetsu had to stab through it to catch Madara off guard.
Every second felt as if a millennium had passed and yet no matter how much chakra was absorbed by the Saviour of the world, nothing changed.
Nothing if we don't mention the scream coming from the legendary Uchiha. Compared to what he felt now, Agony would've been a blessing.
Despite it being the person responsible for this war, Sakura couldn't help but wince at the pitiful sight.
Then all at once the shock wave disappeared. This event was similar to the moment when Madara made fun of them just a few hours ago, Which gave Naruto hope that this would turn out the same way, but there was one clear difference. When the scream vanished, the man responsible for said scream vanished with it.
Zetsu didn't understand what happened and took his hand out of the back of the chair, to realize that he had pierced not one but two chairs. "But how?!" he asked himself and looked straight ahead to see the chair meant for Sasuke was not there anymore. What was there was one angry-looking Madara Uchiha.
"He's using Obito's powers, we have to split them apart Naruto!" Kakashi shouted.
"Yeah!" Naruto answered as he started glowing, made a Rasengan, and jumped straight at Zetsu.
Zetsu used Kamui and managed to trap him in another dimension. Before he realized Hashirama was standing on his right side and holding Obito's arm so tightly that he couldn't even budge.
"Universal Pull" was heard coming from Madara who was pointing his palm towards him, and just then Hashirama started pulling Obito to the other side while Zetsu was pulled toward the Rinnegan master.
Realizing what was going on and seeing the others coming toward him to help Hashirama, Zetsu decided that he could not win this fight against all of them and it was time to retreat. He started disappearing into the Kamui dimension. That's when he finally felt the true power of the Rasengan as his shoulder was hit from his escape route.
Zetsu had no choice but to disentangle from Obito to not take the full damage of the hit, and as a result, he had to use the last of his influence on Obito to pull himself back to the real world. Naruto also managed to return to the real world.
Hashirama managed to pull Obito out of Zetsu's grasp, and the black goo was finally pulled toward Madara when Sasuke helped out with his Rinnegan prowess.
"Ninja Art: Cage of the Crimson Light!" Madara said and pulled his hands together in a Dragon seal.
A transparent cube with a red hue formed around the space that Zetsu's fluid body occupied.
Madara put the prison on the table, pushing many of the plates out of his way, and looked at the disgust-filled eyes, with anger-filled ones of his own.
"Explain yourself!" Madara said in a calm tone but everyone felt the implied threat if he did not comply.
Zetsu was now caught in a prison that could only be broken by a massive strike made with the power of the Ten-tails, or so he estimated. Madara was weakened by the Call, but he still had near-infinite chakra. He could not run away. Not yet. He may as well talk and give Mother enough time to emerge, at least he hoped so.
Naruto and Hashirama laid Obito's unconscious body down on the wooden floor. Naruto motioned for Sakura to come and see if she could do something to help. She went to them and started scanning his body. Kakashi held Obito's upper body in his hands.
"For a man who thought that he was the only one, smart, powerful, and willful enough, to see the folly of this world and then try to correct it... You were laughably easy to manipulate." Zetsu began, watching straight at the two Rinnegan eyes "A man so full of himself that he thought he could create a physical manifestation of himself just because he was that good! What a fool!" Zetsu said with a gruff laugh. He took much delight in seeing how Madara's face clearly showed his mind being filled with confusion, disbelief, and despair.
In reality, the only feeling Madara felt was sadness, that same feeling he got when he lost his brother, that same feeling that pushed him to pursue his master plan.
"For centuries I planned to unite all Tailed-beasts and finally return freedom to the only person who truly owns all that chakra you so carelessly use."
"And who might that be?" Madara asked with clenched teeth.
The potency of his anger washed over every single person standing around him. That made it harder for Sakura to check all of Obito's vitals. Tobirama and Hiruzen stood directly on the opposite side of Madara and his prisoner. Hashirama and Minato were standing near Obito and others.
"I am glad you finally asked that. Took you long enough..." Zetsu answered, mocking the mighty Uchiha "I was trying to accomplish the will, not yours, but Kaguyas!" He then heard two sets of gasps coming from Uzumaki and the young Uchiha. "It seems that Hagoromo told you about Mother, didn't he?"
Madara looked at Sasuke, who was on his left and saw him nod. So did Naruto when Madara glanced his way.
"Then you know why all of these Chakra belongs to her. I am only trying to bring it back to her... Or rather, to bring her back to it!"
"That was your plan? Is that why we couldn't seal Madara away?!" Naruto shouted as he approached the table.
Once again Naruto made sense, Sasuke took note of that.
"And how is that plan of yours going, eh?" Madara asked sarcastically and suddenly the anger coming from him got that much more sinister.
The atmosphere around the table was thicker than Akamaru's fur in the middle of the winter. Everybody was tense and ready for escalation. Except for Naruto.
"The Infinite Tsukuyiomi broke down sooner than it should've. I didn't anticipate that. The power needed to kickstart her emergence was not enough. And... That tone is a bit much for a glorified puppet." Zetsu answered but couldn't observe even a tiny change of expression on Madara's face.
"Granny-Tsunade was the first one to break out of it, that made the whole thing crumble like a balloon bursts when you stab it with a needle, right?" Naruto asked as he walked over and stopped on the right side of Madara.
"Jutsu was broken by the first person who broke out from it, but it was not the Fifth Hokage."
"But how? I felt her scream and she was the first cocoon to fall." Naruto began and looked confused at the black goo. A moment later his eyes opened with surprise "Gai sense fell just a few moments after that... Was he the first?"
Hearing his eternal rival be named made Kakashi focus on the crimson prison.
Zetsu laughed "He does have the unshakable will, despite being a clown, but aside from that you need self-awareness, which comes with intelligence."
"Which is without a doubt Granny's second most defining quality." Naruto quickly added and didn't look away, or he would've seen the frowning eyes of Hashirama and Tobirama burning holes in his head. Kakashi and Hiruzen chuckled ever so slightly, and Minato simply scratched his head in embarrassment.
"I already said, she was not the first one and neither was the "Green beast" of Konoha. They have each of those qualities but they do not possess the third one." Zetsu explained "They did not have outside help." he finished with an ominous smile.
"I was... My clone was there messing with those cocoons for an hour, and I can swear she was the first one to break out from it. I even felt her screa..." Naruto said as he got closer to the cubical prison but was interrupted.
"That scream was not hers!" Zetsu spat with anger.
"Then who was it?" Sasuke asked not letting Naruto prolong his inefficient way of interrogation.
"I don't know."
"Of course, you don't." Naruto said sarcastically.
"It matters not who was the first, what's important is the outside help he got."
"Who helped him? Spit it out!" Sasuke commanded.
"Take a guess."
Everybody, except for Obito who was unconscious, and Sakura who was focused on her examination, immediately understood who he was referring to. Zetsu saw that and smiled.
"That's right. The outside help was much more... Literal than you might've thought." Zetsu explained.
"So... let me get this straight." Naruto began "The first one to break out of the Infinite Tsukuyomi was helped from out of this world, by your mom..."
"Kaguya!"
"Your mom, named Kaguya." Naruto took the correction "And all of this" He motioned around himself and pointed out the battlefield with many craters and an approaching army from the north "Happened because you wanted to?"
"Free her from her bindings." Zetsu answered.
"And she helped kickstart the end of the dream from her current... prison?"
"That's right."
Naruto looked around, first at his dad, then toward Jiji. The First and The Second shared confused faces. He couldn't read what Kakashi's eyes were saying, and Sakura had her back turned toward him. When he looked at Sasuke, and then at Madara he was sure that he wasn't the only one.
He took his right hand and scratched his chin in a thinking man's pose.
"How does that make sense?" He finally asked as he returned his attention to the imprisoned goo. "You orchestrated all of this just so you could bring her back and she stopped the very thing that would've done that... Why?"
