Chapter 30

The meeting started half an hour later. Naruto, Mei, and Yugito returned with barely any time to spare. Each of them wore vastly differing expressions. While slightly exhausted, with a somewhat sore pelvis to boot, Naruto glanced at Mei and Yugito. If the redhead looked like the cat that ate the canary, then Yugito was definitely the canary that got eaten. Her face, red enough that it put a fireball jutsu to shame, reminded him of this time when he had gotten a really bad sunburn.

"You three look awfully flustered—" Tsunade stared at Mei with a frown "—and satisfied. What exactly were you doing?"

"Nothing that you need to worry about." Mei's smile, which had already been quite prominent, grew several decibels wider. "We were just enjoying a nice time as a couple...s?" Pausing halfway in her seat, Mei's face suddenly scrunched up as if she had just realized something important. "Wait. What do you call it when someone is in a polygamous relationship? Would the couples part still be singular, or would it be plural?"

The silence in that moment was so profound that a pin could have dropped, and it would have been loud enough to shatter glass. Everyone present stared at Mei like she'd sprouted tails from her ass. Their expression varied, but pretty much everyone there was reflecting some kind of shock—except for Koyuki, Konan, Yugito, and Jiraiya. Koyuki was nodding in understanding. Yugito and Konan had faces that were both inflamed and somehow resigned. As for Jiraiya…

Well, he was giggling and writing in his notepad.

"This is gold. Pure gold!"

While Jiraiya giggled to himself like a perverted schoolgirl, Tsunade dragged a hand over her face, hiding her no doubt resigned expression. "I'm not even going to reply that with a response. Let's get this meeting started before I lose too many brain cells."

With Oonoki no longer taking part in the meeting, there was no more need for Tsunade to try and convince everyone about the dangers of Pein since everyone present already agreed with her. Their focus shifted to other matters. The first among these issues was the Kumo refugees.

"Thanks to the minor nations cutting off trade and blocking our borders, we no longer have the resources available to sustain an extra two thousand people for a prolonged period of time," Tsunade said. "We might be able to survive in the long run, but it'll be harder on everyone, which is why we were hoping to get help with the refugees."

"I've been thinking about that issue a lot," Koyuki said. "Basically, the issue is a matter of resources, right?"

"Partly, yes. I would say that's the biggest issue," Tsunade said. "However, there are other problems. When such a large influx of people enter a nation, it causes that nation's economy to rapidly fluctuate, which in turn causes a lot of economic turmoil. The fact that our trade routes have been cut off is simply widening the problem that was already created by the other issue. Of course, it doesn't help that our village is currently undergoing repairs due to Akatsuki's attack on our village."

Another moment of silence passed. Naruto, once again standing behind Tsunade, wondered what sort of solution the leaders here would come up with. This was an issue that he knew little about. He understood it. Jiraiya had grilled economics and trade into his head, claiming that it was something a Hokage needed to know, but he had never been faced with a problem like this.

"Hmm…" After giving a thoughtful hum, Koyuki raised a single hand and traced circles in the air, as though indicating her point. "You all know that the Land of Spring has become the leading founder in new technology. Since the creation of the heat generator, our scientists have been working nonstop on improving the daily lives of our citizens. Not only that, but we're working on creating methods of expanding trade with other nations that don't rely on standard means of transportations. Ships take a long time to deliver goods. Crossing the sea takes at least two weeks, never mind how long it takes carriages and wagons to transport goods across nations."

There was a poignant pause. Koyuki took several deep breaths, as though speaking so much had somehow tired her. Naruto knew better. This woman was a daimyo, a ruler, and an actress all in one. She knew how to play to the crowd.

"You all know that my country has been creating zeppelins," Koyuki continued after a prolonged pause to heighten the effects of her words. "Currently, our fleet is small. We have no more than ten zeppelins at our disposal right now. However, each zeppelin is capable of carrying two hundred passengers and one-hundred tons worth of cargo."

"That's a good amount of people and cargo," Tsunade admitted, her eyes wide. "I remember seeing the five zeppelins you came to Konoha with. They're a little larger than a standard ship, but it sounds to me like they can carry a lot more."

"It's because of how zeppelins work." Koyuki grinned and puffed out her chest. "Don't ask me the details because I don't know, but basically, despite being the same size as a standard cargo ship, they can carry several times more thanks to how they're built. Of course, right now the zeppelins are still kind of small. Eventually, I plan on making a fleet of zeppelins that can ferry tens of thousands of people and ten times as much cargo."

"However, for our goals right now, those zeppelins that you do have could prove quite handy," Mei said. "The only thing I'm concerned about is that you don't have a lot at the moment. May I ask how long it takes for you to build one of these zeppelins?"

Koyuki tilted her head in thought. "We recently constructed a manufacturing warehouse specifically for the creation of zeppelins. Our assembly line hasn't been perfected yet, but it's getting to the point where it only takes about four months to build a single zeppelin."

"Four months is still too long," Gaara said. "Wars can end in four months."

"True, but right now, our primary concern is the refugees, right?" Koyuki spread her arms as though saying the two issues were mutually exclusive. While her words sounded like a question, she did not give anyone a chance to respond. "Right now, I have ten zeppelins, each of which is capable of carrying two hundred people. It takes fifteen people to pilot a zeppelin, which means we can ferry a total of one thousand eight hundred and fifty people to any given destination, provided we have enough fuel."

"I see where you are going with this." Gaara crossed his arms, furrowed his brow, and nodded several times. "We can use the zeppelins right now to move the refugees without forcing them to travel through the minor nations."

"Technically, they would still be traveling through the minor nations. They'd just be going over it." Koyuki raised one hand above the other, as though imitating how a zeppelin would work. Naruto placed a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing at how silly she looked.

"The point remains the same, however." Tsunade placed her hands on the table. "By flying over the Elemental Nations, we can avoid any unnecessary battles that might result in civilian and shinobi casualties."

Ninja battles were always done in a specific range. While there were a number of ninjas who had long-range ninjutsu, very few ninjutsu could extend beyond one hundred meters. Naruto had several himself, but he had also mastered the wind, water, lightning, and storm elements. Many of his jutsu were S-ranked, and some were only considered S-rank because there was no rank above that. Only another S-ranked ninja such as Pein, Gaara, Jiraiya, Mei, Konan, and maybe that man who called himself Madara, had that kind of potential.

"It is a good idea," Gaara said.

"A magnificent plan," Mei agreed.

Koyuki clapped her hands together and smiled. "I'm glad you all think so!"

"Um…" Yugito raised her hand, suddenly breaking into the conversation, though she appeared uncertain. "I don't want to say no, but… I'm not too sure I like the idea of separating my people. Is there no way we can avoid this? I'd like us to stay together, if at all possible…"

The four leaders glanced at each other, as though deciding who would be the one to speak first. Eventually, Gaara, Koyuki, and Mei turned to Tsunade. She leaned back upon being placed under the figurative spotlight, but then she sighed and accepted her fate.

"There is one way, but it isn't very practical," Tsunade admitted. "Our economies cannot sustain such a large influx of people, but if we constantly moved them around from village to village, it would be possible to keep them for a time of six months before they had to move again. However, not only would this make you essentially nomads, it would mean those zeppelins couldn't be used for anything but ferrying all of you to your next location."

"I… I guess it's not a very good idea, huh?" Yugito sighed and leaned back in her chair. Her shoulders slumped. Naruto really felt for her. This situation couldn't have been easy. It wasn't easy. However, for Yugito, charged with protecting a displaced people, it was likely harder on her than anyone else.

"I'm sorry, Yugi," Mei said. In a display that probably would've gotten ridicule from Oonoki, she stood up from her seat, walked up behind Yugito, leaned down, and wrapped her arms around the woman's neck. "I know this isn't easy. I wish we could do more, but there are some things that even we can't do."

Yugito leaned back into Mei's embrace. "I know. It's just hard to accept."

While Jiraiya looked like he was going to shit bricks of pure joy, Tsunade and everyone else sans Koyuki and Konan, shifted in their seats. An uncomfortable atmosphere followed the display of affection. Naruto wondered why. He knew many kunoichis who sought comfort with each other instead of a man. Was it because of who they were, or because it was common knowledge that he was sleeping with them both?

I guess it doesn't really matter.

Tsunade coughed into her hand, and, clearing her throat, said, "perhaps in the future, we can work toward the restoration of Kumo. That would certainly solve this problem. However, that is something for the future. For now, let us do what we can."

"I agree," Gaara said.

The gears shifted once again. Mei went back to her seat as the topic changed from what they should do with the displaced people of Kumo to what they should do about the upcoming war. Sadly, nothing really came from this. It wasn't that they didn't want to do something, but that they couldn't.

"The biggest problems as I see them are these." Gaara held up a hand. "We don't know where any of their hidden villages are located, we can't predict when or how they will attack, and we have no idea where Pein will strike next."

