Invasion of Konoha

Chapter 30: Invasion of Konoha

Author's Note: Hey Guys, just wanted to give you a quick explanation on the sporadic updates of Ninja Gamer as of late, when I first released this fic, I was unemployed, and as such, had a lot of time to devote to working on and releasing chapters on a weekly (and daily on rare occasions) basis.

When I did get a job, the progress slow down a bit, but I was still able to devote plenty of time to it, but recently, due to the holiday season, absent coworkers and a few bouts of depression, I have had my working hours nearly double at work and as such had very little time or energy to focus on writing.

There is good news, however, with the new year, I will be returning to my regular hours, as such I should be able to release a new chapter a bit more regularly than before, I won't make any promises like one a week, but hey, if it happens, it happens.

Thanks for your patience and understanding, and all of your support, seriously, I never expected to have…

…

…

Over 4k follows and favorites…

Okay, I know that's a kinda small number compared to some fics on this site, but… compared to my other fics, it blows them out of the water.

Seriously, thank you guys, all the support you have given me has really helped me out in 2018, I hope 2019 blesses you all with good fortune.

Now, enough of that sappy shit, let's see how Yuriko can fuck up the Naruto Timeline this chapter.

DragonKnightRyu

P.S.: Seriously, thank you all, and thank you Seerking, if you haven't, check his stuff out, it's awesome sauce in a can and he is more consistent with releasing stuff than me.

I struggled to keep my face perfectly neutral as I watched Naruto-kun engage Neji in combat, keeping a careful distance away from the pair as Naruto sent a dozen shadow clones to engage the Hyuuga. Despite my prodding of them, the pair refused to tell me what they learned in their training nor what their plans were for fighting their opponents, wanting all of it to be a surprise for me.

But I did have some idea, but when a butterfly flaps its wings and all that.

I briefly turned my attention up to the Kage's box where Hiruzen-sama sat with the other kages, including Orochimaru disguised as the Kazekage. Hopefully the Tsuchikage and Mizukage would be willing to help Hiruzen-sama out when the time came, but either way, we were prepared for when Orochimaru made his move.

I brought my attention back to the fight when Naruto let out a curse as Neji broke through the screen of shadow clones to charge Naruto himself and actually scoring a blow, a triumphant look on his face, one that quickly dissolved into confusion as 'Naruto' exploded into smoke.

His surprise was short lived as he rolled to the side to avoid a displacement of the wind that shot out from the clones he broke past earlier, each of the clones sharing a grin as they brought up their hands into a familiar cross shaped seal.

I smirked a bit as I realised Naruto's strategy, if he kept dividing his chakra evenly amongst his clones, than it would fool Neji's Byakugan that relied mostly on scanning chakra to pick out illusions and clones, making the shadow clone, when used right, a counter for that vision.

Basically Naruto was playing a shell game with Neji, and with how quickly he could recharge his chakra, there wasn't as much of a drawback if someone such as myself used it.

And Neji was falling for it hook, line and sinker.

I almost missed it completely, but, Naruto actually slipped away in the smoke created from the creation of the shadow clones and started using a underground movement technique to get out of visual sight and outside of the range of Neji's Byakugan.

I wasn't quite sure what his plan was, however, as Neji would be able to see him approach from below with the help of his Byakugan. Although the Byakugan did only 'see' a dome around the user, not a perfect sphere as most imagined. If Naruto-kun knew about that...

It would be interesting seeing how this turned out as Naruto-kun had a rather strong tactical streak in him when the mood struck him. This was evident not only in this timeline, but in the original one too; who else would think of modifying a joke of a technique like the [Konoha Secret Finger Jutsu: Thousand Years of Death] and using it against a half-transformed Gaara so successfully?

And after working with both his father and mother, I knew exactly who he got it from. After all, as much as I respected him, Minato-sama could be as dense as a sack of bricks when it came to tactical planning, although his improvisational skills were pretty high up there.

My attention was pulled away from my musings as Neji destroyed the final clone and was looking around in confusion for Naruto-kun, who apparently had been waiting for this very moment as the ground literally exploded beneath Neji, throwing the Hyuuga into the air while a blur of blond hair leapt up after him.

I blinked in realization of his plan; the Hyuuga Jyuken seemed to take several cues from Baguazhang, a chinese martial art. And both had a reliance for firm footing to bring out the full force of their strikes.

It seemed Naruto-kun's plan was to deprive Neji of the stability of the ground and reduce his effectiveness and ability to move or dodge. It was a good plan and well-executed. The Byakugan was not good at seeing 'down', making attacks from there an excellent way to bypass the All-Seeing Eyes of the Hyuga Clan. It wouldn't work on Hinata-chan, because of how well she knew the way Naruto-kun's mind worked, and it wouldn't work against Neji either, because, credit given where credit was due, he was a true genius when it came to the Gentle Fist.