"All I'll say is that without her this world is dead."
"What does that supposed to mean? Is she supposed to save the world?"
"YES."
"From what?" Naruto asked but did not get an answer. "That's what I thought. You are playing games. How is she supposed to save anybody by imprisoning them and taking their chakra away?"
Zetsu did not answer.
"You changed the message written on the Stone tablet?" Madara asked.
"I did."
"What was written on it before?"
Zetsu scoffed and said "Words similar to his mumbling." as he pointed toward the blonde. "He intended people to use chakra to understand each other by sharing their feelings, but" he paused as he laughed "People started doing anything, everything but that. He was a fool, just like you, but at least he was a fool on his own accord."
Madara smiled.
Sakura finished her scanning jutsu. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and with a somber face said "He will not survive for long. There is nothing I can do. I'm sorry."
Kakashi simply nodded. He did not show any sign of sadness, but his heart felt as if somebody was squizzing it with reckless abandon.
Naruto ran toward Obito and pushed his right hand on his heart. Nothing happened. Then he pushed his hand on his belly. Still nothing. Then he put his hand on Obito's eyes. Nothing.
Frustrated, he punched the floor beside his leg, making a sizeable dent in it.
"You use the Six Path's power to heal. Since he had the Ten-Tails sealed inside him, that may be blocking your ability to cure him." Tobirama guessed.
Naruto's shoulders slumped as he got up without turning toward the table.
"A pitiful end to a pitiful life of a vermin, eh Madara?" Zetsu asked.
"Do you have any last words?" Madara asked in return.
"I Fought, I lost and now I rest but..." Zetsu began and sighed as he continued "What will you do? What will you do now that you know the truth? Are you even capable of making a decision without me?" He chuckled "I really doubt it."
Madara showed no emotion. He was still smiling, even with his eyes, it looked genuine, and since it was a genuine smile of Madara Uchiha, it was more terrifying than reassuring.
Naruto and Tobirama sensed grief exuding from Madara's whole being. Both of them questioned what was he grieving, surely he didn't care for Obito? Right?
"Do not worry dear Madara, No matter how much you try, no matter what you do, your life will never come back. Even with all of that power, you will never be able to right your wrongs. You will be remembered as the world's greatest puppet." He said and took great joy in the feelings of despair that took hold of Madara's heart. "Your legacy is dead, and when you vanish, so will your impact on this world. Think about that as long as you like." He said with a triumphant tone.
"At least he had a brother who loved him and a friend to depend on, even for just a small part of his life." Naruto said, as he turned towards them and approached the table.
Zetsu scoffed at that and didn't even think of responding to it.
"Should I burn him with Amaterasu?" Sasuke asked and Madara shook his head.
Instead, he clasped his hands together and summoned a giant head of the Shinigami. It emerged just behind him and opened its mouth wide.
Zetsu started to panic. He could survive anything, but if he was thrown to the god of death, he wouldn't be able to return from it. That's why he acted as if he accepted his defeat just a moment ago, but now...
"You think this will change anything? Do you think by getting rid of me things will get better? You are hopelessly wrong!" Zetsu screamed as Madara turned one of his Truth seeking orbs into a claw and grabbed his prison.
"At least the world will have one less problem to worry about." Madara said with a smile and threw the prison into Shinigami's mouth.
Just before he was consumed by it, with his voice shaking and sounding just like the voice of someone crying his heart out, Zetsu managed to scream one last thing "Kaguya will still return, sooner than you realize! Only she can save us from...!!!"
His last word dissipated as he was engulfed by the Shinigami. As it closed its mouth and slowly descended whence it came from, Madara finally showed his pain and almost fell to the floor. Naruto was fast enough to grab his hand and pull it over his head.
Only now could Naruto sense the agony Madara was in. His chest was healing very slowly, but the current pain was not physical.
"What's wrong?" Naruto asked.
"I sense it. Their pain, the pain of every person that was trapped in that damned dream!" Madara answered and made Unison sign with his hands.
Light shot up from Madara and engulfed the world in a flash. With that, every cocoon opened, all around the world. The Infinite Tsukuyomi has ended.
Still barely standing, even with Naruto's help, Madara slowly turned toward his old friend.
"Hashirama... Where did I go wrong?"
The First Hokage approached them and after a moment of thought, he said "I distinctly remember... The very first time you made fun of me for getting easily depressed." He said as he locked eyes with him "That was it."
For the first time in almost seven decades, Madara chuckled at his friend's words.
"It is not right to ask where, instead you should ask when." Hashirama continued "You went wrong then, and I went wrong just a few years later when I thought that the will of fire was good enough for the village." He sighed deeply. "It was enough, but the problem was that the rest of the world is still there." he said with a wide smile.
At that moment Obito started to shake around. He was slowly waking up for the last few minutes of his life. He did not open his eyes yet.
"I failed just as much as you did" Hashirama continued. "The only advantage I have are the people willing to take that failure and make something better out of it. That's what I hope will happen." He said as he pointed toward the Hidden Leaf Shinobi army that was coming closer and closer to the trunk of the god tree, with her granddaughter leading.
Madara nodded slowly as his friend spoke, but did not say anything after he was done.
A simple scoff made them turn around. Two war buddies and Naruto looked at the one who made that sound with questioning eyes.
Sasuke was standing with his arms crossed. "The true Hokage does not sow dissent in his people," he said as he glanced at Tobirama "He does not let innocent people die in their sleep just to keep his title." he added as he glanced at Hiruzen. "True Hokage takes all the burdens on himself, no matter what."
"No man, no matter how powerful, can manage to do that." Hashirama replied.
"Maybe you couldn't." Sasuke retorted. "A true Hokage would make peace in this world by making people focus all of their hatred on him."
"A Hokage of the world." Madara said and looked at Hashirama. All at once they burst out laughing.
That laugh was even more unnerving than Madara simply threatening to kill you, but Naruto and Sakura managed to keep themselves in check.
"That was exactly what Obito proposed the moment I told him about the suffering of this world and how I was going to end it." Madara said as he wiped a tear from his eye with the hand that was not used by Naruto to keep him standing. "That would simply take the problem of the Hidden Leaf and expand it onto the world. If a village let one of its clans die, The world might let a nation die so that others survive, or so that the "peace is kept". How is that better in any way?"
"Even so, what alternative is there? Just let it be how it is? Change it ever so slightly and hope things don't go as badly as they always do?" Sasuke replied, making sure he didn't show irritation at the mockery of his idea. He honestly wanted to hear a good solution to his problems, even if he seemed very confident in his convictions. "At least my plan could stop great wars from happening."
"Great wars were not a problem during my time either, all you do is just turn back time." Madara replied.
"I can't hear you offering anything better." Sasuke offered in annoyance. "You're the man who pursued his goal without having thought it through. How come you are so skeptical of someone else's plan so easily?"
Madara laughed once more.
"A defeat has a way of swiftly showing you where you went wrong." He began. "You might've seen the black goo who tried to trick me into ending humanity as we know it. That ought to make you skeptical, don't you think?" Madara finished with a wince as one more strand of cells swung from the upper side of the round-shaped hole to the bottom. It looked like a spider's web, but with human cells.
"True! I know that from experience." Naruto started and for the first time in a while, he felt hopeful. "Learning from mistakes I mean. We could help people understand each other. If we can help people and give them opportunities to carve out their lives as they want, That should make things better for everybody."
"How would that stop another great war from happening?" Sasuke asked.
"Why is a great war necessarily bad? Couldn't there be a reason for the great war to be good for the world?" Naruto asked with a sly smile.
"Like what?" Sasuke asked showing his full annoyance at the stupid idea.
