Chapter 64 - Red Skies

Every era has its battles…but this will be the last war

A new day was starting and the sun was blossoming behind the dark clouds in the sky.

Rain.

The only constant in the rain village. A village that always had seen so much change. But the Rain remained, falling from the sky. Forming vast lakes around the village. In a way, the people had learned to embrace the rain and most even took comfort in that. It was the only thing that remained true in their home.

Leaders and nations come and go...but the rain endured.

Silence. There was an uneasy silence in the rain village. The streets were deserted, the houses seemed empty as well. The water ran free through the empty streets, flowing into the drains and ending on the outside of the village.

The rain village was notorious for its modern designed buildings. Metallic skyscrapers, rowed ducts and power lines running between the buildings. And at the center of the village. Pein's Tower. The tallest of all buildings. Overlooking the village like a guardian. Reconstructed just like it was before.

It was a shame. The rain village was one the earliest small villages ever formed, and just like the others it had a bloody history, filled with ups and downs, loss and gain, happy and sad moments. And it was shame because before the day was over, the rain village would be nothing more than dust. Nothing more than ash. Nothing more than a memory…washed away by the greatest battle ever seen in the elemental nations.

But the village didn't know its end was coming to pass. After all, she was still standing like it had been for decades.

Three figures stepped out from Pein's tower. The middle one stood proud and tall, his long black hair wet and clinging to his blood red armor. He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes into the distance, his face twisting into a smirk for seemingly no reason.

"It is time" Madara commented, watching a lone figure in the distance appear out of nowhere, standing a good distance from the village.

By his side stood a man who wore dark blue pants with a blue cloth hanging from halfway up his stomach to his knees. He also wore black arm guards that covered his forearms and stretched up to reach his upper biceps. He also wore a purple rope belt around his waist, tied in a bow, in which he carries his sword.

He opened his eyes and the familiar blood red of the sharingan flared to life. "I have no interest in your war" the figure said, turning to face him. A young face, marred by cracks and darkened sclerae. Markings of the edo tensei.

"I thought you would be pleased to face your enemies once more" Madara replied with amusement.

"Your enemies, not mine. Besides, this is not my world anymore" Sasuke snorted, turning back to face the horizon, his eyes darkening. "I don't deserve to be here after what I've done"

"I did not think you would grow a heart, young Uchiha" Madara said. Sasuke was an intriguing Uchiha to Madara. He could see the several traits of the halfblooded line, but this one seemed to embrace his punishment. "What do you think, Fugaku?" Madara asked, turning to the other figure who had remained silent. Not by choice mind you.

"YOU DARE BETRAY ME, MADARA" Fugaku snarled, having regained basic control over his body. He immediately brought his hands together to form a seal but was quickly stopped in his tracks by Madara.

"I don't see how I betrayed you" Madara said offhandedly, leaving out the fact that he allowed Fugaku to die after his defeat in Kumo. "You were defeated in battle after all"

"By your son" Fugaku hissed in anger. "Something you clearly made no point of informing me about"

"Hn" Madara grunted, closing his eyes in annoyance. "You should be pleased by this second chance to defeat Minato" Madara said. "No matter how much outclassed you may be" He added in thought with a chuckle.

"It's starting" Madara said, looking at the figure going through hand seals. "The beginning of the end"

## Outside of the Rain Village ##

The outside of the rain village was also deserted. The only sound was that of the relentless rain, hammering away on the lake surrounding the city's walls. Naruto swirled into existence, standing far away from the walls. Even though it was day, the dark rain clouds made it feel like it was night.

Naruto opened his eyes as they were flooded with blood red color, the three black tomoes spinning. He looked around but the place seemed empty. His hands were about to make a simple seal when he felt a small chakra fluctuation.

He looked up to the village and narrowed his eyes in focus. His eyes saw further than everybody, being surpassed only by the byakugan. The sharingan bypassed the light fog and focused on the three figures standing on top of pain's tower. "Madara" Naruto thought, noticing the smirk on the man's face. He also noticed the two Uchihas beside him, summoned from the edo tensei.

"And so it begins" Naruto muttered as his hands blurred through the seals. The air behind Naruto started shimmering and twisting itself in the same pattern as his Kamui. "Kuhaku Hashi (Space Bridge)" Naruto slammed his hands together, releasing a thunderclap sound.

The space behind me seemed to sparkle, bolts of lightning flying everywhere but Naruto seemed to remain unharmed. His chakra flared briefly and a gargantuan opening appeared behind him. A giant tunnel shimmered into existence, growing bigger and bigger until it stabilized, 30 feet in height.

Naruto turned backwards to look at his space bridge. On the other side, the remaining four commanders stepped through the bridge, standing around Naruto. He was still surprised by being named one of the commanders on the field. True he had experience in wars, but there were many other more knowledgeable shinobi.

Darui. Commander of the first division. Mid-Range Battle Division

Senju Naruto. Commander of the second division. Short-Range Battle Division.

Senju Hashirama. Commander of the third division. Short-to-Mid-Range Battle Division

Baki. Commander of the fourth division. Long-Range Battle Division

Mifune. Commander of the fifth division. Special Battle Division

"Move out" Mifune cried, pointing forward. The five commanders jumped forward and watched as the allied shinobi forces streamed through the portal. It took only a few seconds for all of the shinobi to run through the portal.

Each commander stood in front of their division. Nearly twenty thousand shinobi stood before each one. Naruto took a small step forward and turned around, looking the allied shinobi forces. His red eyes roamed around the army.

Most seemed to be calm, others were shaking from the adrenalin and some were afraid. He didn't blame anyone. Most hadn't experienced war before. Most chunnin were green, having never seen anything but small missions. Naruto only had the bloodline civil war in Kiri, but not even that was a full out war like this one.

Naruto himself had to admit he felt a bit apprehensive as to how this war will play out. Would it be a quick and clean? Would there be heavy casualties on his side? And then there was the edo tensei. Naruto wondered how many shinobi Madara reincarnated with so many Zetsu bodies at his disposal.

"Naruto" Naruto turned to Hashirama who nodded with a serious face. "When you are ready" he said and Naruto turned back to the shinobi army. All of them seemed to be waiting for him to say something before the start of the war.

"Why do these things always fall to me" Naruto grimaced in thought before taking a deep breath.

"I stand before you today, not as a shinobi of the leaf village, but as a citizen of humanity" Naruto began softly, looking in the eyes of many shinobi close to him. "We are faced with very gravest of challenges. Madara and his army stands behind those very walls" Naruto said, pointing towards the towering walls of the rain village.