Which he proved when he began to rotate, but rather than using the [Rotation] defensive technique, he was instead using it he was using the rotation of his body to add the needed strength to his blows as he attempted to counter Naruto's attacks.

I couldn't help the smile that bloomed on my face as I watched the pair duel in the air for several moments before gravity began to take hold of them and dragged them back to the ground. Naruto was still moving, dashing away from Neji as soon as their feet touched the ground as Neji chased after him.

At this point, with his initial plan fizzling out, Naruto was aiming to turn this into a battle of attrition it seems, sapping Neji's strength by forcing him to keep up with Naruto if he wanted to be able to hit him at all, and while it was indeed a fine strategy, especially since Naruto could outlast a lot of people with his Jinchuriki status.

However, there was a problem with this aspect of his plan, namely, Neji was a student of Might Guy, who was one of the very best when it came to helping other develop their stamina and speed for use in taijutsu.

The result was a struggle for Naruto-kun who despite all the training he had undergone over the years, was still inexperienced when it came to actual combat, meanwhile, Neji was an experienced genin with just as much training as Naruto-kun.

I suppressed a wince as I saw Neji land a couple of hits on Naruto-kun's upper thighs, no doubt sealing the tenketsu from the yelp elicited from Naruto-kun's throat as he missed his next step and toppled to the ground.

A from came across my face as Neji began to monologue at Naruto-kun, nothing about the fate spiel like he did in canon, but rather about relying on the big name backing him to get him through his career as a shinobi, making me roll my eyes.

Although, Naruto-kun's response made me supress an undignified bark of laughter as he quickly knocked Neji's feet out from underneath him before delivering a vicious heel drop directly to Neji's solar plexus before climbing back to his feet and taking in a breath.

My eyebrow rose as crimson red chakra swirled around Naruto-kun for a moment before settling as Naruto-kun hopped from foot to foot as Neji tried to get his breath back.

He wasn't given any time to recover, however, as Naruto-kun was suddenly on him with a powerful kick to Neji's side that sent him rolling as Naruto-kun began to form some handseals.

"[Wind Release: Vacuum Shockwave]!" Naruto-kun declared before launching a visible distortion in the air at Neji who was unable to recover in time to block the attack, sending him flying across the arena.

I blinked as I moved closer to him with a quick burst of speed, and looked him over with a practiced eye. "Neji Hyuuga is unable to continue!" I declared in a loud voice. "The winner is Naruto Uzumaki!"

The crowd erupted into cheers as Naruto let out an exuberant cheer, leaping a bit in the air as he threw his fist up.

"Good work, Naruto-kun," I murmured to him under my breath, getting a beaming smile from him in response before he took off to the contender's box to watch the next bout as Neji was escorted off the field by a team of medics.

I glanced up to the Kage box, seeing Hiruzen-sama speaking with the Tsuchikage about something or other as the Mizukage tried to engage with the disguised Orochimaru in conversation, only to receive short and clipped replies from the traitor.

I turned my attention back to the arena as Kurotsuchi and Chojuro came to the center. I gave them the usual explanation of the rules and got confirmation of their readiness before declaring that the match has started and backed away to a safe distance.

I'll be honest, I zoned out their bout a bit as I scanned the crowd, it wasn't that they weren't skilled or well trained, but… more of the fact that I had very little tying me to them. I paid enough attention to play referee and call the end of the match while also judging their performance. But the majority of my attention was looking for any indication of the Suna/Oto attack beginning.

Unfortunately, Orochimaru's minions were rather good at blending in with a crowd it seems as no one was standing out to me.

I turned my eyes back to the duelling pair of genin before me as they seperated from a intense taijutsu exchange, the pair of them panting a bit as they eyed one another for any signs of exploitable weaknesses.

I saw the two of them brace to charge one another once again before feathers began clouding my vision. I quickly pulsed my chakra, disrupting the genjutsu before it took hold as an explosion rocked the kage box.

Huh… looks like Orochimaru is starting early.

Shit.

My attention turned to the contender's box as it exploded with sand as Gaara began attacking Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun relentlessly.

I frowned as I watched the two of them start to lead him away from the coliseum and the panicking civilians and felt the desire to chase after them before squashing it. I had to have faith that they could handle Gaara, I had my own mission to accomplish.

"DEFEND THE CITIZENS!" I shouted commandingly to the shinobi in the crowd. "GET THEM TO THE SHELTERS!"

