151 Ten Magnificent Barriers
General POV
Obito's frustration was growing with each minute passing. His plan to use the remaining Jinchūriki to wear down Naruto Uzumaki and Killer B proved to be harder than expected.
Having complete control over the Kyuubi granted him enough power to stop his Jinchūriki and even when they went full Bijuu Mode, it was not enough.
The Kyuubi proved to be stronger than he anticipated.
Just to spite him, Kakashi and Gai came to their help and while those two couldn't fight the Bijuu's, both were formidable opponents and nuisances when it came to him trying to grab Naruto and pull him into my pocket dimension.
He had no method to contact Kabuto, but Obito considered this option. That was also the reason why the Edo Tensei Jinchūriki didn't leave or were sealed back inside the Gedo statue. They were created by Obito instead of Kabuto; the latter giving the former the hand signs.
Undying beasts they were, they couldn't stop the Kyuubi.
'Kabuto has Madara's corpse. Did he summon him already and if so, where is he?' thought Obito as he phased through a kick from Gai.
On the other side of the battlefield, Ishizu got closer to the fighting. He could feel the chakra signatures across the yard leaking everywhere. He was getting closer, but he stopped just before Naruto or anyone else should sense him.
'At last, Naruto, you made peace with Kurama. Took you long enough. Plus, the golden style from KCM2 looks better in my opinion than the KCM1 version,' Ishizu commented in his head as he jumped towards one of the last trees in the surrounding that were not destroyed from the battle.
Everything else was a bar land. Come with the bonus of Bijuu fighting each other. Ishizu scanned the battlefield where he felt Naruto with B as well as Kakashi and Gai fighting Obito and.... what the hell was that? Ew!
Their chakra was twisted grotesquely. It was neither alive nor dead. Whoever made this had done a quick and poor job and what they wanted. It took Ishizu a moment to understand what he was observing. He could feel the other three Bijuu caged by the Gedo Mazo fighting in agony.
The souls of Shukaku and Matatabi were missing. How could they not? Both Jinchūriki were alive and fighting thanks to him. That's when it clicked and Ishizu couldn't help but feel disgusted by it.
This would end now. Madara was occupied for the moment, enjoying his dance with Sage Mode Tsunade. This gave him enough time to set the premise before he came running back here. Obito was alone and he wouldn't stop Ishizu. Nobody was.
"Boar → Dog → Bird → Monkey → Ram: Summoning Jutsu," Ishizu called out and his 10 pandas appeared from the smoke.
It was nostalgia Ishizu felt as he looked at each panda, recognizing their faces. They were his summon, his comrades. Those that fought with him and helped him over the years. He could still remember the day when he met Tau by accident when trying to do a summonless summoning jutsu. How that mistake led him to meet Po, the legendary Dragon Warrior, as well as the other pandas.
He remembered how he grew to love each and every one of them.
Once more, he needed their help and they would gladly help him. Ishizu never regretted having found those pandas he called now friends. It was his destiny. Clapping his hands, he drew their attention.
"Alright guys, it is time. You probably know this already but I have waited for a loooong time for this. Countless hours were spent creating this plan. I had a much different one when I was younger with a lot more bloodshed and pain but this one is much tamer, so we better not fuck this up, or else I'm going to hunt you in the afterlife," he halfheartedly swung his fist in a mocking matter to break the tension they all get.
Ishizu would lie to himself if he said he wasn't nervous. He was this close to fulfilling his dream and everyone knew how important this was. The pandas would do their best to help him but ultimately it was he who had to make the important moves.
Ishizu started waving hand signs, and the pandas synchronized their pawns with Ishizu's hands. They started off slow but with each sign, their movements increased.
Faster and faster.
For a whole 5 minutes, they did so until they slammed their hands on the ground and a seal appeared underneath everyone. The moment a seal touched another, they fused creating a new one that spread out towards the others.
With each seal touching another, it changed, becoming more complex.
"Let's do this! Fuinjutsu: Ten Magnificent Barriers!"
A roar escaped Ishizu's mouth as he called forth the jutsu's name.
10 cylindrical glowing barriers shot forth from the underground and spread out. Each grew larger in size the farther they moved away from Ishizu.
The 'Ten Magnificent Barriers' was a Fuinjutsu on the grandmaster level. It took huge amounts of chakra to perform and couldn't be done by a single person.
This, however, wasn't the only condition. Every single user who performed his part of the jutsu had to be in sync with the one starting. Not a single mishap could happen or else it would blow up, rending the jutsu waste.
Every user of the Ten Barriers was responsible for one barrier and would wait for people to come and challenge them for entrance to enter the next level.
Naturally, for Ishizu to see such a difficult jutsu, the barriers must be worth the protection.
Well...
Each barrier could only be crossed when a condition was met, and those conditions were spoken by the ones who governed them.
It could be something pretty easy, like being able to perform an A-rank Fire Jutsu to the harder restriction of having Kage level chakra to something ridiculous, like having slept 8 hours last night.
There really were no restrictions on the conditions.
The only exception was if somebody used brutal force to break the barriers or defeated the panda protecting the barrier.
Ishizu knew of the flaws. The first 5 barriers were weak and could be broken by capable jonins, but beginning with the 6th their durability increased exponentially. Plus the strength of his pandas guarding each barrier grew too.