"He plans to take all the bijuu and by harnessing their power, he will project a genjutsu into the moon, trapping us all in a dream world, his own personal Utopia. He claims peace but wants nothing more than puppets under his web" Naruto growled, clenching his fists.

"From the very first great ninja war to the last, shinobi have wounded and come to hate each other, for the benefit of their own nation and village. Through all the chaos that is our history, through all of the wrong and the discord, through all of the pain and suffering, through all of our times, there is one thing that has nourished our souls, and elevated our species above its origins, and that is our name"

"WE ARE SHINOBI! WE ENDURE!"

"We are all one and it is because we have all been affected by Madara and his machinations. The Sand Village, Stone Village, Leaf Village, Mist Village, Cloud Village..." Naruto trailed off, taking a deep breath.

"THEY NO LONGER EXIST! WE ARE NOW ONLY SHINOBI" Naruto yelled, pointing his new forehead protector, proudly displaying the kanji for shinobi.

"LET US SHOW HIM THAT HE MAY TAKE OUR LIVES…BUT HE WILL NEVER TAKE OUR FREEDOM" Naruto shouted and the allied shinobi started cheering and yelling with him. Naruto took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

It was time.

"Let this be the hour…when we draw swords together" Naruto said, opening his eyes and showing his Rinnegan to the world. Many shinobi gasped at the sight but they were not deterred. Naruto raised his black sword to the air.

"TO VICTORY!" Naruto shouted and with that, everyone charged forward. Naruto smiled, leading the charge.

Madara wouldn't know what hit him. Naruto had the backing of all the shinobi in the elemental nations.

## With Madara ##

"Hn" Madara grunted, hearing the speech and watching the army charging forward. He turned towards the two Uchihas by his side.

"Fugaku, Sasuke" Madara called, drawing their attention to him. "You know what to do" He said as both Uchihas nodded.

Madara walked inside and sat on his chair. "I'll be waiting for you…Naruto" Madara chuckled in thought, closing his eyes. He was concentrating solely on the edo tensei bodies Zetsu had managed to find.

## With Naruto ##

The ground shook, the water rippled and the vast walls of the rain village trembled with every step the allied forces took. For the first time in the history of the elemental nations, all the shinobi in the world were united for a single purpose. Protect their freedom or die trying.

One hundred thousand shinobi and samurai alike marched against the walls of the rain village. This was the most powerful army the world would ever know. For nothing could stand against a shinobi.

"Darui, Hashirama" Naruto called to his fellow commanders. No more words were necessary was both commanders nodded in acknowledgment. He spared a small glance towards Hinata who smiled and nodded.

The first and third division split from the main force heading left and right respectively. The main force would siege thought the front gates while the two divisions would siege from the other side on the village.

Naruto looked up at the sky and saw it sparkle with lightning. Naruto raised his hand, forcing the entire army to stop charging.

"KIRIN" a voice shouted and Naruto saw the lightning dragon appearing in the sky.

"UCHIHA KAENJIN (Uchiha Flame Formation)" Naruto roared, slamming his hand on the water surface. A red dome shimmered into existence, covering the three divisions in the blink of an eye.

The dragon roared and plummeted downward, crashing against the barrier. Many shinobi ducked instinctively while everyone else shielded their eyes against the blinding light. The lightning attack quickly dissipated against the barrier. The red defense sparkled slightly before disappearing from view as the shinobi regained their focus.

"Sasuke" Naruto said, noticing a single shinobi drop from the high walls of the rain village and landing on the water down below. Hundreds of white zetsu clones also started emerging from the water, standing behind Sasuke.

"Naruto" Sasuke replied neutrally, walking forward slightly. From the wall started dropping several other very well-known shinobi. Among them were Deidara, Kakuzu, Hidan, Nagato, Konan and even Fugaku. They all bore the same edo tensei markings and were all adorning the Akatsuki cloak.

"I see" Naruto replied sadly, looking at the faces of several enemies and friends. Kisame was missing because Itachi had sealed him inside his blade. Perhaps Naruto should have sealed their souls instead of destroying their bodies.

"Itachi" Naruto called and the Uchiha stepped forward, frowning at the face of his brother. Sasuke just stared blankly at Itachi. His emotions clearly dampened by the edo tensei.

"You're in charge. Take our forces and proceeded with the plan. Siege the walls and eliminate the zetsu clones. You are in charge until I return. Leave them to me" Naruto called and Itachi raised an eyebrow but made no further comment.

"You heard him. MOVE!" Itachi cried and lead the troops away.

"Naruto" Nagato sighed while Naruto looked downwards.

"He dared to summon people who sacrificed themselves for this world to do his dirty work" Naruto growled, his eyes beginning to glow. "They call me Shinobi no Kami (God of the Shinobi). I think it's time I put my name to work. Today the world will know the full power of Senju Naruto" Naruto said, raising his head and gripping his sword tightly.

"You think you can take us all out on your own?" Hidan laughed while Kakuzu shook his head.

"Even in death he is an idiot" Kakuzu thought and looked towards Naruto. The blonde stood against them with a look of determination and concentration. Kakuzu for himself would not underestimate the blonde again.

"My wrath…is the last thing you shall ever see" Naruto replied, focusing on a single falling drop of water behind Hidan's back. His Rinnegan glowed and Naruto vanished into thin air, appearing in the place of the drop of water.

Naruto placed a hand of Hidan's shoulders, startling every single Akatsuki member who jumped away in surprise. "Ningendo (Human Path)" Naruto called out, gripping Hidan's soul tightly and ripping it out with no difficulty.

Hidan crumbled to the floor. A single zetsu clone surrounded by dead leaves. The zetsu clone began to sink deep into the water and the remaining leaves dispersing in the water surface. "Madara's actions have no bounds. I will not delay this war to further the losses on my side" Naruto stated and charged forward.

"Katon - Zukokku no Jutsu (Cranium Carver)" Naruto looked up, seeing a pressurized fire ball charging against him. He raised a single arm when another voice shouted.

"DIE!" Deidara yelled from the other side, a large clay bird charging against the blonde.

Naruto closed his eyes as both attacks connected with an explosion. Every Akatsuki member waited for the cloud of smoke to disperse. "Bansho Ten'in (Universal Pull)" Naruto's cold voice rang from the smoke cloud.

Kakuzu gasped when he felt himself raised into the air and flew into the awaiting hands of Naruto. Naruto grabbed him by the neck, squeezing him hard. A black rod burst from Kakuzu's neck, stopping any chakra molding of any type. Kakuzu looked at the blonde in fear when his hand began to glow.

"Jinton - Genkai Hakuri no Jutsu (Dust Release - Detachment of the Primitive World)"

From Naruto's hand came a blinding white light that completely vaporized Kakuzu's body. Not even the edo tensei could repair if there was nothing left. Once the light dimmed, there was nothing where previously stood Kakuzu. There was no smoke, no dust, nothing left behind.

