Chapter 34 Part-2

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Neji was grateful that he had been born a Hyuuga. It allowed him to keep his opponent in sight, even though they were separated by several walls. It also meant that his enemy couldn't sneak upon him.

His opponent hadn't moved from where he had been standing, though whether this was because the man hadn't noticed him or believed himself to be invisible, Neji didn't know. He walked through the cavernous space, moving past several large stalagmites. The cavern opened up. His enemy, cloaked from head to toe, still hadn't moved.

"Neji Hyuuga," the man finally said, still not turning around. "I had wondered who Naruto-kun would choose for his team. I'm not surprised that you were one of the people chosen. That Byakugan is a boon when infiltrating an enemy base."

"You know who I am, yet I don't know who you are," Neji said. The back of his neck was prickling. Something was wrong. This man was far too relaxed.

"Oh, but you do know who I am." Finally, the man turned around and pulled down his hood. A face covered in white scales, with yellow eyes and purple markings around them, greeted him. "It's been a while since you and I met, but I'm sure you recognize me."

Feeling the chill increase, Neji narrowed his eyes. "I see. Yes, I recognize you now. Kabuto Yakushi. I haven't seen you since the Chunin Exams with Naruto and the others. You look a lot different than I remember."

"Indeed." Spreading his arms, Kabuto smiled. "I have changed a lot. I've become stronger… stronger even than Orochimaru in his prime. I've surpassed Orochimaru."

Kabuto was acting insane. That smile, those eyes, the strange feeling emanating from him, all of it made Neji wary. This man was dangerous at the best of times. Now that he had changed this much, there was no telling what kind of troublesome foe he would be.

"I was hoping Anko would be with Naruto-kun," Kabuto continued. "I would have liked to use her cursed mark to help me suppress the personalities of the ninja I've summoned, but I guess that was expecting too much. Well, no matter. Even if I can't suppress them entirely, I can still control their actions."

"You are not going to be controlling anyone for long." Neji slid into the gentle fist stance. "I'm going to stop you here and now."

"Oh? Are you?" Kabuto went through several hand seals. Four snakes appeared behind him. He went through more hand seals. The snakes got bigger. "Do you really think you can defeat me? I'm the most powerful shinobi in existence, the one who has come closest to the Rikudou Sennin. A single jonin-level ninja will not be enough to contend with me."

The snakes raced through the air like coiled springs let loose, coming in from different angles. It looked like they aimed to pen him in.

Kaiton isn't going to be strong enough for this. In that case…

Neji spread his legs wider and sent chakra into his palms. The snakes got closer. They were practically on top of him now.

"Hakke Hasengeki!"

The first snake lunged, its mouth open wide, and Neji struck it with a chakra-infused palm. A powerful wave of chakra slammed into the snake. With his supreme chakra control, Neji forced the chakra to shake. The snake screeched. Then it exploded.

"Hakke Hasangeki!"

He struck the next snake before it could even attack him. It wasn't a frontal assault. This time he struck the snake on its side. The results were gory; the snake was ripped apart, blood splattering everywhere. Neji spared himself the fate of being covered in red by leaping backward.

The remaining two snakes attacked in a pincer maneuver.

"Hakke Hyaku Nijuhachi Sho!"

Neji struck the snake on his left twice. It jerked back as though stung. He spun around, striking the snake that was now behind him twice, causing it to also rear back. Neji turned again. The other snake was closing in once more. Four strikes to the nose sent it reeling. A split second later, Neji was once more turning around to face the other snake. Eight strikes. Eight large red welts appeared on the snake's face as the chakra did its damage.

Sixteen. Thirty-two. Neji continued assaulting the two snakes with increasingly fast palm thrusts. Red welts appeared all over their scales, signs that the chakra he was injecting into them was doing damage. His attacks weren't attacking the outside, but the inside. Capillaries were bursting. Blood was boiling. The snakes screeched as he attacked them over and over again. Finally, Neji launched his one hundred and twenty-eighth strike, making for a total of sixty-two strikes per snake.

While the snakes remained whole, they were no longer able to battle. They fell to the ground with a massive crash. The earth shook. Neji leaped over them and rushed toward Kabuto, deciding to take the fight to him.

Only Kabuto wasn't there.

Neji stopped, frowned, and tried to find him with his Byakugan—except he couldn't. It wasn't because he simply couldn't find Kabuto. That would have been impossible. However, it looked like there were multiple Kabuto's. Much like Naruto's Shadow Clones allowed him to mask his presence by having clones that evenly split his chakra, Kabuto had some method of evenly splitting his chakra to make it impossible for Neji to locate the real one.

"I see you have more tricks up your sleeve," Neji said. "Just what I expected from a snake."

"You flatter me," Kabuto's voice reverberated across the cavern. It was impossible to tell where it had come from. "You are indeed talented, worthy of the title 'genius' in every sense of the word. However, you should know that being a prodigy doesn't mean you are strong."

Neji kept his eyes peeled. With the Byakugan, nothing escaped his notice. He had a 360-degree field of vision, plus the ability to see chakra. While right now it looked like there were several Kabuto's around him, that would eventually change once the real one attacked, and when he did, Neji would be ready.

"I have been working hard. Yes, ever since Orochimaru was killed by Sasuke, I have been training to surpass Orochimaru."

Several meters to Neji's left, numerous snakes appeared. They coiled around a pillar. Neji spun and rushed over.

"Hakke Kusho!"

A vacuum flew from his hand. It struck the pillar, decimating it, but it didn't strike the snakes. AS the pillar crumbled like a house of cards, the snakes slithered away.

"You see, Hyuuga Neji? My abilities are not something that just anyone can gain. Among the many ninjas who exist in this world, only a few are granted the special privilege of receiving the training that I have undergone… and of those ninjas, none have taken their abilities as far as I have, not even Naruto Namikaze."

It was becoming obvious that there really was nothing he could do while Kabuto was not fully revealed. Neji consigned himself to waiting. He wouldn't attack until Kabuto attacked first. Once that happened, he would end this battle quickly.

"Do you know what Sage Mode is?" asked Kabuto. Neji didn't reply. "It is a technique that one can only learn from two different places. Mount Myoboku and Ryuchi Cave."

"I am going to assuming that you learned Sage Mode from Ryuchi Cave," Neji finally said. "However, I have yet to see why I should care."

Kabuto's chuckle bounced all over the place. "That's simple. You see… with Sage Mode, I have become all but invincible. Not even the vaunted Naruto Namikaze can defeat me. Even if he and Jiraiya fought me at the same time, their end would be inevitable. You… a mere jonin who only holds the strength of a genius, does not possess the power to defeat me."

Through his Byakugan, Neji spotted Kabuto behind him. The man was regurgitated from the mouth of a snake. He looked even more different than before. His skin, which had scales covering part of it was now fully covered in white scales. His yellow eyes had slits running through them. Horns jutted from his head.

Kabuto went through a set of hand seals, then his stomach expanded, as though it were a balloon being filled with oxygen.

"Senpo: Hakugeki no Jutsu!"

A strange, dragon-like entity spewed from Kabuto's mouth. It was a violent red with ethereal flames engulfing it, and it carried a purple orb in its left claw. Neji didn't know what that orb was, or what this creature was, but he knew better than to let it finish its attack. He turned around and rushed forward.

The dragon coiled itself tightly around the orb.