The genin immediately leapt into action, supporting the chunin and jonin engaging the Oto/Suna forces as Baki appeared in the arena across from me, a serious look on his face as he looked ready to try and stop me.

Fortunately for him, I was not interested in dealing with him. "Genma," I commanded, causing the bandanna wearing jonin to appear next to me. "Deal with him, I'll link up with the others."

"Right," Genma nodded, a grin on his face as he rolled his senbon between his teeth. "I'll deal with things here."

"You're not going anywhere!" Baki shouted as he launched himself at me, Genma not even bothering to stop him as I smirked at the suna-nin before vanishing in a yellow flash, my last sight of Baki was the wide-eyed realization that things were about to go sideways for his side.

"Report," I commanded as I appeared on the wall that surrounded the village.

"Got about a four to five hundred shinobi out there, mixture of Oto and Suna forces, with about maybe… three to three-hundred and fifty inside Konoha," Aoi responded from his position, looking over at me with a smirk. "So, in all, child's play really."

I smiled back at my teammate from our genin days, Chika stepping up to my other side with a grin of her own.

Just as I had grown as changed, as have my two friends, Aoi was wearing the standard flak vest with a black muscle shirt and a pair of lightweight gauntlets, his face sporting several new scars and a slightly weary look, although his eyes still held determination.

Chika herself was now wearing a ANBU like outfit, a reminder of her time within the outfit as one of their poison specialists before leaving their service when I requested her as one of my guards. Her once long hair had been cut down to her earlobes while her eyes dulled a bit, although she had gained a rather dry sense of humor that she didn't have before.

"Especially considering that we've lined the entire area with those seal tags you've give us," Chika said with a low chuckle. "They're going to be in for quite the shock."

I smirked in response as I stepped forward. "Be ready to deal with the stragglers when I finish up," she announced to the gathered troops. "Once the civilians have been evacuated the shinobi stationed inside the village will be pushing the intruders out, be ready to catch them when they try to leave, let out walls be the anvil."

The shinobi didn't roar out or shout in confirmation, they merely got into position and braced themselves for combat, each and every one of them a veteran of the Third Shinobi War like myself.

"I'm heading out," I told my two teammates who nodded in confirmation as I stepped off the wall that surrounded our village and began my approach towards the approaching army.

Kosuke Minoru was a veteran of not only the Third Shinobi War, but also the Second, his age only proving his skill and position as an elite jonin of Sunagakure, and while he may not agree with the Kazekage on going to war with Konoha, their forces were just too strong and had too many allies to call upon in his opinion, he would still follow through on his orders and take the walls of Konohagakure.

"Ha! They're only sending out a single woman!" One of the Oto jonin near his position shouted out jeeringly. "This will be too easy!"

"It's Yuriko Uchiha!" A forward Suna chunin shouted in counterpoint to the Oto Jonin's.

Really, these new 'allies' of theirs were highly undisciplined, with Kosuke recognizing several of them from the bingo book as high traitors to their countries, but they also all looked down upon the Suna contingent and were more concerned with splitting the 'spoils' before they actually won the fight.

But still, Kosuke recognized the name, both from the briefing that named her as one of the bigger threats they could field, and recognition from the Third War, hell, he owed her his life, she had kept him alive on the battlefield long enough for him to be transported back to HQ and full medical attention.

Still, she was outnumbered by a large margin, what made her so confident that she would approach on her own like thi-

Unfortunately, Kosuke Minoru would never be able to complete his pondering, as with a flash of yellow, Yuriko slashed him and several others in half with a single slash of her Kodachi as she appeared in their midst.

I barely reacted to the blood that sprayed into my face as I stood amongst the enemy forces, giving them a moment to process what just happen.

"H… Hiraishin…" one of the Suna shinobi stammered out fearfully, seconds before I zeroed in on another marker for the Hiraishin and appeared over there, in the midst of another group where I quickly slashed out with my Kodachi, wrapping my Kodachi with my [Chakra Flow: Chakra Scalpel] as I sliced through the shinobi surrounding me before teleporting to another group and left a bundle of explosive tags at their feet and teleported back at the front of the army as they finally began to react.

I smirked smugly as I stood before them with my base [Sharingan] active. "Welcome to Konoha," I told them calmly, getting their attention to my location. "Thank you for visiting, I hope you enjoyed the sights because now you are no longer welcome here."

They looked nervously at one another as I stood before them before one of the Oto shinobi spoke up. "It's just one woman!" he shouted out. "If we take her out, Orochimaru-sama promised us one of her eyes!"

