When everyone thought they were doomed, the Bijuu Bomb had vanished. Moments later, a three-pronged kunai struck the ground a few feet away from Naruto. A moment later, a yellow flash near it revealed a blonde man with white flowing cape that had red flames designed at the bottom. "Am I late?" He asked. Naruto smiled at Miwa who stopped healing.
She approached the man whose cape had the Kanji for 'Yondaime Hokage'. "No you are not, Tou-san." She replied. A woman in Konoha ANBU outfit with the mask tucked away, and long red hair that was bound in a ponytail, leaving two bangs that framed her face, stood on the other side of Naruto. "Brace for an explosion!" She announced to nobody in particular.
Before anyone could understand what had happened or what had been said, waves of water crashed on them, drenching them all. "That shock-wave came out of nowhere. What's with that?" Sakura complained. "Stop whining! We're lucky we got off that easily." Sasuke reprimanded her.
"What had happened?" Kurotsuchi asked. "I sent the Jyuubi's attack to the sea." Minato explained. Naruto took a moment to hold her parents' hands and squeeze them in happiness and gratitude.
Ino tensed, her Yamanaka sensing skills warning her ahead of others, as she said, "Someone's coming." Sarutobi Hiruzen landed beside Minato in his battle gear. "You are fast as ever, Minato." A white haired man in blue armour landed beside Kushina, with a red haired woman in a battle kimono and her long hair tied up in a bun. "Minato, you're better at teleporting than I am." Tobirama said as he smirked.
Minato turned nervously towards him. The Nidaime smirked wider. "Don't worry about our earlier conversations. So far, I found you worthy enough." Minato sighed relived.
Then came a long dark-brown haired man in red armour, and another red haired woman in a flowing kimono, her hair tied in two buns, a diamond mark on her forehead, similar to Tsunade. "Alright! Let's do this!" Hashirama announced.
The other shinobi gasped in surprise as they realised who their reinforcements were- the previous Hokage and three Uzumaki women. If the other two were like the famed Habanero, the wife of the Yellow Flash, then they would surely win the war, or so they thought.
Tobirama turned to his granddaughter. "I thought Saru said Danzo was in the frontlines. Why don't I sense him, Naruto?" Sarutobi turned towards her as well. Naruto hung her head as she passed a scroll to the Sandaime. "His end was worthy of a shinobi of his skill and intellect. A noble man." She told them as they closed their eyes for a moment in prayer.
Madara made a grand entrance as he crash-jumped to a cliff beside the four Hokage. "I've been waiting, Hashirama!
"You come later." Hashirama replied bluntly.
Madara's smug face faltered as he sweat dropped. Tobirama and Mito face palmed.
"I've to stop the Jyuubi first."
"He hasn't changed at all. He will never change. We're never on the same page, after all." Madara grumbled aloud as his face took a disappointed look.
"You do know that the Jyuubi is charging towards us, right?"Hashirama explained.
Madara stepped back, unconcerned about everything else other than his own diappointment in the lack of certain enthusiasm in his rival.
"Fellow Hokage, you know what to do!" Hashirama said. Minato stepped behind Tobirama and Hiruzen. "Have you placed the markers already?" Sarutobi asked. "Yes." Minato replied. "Quick at striking too." Tobirama complimented. "That's my man!" Kushina told her father and Minato flushed slightly before teleporting himself and the two Hokage to three locations that, along with the position of Hashirama, form a square. "Ninpou: Shisekiyojin! (Ninja Art: Four Crimson Ray Formation)" The four yelled as a crimson barrier formed, trapping the Jyuubi inside.
"A bonus." Hashirama said happily as he entered his Sage mode (which is different from Naruto's, mind you). "Senpou: Myojinmon! (Sage art: Gracious Deity Gates)" Said gates fell in several numbers, pinning the tails of the Jyuubi.
Naoko asked Hashirama, "So, when can we attack the Jyuubi?" "Soon. Everyone! Start infusing your chakra. We are going to take him down in an all out attack!" "You heard him!" Naoko announced as she clapped to get everyone's attention. Naruto grinned at her grandmother's antics. 'Now I know where you get your playful side from.' Kurama huffed in her mind.
Kazuhiko, Arata and Daisuke landed beside Naruto. They were in normal Konoha Jounin outfit. "I missed them." The ANBU Commander grumbled lowly. "Aww, is our Senpai pouting?" Arata teased him. "Look's like your family is here, Naruto. And I must say, the reinforcements are kinda crazy." Daisuke commented with a smirk that grew wider when she punched him in the arm.