Neji screamed as he was assaulted by both light and sound. His Byakugan automatically shut off as his visual sense was overwhelmed. He covered his ears with his hands. Sticky, warm fluid drizzled down his ears. Blood. It felt like the vessels in his ear canal were bursting. He couldn't hear anything, he couldn't see anything, which meant he was open to attack.

In the event something like this happened, Neji had only one option left.

Do something unexpected.

He had no idea where Kabuto was, but it didn't matter. Neji had resolved himself. He ignored the ringing in his ears, the intense pain of his burnt cornea, and expelled chakra from every pore in his body. Neji spun around, forming a bright barrier made of chakra, but he didn't stop there. As he performed the Kaiten, he expanded made the barrier expanded so that, rather than being a shield, it became a sonar.

Kabuto was on his left and coming in fast.

"Jukenho Ichigekishin!"

The first thing Neji did was strike Kabuto, who was clearly not expecting to be attacked, with the technique. As the snake-like ninja was sent sailing, Neji attacked the strange technique of Kabuto's.

"Hakke Kusho!"

With pinpoint accuracy, Neji sent a vacuum of chakra into the dragon-like creature. The chakra used in the technique was disrupted. It dispersed. The light disappeared, the sound ceased assaulting his ears, and Neji opened his eyes to find Kabuto staring at him in disbelief.

"How were you able to negate my jutsu?" Kabuto asked.

Neji's response was to resume his gentle fist stance. "You're not the only one who has trained to surpass his limits. Now, let's continue. I'll show you that being a genius does not mean I'm incapable of exceeding my own limits."

XXXXXXXXXX

The cavern that Naruto found himself in was massive. Hidden away underneath a mountain, he couldn't tell whether it had been made naturally or by man. He walked by several pillars that were two times thicker than he was tall. The ground seemed to slope downwards. Frowning as he wandered further in, Naruto eventually discovered a strange glow coming from somewhere up ahead.

"I sense the chakra of my fellow Bijuu here."

"Really? Do you know what the chakra is being used for?"

"No. I cannot tell that much. I only sense the chakra, not what it's doing."

"Then I guess we'll have to keep going if we want to find out."

Naruto moved closer and soon realized that the glow was coming from below the ground. He came upon a ledge and looked down. There was another room below him, and in the center of that room sat a large tree. Even as he watched the tree as it pulsed, several spots on the tree bulged, and then that bulge shifted into a humanoid shape. Naruto felt a sense of unease well up inside of him when the human-shaped bulge suddenly became a person—no, not a person. It became a White Zetsu.

"I see," Kyuubi said. "This is how they are manufacturing those clones. They're using the power of the Bijuu to fuel the production. That tree has the same chakra as Hashirama, too. I can only guess that they are using Hashirama's Mokuton ability and the Bijuu's power to create life."

"Then we should destroy it," Naruto decided. "So long as that remains, Madara will have an inexhaustible army at his disposal."

"Indeed."

He would need to use something big to destroy this tree. A simple Oodama Rasengan wouldn't work, and his storm release ninjutsu was too powerful unless he was willing to bring this entire mountain down around his ears. That meant either Sage Mode or the new Chakra Mode he had gained from Kyuubi. Of the two, Sage Mode was probably safer. There was no telling what might happen if he used Kurama's chakra on that thing.

Before he could begin gathering nature chakra, a voice spoke up behind him.

"Katon: Bakufu Ranbu!"

Naruto barely had time to turn around before a massive blaze of fire in the shape of a spiral slammed into him. He only had a moment to react. His first response was to use Hiraishin, but when he tried to activate his kunai, he found that he couldn't feel them. There should have been hundreds all-around Mountain's Graveyard. Why couldn't he feel them?

As the spiral of fire burnt his body, Naruto was left with no option except to activate Chakra Mode, and then create several clawed hands that acted as a shield. The blaze washed over him. Even protected, its heat still seared his skin. His body broke out into a sweat. It felt like blisters were breaking out across his skin.

The firestorm soon died. Naruto's body quickly rejuvenated thanks to his regeneration. He didn't release the chakra shroud, but he did unwrap himself from the claws.

Madara was standing across from him, his face still covered by that spiral mask, body still draped in a black cloak with red clouds.

"I see you are as highly resilient as ever," Madara said. "I was hoping that surprise attack would destroy you."

"You should know I'm not so easy to dispose of." Naruto unsheathed his Hiraishin kunai and twirled them around his fingers. "But this is good. I was just wondering where you were. Before I destroy this giant tree, I really should see to defeating you."

Madara's feet shuffled along the ground. He raised his hands, adopting a combat stance. "If you think I'll be so easy to beat then by all means, come over here and try it."

Naruto started off the battle by tossing one of his tri-pronged kunai at Madara, while at the same time pointing a finger at his foe and gathering chakra.

"Ranton: Sen!"

A large beam of white light blasted from the tip of his finger. It quickly bypassed the Hiraishin kunai. Madara leaped away from the beam, which struck a pillow behind him and detonated. Meanwhile, the kunai had finally reached him.

Naruto tried to activate the kunai and hiraishin right in front of Madara.

He couldn't.

What's going on?

"Are you having problems, Naruto?" asked Madara.

Something is wrong. Hiraishin isn't working.

"Of course not," Naruto said. "You should know by now that I never have problems."

"Oh?" Madara tilted his head, then shrugged. "Then I guess you're not wondering about why the Hiraishin isn't working?"

Those words caused Naruto to narrow his eyes. So, the reason he couldn't use Hiraishin had to do with something this man had done. Naruto couldn't think of a way to block, negate, or otherwise cancel out his ability to teleport between kunai, but that was merely because no one had tried to. There could have been a manner of making it impossible to use Hiraishin via a seal that disrupted the shiki on the kunai or perhaps destroyed the flow of chakra between him and the kunai. Regardless of how what this meant was he wouldn't be able to use Hiraishin during this fight.

That was fine. He had other methods of combat.

"Raiton: Byakurai!"

A lance of lightning blasted from Naruto's finger. Madara dodged it, of course, but Naruto predicted how he would move and went through a series of hand seals.

"Fuuton: Mugen Daitoppa!"

Naruto expelled a large gust of wind from his mouth, which blasted across the ground and caused several pillars to crumble. It never reached Madara. Before it got even halfway, a large black hole opened up in front of him. The jutsu was sucked inside.

Madara went through his own hand seals.

"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!"

Several fireballs spewed from Madara's mouth, but Naruto summoned a wall of water to block the attacks. As steam rose up all around them, he decided to use the chakra shroud to close the distance quickly and finish Madara off.

"Shinra Tensei!"

What?!

Naruto was not prepared for the powerful force that slammed into him. He was blasted off his feet, crashed back first into a pillar. Pain exploded in his back. Due to the force, bile rose up in his throat, which he coughed out, along with several globs of blood. Kneeling on the ground, Naruto glared up at Madara as the masked man lorded over him.

"I see what's going on now," Naruto mumbled. "I knew when I saw that Karin had the Sharingan and Rinnegan that you were somehow responsible for it. I should have known you would implant a Rinnegan into yourself."

"You really should have," Madara agreed. "That you didn't only prove how stupid you are."

"Says the man who lost to me last time we fought," Naruto retorted.

"Our battle will be different this time," Madara said. "You no longer have the advantage now that I have both the Sharingan and the Rinnegan."

Naruto activated his chakra shroud. Kurama's chakra flooded through his body, flowing into him and enhancing both his chakra and physical strength. He stood up and wiped the blood from his mouth.