I rose an eyebrow at that as my smirked widened. "Oh? You think it's that simple?" I questioned as I began to walk forward, sheathing my kodachi as I moved. "Here, I'll give you all a handicap and not use my kodachi."

That got a response from the crowd of shinobi as I stung at their pride, several of them moving forward to get around and flank me.

I didn't even bother to stop them as this was exactly I wanted, right now, I was planning on mimicking Madara in canon when he fought the allied forces. That particular 'one man army' moment had been stuck in my mind as a classic tactic to break the morale of an enemy force. A single enemy effortlessly beating down the vast majority of their troops had sent the Allied Shinobi Forces into quite the disarray, at least until the Five Kage had shown up.

Oto and Suna weren't going to get that reprieve this time.

The first one to make a move was an Oto shinobi, who was carrying what looked to be an enlarged kunai, whom charged forward and made a large slash at me, the large weapon's path all to easy to read as I blurred from his sight, only to appear behind him, my own kunai slamming into his temple, dropping him like a rock as I turned to a Suna jonin coming up with a pair of kunai in his hands.

I swayed through his slashes before lashing out with a hand coated with a [Chakra Scalpel] and ripped his throat apart before spinning out of the way of a flying kunai and quickly detached the connected explosive tag and attached it to the back of a Suna Chunin before kicking him into a cluster of other chunin just before it exploded.

A man ran up, wielding a katana that he slashed at me only for the blow to be diverted as I used one of my hands to hit his wrist before my [Chakra Scalpel] ran through his heart before using his body to block a brace of shuriken. My eyes caught sight of a group of chunin forming similar sets of seals, my [Sharingan] quickly filling my mind with the seals before I formed a single one.

"[Earth Release: Earthen Movement]" I announced in a calm voice as the ground beneath the group suddenly began to shake violently, throwing off their concentration from their ninjutsu before rushing in with both of my hands covered with [Chakra Scalpels] to slice through their organs, removing them from the fight completely.

A displacement of wind made me roll myself out of the way of a blade made of wind that I quickly trace back to an older jonin who had his hand outstretched.

I narrowed my eyes as I formed a single seal and launched a [Great Fireball] at him that he managed to get out of the way of, only to move right into a stream of high pressure water as my [Water Release: Pressure Shot] punched through his skull.

By this point many of the shinobi were keeping away from me, unwilling to try and get close to me, which… was honestly just fine with me as I began forming an actual sequence of seals instead of the single seals that I had been using up until this point. "[Fire Release: Radiant Dawn]," I announced the name of my jutsu as the air around me began to heat up before a ring of flames leapt into life around me and swept over the surprised shinobi around me.

I smirked as I looked over the panicking shinobi around me and began forming another sequence of seals. "Who said you were allowed to flee?" I questioned aloud as I finished the seals and stomped on the ground. "[Earth Release: Giant Earth Core Movement]!"

There was a brief moment of perfect stillness as the shinobi felt my chakra flare as I released the S-Ranked ninjutsu before the earth violently rocked as the entire area outside of Konoha where we stood, which had to be at least a couple of miles square, dropped into the ground like an elevator dropping. A far more advanced version of the regular [Earth Release: Earth Core Movement] jutsu, this was usually a jutsu used by many shinobi in unison to share the chakra cost. As a Kage-level (just about) Kunoichi, I could use it by myself.

The shinobi around me froze in fear as they found themselves below ground level, their eyes turning back to me with wide eyes and pale faces as I smirked back at them.

"Hear me now," I commanded as I began to walk towards a large group of them. "You don't face just any other shinobi, you face a God of Shinobi. I am Yuriko Uchiha, the Sword-Scalpel of Konohagakure, and most importantly, I am your executioner. You shall be my example to the world of the foolishness of attacking my home."

The shinobi around me were frozen in fear, my [Aura of Absolute Command] pressing down upon them. It did have a different effect on some people though as one of the Oto jonin screamed out as he began to charge me. "Screw you! God of Shinobi my ass!" he cried out as he tried to stab me.

I smirked in amusement at his attempt before grabbing the arm that was trying to stab me with and knocked it out of the way before grabbing his throat and channeled my [Chakra Scalpel] through his throat and into his lungs before dropping him, leaving him to choke and strangle on his own blood and shredded lungs as I continued to move.

"Who's next?" I questioned in an amused tone, looking over the trapped enemy shinobi.

At this point, it was no longer a battle, it was an execution.

"It seems that your little plan wasn't as subtle as you thought, Orochimaru," Hiruzen commented idly as he looked across at his former student, Onoki and Mei flanking him as they looked at the walls of purple flames surrounded them.