"Oi" Deidara gulped, stepping backwards. His face contorting into one of pure horror. "That was the old man's technique" Naruto turned his head to face the only blonde in the Akatsuki. His eyes glowed.

"STOP IT" Deidara shouted desperately, clutching to his head but unable to look away from Naruto's Rinnegan. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD" Deidara yelled as he started scratching his head in despair.

"Shinra Tensei" Nagato unleashed a pulse, forcing Naruto to end his illusions. Deidara fell to his knees, taking deep breaths.

"BAS-GAH!" Deidara gurgled when he felt something pierce his chest. He looked down to see a pitch black rod sprouting from his chest. His body trembled from the strain. He looked backwards to his assailant only to see another Naruto looking impassively at him.

"Jinton (Dust Release)" Deidara's eyes widened a fraction of an inch before he too was consumed by light.

The Naruto behind Deidara burst into smoke and the remaining four members turned to the original. "Sasuke, Nagato and Konan deserve to go easily into the afterlife. But you Fugaku, you deserve to suffer for everything you did in your life. My father let you go out easily" Naruto stated.

"Hn" Fugaku replied, crossing his arms. "I underestimated you. To think you would possess the Rinnegan. It never once crossed my mind" Fugaku chuckled, stepping forward. "It's going to take all four of us to take him down" Fugaku warned.

"You may want him dead but we are forced to fight. Do not expect help from us" Konan answered as her body started dispersing into thousands of paper tags. Sasuke activated his Susanoo and Nagato summoned a bird to help his movements.

All four shinobi charged forward while Naruto stood still. "I'm sorry, Konan" Naruto said, putting a single hand forward. "Katon" Naruto began, mere moments before the four shinobi closed in. "Goen Rasengan (Great Flame Rasengan)" A miniature sun appeared of the blonde's hand before it expanded.

Everything in the vicinity was immediately sucked into a maelstrom of spiraling fire chakra. The rain evaporated before it could come into contact with the fire sphere. The fire tornado raged unstopped while Naruto stood in the center of it all, unharmed.

Sasuke used his Susanoo to protect himself and fell backwards, his ultimate defense threatening to melt under the heat. Fugaku teleported away with Kamui and Nagato used the Preta Path.

The only shinobi with no escape was Konan. Once the fire tornado ended there was nothing left of her but a single paper tag, still burning in the air. It finally turned to ash mere moments before hitting the water on the ground. "May you rest in peace, Konan" Naruto muttered in thought before turning to the remaining shinobi.

Naruto pondered how to deal with the remaining three shinobi quickly. He doubt he could out speed them since two members had sharingans and the remaining had a Rinnegan. He could overpower them, but the allied shinobi were not far away enough for Naruto to use more powerful abilities.

"Katon – Goenkyu (Great Blaze Ball)" Fugaku exhaled a meteor-sized sphere of fire, completely blocking his body from view.

Apparently Fugaku was not bothered by collateral damage looking at the proportion of the fireball. Naruto looked backwards to see several allied shinobi fighting white zetsu. They would get caught in the blast.

"Kamui" Naruto focused on the charging fire ball, swallowing the whole sphere into his pocket dimension.

Just as Naruto finished absorbing the fire he tilted his head to the side. His hair fluttered as a purple arrow avoided him by a small margin. The arrow sank in the water. He looked over his shoulder to see Sasuke charging with his Susanoo activated.

Three chains burst from Naruto's back.

Two of them wrapped around the skeletal Susanoo and ripped it in half, allowing the third one to wrap itself around Sasuke's waist and smash him hard against the water surface. "Amaterasu" Sasuke said, focusing on the third chain as it erupted in black flames and finally broke under the heat.

Naruto smiled but it was too late. He pointed his palm towards Sasuke and fired a pitch black rod who struck against his chest. Sasuke coughed under the impact and tried to remove the rod but he couldn't move. The rod was disrupting his chakra.

"Jinton (Dust Release)" Naruto's hand glowed.

"SHINRA TENSEI" Nagato bellowed. The water rippled with his attack, forcing Naruto to jump backwards.

Nagato still had his arm extended when Naruto focused on him. "Kamui" Naruto replied, unleashing the previously swallowed fire ball from Fugaku against Nagato at point blank range.

Nagato exploded in flames.

Naruto looked at Sasuke still struggling with his black rod when a devious thought crossed his mind. "Rikudou no Jutsu (Six Paths Technique)" Naruto muttered, forcing more of his powerful chakra into the black rod.

Naruto's chakra overwhelmed Sasuke's immortal body, finally turning his vessel into a puppet of Naruto. Sasuke was still trapped inside but he was nothing more than a passenger now. Without a second thought, Sasuke pushed the small black rod deeper into his chest, hiding it from view.

Sasuke jumped backwards towards Fugaku and Nagato, standing by their side like nothing had happened. Nagato's upper body was still regenerating and he was leaning against Fugaku, his bird summon was destroyed with the fire attack. "I was expecting more" Naruto taunted, pointing his finger at Fugaku.

Fugaku snarled, pushing Nagato to the water before rushing through a set of seals. "Mokuton - Jukai Kotan (Deep Forest Emergence)" The ground started shaking as dozens of tree burst from the water. The thick wood trees charged against Naruto.

"Shinra Tensei" Naruto replied, lazily flicking his hand towards the incoming barrage of wood. The water rippled as the shockwave travelled against Fugaku. The moment it collided with the tree, it merely turned them into splinters without losing momentum.

Fugaku clasped his hands even tighter, pouring more chakra into his technique. "I win" Fugaku heard Naruto's voice from behind and quickly turned, dropping his technique in the process. He didn't see Naruto until a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Here" Fugaku turned to his son. Sasuke now bore the Rinnegan. Naruto's voice was coming from his son's body. Realization dawned upon him and he tried to Kamui away but he could not. "How often we overlook what stands right in front of us" Naruto's voice came from Sasuke's body.

Fugaku could barely move his head but he caught a small movement in the corner of his eyes. He strained his muscles and managed to move his head slightly, just in time to see Naruto kneeling next to Nagato. The blonde placed a hand on Nagato's chest. He said something to Nagato before pulling his soul out.

With a sigh Naruto stood up and calmly walked towards Fugaku and Sasuke. Sasuke was still in his control and was currently stopping Fugaku from molding any chakra. Any wrong moves and Sasuke would rip Fugaku's soul out as well. "You committed so many wrongs that death is too good for you" Fugaku gulped.