"Just because you have a shiny new eye doesn't mean you'll be able to defeat me," Naruto said. "The last time we fought, I couldn't use the Kyuubi's chakra as I can now. You aren't the only one who has a new power."

Madara snorted. "Then I suppose we'll see who's power is stronger."

Naruto felt like he was in an old-fashioned stand-off, except without the giant ass summons. He and Madara glared at each other from the distance that separated them. This would be their last battle. He knew this, and he was sure his enemy also knew this. Whoever won here would bring victory to their side.

No pressure.

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The battle had become heated, though it had also taken a turn for the worst. Konan and Yugao had done everything they could think of to defeat Nagato. No matter how many tactics they tried, nothing worked. Nagato overpowered her paper ninjutsu, avoided Yugao's kenjutsu, and fought back with Rinnegan abilities that exceeded them both. This was in spite of the fact that he was still a cripple.

"Shikigami no Mai!"

Konan turned herself into paper. One by one, sheets of paper peeled off her body, until she disappeared entirely. The paper encircled Nagato, who remained where he was, his expression calm, unruffled. Even when all of the paper slammed into him as though to bind him there, he didn't so much as squeak.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Yugao created two shadow clones and then proceeded to launch an assault on the now bound Nagato. The clones moved in on the left and right. They closed the distance quickly. Meanwhile, Yugao leaped into the air and, raising her sword above her head, swung it down.

"Mikazuki no Mai!"

At the very last second, just before she and her clones attacked, Nagato broke out of the paper. He held out his hand and said, "Shinra Tensei."

Yugao cried out as she was struck by an invisible force. She flew through the air in a parabolic arc. She would have struck the ground, but Konan quickly reappeared from within several sheets of paper and caught her. They both set down on the ground several meters from Nagato.

"Thanks, Konan."

"You're welcome."

"Damn." Yugao bit her lip. "Your friend is just way too powerful. There's no way the two of us can defeat him on our own."

"I've come to the same conclusion," Konan admitted. "We might not be able to beat him. However, we can at least keep him from attacking everyone else."

Konan flapped her wings and took off into the air. Down below, Yugao went through a number of hand seals as Konan launched several paper shuriken at Nagato.

"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!"

Yugao spat several fireballs from her mouth, which struck the paper shuriken, turning them into flaming projectiles. Nagato held up his hand. The projectiles struck a shield, the fire quickly shrank as he absorbed the chakra, and then the paper vanished as well.

During the time Nagato was dealing with the jutsu, Yugao closed the distance. She swung her sword. It missed. Growling as Nagato leaned back, she attacked again and again, with each swing of her blade flowing into the next attack. The air whistled as she bit into it with her katana. However, no matter how many times she struck at him, she never hit her mark.

"Shinra Tensei."

Yugao had expected him to use this jutsu. It was his go-to technique. She quickly replaced herself with a rock by his feet. Appearing below him, she swung her sword again.

Clang! It was blocked by a forearm that had suddenly transformed into a metallic weapon of some kind. Several pods opened on the arm. Tiny needle-like objects shot from within it. Explosives.

Realizing what these were, Yugao leaped back, but that didn't do anything. The explosives followed her. She tried to cut one down, but that just caused it to explode in her face. Yugao screamed as she was launched backward.

"Yugao!"

Konan shed paper. It flew off her body and created a wall in front of Yugao. The remaining explosives struck the wall and detonated. The paper wall nearly blew up, but Konan reinforced the wall with her chakra, forcing it to remain intact.

However, by focusing on protecting Yugao, Konan had left herself open.

"Ah!"

Something exploded against her back. Heat seared into her skin and burnt her clothes. The wings that she had been using to fly lit on fire before turning to ash. With her wings no longer keeping her aloft, and her ability to concentrate shot, Konan fell to the ground. Her world became white with pain. When she finally came to, she had trouble figuring out where she was. Her vision was blurry, her mind was jumbled from pain, and her body was screaming at her.

It took a while, but she eventually realized that she was in a small crater. Yugao was standing next to her. The woman had her blade up as though to protect her. High above them both, floating in the sky, Nagato looked down with his hands pointed at them.

Konan knew how Nagato operated. He liked creating big craters using Shinra Tensei to display his power. If he did what he always did, then Nagato was going to crush her and Yugao using that jutsu.

It looked like this was the end; there was nothing either of them could do. They'd done all they could, fought as hard as they could, but this was all their power had amounted to. Nagato, even crippled, was an immensely powerful ninja. With the Impure Resurrection granting him unlimited chakra and invulnerability, there really was no chance for them to win.

"Heh… never thought my end would come like this," Yugao muttered.

"I'm sorry," Konan said.

"Why are you sorry? You didn't ask for this." Yugao turned her head to smile at her. "I don't mind dying beside you. My only regret is that I won't get to marry Naruto and start a family."

That was indeed regretful. Konan felt the same way. She had been looking forward to settling down and creating a family. That wouldn't happen now.

"Me too," she said.

Still hovering above the sky, Nagato channeled so much chakra that even Konan, who had no sensor abilities to speak of, could feel the intense wellspring of energy.

"Shinra…" he began, "Tens—"

"Dainamikku Entori!"

"—OOOF!"

Konan and Yugao were silent as Rock Lee somehow appeared next to the floating Nagato and jump-kicked him in the face. Nagato, having obviously not expected this, went soaring away like one of his missiles. He disappeared in a twinkle of light.

Rock Lee landed on the ground. "Yosh! That takes care of that! Are you two all right? You haven't lost your flames of youth, have you?"

Konan and Yugao were so stunned that they couldn't say anything.

What the fuck just happened?

XXXXXXXXXX

Kakashi blocked Itachi's kick with his forearm, cushioning the blow and using the resulting strength to push his foe away. As Itachi stumbled backwards, Sakura leaped in to attack. She threw several kicks and punches. However, Itachi, with his Sharingan predicting how she would move, easily avoided her attacks. After Sakura's last kick, Itachi's Sharingan spun and Sakura suddenly grew glassy-eyed and stopped moving.

Genjutsu.

Knowing that Sakura was perfectly capable of breaking out of a genjutsu, Kakashi attacked, leaping into the air and launching a series of swift kicks that struck against Itachi's defending arms. He landed back on the ground. Itachi tried to pin him in place with a genjutsu, but Kakashi broke it with his Sharingan.

"I've been meaning to ask this for a while now," Kakashi said suddenly, "but this battle is way too easy. You wouldn't happen to be holding back, would you?"

Itachi nodded. "An astute observation, Kakashi. You are correct. I am holding back."

"I didn't know you could do that when you've been resurrected."

A lull took place in the battle. Itachi seemed to be in no rush to continue. He was even polite enough to explain how Kabuto's jutsu worked.

"It wouldn't have been possible with Orochimaru's old version of the Impure World Resurrection, but Kabuto has modified it. Along with bringing someone back at their full strength, this technique also lets them retain their personality. This means that we're more powerful than we would have been. However, since our personality is intact, it means that we can resist his orders to some degree."

"Sounds like more trouble than it's worth," Kakashi said. Sakura had broken out of the genjutsu by now and was standing at his side.

Itachi shrugged. "It's a trade-off. I believe Kabuto allowed us to retain our personalities so we would suffer by being forced to attack the people we loved. We're actually lucky. If he had someone with him who had Orochimaru's Cursed Seal, he would have been able to force us to fight at our full strength."