Onoki snorted in response to Hiruzen's words. "Children like him always seem to think that they can pull the wool over the eyes of his superiors," he commented, giving the snake sannin a condescending look.

Orochimaru scowled in response as he looked between the three Kages before him, oh, his plan was almost certainly in shambles, but that didn't mean that it wasn't without its backups.

A backup he was about to bring forth. "It does seem like I am outnumbered right now… doesn't it?" he questioned with a low chuckle as he bit into his thumb and formed some seals. "Shall I correct that? [Summoning Technique: Impure World Resurrection]" he announced, taking glee at the sight of their shock as three coffins began to raise from the earth before them, the kanji for 'First' 'Second' and 'Fourth' marking each coffin.

"[Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World]," Onoki quickly reacted, forming the needed seals before launching a large cube with a glowing speck in the center, forcing Orochimaru to leap out of the way as the coffins were completely pulverized by the jutsu.

The snake sannin scowled at the Tsuchikage with a vicious look.

"What?" Onoki questioned at Orochimaru's glare. "You forget boy, I have seen the creator use that technique, and he was far smarter with it than you, he would never deploy it right in front of the enemy and expect them to sit and watch him do it."

Dammit, if there was one thing he hated, it was when someone other than him was right, but…

"Well well, I guess it's a good thing I did that then," He announced with a chuckle as a pair of forms rose up through the roof next to him, resolving into a pair of figures, very familiar to the two veteran Kages.

"Hashirama-sensei… Tobirama-sensei…" Hiruzen breathed out, sagging at the sight of his two mentors. "Orochimaru...you have truly fallen far."

Orochimaru chuckled in response. "Nonsense, I simply have moved beyond you," he replied arrogantly. "How is it? Seeing the faces of your teachers again after so long."

Hiruzen sighed as he closed his eyes momentarily before reopening them, his eyes hard."I see, I should have done this back then when you left the village," he announced in a cold voice as the atmosphere around him change. "Orochimaru, as the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, I hereby sentence you to death."

Orochimaru's eyes widened slightly before they narrowed. "Is that so?" he questioned in amusement. "And how do you plan on killing me, when you need to deal with you predecessors?"

At an unseen signal, the reincarnated corpse of Hashirama leapt into action alongside Tobirama, the two charging towards Hiruzen before being cut off by a surge of magma and a cube of dust as the Mizukage and the Tsuchikage intercepted them. "We'll take care of these two, Hiruzen, deal with your traitor," Onoki announced as he faced off against Hashirama.

"Mm, fighting against the Second Hokage, quite the daunting prospect," Mei admitted as she stood beside her senior kage. "But, I would be lying if I wasn't curious to see how I stack up against such a legendary figure."

Orochimaru frowned in response as Hiruzen stepped past the group facing off against one another to face the snake sannin, he had been counting on overwhelming the elderly kage with the reanimated corpses of his teachers before finishing him off himself, but… the interference of Onoki and Terumi threw a wrench in his plans.

He was no fool. His teacher, despite being a fool, still held the prestigious title of 'God of Shinobi', a title that even Orochimaru himself was reluctant to attempt to claim for himself, at least, not until he got his hands on Yuriko and her sharingan that is.

Hence his plan. He truly didn't think that his resurrected corpses would stop Hiruzen for long, but, they would tire him out, leaving him vulnerable to Orochimaru's attacks.

Orochimaru's trail of thought was quickly derailed as he suddenly found himself under assault from Hiruzen, whom, despite his advanced age - for a shinobi - was showing none of the wear and tear most would at his age as he engaged Orochimaru with taijutsu.

"You always did have an arrogance to you, Orochimaru," Hiruzen commented with a sigh as he swayed out of the way of Orochimaru's fist before responding with a double fist to his chest.

"And you never had enough arrogance, old man!" the Snake Sannin hissed before driving a foot into his old sensei's abdomen and then falling back and thrusting his arms out. "[Sen'ei Tajashu]!"

From his arms came a dozen white snakes, lunging out of Orochimaru's sleeves in an attempt to bite, poison and bind the Third Hokage.

"[Wind Release: Breakthrough]!" the old man unleashed the jutsu without any hesitation, blasting the snakes back and away from him before drawing and throwing a handful of shuriken and rapidly going through hand seals even as they left his hand. "[Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu]!"

The handful of throwing stars multiplied into a veritable wall of steel bearing down on the traitor, who could only blink as he was pummelled with the fusilade of shuriken.

"Kehe...good to see Hiruzen hasn't lost his touch with that jutsu of his." Onoki cackled as he dodged a tree branch from Hashirama.

Once the storm of shuriken passed, Orochimaru's body collapsed to the ground...and then turned into mud.