"Why should you be allowed to rest when you tried to enslave the world for your own benefits?" Naruto asked rhetorically, slowly going through hand seals. With the last seal he clapped his hands together.

"Shiki Fuujin (Reaper Death Seal)" Naruto called. Fugaku's eyes widened in disbelief when he saw a form shimmer into existence behind Naruto.

"Death" Naruto greeted the…thing next to him.

"I have a name you know" Death answered, stepping next to the blonde.

"Really? And what is your name?" Naruto asked. He had to admit that Death having a name never crossed his mind.

"In time. Names are powerful things." Death replied and walked forward.

"You told me your sister's names" Naruto replied with a deadpan.

"Did I?" Death asked in mild disbelief. "I must be getting old" Naruto looked shocked when he saw a small smirk on Death's aged face.

"You lied" Naruto accused while Death released a dry chuckle.

"Hubris, young Naruto. Hubris. What makes you think I'm under the obligation to answer truthfully to you?" Death asked with amusement. "I'm a god. I can do what I wish" Death replied and stopped just a step away from Fugaku who seemed to have gone pale at the face of Death itself.

"I told you I was the hunter" Naruto said his last towards to Fugaku.

"Time to go" Death said, thrusting his arm into Fugaku's chest. With no effort at all he plucked the man's soul out. "Until next time" Death said, still clutching to Fugaku's soul. Naruto nodded and watched as Death vanished in plain sight.

Fugaku's body crumbled into leaves. Naruto looked at the remaining edo tensei in this side of the battlefield. "It's time Sasuke" Naruto said and placed a hand of Sasuke's shoulders.

"You could have fought back when I forced my chakra into you. You had enough consciousness for that" Naruto stated with a raised eyebrow.

"I know. Thank you…idiot" Sasuke replied, a small smile tugging his lips before he departed. Naruto chuckled and watched as the final zetsu clone sank into the water. It was over.

## With the Kages ##

"We have intel from Itachi" Inoichi shouted from his seating position. The large water sphere in front of him started rippling wildly. "It appears Madara has used the edo tensei to summon several shinobi to aid him"

"WHAT?" Hokage shouted, standing up and slamming her hands on the desk. The wood creaked in reply but held on. "Orochimaru. When I find that snake I'm going to snap that scrawny neck of his" she snarled. Inoichi's lips parted slightly at the words of his hokage.

"Orders?" Ao asked, working in conjunction with Inoichi to gather and deliver battlefield intelligence.

"Call Mifune and the fifth division. Have him send some of the sealing teams to the other divisions as soon as possible" A ordered and Ao quickly delivered the message to the respective destination.

"Who did they summon?" Tsunade asked, sliding down to her chair and nursing her head.

"We only have partial reports. As of now, Itachi claims all the Akatsuki seems to have been summoned along with Uchiha Sasuke. Other divisions report many other shinobi including the Sandaime Raikage, Yondaime Kazekage, Nidaime Tsuchikage, Nidaime and Sandaime Mizukage along with the whole generation of the seven swordsman" Ao grimaced at the information.

"WHAT? My father as well" A roared, punching the desk and breaking it in half this time. "Damn those bastards"

"New information" Inoichi said, stopping A's rant. "The Akatsuki has been defeated by Naruto"

"Well, that was fast" Tsunade chuckled but frowned remembering everyone else summoned by Madara. "Deploy the dragons to face against the edo tensei. Leave the white zetsu to the main army"

"My original is facing against the Sandaime Raikage" Hinata announced from the side. This was a shadow clone of Hinata, standing in perfect lotus position. She had her eyes closed in deep concentration, several markings spread across her face and body.

"Tell her to leave. My father is too fast and strong for her" A announced.

"Don't underestimate my apprentice" Tsunade scoffed while the Raikage just stared at the woman with a shocked face.

"You have no idea the power of my father. He fought the eight-tails to a standstill and took on an army of nearly ten thousand shinobi. His skin is impenetrable and there is no barrier that can stop him" A said desperately, running a hand through his pale hair.

"And where to you think you are going?" Tsunade asked, noticing A rushing out of the room.

"I've got to go stop my father" A replied.

"Stop and sit down" Tsunade barked, stopping the Raikage in his tracks. "Have faith in our troops. They are the ones fighting this war"

"Fine" A bit back. "But if she falls don't blame me"

## With Itachi ##

"Battle formation" Itachi bellowed to his soldiers, stopping the march. "Ninjutsu users in the back, Taijutsu users in the front" Itachi ordered calmly. There were loud ruffling and splashing sounds behind his back as the shinobi organized themselves.

Thousands of shinobi stood face to face against an even greater number of zetsu.

Zetsu were the perfect warriors. The perfect soldiers. The perfect slaves.

They held no fear. No pain. No regret. No remorse.

And with that they charged forward. Completely fearless of was about to come.

"First wave. Ready!" Itachi cried and the first two lines of shinobi pulled several kunai and shuriken each. "Fire!" Itachi yelled, pointing his arm forward. Every single shinobi threw their weapons forward at blinding speeds. A barrage of weapons was launched against the enemy.

It felt like a symphony. The weapons singing in the wind as they sliced through the air and rain. Itachi's hair fluttered briefly as the weapons passed mere inches away from his head and charged against the incoming horde of Zetsus.

Dozens of zetsu fell dead to the water, floating limply in the surface. Hundreds more charged, stepping over their deceased brethren without second thought.

"Second wave. Ready!" Itachi cried as the taijutsu users in the front line crouched. "Fire!" Itachi ordered loudly.

"Fuuton - Shinkuuha (Air Blade)"

The backline took deep a breath and unleashed dozens of wind blades, sending them flying safely above the front line. Itachi looked as the blades sliced the zetsu like a hot knife through butter.

More zetsu fell to the water, chunks of their bodies scattered across the water. And yet, their numbers seemed unending.

"WEAPONS" Itachi shouted as the sea of zetsu closed in. Itachi took out a simple sword and rushed forward. The shinobi behind yelled and charged forward as well. The two fronts meeting in the middle in a flurry of attacks.

Itachi kicked a zetsu away, sending his body flying against another and taking both out. He ducked as another tried to jump against him. He swiped his sword so fast that he could see the trail of the blade on the rain. A zetsu head rolled to the water.

Dozens of zetsu jumped in the air, bypassing the front line and going straight for the ninjutsu users in the back. "Katon - Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Great Fireball technique)" Itachi took a deep breath and released a fireball against the charging zetsu.

The fireball tore straight through the zetsu, leaving nothing but burned remains on its path. The cleared path was quickly closed by the zetsu. Itachi heard yelling far more desperate then he liked from the backline. He sidestepped a zetsu, snapping his neck in the process and jumped backwards.