"So what now?" asked Kakashi.

"I imagine we'll keep fighting until Naruto comes back," Itachi admitted. "I've placed a crow with Shisui's Sharingan inside. I had originally given it to him so he could help Sasuke, but I never expected Sasuke to descend so far into darkness on his own. If he comes back, it will activate and allow me to break free from Kabuto's mind control."

"Then we just continue to fight until that happens?"

"More or less."

Kakashi wanted to sigh. Why couldn't Naruto have waited for a little while before running off?

XXXXXXXXXX

"Hakkesho Kaiten!"

Releasing chakra from every pore in his body save the bottom of his feet, Neji spun around to create a large dome of chakra. Several snakes that tried to attack him were shredded apart. He stopped spinning, revealing a line-shaped like a perfect circle around him.

"Bravo! Bravo!" Mocking claps echoed across the cavernous room. "You truly are worthy of your title. Indeed, it seems I have greatly underestimated your abilities… but you know, with that kind of strength, don't you think it's unfair that you'll never become the head of the Hyuuga clan?"

Neji felt something prickle at the edge of his mind. Why was this man bringing that up now? Why here? Was he getting desperate, or was this one of Kabuto's many ploys?

"What are you getting at?" asked Neji.

Kabuto chuckled. "Don't act so naive. You know what I'm getting at. You've worked so hard, come so far, but because your father was born a few minutes later than Hiashi, you were branded with a seal that you cannot escape from. The Hyuuga Clan cursed you to live a life of servitude. Don't you think that's wrong? What's more, the Hyuuga Clan exemplifies everything that is wrong with Konoha. They force people to do their dirty work and then force them to live in dishonor and disgrace. Even you are being forced to comply with Konoha and the Hyuuga clan against your will. You are a caged bird, Neji, but I can set you free."

Raising a single hand, Kabuto smiled at Neji as though beckoning him over.

"Join me, and I will break the curse that was cast on you."

Neji wondered if this guy was for real. Break the curse? Did Kabuto really think that he would fall for something like this? The man's words were so funny that Neji couldn't stop himself from laughing.

"What is so funny?" asked Kabuto.

"You are," Neji said. "You just spent several minutes trying to convince me to betray my family and village without knowing the truth. I haven't been caged for years. Ever since my battle with Naruto during the Chunin Exams, I have been free to make my own choices. Even if I had the Bird Caged Seal on my forehead, I was still treated with dignity and respect. However… your information is a little outdated."

Neji reached behind his head, grabbing the knot that tied his headband to his forehead. A single tug released the knot. He pulled the headband away.

Kabuto's eyes widened.

Neji looked down at his headband, saw his own face reflected on the metal surface, and grinned.

There was no Bird Caged Seal on his forehead.

"Thanks to Naruto Namikaze, the Bird Caged Seal is being dissolved." Neji looked back up at the stunned Kabuto. "It hasn't been announced yet, but the Hyuuga Clan has been slowly removing the seal in order to make way for a new seal that Naruto has created, which will go on every Hyuuga member regardless of whether they are from the main branch or not and cannot be used to cause pain. Sorry, Kabuto, but if you think pretty words from an ugly snake is going to sway me, then you're sadly mistaken."

Kabuto's shoulders twitched several times. It was like he was barely holding back the anger and frustration Neji imagined he was feeling.

"So I see," Kabuto said. "I guess it was a mistake to try and sway you. To be fair, it has been a long time since I was able to spy on Konoha. My information is a little out of date."

"I would say a lot out of date," Neji said.

"Fine. A lot out of date," Kabuto said. "However, this doesn't change anything. You cannot beat me."

"I don't have to beat you," Neji told him, smiling. "I just have to keep you occupied long enough for Naruto to defeat Madara."

XXXXXXXXXX

Konan knew, instinctively, that Nagato would come back after being jump kicked in the face. She didn't expect him to return quite as fast as he had. However, she had been expecting it and therefore wasn't surprised when he arrived again.

Tenten had joined them by that time. She was not as fast as Rock Lee, and so it had taken her longer to show up. She'd complained a bit, but her complaint was interrupted when Nagato tried to turn them into a pancake via Shinra Tensei. Now the four of them were gathered together. Standing opposite of them was Nagato, who looked no worse for wear after Rock Lee kicked him in the face.

"It seems there are a few more members," Nagato said. "That's good."

"Is it?" asked Konan.

"Yes." Nodding, Nagato smiled. "The more people who fight, the better your chances are for survival."

"You seem awfully happy for someone who's outnumbered," Tenten said.

Giving her a shrug, Nagato said, "I am not fighting because I want to. Kabuto's jutsu makes it so I have to do what he orders. The most I can do is resist him, but I will still fight in the end."

"I knew you were holding back," Konan said. "If you were serious, even injured as you are, Yugao and I wouldn't have lasted ten seconds."

"What I don't understand is why you're still fighting if you don't want to," Yugao said. "If you can resist, then couldn't you stop altogether?"

Nagao shook his head negatively. "No. The Impure World Resurrection is a jutsu that forces us to fight regardless of our wish."

"Isn't there some way to undo the jutsu?" asked Rock Lee. "This jutsu seems most unyouthful."

"I do not know if there's a method of undoing this jutsu," Nagato admitted. "I only know that I've been resurrected and have to follow the orders of the one who resurrected me."

"Nagato," Konan began, "I want to apologize… for everything that's happened."

"I believe I told you before… you have no need to apologize," Nagato said. "I told you already: what happened to me is the result of losing my way. I wanted to change the world. I wanted to bring peace to the Elemental Nations, but I became so caught up in achieving that dream through any means that I ended up letting myself get used by Madara. It was only after he killed me that I realized how meaningless my life has been. I was born with all this power, but I couldn't do anything with it."

"That's not true!" Konan shouted. "It's because of you that I'm here! If you had never existed, if you hadn't rescued me, I would have been dead a long time ago. You saved me."

"And in the end, I also pushed you away," Nagato said with a shake of his head.

"So what?" said Konan. "You think that matters? Do you think it changes what you accomplished? It's thanks to you that I am still here, and it's because I am still here that I can continue to carry your dream!"

"Konan…"

"Let me be the one to accomplish the dream we both shared," Konan said, placing a hand against her chest. "I'll bring peace to Amegakure. I'll bring peace to the Elemental Nations. Believe in me, Nagato."

The clearing was silent. Konan stared at Nagato as though trying to will him into believing her through eye contact. Slowly, as though his face were made of melting clay, Nagato smiled. It was small. Most people would have missed it. Konan was not most people.

"Yes… I'll leave it to you then," he said, and as he said this, his body was engulfed in white light.

"What's going on?" asked Konan.

"Hmm…" Nagato looked at his hands, chuckled, and then looked at Konan. "It seems the jutsu has somehow been released. If I had to guess, I would say that talking to you has given me some form of closure. Thank you, Konan. I hope you live a long and happy life."

As he spoke, Nagato's skin started peeling off, revealing that there was nothing underneath. It was as if he wasn't really there at all. Layer by layer, his body broke down until there was nothing left. Nagato disappeared.

Tears stung Konan's eyes, but she didn't allow them to fall. She sucked them in and stared at the spot where her friend had disappeared.

"I will, Nagato. For you, and for me."

Everyone remained silent for a moment, paying their respects to Konan, who continued to stare at the spot Nagato had vanished. After a while, Yugao placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on," she said. "Let's go help the others."