I think our biggest issue is Pein," Mei added. "If we could find and eliminate him, it might stop this war before it can really get started."

"The problem with that is we have no means of tracking him down," Tsunade said.

Naruto glanced at Konan as she clenched her hands, arms shaking with raw emotion. Pein had once been her friend, they had grown up together, and she still cherished him as the man once known as Nagato. He couldn't imagine what she must have been feeling. The man she had followed and fought for was now someone she barely recognized.

"In which case, all we can do is be reactive," Gaara said with a sigh. "The minor nations are too spread out for us to fight against them on a united front, and they have no base of operations. That means we can only fight them in separate engagements as each battle happens. This war is going to be a slow one."

"Is there no method of pursuing a peaceful resolution?" asked Naruto. Everyone turned to him. "I know I'm speaking out of turn, but if we sent a letter to the leaders of each hidden village, could we not talk it over with them?"

"We could try that," Mei said. "However, there is a strong possibility that none of them will accept, or they will, but it will just be a pretense for them to get close enough to kill us. There's also the fact that we don't even know where their villages are. We can't send letters to a village we can't locate."

"For now, I think we should begin preparing for war," Tsunade said. "I believe our nations should combine our efforts and learn how to work as a team instead of fighting separately. With your permission, Koyuki, once all of the refugees have been divided among our nations, I would like to use your zeppelins to transport our shinobi to each village, so we can learn how to work together."

"Consider it done," Koyuki said.

"Good." Tsunade nodded and addressed everyone once more. "Then let us further discuss how we can win this war before too many lives are lost on either side."

XXXXXXXXXX

Oonoki and his two bodyguards, Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi, were already far from the Three Wolves mountain range. That said, they hadn't come close to leaving the Land of Iron. It was a pain, but they had traveled there on foot, which took a total of one week. In order to reach the Land of Earth, where Iwagakure was located, they needed to travel through the Land of Waterfalls—the next nation over.

"Are you sure we should leave like this?" asked Akatsuchi, his large footsteps creating a resounding crunch! on the snow-covered ground. "I feel like we should have at least stayed for the whole meeting."

"Don't be ridiculous, Akatsuchi," Kurotsuchi rebutted. "Why should we stick around and listen to those people, when they clearly want to take advantage of us?"

"I'm not sure that was their reason for calling a summit meeting," Akatsuchi mumbled.

"Regardless of their reasons, siding with them would not benefit Iwa one bit," Oonoki said. "There are things at work here that neither you nor they, understand. I have my own reasons for not getting involved in this war."

Madara, or the man calling himself Madara Uchiha, had appeared before him and told him not to get involved with the other major villages. Of course, just that wouldn't have been enough to convince Oonoki to do or not do something. It was the logic behind those actions that helped him make a decision.

War would drastically weaken the three remaining major villages. Even if Oonoki believed they would be successful in the end, war always took its toll. Perhaps one or two of the villages would be destroyed, perhaps none of them would, but even if they weren't, just fighting in a war of this nature would make them vulnerable when the dust settled. Then Iwagakure could move in and conquer the other nations with ease.

His two bodyguards looked at each other, clearly having no idea what he was talking about. That was fine. They didn't need to know. All they needed to do was follow—

The back of his neck tingled. It warned him of danger.

"Gramps!" Kurotsuchi suddenly shouted, but Oonoki was already moving. He leaped backward as several spears shot up from the ground like stakes. Clicking his tongue, Oonoki landed on the ground several meters away.

"They're using earth ninjutsu against us?" Kurotsuchi scoffed. Having leaped into the air to avoid the earth spikes, she soared high above the ground, already in the process of performing a variety of hand seals. "What a bunch of idiots. Doton: Doryuso!"

As she landed on the ground, Kurotsuchi placed her hands against the earth, fingers splayed. Immediately thereafter, a large spike composed of solid rock shot from the ground several meters away. They struck the trees, from which several figures leaped out from. The people who had avoided impalement landed on the ground and began creating more hand seals.

"Doton: Dosekidake."

The Earth and Stone Bamboo Shoot technique generally involved four spears shooting from the ground to skewer an opponent in four different directions. There were four figures. Each one had cast the same jutsu, which meant that instead of four stakes, it was sixteen. Not that sixteen spears made much of a difference.

Kurotsuchi, who was their target this time, leaped into the air and avoided the attack entirely. While she was airborne, Akatsuchi went through numerous hand seals, slammed his hands on the ground, and shouted, "Doton: Goremu no Jutsu!"

Almost instantly, a large golem formed out of the earth. First, a head appeared, then a neck, followed by a pair of arms. Inch by inch the golem swiftly pulled itself from the ground, until it stood fully formed and more than ready to kill. The golem charged forward. Its target was the man on the far left side of the group.

"Shinra Tensei."

Before the golem could get even close to its intended target, something invisible slammed into it with enough force that the entire creation was blown apart. Oonoki had no idea where the attack came from. He hadn't even been able to sense it!

Five seconds after that attack had been called, the same voice rang out again.

"Bansho Ten'in."

At that moment, Akatsuchi suddenly went flying in one direction. It was different from when someone was hit so hard they flew. For one thing, he was moving forward, not backward. His spine arched as he flew toward a figure standing in front of a tree.

Oonoki didn't even have time to warn Akatuschi before a large hand went straight through his bodyguard's back. Blood spurt from the wound, covering the hand in dark crimson. Much of that blood stained the snow. Akatsuchi gasped and tried to get out of his predicament, but at that moment, the hand spearing through his back retracted. Akatsuchi's feet hit the ground and he stumbled forward—

"Shinra Tensei."

—right into his opponent's technique. There was so much power put into this strange technique that Akatsuchi, who was a mountain of muscle and fat, was sent flying away like he weighed less than a feather. He slammed into a large boulder. The boulder shattered under the force, but Akatsuchi's flight didn't end there. He kept going. He hit the ground hard, rolled several times, and then tumbled to a stop. Clouds of snow were kicked up in his wake.

"Akatsuchi!" Kurotsuchi shouted. When her partner didn't get up, she turned a glare on the figure. "Damn you!"

"Wait, Kurotsuchi!" Oonoki shouted as his granddaughter rushed at the figure. "That's not a person you can kill on your own! Damn it!"

He started a chain of hand seals as Kurotsuchi rushed toward the man, who merely raised his hand as though by doing so, he could call upon powers greater than anything conceived by man.

"Shinra Tens—"

"Jinton: Genkai Hakuri no Jutsu!"

Before the man had a chance to activate his technique, Oonoki fired off one of his own. Using Dust Release—a powerful kekkei tota ability that combined fire, earth, and wind-based chakra to create a pulverizing force—Oonoki prepared a hasty spherical structure with a small sphere of chakra at its center. He didn't bother checking for deformities or mistakes. There was no time. The moment the sphere was formed, he launched it at the man who had slain Akatsuchi.

He didn't expect to hit the man. Therefore, he wasn't surprised when the person leaped backward, avoiding both his and Kurotsuchi's attack. What did surprise him was when the man, rather than landing on the ground, hovered several meters above them.

A lull in the battle allowed Oonoki to gather his wits. The people who had ambushed them were all gone, leading him to believe that their purpose had been to allow this man to finish them. Now that he was getting a good look at him, the man floating in the air appeared strange. Spiky orange hair. Numerous piercings along with his ears, lips, and nose. His cloak was that of Akatsuki, who Oonoki had hired on several occasions—Madara had also worn Akatsuki clothing. The only other thing that stood out were…

Those eyes.

Oonoki had never before seen the legendary Samsara Eyes. However, as he gazed at those purple orbs with their concentric rings expanding outward, he could only believe that these were the eyes of legend. The Rinnegan.

A shiver ran down his spine.

"You had better have a good reason for attacking us," Oonoki said.

"I am here to bring you pain," the man said. "I am the God who has come to punish you, one of the five leaders who has allowed those in the minor villages to suffer."

Oonoki glared. "I don't know what kind of crap you're spewing, but your boss Madara promised my village immunity."

The man, who must have been Pain, pointed both of his hands at Oonoki and Kurotsuchi. "That is not my concern. Shinra Tensei."

Oonoki didn't know what sort of attack this was, though it clearly had the ability to push things away. He had no idea how powerful the attack was, what its range was, or even what sort of area effect it had. That was why he ran through a set of hand seals instead of trying to defend.

"Doton: Koka Jutsu!"

"Doton: Mogurakure no Jutsu!"

While Oonoki's body quickly hardened into the same density as stone, Kurotsuchi used the Hiding Like a Mole Technique to change the earth into fine sand and bury herself underneath it. However, there was no guarantee that would protect her. That was why Oonoki rushed over to where she had buried herself crossed his arms, and braced for impact.

