39

Chapter 39: thirty-eight: bloody hellSummary:

In the end, it's just not quite enough.

Notes:

This chapter was supposed to come out a while ago, but between adapting to my new anxiety meds, catching covid and then spreading it to the rest of the family, and stumbling on the rocky path of personal growth, I honestly didn't have a lot of will to write.

I also have been re-reading this entire fic and making notes of things. I have some nice chapters planned out, though, so it will be very hard for me to abandon it.

Happy New Year, y'all! May 2023 be kind to us, and may many victories come our way.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

TRIGGER WARNINGS: extreme violence, physical and emotional torture, gore, mentions of animal cruelty.

Becoming Hokage 101

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Section Seven

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Chapter Thirty Eight

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Her own blood sings in her ears.

The temple's old structure easily gives in to the surrounding explosions, and sheer instinct makes Chiyuki use the butterflies' teleportation technique to exit the building before any debris can hit her.

The dark, stormy sky rumbles above them, thunder roaring loudly in her ears along her heartbeat. From seemingly thin air, the six bodies Nagato controls form a semi-circle around the redhead, and the now familiar hum of iron of the distinct bodies eases something in her.

The figures remain mostly the same as Before, which had led her to believe the rinnegan user would have chosen the six individuals that Jiraya had met regardless of anyone's circumstances, with the exception, of course, of Yahiko.

The first and most notable body is the only one that is different from Before - following the Six Paths of Buddhist Reincarnation, the Deva Path takes form in a young woman, with ash blonde hair that looks very much like her own. When she'd first been introduced to it (her?) and squinted her eyes suspiciously, her teacher had merely shrugged and said it was fitting that a figure who looks like her be the one to control attractive and repulsive forces.

The Asura Path, the one who controls mechanized weapons, continues to be of a towering man who was once a puppeteer. The Human Path, who is able to read minds, is a Taki ninja with long, light blue hair. The fearsome Animal Path, the one to summon immortal creatures without any seals or blood, is a shinobi of the Fuma clan, with long green hair in a high ponytail.

Having the ability to absorb chakra in any form - and thus having a more defensive position - is a former Kusa shinobi, who'd also been a farmer, and is now being used as the Preta Path. Perhaps the most intimidating of them all is the Naraka Path, who's able to summon the King of Hell himself and repair any damage done to the Six Paths, and now assumes the form of a priest with dark gray hair.

The Outer Path is Nagato himself, and Chiyuki can't help but feel it's extremely fitting. Since it's said that the one who wields the rinnegan exists outside the realm of life and death, they're able to revive the dead through the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique. In addition, seeing as the Outer Path is believed to be the Seventh Path, it's able to transmit their chakra through black receivers.

She looks at Ensui, tense and ready next to her, and at the six bodies surrounding her teacher, and almost believes they're ready for what might as well be the battle of a lifetime.

Standing in front of them are Black Zetsu and Madara, exuding an odd aura of caution and confidence. There's no doubt in her mind that both are capable of the unimaginable if it means attaining their goal - no matter how different they truly may be - and it's the sheer weight of that knowledge that keeps her grounded in the moment.

Nagato had told her in no uncertain terms that she was much stronger than when she first came to Ame, and even though she knows her teacher would never say something like that if he didn't truly believe so, the mere presence of their enemies is enough to make her stay on her toes and keep any delusions of winning this fight easily at bay.

Contrary to the loud explosions that announced their arrival, Madara and Black Zetsu are almost eerily silent, although the latter keeps his gaze fixed on her with a snarl - he clearly holds a grudge and can't wait to get rid of her, but if Nagato's plans works out as it should, then they should be able to use that perfectly to their advantage.

Finally, the Ghost of the Uchiha opens his mouth.

"What a warm welcome." The man's voice sounds drier than Suna, sharingan eyes passing through each figure almost lazily. From their side, no one dares to speak up, as they know it'd only fuel the old shinobi's insane tendencies, and this is far from what they want right now.

'Anything you say can and will be used against you.'

Chiyuki does wonder about the distinct lack of White Zetsu, which she and Nagato had thought would be part of Madara's strategy to overwhelm them, but a whisper from Chou makes her worry not only for her safety, but for the entire village's:

'Ame is currently surrounded by the White Zetsu army.' The giant insect mumbles. 'The two other young leaders and their ninja are managing well, however. The Uchiha that came with you is on his way.'