"Right," Konan muttered. She took one last look at where Nagato had been standing, and then she and the others left.

A breeze blew through the now empty clearing.

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto and Madara had yet to land so much as a single blow on the other person. Jutsu were launched and countered. Lightning and storms and fire filled the air. Space warped and explosions rocked the room, causing cracks to appear on the floor and ceiling.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Another variable was that Madara was now capable of using Rinnegan related jutsu. Naruto could only assume that he had stolen the Rinnegan from Nagato after Naruto had defeated him. This posed a problem. The last time they d had fought, it had also been like this, dead even. However, Naruto couldn't use Hiraishin, and Madara had the Rinnegan.

Moving quickly across the cavernous space, Naruto used the pillars as cover, wincing as several pillars collapsed after being struck by the Shinra Tensei. Dust clogged the area around him. It gave him something of a smokescreen, though he didn't know how useful that was since Madara had both a Sharingan and a Rinnegan.

"Raiton: Byakurai!"

Pointing his finger at where Madara had been last, Naruto sent a beam of lightning at him. He waited for one second, then two. An explosion went up. It shook the earth. Naruto activated his chakra cloak, created two shadow clones, and then rushed out alongside one of the clones. The other went elsewhere.

He and his clone rushed at Madara. They didn't use any fancy tactics. It was a straight-up frontal assault. Several large claws extended from his back and shot at Madara, who activated Kamui to create a black hole that sucked up the claws before they could reach him. Naruto flinched as he felt some of Kurama's chakra get sucked into the Kamui, but he retracted his claws and leaped back. The clone was already in position anyway.

"Fuuton: Rasenshuriken!"

A loud, shrill, whistle echoed all around them. The Naruto clone, who was above Obito and falling from the ceiling, extended the nine claws jutting from his back. Each clawed hand held a Rasen shuriken, a miniature one. The combined screech of each one created a threnody of clashing noise that was like dozens of steel swords grinding against a rock.

Madara looked up. A vortex suddenly appeared above him. The clones weren't able to stop themselves from falling into the vortex, which quickly consumed him. Naruto felt the clone dispel and blinked.

What was that? What were those coffins?

It had only been for a second, but he could have sworn clone Naruto had seen something before his clone had died: a space filled with coffins.

He didn't let himself stay distracted for long. Madara had released a massive fire dragon at him, and so Naruto did what any sane man would do. He took evasive action.

Thanks to Kurama's chakra shroud, even if he couldn't use Hiraishin, he was still several magnitudes faster than Madara. He sped across the room in less time than it took to blink. When he was behind Madara, he went through several hand seals and prepared one of his more powerful jutsu. It would be dangerous. However, he had decided that he'd rather bring this entire mountain down around them than let this man live.

"Ranton: Hakarashi!"

Naruto's chakra surged before a massive storm of energy was unleashed. Fierce winds slammed against the pillars. Many crumbled. The ceiling cracked and several cave-ins happened. Lightning burst from Naruto's body following the wind, lashing out at everything in destructive arcs before, like an ancient army come to conquer. Several giant lances shot at Madara. They traveled forward, piercing everything in their path. Madara remained still.

What the hell? Isn't he going to try and dod—

Naruto froze when a large coffin appeared in front of Madara. The coffin door slid down to reveal that someone was inside. They weren't wearing a cloak, which allowed him to catch a glimpse of dark skin before the lightning descended. Naruto closed his eyes briefly as the lightning jutsu nearly burned his retina. He waited for one second, two, and then opened his eyes.

He wasn't sure what he expected to see, though he had been hoping to be greeted by the sight of Madara lying on the floor. That wasn't what he saw. Instead of his opponent being defeated, Naruto witnessed his jutsu being negated by someone he was quite familiar with. Thick, dark-skinned arms were stretched out before a muscular body. Shades glinted in the light and seven swords were strapped to various parts of his body. Naruto knew this person. It was Kirabi. He wasn't alone.

Has Madara resurrected Kirabi and the other jinchurikki to battle me?

There were four other coffins standing alongside the one that Madara first summoned. Each coffin was open, and each one had a person walking out from it. One of those people was a large man wearing armor. Another wore a kimono and had pale skin. Then there was an old man wearing tacky robes and mesh last was a young man who looked like a little boy. Naruto recognized him. It was the third Mizukage. Yagura.

All four of them had a Rinnegan in their left eye and a Sharingan in their right.

"I see you've turned the previous jinchurikki into your paths," Naruto said with a wrinkled nose.

"I am quite particular about my paths," Madara said, shrugging. "Not just any ninja would do. I needed people who were strong, a ninja who could fight on par with you."

"Well, you certainly have chosen some troublesome opponents for me," Naruto admitted.

"Naruto."

"I know. With that Rinnegan, their vision is probably linked together the same way Pein's was. On top of that, they have the Sharingan, which means they'll be able to track my movements. We could be in trouble."

"Since you've proven to be such a troublesome opponent, I can no longer afford to take you lightly," Madara continued. "I'll defeat you here and now."

"You'll try," Naruto said.

Naruto exploded into action, rushing backward with several long leaps. The five Jinchuuriki, tails extending from their body, rushed after him. Killer Bee was in the lead. The four who'd appeared after him trailed slightly behind him, their positions such that their fields of vision overlapped.

"Ranton: Rasenshuriken!"

Combining storm release with his Rasengan, Naruto created a massive sphere of destructive white chakra. It wasn't really shaped like a shuriken, but he couldn't think of anything else to name it, so Rasen shuriken it was. Without waiting for an invitation, Naruto used one of the clawed hands to slam the Rasen shuriken into Killer Bee. It missed. Naturally. However, he wasn't Naruto's true aim.

Madara glared as Naruto changed the direction of his attack from Killer Bee to him. If he weren't so busy concentrating, Naruto would have grinned. Madara leaped out of the way of Naruto's attack. The Mizukage and the six-tailed jinchurikki moved in and cut his chakra claw. The Rasen shuriken dissipated before it could cause any damage.

That was okay.

"Ranton: Mabiki Suru no Jutsu!"

Killer Bee and the old man attempted to attack him up close, but Naruto had no intention of letting them do that. He sped through a series of hand seals. His chakra exploded. Arcs of lightning shot from his body. A fierce wind slammed into Killer Bee and the old man, swirling around them and turning into a pair of cyclones. As though sensing that they were captured, the lightning sought out the swirling cyclones. At the same time, Naruto spat several streams of water.

Lightning, wind, and water combined to create an incredibly destructive attack. The two cyclones lit up as they destroyed everything in their path. The ceiling finally gave way, caving in and raining destruction on everyone. Naruto extended the chakra claws and used them to destroy the large chunks of debris that rained on his head. He glanced at Madara to see what his enemy was doing.

That turned out to be a mistake.

Several large globs of lava shot from within one of the cyclones. Naruto yelped when one hit him, searing his skin. He leaped back, but then the Mizukage and the six-tails rushed at him. One had already created a blade of water, and the other was covered in a strange slime-like substance. The two attacked simultaneously. Naruto backpedaled across the cavern—and was broadsided when something hot slammed into his side.

Screaming as he crashed through a pillar, Naruto was barely able to recover in time to see who had attacked him. It was the man in armor. Steam billowed from his fist. He must have been the gobi, the five-tailed dolphin horse. By combining water and fire, the gobi's jinchuriki could use boil release, which was essentially steam.