"Oh let me think... What if somebody acquired a powerful weapon and tried to use it to make every person on the whole planet go to sleep? Rings a bell doesn't it?" Naruto said and looked at smirking Tobirama and Hiruzen who were standing just behind Hashirama. Then he felt a chuckle vibrate through his body and saw Madara shaking his head "No offense."
"None taken... But much deserved." Madara replied.
"To make sure that unnecessary violence is avoided and no innocent blood is spilled, we have to make changes to the whole village." Naruto began as he locked eyes with his best friend. "One of Shion's scrolls from the guy named "Hippo" had very interesting ideas. No war unless all other ways of solving the conflict are exhausted. War has to have a direct purpose and that purpose has to be better than the status quo. There are a few other steps, and those steps could also be scaled down for individual Shinobi."
"The Just War Theory?!" Hiruzen asked with widened eyes.
"Yea-Yeah, I'm 85% sure that is what it was called, why?" Naruto replied and saw the look Hiruzen gave to his predecessors.
"The Fourth Hokage was studying that document intimately. We were planning to implement those doctrines into our system, but..." Hiruzen said with a somber tone.
"But what?" Naruto asked.
"The Nine-tails' attack and the Fourth's death stopped that from happening." Hiruzen said.
Madara looked toward the west, right at the last remaining star still visible on the horizon, and sighed deeply.
"That's okay, it means that somebody smarter than me has also thought that its a good idea! We can even make agreements for the shinobi reform right now." Naruto said with excitement. "It won't be perfect, nothing ever is..."
"But it's a start." Sasuke finished his friend's thoughts. Naruto smiled and nodded.
"We will have a lot of work then." Came the voice of the Fifth Hokage.
"Granny-Tsunade! What took you so long?!" Naruto made Madara turn around and looked at his leader with excited eyes.
The five Kage were now assembled right in front of the table. Their personal guards were standing close by. Army stood all around the trunk of the god tree.
Seeing the enemy, namely, Madara Uchiha looking frail and leaning on Naruto to keep standing was a surprise for every single one of them. The giant hole on his chest, that was slowly getting filled up, just added to the shock factor.
Glances were shared as if it was a competition. Naruto guessed that Madara would be the target of everybody's hateful eyes, and that was mostly true. But seeing one set of black eyes focused solely on his father, coming from a frail-looking girl, was a surprise to him. Sure, Tsuchikage also glanced more than once at the Fourth Hokage, as did the Raikage, but their glances showed more emotions. The girl's stare was filled with hate and hate only.
He only stopped staring at her when she saw him and looked at him, at which point he decided that maybe he could investigate that later. Right now he still had a job to do.
"Before you ask, Madara was the one who ended the Infinite Tsukuyomi and is not planning to restart it any time soon. Right?" Madara nodded to confirm Naruto's words. "The whole plan was made by Zetsu, that guy who looked like a goo. He wanted to bring his mother back, he called her the..." He scratched his head.
"Progenitor of Chakra." Madara helped him out.
"Right. If he was fast enough, Kaguya would be brought back by sucking all of the Chakra out of all of us." Naruto added and saw the shock on their faces, some of them looked more skeptical, but that was to be expected. "We didn't let him do that, as you can clearly see." He finished as he motioned around himself.
There were many signs of struggle. A burn mark on the floor where the head of the Shinigami was summoned. Two chairs awkwardly sitting on top of one another with a hole in their backs. The table stood firmly, but on one side the plates and different kinds of foods were scattered on the floor.
"Madara has... Surrendered?" Tsunade asked with a raised eyebrow.
Naruto looked at Madara and he looked back at him.
"We... err..." Naruto began looking for the right words and then with a snap of his fingers he said "We called it a draw. A mutual surrendering."
Madara's smile both confirmed his words and sent shivers down everybody's spine.
"That's good to hear." Tsunade said and motioned for the two of her Shinobi to bring the lower half of a body forward.
"Just put it here." Naruto said and they did so. "Thanks Shikamaru, Chouji! I'm glad you're both fine."
"Likewise Naruto. You're not under his control, right?" Shikamaru asked.
"Nope. What would he gain by controlling me anyway?" Naruto asked in return.
"Just checking."
"You have to tell us everything that happened while we were in that dream!" Chouji said and leaned in very close to Naruto, completely ignoring the confused eyes of the Rinnegan master. "I expect a very good reason for wasting all of that good food." Chouji said with a terrifying voice.
"As soon as all of this is over. That's a promise!" Naruto answered promptly.
Chouji nodded and joined Shikamaru as they returned back to their places, just behind the Fifth Hokage.
"What are you going to do with that?" Madara asked.
"I'll show you, gimme a second." Naruto answered and for a few seconds, he looked in the distance.
Inside Naruto's mind, the giant fox was sitting in a lotus position with his eyes closed.
"How much longer Kurama? Everybody is waiting for us."
Kurama didn't answer and continued to meditate. Why does he have to be complaining all the time?
"It is done, he will appear soon." Kurama finally spoke after he opened his eyes.
Excited, Naruto started jumping around with fists above his head. "I knew you could do it! Good job!"
"Of course, I could do it, I am the mightiest of the Tailed-beasts!"
"That's what I said."
"No, it wasn't." Kurama said and felt a familiar presence he longed for centuries. "He's here." Naruto nodded and with a thumbs up, he disappeared.
Back in the real world, Naruto saw the smoke start coming from the lower half of Madara's body. Soon the smoke turned into a light blue chakra field. A few seconds after that the silhouette of a man emerged from it.
Sakura, who was standing beside her sensei was not hiding her shock. The rest of the audience was in no better condition. Opened jaws were abundant. Raikage looked like he saw a ghost, which was not that far from the truth, Naruto thought.
It took a full minute for the man, who looked suspiciously like a goat, to look around and find the man who summoned him.
If his furrowed brows were any indication he had some questions.
"I must say, I did not expect this outcome." He began "But as long as it is done, I have no right to complain."
"If we knew that the sealing jutsu would work only on Kaguya, that would've been helpful." Sasuke voiced his complaint.
"It was supposed to work on any Ten-tails Jinchuriki. I am sorry, I do not know why it failed." Hagoromo answered, "Am I to assume that you dealt with Zetsu?"
"He has been sent to the Shinigami, Yes." Madara answered.
Hagoromo was looking at the legendary Uchiha with uncertainty. Naruto could guess the reason why but he was not entirely sure.
"That's good to hear."
"He said that there are other ways for Kaguya to come back, is that true?" Naruto asked.
"I fear that could be true. It could also be a way for him to keep you on your toes for as long as you remember the possible threat." Hagoromo answered. "But if the easier way of bringing her back was all of this..." He motioned around himself "Then any other way must be much more... Destructive."
"The Stone tablet, what did you write on it?" Madara asked.
"The way for the people of this world to share each other's pain and bear it together." He began and saw Madara's eyes first widen with shock and then fill with sadness. "Though, when you finally became able to read it, the tablet was fully transformed to suit Zetsu's plans."
This confirmation was a relief for Naruto, Granny-Tsunade might've disregarded his words for whatever reason, but she couldn't deny the Sage of the Six Paths.
"All is well that ends..." Naruto began with a sigh but he couldn't finish it.
"You knew the Stone tablet was changed and did nothing to warn me?" Madara asked with rage-filled eyes.
"I knew of Zetsu's actions and there was not much I could do to counter it. Even if I could, knowing what I know now, the possible outcomes would be less satisfactory than the one we have now." Hagoromo answered.
"All of this is just probability statistics to you?" Madara spat with gritted teeth. Naruto thought that if he was not holding him, the Rinnegan master might've lashed out at the Sage.
"I have a path to follow, it never gives you the chance to save everyone. Helping the most number of people was always my goal, as it was yours, even if it meant letting one man destroy his life and cause many other people to suffer. If I was given the chance, I would have done the same thing." Hagoromo said and smiled. Looking toward the four Hokage, he examined their faces and saw much sadness in the yellow flash's eyes. "It is time for you to depart."
