Confrontation

3rd Person

Jiraya swiftly traversed through the trees in a frantic rush towards his student's location.

"He must be nearby."

Explosion!!!

"What in the world!?" he exclaimed, caught off guard by the sudden loud noise. He quickly climbed up a tree to survey the area and saw a thick plume of smoke rising up in the distance. He leapt down to a nearby branch and immediately bounded towards the source of the disturbance.

"It'll take me at least 10-15 minutes to arrive. Hang in there, Menma. I'm on my way."

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Moving quickly Kurama (The clone) appeared next to the flight bound teen, eyes fixated on the battle grounds that was just up ahead.

"Stick to the plan brat!" Kurama shouted against the harsh winds, already positioning himself to initiate the plan.

"As long as we dont die before then!" Menma replied, hair and clothing reacting due to his current speed of motion.

A smile played on the lips of the fox, he nodded, the aura around him slightly darker than before, snapping his head back to the front ready to confront the masked man once more...

Sensing two chakra signatures approaching him at blistering speeds the masked man pondered.'The boy is back... But is that the kyuubi's chakra? This might be a bit troublesome...'

The masked man remained on the tree, looking beyond the clearing and into the ever expansive forest that surrounded him, his right eye flaring a deep scarlet as three tomoe spun around his pupil lazily.

Hearing what sounded like a whistle coming from the trees, the stranger looked upwards to see... A log?

Successfully distracting him, Menma BLASTED through the tree line, he was moving so fast he appeared to be a black blur among the greenery, he was traveling so fast MASSIVE amounts of dirt an debris were left in his wake, barreling through the leaves of the trees as they snapped from the pressure forced upon them.

Colliding with the ground with a loud *DUFF* Menma barreled through the dust and debris, never losing speed he covered half the distance between him and the stranger in a mere moments.

Menma ran through hand signs, eyes glowing an oceanic blue as his heart pounded against his chest, his body screamed in both pain and anticipation. Uttering but a single phrase, signalling the start of their plan...

"Earth style: Iwa Toge Fushido no Jutsu"

Due to Menma tunnelling underground, the force at which he did so caused a mass uproot of boulders and metric tons of rocks and debris, seeing that he covered half the distance between him and the masked man in such a small time frame, the true damage of the attack he did had finally began to show, uprooting rock that went as high as 80 meters, all heading to the stranger. (A/n: Keep in mind that this all took place in less than 2 seconds)

As if god himself willed the boulders, their surfaces morphed into spikes 8 inches in height and a width of 10 inches all headed to a single target.

Without a shred of hesitation the masked man dropped himself to the ground his footwear cementing itself deep into the soil.

His eyes glowed deep crimson and darted around at astonishing speeds, he then dodged the spikes as they came at him, one coming close to impaling him, barely managing to dodge, more spikes came at the man, shifting his body out of the way his cloak ended up getting ripped by some of the spikes.

Glancing back at the now distant spikes the tree he previously stood on as well as others for the next 100meters were impaled then looking back to his damaged clothing a small smile forming on the corner his lips.

'Am I....excited?' He thought to himself as his smile widened even further.

Still soaring high in the sky, the log puffed into smoke to reveal the still face of Kurama, his clothing blowing as ferociously as Menma's the only difference being that he was sky high.

Now free falling back to the clearing his aura glowing a deep purplish red, he thought to himself.

'The distraction was a success. Hopefully the kid can get out of the ground in time. If not I'll have to give him a hand.'

Picking up speed the deep purplish red aura got even denser as his speed increased even further, the wind rushing to his eyes.

Kurama faintly saw that the sparks from earlier developed into a blazing inferno that were caught on the air streaks trailing behind him.

Slipping his hands even closer to his sides than before, Kurama could only think of Menma's current position hoping that he didn't accidentally fall on the boy.

Now just above the trees he flipped over his legs now replacing his head, he crashed to the ground forming a massive crater, his aura seeping out ever so slightly.

The impact of his fall caused even more damage to the forest, nearly the entire forest floor lifted up into the air, the ground ripping apart to reveal the surprised face of Menma, who now had a fresh trail of blood falling from his head.

Menma was blasted backwards, by the explosion, and now tumbling out of control as he collided with multiple walls of rock struggling to come to a stop.

Seeing that he was about to collide with a tree that was in the air with him head first, he was unable to stop himself or dodge, he closed his eyes and threw up his arms in defence all the while he silently cursed at the fox, no force field on this planet could save him from his wrath.