This… this isn't good.

"You're just now realizing that?"

"Be quiet!"

Naruto leaped away from the place where he'd been standing when his danger senses went haywire. The pillar he'd been in front of exploded seconds later. Heat blasted Naruto in the face, causing sweat to break out on his skin as steam billowed from the attack. Naruto didn't even have time to counter before the Mizukage and the six-tails were on him.

There are way too many enemies for me to defeat at the same time.

"We should have expected the previous jinchuriki to be resurrected. Now we're caught in that man's trap. Fortunately, there is one good thing to have come from all this."

"What's that."

"We now have indisputable proof that you're an idiot."

Naruto ducked underneath a blade of water—only to run face-first into several bubbles. He scrambled backwards, but he wasn't fast enough. One of the bubbles touched him. The resulting explosion threw him backward, skidding and rolling across the ground. His back screamed, his shoulder cracked, and his face stung as he tumbled like a ragdoll across the floor.

This is so not good.

In a one-on-one battle, Naruto was guaranteed victory. He was even sure that he could fight these other jinchuriki two-on-one. However, battling five-on-one simply wasn't possible. Maybe he could win if he could use Hiraishin, but the man calling himself Madara had been prepared and sealed off his connection to his kunai.

The question is: how is he doing it?

The only way to seal off a technique was to use a sealing jutsu, but there shouldn't have been any way for this man, or anyone, to seal off the Hiraishin. If it was that simple, it would have been done long ago. Was he using a space-time jutsu to disrupt his ability to travel between kunai?

"What is this?" a voice asked from above him. "Weren't you saying something about defeating me? What are you doing lying on the ground?"

Naruto glared at the one who called himself Madara and, snarling, sent a chakra claw at him. It phased through the man, of course. That blasted Sharingan jutsu of his made it hard for Naruto to attack.

"Tsk. Tsk. You should know by now that attacks like that don't work unless you've got the right timing." Madara waved a finger at Naruto as though chiding him. "Did our previous battle teach you nothing, or have you grown so desperate that you'll attack even though you know it's futile? Well, not that it matters to me." He raised his left hand. "The moment I touch you with this hand, it'll all be over."

As "Madara" slowly drew his hand closer to him, Naruto tried to think of a way out of this. There had to be something he could do to escape from this predicament. He couldn't use Hiraishin, but he still had plenty of chakra. The issue came from the man above him. That phasing ability was annoying, and Naruto didn't have a definite counter to it. Perhaps he could use a seal…

That's it.

The hand was coming closer, seemingly in slow motion, but Naruto didn't focus on the hand right now. He channeled chakra to his left index finger. The finger glowed. Slowly, so as not to attract attention, Naruto began writing a seal beneath his body, hidden away where "Madara" couldn't see it. His finger speed was quicker than Madara. He finished his seal and activated it seconds before Madara touched his head.

"Eh?"

Nothing happened.

"What is this?"

Madara touched his head again.

Nothing happened.

Grinning, Naruto kicked Madara in the face. Unlike the last time when his attack went through the man, this time, the one calling himself Madara received the shock of his life. Naruto's foot slammed into his face with the force of an angry god. The loud bang! of flesh meeting flesh sounded abnormally loud in the cavernous interior.

Madara was lifted off his feet and flew toward the ceiling, where he slammed headfirst into the hard sediment. The chipped rock fell on Naruto's head as he clambered to his feet. He wobbled, his legs feeling precarious as though teetering on the edge of exhaustion. Shaking his head, Naruto looked up.

"You used a seal to block my space-time ninjutsu," Madara said. He was already healed, standing on the ceiling, his arms crossed as though nothing had happened. "That's very impressive. I expected no less from Minato Namikaze's son. You truly live up to your name."

On the ground below, the resurrected jinchuriki gathered around Naruto, clearly waiting for Madara to give the order to attack. He would have sighed, but he was a little too busy just then. This situation was not enviable by any means.

"Being complimented by you doesn't make me happy," Naruto snapped. "You know, for a man who calls himself Madara Uchiha, you seem perfectly capable of augmenting the powers you're lacking. I've heard about Madara from Kurama, and he told me that Madara is a conceited prick who'd never use anyone's power but his own. You aren't Madara, which begs the question: Who the fuck are you?"

"Madara" spread his arms. "Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is that I am going to take the Kyuubi from you, and then I'm going to find the Ichibi, Nibi, and Nanabi and take them as well. Then I'll be able to complete my plans."

"As if we'd let you do that," a voice said seconds before a thousand sheets of paper wrapped around the six-tails jinchuriki. They were paper bombs. Naruto barely had a second to run like hell before they detonated with enough force that the entire mountain shook.

"Konoha Senpu!"

Rock Lee, his skin red and veins bulging all over his body, rushed into the room and kicked the gobi Jinchurikki in the face. His kick was so powerful that the jinchurikkis head exploded. Literally. The entire head suddenly turned into ash and the body fell to the ground. Of course, the head regenerated a second later, but it was still impressive.

"Sogu: Tensai!"

A scroll suddenly appeared. It flew through the air. Less than a second later, there was a burst of smoke and several dozen weapons shot out at the Mizukage, who leaped backward. The man didn't even seem to realize that he'd leaped right toward his foe. Tenten, wielding a pair of scimitars, attacked him with a series of lightning-swift slashes. They were dodged, but she kept up the pressure.

"Mikazuki no Mai!"

Three Yugao's rushed through the pillars, one leaping into the air, while the other two attacked the yonbi jinchuuriki with a pincer maneuver. One was destroyed by globs of lava, but the other successfully reached him. The clone and Yugao simultaneously hit him with an attack that cut him all the way through. He still recovered, being undead and all, but Yugao attacked him again, keeping him on the defensive.

The remaining two resurrected jinchuriki tried to attack Naruto. Killer Bee sprouted several octopus tails and attempted to hit Naruto with them, while the man wearing red armor sent several compressed bursts of steam at him.

A wall of paper blocked both attacks, appearing before Naruto as a multi-layered shield. Konan coalesced before him, her body forming from multiple sheets of paper, though it was only half a body.

"Go after Madara," she said. "I and the others will deal with these five."

Naruto nodded. "I understand. Thank you."

After leaping onto a pillar, Naruto ran up it, defying gravity. His chakra shroud, which had been deactivated thanks to Madara, reactivated with a burst of golden luminescence.

He threw himself at Madara, who reacted with admirable swiftness.

"Shinra Tensei."

"That won't work on me!" Naruto shouted as he made a clone and had it throw him out of the jutsu's path. The clone vanished, destroyed, but it had served its purpose.

Three chakra claws sprouted from his back. A different rasengan formed on each one, fuuton rasenshuriken, ranton rasenshuriken, hyoton rasenshuriken. The first one to reach Madara was the hyoton one. Madara leaped away as the Rasen shuriken struck the ceiling, freezing it over. While he was in mid-air, the fuuton Rasen shuriken attacked him, but he phased through it. He also faced through the ranton Rasen shuriken.

He didn't see the chakra claws returning from behind him.

"NNNGG—GGGAAAA!"

Naruto grinned as "Madara" or whoever he was, became engulfed in a massive sphere of destruction. It wasn't until the sphere quickly expanded that he realized he may have a problem. Everything within the area was getting destroyed. The fierce, howling winds rent the air and caused the ground, ceiling, and pillars to break apart. This wouldn't have been so bad, but everything was also getting sucked into a vortex that swirled around the sphere, which was growing larger by the second. His team, who'd still been fighting with the reanimated jinchuriki, also became a part of this vortex.