All four Hokage nodded.
"What of me?" Madara asked, still angry but knowing that he couldn't change his past no matter how hard he tried.
"You are alive as far as anyone is concerned, do with that what you will." Hagoromo answered as he started to form hand seals to release the summoned souls of the first four Hokage.
"That's awesome! You could have a new life, a second chance. I bet you have tons of regrets, you could unregrett all of them." Naruto shouted making Madara wince since their heads were side by side. "I'm sure you would be a great help for the Shinobi reform and whatnot."
Hearing that caused Raikage and Tsuchikage to exchange some words that didn't reach Naruto's ear. If their faces were any indication, they were skeptical of that idea.
Behind, he felt his friend move to the edge of the trunk, looking straight at the sun that was crawling upwards more and more. He couldn't guess the exact emotions he felt, but happiness surely was not one of them.
"As much as I would like to do so... I can not."
"Why not?" Naruto asked with narrowed eyes.
"Firstly because I already lived my life and living in a new world, where I do not belong would not be the right thing to do." Madara said and was cut off.
"That's why it's called a second chance..." Naruto mumbled.
"And secondly," Madara said while ignoring Naruto's words. "There is something I have to do and doing it will not let me continue living."
Naruto was about to ask what he meant by that. He felt the five Kage and their entourage stiffen. He almost forgot that he was not holding one of his buddies, but the cause of the Fourth Great Ninja war. Still, that did not matter to him. What did not let him ask for elaboration was the clap of hands coming from the Sage of the Six Paths.
"Do you have a Yamanaka in your army still?" He heard Madara ask. He nodded and looked straight at Ino who looked terrified. "It won't take long, I just need a few moments."
Tsunade motioned for the young girl to approach the duo and she did so. When she got close enough Madara lifted his free hand and Ino moved away on instinct.
"It's okay Ino, You can touch me instead." Naruto said and gave out his free hand instead. Ino put her hand on his forehead and nodded to let them know she was ready. "What now?" He asked as he looked at Madara. He had his eyes closed.
"I, Madara Uchiha, spent my life chasing one goal, to free humankind from this suffering pain, and futility. I accomplished that goal... and I failed by doing so." Madara began telepathically talking to every person who could hear on the whole planet, he managed to expand Ino's powers by a thousandfold. "I was used as if I was a puppet and I was led to do things that I would not have done if I knew the truth. That does not take away my wrongdoings. There is not a single punishment that would be enough to make me pay for what I've done. At least not in this life."
Hearing the target of the Fourth Shinobi World War speak in their heads while admitting his faults was a different kind of surprise to everyone who was not standing on the trunk of the god tree.
Ino's forehead was slowly filled with visible veins, and Naruto nudged Madara to let him know that he did not have much time. Madara saw that and nodded.
"One young man, Naruto Uzumaki, managed to make me see things that I could not, or did not want to see before. Thank him and his friends for the outcome of the war. And to all of you who suffered because of my actions... I am sorry. I know that a simple sorry will not bring your loved ones back, but I know what will. Thank you for deciding to protect Naruto instead of letting me do as I pleased."
Naruto saw the jaws drop to the ground one after another and he couldn't help himself but smile.
"The War has ended, be afraid of Peace." Madara said and made Naruto step away from the girl's hand.
"Thank you Ino. You can go now." Naruto said and, now free, Ino returned to where she stood a few moments ago.
Then he felt Madara moving hands of his own for what he guessed was the Rinne Rebirth jutsu.
Seeing Hashirama walk up to his granddaughter and hug her while saying "Do not worry, they are fine." made Naruto understand what was about to happen. He figured that the only reason why Tsunade didn't break down crying was that the Hokage must never show weakness, even to his allies.
Internalizing what was about to happen, Naruto turned toward his dad and saw his tear-filled eyes. He didn't even know what he was going to say.
Madara continued to weave his hand seals. Tobirama and Hiruzen consoled the Konoha shinobi and gave their last words to them.
His eyes were also filled with tears and yet he couldn't find the right words.
The aetherial light engulfed the four Hokage and the other Kages that were sealed earlier by the Allied Shinobi Forces also appeared around the trunk of the god tree. The Raikage and Bee waved at the third Raikage. Tsuchikage nodded at his predecessor, as did the Mizukage.
Gaara and his siblings managed to hug their father, who appeared on the opposite edge of the trunk. As much as he was the cause of much of their suffering, they were still a family. A family that would break once again in just a moment.
"I promise you, that I'll tell Kushina everything." Minato said and finally gave his son something to say.
"Tell her not to worry!" Naruto began as he was filled with inspiration. "I-I am eating properly, lots of different stuff. I am not picky. Like I'll have tonkotsu ramen, miso ramen, and sometimes I even have shoyu ramen too. Oh, but I don't only eat ramen though, I swear!"
He felt the stare of his best friend upon him, even at a moment like this when all he could think about was the loss he was about to experience, he still couldn't ignore the pain coming from him.
"I bathe almost every day, even going to the leaf hot springs every once in a while. Although everyone tells me that my baths are lightning-quick dips. Heh... Haha..."
Naruto felt the attention coming from all directions. Other Hokage were watching with somber faces, his friends, both from Konoha and from other nations.
He even felt the stare of Orochimaru and Kabuto. Considering their past encounters he hardly believed they had an ounce of empathy left in them. Turns out, they did.
That black-eyed girl was now staring at him and not his father. That was weird. What was even more baffling was that her emotional state was as calm as an iron pot left on the stove for the whole night.
All of these thoughts were rushing in his head at lightning speed, but they were vanishing just as quickly.
Every new thought was replaced by the immense weight of losing his father once again.
He also saw Granny-Tsunade and Sakura standing side by side. Seeing those two start to tear up made his breaking heart go through a meat grinder, even if the cause of their tears was his goodbye...
"Let's see... what else, what else? I've managed to make a whole lot of friends. And they're all really good guys! And well..."
All at once, he couldn't see his dad and thought that he couldn't finish his goodbye, which broke his heart even more than he ever thought possible.
But the sudden feeling of being lighter made him wipe his tears and look around. He was standing at the edge of the trunk. Madara was not there.
He turned around and saw Sasuke standing where he stood just a moment ago. That was weird. The only difference was that instead of using Madara's arm to keep him standing, he had stabbed his right hand through his chest.
Madara did not scream, but he winced in great pain. The subsequent shockwave shook the earth and pushed everyone back.
"Sasuke what are you doing?!" Naruto asked as he got closer and closer to the epicenter of the shockwave.
"Exactly what he said he was going to do." Hagoromo answered.
"Huh..?" Naruto exclaimed.
Sasuke ignited his Susanoo around himself, stopping anyone from getting near him.
Slowly the power of the Ten-tails was absorbed into him. He made his Susanoo grab Madara's dead lower half. He brought it in his field of vision and with one thought "Amaterasu" he burned it to completion.
Naruto could barely understand what was going on, his dad was still here, but the Sage of the Six Paths was now gone. He ignited his chakra cloak and started using his considerable power to reach Sasuke.
When he reached the Susanoo, he punched it with all of his might and left a dent in it but that dent fixed itself as more and more chakra was absorbed by Sasuke. Then Hashirama appeared on his right, and Tobirama to his left. The first two punched the armor again and left a dent, but this time Tobirama managed to throw Kunai inside the Susanoo.
Sasuke saw that and replaced the invading Kunai with Suigetsu who realized what happened and got into a fighting stance in case they managed to get in. They did not. Susanoo healed itself again.
Naruto didn't know what to do. He locked his eyes with Madara's.