And someone got... jealous.
"Itachi, you do know that they are only her teammates, or did you forget that because they are not in their uniform?" Shisui reminded his cousin lazily. "Of course I remember. And mind your own business, Shisui." Itachi retorted. "Oh I am, cousin, I am." Shisui replied playfully. "Anyway, you got the rare opportunity to ask her parents for permission. And by the looks of it, there is more to the other Hokage than just being former leaders of the village." Itachi didn't reply.
They both joined the members of Team WildCats. "Itachi-kun, Anija." Naruto greeted. "Let's go!"
"Hold on, fellas!" Hashirama's words stopped her in the last moment. "Now what?" Arata asked.
The Jyuubi was creating another Bijuu Bomb to blow away the barrier. The four Hokages infused more chakra into it and successfully sustained it. The Jyuubi ended up injuring himself.
Hashirama created wood clones that opened the barrier in two places- near himself and Hiruzen- to allow entry of shinobi inside to attack the Jyuubi. Tobirama and Minato did the same for their sides of the barriers. The Shodaime also pinned down the Bijuu's head with a Deity Gate.
One of his clones went to the highland where Madara was standing. "Sorry to keep you waiting." The clone said. Madara deadpanned as he sat down, bored and lazy. "No thanks, I'd rather wait for the real one to show up. Clones are no fun."
Mito saw this from afar and whacked her husband on her head. "What was the need of showing off? I told you I'd rather we Uzumakis create a barrier. We are better at it and now Madara is disinterested." Hashirama simply pouted as he looked away.
A disinterested foe could be a dangerous one, Mito knew...
All shinobi entered the barrier and approached the Jyuubi. Fission beings sprouted from the magnificent beast. They were crude humanoids with the smallest of them being the size of an average adult shinobi. This was Jyuubi's attempt to prevent them from reaching his main body.
"Don't waver! Keep going!" Naruto encouraged her comrades as the fission beings met humans. Sai tried to attack the main body from the air as he flew on an ink bird that was soon brought down by one of the enemy's spears. Naruto brought him to safety as he asked if she could share her chakra. "Not yet. Kurama hasn't infused enough." Naruto replied. "We have to reach the main body, carefully evading the fission beings that seem pretty intelligent for mere puppets. The keep coming one after another, and are ganging up from the blind spots. Also, people will get injured without your chakra to protect them."
Naruto met Shisui and Itachi's eyes. The three smirked.
Naruto summoned the medic slug, Katsuyu, the size of Gamabunta. The trio of best friends then performed the summoning jutsu together.
Naruto summoned Gamakichi, who was now the size of his father- Attacking the main body from the front as the toad leapt in the air.
Itachi summoned the Boss of Eagles- Aiming to attack the Jyuubi from the back.
Shisui summoned the Boss of Crows- Helping others by picking off the fission beings from the top.
Though Itachi also had the contract of crows, Shisui was closer to them.
Naruto requested Katsuyu, "Katsuyu-sama, please attend to everyone in the Allied Shinobi Forces. It's up to us to heal them. I will be attacking the Jyuubi." Katsuyu nodded. "Take a fragment of myself to be in contact, Naruto."
Gamakichi was skilled in sword fighting just like his father. He thwarted off any attacks from the ground. The Crow and Eagle Chiefs sent sharp feather talons. From the top of her summon, Naruto sent Rasengan and the strongest four elemental versions of Rasengan to the fission beings, as she briefly entered the Bijuu cloak mode. Itachi used Amaterasu. The two Uchihas used their Susanoo weapons.
As the two approached the Jyuubi, Naruto threw a larger RasenShuriken while Itachi let a Susanoo arrow that burnt with Amaterasu flames.
The Amaterasu flames are black flames that cannot be doused by water and can be be withdrawn or manipulated based on how skilled the user is. The flames die only when the victim is completely burnt.
The two Jutsus merged together to form a bigger Shuriken that glowed black and white. Wind assists fire. The attack hit the Jyuubi and began burning it.
"I don't recall ever seeing Flame Control of that magnitude. And they combined jutsus with perfect chakra ratios. That's difficult even for a seasoned duo." Tobirama commented. "Shuriken that's like a windmill, arrow that's blacker than lacquer- This is Scorch Style Nimbus Gale Jet Black Arrow Formation Zero!"
Yep that's Minato. Cue the crickets.
"Nah. Never mind."
...