"Those fools" Itachi thought in disbelief. The backline was actually using ninjutsu in the middle of the army and was, just from the looks of it, doing collateral damage to their own forces.

With precision to be envied, Itachi took out several shuriken and killed ten zetsu that were causing mayhem in the middle of the army. The zetsu crumbled to the floor, each bearing a shuriken embedded deeply in their head.

"The enemy is out there. FOCUS!" Itachi yelled to his forces. "The difference between us and them is that we are one. Together we will win" Itachi's words seemed to have calmed down most of the panicking shinobi.

"One my mark. One…Two…FIRE!" Itachi coordinated the combined jutsu. A barrage of fire powered by wind swept through the backline, killing nearly all zetsu in the area. Itachi remained neutral as the shinobi cheered in victory. They were naïve. He knew this was far from over.

"WOUNDED SHINOBI" Itachi shouted to the forces. "EXPOSE YOUR WOUNDS TO THE RAIN" Itachi bellowed much to the confusion of everyone around. Nonetheless, they followed the orders of their commander in the field.

"What?" a shinobi asked in surprise, noticing the burn he received from all the jutsu mayhem sizzle into full health when it came in contact with the rain. The burned skin replenished itself and retook the normal pink color.

Another one removed a kunai from his shoulder with a grunt and exposed it completely to the rain. To his surprise, the bleeding stopped immediately. The flesh around the wound started twisting, refiling itself until the wound was nothing more than a small scar on his shoulders. And even that was quickly disappearing until nothing but smooth, pink skin remained behind.

"What is this?" the shinobi asked in disbelief, gently moving his shoulder. He quickly realized that he had no lingering pain from it. It was perfectly healed, something that would take days to fully heal, even with access to trained medics.

"Senpou - Sen Iyashino Ame (Sage Arts – One Thousand Healing Rains)" Itachi replied. Hinata's ultimate healing jutsu, surpassing Tsunade's own vast healing network. Hinata used the rain instead of slug summons. This way, Hinata was able to reach everyone in the battlefield at the same time. There was no escaping the rain.

Itachi felt a couple larger chakra signatures approaching quickly. "Sealing teams" Itachi called and moved to fight the edo tensei, whoever they were.

## With the Third Division ##

"Mokuton - Mokuryu no Jutsu (Wood Dragon)" Hashirama called out, a large wooden dragon rising from the ground and sweeping the front line of zetsu, killing them by the dozens.

"Hinata, Mito" Hashirama called from the front lines. He watched as Hinata charged into the middle of a zetsu pack. Two bones jotting out from her palms. She seemed to barely scrape the zetsu but he was seeing it with his own eyes. Zetsu were crumbling to ash everywhere around her.

Mito on the other hand was standing in the air, two white wings made of paper attached to her back. She looked like an angel. "She is so pretty" Hashirama thought fondly, forgetting about the war for a moment. Even Madara had acknowledged her beauty. And that was saying something from someone who hated anything related to Senju.

Mito was unleashing paper bombs and other defensive and offensive seals. He had never seen someone so good in the sealing arts. In fact, Mito was the only battle sealing mistress in Konoha. Her offensive and defensive capabilities were always based around seals. She barely used ninjutsu or genjutsu.

"Sealing Trap – Obliteration" Mito pointed her arms towards the incoming wave of zetsu. Six paper tags flew against the enemy and quickly surrounded the zetsu. The paper tags stopped their progress and simply hanged midair, forming a perfect circle around dozens of zetsu.

"Activate" Mito said, forming a single seal. The battlefield was lit on fire as the paper tags glowed and everything inside the circle was destroyed in a loud explosion of fire.

"WATCH OUT" Hashirama yelled, startling Mito for a moment before she quickly turned around only to come face to face with an edo tensei. The shinobi extended both arms forward, standing right in front of Mito.

"Jinton - Genkai Hakuri no Jutsu (Dust Release - Detachment of the Primitive World)" the mummy lookalike shinobi said before the sky was enveloped in white light.

"NO" Hashirama snarled, his face becoming covered by blood red markings instantly. He clasped his hands together and the ground shook from his anger. A large wooden statue rose from the ground raising Hashirama into the air. The wooden statue reared back before punching the shinobi and sending him flying into the ground.

The white light vanished and Hashirama looked both surprised and relived to see Mito still alive. Four paper tags stood around her, forming a perfect spherical, translucent shield that seemed to have been absorbing chakra. The shield dropped along with her wings as Mito staggered forward but Hashirama caught her before she fell to the ground.

"It's an honor to fight someone like you" the edo tensei rose from the ground, his arm restoring itself. "Hashirama Senju, the first hokage of the leaf village"

"I know you" Hashirama commented, holding Mito in his arms. Her chakra was depleted by using the last barrier. "Jinton no Mu (Mu of the Dust Release), the Nidaime Tsuchikage" Hashirama said before Hinata jumped on top of the statue next to him.

Two other edo tensei joined Mu on top of the water. Hashirama recognized only one. "Gengetsu Hozuki, Nidaime Mizukage" Hashirama said as the shinobi bowed in appreciation.

"The last one is the Sandaime Raikage" Hinata informed, her byakugan never been turned off.

"I'm sending a clone back with Mito. We need a sealing team with us to deal with them" Hashirama frowned as Mito slept peacefully in his arms. Never knowing the horrors going outside of her mind.

"The rain village. This is perfect for me" Gengetsu howled with laughter. "This hasn't changed a bit since the last time I was here"

"Focus" Mu reprimanded.

"Don't tell me what to do" Gengetsu scoffed before walking to stand side by side with A and Mu. He watched with a raised eyebrow as two shinobi dropped from the sky, landing in front of them.

"I know you, Senju Hashirama. I'm surprised to see you here since you were dead when I was Mizukage" Gengetsu pointed out and turned towards the female standing next to him. "I don't know you though. You are clearly a Hyuuga"

"Senju Hinata"

"Senju?" Gengetsu asked with a snicker and turned towards Hashirama. "HAH! You old dog. So Mito wasn't enough to keep you down" Gengetsu laughed.

"Actually I'm engaged to Naruto, his great-grandson" Hinata corrected seeing Hashirama sputter next to her.

Gengetsu was about to reply when he felt his body stiffen. "Good to see you again, old friend" Gengetsu said, his body nothing more than a puppet.

"Madara" Hashirama sighed.

"And you are looking well too, Lady Hinata" Madara said, looking towards Hinata.

"Madara, sto-"

"It's inevitable" Gengetsu replied, cutting Hashirama off as the three shinobi jumped forward. Their faces completely neutral and their emotions cut off.