"Farewell Naruto. I'm sorry I couldn't bring everybody back..." Madara shouted, barely making it loud enough for the four Hokage and Naruto to hear. "I'll see you soon Hashirama, the drink is on you." He added. His pale skin returned to normal, his Rinnegan eyes shattered and he was forced to close his eyes. Just before he felt his life force drain fully, he turned his head forward at the man who was stabbing his chest. "All that visual prowess and you are still too blind to see... He he he... Just like... me."
With those last words, Madara's spirit ran out. Sasuke took his hand out of his chest and let the body hit the floor.
"Amaterasu" He spoke and in an instant Madara's body was engulfed with the black flames. Soon there was not even a trace left of the Legendary Uchiha.
The shockwave slowly subsided. Out of the cloud of dust and debris emerged the purple giant. In the head of said giant stood Sasuke, now with pale hair and paler skin. He had become the Jinchuriki of the Ten-tails.
"Listen closely, I will not repeat this again." Sasuke began, his voice enhanced by the Susanoo. The entire battlefield could hear him loud and clear. "Reanimated Hokage's leave, Every other Kage dies quickly and without pain, Then everybody goes back home, peacefully, and waits for further instructions. Otherwise, anybody who goes against me dies."
This ultimatum caused an uproar around and on the trunk of the god tree.
"How dare you order us around and demand our heads!" Raikage shouted, his voice rivaling Sasuke's without being enhanced.
"We fought this war to protect the Jinchuriki, What makes you think we will let you kill our leaders?!" Temari shouted next, anger overflowing with every word. She would not let anybody take Gaara away from her, not again.
Other Kage's were in agreement and if the cheering of the Allied Shinobi Forces was any indication, they had the same idea.
Naruto, standing closest to the Susanoo, with the four undead Hokage, was looking up at his best friend and was waiting for his response. Things did not look good.
Jugo and Karin standing side by side behind Orochimaru looked at each other. They did not know what to do. Their leader was threatening to kill anybody who did not do as told. Their previous leader stood in front of them and did not move.
"Just remember, You had the chance to leave peacefully."
Sasuke's booming voice shook the battlefield once again. He observed the faces of many people he once called comrades. Every single one of them was standing in a fighting stance. The Five Kage were looking up at him with different emotions in their eyes. Anger and outrage were common ones. The four Hokage did not share those emotions. Instead, they were looking at him with... disappointment?! Fools. They couldn't do anything against him. None of them could.
None except for one.
Naruto saw Sasuke look at him directly in the eyes and take a deep breath.
Within an instant, the Susanoo manifested a giant sword and swung it across the trunk of the god tree. This strike split the trunk in two and combined with the powerful wind, forced the people on it to jump back on the ground.
Sasuke looked to see if his attempt of taking out his only fear was successful.
Seeing a transparent bright orange fox looking at him with angry eyes confirmed his suspicions.
Naruto in his Kurama avatar stood along with the First and the Second Hokage in the head of the fox.
"If he's going to start killing without restraint, we have no choice but to lure him away from this battlefield." Hashirama said.
"Minimizing the damage he's going to cause and thinking of a way to take away his power is our objective." Tobirama paused and then added "And if killing him is our only choice we have to take it."
Naruto gritted his teeth "I know just the place." he said and locked eyes with his best friend again. This time he showed the feeling Sasuke has not seen in his friends' eyes... ever. "Let's go Kurama!" Naruto shouted with a maniacal smirk.
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto shouted and all around the battlefield dozens of giant foxes appeared.
The original Naruto created a black sphere with a fox's mouth and aimed it straight at the Susanoo. Sasuke saw that and with one swing of its wings, the giant armor was now flying hundreds of meters into the air, Just barely missing the Tailed-beast bomb.
When the bomb flew just under Susanoo's feet, it got hit from all directions with smaller beast bombs that came from the clone avatars. The force of the explosion sent the original black sphere upwards and the moment it scraped the Susanoo's feet, it exploded.
The armor blocked most of the explosion, but the smoke it created gave Naruto an opportunity he could not miss.
Grabbing the Susanoo with its legs, the giant fox swung it around and threw it west. The force with which it hit the ground left a sizeable crater underneath, but thanks to its durability, both Sasuke and Suigetsu were fine.
"Anybody who can still fight, take defensive positions, and wait for an opening. Everyone else help the injured and take them away to a safer place." Tsunade ordered and fellow Kage's repeated similar orders to their Shinobi. She turned to see the purple giant aiming an arrow straight at them.
The giant arrow flew toward the Allied Shinobi Forces with such speed that the air around it started to break, leaving visible waves in its wake.
Sasuke detected a small weapon land at his armor's feet. "A blunt Kunai? Really?"
When the arrow neared its destination Naruto activated the defensive chakra cloak on everybody within his reach. Each ninja now had an orange-tinted protection barrier around their bodies.
The horizon distorted itself as a hundred and forty-eight Kanji appeared in a vertical line. It opened like a cloth that was torn apart. Minato landed on the tallest part of the remaining trunk of the god tree. He motioned his Kunai sideways and when the arrow flew into the opened mouth of the vertical Kanji string, he clasped his hands and the mouth closed, disappearing in an instant.
Sasuke realized who the blunt kunai belonged to when he saw the Fourth Hokage.
He didn't have enough time to fly away, so he tried to protect himself with his newly acquired Truth-seeking orbs to make a shield right at his feet. But it was too late.
The kunai that landed just under his feet disappeared and for an instant, a giant arrow appeared in its place.
The following explosion shook the entire battlefield for twenty seconds.
Sasuke's Susanoo was pushed much farther in the western direction. Naruto with his avatar quickly flew towards it, but not before locking his eyes with his dad and shouting "You're awesome!"
"They're forcing him away from us, where are they headed?" Minato asked when he landed beside Hiruzen, who was standing with the other Kages.
"Only place that way that won't have any people around where Sasuke would willingly follow Naruto is..." Tsunade began but was cut off by her student.
"The Valley of the End!" Sakura spoke with wide eyes.
"I know where that is." Minato said, "Can anybody keep up with me?"
"I can!" Raikage shouted from a few meters away.
"He he, you wish. But together, maybe." Onoki said.
"Good, we need to get there and create as many openings as possible. Lord-First, Lord-Second, and Naruto will think of a way to defeat him." Minato said, "Everybody else approach carefully." He added and looked at the Tsuchikage who was holding Raikage's shoulders, he couldn't help but smile, his son helped those two become friends. "Let's go." he said as he touched Hiruzen's shoulder.
"Right!" The Raikage and the Tsuchikage replied in unison and in a blink of an eye they were gone.
"Kakashi are you alright?" Tsunade asked her second in command. He nodded and began to put Obito's body on the ground slowly.
While Tsunade was checking on him, Shizune called out "Sakura, where are you going..?" and when she looked, she saw the blur of pink hair dashing west.
Then another blur of red followed the pink-haired girl, but this red was not hair but the full outfit. Tsunade recognized her as Kurotsuchi.
"What are they going to do even if they do catch up in time?" Shikamaru asked while standing between his Hokage and Kitsuchi who was shaking his head.
"Moral support is still a thing, isn't it?" Kiba asked as he walked up and stood beside Shikamaru.
"Mhmm..."
"Troublesome..." Tsunade muttered cutting off her subordinate. She knew better than anyone that keeping some sense of humor even at the most desperate of times was extremally important.
"Lady Tsunade!" One of the Chunins called as he ran up to her.
"What is it?"
"We have almost three thousand shinobi still ready and eager to fight."
"What about the injured?"
"Just four hundred or so."
"I see. We can't waste any more time." Tsunade said and motioned for Ino to approach her. Once she was an arm's length away, Tsunade let her put her hand on her head "The battle we're about to join is going to be harder than any battle you've had before. Not just because the enemy is extremely powerful, but also because we've been fighting with no meaningful rest for more than a day. If you are afraid, stay back and help those who are injured. But if you decide to follow, I expect nothing less than you fighting until your last breath. This will be our last stand."