He was not prepared for how powerful the technique was. His bones broke with a loud crunch, despite being the same density and hardness as rocks. His insides felt squishy, as though they were being ground into a fine mulch. It didn't matter how much chakra he shoved through his body. The body could only be reinforced so much before it reached its limit, and this Shinra Tensei clearly had more power than the Koka Jutsu.

Oonoki groaned as he endured the attack to the best of his ability, even as he secretly marveled at the ridiculous power this person possessed. Truly, the Rinnegan was an ability far beyond that of most humans.

The attack ended, but Oonoki knew he couldn't relax. He was already performing several hand seals and molding his chakra. He wouldn't let this battle end here.

Combining three elements was normally difficult. It often took a kekkei Genkai just to combine two. However, Oonoki had a natural aptitude for dust release, the kekkei tota that only he and his master, the former Tsuchikage, could use. The three different chakras mixed inside of him, congealing together before expanding outward through his palms. A thin, transparent structure appeared between his hands, a cylinder with a small orb inside.

Oonoki had never attempted to use this attack before, but here, now, he would do it.

"Jinton: Genkai Hakuri: Hashira!"

Dust Release: Detachment of a Primitive World: Pillar. It was a technique that the previous Tsuchikage had used.

Spinning around, Oonoki thrust out his hands, and the cylinder suddenly widened to several times its original size before extending at a rate so quick that even space-time ninjutsu would have had trouble keeping up with it. It blazed toward the one known as Pein, who floated in the air even now.

Before his jutsu could actually hit, someone else appeared in front of Pein. It was another figure wearing the Akatsuki cloak. He held out his hands as though seeking to push the technique away. Oonoki snorted. How foolish. This was one of the strongest attacks Dust Release attacks known to man. There was no way—

W-what?!

Oonoki could only gape as his jutsu was… absorbed? The cylinder that he had created distorted at the end, bending inward as if a black hole had appeared and was sucking everything into it. It was not long before his technique, the jutsu he had spent so much time and chakra and injury preparing was gone.

"This… shouldn't be—ugh!"

An intense pain speared through Oonoki's back, which would have made him stumble, except for the fact that he couldn't move. Something was holding him. He looked down as his vision blurred out of focus. Red. It was the first thing he saw. Crimson flowed down a metal rod that had come out of his chest.

He blinked several times as he tried to come to terms with what his eyes were telling him. Looking behind him, Oonoki discovered that there was a person standing there. Like the one calling himself Pein, this man had orange hair, pale skin, and numerous piercings. Also like Pein, this man had Rinnegan eyes gazing at him with an impassive expression.

"What is—"

"Going on here?" was what he wanted to ask, but blood welled up in his lungs, leaving him incapable of even that much.

Another figure appeared in front of him. Like the other two, this one had a face full of piercings and Rinnegan eyes. Before Oonoki even had a chance to open his mouth, the man in front of him placed a hand on his head, and all of his muscles suddenly seized up.

Oonoki knew no more after that.

XXXXXXXXXX

It all started years ago when that demon brat, Naruto, somehow learned A-rank ninjutsu without any training. Since that day, the day where he had been defeated and humiliated by that little shit, Mizuki had wallowed in the Konoha Strict Correctional Facility. His days had been spent laboring away, getting into fights, and trying not to let himself be killed. This facility, which contained only Konoha's most vicious criminals and enemies, didn't allow the weak to live. Every day had been a struggle for him.

All that would end today.

Mizuki sat in the cafeteria with the rest of the inmates. It was a sea of orange, a most obnoxious color if there ever was one. With him were his two subordinates, Fujin and Raijin, a pair of large twins whose brains were only about one-millionth the size of their overly massive bodies. They were dumber than a box of rocks. However, what they lacked in the brain they made up for in brawn.

Two years ago, during an inspection of the facilities by special ops director and council elder, Danzo, Mizuki had been approached and given a choice: Join him and get revenge or remain in prison. Naturally, he had chosen revenge. Danzo had promised to help him get even with that demon brat. In return, Mizuki would help him take over Konoha. It was a win-win situation.

For these past two years, Mizuki had been slowly gathering allies. That wasn't as hard as it sounded. None of the inmates wanted to be there. They were there because Konoha had captured, found them guilty, and sentenced them to spend the rest of their lives in this sweltering hellhole. Everyone wanted to escape, and once he had established himself as the leader, convincing them to follow him was easy.

He already had several of their men positioned for the takeover. Danzo had been helping them prepare for this day; they had a large number of sealing scrolls filled with weapons, and they also had their secret weapon. Mizuki didn't think they would need it. Except for the warden, all of the ninja guarding this prison were Chunin.

The only thing that protected these guards from being killed was the fact that this prison was isolated on an island that could be completely separated at the push of a button. That was actually what Mizuki was waiting for. One of his men had gone to dispose of the warden. Once that happened, he would sound the alarm, which would signify their time to strike.

"Hey, hey, Mizuki-boss, when are we gonna get out of here?" asked Raijin.

"I wanna eat food in the outside world," Fujin agreed.

"Patience," Mizuki said. "We need to wait until—"

Just then, a loud alarm blared through a series of speakers, resounding across the cafeteria. All of the guards stationed by the doors looked up. From the nonplussed expression they wore, confusion was the most prominent emotion they were feeling, which made sense. The alarm was only supposed to be used in the event of a breakout attempt.

While the guards were confused, none of the inmates were. They stood as one. They moved as one. They attacked as one. The guards didn't even have a chance to realize the danger until it was too late.

The break-out had begun.

Despite their surprise, the Konoha ninja were quick to respond to the threat. Hand seals were made; fireballs spewed from mouths, incinerating some of the weaker inmates; earth spikes shot from the ground and impaled several other inmates; water slammed inmates into walls, breaking bones and damaging organs. Yet while many inmates died, their bodies mangled and grotesque, the stronger ones survived—and they had a secret weapon.

The first to change was an inmate on Mizuki's left. He released a shout and clenched his hands, skin becoming blistering red, muscles bulging as blood cells pumped through it. An intense aura engulfed him. Fur sprouted from his body. Black with white, jagged stripes. Their feet shifted, transforming into U-shaped horseshoes, while his legs gained an extra joint. His ears moved from the sides of his head to the top, and his face elongated to become more akin to a muzzle. With a strange sound that was half-human roar and half neigh, the man galloped toward a kunoichi performing the hand seals for a fire jutsu. Her body broke when the man rammed her into and then through a wall.

Another inmate, a buff woman who had transformed into a tigress, tore one of the shinobi near her apart with sharpened claws. Blood gushed from the five cuts, which were deep enough that they had torn through muscle and bone like a knife cutting through wet tissues. The man's body literally peeled backward like the layers of an onion as he fell to the ground with a wet thump.

Mizuki didn't bother fighting any of the ninjas inside of the cafeteria. Grunts like this were supposed to be disposed of by other grunts like the ninja under his command. He traveled outside with Raijin and Fujin. As his feet crunched against the ground, Mizuki looked around to see that he wasn't the only one who had thought of going outside. Several other inmates seemed to have had the same idea as him.

To his left, up on the wall, a shinobi dressed in the outfit of a guard was being torn apart by a woman who had transformed into a strange mammal with claws. She wasn't the only one. Shinobi whose bodies had transformed into various vicious animals had leaped onto the wall and were attacking the guard forces. The Konoha ninja were being torn apart. Blood was raining through the air.

Miyuki ignored the carnage and headed for the entrance. The bridge that connected this triangle-shaped island had yet to extend. There was a small booth located right next to the currently defunct gate. No one was there when he looked into it—except for the dead head warden, who lay on the floor, face down, with a kunai buried in his back.

After climbing into the booth, Mizuki pressed a button on one of the consoles. The button flashed into a bright green. There was a noise not unlike two large sheets of steel grinding together. Outside of the booth, near the entrance, a large bridge extended at a slow and steady pace. Mizuki went back outside and watched the bridge extend with a satisfied grin.

"What do we do now, Mizuki-boss?" asked Fujin.

"Now?" Mizuki's grin widened. "Now we let Danzo know that we've secured the prison. He'll take care of the rest."

XXXXXXXXXX

Danzo was sitting in his darkened office when one of his Root Ninja appeared before him, kneeling on the floor, head bowed. This sort of deference was what all ninja should strive to show. It was too bad so many Konoha ninja did not show this sort of respect, but that would change in the next few days.

"Speak," he commanded.

The ninja kneeling on the ground did so. "We have received a message from Mizuki in the correctional facility. He says they have successfully secured the prison and are now getting ready to invade Konoha."

Excellent.

"You may go now." The shinobi kneeling on the ground disappeared. "Torune. Fū."

Two figured appeared on the floor before him. Both looked like regular Anbu black ops, with their tan cloaks and animal face masks, but they were actually ninja who Danzo had personally selected to be his bodyguards for their exceptional abilities.

Danzo stood up and moved around his desk as he gave them orders. "Fū, inform Homura and Koharu that they are to meet me in the Hokage's office. Torune, send out the letters that I have prepared for all of the clans and important shinobi."