Still airborne as his ripped clothes and wild hair blew against the winds, Kurama caught the teen, moments before he slammed into the obstacle.

Flipping so that he was feet first, Kurama landed on the tree trunk taking the full brunt of Menma's weight added to the landing.

Opening his eyes, Menma looked up to see the familiar teasing grin of the fox who landed diagonally on the tree. Grunting, Menma swiftly left the grip of his companion also standing beside him on the tree.

"Were you trying to kill me, you stupid fox!?" Menma exclaimed earning a chuckle from his foxy friend, Menma then sent him glare.

"Pfft... I did say we wouldn't be on the same wavelength." The fox said stiffling his laughter.

"Sigh.... Anyways, We need to act fast or he'll catch us off guard." Menma said looking at the wreckage ahead.

"Never again will I put my life in your paws/hands." He stated, The fox nodded still holding back his laughter.

Menma rolled his eyes then jumped off the tree with Kurama following closely, hands flailing idly behind him as he scanned the area for the stranger.

Darting their way through the area, both Menma and Kurama used the still falling debris to their advantage, darting from one boulder to the next gradually speeding up, A factor that they both agreed was crucial to their plan.

Cartwheeling over a piece of rock heading his way, Menma could barely make out the vague outline a man just beyond the smog.

'There he is...'

The man made no movements whatsoever, Menma found it odd and chose to equip himself with a kunai, Kurama did the same they both nodded and closed the distance rather quickly.

Menma saw the lone eye of the man gazing into his very being through the now expunged smoke.

It was unnerving.

Once again coming face to face with the masked man, Menma immediately back flipped revealing the readied arm of Kurama, which was swiftly blocked by the man.

"I shall now attack with intent to kill." Pushing the boy back, the masked man went on the offensive, promptly shutting down any of Kurama's attempts at stabbing and slashing him.

Disarming the fox, he then began to pressure him by engaging in hand to hand combat, testing how well his shield could hold.

'This clone is rather peculiar... It has the chakra of the nine tails thinly wrapped around its body. Is it some sort of shield?' The masked man thought to himself.

The man suppressed the fox while simultaneously picking up the fallen kunai and raising it above his head then striking down, Kurama leaned back to dodge the heavy downward slice, the masked man transitioned into a back kick.

Barely slipping around the foot he, Kurama, took out another kunai, he spun rapidly on his heel, building up enough momentum and hurled the kunai at the man's mask.

The stranger ducked as the kunai sailed over his head, he dashed at the clone, embedding his foot into it's ribcage, the thin outline pulsed with life, shimmering around his body as he felt only the impact devoid of any pain, breaking the guard of the fox.

'How odd, it still hasn't dispersed after being hit...'

'Bastard!' The fox cursed at the man internally.

Staggering back Kurama was met with a vicious left hook, staggering further back he once again felt the force of a massive right knee to his side forcing him back a few inches that resulted in the outstretched leg of the man colliding roughly with his cheek.

'Lets see how long you'll last.'

His aura flickering with every hit he almost falls to his knees, snapping his head back to the man, twisting his body into a vertical roll before launching his foot only to be blocked but the force of the attack managed to push him back a few paces.

Taking over the fight, Menma barreled towards the man, his fist clashing with his guard so fast that it looked as if Kurama was still in the air.

Kurama landed, then circled his opponent as he attacked the opposite side of the man to support Menma, sending a kick also being blocked by the man, the shockwave of the attack almost causing a visible buckle to be seen on the man's knee as he let out a low grunt.

"You wasted your chance to kill me earlier."

"I promise you, you will never get the chance to kill me again!" Menma said, his eyes never leaving the masked man.

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As the sound of the sword piercing through Hiruzen echoed, Orochimaru winced at the realization of what had just happened. He couldn't help but wonder why Hiruzen had made no effort to dodge the attack.

With a weak voice, Hiruzen explained that the jutsu required him to sacrifice his life and soul to the Shinigami, warning Orochimaru that he too would meet the same fate.

Orochimaru's body stiffened as he realized the severity of the situation. The jutsu would bind their souls together, trapping them in the Shinigami's belly for eternity.

Hiruzen informed Orochimaru that his soul was halfway out, and the Shinigami became visible to him too. Orochimaru watched in terror as the Shinigami repeatedly devoured the souls of the three Hokages.

"Is this really death?" Orochimaru thought, struggling to accept his impending doom.

Driven by desperation, he drove his sword deeper into Hiruzen's body, determined to fight until the end. "Just die already!" he hissed, breaking out in a cold sweat.