Well. It wasn't like she and the red-head hadn't sat down and exhausted every single possibility, hadn't gone through every single plan and technique their enemies might use against them. They had thought about a joint attack against them and the village, and had gone through extensive lengths to ensure minimal damage.

Konan and Yahiko are, naturally, two of the strongest ninja Chiyuki has ever seen, and are capable of dealing heavy damage on their enemies. Drills with the civilians had been done at least once a month, ensuring they all knew where to go 'in case of an emergency', which would then allow Ame's rain to turn acidic, courtesy of a jutsu modified by Nagato.

'Ah, the crocodiles are here.' The peacock butterfly murmurs in her mind, and the girl wishes she could see Yahiko's summons at least once. She'd only heard about them - huge, dinosaur-like reptiles with mouths that could open 180 degrees and three rounds of sharp teeth, and supposes she'll have to make out of this alive to be able to ask the orange-haired man about them.

'They called for the Slug and Toad Sages, as well.' Chou adds, almost as an afterthought, and even though it'll be a while before the two arrive in Ame, she does feel a little better at knowing that reinforcements are coming.

After staring at them in cold silence, the old man frowns deeply, the wrinkles on his face becoming more pronounced. "This'll be quick."

Black Zetsu immediately lunges for her, a lightning jutsu crackling in his hands, but the light it creates only makes Ensui's job easier, and in a matter of milliseconds, the creature is trapped inside the Nara's signature technique.

"Shadow Possession Technique - complete." The teenager hears the man mutter behind her, and channels her chakra through the earth beneath her feet as it easily glides over to where their foe is struggling to break free from the shadows keeping him in place.

She's practiced using the Iron Release so much during the last few months that a hand sign is not necessary anymore, especially not for her favorite technique-

"Iron Release: Iron Maiden." The blonde whispers as thick, spiked walls surge from the ground and form a solid cage around their enemy, closing in and trapping him in with a dull sound.

She's well aware there's no way this is going to keep him away for long, even as Takuto's screech of iron enters her range and Ensui is still keeping Black Zetsu ensnared in his shadow jutsu. Grabbing the lightning scroll she's received from Kakashi, she makes quick work of hiding it beneath the earth, attaching her chakra to it.

"We need to end this quickly." Ensui mumbles from her left, meeting her gaze and giving a hard nod, wordlessly understanding her plan.

Chiyuki senses the odd familiarity of the Human and Preta Paths getting closer to her, until she has one on either side. They both have a more defensive role in Nagato's formation, and that is exactly why they were sent to aid her - if push comes to shove and their opponent manages to get too close to her, the Human Path merely has to reach out with his hand to absorb Black Zetsu's very own soul, although neither she nor her teacher know how that would go; if, for some reason, the Human Path is unable to do that, the Preta Path is to absorb the creature's chakra in one go.

Of course, being under the Uzumaki's control, all of the Paths are exceptional ninja well-versed in taijutsu, which does add an extra layer of physical protection - which is imperative in their objective to keep her fight as physical, long-ranged as possible. Since Nagato has much better chances of surviving an encounter with Madara's deadly mangekyou sharingan, they both had agreed she needed to steer clear of the old man.

In theory, Chou can snap her out of any genjutsu, since the insect's chakra is deeply woven into hers, but no one is willing to test that against a foe like the Ghost of the Uchiha.

The teenager's ear tingles with a message in morse code telling her to move, and she does so at the last second. The Animal Path summons three huge immortal creatures, and they are quick to destroy what had remained of the old temple's structure, as well as surrounding trees, as they take up a good chunk of space.

They also act as a wall, keeping the two fights separate, and the fourteen year old briefly wonders if they're being too obvious with their strategy.

The iron maiden had been squished to the ground as soon as the creatures were summoned, and an irate Black Zetsu breaks free of the hold the shadow technique has on him with an enraged yell.

"I'll kill you!"

Chiyuki and Ensui feel Takuto rapidly approaching and glance at one another. They barely have enough time to put as much distance between them and their enemy as they can before the huge man shunshins in front of them, a fire jutsu at the ready.

"Fire Release: Longsword Technique!" His right arm immediately becomes encased in flames and forms a long, flaming sword, and as he swings, it misses their foe by mere centimeters. The Uchiha, then, is also forced to put distance between them as their opponent makes quick hand signs.

Black Zetsu lunges for them at a frightening speed, mouth set in a snarl. "Water Release: Gunshot."

