Naruto Uchiha: the Last Sage of the Six Paths by JH17

Chapter 16: Defending the Bridge

Kisame laughed at his former comrade. "Heh, what a pathetic wimp you've become. This is all for a little boy? Bah, you're still weak as ever." Kisame then grinned at Naruto "I'll enjoy tearing you apart." "Come, try me. You'll find I'm not as weak as I appear." Naruto pulled a kunai out and got into a serious stance. Kisame didn't respond in words, but in actions. He rushed forward towards Naruto, seemingly toying with him as he slammed Samehada into the boy's kunai repeatedly. "He isn't taking this seriously. Good, I can surprise him and take the upper hand quickly." Naruto moved back, pretending to be on the defensive and intentionally putting as little force into each deflection as possible. This brought Kisame right into Naruto, who let his enemies weapon slide across his kunai before pushing off the ground hard and sending the blade away. Kisame wasn't expecting such a powerful push, and as such, was only barely able to stop Naruto from ripping through the entire right side of his throat with a kunai. Nevertheless, Naruto smirked hearing the sound of blood dripping from the shark-man's neck.

Zabuza was both shocked, and impressed. As a man who respected strength, and as a man who had lived against the boy in a one on one battle, he didn't expect Naruto to land a fatal blow on Kisame. He hadn't even expected the boy to come remotely close to such an opportunity, let alone be able to take full advantage. He knew that Kisame wasn't dead, but it still gave him a shock.

"Will you take me seriously now?" The shark-shinobi didn't respond, only giving a short "hmph" as he forced Samehada to heal the wound. "This kid wasn't kidding. That was a hell of a strike...if only he'd have been born in Kiri, I coulda made him my apprentice." Naruto didn't give enough time to heal properly, and as such, the slice in his neck. He quickly continued on the offensive, looking to send his kunai into Kisame's upper back. He quickly summoned a hundred clones, who activated their Sharingan and began to swarm Kisame. The Kiri shinobi was only barely able to avoid most strikes, but quickly deduced that they had a single target in mind. "He's trying to slice through an artery, I can't let that happen, otherwise it would take too long for Samehada to heal me in battle." Kisame did his best to block whilst spitting what little blood seeped into his throat in an attempt to blind his opponents. Naruto took a step back from the fight and soon his Susanoo had formed. While it was still only in its most basic state, Naruto knew that he could accomplish exactly what he would need to do in order to take down Kisame. "If I'm not precise in this, I could fail miserably and show him my plan. I have to make this count." Naruto, forming a handsign, summoned a dozen clones. Grabbing the Susanoo's ribs and back, they threw all of their chakra into the act. In a second, the upper body of a black skeletal being was flying into the air, going over Kisame. Naruto, throwing the Susanoo's hand out, managed to send the very end of one the construct's pointed fingers into the left side of the shinobi's upper back.

Kisame roared in rage and pain, spinning quickly and forming handsigns. Choking out a few words, Kisame spewed water at his feet, sending him into the air on a wave as the clones were dispersed. Naruto held his ground upon landing, holding the Susanoo's arms in front of him to bear the brunt of the impact. Finally, the immense force of the wave began to die down, giving Naruto the perfect opportunity to escape its destructive power. He let the Susanoo fade, jumping with all his might towards the nearby trees. Soon enough, he landed amongst the branches and began to leap from tree to tree, watching for when Kisame allowed the wave to stop. He didn't however, as Naruto noticed that Kisame was using the Samehada to heal him while he spewed water below him. He maintained the wave perfectly, keeping Naruto at bay while Samehada completely healed him. Soon enough the shark-like man was good as new, and stopped his jutsu. Standing on the water as it descended, Kisame growled. "Something still doesn't feel right."

Naruto dropped down, walking towards Kisame. "You don't seem to get it, you might be considered the Bijuu without a tail, but your intelligence certainly doesn't match." The man snarled and choked out blood in surprise. "You may be able to heal yourself, but you cannot rid your lungs of the blood that has spilled into them." As Naruto finished speaking, a flock of crows shot out from the nearby woods, forcing Naruto to jump away. "Crows, that's the signature of..."