Well, fuck.

Reacting with haste, Naruto launched all nine chakra claws. Four latched onto his teammates. The other five dug into the ground and pulled him down. This was harder than it looked. The ground kept getting ripped out and fed into the vortex. Naruto used his five claws to continuously pull himself further away from the sphere and destructive winds.

Thanks to the power of his two jutsu, the walls of the mountain were destroyed. Naruto rushed outside with the others still caught in his grasp. When he was a suitable distance away, he set everyone down and turned around, watching as the mountain became engulfed in a massive dome of maelstromic energy. The chakra soon dispersed with a loud shriek. A shock wave flowed out from it, causing him and the others to raise their hands to their face. The shock wave died down. Everyone lowered their arms and looked at the mountain.

Except there was no mountain.

All that remained was a crater.

"That was a seriously powerful jutsu," Tenten said.

"Yosh!" Rock Lee shouted. "Naruto-kun's flames of youth are so powerful he can destroy mountains! I must train so that I can destroy mountains, too!"

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever."

"I had no idea you had such a destructive ninjutsu," Yugao mumbled.

"If we're being honest here, neither did I." Shrugging, Naruto continued to frown at the scene. He was forgetting something—or rather, someone. "Where's Neji?"

"I'm right here," a voice said behind them.

Everyone turned around. Neji was walking over to them, scratches and lacerations covering his body. Despite this, he looked none the worse for wear. Being dragged behind him by a giant snake tail was…

"Is that Kabuto?" asked Naruto.

"Yes," Neji said.

"Huh…" Scratching his head, Naruto frowned. "I completely forgot about him. What's he doing here?"

"He's apparently the one who resurrected all of these shinobi," Neji said. "I didn't kill him because he said his death wouldn't break the jutsu. He could have been lying, but I thought it would be better to be safe than sorry."

"Good call," Naruto agreed.

"Do you think Madara is dead?" asked Konan.

Naruto tilted his head. "I can't see him surviving that. Don't know about those reanimated jinchuriki, though."

"Maybe we should confirm whether or not he's gone?" Yugao suggested.

Opening his mouth to say that was a good idea, Naruto was unprepared for the sudden pain that speared his back. It was as if someone pierced him with a spear. His world vanished as it was overridden with pain. He thought he heard someone scream, but he couldn't be sure; everything sounded as if it was coming from across a vast distance.

His last thoughts were trying to figure out what had happened.

And then he was in a familiar chamber, staring down a familiar furred face. Kurama, aka the Kyuubi, looked down at him with a grin.

"It looks like you got careless, brat."

Naruto frowned. "What do you mean?"

Flicking his tails with a lazy swish, Kurama rested his head on his hands. "I mean that fake Madara just stabbed you in the back. Honestly, how could you let yourself be surprised like that? Aren't you supposed to be the master of surprise?"

"Huh… so that's what happened." Looking down at his hands, Naruto narrowed his eyes and looked back at Kurama. "Am I going to die?"

"Don't be stupid." Kurama snorted. "An injury of this level isn't going to kill you. That said, you should pray that you wake up soon. Your friends are fighting in your place, but even five on one, they're no match for that faker."

"It seems like I'm not much of a match either." Because he had nothing better to do, Naruto sat down and crossed his arms. "In terms of power and abilities, I seem to be the stronger one, but he has more experience and is a lot more canny. The biggest issue is that phasing ability of his."

"You should create a seal that can negate it."

"Create a seal… I might be able to do that. The last one I made was only temporary. I need to make one that's more permanent. The only question is whether or not I'll be able to create it in time."

"Then you had better get cracking."

"Right."

Sitting down, Naruto reran everything he knew about Madara's phasing ability through his head. He had to figure out a way to seal off that ability for good. His life, and the lives of his comrades, depended on it.

XXXXXXXXXX

Yugao felt helpless as Madara appeared behind Naruto and impaled him through the back. She wanted to scream, but her throat had closed up. All she could do was watch in helpless horror as Naruto, blood dribbling down his mouth, crumbled to the ground like a broken doll.

"NOO!"

The scream came, not from her, but from Konan. With tears leaking from her eyes, the woman summoned mass amounts of paper and sent it hurtling at Madara. Of course, the paper merely phased through him, but Konan didn't seem to care.

"Lee! Tenten!" Neji shouted. "Form up on me!"

"Right!"

"Yosh!"

While everyone was clearly shocked, they didn't let that get to them. Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten rushed toward Madara. While Neji and Rock Lee attacked using taijutsu, Tenten played long-range support, unsealing what looked to be hundreds of kunai that she liberally hurled at their foe. Like Konan's paper, the kunai went straight through him.

"Do you really think your attacks will have any effect on me?" asked Madara as Rock Lee traveled straight through him after an unsuccessful spin kick. "None of you have what it takes to—"

Madara's words were stopped dead in their tracks when Neji struck him with a palm thrust. Unlike Rock Lee's attack, this one actually landed, slamming into Madara's chest and sending him flying backward. The masked shinobi skidded along the ground after being struck. Then he fell to a knee, one hand raised to massage his chest.

"H-how?" he asked.

Neji's expression could have frozen over hell. "I don't have to tell you how I managed to get past your phasing ability. Lee! Tenten!"

"On it!"

"YOUTH!"

The three of them attacked in tandem once more. Again, Madara phased through Tenten and Rock Lee's attacks, but he couldn't stop Neji's. As she watched from the sidelines, Yugao wondered how he was able to do that.

She looked over at Konan, who was no longer fighting Madara with the others but was kneeling on the ground next to Naruto. Seeing this jolted Yugao into action. She rushed over to the pair and knelt down next to them.

"Is he okay?" she asked.

"He should be," Konan said, much to Yugao's relief. "The wound in his back is already healing, so he's not in any danger. The only problem we have currently is…"

"Madara," Yugao said.

Konan nodded. "If he manages to get away from those three and attacks us, I'm not sure we'll be able to protect Naruto." She ran a hand through Naruto's hair. "Madara's jutsu has one weakness. He can only make himself intangible for about five minutes. Neji seems to have found another weakness, which I'm guessing means he has discovered a way of disrupting Madara's space-time jutsu."

"He's probably using a variation of shikoku fuin," Naruto said, opening his eyes with a groan.

"Naruto!" Konan and Yugao said at the same time.

"Are you all right?" asked Yugao.

"Yeah… I'm fine," Naruto said. "Listen, I have a way to defeat Madara, but I need your help."

XXXXXXXXXX

Neji and Rock Lee kept the pressure on Madara. Rock Lee would attack, then Neji would attack. While Rock Lee's attack generally went harmlessly through Madara, Neji's always hit, and the results were that Madara would get sent reeling. While they worked together, Tenten remained in the back, providing long-range support by hurling several kunai at Madara. The kunai didn't damage him. However, the added variable helped keep Madara from realizing how Neji was disrupting his space-time jutsu.

Thanks to his Byakugan, Neji already knew that Naruto was up and ready to start fighting. He didn't know what Naruto had planned, but he could see their leader speaking with Konan and Yugao, so he knew that Naruto was planning something. Right now, his job was to distract Madara. Keep the man's attention on him until Naruto was ready.

"Hakke Hasengeki!"

"Konoha Senpu!"