His cane tapped against the floor, the sound echoing around him, as he walked down the hall. His base of operations was located underneath Konoha. He had taken the many networks, which had once been a bunker in case Konoha was attacked and converted them into a large base filled with over one thousand members of Root, the organization that had been founded by the Nidaime Hokage.

He walked past large support pillars and traveled up several flights of stairs. He didn't walk with glacial slowness, but he didn't allow himself to hurry. There was still time before Mizuki's forces inside of the prison came this way. Also, there was nothing he could do until the prisoners attacked Konoha. He needed them to wreak havoc on the village. It would lend credence to his reason for calling a meeting.

It took almost thirty minutes to reach the Hokage Tower, and by the time he arrived, he could see the beginnings of a fire spreading from the north gate. It looked like Mizuki's forces had actually been faster than he thought. They must have been using the seals that he had given them. Fools. Those seals would only serve to shorten their lifespan. It would also leave them exhausted, though that was none of his concern. They were just pawns in the grand scheme of things.

Arriving at the tower, Danzo went straight up to the Hokage's office. Homura and Koharu were already there. They greeted him with a respectful bow, which he returned with a nod. Although they were compatriots, Danzo did not see them as his equals, so there was no need to show them the same respect they gave him.

He didn't sit in the Hokage chair. He wanted to. However, now was not the right time. Once his plan went through and he became the new Hokage, then, and only then, would he sit in that chair.

One by one ninja trickled into the office; some of them were from prominent ninja clans such as Hiashi Hyuuga and Tsume Inuzuka, but there were others who did not belong to any clan. Genma and Anko, Asuma and Kurenai. All of the top jonin currently inside of Konoha had assembled alongside the clan heads. There were even the Anbu captains like Usagi, aka Yugao Uzuki. This situation couldn't have been more perfect.

"Danzo, what the hell is going on?" asked Tsume. "What makes you think you can call us all here? You aren't a part of Konoha's military anymore."

"That is true," Danzo conceded. "However, considering the situation, I thought it best to bring everyone together and inform you about what is happening."

"We already know what's happening," said Shikaku Nara. He was the head of the Nara clan and a member of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. He had two scars running along the right side of his face, and his black hair had the same pineapple shape as his son's. The normally lazy appearance in his eyes was gone. "Someone is attacking our village."

"Indeed, but do you know who?" Shikaku fell silent at his question and Danzo tapped his cane on the ground. "I just received a report that the Konoha Correctional Facility was taken over by the prisoners locked away there."

"What?" Tsume barked out in surprise. "How is that even possible?! The correctional facility is—"

"One of the most secure locations in Konoha, I know." Danzo feigned a grave voice as if this was every bit as surprising to him. "I have no idea how they managed to take over the prison, or what they are doing here. What I do know is that we cannot let them harm Konoha."

"You're right," Choza Akimichi said. "Now isn't the time for us to be fighting amongst ourselves."

"If you called us here, does that mean you have a plan to deal with this situation?" asked Hiashi.

"I do." Danzo reached up and slowly removed the bandages covering his face. He wouldn't normally reveal his trump card like this, but he couldn't afford to do this one at a time. All present needed to be trapped with the first jutsu. His plan would fail otherwise.

Everyone watched him in shock. They didn't seem to know what he was doing or even think that he might be preparing something for them. By the time he had unwound all of the bandages and revealed his Sharingan eye, it was too late.

"I'm going to have to ask all of you to become my pawns. Kotoamatsukami."

XXXXXXXXXX

Mizuki had been separated from Fujin and Raijin, which didn't bother him one bit. Those two were pretty incompetent the best of times. Fujin often mistook people for food, and Raijin had once tried to eat a rock. That was pretty indicative of their intelligence.

His task was simple. Located around Konoha were several Hiraishin seals. These seals were what allowed the demon brat to instantly teleport to any location in Konoha. Before he and Tsunade caught wind of what was happening here, Mizuki was supposed to disrupt the seals, ensuring that Naruto couldn't just Hiraishin in to save the day.

It still galled Mizuki that the demon brat had mastered the Hiraishin, which was a legendary jutsu. Not only had it been created by the Nidaime Hokage, but the Yondaime had mastered it to the point where he near singlehandedly won the Third Shinobi War. It was a jutsu that people like Mizuki only dreamt of mastering.

There were over fifty Hiraishin seals set up all throughout the village. Fortunately, Danzo and his Root ninja had spared no effort when it came to locating the seals. It helped that Naruto wasn't allowed to place seals somewhere without express permission from the Hokage.

Mizuki wandered through the village, checking each spot designated on the map given to him by Danzo a few months back. Chaos reigned all around him. Meters away, a man and a woman were butchered by one of the inmates, a lithe female who tore into them like a cat. Considering she was covered in fur and had cat-like ears thanks to the transformation seals, it was an apt descriptor. She wasn't the only one. Up ahead, a man whose body was covered in scales was terrorizing the woman of a small shop, and even further down, more transformed inmates were slaughtering people.

It won't be long before Konoha's forces mobilize.

The plan that Danzo had laid out to him was a rather simple one. The inmates would destroy the Konoha Correctional Facility and make their way to Konoha, where they would attack and terrorize the citizens. Then Konoha's ninja would mobilize. Their forces would kill all of the inmates before they had a chance to escape, and he would make his way to the Root headquarters.

None of the inmates had known about that last part, naturally; they wouldn't have gone along with this plan if they had. Only Mizuki knew the truth. That was because only he was worthy of becoming a member of Root. Danzo had recognized his talents. The man had praised him on his desire to rid Konoha of the demon brat, telling him that he shared the same desire. That was why once Danzo took over Konoha and became Hokage, they would kill Naruto Uzumaki.

It took almost an hour to locate all of the seals. By that time, Konoha had already begun their counterattack. Even as he snuck around, Mizuki watched as several chunin, jonin, and Anbu fought against the seal-enhanced inmates. Fire spewed from the mouth of a ninja on the roof, small pellets that attacked a cat-like inmate. The inmate's fur was lit ablaze. While they were screaming, two more ninjas came in and attacked simultaneously, one going for the chest and the other going straight for the jugular. Despite being enhanced by the seal, the inmate was cut open like a wood being split apart by a katana.

Mizuki didn't let this bother him and proceeded to his next destination: The Namikaze Estate. That was where the last seal was located.

The Namikaze Estate was the residence where the Yondaime Hokage had resided with his wife. During the Kyuubi attack, the estate had been destroyed, but the Sandaime Hokage had it rebuilt to honor the fallen Hokage—or so everyone was lead to believe. Mizuki now believed it had been rebuilt for the demon brat.

Mizuki quickly rushed up to the estate. It was quiet. All of the fighting was happening in the village proper, not the so-called noble district. In fact, it was oddly quiet here. While Mizuki hadn't expected there to be any battling, he thought there should have been more people. Where were all the Hyuuga that should have been guarding their estate? The place seemed practically empty.

He reached the Namikaze Estate and walked through the front gate. Just like Danzo had told him, there were no seals this far in. However, there was supposedly one on the front door, which could be deactivated with a slip of sealing paper that Danzo had given him.

Peering at the door, he couldn't detect anything that might suggest this door was trapped with a powerful seal, but he knew better than to just assume. Assumptions had been what had gotten him into this mess, to begin with.

He reached into his ninja pouch, which he had stolen from the head warden, and pulled out a slip of paper. It was slightly crumpled, but the seal on it was clearly visible, a large circle with various kanji written along the sides, followed by another, a smaller circle that had even more kanji. There was a t-shaped symbol inside of the smaller circle. It was also made up of kanji.

Mizuki didn't know anything about seals. However, a person didn't need to be an expert to know how to use one.

"Kai!" he shouted, channeling chakra into the seal and pressing it against the door. A momentary flash of light nearly blinded him, but then a large seal spread across the door. It wasn't the one that he had placed on it. This one was far more complicated, an intricate carving of lines that obeyed no form of geometry.

What is this?

Mizuki wouldn't get an answer to his question, because, in that instant, every nerve ending in his body came alive. Pain slammed into him without mercy. His body felt like it was being boiled from the inside out like his insides were being fried by lightning. It hurt. It hurt so much.

He opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out. His trachea had already been burnt to the point where he could no longer breathe. He couldn't see anymore. It felt like his eyes had been boiled and were now gushing down his face as ooze. He could practically feel smoke rising from them as his eyeballs were cooked from the inside out.

With one final plea inside of his mind, a desperate cry for help, Mizuki died.

XXXXXXXXXX

Steam wafted from the cooling corpse. A disgusting scent drifted off it, the insidious of burnt flesh and hair follicles. It was an acrid scent that made even Torune wrinkle his nose as he used shunshin to appear in front of the Namikaze Estate, along with three other Root Anbu.