In another location, Karin, Suigetsu and Naruto's clone met a 'sluggish' scene. Tsunade's body was dissected in the midriff. The two halves were connected by a long chain of small slugs. The bigger slugs had the four Kage below them. A larger slug was overlooking things. They are all Katsuyu, mind you.
"Katsuyu-sama, can you explain?" Naruto (the clone) asked. "Tsunade insisted I heal the Kage first. Her chakra is close to depletion and hence I can't heal any one of the five properly. I'm working past my summoning time. That makes it even worse."
Naruto sighed. She turned to Suigetsu and Juugo. "Can any one of you take the-" Suigetsu immediately made a comment. "Does anyone have a sack of salt? There are a lot of slugs here!" He then turned to Naruto. "You sayin' somethin'?" "Never mind." She went to the lower body and brought attached it to the upper body of Tsunade. Karin was giving an earful to Suigetsu about his loud mouth and reckless comments.
Naruto turned to her cousin. "Karin, if you don't mind, I would like your help in healing Tsunade. She might take more chakra than what I had taken because she looks... different." Karin paused for a moment, considering the consequences. She sighed. "It won't hurt, I guess." She let Tsunade bite her arm and heal herself. Meanwhile, Naruto told Katsuyu to go back to her realm and come again when Tsunade or herself would summon again. After a couple of seconds, she summoned Katsuyu the twice the size of the slugs that had been healing the four Kage. "Tsunade-sama will summon more of you if required, but use my chakra to heal the Kage for now."
Tsunade was healed by Karin when Naruto said, "I'm running low on chakra. I will have to go. Karin, I hope I'm not asking too much when I ask you to make sure the Kage come safely to the frontlines." Karin shook her head. "Suigetsu, do you want to quit?" Naruto asked. Suigetsu opened his mouth happily to say 'yes', but Karin shut him off. "Of course not! Hozuki Suigetsu wants to help me and Juugo in the war, don't you?" Juugo remained impassive while Suigetsu was not given a chance to speak anything.
Naruto smiled amused before she dispelled herself.
.
When the five Kage were healed, Gaara volunteered to take them and Karin's group on his sand to the battleground. Ay demanded, "We are lacking in details. What is happening in the frontlines?" A small fragment of Katsuyu that attached herself to Tsunade replied. "I can explain that as we travel." "How did you end up there?"
...
They had intended to weaken the Jyuubi enough to extract the Bijuu captured in it. However, Jyuubi detached the part which was burning, which was quite small when compared to the rest of its body. 'Cauterization? The Jyuubi seems to be an all-rounder!' Naruto told Kurama who smacked her in her head for her weird sense of humour. 'What's got into you? Does the fact that your family is here make you all giddy to focus on the seriousness of WAR?' He yelled at her.
...
In a different dimension, an injured Kakashi looked at the hole he made in Obito's chest. "It's over, Obito." Obito coughed blood, yet, he gave a twisted smirk. "I shall let you win this battle..." He used Kamui on himself as he trailed off, "... Not the war."
...
On a secluded cliff on the battleground, an ethereal-blue coloured sword of a Susanoo pierced a wood clone. "I told you, I'm not interested in fighting a clone. They offer no resistance. You are focusing all your power in the original." Madara said annoyed. The clone Hashirama said, "Madara, all this time, you've been hiding-" He was cut off by Madara, literally.
He then noticed something in the barrier that interested him. Obito appeared from his Kamui dimension on the head of the Jyuubi. He was injured and bleeding. "Look's like that's of no use to me anymore. I wanted to fight Hashirama before I became a Jinchuuriki. But I have no choice now, do I?" Madara said to himself as he raised his right hand and formed the seal of confrontation, a hand seal to infuse chakra.
Obito's right half of the body began transforming black as it tried to control him. Madara's Rinnegan rods emerged from the right arm. He could feel the control of Madara. "Obito, you're just a back-up that I cultivated for my rebirth with Rinne Tensei."
"Did you save me, grandpa? Thank you for that!"
"It's too soon to thank me yet. I intend to have you repay your debt."
"It's time to repay your debt, Obito."
Obito formed the hand seal of Ram as he yelled loudly. The roar of pain grabbed the attention of the entire Allied Shinobi Force.
'He's being controlled by Madara's chakra. They need to be stopped. Is it the Forbidden Rikudou Jutsu, Rinne Tensei?' Hashirama thought. 'Madara must not be returned to life!' "Lads! You are closer to the Jyuubi. Stop the one standing on his head now!" He told Naruto and the others.