The teenager jumps backwards once more, and Takuto shushins to take her place. His fist surrounded by flames comes into contact with the huge water bullet and quickly makes it evaporate, inoffensive water droplets falling at his feet.

Their foe doesn't slow down, lightning forming on his right hand and aiming straight for the huge man in front of him. The sharingan user, though, smirks and side steps gracefully, and the creature is caught once again by Ensui.

"Shadow Sewing Technique." The Nara mutters, and thin strands of materialized shadows surge from the ground. They are quick to latch onto their enemy, binding him in place, and she takes advantage of the few, precious seconds they have.

"Iron Release: Heavenly Sword Dance." The girl whispers as dozens of blades materialize in multiple rows, making the dark sky above them shine dangerously. With a flick of her wrist, they all come down at the same time, making a beeline for the creature trapped in shadow strands. They all land on her target, but instead of the heavy damage she'd been hoping for, Black Zetsu breaks free from Ensui's jutsu with a few cuts.

The toll her chakra reserves take is nothing to sneeze at, but she's been practicing this particular technique intensely for the past weeks, and manipulating the blades she'd created from her own chakra is almost easy. They rise after a single command from her and chase their enemy once again, bringing him closer to the spot she'd placed her traps under.

Black Zetsu's next step activates Kakashi's lightning technique, vicious in its attack as it targets the foe's open wounds in white flashes. He gives out a pained grunt and furiously makes hand signs-

"Earth Release: Fighting Blade Rod!" Multiple earth columns emerge from the ground, creating a maze inside of which he swiftly hides in. The three Konoha ninja stare up at the giant maze, and Chiyuki feels the creature's iron snarl in multiple places at once.

"He's made clones of himself." Ensui states dryly, and hears the Uchiha next to her grit his teeth.

"So he wants to divide and conquer, huh."

'There's more to it, though.' The blonde muses silently, feeling four chakra signatures brush tensely against hers. 'He wants me to use the Blood Manipulation Technique, since he's no doubt figured out how to fight against it, but it's not time yet.'

"Regardless of what he wants," she starts, and both men look at her, "we can't let him think he can pull it off. Takuto, destroy that."

"Roger that." The towering man on her right has a dangerous glint in his eyes as he cracks his knuckles, encasing them in flames. Without warning, he jumps into the sky and comes down fist first into the middle of the maze, breaking a good portion of the earth columns in true Tsunade fashion.

Debris mixes with dust as it falls around them, and a chill runs down her spine as she hears Black Zetsu's clones click their tongue in unison.

"I'm tired of games."

Her blades obediently fly back to her with a single thought, forming wings on her back just as she hears his voice from three different places-

"Fire Release: Hydra Technique!" Three streams of fire lunge at her, snarling like lava snakes as her makeshift wings take her into the rumbling sky as it starts to rain. The girl swiftly evades the constantly moving fire technique as raindrops mix with the sweat running down her temple, and out of the corner of her eye, she sees that neither Ensui nor Takuto are having problems with dodging it.

From her position up in the sky, she takes a glance at Nagato and Madara's fight, and feels the old Uchiha's stare burn holes in her head.

"Your student has quite the ability, I see." Whatever he says next is muffled by an attack launched by the Asura Path, and her ear tingles with another message from her teacher.

'Get away, now.' It very much feels like a scolding, but she doesn't have the luxury of thinking about it for long.

"Get down from there, little princess." Black Zetsu calls out to her, sickeningly sweet, and grins. "Water Release: Falling Rain Needles!"

The blonde barely has the time to shout out a warning at the men on the ground before sharp needles start to mix with the raindrops. The iron armor forms on her skin, and she breathes an inner sigh of relief as the needles hit her hard skin with a cling, not doing any damage.

"Well, aren't you full of tricks. Show me more." Their enemy mutters darkly. The deadly rain of needles stops, and she lands soundlessly on the ground as the blades behind her back poof out of existence. Ensui, Takuto, and the two Paths immediately come to stand close to her, and just as Black Zetsu and his two clones form different hand signs each-

A thunderous roar sounds from the other side of the clearing, strong enough to make the ground shake, and Chiyuki feels the distinctly odd flare of chakra of the King of Hell, Enma.

It's the signal Nagato would give as soon as he'd managed to hold Madara down, a signal that means for her to finally use her hidden technique - and, most of all, a sign that means 'hurry the fuck up'.

The teenager raises a fist, the back of her hand facing up, and their enemy tenses up. She closes her eyes, remembering all the small animals she'd practiced this on and sending yet another mental apology to them.