One of the Anbu with him, a young kunoichi whose face was, like his own, hidden behind a mask, went up to the door. She was their sealing expert. While Naruto Namikaze's ability in sealing was far beyond anything she could accomplish, she at least had enough knowledge and talent to spot traps.

"It's clear," she said. "It looks like our assumption was correct. This was a one-time use seal. We're also lucky that the seal Mizuki used destroyed the alarm seal. Otherwise, Naruto Namikaze would have been alerted to what's happening."

Mizuki had been lead to believe that he was going to become a member of Root, but the truth was that Danzo would never allow a traitor like him into their ranks. He had simply been a pawn. His entire purpose in this had been breaking the inmates out of prison and deactivating the seal being used on this door.

"Are there any other seals?"

"Negative."

With nothing holding them back, Torune ordered his squadron inside. A narrow passage greeted them, a small hallway that soon opened into a large living space. Torune glanced at the comfortable sofas and other amenities. Everything was nice and tidy. However, there were a few areas that seemed, not out unkept, but more like a purposeful mess. An article of clothing here, a picture frame there, and…

Is that a piece of lingerie hanging from the ceiling?

He stared at the ceiling fan for several long seconds before realizing that, yes, there was a racy piece of black lingerie hanging from the ceiling.

He shook his head and ordered everyone to split up. Their goal was to find anything they could that might help them learn to either control Naruto Namikaze or, should that not happen, destroy him. Torune could only hypothesis that Naruto presented a threat to Danzo, or perhaps Konoha as a whole. He had nothing personal against the Namikaze heir, but it was his duty to see this through.

They all split up and searched the area. Torune went specifically to Naruto's bedroom. However, other than finding several different sets of women's clothing, including underwear, lingerie, and a variety of sex toys hidden inside one of the drawers beneath a rather risque nighty, he didn't find anything.

"Captain." The female Root member saluted. "We've found something."

"Show me," he said without much inflection.

The Root member, whose name was Haro, lead him to a door. It didn't look any different from any other door. Blackwood. Lightly polished. Well-maintained. Its basic characteristics were the same as every other door they passed. However…

"There are seals all over this door," Haro said. "I've only been able to find twelve, but it wouldn't surprise me if there were even more."

"Can you break them?"

Haro shook her head. "If it was each of these seals on their own, I'm confident that I could, but these seals are so intricately entwined that I would have to break all of them within a specific sequence. It also looks like there's a timer that activates once an attempt has been made. If you can't undo every seal within the time limit, all of the remaining seals activate. I'm not sure what they do, but my instincts tell me they're deadly."

Torune took this information in, his face passive. While someone else might have gotten angry, Torune merely thought about this situation logically. That was how members of Root were trained.

"It looks like there is nothing we can do about this," he said. "Leave it alone for now. We'll have Danzo-sama give us orders in regards to this later."

"Yes, sir!"

Torune searched the house for a little while longer, but neither he nor his subordinates found anything. Whatever was hidden in this estate, it was clearly only going to be found behind that door.

XXXXXXXXXX

The summit meeting was winding to a close. They had conversed about most of the main topics that Tsunade had called this meeting to discuss. Now it was just a matter of bringing everything to a close.

It had been decided that Yugito would be in charge of helping the refugees staying in Konoha settle down. This was done mostly because of her relationship with Naruto. Since she and Naruto were dating, and it was an accepted fact that she would marry him at some point, it was considered the best solution possible. Mei did not like that idea. She had tried to convince Yugito to stay in Kiri with her. However, Yugito wouldn't be swayed.

"So… Samui will be traveling to Kiri with the refugees to help everyone settle down there. Meanwhile, Ichiya and Kazeyuri will go to the Land of Spring and Suna respectively." Koyuki coughed into her hand. "I'll split up my current zeppelins and have them ferry everyone all at once. We're going to need them for the war, so we should transport the refugees as quickly as possible."

"It sounds like we have a plan in place, then," Tsunade said. "We'll also transport ninja from Konoha to each nation, and when the zeppelins return—"

"A battalion of ninja from each of our nations will be transported back," Mei said, wearing the kind of devious smirk that generally spoke of trouble. "Don't worry. We know."

"Right." Tsunade nodded. "I suppose you do. In that case, let's—"

Everyone stopped talking as it crashed into them, a killing intent that flooded the room, that choked those who were unused to being subjected to it. Naruto reacted immediately to shield Koyuki from the effects. She was the only one who couldn't resist this intent. He placed a hand on her shoulder and flooded her body with chakra. During that time, all of the kages and their bodyguards also stood up and readied themselves for combat.

They didn't have to wait long.

It came down from above, a black flame that raged like hellfire. It slammed into the table without mercy, raging like a beast, incinerating all it touched. Naruto grabbed Koyuki and leaped out of the way, while the others all jumped back. Jiraiya reached into his pouch as he moved. Pulling out a scroll, one that Naruto himself had created, he set it on the floor and slammed his hand into it.

"Fuin!"

Seals spread out from the scroll. They expanded, growing and snaking out, snatching the flames before they could burn anything else. The black flames fought against this attempt to ensnare them, but the seal was more powerful. More chakra had been poured into it. Thus, with a final shriek as though cursing the one who sealed it away, the flames vanished into the scroll.

That was merely a prelude.

Naruto had already sensed the movement behind him. The burst of killing intent was precise this time, unlike the indiscriminate attack from before. This attack was clearly aimed at taking him out.

Naruto replaced himself and Koyuki with a log.

At that moment, Sasuke Uchiha descended from the ceiling, his body wreathed in black flames. He slammed into the log before realizing what had happened. In that time, Naruto got Koyuki to safety, and then he activated Kurama's power. No red chakra bubbled out from his body, however. Instead, what happened was a giant golden fist erupted from Naruto's back and slammed into Sasuke, who barely had time to cross his arms before the attack struck.

Csshhhttt! Sasuke slammed into the wall on the opposite end of the room with a sound, not unlike someone banging on a drum. It echoed around the room as splinters spread from the point of impact. Naruto reared the fist back once more, and then he slammed it back into Sasuke again, harder this time.

The wall exploded. Sasuke disappeared through the whole as he was sent flying. Naruto, without waiting for orders, chased after him.

"Hey, Naruto! Wait!" He heard Tsunade's shout, but Naruto was already on the move. He couldn't let Sasuke getaway.

I don't know what's going on here, but he used Koyuki to attack me. Naruto narrowed his eyes. Sasuke, today might be the day I kill you.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tsunade growled as Naruto disappeared. What did that brat think he was doing, running off like this again? Hadn't she already scolded him for doing that before when Yugao had been kidnapped? She had, and this jerk was, once again, going off and doing his own thing without awaiting orders.

She was two steps toward the massive hole that Naruto had made in the wall when, without warning, something appeared in front of her. Swirling black miasma gathered in front of the hole. Tsunade stopped in her tracks as someone appeared from within it. Black cloak with red clouds. Orange mask with a swirl pattern. It was…

"Madara… Uchiha…" Konan whispered in shock.

"Konan," Madara said in a cheery voice. "It's so good to see you. I see you've been doing well."

"What do you want?" asked Tsunade. She was already preparing to fight. It didn't matter if this person was Madara Uchiha. There was no way he could fight against several kage level opponents at the same time.

"I didn't come here to fight," Madara said, and Tsunade thought she could hear the grin in his voice. "I merely came… to talk, and see if perhaps you and I could come to an accord."

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto frowned as he burst through the hole and followed the destruction his attack had made. Another hole had been made in the last wall, which lead to the outside world. Naruto rushed over to the hole and peered outside. He didn't see any sign of Sasuke. Did that mean he had run—

A shift in the atmosphere behind him made Naruto spin around. Sasuke was there, in front of him, and he was covered in a strange purple ribcage made of chakra. Before Naruto knew what was happening, something powerful struck him with enough force that he was launched clear outside of the building.

The air around him whistled as Naruto twisted his body around, flipping over so he would land on his feet. He would hit the nearest roof and use the built-up energy in his legs to push himself back toward the building.

As if sensing his intent, Sasuke leaped out of the wall and charged at him. Black flames leaped from his right eye. Naruto clicked his tongue. Since he was in midair, he couldn't dodge, and there was nothing out here that he could replace himself with.

In that case.

A kunai appeared in his left hand with a flick of his wrist. Tri-pronged. Covered in seals. It was his Hiraishin kunai, which he tossed into the air. Seconds before the black flames could hit him, he hiraishined to his kunai, and then tossed it again, at Sasuke this time. His goal was to pulverize Sasuke with a Rasengan before the boy had a chance to do anything.

He wasn't expecting Sasuke to turn around immediately after he appeared.