Tsunade took the lead. Mizukage and Kazekage Followed right behind her. Konoha rookies followed them, along with Temari, Kankuro, and Chojuro. Cloud ninjas were by far the majority of the remaining fighting force. Darui with the newly released team of Samui followed them.
Orochimaru followed slowly behind the rest of the forces. Kabuto, Karin, and Jugo were walking on either of his sides.
"Whose side are we going to take Lord-Orochimaru?" Kabuto asked once some distance was drawn between them and the army.
"I don't know Kabuto..." he answered hesitantly.
"If he's planning to take out the leader of every military organization, sooner or later you'll be on his radar."
"I know that Kabuto. But still, getting a better understanding of his plan is our current goal. Are you with me?" He asked as he stopped and looked him in the eyes.
"Until my last breath Lord-Orochimaru." Kabuto answered.
Orochimaru smiled and motioned for them to follow. They did.
Jugo, however, was waiting for the first opportunity to join his true leader.
And Karin was... Lost.
Back near the trunk of the god tree, or rather, the remains of the god tree, Kakashi looked at Obito one last time as he got ready to leave. That's when he finally opened his eyes.
"Where's Madara?" he asked.
"He's dead, Sasuke killed him and took his power." Kakashi answered with a frustrated tone. For the first time, Obito really saw his friend's face filled with sadness. "He's trying to create a new world with himself as the True Hokage."
Obito laughed while shaking his head. After a moment he asked "And... What of me?"
"There was nothing we could do to help. You're going to..."
"I see." Obito said as he closed his eyes and sighed deeply.
"I'm sorry but I have to go. Naruto will need my help." He got up and tried to leave but Obito grabbed his leg.
"Give me just one minute, please."
Kakashi looked toward the slowly disappearing sea of shinobi and then looked back to Obito.
"I am sorry." Obito said simply. "I left you without your gift." he added with a laugh. Kakashi smiled, not even his mask was good enough to hide it.
"Don't worry about it." Kakashi said as he kneeled at his friend's side.
"I wish things were different..."
***
The giant purple samurai scrapped through dozens of trees. It only stopped its glide after Sasuke took out his Susanoo's sword and stabbed it straight into the ground, using its handle to stop himself. Taking on the full explosion of his own arrow was not easy, but he was alright. His body was quickly healing the burns he got from the heat that reached even the middle of his Susanoos head.
Suigetsu was not injured, using his watery body to quickly absorb and release heat.
After calming himself and healing fully Sasuke looked around. To his left was just a simple forest. On his left was a waterfall with two statues rivaling his own armor in size. He did know that place well. He had just killed one of the men whose statue was looking down at him as if it was mocking him.
"Try not to shoot us next time, would you?"
"I hear one more word from you and you're dead, Do you get that?" Sasuke demanded with anger filled voice.
Suigetsu was about to say that he was joking, but seeing Sasuke look at him with killing intent made him rethink his decision. He nodded, fear clearly covering his face. That was not like the Sasuke he knew.
Sasuke was trying to keep himself together. The pain was doing its job, he was being distracted. And being distracted while trying to tame the Ten-tails was the last thing he needed. Especially when he was sure that he did not have much time to focus.
He was right.
Within one minute the aethereal orange giant landed in front of the Susanoo. The man that other statue belonged to was standing in Fox's head, along with the Second Hokage and...
"Are you out of your mind?" Naruto shouted.
"You have to die as the last sacrifice for the new world to live in peace. I have nothing else to say to you."
"You're trying to do the same thing we told you would cause worse things to happen?" Naruto asked, baffled by his friend's response.
"A mockery from a man who was fooled by a sentient goo and from a man who established the current system that led to the massacre of my whole FAMILY is a great compliment to me." Sasuke answered, barely keeping himself outwardly calm, while a full-on battle was going on for control inside his head.
"You're going to kill all the leaders of this world and then what? Run around killing anyone who doesn't obey you?"
"Yes. That's the exact pla-"
"But..." Naruto cut him off "According to what standard? How do you decide what's allowed and what's not?!"
"I will make sure everybody understands that very soon. Now are you going to fight me or are you too afraid to face me?" Sasuke asked trying to bait his friend into acting rashly.
He activated his bow and arrow, pointing it straight at the giant fox. He looked into Naruto's eyes one last time... "Why isn't he reacting?"
When he realized what was going on, he tried to point the arrow downward, but it was too late.
The ground below cracked and all at once expanded leaving enough room for the giant orange fox to jump out of it and grab both of Susanoo's hands. This forced the hands apart and made the bow and arrow disappear.
The eerie metallic sound of the tailed beast bomb forming in the mouth of both of the foxes made Sasuke freeze just long enough for another clone avatar of Kurama to grab the Susanoo's legs, completely immobilizing him.
Third-tailed-beast bomb charged and all of them were shot in such a manner that they all detonated all at once, magnificent explosions hitting the Susanoo from three sides.
The explosion made both of the clones disappear and the original Naruto stood where he first landed, waiting to see what happened to the giant armor of Sasuke. The answer was simple, it was gone.
Sasuke was flown backward, while Suigetsu managed to save himself by hiding just above him. Sasuke regained control with a few meters between him and the ground, grabbing Suigetsu and then letting him jump down onto a branch. He then faced his friend and the two men largely responsible for his title as the last Uchiha.
Suigetsu started infusing chakra. If this was going to continue for long, he would need all the time he could get.
"I told you it would work." Naruto said to the Second Hokage.
"Good. Now let's immobilize him. As I thought, He has not achieved full control yet, if we damage him enough, and keep him angry, he will be forced to let the Ten-tails go." Tobirama replied.
"Right!" Naruto said clasping his fist into his open palm with great enthusiasm.
"You do know what happens when the Ten-tails gets extracted... Right?"
"I know. Hopefully, we won't have to go that far. There is still hope after all." Naruto said with a smile and a thumbs up.
"See, I told you he had the will of fire." Hashirama said to his brother who frowned and nodded. "Alright, let's do this!"
The First Hokage jumped out from the head of the giant fox, his forehead and eyes covered with red markings.
"Sage Art: Thousand-Handed Diety!"
The giant fox was now dwarfed by a giant Buddha statue, with Hashirama standing on its head.
Naruto made his avatar jump and landed on two of the statue's hands.
In front of the intimidating display arose a humanoid made solely out of water. The sheer size rivaled the wooden Buddha. In the center of it was Suigetsu.
Sasuke saw the formations taking shape and decided to act quickly. He knew that his only real problem was Naruto. The moment he stabbed Madara, he realized his moon disappeared from his hand. He did not know if Naruto got it, or if it just went away, but in either case, He had to take care of him before others arrived.
He flew upwards at frightening speeds, pushing air around him just like the stone displaces water when it hits the pond. He formed hand seals while doing so.
Once he got to the stratosphere, he looked down and within a blink of an eye he was standing just beside Naruto. He managed to grab Naruto's back and with a strong pull, he started ripping his soul out of his body.
The sudden pulling motion forced Naruto to step back, which in turn forced Kurama's avatar to step back, and since there was nothing to stand on, it fell from the wooden statue.
Suigetsu saw the movement and attacked the thousand-handed statue to keep Hashirama occupied. He used all available water from the nearby river to gain as much advantage as possible.
Naruto barely understood what was going on before he started to lose consciousness. Now the only thing Sasuke had to do was pull the soul out swiftly.
The next instant an angry-looking Tobirama appeared right next to Sasuke and slapped his head with an open palm.
Sasuke, who was waiting for the master of teleportation to return, had a half-snake seal at the ready and managed to scrape Tobirama's shoulder.