She remembers how much she trained for this moment, how much she sang and sang until the iron inside the animals' bloodstream answered to her calls easily, quickly, submissively-

Like a siren, she sings, and Black Zetsu's blood cells sing back. She opens her eyes and comes face to face with irate yellow eyes cursing her to Hell and back-

Her arm moves in an outward straight line, and her opponent's blood sings and sings and sings-

The blood cells in his legs violently leave his body in a strong jet, and he falls with a startled, pained yell on his back. Both his legs explode in a grotesque fashion, skin mixing with pieces of muscle and bone in a puddle of crimson blood. Black Zetsu screams and screams, until it's suddenly cut off by the tell-tale sound of the Body Replacement Technique.

Her brown eyes widen as the old body of Uchiha Madara stands right where his ally had been, splashing the blood on the ground around. Her earring shrieks with Nagato's continued sign of 'move', muffled by Takuto's surprised shout.

"You have potential, girl. I should have gone for you in the first place." Although slightly out of breath, Madara sounds almost regretful, a hint of longing in his deep voice, as if he truly should have considered it. He then sighs in a mournful manner, and his next words are like ice daggers to her heart.

"What a pity."

He swings his gunbai at the Konoha ninja, and the three work flawlessly together: Ensui's shadow technique successfully slows it down just enough for Chiyuki to throw iron binds at their foe's wrists, while Takuto prepares the fire version of a chidori in his right hand, aiming straight at the enemy's heart.

The old man, however, breaks free from both the shadow jutsu and the iron binds, and with his free hand, swings a long sword he's summoned in a split second. There's a millisecond of fumbling in which she struggles to activate Shikaku's shadow jutsu sealed on her wrist-

-but it's more than enough.

The long blade pierces through Takuto's skull, Ensui's chest, and Chiyuki's abdomen in one single attack. Their foe shunshins to where the girl is, and roughly grabs her hair with a gloved hand.

There's no time to worry for the shinobi that came with her to Ame, or wonder about the Paths that were next to her, or lament that all her efforts have been in vain against such raw power-

Utter helplessness and desperation washes over her like ice cold water when a pair of mangekyo sharingan eyes stare right into her soul, dragging her in and down, into a cold, dark, endless abyss.

In Uchiha Madara's grip, Chiyuki's eyes roll to the back of her head, and the darkness wraps itself around her, slimy and sticky, whispering promises of pain and death.

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The ground is pitch black, black smoke rising from it in thick wisps of something foul and burnt. It itches and burns her nose and mouth, and makes her eyes water in irritation. As she looks up to the bloody red sky and realizes she's firmly tied up around a post, something in her mind starts to shut down.

Chou is nowhere to be found, and in a sense, the blonde girl is happy about it. If the butterfly isn't here, it means they won't be affected by the genjutsu, and might be able to help her from the outside.

It means she actually has a chance of making it out of it alive, no matter how slim it is.

The quiet is unnatural and grates on her already frayed nerves. Nothing happens for a while, and with no way to tell how much time has passed, mere seconds feel like long hours.

Then, he speaks up.

"You have been quite the annoyance, girl. I see Konoha still remains the birthplace for busybodies who don't know just what they're getting into."

His cold voice is everywhere and nowhere, echoing around the eerie place as a younger version of him stands with a sword in front of her.

The fourteen year old keeps silent, avoiding those red eyes by sheer survival instinct even though she's already trapped in his genjutsu. He takes a step towards her, slowly - hauntingly - and she peeks at his feet right in front of her.

It comes just as suddenly as she'd found herself in his private hell.

Madara's blade cleanly - swiftly - cuts a thin slice of her left toe, and a grunt gets stuck in her throat when those red eyes narrow down on her.

"Give it up. No Kage could ever fix this world." A second slice, just as thin as the first one, and she clenches her jaw.

Chiyuki knows it's useless to try to convince him otherwise - rather, it'd be best if she kept her mouth shut. The old shinobi is an extremely prideful man, and given how he's probably never been in his right mind, anything she said could be used against her as easily as he continues to slice pieces of her toe, and then her whole feet.

The pain is unlike anything she's ever felt before. As she hangs there, the sheer hopelessness of the situation weighs on her more each second, and she can taste the saltiness of her tears as her mouth opens in a perpetual scream.