"What—"

Naruto grimaced as he blocked a kick from Sasuke. The attack normally wouldn't have hurt, but that strange ribcage seemed to be giving his attacks extra power. What's more, his eyes were different than what Naruto remembered. No longer did they have three tomoe. It looked like a black three-bladed shuriken inside of a six-pointed star. Black lines ran through the red star, connecting the six inner points and intersecting with the shuriken. It was…

"What the fuck sort of Sharingan is that?" asked Naruto as he leaped back. He landed on the wall of the summit building and went through several hand seals. He molded his chakra into his palm and then spread his hands in front of him. "Ranton: Sen!"

A bright beam of white chakra shot from his hands, fizzling and crackling with repressed energy and power. The wall beneath his feet cracked as he was pushed into it. Naruto clicked his tongue as he realized that his jutsu was too powerful to be used unless it was on solid ground.

I won't be able to make as powerful as I want.

"Susanoo!"

Sasuke's shout preluded the rib cage around him becoming more solidified. The once ethereal purple became a more solid color. Naruto frowned as his attack slammed into it and was nullified.

Sasuke has become a lot more powerful.

It looked like he had gained the Mangekyo Sharingan, though the variation was different from what he remembered of that Madara impersonator. It also didn't seem to have the same abilities. Did that mean every Mangekyo Sharingan was different? Naruto didn't know, and he had a feeling that he would find out the hard way.

Since his attack wasn't doing any damage, Naruto stopped. He then leaped to the side as black fire encased the spot where he had been standing. Grimacing as he realized that their battle was damaging the Land of Iron's property, Naruto tried to think of a way he could win without using any of his more powerful techniques.

Do I have anything that won't destroy this entire building?

"No."

"O-oi! What kind of answer is that?!"

"The only kind. Your powers are too destructive to use here, and it looks like that Uchiha brat isn't going to be beaten by your weaker attacks."

"Then what should I do?"

"Why are you asking me? I'm just a mass of chakra."

"You're no help at all!"

Naruto "tsked" when several smaller pellets of black fire flew from Sasuke's eyes. It was a tad creepy seeing fire come from someone's eyeballs, but that was neither here nor there. Reaching into his pouch, Naruto pulled out a large scroll, which he unfurled with a flourish. Unlike Jiraiya, who set his on the ground, Naruto kept it in the air. He made a one-handed hand seal and then slammed his hand into the scroll.

"Fuin! Kai!"

A mass of chains shot out from the scroll, though if one actually looked closely enough, they would have seen that these weren't true chains. Composed entirely of golden chakra, each chain was created by several million seals combined together into a solid form. The chains wrapped around the black fire and pulled it into the scroll, sealing it.

During the time Naruto was putting out the fire, Sasuke had descended toward him like an avenging angel. Sparks emitted from his right hand. The sound of a thousand chirping birds filled the air.

"Chidori!"

Sasuke thrust his hand forward, but he only hit the wall. Naruto used the Hiraishin to once more teleport away from his attacker. The wall that Sasuke stood on was decimated. It caved inward, exploding and sending shards of cement in all directions. Naruto frowned even more. If they kept this up, that building wouldn't survive.

We need to get away from here.

"Oi! Sasuke! Your attacks are pretty pathetic, aren't they?"

Sasuke twitched. Naruto grinned.

"You're gonna have to do better than that if you want to kill me."

With that, Naruto leaped away from the building and took off, leaping over the walls as he traveled out of the Three Wolves. He turned his head to look behind him. Sasuke was on his tail. Good. Once they were safely away from this place, he could go all out.

Sasuke wasn't going to know what hit him.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tsunade couldn't tell if she had heard this bastard right. "You want us to come to an accord? What? Like, you want to make a deal with us?"

"That's right." Came the simple response.

"And why should we do that?" asked Mei. Her long hair swished as she stepped forward and glared at Madara. Her face was set in a grim mask, and her eyes seemed to hold more vitriol than Tsunade thought possible.

Madara spread his arms wide. "Because I'm offering you a chance to end this war before it starts, of course."

Everyone stilled. None of them knew what to make of this. Was he being serious? Was he lying? What sort of tricks did this man have up his sleeve?

"What do you mean when you say 'end the war before it starts'?" asked Jiraiya.

"I mean that Pein has become a problem for me," Madara remarked. "He's too rebellious now. I can no longer control his actions. That is why I'm offering you this chance. I will help you kill him."

"No deal." Tsunade didn't even need to think about it. "We have no reason to trust you, and even if we did agree to help you, I'm sure it would only benefit you in the end."

"That's really too bad," Madara said, though he didn't seem to beat up about her refusal. "I guess I'll be leaving then."

Almost as if to contradict those words, a large wall of sand flew around Madara. Gaara, standing exactly where he had been this whole time, glared daggers at the man in the cloak. His left hand was extended, fingers splayed wide. He wasn't the only one who was blocking Madara's retreat. Mei had fixed the hole in the wall with her lava ninjutsu, and even Yugito and Jiraiya were preparing their respective attacks. While Yugito had her two-tailed cloak on, Jiraiya had spread a sealing scroll along the ground.

"Did you really think we would let you get away?" asked Gaara, though he didn't give Madara any time to respond. "Sabaku Soso!"

The jutsu was uttered. Gaara clenched his hand into a fist. The sand around Madara enclosed on him, squeezing him, crushing him—or that was the plan. Nothing of the sort happened. There was no blood or cry of anguish, almost as if the person who had been trapped wasn't even there.

"Are you quite finished?" Madara asked as he walked through Gaara's jutsu like a ghost. "Because if so, then I'd really appreciate you letting me leave."

"There's no way we're going to do that," Jiraiya said. "Fuinjutsu: Jikan Kankaku Fuin!"

The seal lit up for a brief moment, and then the light faded. Nothing seemed to happen. Tsunade knew better, however, as Jiraiya wouldn't have used a seal in such a flagrant manner if it didn't do anything. Her suspicions were confirmed with Madara's next words.

"I see. That seal blocks me from using my time-space ninjutsu to leave this place."

"That's right," Jiraiya said, grinning. "Naruto developed it after you and he faced off. He analyzed your space-time ninjutsu and created a seal that would counter it."

"But it's not perfect, is it?" Madara responded. As if to emphasize this point, a massive glob of lava spat from Mei's mouth traveled right through him. "I can still use space-time ninjutsu. I just can't leave."

"So?" Jiraiya shrugged. "Konan has already told us the weakness of your space-time defense. It's only a matter of time before you die."

Madara looked around at everyone present. Tsunade cracked her knuckles, Mei smiled beatifically, Gaara and his siblings were already prepared to attack, and Yugito, Konan, and the two bodyguards from Kiri had readied themselves as well. Only the samurai, Mifune, and his two bodyguards were not preparing to fight. He took all this in. Though she couldn't see his mask, Tsunade believed he must have been feeling stressed.

"Well, it does look like I'm in trouble."

As he spoke, several creatures shifted out of the ground, phasing through it as though they were intangible. White monsters shaped like a man. Deformed, plant-like protrusions jutting from their bodies. These were those Zetsu clones that had been mentioned in the reports that covered the attack on Konoha. There must have been several dozen of them.

"Just kidding," Marada said seconds before the Zetsu's attacked.

XXXXXXXXXX

I think this is far enough…

Naruto sensed danger behind him and, spinning around to confront it, he swerved along in the snow, zigzagging to avoid the black fireballs launched his way. There was no heat emitted from those flames, but that didn't surprise him. The black flames of Amaterasu were not normal. They didn't burn like normal flames, though they consumed everything in their path.

Not one to let any sort of fire attack defeat him, Naruto tossed his kunai and hiraishined several meters above the ground. He tossed it again, at Sasuke this time, and created several hand seals.

"Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

One kunai became twenty-one kunai. As the mass of projectile weaponry hurtled toward his foe, Naruto took out another kunai and tossed it at the ground a meter behind his enemy. Sasuke didn't even bother dodging. His right eye blazed and a massive wall of fire appeared before the kunai, incinerating all of them.

Naruto hiraishined to the kunai behind Sasuke, and then rushed forward, snow spraying everywhere. He created two Rasengan, one in each hand, and charged at the Uchiha with the intent of finishing him. All it would take was a single Rasengan to the head.

"Chidori Senbon!"

Dozens upon dozens of small electric senbon needles flew from Sasuke's left hand. Clicking his tongue, Naruto let his Rasengan disperse and went through a set of hand seals. The hairs on his arms stood on end as he channeled more chakra through them.

"Suiton: Tatsumaki!"

Naruto slammed his hands on the ground and, before the senbon could get close to him, the earth split apart and a massive tornado of water erupted from the large cracks. The senbon struck the water, but they didn't go through it. Rather, the lightning nature chakra was absorbed into the water. Sparks emitted from it, skittering across the surface in a serpentine manner. Keeping one hand on the ground, Naruto performed several one-handed hand seals.

"Ranton: Rai Tatsumaki!"