They locked eyes. "Release" he said and Tobirama slowly started glowing from inside. Realizing what that was going to do, Tobirama disappeared.
This is exactly what Sasuke needed, an opportunity. With all of his might, he pulled the shining blue piece of Naruto's soul out. The last thing Naruto managed to do before he was knocked out was a single plus sign with his hands. His loss of consciousness caused the Kurama avatar to disappear. Naruto's clone formed right on the ground.
Just a single thread connected the soul to the body when Sasuke saw the flash of white light.
He appeared in a complete light. It was so bright that even his visual prowess couldn't see through it. From all sides, all he could see was an unnatural shade of white. He looked around and saw nothing. That baffled him to no end.
He tried using his teleportation ability to switch places to the last thing he saw but it was not working. None of his other abilities were of any use.
At the head of the Budha statue, Tobirama appeared beside his brother.
"Sasuke released my reanimation jutsu. Naruto is injured. Take care of him quickly and stop playing around." He said while he pointed at the water engulfed Suigetsu "Protect Naruto before others arrive. Don't get near Sasuke without catching him off-guard." Tobirama finished and started to break away from his paper-like body. "I'll see you soon."
Hashirama nodded and saw his brother disappear once more. He turned his head toward Suigetsu and smiled.
In Sasuke's bright new world, Panic set in. He feared that somehow Tobirama managed to imprison him here... Wherever here was. He did manage to release his reanimation jutsu, but that would not guarantee his release from this place. The beast inside him started to become even more aggressive now that it felt threatened by Sasuke's predicament.
He mused that this must've been a genjutsu, but not a single method of releasing himself from it worked.
Then he saw it. First a silhouette. A tiny distortion but in the brightness of this place anything would stand out. When the silhouette got near enough for him to make out what he was seeing, he got even more confused. It looked as if it was a moving painting.
A woman, dressed in all black was standing there. He couldn't see her face properly because her hood was covering most of it. Her cloak covered everything else. But he managed to see her chin, mouth, and free-flowing black hair. She had an eerie aura, but Sasuke couldn't figure out why.
"Who are you?"
No answer.
"Where am I?"
Still nothing.
The next thing he thought to do was the most natural thing for him. He swung his fist at her. Before he could land it he saw her smile, just a little, but still a smile. It was right at that moment when he blinked his eyes and he was still in freefall with Naruto just beside him. The lady in black was gone.
Sasuke managed to once again get a grasp on his powers and started levitating. He moved toward Naruto to finish his job, but the moment he touched Naruto he was immediately back into the bright world, with the Lady in black watching him.
This time he was there for just a moment because his real body started exploding and flying away from Naruto who was caught by his clone before hitting the ground. The clone took shelter behind a nearby tree with the original in his hands.
Sasuke felt thousands of paper bombs detonate on his skin. He tried replacing himself with a small rock. It didn't help, as he crashed into the side of a hill. The explosions kept going and each of them forced Sasuke more and more into the wall. It felt as if the explosions were sentient...
Sasuke would think that feeling thousands of bombs explode at a point blank range would be the worst part of his current predicament, but what was even more annoying was the unending voice of Tobirama in his head saying "Tandem Paper Bombs" with each explosion. Creating an echo that would bring anyone to insanity.
It took fifty agonizing seconds and around four hundred thousand paper bombs for Tobirama's time to end. The explosions stopped, leaving Sasuke in tremendous pain, disoriented, and barely conscious.
The clone checked his surroundings and once he was sure Sasuke was not anywhere near them, he came out of his hiding spot. Hashirama landed beside him.
"We have to bring him to Tsuna, Sasuke will be back at any moment," Hashirama ordered.
"What happened to him?" the clone asked.
"Tobirama tagged him with his never-ending paper bombs before he was released from the reanimation jutsu." Hashirama said.
They started running east and then heard sounds of what Naruto thought were explosions, but not the kind of explosion he had ever heard before. The giant Buddha was blocking what was going on, All he saw when he stopped and looked, was a massive amount of steam going towards the sky.
"Are you... Slapping the water guy to evaporation???" Naruto asked with a dumbfounded look. Hashirama simply smiled. The clone's mouth nearly fell to the ground with amazement.
That's when a three-pronged kunai landed in front of them.
Minato appeared right beside the kunai, Hiruzen was standing just beside him. He ran up to his son and immediately checked to see what was wrong. When he didn't find any visible injuries, he looked at the clone with narrowed eyes.
"Sasuke tried to rip our soul out but failed." The clone answered the unasked question.
"To think that he would go so far to do this to his friend." Hiruzen said while shaking his head.
"He's not fully himself either. Ten-tails is influencing him as we speak. Lord-Fourth..." Hashirama began "Bring Naruto to my granddaughter. We'll need him as soon as possible."
"Yes sir." Minato said and grabbed the clone's shoulder. Within a blink of an eye, he was gone.
"Is Lord-Second keeping Sasuke at bay?" Hiruzen asked.
"He's gone Saru, Sasuke managed to release his reanimation contract."
"No hand-to-hand combat then, eh?" Hiruzen said as he started weaving hand seals.
"For us, yes." Hashirama answered as he observed his student's hand movements. "Are you sure that won't damage my and Madara's statues?" he asked with a grin.
Hiruzen chuckled and said, "They'll build new ones if they get destroyed."
The purple light of Sasuke's Susanoo arose from the side of the hill. His killing intent was strong enough to reach the First and the Third Hokage.
A Thud sounded just beside the two Hokage.
"I never imagined I'd be fighting side by side with the Third Hokage."
"Times are changing Lord-Raikage," Hiruzen answered.
"What is our plan?" Onoki asked, from Raikage's back.
"Deal as much damage as possible while keeping him as angry as possible." Hiruzen answered.
"I see. And how about direct attacks to neutralize him?"
"Particle style?" Hiruzen asked for confirmation. Onoki nodded.
"It's worth a shot." Hashirama said.
Then an arrow was shot in their direction. They dispersed all at once.
***
Minato quickly pinpointed Fifth Hokage's current location and teleported right beside her.
When Tsunade saw the injured Naruto she motioned for the army to stop. The clone explained what happened to the original.
"Did you stop him from taking his soul out?" Shizune asked.
"Wha... No, I formed far away from them."
"Then why didn't Sasuke kill him?" Shizune questioned.
"I... Don't know." Clone answered.
"Sasuke still struggles for full control, that's what we are going to take advantage of." Minato said. "Lady Tsunade, can you help him?"
"There is no physical injury." She began when she was finished with her scan. "The only reason for him to be unconscious is if something is keeping his mind busy."
"The Nine-tails?" Gaara asked.
"Could be. But why would he not let Naruto wake up at such an important moment? They are supposed to have an alliance." Tsunade surmised. "We'll take him with us. Everybody move on to defensive positions. Do not engage head-on. Only observe and act when the rest of the Kages need your assistance."
"Right!" was heard in unison and a large chunk of the army went forward.
Another sound of an explosion was preceded by a flash of light.
"Take care of him before he wakes up." Minato said, saw Tsunade nod, and vanished.
That's when Orochimaru arrived at their meeting place. Seeing her fellow Uzumaki unconscious, Karin couldn't help but run up to him. Gaara stopped her movements with a wall of sand.
"I can help him!" Karin said to the Kazekage.
"How?" Gaara asked.
"I'm an Uzumaki with great healing capabilities."
"He has no physical injuries." Gaara said.
Karin seemed to think and then "My abilities can jumpstart an unconscious mind just as well." she said.
Gaara looked at Tsunade who nodded and the sand barrier vanished.
"It's worth a try." Gaara said.
Karin got up close to Naruto and kneeled just beside his head. The rest of the group was watching closely. She pulled her right sleeve up, showing around a dozen bite marks on it.
"What exactly are you going to do?" Tsunade asked.