Neji thrust his palm at Madara. A powerful wave of chakra emitted from the palm. Concealed within the chakra, hidden so well even a Sharingan would miss it, was a small seal that disrupted Madara's technique. As Madara stumbled back, Rock Lee slammed into him with a powerful spin kick that sent the man skidding backwards. Neji smiled when Madara stared at Rock Lee in shock.

"Soshoryu!"

Leaping into the air as she unfurled a pair of scrolls, Tenten spun like an acrobat and released both of the scrolls' content, which just happened to be an entire armory. Weapons of every conceivable shape and size flew from the scrolls. A number of them had explosive tags on them. They bombarded Madara like a hailstorm, detonating everything around him.

Those explosions probably didn't do anything. Even so, the amount of fire and dust they kicked up acted as a suitable smoke screen for Naruto, Konan, and Yugao, who were finally making their move.

Now he, Tenten, and Rock Lee needed to sit back and let those three deliver what would hopefully be the finishing blow.

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto ran alongside Yugao while Konan flew into the air. Yugao had drawn her katana and he a pair of kunai, though they weren't the tri-pronged ones that he'd grown used to using. Since his ability to use Hiraishin in this place was sealed, bringing those out would have been pointless.

Madara had already turned toward them, his glowing red Sharingan eye visible inside of his mask, along with the rings of his, or rather, Nagato's Rinnegan.

Yugao reached him first. Naruto had hung back purposefully. As Yugao reached Madara, she swung her blade, which sung as it sliced the air apart. It phased through Madara, who tried to return Yugao's attack with one of his own. Naruto coated a kunai in wind chakra and threw it.

Blood splashed against the ground as the kunai went straight through Madara's arm.

Madara can't touch anything so long as he's intangible. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he reached Madara. So to attack, he has to become tangible again. This also means that for a short time while he's attacking, he's vulnerable. It's a small window, though. That sort of attack won't defeat Madara.

Naruto's fist phased through Madara again, and again, Madara went to attack but was intercepted by Yugao. His right hand flew off as he tried to punch Naruto's face in, only to be on the receiving end of Yugao's blade. Naruto frowned as more blood splattered against the ground.

He's not even reacting to having his limbs cut off. It's like he's impervious to pain.

He and Yugao continued to fight, with one attacking and the other waiting until Madara became tangible. Unfortunately, Madara was quick to catch onto how they were operating and switched tactics. He no longer tried to attack. He fell almost entirely into defense, relying heavily on his phasing ability to avoid damage.

A stalemate. Naruto and Yugao couldn't hurt him thanks to his intangibility, but he couldn't attack them for that same reason. What's more, he seemed to have learned from their previous fight. He never used his intangibility for five minutes. When he was about to reach that limit, he shut the ability off and used the Mogura Tataki no Jutsu to hide underground and appear somewhere else. His cunning combination kept Naruto and Yugao from landing a solid hit.

It was definitely a good thing that they were only a distraction.

High above them, Konan ran through a gauntlet of hand seals. The jutsu that Naruto had shown her was one that could be used by anyone, but thanks to her paper jutsu, it worked best with her. The only issue would be keeping the enemy still. Fortunately, Naruto had already created several clones who were working on a jutsu that would keep Madara from moving. The only thing left to do was maneuver his tricky foe to that location.

Naruto and Yugao kept up the pressure. They forced Madara to move to a place of their choosing by using Sage Mode to sense him and predict where he would move. When he finally reached the spot, a small circle exactly six meters wide, the 12 shadow clones finished their preparations and slammed their hands onto the seal they had created.

"What is this?!" demanded Madara as he found himself trapped by a dome of chakra.

"This is your end," Naruto said seconds before a large swarm of paper covered in seals descended.

Madara tried to phase through the paper as it smacked into him, but the seals activated and kept him from doing so. He shouted as his body became covered in seals. Inch by inch, his body disappeared as thousands of paper sheets wrapped around his body. In as little as five seconds, Madara Uchiha, or the person who called himself that, became completely immobilized.

"Fuuton: Rasengan!"

Slamming a Rasengan into the now incapable Madara's chest, Naruto had the distinct satisfaction of returning the favor dealt to him. The shinobi's entire chest was ground away, and because he was immobilized by seals, he could do nothing about it. Madara fell to the ground. Half his chest was missing. Somehow, he was still alive.

"Hm…" Naruto stared at the hole in Madara's chest. "That should have killed him. Is he immortal?"

"What should we do?" asked Yugao as Konan descended to the ground.

"We'll take him with us," Naruto decided. "If we can't kill him, then we can at least imprison him. Maybe the higher-ups will figure out what to do with him." Turning to face everyone, Naruto grinned. "All right, people! Let's grab Kakashi and Sakura and head off!"

Naruto received a chorus of "Hai!" from his comrades.

XXXXXXXXXX

After reuniting with Kakashi and Sakura—and subsequently breaking Itachi out of Kabuto's control via Naruto regurgitating a crow—the group proceeded to leave Mountain's Graveyard with their two prisoners in toe.

The first order of business was having Itachi force Kabuto into releasing the Impure World Resurrection technique. This resulted in Itachi also disappearing. Naruto had the feeling that Itachi didn't want to be in this world anymore anyway since Sasuke had died. After that, Naruto had their air unit contact the Allied Shinobi Forces and tell them that they had completed their mission. They received orders to head for the main base on the war front.

While it was called the "main base" because that was where Gaara was stationed, the truth was that there wasn't anything base-worthy there. It was just the place where Gaara headed up the main force. Naruto and the others were greeted by Gaara and his entourage upon arrival, though he received several looks when everyone saw the unconscious Kabuto and the papered-up Madara.

"Naruto, I'm glad your mission was a success," Gaara said.

Naruto grinned. "It turned out even better than I expected. Not only did we destroy the base making clones, but we captured both Kabuto and the one calling himself Madara Uchiha."

"So that's why all of the reincarnated shinobi suddenly disappeared," Gaara said. "I hope you'll inform me of what happened during the debriefing."

"Of course."

There wasn't anything for Naruto or his team to do. After the Impure World Resurrection was released, the Allied Shinobi Nations had a much easier time defeating the White Zetsu army. Since his aid wasn't needed, Naruto and his team were left to relax in the large tent that had been built at the main base.

Naruto was sitting in a chair, arms crossed. Kakashi, Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee had disappeared. He didn't know where the latter three were, but he assumed Kakashi was reading porn. Konan and Yugao were sitting beside him.

"Do you think the war will end with this?" asked Konan.

"We took out their leader, so I don't see why it wouldn't," Naruto said.

"Will this end every war?"

Naruto hesitated. "I don't know."

"What do you think will happen now that the war is almost over?" asked Yugao.

"Reconstruction, most likely." Naruto rubbed his jaw. "A lot was lost. Entire villages have been destroyed and people were displaced. We'll need to help them. Plus the Elemental Nations will need to begin discussions to create policies that will stop this from happening again."

"Do you think anything will come of those talks?" asked Konan.

"Of course," Naruto replied. "I plan on taking part in them. I won't rest until we've come closer to achieving true peace."

There was a moment of silence.

"Then what should we do?" asked Yugao.

"Do you mean 'we' as in the three of us?" asked Naruto. Yugao nodded. Naruto blinked, then frowned, and then smiled. "That's easy."

Konan and Yugao stared at Naruto, whose smile widened.

"Live," he said simply.