Hashirama looked towards Hinata but said nothing. In an instant Hinata charged forward while Hashirama remained behind. She looked up to see Gengetsu and A running against her but she was not deterred in the slightest.

The Sandaime Raikage's body sparkled with blue lightning as he activated his Raiton no Yoroi (Lightning Armor) and charged forward at even higher speeds. Hinata tracked his movements carefully with her byakugan. A moved his right arm forward, his hand gaining a stronger hue of blue as he ran head on towards Hinata.

"Jigokuzuki (Hell Stab)" A forced his hand forward, piercing right through Hinata's chest and cleaving her in half.

Hinata however simply liquefied and reformed her body on the other side. She didn't look backwards and simply dashed towards the intended target. Mu's eyes widened when he saw a bone appear from Hinata's outstretched palm. He was about to jump away when two trees burst from water and wrapped themselves around his feet.

"Tomogoroshi no Haikotsu (All-Killing Ash Bone)" Hinata's bone went through Mu's upper body like a knife through hot buffer, only stopping when Hinata's palm reached his chest. Mu didn't cough or yell in pain, he just crumbled into ash on the ground.

Hinata jumped backwards from the pile of ash and waited to see if Mu would rise again. Her suspicions were confirmed. Her bone strikes rendered the edo tensei immortality useless. With her suspicions confirmed she ran backwards to join Hashirama, who seemed to be having trouble fending off both A and Gengetsu simultaneously.

"Mokuton – Mokujoheki (Domed Wall)" Hashirama called out, larges trees appearing in front of him and shielding him from a barrage of water bullets. In the same instant, Hashirama sidestepped A, who had been charging against him, having sensed him through senjutsu.

Hashirama ducked under lightning powered strike and kicked him backwards. A tumbled through the water, not even his armor being able to stand against a senjutsu powered kick. The Raikage quickly stood up and was about to charge forward like nothing had happened when several water tentacles rose from the water.

The tentacles wrapped themselves around his arms, his legs. Hinata pushed her technique forward, forcing A to fall to his knees and his arms to remain stretched outwards to avoid him from using jutsu. A's lightning armor sparkled but seemed to have no effect as the chakra was simply absorbed by the tentacles.

Hinata approached the man slowly, her eyes gaining a blue hue and her hair turning white slowly in successive waves. She stopped in front of the man, her Tenseigan activated and her beautiful long white hair cascading down her back. She crouched and brought her right palm to A's forehead. Her Tenseigan glowed softly before dimming down as she got up and stepped backwards.

Hinata dropped the water tentacles as A got up and hastily charged against Hinata. Mere inches from his fist to connect to Hinata, A simply stopped moving, his right arm still aiming forward.

His head twitched slightly before he fell to the water in spasm. Hinata cringed slightly when she noticed A's body bending in unnatural angles and frowned when she saw his head do a tree sixty degrees turn before A stopped moving altogether.

"If he was alive then he would be gone by now" Hinata frowned in thought when she saw A's neck snap backwards.

A slowly stood up, the edo tensei jutsu slowly healing the damage. Once he was standing his eyes gave off a small blue glow before settling down to the usual black. "Go help our forces. Terminate all zetsu in the area along with any edo tenseis" Hinata ordered and A dashed away at top speed, completely entrapped by Hinata's jutsu.

Hinata joined forces with Hashirama to take down the final edo tensei opponent in this front. "Damn" Hashirama cursed, the area being filled with mist. "There is too much chakra in the air. I can't get a fix in his position"

"We need to defeat his summon first so we can stop this damn mist and genjutsu" Hashirama explained and Hinata nodded. She closed her eyes and linked to the falling rain.

"There" Hinata said, pointing her arm towards a fixed location. "I can feel my rain hitting his clam summon" Hashirama nodded before flashing through hand seals.

"Suiton - Suijinheki (Water Wall)" Hinata called out, raising a small water wall to block another wave of water bullets from Gengetsu.

"HINATA" Hashirama yelled finally being able to trap the clam with his wood techniques. Hinata quickly jumped high in the air and brought her heel down on the summon.

"Tsutenkyaku (Heavenly Foot of Pain)" Hinata smashed her heel on the clam and a cracking sound echoed through the clearing. The water rippled from the impact as the summon disappeared in a cloud of smoke and the mist slowly started dissipating.

"Mizu Fusen no Jutsu (Water Balloon)" Gengetsu used the water beneath his feet to form bubbles that started floating around in the air. With a small twist of his arm the bubbles were launched forward against Hinata and Hashirama.

Neither shinobi moved as the attack collided. Hinata simply liquid her body each time a bubble connected while Hashirama didn't even get hurt with the attack, his skin hardened severely with the use of senjutsu.

"Let's end this" Hashirama declared and clasped both hands together. "Mokuton - Jukai Kotan (Deep Forest Creation)" The ground rustled as dozens of trees burst from the water. The senjutsu powered technique had the trees in the air and chasing after the final enemy in the blink of an eye.

"Hakke Kuushou (Air Palm)" Hinata cut the remaining escape path for Gengetsu as he trapped in the trees and restrained from any movement. Hinata quickly launched a bone at the edo tensei and disintegrated his body, finally defeating the enemy.

## With Jiraiya's Company ##

"Will you be quiet?" Jiraiya growled at the purple haired kunoichi crouching next to him. "I still wonder why Kakashi married you. I suppose he liked your…personality" Jiraiya said, looking at Anko's well developed breasts. All he got for a response was a smirk. He knew Anko was someone who didn't mind using her body to get what she wanted.

"I'm just tired of waiting" Anko replied, flicking a single strand of hair away from her face. She looked at the remaining members of her little infiltration squad - Senju Tobirama, Hyuuga Neji and Aburame Shino but all she got were blank looks. "Cowards" She muttered beneath her breath.

"We can't rush this. We must wait for the war to be deep in progress before we think of sneaking in" Tobirama explained, looking at the horizon and focusing on the grand walls surrounding the rain village.

"Alright" Jiraiya said, pocketing his portable telescope. "Let's move in. Silently!" Jiraiya said stressing the last word. The group moved as whole, running through the vast lakes of the rain village and heading straight for the walls.

All around them the war raged on. Kunai, shurikens, swords littered the grounds where the water was not deep enough. As they closed in to the walls, they started walking not on water but on the bodies piling in the battlefield. They were knee deeps in zetsu corpses as they arrived near the walls.