Struggling against the binds is useless, as is trying to look away from those red, red eyes. Slowly, surely, her own blood paints the world red, raining down on the ground as the shinobi takes slices from her limbs, one by one.

She watches (horrified, mystified) through blurred eyes as pieces of her own flesh fall with a wet, disgusting sound to the ground. Some have pieces of her bones in the middle, some don't, but they all feel far away from her, as if they never were a part of her own body just seconds ago.

She does not dare look to the sides. Should she ever see an empty space where her limbs are supposed to be, she feels as if the very last thin string of sanity of which she's desperately holding on to will snap, and she fears she might never come back from that.

Madara tilts his head then, as if he's deeply considering something, and offers a wrinkled hand to her.

"If you come to me, however, I will help you save this cursed world."

'That's not salvation.' She thinks, because her mouth is too busy screaming as the man continues to take thin slices from her arms. 'That's damnation.'

He frowns at her unresponsiveness - at the challenge still visible in her eyes - and aims his sword at her neck.

"So be it."

The teenager closes her eyes, but even though death itself is nipping at her neck, she does not cry.

Chiyuki is regretful, yes, because there's still so much to be done - so many people to meet, to kill, so many strings to be pulled-

-she hasn't even gotten to pulling strings properly yet!-

-and yet, this is all her life will amount to.

'Well', she thinks, as the blade sinks into her neck, right where Chou's seal is, and her world explodes in lightning strikes of pain, 'at least Naruto will have a proper support network to back him up.'

The sky darkens - or is it just her vision? - and although she does feel bad for leaving a huge mess behind for the blonde boy to clean up, perhaps the anti-hero was never meant to steal the hero's place-

The whole world trembles suddenly, violently, as if it was the earthquake announcing the apocalypse.

Through her nearly closed eyes, she can barely see the red sky abruptly ripping itself apart, and from the newly made hole, thousands upon thousands of peacock butterflies fly out. Relief floods her system like a dam had been broken, and the mystifying sight of a kaleidoscope of bright colors in the middle of the dark sky is a balm for the shrieking pain in her body.

"What in the seven hells-!" Madara's indignant shout is cut off by a huge pressure that presses down on him fiercely, and the man is brought to his knees inside his own jutsu.

"You vermin." Chiyuki has never once heard Chou like this - utterly and completely furious, presence overwhelming and devastating like an erupting volcano. Thousands of butterflies fly around the scenery, and through a hiss of pain, the girl realizes the insects have landed on her open wounds and are sending waves of chakra into it.

She does not dare look to see what it is that they're really doing.

They cover the entire sky and paint it black from the sheer number of them. Then, compound eyes form in the vast darkness, and they swirl rapidly like a kaleidoscope. It soon swirls so fast it becomes a black hole, sucking the entire scenery into endless darkness.

Still tied to the post, the teenager barely has any energy left to watch as everything around her gets sucked in - including the very man that had promised the most painful of deaths to her. The dark-haired shinobi yells and grips at the earth, screaming obscenities Chiyuki honestly can't quite make sense of, until he, too, is dragged into the black hole swirling ominously in the red sky.

She meets Madara's enraged face for the last time before he disappears from her mind, chakra leaving her system in a rush. The black hole swirls and swirls, roaring in her ears, until it seems to suck in on itself.

For a moment, all is still and quiet.

Then, the world breaks and is born anew.

The wooden stump she's tied to disappears, and hundreds of butterflies catch her battered body before she falls. The sky clears up, and the familiar colors of the sunset dance in the sky. Blurs of orange, blue, and pink fly past her as the butterflies flutter around her, worried, as she lays down on the soft, green grass of the replica of the butterfly realm inside her mind.

Chou brushes one giant wing over her, the eyes on the wings still swirling.

'Forgive us. We came as fast as we could, but time inside genjutsu passes by much slower than in real life.'

Their answer is a painfully exhausted, too-long blink, and the huge insect seems to sigh.

'Sleep, child.'

Finally, finally, her body relaxes. Resolutely keeping her eyes on the twilight sky and avoiding looking at her limbs at all costs, Chiyuki sighs and closes her eyes.

Sleep comes easily, sweetly, and she hugs it like she would a dear, old friend.

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Through the rinnegan shared by the bodies under his control, Nagato sees Madara immobilize the three Konoha shinobi with a single hit. He watches, in horror, as Chiyuki gets caught in his genjutsu and falls limp in the old man's arms.

The two doujutsu clash, and all his seven bodies roar.

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