No matter how hard she tried she could never answer that question without her cheeks turning the same color as was her hair.
"My power works if someone bites me."
A certain white-eyed girl blushed furiously.
Tsunade looked straight at Orochimaru with anger-filled eyes.
"I assure you, I had nothing to do with that particular ability." Orochimaru answered, trying to deflect his teammates' glare.
Karin made Naruto sit up, and Shikamaru helped her position his head on her wrist. With a considerable push, they made Naruto bite Karin.
Immediately Karin winced in pain. Visible chakra was then slowly absorbed by Naruto from her wrist. Then a second later Karin screamed in pain as the chakra she was giving Naruto returned to her with interest.
Shikamaru realized that something was not right and removed Naruto's head from Karin's wrist. By the time he was done, Karin was lying on the floor barely conscious.
Tsunade scanned the girl and saw... Nothing wrong with her. In fact...
"Your chakra reserves have been overcharged!" Tsunade exclaimed.
"She took away his chakra instead of helping him?" Kankuro asked, making every one of Naruto's friends furious.
"I swear, I didn't do it on purpose." Karin finally spoke "I've never done that before!" she explained as she felt the potent chakra of Naruto give her more energy than she ever had before. As she estimated her chakra reserves must've been increased at least twelve times. It looked as if she got healed as her injuries and bite marks started to disappear.
Naruto then winced but did not wake up. Nobody could understand what happened or why, but Naruto seemed a little better than before.
His clone on the other hand, who was sitting in a lotus position, opened his eyes.
"I can't contact Kurama, it feels as if a barrier is keeping me from reaching him." He said.
"We have to let him rest and hope that he'll wake up sooner rather than later." Tsunade said and motioned for others to continue traveling.
"That's not much to go on..." Temari said, voicing everyone's thoughts. Everyone except...
"We need a more specific plan of attack. Shikamaru?" the clone asked.
"Immobilizing Sasuke should be our main goal, everything else will become easier after that."
"And how are we going to do that?" the clone asked again.
"I... need to think." Shikamaru answered.
"Oh come on, somebody has to have a super powerful jutsu that would give us plenty of opportunity..." the clone said and started looking around in frustration. He looked at Gaara, and he shook his head. He looked at Orochimaru, and he smiled at first but then shook his head also.
"If we had a sort of jutsu that would keep the Ten-tails Jinchuriki in one place, don't you think we would have used it already?" Temari said with her arms crossed. Naruto's clone simply nodded and turned toward their destination when...
"Actually... I may have the exact thing we're looking for."
"Lady-Mizukage! You can't be talking about that jutsu!" Chojuro said with wide eyes.
"Tell me again what I can't be talking about Chojuro..." Mizukage said with an evil grin, Chojuro did not respond. "I can do it, I can immobilize Sasuke for some time but I'll need time to focus, much more chakra than I have currently, and..."
"And what?" Shikamaru asked.
"Everything in a twenty-kilometer radius may or may not be decimated." Mei answered and saw the shocked faces of her comrades. "Oh and I won't be able to fight for a while after that..." she added multiplying everybody's shock. She saw the clone raise his eyebrow as if he knew there was something else.
"Aaand?" the clone asked.
Mizukage sighed deeply "And it has never been tested on full scale before." she said.
"What results did the small-scale tests have?" Orochimaru asked.
"The main island of the land of Water." Mei said with a smirk.
Seeing the wide eyes and open mouths "That's why I said she couldn't be talking about it..." Chojuro murmured.
"And just how much chakra do you need for it?" the clone asked.
"At least five times my normal reserves." Mei answered.
The clone sighed with relief. "That's not a problem, let's do this then!" He walked up to the Mizukage and offered her his hand. When Mei narrowed her eyes at him he said "Chakra won't be a problem Lady, I may be a clone but I still have more chakra than all of you combined." He pointed at Karin who just started to stand up "Not including her."
"Just wait a second!" Tsunade spoke. "Don't you think we have to discuss the possible ramifications of this Jutsu?"
"Lady Tsunade, The surrounding areas of the battlefield have been evacuated. and Barely anybody lives at the Valley of the End, to begin with." Shizune said, "If this jutsu helps us stop Sasuke before he does something... terrible, Don't you think we should use it?"
Tsunade frowned but nodded reluctantly.
***
He once heard his brother talking with his friends about a battle he barely survived when he was nine. If he had to guess, this might've been the best situation to call the same thing Itachi did to his fight back then. "I'm in a bit of a pickle."
That was true.
He managed to set the Buddha statue on fire with his Amaterasu. But every time he did so, the parts that were burning were cut off, and in their place, new parts grew. "Damned Wood style".
Every time he landed his Susanoo anywhere the ground immediately turned into mud and started grabbing him, thanks to the Third Hokage.
And if that was not enough every moment he was not focusing his truth-seeking orbs around the Susanoo's head to enhance its protection, Raikage punched it with all of his might, and with the kind of speed that even his Mangekyou Sharingan was not able to see.
He had to do something drastic and very soon. He could not let the battle continue for much longer.
Releasing his Susanoo, Sasuke started floating upwards. He avoided two Gracious Deity Gates and managed to turn his truth-seeking orbs into a sphere with a few lines in such a way to still see his surroundings but block any attacks from the Raikage.
He spread his hands in a T pose and got ready to use the Jutsu he had only heard about before.
Then a small stream of water hit him from the unprotected part of the black sphere. The third Hokage was so annoying. He would easily heal himself from that, but the white light coming from above caught him off guard.
He thought he was going back to the bright world again, but instead, the light seeped into the sphere and cut his right leg off cleanly. The subsequent agony was quickly soothed when his body started healing itself.
When he looked above to see who did this to him he saw a smiling Tsuchikage hovering above him.
He felt another attack incoming from below and positioned himself to block it, but instead of an attack, a small piece of paper flew inside. The paper had one word on it "Bomb".
The explosion from inside the sphere forced Sasuke to take down the Truth-seeking barrier and breath fresh air.
He saw Tsuchikage retreating and using his skeleton Susanoo he aimed his black fire-filled arrow right at him and loosed.
The arrow was faster than Onoki but he was not afraid.
"Lightning Style: Thunderstruck!" came the voice of angry Raikage.
Black lightning intercepted the arrow and made it explode far away from Tsuchikage.
"You had an opening and decided to save your enemy instead of attacking me?" Sasuke shouted at the Raikage.
"YES." Raikage shouted his answer back.
Sasuke then felt another presence just above him and when he looked up a giant wood dragon flew past him, without even touching him.
"You missed Lord-First!" Sasuke yelled, even though he did not know where Hashirama was hiding.
"Did I?" Came the voice from five different places.
Sasuke was going to disregard this as just taunting but he then realized that his truth-seeking orbs were gone.
Before he forced the orbs to come back to him, a transparent white cube appeared around him. "Not this again"
"Particle Style: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!" was heard from Onoki.
Sasuke saw the flash of light again, this time from every single part of the cube, he knew very well that not even the Ten-tails's power could bring him back from this. He was in a panic, his mission could not end here. No. He could not let that happen.
Onoki activated his jutsu and the last thing he saw was the middle dot of the Rinnegan.
The cube disappeared. Nothing was left.
Raikage was about to shout with happiness. He stopped when he saw Sasuke floating where Onoki stood just a moment ago.
"One down. Four to go." Sasuke said as he dashed toward the Raikage.
***
"Will you do that for me?"
"I will, I promise."
"As for your present..."
"Don't worry, you can keep it. I have to reach the battlefield soon and with my current stamina... That's going to be a challenge."
"No Kakashi, it's not going to be a challenge." Obito said and locked his eyes with those of his teammates. "You will not run there. You will fly."
Kakashi's eyes widened.
"But..." Obito said with a chuckle "This is going to hurt... a LOT."