"Kisame, we will be leaving now. You can finish this fight at another time." Kisame only coughed out some of his own blood in response. "Seems you have grown, Naruto-kun. I'm pleased with your progress. Perhaps it was worth leaving you alive." Naruto smirked "I am more than worthy of you, Itachi." Itachi didn't respond, only pushing Kisame's blade against his back. "Itachi, his lungs are filled with blood. He has no chance of living. He is nothing more than a walking corpse. If he doesn't die today, he'll die within a few days, at best." The black haired man turned, activating his Mangekyou and channeling chakra to his left eye. "Tsukuyomi."

Naruto found himself back at the Uchiha clan massacre. The people he slaughtered cried out in agony, begging him to spare them. Naruto simply snickered. "This won't work again." "Are you sure of that, Naruto-kun?" Itachi appeared from a mass of crows, floating above him. "I'm quite sure. I'll beat your little trick without even using my eyes." Naruto gathered his chakra and let out a bestial roar, forming a silhouette of his Susanoo behind him. Itachi's eyes widened in surprise. Naruto was completely resisting the Tsukuyomi, it seemed his will was far stronger than he had anticipated since their last meeting. Naruto didn't even seem to be bothered in the least by the villagers. Naruto began to laugh heartily, but soon it became extremely dark. Naruto let out a roar, unleashing a huge amount of chakra. Itachi's eyes widened in surprise as the genjutsu began to crack and crumble. "Itachi, you are not the only one without the legendary eyes of the Uchiha."

Itachi struggled to remain standing, blood pouring from his eye. "You...broke from my Tsukiyomi..." Naruto stood a bit shakily and chuckled darkly. "Hehehe, you don't seem to understand things yet." Naruto's eyes spun into his Mangekyou as he yelled "I SHALL SHOW YOU MY POWER, ITACHI!" Naruto's Susanoo roared into existence, slamming a clawed hand down towards Itachi. Watching Itachi's chakra move, he quickly leapt after him, chasing him down. "You cannot flee from me, Itachi. I don't like to leave loose ends." He grinned, ecstatic. His love of battle became far too obvious for the arriving Team 7. "Come here Itachi! I want to fight you! I want to show you what your mistake has cost you!" Naruto summoned Susanoo as he closed the gap through the trees, spinning his Susanoo in a whirlwind-like motion, hands extended as they smashed through the forest. Dozens of trees were completely destroyed or felled in the process, but Naruto remained unsatisfied. Summoning clones, Naruto let his Susanoo fade. Using the clones Naruto flung himself at high speeds towards the retreating Itachi. Cackling with maddened glee, Naruto flew through hand signs. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!(Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu)" A massive fireball shot forward at Itachi, igniting the surrounding woods and forcing Itachi to shunshin away.

Finally, Naruto reached the black haired man, forcing him to let Kisame stand on his own. "Naruto-kun, I've no desire to fight you right now." Naruto grinned "But I want to fight you, or you could at least let me finish your friend off. It's either he dies now, or dies in a few days, suffering in agony as he suffocates on his own blood. He can't empty it from his lungs either. He'll either die of suffocation or he'll be ridden with disease. He's a dead man walking, let him go." "I'm afraid Leader-sama would not be pleased if another member perished. I'll have to keep him alive for now." Kisame only watched the exchange with vicious rage. He was beyond frustrated that the boy was able to so easily give him a fatal wound. He was still only a boy after all. Kisame forced himself to stand. "If I die" he huffed, "I'll die on my feet, dammit." "The murdering shark decides to die a man of honor? I'm impressed, Kisame." Naruto smirked then turned. "Unfortunately, I don't have a desire to fight a 2 on 1 battle. I've got much less of a chance in winning in a fight like this. You two are a team clearly, you'd be ready for anything I do knowing Itachi. I'll be taking my leave." Naruto snickered, summoning his Susanoo to block a pair of shuriken thrown by Itachi. "We will continue this another time, Itachi." The Susanoo's hands slammed down hard into the ground, causing an eruption of dirt and rock. As the debris cleared, the boy was gone.