"We have a problem" Neji said, stopping and narrowing his eyes at the walls. "The village is surrounded by some type of chakra dome"

Jiraiya frowned at Neji's words and chucked a kunai against the concrete walls. He expected the kunai to hit the wall and remain stuck. Instead it simply bounced backwards, producing small ripples originating from the point of impact. "Well" Jiraiya sighed. "That is going to delay us"

"Not necessarily" Tobirama disagreed and approached the wall, placing a single hand against the shield. Once more the shield rippled upon contact. "Can you see any type of seals on the walls?" Tobirama asked, wondering where the shield was being generated.

"Can't. The shield is too bright for my byakugan. I can't discern anything accurately" Neji said, switching off his doujutsu for the mean time.

"Shino" Tobirama called but the shinobi in question nodded in negative as well. "This complicate things if we can't get a fixed location on the central core" Tobirama explained, thinking how to disrupt the field.

"Maybe we can slip past it" Jiraiya offered.

"How about we call Naruto?" Neji suggested, crouching next to Shino and Anko. "He can simply walk through the barrier and place a marker inside" Neji explained his solution. He couldn't do much other than bounce ideas back and forth.

"We can't rely on Naruto. He's busy with his own battles" Tobirama criticized the young shinobi next to him. "It's obvious that he hasn't reached the walls since the barrier still stands"

"Perhaps we can bypass it" Tobirama said and turned to Jiraiya "You have been here before. What is the thickness of these walls?" Tobirama asked, looking at the thick concrete walls. He tried punching the walls and estimated the thickness by the sound, but all he got was silence because of the shield.

"I think around ten feet but let's make it fifteen to be sure you don't land us inside the walls" Jiraiya commented, rubbing his chin as if to help jog his memory.

"Dammit. That is really close the maximum limit I can arrive near the marker" Tobirama cursed beneath his breath. The Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God) allowed some flexibility on where the user arrived at the marker. But it was still limited on the distance to the marker itself, and fifteen feet was pushing the line on Tobirama's skill.

"Use my chakra" Isobu said and Tobirama found himself on his dreamscape, looking at the giant turtle in front of him. Tobirama said nothing and simply nodded. He walked forward and bumped fists with the turtle.

On the outside, his body was enveloped by a shroud of bubbling red chakra with three tails waving wildly. Fours chakra arms shot from his body, each one grabbing a different teammate. Tobirama took a single kunai and dropped it to the ground. The marker glowing softly.

"HIRAISHIN (Flying Thunder God Technique)" Tobirama and his team vanished in a flash of red chakra. Tobirama groaned and pushed his and Isobu's mixed chakra through the technique, straining his ability to the maximum and teleported as farther as he could from the marker.

Inside the rain village there was a bright flash of red as five shinobi appeared out of nowhere and collapsed to the ground in a heap of tangled limbs. "Everyone good?" Tobirama groaned as he got up, extending a hand to Neji who was nearby.

"Yeah" Was the general response along with some grunts and growls, mostly from Anko who seemed to land awkwardly on the ground.

"Excellent. Let's move" Tobirama said and stepped forward only to find some resistance. He looked backwards only to see a piece of shirt trapped inside the walls of the rain village. "Way too close" Tobirama gulped in thought, ripping the piece of shirt and leaving it behind, trapped inside the wall.

"Neji" Tobirama said and the shinobi nodded.

"Byakugan" His eyes flared life, several bulges appearing around his eyes. Neji quickly roamed through the city, searching every house, every room, every closed and space he could find.

"There are zetsu everywhere in the streets. However, the rain shinobi and other civilians seem to be in some type of stasis in their homes" Neji said in surprise.

"Stasis?" Jiraiya asked, thinking he misunderstood.

"I mean they are all sleeping. Every single man, woman and child." Neji replied.

"Shino, can you confirm?" Tobirama asked and Shino nodded, lowering his arms as the bugs receded back.

"That can either be a good thing or a very bad thing. What about Madara?"

"I am searching. Madara is at the top of that tower" Neji said, pointing towards Pein's tower in the middle of the village. "He seems to be concentrating. I think he might be controlling the edo tenseis from there" Neji explained.

"Let's go stop him then" Anko stated and started walking forward.

"STOP" Tobirama said in a cold, serious voice. Anko shivered at the tone and turned backwards. "You have no idea the extent of Madara's power. Only Naruto can defeat him. Let's focus on finding where the Zetsu are coming from and disabling this damn barrier before evacuating" Tobirama ordered and Anko nodded in reluctance. Even if Madara was so powerful, she still wanted to go at him.

"Impossible" Neji said in disbelief. "The Zetsu keep coming. Madara seems to using a couple of edo tenseis to feed chakra into some statue that keeps producing zetsu. It's like an endless factory" Neji explained, shocked to what he was seeing. Zetsu kept pouring out like an assembly machine.

"Priority number one is disabling the production. This statue, describe it to me" Tobirama stated, considering for a moment an endless army of zetsu.

"It looks like a giant brown colored humanoid. It has nine eyes and both hands are – "

"Shackled together" Tobirama finished and Neji nodded. Tobirama receded back into his mind and found himself once more standing in front of Isobu.

"I need to talk to Naruto" Tobirama said. Isobu nodded and focused on linking with Kurama. A side effect of having the bijuu sealed was that allowed the members to communicate to each other mentally.

"What do you need?" Naruto's voice range in Tobirama's head.

"Madara is still making Zetsu. I need you to summon the gedou mazou to stop the production" Tobirama explained and felt Naruto nod in acknowledgement.

"Neji, keep looking at the statue" Tobirama said and Neji nodded. He kept looking at the statue and the general vicinity until he saw the statue disappear in a cloud of smoke.

"It disappeared" Neji replied in shock, seeing the zetsu production effectively stop.

"Excellent. Now let's find the core and drop this barrier"

## With Naruto ##

"Give me space" Naruto yelled to the shinobi around him. Almost instantly everyone jumped away from him as he slammed in hands on the water, creating large ripples.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu) – Gedou Mazou"

ROARRRR

The Gedou Mazou burst from the ground and roared into the sky. Naruto, having summoned the vessel of the ten tails, decided to put it to some use and began using his summon to destroy the zetsu by the dozens. He stood on top of the enormous statue as it jumped into the middle of the zetsu army.

ROARRRR

The Demonic Statue lets out an enormous shock wave, causing the zetsu within the vicinity to be pushed a far distance away. Zetsu were launched harshly into the air by the dozens. The Gedo mazou continued its rampage while Naruto fought against some brave zetsu who ventured to face him on top of the statue.

Naruto focused on his ability of manipulate gravity and started pulling large chunks of rock from the ground and sending them flying against the charging enemy. The zetsu were crushed and squashed beneath the large boulders. "PUSH FORWARD" Naruto bellowed. The gedou mazou slammed his foot on the ground, killing every zetsu close by and started clearing a path for the army to reach the walls. (1)

The shinobi would have advantageous territory once they were inside the walls. Outside in the open was perfect for the large amounts of the zetsu. Naruto looked up to see the dome that surrounded the village to suddenly collapse. He knew that Tobirama and his team had succeeded in their infiltration. "NOW" Naruto yelled and charged forward, the ground shaking with each step the gedou mazou took.