"An [Earth Release: Shadow Clone], eh? You never get tired of using that particular technique, Orochimaru." Hiruzen sighed, utterly unsurprised by this turn of events. His traitorous student had always had a kind of predictability about him in how he fought; using that particular variant of the [Shadow Clone] technique was part of it.

Hiruzen leaned forward a bit to dodge the sword of his student before he moved away, biting his thumb as he flashed through some seals. "[Summoning: Monkey King Enma]," he intoned as a cloud of smoke erupted around him, quickly dispersing to show a human-sized primeape wearing a tiger skin gi with a konoha forehead protector.

"So… it is finally time, is it, Hiruzen?" Enma questioned, looking unsurprised at his summoning, nor the fact that Orochimaru was their opponent.

"It is." was all Hiruzen said in reply before the two charged at the snake sannin.

Onoki frowned as he glared at the resurrected clone of the Shodai Hokage. "This is pathetic," he growled as he used his [Earth Release: Lightweight Rock Technique] to fly around the corpse, dodging it's attacks. "The real Hashirama would have already crushed me at this point, you're just a fake wearing his face! [Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World]!"

The cube shaped attack plowed into a growth of trees that the corpse summoned to attempt to block the attack only for the cube to disintegrate them instantly.

The corpse managed to leap out of the way of the attack only to be slammed by a group of flying rocks as Onoki came flying in with another cube in his hands. "Vanish and go back to the Pure Realm," Onoki commanded. "[Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World]!"

Onoki could see the briefest of smiles on the corpse's face before the cube slammed into the body enveloping it and disintegrating every single part of it without pause until nothing remained of the either the Shodai or the corpse of the sacrifice.

Mei ducked out of the way of a high pressure jet of water, the stream passing just where her head had been moments before before spitting out a globual of sticky magma in an attempt to pin the Nidaime in place only for the corpse to dodge out of the way.

"My my, if this isn't his full power, I must admit my apprehension at seeing his full amount," the Mizukage muttered to herself, the corpse making no indication of willingness or ability to speak. "[Lava Release: Melting Apparition Technique]," she breath out a stream of lava at the corpse that rolled out of the way before summoning a dragon made of water in an attempt to crush her.

Mei dodged out of the way of the dragon, the water splashing about around her as it's form lost its cohesion, a smirk playing over her features. "My thanks, unlike you, I am unable to create water out of nothing without a fairly large expenditure of chakra." she commented facing the corpse with a grin. "But with the water you created… [Earth Release: Rocky Dome]," the roof they were standing on began to twist and churn before erupting up around the Nidaime's corpse, Mei forming new seals before the jutsu was fully complete. "[Steam Release: Boiling Acid]!" she blew out a stream of mist into the dome before it completely closed in around the Nidaime. "Sorry I couldn't give you something more dignified, honored Nidaime Hokage, but I am in no position to play around."

Orochimaru hissed under his breath as he saw the two corpses he had worked so hard to acquire DNA samples for defeated so easily. He had perfected the Nidaime's jutsu far beyond what the man had ever expected it to be, but his modifications required a kunai with a sealing tag to be inserted into the Edo Tensei corpses after they were raised in order to restore the target's abilities to 100% and fully suppress their will, something he hadn't had time to even attempt. That being the case, the Shodaime and Nidaime had only been at about 60% of their total strength at best; less, actually, because they had fought against his will and deliberately made poor tactical choices when fighting the other two Kage.

Now he stood alone against three Kage-level opponents, which was the opposite of what he had planned when he started this fight. He could summon Manda to run wild in Konoha while he made a break for it, but it would only take one Kage to hold the Boss Snake Summon down, two if they wanted to deal with him quickly, which left one to chase after him, possibly catching him in the process.

"Surrender, Orochimaru, you have lost," Hiruzen commanded as he walked forward, twirling the staff form of Enma. "Your forces are being routed as we speak."

Orochimaru's eyes flickered out of the barrier for a fraction of a second, and true enough, he wasn't seeing any smoke rising from within Konoha's walls, and all of the shinobi in the arena were Konohagakure, Kirigakure and Iwagakure Shinobi which were all staring at the barrier, waiting to take action.

With odds like this, he couldn't feasibly find a way to achieve victory without loosing his own life in the process, and he could see the four members of the Sound Four looking around nervously, seeking an avenue of escape, especially without the big distraction of the Sunagakure Jinchuriki going on a rampage in the middle of the village like he planned, there wasn't even a way where he could claim a hostage easily to ensure his escape with.