Minato recognized the one on the top of the Jyuubi as the one who attacked Konohagakure nineteen years ago, as he sensed his Hiraishin mark on him. He created a clone that was sent to attack him. Hashirama created six wood clones. 'This seems to be the max while I focus on the barrier.' "Tobirama!" He called out to his brother who created five shadow clones. "This seems to be my limit as I put up the barrier." He replied. "We have to make do with this for now." Hashirama said as the clones made way to Madara to attack him.
Madara began sucking out the life force of Obito, whose hair began turning white as a result. Naruto jumped towards him on Gamakichi, while Itachi flew towards him on his Eagle that was soon caught by a protruding hand of the Jyuubi. "Teruma-sama, you can return to your place." Itachi said, seeing his summon in danger. "Summon me again, if needed, Itachi." The eagle sad as he returned to his realm in a cloud of smoke.
Itachi had flown quite close to the Jyuubi, and covered the rest of the distance on foot as he activated his Susanoo partially to send an Amaterasu-covered arrow towards Obito. Some of the rods on Obito moved and extracted themselves out of him to cancel the attack of the arrow that was sent in his direction. He infused chakra as he held a spear in each hand, one made of lightning chakra and the other made of fire- his own creation based on Raikiri, Rai no Yari, Hi no Yari.
Before any of them could reach their targets, Minato's clone had struck Obito's neck. "Obito... that... was you?" He asked referring to the night of his death. The Rinne Rebirth process had stopped, and Madara was still an undead.
"If you were alive, I would've wanted you to become Hokage... Why then...?" Minato's clone's voice came out barely as a whisper. Itachi landed beside Minato. "This is over. All that's left is to seal Madara and take care of this Jyuubi. That will be easier when these two are out of the way." He wanted to ask Minato who had brought the reanimated dead back when Obito interrupted. "What makes you think the war is over yet?"
The ground shook as the Jyuubi shrunk its body little by little, taking out the tails and head from the clutches of the Deity Gates (suddenly powered up a bit to even do that) as he got absorbed into Obito. Itachi and Bunshin Minato tried to get away, but the suction force that absorbed the Jyuubi in Obito was much greater. Naruto used her chakra arms to get them both out of trouble.
"What's happening?"
"Is the Jyuubi transforming again?"
"No, Obito actually resisted Madara's control over him. He seemed to be weaving the signs for this since the very beginning. He wasn't performing the hand signs for Rinne Rebirth. The seals were different and I've actually seen Nagato- Pein- perform the Rinne Tensei." Naruto explained her father's clone and Itachi, slightly hysteric at what she was witnessing, as they saw the entire mass of Jyuubi and Obito were compressed into a sphere, slightly smaller than an average human. The sphere had a shade of white that didn't seem earthly.
The sphere cracked slightly before it exploded, revealing a man in the same shade of white, the Uchiha Kimono previously worn had been ripped somewhere in the process, forming a white overcoat of an entirely different design. The black pants were slightly ripped at the calves. But what had caught the attention of everyone were the horns at the forehead, some weird structures that cover the right half the face and the tattoos on his body that were supposed to represent the Rikudou Sennin.
Bunshin Minato and Itachi looked at the blonde in Kyuubi cloak for further explanation. As Obito removed the obstruction on the right side of his face, Naruto said, "Uchiha Obito is he Jinchuuriki of the Jyuubi!"
Right... The summoning of the Protagonist Trio here is NOT the same as the one in cannon...
ST: (drawls) Really? Thank you for stating the obvious.
(flicks a glare at him before subsiding) Well, I did try asking the readers for better options since my imagination was not aiding me in this aspect.
ST: They are not obliged to give you directions to the script of the book YOU are writing.
(mimics) Thank you for stating the obvious.
ST: (Gives an unimpressed flat stare which also conveys 'you are not worth my glare')
Well, dear readers, if anyone has any better ideas regarding Itachi and Shisui's summons, do state here! (I would like to avoid celestial beings like phoenixes, as much as possible)
I would like to argue that this is not a cliff hanger...
Or if it is, then this is similar to what the Anime showed, right? ... Right?
ST:I don't know what Kishimoto-san has shown, and I wouldn't want to bring that up here, but let me inform you that someone has been hired to kill you.
What?!
... Do you know who that is?
ST: But of course.
... Alright... What's the price?
ST: More than you can afford.
Is that true, or are you adding your own numbers?
ST: (offended scoff) (folds arms and turns away in offense) I'll have you know that as a scientist in many fields, I do NOT mess with my numbers!
... The assassin is a scientist right?
ST: (immediate answer) Yes.
... I'll escape while I can...