## With the Remaining Division ##

"They never end" Minato heaved, taking long deep breaths. All around him were hundreds of zetsu corpses piling on the ground. He twirled his three pronged kunai as slashed another zetsu and killed him instantly.

"Getting tired, old man?" Nao grinned as she kicked a clone, sending him flying backwards.

"I would like to see you pull my third level Hiraishin and not getting tired" Minato muttered in thought, looking at the dark haired Uchiha next to him. She sure was a bubbly character.

"Amaterasu no Yoroi (Amaterasu Armor)"

Minato raised an eyebrow at the technique's name and was surprised to see Nao's body being completely shrouded in pitch black flames. "Interesting" Minato stated as he watched Nao charged against a horde of zetsu head on.

A kick here, a punch there was all it took. Nao didn't even need to actually kill the zetsu with her strikes. The black flames of Amaterasu would finish the job quickly enough. After all, the inextinguishable black flames of Amaterasu were said to burn as hot as the sun, and nothing could put them out but the user who created them in the first place.

Minato watched the zetsu melt around him and form large slobs of white goo on the ground. And even that was still being burned until nothing remained behind. "Let's go, Kakashi" Minato said to the silver haired shinobi next to him.

"Youngsters these days" Kakashi sighed, fake tears running down his face. "No respect for the elderly"

"I'm older than you" Minato said with a sweat drop.

"Technically Naruto gave you a twenty five year old body. That makes me older than you" Kakashi said smugly.

"Fine. Move it, old man" Minato ordered jokingly. Kakashi sighed and activated his sharingan, charging forward once more against the never ending army of zetsu.

"Chidori" Kakashi channeled lightning chakra through a kunai on his hand. He made a vertical slash and bisected a zetsu cleanly in half, letting the parts fall to the sides. "197" Kakashi said out loud, more of reflex than anything else.

"Only 197" Zabuza yelled from the side. "Minato was right. You are getting old" Zabuza laughed and charged forward. He jumped into the middle of the zetsu and spun his blade, killing the group instantly.

"Mai" a voice yelled from the back, making Minato, Zabuza, Kakashi and Nao turn around. To their surprise they found Hinata walking towards them calmly. "Sawarabi no Mai (Bracken Dance)" Hinata bellowed and the ground shook.

Thousands upon thousands of bones broke through the ground. Wave after wave of bones charged against the enemy, impaling any zetsu standing and slaughtering everything in their path. Everyone just stared at the forest of bones in front of them, zetsu hanging limply from the bones, impaled through the chest.

To further their shock, each and every single zetsu was turning to ash and dropping to the ground in a pile. It took only a few seconds for hundreds of zetsu to be reduced to nothing more than a blanket of ash covering the battlefield.

"Hinata" Minato replied, still shocked to see the wave of destruction.

"Tobirama and his team have breached the walls. We need to push forward" Hinata said, stopping near the shinobi. "Naruto is already inside the walls and making his way to fight Madara. The city's evacuation is already under progress" Hinata explained.

"We can fall behind" Minato said and everyone agreed.

"LOOK OUT" Kakashi yelled. He saw a figure moving fast towards Hinata, even to his sharingan it was a blur. Kakashi and everyone else was about to step in and kill the edo tensei when Hinata raised a hand in a stop motion.

"I injected a chakra parasite in his system. This edo tensei is under my control" Hinata explained as the Sandaime Raikage stopped next to her and simply stared blankly ahead.

"Are you sure?" Zabuza asked with caution. "The Sandaime Raikage was no pushover" he warned, his eyes trailing off to the edo tensei. Hinata simply nodded.

Hinata made a head gesture and the edo tensei charged ahead at blinding speeds. "Let's end this" Hinata said and everyone charged forward to exterminate the remaining zetsu.

## With the Kages ##

"Tsunade-sama" Shizune yelled, pushing the doors open and running into the room.

"What?" Tsunade asked, jumping slightly from the surprise.

"The Z-Virus is ready for deployment" Shizune said, out of breath.

"It's a bit late but better late than never" Tsunade said, walking around the table and heading towards Shizune. "Kill rate?" she asked, looking at the small vial.

"100%" Shizune replied with a smile. "As a precaution, we should to pull Hashirama out of the field. Since the zetsu clones are based off Hashirama's body there is a chance this virus could affect him as well" Shizune explained and Tsunade nodded.

"Hinata" Tsunade said and walked towards the sitting clone of Hinata. "You are up" The clone nodded and stood up.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)"

Ten clouds of smoke erupted in the room. Once the smoke disappeared, the ten dragons stood circling Hinata. The dragons had grown heavily in the last few months, now in their teenage years so to speak. Each dragon now had a wing span of at least 16 feet and an approximate length of 12 feet.

"You know what to do" Hinata said and every single dragon nodded before flying out of the window.

## With Naruto ##

The ten dragons flew above the village, dispersing the Z-virus in large quantities above the city. While invisible to the naked eye, the sheer quantity of the virus being deployed seemed to swallow the village in a poisonous cloud.

All around the zetsu stopped being able to walk and simply fell to the ground, shaking and twitching until they stopped moving altogether. With the zetsu permanently killed, the remaining edo tensei being sealed and the rain village being evacuated, there was only one thing left to finish this war.

Naruto was running up the stairs in the Pein's tower, hoping to reach the top floor as quickly as possible. His heart pounding in his chest. This was it. The final battle.

"Naruto" Naruto heard Hinata's voice from his mind. "The city is evacuated and we are pulling out…s-see you soon" Naruto heard the small stutter in her voice but nodded nonetheless. He couldn't

Naruto finally reached the top floor and stopped in front of the metallic door separating him from the final enemy. He placed a hand on the door, feeling the coldness of the metal as he slowly pushed the door open.

He was greeted with darkness with the single exception of a pair of glowing silver eyes at the back of the room. "So you finally came" Madara said and Naruto could swear he saw the man smile.

"It's over, Madara. You have lost" Naruto said but Madara simply smirked and raised from the chair.

"We have different definitions of losing, Naruto" Madara said, walking forward and stopping a few feet from Naruto. From behind Madara stepped five edo tensei that stood next to him. The five jinchuuriki that were captured, were now part of Madara's six path technique.

"You are missing one" Naruto commented, seeing only five edo tenseis. Madara only laughed before a predatory smile reached his lips.

"Shall we dance?"