The weakest person in the barrier right now was Mei Terumi, someone who held the entirety of the Kirigakure rebellion up by herself before the receiving aid from both Konoha and Iwa. It rankled him badly at being put into such a corner so easily; everything had been planned out perfectly. Orochimaru actually felt a pang of regret at having killed the Yondaime Kazekage, if he was here, he would have been a perfect sacrificial pawn for his escape.

"Kukuku," he forced the chuckle out as he put up his image of superiority. "You have survived today, Sarutobi-sensei, but I will see Konoha razed to the ground," he signaled for the Sound Four to drop the barrier and assist him in fleeing before making a handseal and triggering several explosive notes planted on the roof.

Not that he actually planned on helping the four of them escape, the only thing they would be good for now was a momentary distraction as he split apart into a multitude of snakes that all fled off in separate directions in the cloud of debris and smoke.

The Sound Four moved in to link up with Orochimaru like they had planned only to freeze when they saw no sign of the snake sannin, and instead only came face to face with a trio of pissed of Kages with a small army supporting them.

Tayuya, ever the smart one of the team immediately raised her hands in surrender, dropping her flute to the ground. An action the other three quickly followed as they felt the killing intent being poured off the 'Professor'.

Really, being a prisoner was better than being killed without a chance of fighting back.

One thing Kabuto prided himself on, was analyzing a situation, like their invasion, it was obvious that the entire plan went tits up right from the start, even before hand when Orochimaru confidently believed that much didn't need to be altered for the arrival of two allied Kages.

But, everything could still be considered a success with two things, one, the assassination of Sarutobi Hiruzen. The death of the Sandaime Hokage would strike a severe blow to the moral of Konohagakure and catapult Orochimaru into infamy, generating more revenue as people would look to their Otogakure to do their dirty work more.

And secondly, the kidnapping of one Madoka Uchiha to serve as collateral against Yuriko Uchiha and bring her to heel for Orochimaru's plans.

It was a simple matter for the spy to gain access to the clan building the Uchiha were occupying, with the majority of the clan's shinobi assisting with the repelling of the invaders, and while there were a few close calls, Kabuto was still able to get to Yuriko's quarters unseen and unheard by anyone.

He quickly dispatch the single Uchiha that was within, some random chunin guarding the daughter of the Clan Head while the child slept, blissfully unaware of everything happening around it.

Grinning, he moved to collect the child when he felt it.

A mass of killing intent that rivaled the likes of Orochimaru.

He quickly leapt away from the child's bed as a bulky figure appeared before him, Kabuto's eyes widened at the sight of Han standing protectively before the child. "I don't know, who you are, but you are going to die, painfully, and screaming for mercy!" the jinchuriki growled out, his voice shifting as the bijuu's chakra came bubbling out, looking as wrathful as the vessel. "It's not often we both are united about something, so congratulations, you pissed both of us off."

Kabuto's eyes widened as he made a move to retreat.

Only to be met with a chakra shrouded fist as Han slammed into him, the Oto spy smashing through the chakra reinforced walls of the Clan building and right to a neighbouring one.

What the fuck was Han doing here?

Kabuto didn't even hesitate as he began bolting for the walls of the village, leaving behind a Kage Bunshin to lead the enraged Jinchuriki on a wild goose chase while he escaped. Really, he should have protested further about changing their plans to accommodate the two kage more, and several jinchuriki, and Yuriko Uchiha, really, the entire plan was stupid from the start.

A rush of memories told him his Kage Bunshin was already dealt with, but he had gained enough ground that he was confident that the jinchuriki wouldn't be able to find him… but still, to be safe he formed another one that made to move towards the child again, hoping to keep the Jinchuriki locked there in case of another attempted kidnapping.

Really, they should've just waited longer, but no, Orochimaru had to let his ego get the better of him. He was never going to let this go in future.

There were many things Sasuke had experienced in life, the death of his family, gaining a new one, learning under Yuriko, becoming brothers with Naruto, training under Kakashi, encountering missing ninja in Wave, but… all of that experience didn't really prepare him for dealing with a mentally unstable Jinchuriki in the form of Gaara no Sabaku.

The second that the war started, Naruto spotted Gaara making a move towards the village and gathered him and Sakura to assist him in pursuing him, sensing the Bijuu within the boy and knowing if he ran wild within Konoha, than the death toll would be immense.

They weren't entirely sure what was going on, but they spotted several teams of Konoha, Iwa and Kiri ninja teaming up against Suna and Oto shinobi as they pursued the three Suna siblings to just outside of the walls of the village where Gaara began to go crazy, attacking everyone around him, even his own siblings as they attempted to protect him,

Even as Naruto engaged the jinchuriki, he and Sakura had to still deal with the siblings as, even after being attacked, they still kept on trying to protect him.