The tornado moved forward, traveling swiftly over the ground, destroying everything around it. Chunks of earth were ripped from the ground. Snow swirled around the tornado, increasing its size as the lightning melted it. Before too long, the entire thing nearly tripled in size. It was a towering mass of barely constrained energy, and it was heading right for Sasuke.

It engulfed the former Konoha ninja—or at least, that was how it appeared. Naruto narrowed his eyes when his jutsu dispersed, revealing that nothing was there. There wasn't even a destroyed log, which meant Sasuke hadn't replaced himself. Then what—

An illusion?

Naruto stopped all the chakra traveling through his body. Then he opened the floodgates and allowed his chakra to surge forth much like the tornado had before. The moment he did, Sasuke appeared right in front of him, a crackling blade of electricity in his hands.

"Chidori!"

Naruto leaped back to avoid the attack, but then Sasuke shouted "Eiso!" and the attack in his hand elongated. Fortunately, Naruto was quick to react. He tossed another Hiraishin kunai and used it to get out of the way. Sadly, the Chidori variation followed him, forcing him to Hiraishin again and again and again.

How is he tracking me? It can't be with his Sharingan. Not even a Mangekyo can track my movements. I proved that during my fight with Madara.

Since Hiraishin wasn't working, Naruto decided to just take the attack head-on. He channeled wind chakra into his fist and punched the lightning jutsu.

"Senpuken!"

The Chidori Eiso dispersed. It disappeared like leaves flung away by a fierce gale.

"I see you've gotten a lot stronger," Naruto said as he and Sasuke stood meters apart, glaring at each other. "What sort of Deus Ex Machina power-up allowed you to gain so much power, huh?"

An ugly smirk appeared on Sasuke's face. "Do you really think I'd tell you that? You're already dead."

Naruto frowned. "That's an awfully arrogant state—"

His danger senses blared. Naruto leaped to the side as a massive sword that he recognized, the Kubikiribocho, nearly cut him in half. The attack was so close that he could feel the wind being cut. Holding onto the weapon was a boy with white hair and shark-like teeth. His left arm, the one holding the Kubikiri, was grotesquely larger than the right.

"Heh… looks like I missed," the boy said. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter."

Naruto would never get the chance to ask what the boy meant because something slammed into his back a second later—or tried to. Naruto felt the attack before it hit. He spun around and shoved a Rasengan into what looked like a massive axe formed out of a person's arm. He expected his Rasengan to drill right through the axe, which was why he became surprised when nothing of the sort happened. Sparks emitted from the arm as both he and his opponent were launched backward.

"Amaterasu!"

Naruto was forced to use Hiraishin again when Sasuke's black flames tried to consume him. Yet that didn't solve his problem. Sasuke and the sword-wielder, who Naruto now recognized as Suigetsu, attacked him in tandem, one with Kubikiri Houcho and the other with the Kusanagi. The Kubikiri came in high. The Kusanagi low. It was a perfectly timed two-prong attack. Not just anyone could dodge it.

Good thing he wasn't just anyone.

Vanishing as he used Hiraishin once again, Naruto was confronted by an insanely laughing man with orange hair. This must have been Jugo. The young man's arm had transformed from an axe into what appeared to be a massive pillar with strange protrusions running lengthwise along with it. Naruto didn't know what they were, but he soon realized what they did when gusts of air blasted from them and increased the speed and power of Jugo's punch.

There was no way Naruto could compete with that attack head-on. That was why he didn't take it head-on. He used shunshin to move away, though he didn't move far. Sasuke and Suigetsu would have attacked him if he did. He instead stuck close to Jugo. Placing a hand on his opponent's shoulder, Naruto tagged him with a hiraishin seal. Then, without warning, he channeled wind chakra through his other hand and slammed it into the man's back. His attack normally would have gone right through.

Normally.

What the…?

Naruto scowled when his wind blade didn't pierce Jugo's back all the way to his chest. Sure, it went through a little, enough that a trail of blood was leaking out, but nothing more than that.

Just what the hell is his skin made of?

"DIE!" Jugo screamed as he spun around and tried to backhand Naruto. The attack missed when Naruto leaped away from him—mostly missed. A gust of wind from the force of Jugo's attack struck Naruto in the face and made him stumble.

Suigetsu tried to take advantage of his stumble and, coming in hot, he swung Kubikiri Houcho as though it weighed less than a feather. Naruto turned his stumble into a roll. That allowed him to avoid the attack, though he still felt the sword swish overhead. Before it could fully pass, he touched it with two fingers, also tagging it with a seal. Then he placed both hands on the ground and kicked Suigetsu in the chest.

"Ow…" Suigetsu rubbed his sore chest as he, Sasuke, and Jugo surrounded Naruto on three sides. "That really hurt. Heh, I had no idea you were so strong. Guess I should have expected that from a Namikaze."

"Team Taka," Naruto said, scowling. "I hadn't realized Sasuke was so afraid to fight me that he'd rely on you."

"Don't think your taunts will work on me," Sasuke said. "I'm not the same person that I was a few months ago. I've changed. I've grown stronger now, smarter, and I'm willing to use whatever is at my disposal to kill you." Sasuke's lips twisted into a sickening grin. "And then I'll destroy Konoha too!"

Naruto clicked his tongue, flicked his wrists, and, as two kunai were ejected from the sleeves of his haori, he caught them in his hand before taking a stance.

"If you think you have what it takes to defeat me, then you are sorely mistaken," Naruto declared. "I'll prove to you that even when surrounded, you're still no match for me!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Yugito growled as she stood side by side with Mei Terumi, while they both defended Koyuki from harm. Her claws sliced into White Zetsu clones left and right. A blue fire had extended from her nails to create long, sharp claws that lit everything they touched ablaze. A head fell off here. An arm was lopped off there. She disslegged another clone with a vertical swipe of her left hand and then gouged four bloody furrows deep within the chest of another.

Mei was to her left and slightly behind her. While the woman had some fierce fighting prowess, proven by when she literally kicked a Zetsu clone's head off, her true strength lay in her ninjutsu. She performed a variety of hand seals to launch incredible attacks with her kekkei genkai.

"Yōton: Shakugaryūgan no Jutsu!"

Her cheeks bulging slightly as though stuffed full of food, Mei released several balls of lava from her mouth. Each one was about twice the size of a human head. Each one quickly solidified as the lava cooled. And each one slammed into a Zetsu clone with all the mercy of an angry god. Despite being a solid object, the lava boulders were so hot that they swiftly melted through the White Zetsu clones, leaving nothing but molten puddles behind.

Yugito really had to marvel at the woman's control. Before the lava could damage the floor or surrounding walls, Mei would quickly deactivate the jutsu. The lava would harden and grow cold in seconds. Each ball harmlessly struck the surface of the building without doing too much damage.

High above them, Konan was doing what she could to keep several White Zetsu clones at bay. While Mei had a lot of power, she was a mid-range fighter at best. Since lava couldn't travel far before cooling, she didn't have the attack range that Konan did, who tossed paper shuriken like they were going out of style. The woman was deadly accurate. Every shuriken hit its mark. They penetrated the White Zetsu clones, and then went off like a paper bomb, detonating and causing the White Zetsus to explode.

It was too bad more White Zetsu clones would come to take their place, appearing from the floor like mirages.

They weren't the only ones dealing with the White Zetsu's. Temari, Kankuro, Ao, and Chojiro were also fighting. However, their job was to protect Jiraiya, who couldn't move from his spot. They used swords and fans and puppets and ninjutsu to do their job. While Temari and Kankuro took one side, Ao and Chojiro defended the other. It was a sound plan since they didn't know how to work as a team.

While everyone else was dealing with the Zetsu's, the real battle was happening several meters away: the fight of Gaara and Tsunade versus Madara. Gaara played defense, using his sand to block all of Madara's attempts to kill Tsunade. Meanwhile, Tsunade was doing her damndest to destroy Madara with her fists.

"Hold still, you little turd!" Tsunade roared as she tried to pound Madara's face in. It didn't do any good. Madara slipped around her attack like an eel.

"Oh, so scary!" he cried out in a timid-sounding voice. "Tobi is scared!"

"Mock me, will you!" Growling like a fierce lioness, Tsunade once more attacked, this time with a powerful heel kick that shook the atmosphere.

Tobi dodged it.

He then tried to pierce her through the heart with a kunai hidden up his sleeve. Gaara tried to stop him, but Madara chose that moment to use his time-space ability. The mass amounts of sand passed through Madara's body. This allowed him to continue his attack unabated.

It was a good thing that Tsunade excelled in close combat. She leaned back, avoiding the slash attack that would have slit her throat, and then came back in with a roaring punch. The air exploded around her fist, the punch producing a loud whistling sound, as though it was literally cutting through the atmosphere.

Her fist phased through Madara's head. Tsunade roared in frustration.