Within the tenth barrier, Ishizu was seated on the earth. His barrier was notable in comparison to the other barriers, as it was a bright red, a sign of importance. In spite of the combined efforts of all of them, he still was not sure if they could keep an eye on the person Yuka was observing.
Ishizu's hand ventured into one pocket, where he felt the frigid gems running across his fingers, but he shook his head and allowed them to drop back within.
'They are the last resort. I first need to get everything prepared and even if Madara shows up, I have 'him' deal with the Uchiha.'
For a moment, a smile appeared around the corners of his mouth as he took out his mask. He didn't need it anymore. Yamamoto had long since fulfilled his purpose. Only Ishizu Sasaki remained.
"Alright! Let the party get started!"
As Ishizu called, his natural red eyes turned into the Rinnegan. It was time to steal the show from Obito and end this war.
"Summoning Jutsu: Gedo Mazo!"
Naruto POV
It happened in an instant. The statue that was standing motionless and controlling the Bijuus with those seals disappeared in smoke.
I wasn't the only one that was shocked. Even with the mask on, I could feel his emotions. Confusion and rage were the once most prominent. This was not his doing.
Suddenly from behind the same purple hooks appeared and stuck inside the Bijuus and forcing them in the direction the hooks came from.
The masked man was the first to follow their directions, but we were right after him. As I stopped closer, I could feel it. His chakra. He wasn't hiding it at all.
Ishizu-sensei was here.
"He was here before, but he kept outside of our range so we wouldn't locate him. It was definitely him that used his Rinnegan to summon that damm statue!" Kurama growled out.
I could understand Kurama's feelings. The statue wasn't something he wanted to see. It sealed his siblings, causing them agony, and this Madara wanted to use it to bring back the Ten-Tails. Be it Madara or Ishizu-sensei, I had to stop them.
And just then my eyes fell on the figure sitting on the statue. There were barriers around him.
'Madara' passed through the first 3 barriers with ease as the pandas that were standing before them ignored him. At first, I thought they were preventing anyone from entering, but this was maybe not the case as I followed him soon after.
He only stopped on the 4th one. I went for an attack, but he was faster and used his Kamui to teleport away.
I looked at the panda sitting on a stone and recognized the panda as Yin-Yin.
"Welcome to the Ten Magnificent Barriers. Hello Naruto and the rest. I congratulate you on passing the first 3 barriers with no difficulties, though they aren't that strong when compared to you all. Still, to get through my barrier you have to throw a jutsu at the barrier with a power of an S-rank."
Then she looked at Madara, and a clone of her appeared before him.
"I should mention this, but cheating by using Kamui or any other space-time Ninjutus to enter is not tolerated. We have an anti-cheat system for bratty Uchiha's installed that prevents unfair advantages. However, as you are competing in his event, I am forced to tell you the way to get past it. You have to use an S-rank Ninjutsu against the barrier," Yin Yin explained casually.
"Shinra Tensei!" 'Madara' called out the Deva Paths ability, and the barrier cracked, living a human-sized area open.
The masked man didn't waste any time running through.
I was about to follow behind, but the barrier closed right when he entered. It was as if there was no hole.
"No cheating, remember? You can't use somebody else's jutsu to enter. Please progress to use your own jutsu or stay here for as long as you want."
All 3 of us passed before we continued towards the fifth barrier where a panda I didn't recognize was standing upright.
Unlike the other pandas I have seen, this one was at a height similar to Guy-sensei, but what made him stand out was how buff he was.
Madara had passed, so we couldn't slacker off. That's when the panda posed and his muscles bulged out even more.
"Hmmm, I am Bulgo. If you want to pass, show me your muscles. I'll rate them from 0 to 10. All who are above 7 pass the test."
Ok, weird condition, but anyway.
Guy-sensei was the first to pose before the panda, showing off his muscles. The panda jumped down from his rock and came closer to Guy before making the same pose. They switched before the panda nodded and gave Guy a thumbs up. How the panda could see his muscles while wearing his jonin jacket and green spandex, was beyond me.
To my annoyance, I had to do the same. Thankfully, the ninja lifestyle force one to train the body to a level where muscles were prominent.
General POV
While Naruto and the rest were posing to get past the barrier, Ishizu got control over the Bijuus and the Gedo Mazo. He quickly cut the connection between the two abominations that were the fake One and Two-Tails. The chakra was so evil and violent that he didn't dare to put it into the Gedo Mazo, fearing it could make his efforts even harder.
After forcing the Edo Tensei to be released, Ishizu went and let the Gedo Mazo absorb the chakra from the other Bijuus while letting their bodies in place. He had no need to absorb sentinel chakra beings when he only needed their chakra and since the time with Gaara, his mastery over this increased.
It would still take time to suck out the chakra of three Bijuus, but his barriers were there for a reason. Though he sweatdropped when remembering a few of the conditions the pandas made for their barriers.
The suggestion of showing an S-rank jutsu was one of the few good ones. Not many could come forth with such a jutsu, but Bulgo's bodybuilding competition for the fifth barrier was humorous.
No wonder he didn't summon the muscle panda often. Thank god he had a conversation with the pandas that guarded the last 5 barriers or else it would be a spectacle.