Then Gaara transformed.

And everything went to shit after as Shukaku began attacking them wildly.

Naruto blanked out for a moment, a sign that he was speaking to his passenger inside of his own seal as Sasuke and Sakura attempted to keep him covered, Sasuke just barely managing to keep the sand off of them as Shukaku played around with them gleefully.

Then, Naruto transformed.

It wasn't a complete transformation, that much was obvious as the fox that formed only had four tails and was only about half the size of Shukaku, but while it was smaller, it began dismantling the One-Tailed Bijuu.

"When the hell could you do this, Naruto!?" Sakura shouted in confusion next to him, clinging for dear life atop of the giant fox as it leapt around the giant bijuu.

"Uhh, just about four seconds ago?" came the sheepish reply of his brother. "Listen, I don't know how long I can manage this, but Kurama told me that if we can wake Gaara up, then Shukaku's mind will be suppressed and his form will break down!"

"Right, me and Sakura can do that," Sasuke confirmed, looking up at the forehead of the sand construct where the upper half of Gaara was seen, hanging limply. "Can you get us closer?"

"Yeah, no worries on that end," Naruto assured as he leapt around another wave of sand as Shukaku began ranting and raving about… something, really he wasn't paying attention to the beast at this point. "Here we go!"

Naruto leapt forward, bounding off of the wave of sand to get some air, blasting out a blast of air from his mouth to counter the Bijuu's before using his tailed to push against a nearby tree to propel them closer. "Now!" Naruto shouted, prompting the two to leap off of him towards Gaara, only for a wave of sand to leap up to engulf them.

Reacting quickly, Sasuke quickly cupped his hands under Sakura's right foot, with the Pinkette quickly catching onto his plan, an propelled her further other the wave of sand before forming a quick series of seals. "[Lightning Release: Lightning Shroud]!" He shouted as sparks of electricity began to shoot off of him, allowing him to plow through the sand with no resistance.

"SHANNARO!" the pinkette roared as she reared her fist back and slammed it into the head of the Jinchuriki, garnering a wince from her teammates, they knew just how hard she could hit when she wanted to.

Gaara shouted in pain as he was forcefully awoken, Shukaku screaming in rage at being suppressed again as the four of them began to drop to the ground, the sand construct breaking apart as the chakra holding it together dissipated.

Sasuke looked over to Naruto just in time to see his fox form fade out as the blond boy crashed into the ground with a pained groan in time with the others. "All of the last minute hurt," the boy whined as his two teammates moved to help him.

"How…" the pained groan forced them to look over to the prone Gaara. "How… are you… so strong?" his voice was a mixture of pain, pleading and confusion as he looked at the three of them, although his eyes were locked onto Naruto.

"Because, I'm not alone," Naruto replied as Sasuke and Sakura assisted him to his feet. "I think I get you Gaara, not completely, but… I get something of what you went through, if I didn't have nee-san, if I didn't have Sasuke and Sakura, or anyone else who acknowledged my existence, I could've ended up just like you, but… Gaara, you're not alone, and… we acknowledge you."

Gaara's eyes widened in shock as his siblings landed next to him, Kankuro standing before him protectively, holding his Puppet at the ready as Temari began to help him up. "Temari…? Kankuro…?" he questioned in disbelief.

"You're our brother," Kankuro said, keeping his eyes on the Konoha ninja. "Always have been, always will be, no matter what dad says."

"Come on, let's go home, Gaara…" Temari said gently as she began to help him move, Gaara doing nothing to stop her in a mixture of weakness and disbelief.

He could feel trails of wetness dip down his cheeks as he stared at his sister, as if just seeing her for the first time. "I'm… sorry," he choked out with a sob.

"We know," Kankuro assured, moving to follow the two as the Konoha ninja made no move to pursue.

"Is it really alright, letting them go like that?" Sasuke murmured quietly to Naruto.

"Yeah, it's fine," Naruto assured. "I don't think they're our enemies anymore."

"Right," Sasuke sighed in response. "Come on, let's get back home."

"Home sounds nice, my bed sounds even better," Naruto groaned. "Do you have any idea how painful that was turning into a giant fox?"

"I'm sure you'll be telling us all about it for the next year," Sakura replied humorously as the three began laughing, not even noticing as Roshi watched over them from above.

"And here I was worried they were in over their head," the man groaned, hearing Son Goku's laughter inside of him.

END CHAPTER

POST AN: Seriously, guys, thanks for sticking with me for so long, I hope my next chapter won't be as long of a wait as this one was, but I can't make timeline promises, thanks again for sticking with me.