While everyone was fighting or defending, only Yugito noticed the figure appearing behind Jiraiya. "Jiraiya-sama, behind you!" she called out. Jiraiya turned his head, but he couldn't do anything as the White Zetsu clone bore down on him. Luckily, Chojiro also heard the scream and smashed the clone flat by charging his sword with chakra and creating an ethereal hammer.

Sadly, because Jiraiya was distracted, he didn't see the hand appearing from within the floor until it had already stabbed through the scroll. There was a fizzling of chakra, followed by a brief sputter, and then Madara cackled.

"It's been fun playing with you all, but I really do need to leave." He waved a hand down his body, which slowly disappeared. "We'll meet again."

As if Madara's disappearing was their cue to get the hell out of dodge, all of the White Zetsu clones also retreated. Yugito stood her ground, breathing heavily, wondering what they should do now. In almost ominous silence, Mifune, who Yugito had pretty much forgotten was there, spoke.

"Well, my meeting room is ruined. I wonder who is going to pay for all this?"

No one had an answer to that.

XXXXXXXXXX

Since Naruto couldn't deal with three opponents at the same time like this, he had no choice but to use Kurama's chakra. He called upon the fox's power. Energy rushed through his body, starting from his stomach and engulfing him. His entire body was then covered in a bright golden cloak with black lines running up and down his body.

"The fuck kind of power is this?" asked Suigetsu.

Jugo didn't even ask that much, he rushed forward while screaming, "die! Die! Die! Die!"

"Wait, Jugo!" Suigetsu shouted, but it was too late. Jugo was already in front of Naruto, and he looked a lot different than before.

His skin had turned a grayish brown, the same color as the earth, and his eyes had become black, while his sclera was yellow. Horny protrusions jutted from his back like thorns. His hair, even spikier than before, formed the beginnings of what looked like a helmet; his brow ridges were shooting from his face, and a strange outcropping went down either ridge to frame his face. He threw a punch at Naruto, his hand becoming long and sharp like a spear.

Naruto wasn't there.

He had already moved.

Appearing behind Jugo, Naruto created several large claws that sprouted from his back. Each one had a Rasengan on it. They hurtled toward Jugo, slamming into him, sending him skidding back… but they didn't break him. Naruto frowned when he saw that Jugo's skin was only singed. He didn't know what the hell was up with this guy's body, but he did know one thing.

I'm going to need a more powerful jutsu.

"Jugo's not the only one you need to worry about, pal!" Suigetsu shouted as he rushed at Naruto and swung the Kubikiribocho.

Naruto clicked his tongue, grabbed Kubikiri Houcho by the blade, pulled Suigetsu forward, and speared his hand through the white-haired ninja's chest. His hand went through with a splash. What was this? Water?

"Ha! Your attacks have no effect on me!" Suigetsu said proudly. "I can change my body to water so—"

"Annoying."

Naruto molded his chakra into lightning natured chakra and channeled it through his hand. He didn't know how much power he had put into it because he wasn't used to using this chakra cloak, but it must have been a lot. Suigetsu's screams were actually being drowned out by the electric discharge. His body lit up like a firefly. Smoke and steam poured off of his body, and Naruto soon realized that his hand no longer felt like it was in the water.

He stopped channeling lightning chakra. He and Suigetsu stood there. His hand was still impaled in the missing ninja's chest, but this time, it wasn't water that poured from the wound. It was blood. Crimson red ichor that flowed from the hole, drenching Suigetsu's shirt. Naruto pulled his hand from the wet hole that he had made in Suigetsu's chest with a wet slllcchh! and watched as the other boy fell backward and hit the floor with a thump.

"Die! Die! Die! Die!"

"Chidori senbon!"

Two shouts came at the same time, one the sound of insane laughing and the other a jutsu name. He looked behind him to see Sasuke launching a hailstorm of lightning senbon. Then he looked in front of him, where Jugo was charging forward with maniacal glee.

Naruto had already placed a Hiraishin seal on Jugo. He disappeared in the blink of an eye and reappeared in front of the large, murderous man. Since his Rasengan wasn't enough to get the job done, Naruto needed to use a more powerful jutsu. Wind or lightning. He created a Rasengan in his left hand, and then added lightning chakra. A loud crackling filled the air as Naruto's Rasengan turned a bright, pure white.

"Raiton: Rasengan!"

A loud crackling like thunder filled the air as Naruto thrust his Rasengan into Jugo's chest. Lightning chakra was a piercing chakra. It could easily stab through just about any substance, and Jugo's tough skin was no different. The thousands of spinning strings of chakra inside of the Rasengan, imbued with the piercing power of lightning, easily plunged through Jugo's chest and destroyed his heart.

Jugo blinked several times. He looked down as Naruto pulled his hand back and stepped aside. Falling onto his knees, Jugo pitched forward, his body reverting back into the one he had before his transformation. A pool of blood spread out from underneath him.

Naruto turned to Sasuke. "It looks like you're the only one left. Were you hoping that by leading me into an ambush, you would be able to make up the difference in our abilities? Sasuke, you really haven't grown at all."

Sasuke gritted his teeth. "You don't know what you're talking about. I've gained power. Real power. The power to crush Konoha and avenge my clan!"

"Wasn't that what killing Itachi was supposed to do?" Naruto asked with a sigh.

"Shut up! You don't know anything, Naruto! Konoha is the reason my clan is gone! They're the reason Itachi became a missing ninja! I'm going to destroy Konoha to exonerate my family!"

Naruto could see it clearly now. He had always known that Sasuke was beyond saving, but seeing him like this, cackling like a lunatic, Naruto felt like he could truly see how broken Sasuke was. While some small part of him felt sympathy, the rest didn't care. If Sasuke was going to be this foolish, if he was going to keep pinning the blame for what happened on others, then Naruto wasn't going to let what pity he had to stop him from doing his job as a Konoha ninja.

"I think it's time we ended this, Sasuke."

Sasuke's grin was psychotic, the kind that Naruto would have expected on a serial killer. "I was thinking the same thing."

It looked like this was going to go down the same way it did during their first battle. A Chidori crackled to life in Sasuke's left hand. It was then encased in black fire from Amaterasu. Naruto saw this, sighed, and created a Rasengan with wind chakra in his right hand.

The two charged at each other. Sasuke roared and charged forward. He was fast, Naruto would admit, probably as fast as Rock Lee when he wasn't using his gates. It was impressive.

Too bad Naruto had no intention of fighting a head-on battle.

Using the speed granted to him by Kurama, Naruto appeared in front of Sasuke, who thrust out his hand and plunged it into Naruto's chest. Sasuke's crow of triumph was cut short when the Naruto before him disappeared.

"What—"

"Sasuke, behind you!" a voice shouted.

Sasuke turned around, but by then it was already too late. Naruto slammed his Rasengan into the other boy's back. His attack drilled straight through Sasuke, who couldn't do anything as the wind chakra tore his back apart. Seconds later, Sasuke went flying through the air, slammed into the ground, and tumbled across the surface.

"NOOOO! SASUKE!"

Naruto turned at the sound of the scream. A young woman with red hair was rushing toward them, tears in her eyes. She ran past Naruto and toward Sasuke, knelt down, and picked the boy up. He watched silently as she held him and rolled up her sleeves, revealing the numerous bite marks on her arm. She held the arm to Sasuke's mouth.

"Come on, Sasuke. You need to heal up. Sasuke. Come on. Bite me so you can feel better."

Sasuke did nothing of the sort. He was already dead. The girl, who Naruto believed was named Karen, became even more hysterical when Sasuke didn't do anything.

"Sasuke! Sasuke! Sasuke!"

Naruto felt bad for killing the person this girl obviously loved, though why she'd love someone like Sasuke was beyond him. He decided to leave. He would let this girl grieve in peace.

"You…" the girl's growl stopped him. "You killed him. You killed my Sasuke! I'm going to kill you!"

Naruto turned back just as the girl released her hold on him. She charged at him, and he shifted into a fighting stance. He wasn't going to kill her. She posed no threat. The plan was to just knock her out and leave.

Before she could get too far, Madara appeared within a vortex, chopped her on the back of the neck. The girl collapsed forward. Madara caught her before she could fall and hauled her over his shoulder. He took a look at the scene, spotted Sasuke, and picked him up as well.

"It seems you have ruined even more of my plans," he said, his voice calm and collected. Naruto sensed the rage bubbling beneath the surface.

"If you didn't want your plans ruined, you should have never let him come after me." Naruto shrugged.

"True. I suppose this is my fault." Madara sighed as his body became intangible. "Well, I would love to kill you for this, but I'm nearly out of chakra, so we'll leave things like this for today." While he couldn't see past that mask, Naruto was sure that Madara was glaring at him. "The next time you and I meet, I'll end you."

And then he was gone. Naruto stared at the spot where Madara had been standing. An eery silence filled the clearing, broken only by the howling wind.

"I should be the one saying that." Naruto looked up as snow fell from the sky. "Next time you and I meet, I'll be sure to end you."