62

Chapter 61: The World is Mine

Surrounded by more than one hundred people… or White Zetsus? That was fine? Facing off with original Zetsu himself as well? Bring it on.

Throw in the man that stated that he was Madara Uchiha, and that was something of a problem. There were still people afraid of that name. And with good reason as well. There were the boogeymen of the ninja world that comprised most of Akatsuki, and then there were men like Madara Uchiha. Legends of others were based off of merely surviving being within seeing distance of a Madara Uchiha battle.

Still, this man did not exude that kind of raw presence. He felt like nothing at all. Not nothing like he was weak, but nothing as if he had no idea just what his name meant.

"Your property…" Naruto said carefully, glad that he was in Sage Mode just in case they needed some fast action, "Are you talking about the Kyuubi?"

"Among other things." Tobi said casually, and within the eyeholes of the mask he could see the twin Sharingan eyes inside, "I'll be collecting everything in the end though, don't you worry." So Zetsu's intel about the location of Naruto and Yugito was correct? That was beautiful.

"What the hell are you going to do even if you catch us?" Naruto asked carefully, "I don't think you're with Pein." He accused suddenly, much to Yugito's surprise. Why would he call out the head honcho that had them surrounded? "Unless both of you are the boss… but I don't think a 'God' would work with anyone like that."

"Pein is just a petulant child that has forgotten just who gave him his grandiose ideas and those godly eyes to begin with." Tobi said with a bit of a bite to his tone, "He is too much of a loose cannon for me to control any longer, thus I cut him loose. He will of course fail in his endeavor to change the world, but he won't quit. And perhaps he'll do enough damage to make my plans go smoother."

What exactly was his endgame? Yugito still didn't understand. This person simply could not be Madara Uchiha, and if he wasn't with Pein who had already declared his intentions with the biju, what was this man's plan? "Just what exactly do you want?"

"Peace of course. Same as any great man." Tobi admitted openly, "A world where everything will be as it should. Where all of the tailed beasts are one once again, the way that they were intended to be before the Rikudou Sennin took it apart."

"No…" Naruto heard the Kyuubi rumble inside of his head, "This man is not Madara. His chakra is dark. His Sharingan is strong. But there is still no comparison." It would never forget the real man, and this one was not him.

Tobi continued though, "And much like the Rikudou Sennin, I will become the jinchuuriki for the reformed Juubi and use its immeasurable power to project my Sharingan onto the moon and cover the world in an eternal Tsukuyomi, so that every living being on the planet will be under my control. No war, no crime. A world of infinite truth."

That was his idea of peace? Peace without free will once again, only cranked up past eleven, "Man, you came straight out of a comic strip with that one didn't you?" Naruto said. And he could see how this man's whole peace spiel got to Pein if what he said about the man's ideas were true, "You just want to rule the world." He then chuckled a bit, "It's okay if you do… I just don't like the fact that everyone acts like they have to bullshit about it and church it up."

Domination was domination. Pein wanted to be a God, this Madara person wanted everyone enslaved under his genjutsu. Either way everyone would listen to them without question ideally, so the path taken was meaningless since the end result would be roughly the same.

Tobi narrowed his eyes at Naruto behind his mask and even a few of the White Zetsus backed away a little bit more, "Excuse me?"

"You want the world." Naruto repeated, "And that's okay. But I just hate the fact that everyone thinks they have to justify themselves with everything they do so that they don't look like a villain. Who cares? You could have just said, 'I want to be able to keep the world in a Sharingan to run it like a big puppet show.' Say what you want about Orochimaru, but at least he never made any excuses about himself. He did what he wanted to do because he thought that he could, and that was all the justification he needed to others. There's no such thing as a hero or a villain, so why waste your time trying to act like one or the other?"

Surprisingly, Tobi nodded in agreement, "You're right, but you're also wrong. I don't care what you or anyone else thinks of me. Nagato is like a petulant child, getting caught up in his own whimsy with his status as 'God'. Don't compare us because I don't want to be God. I don't want to be anyone or anything. All I care about is completing the Moon's Eye Plan."

The Moon's Eye Plan?

Tobi began walking amongst his White Zetsu soldiers, "You see, my plans have been mucked up so many times, by your father and by you as well Naruto, that I've got contingency plan after contingency plan set in place in case another one fails. You were the straw that broke the camel's back and made Nagato go off the reservation. You killed Sasuke and sent Itachi into a downward spiral, effectively ruining my plan to synch a user of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan with the statue that will contain all of the biju. You've stopped us from capturing the Nibi and you've killed the majority of Akatsuki in battle even at the cost of your eye."

'Not a hero huh?' Yugito thought glibly to herself, shooting a quick look at Naruto's back before all of Tobi's words settled in with her, "Wait, Naruto's got both eyes."

"One isn't his. One belongs to Shisui Uchiha." Tobi said, taking glee in exposing something that Naruto had clearly been keeping as close to the vest as possible while glaring heatedly at Naruto, "Disguise it all you want to. Like I said; you have more of my property than just the Kyuubi. I want the power of that Sharingan eye."

A bit of a rage built up in Naruto at this nameless, faceless interloper exposing something secret, "You want my Sharingan power right?" He said before making hand-seals and moving one hand up to the seal tattoo on his other arm, "Fuuka Houin: Kai (Fire Sealing Method: Release)!" He grabbed Yugito with his arm that wasn't drenched in cold, dark flames and began to spin around rapidly, creating a storm around himself, "Senpou: Ankoku Senpuu (Sage Art: Dark Whirlwind)!"

The storm became a firestorm, heated with the flames of Amaterasu from within Naruto's left arm.

Tobi and Zetsu evaded with their respective techniques meant to protect them, but the majority of the Zetsu clones were sprayed with unquenchable black flames that spread as they panicked and started running, causing those that hadn't been set on fire to suffer from the Amaterasu burns as well.

Who knew that men based on cells of plants were extremely flammable?

Naruto settled down from his self-created storm and let go of Yugito who was rather dizzy in her biju-fueled state. Quite a sight watching her regain her bearings actually, but quickly enough she did just that, seemingly prepared to fight again, albeit with a slight glare sent Naruto's way.

"You think taking down a battalion means anything to me?" Tobi asked as he appeared from an apparent swirl in reality, "Despite the fact that I don't have the power needed to create the maximum amount that I can of the White Zetsu clones, I have more than enough to accomplish any objective I see fit."

"Bring as many as you want then." Naruto said, dropping the seal that disguised his implanted Sharingan eye from view. Yugito let out a gasp at the sight of it, even in its slightly mutated form due to Sage Mode, "You aren't taking another jinchuuriki, you aren't sealing away another damn biju. I don't care if you and Pein are having a little lover's spat, you're both dead men all the same."

With that, he lunged at Tobi and actually kept pace with him, but when he poised a Rasengan in one hand to punch into his foe, he simply passed straight through Tobi as if he were a ghost. What the hell was that? He became intangible.

His senses in Sage Mode allowed him to dodge a swing of Tobi's war fan that he then placed on his back when Naruto smartly got out of range so that he could figure out what the hell that had been.

Tobi just glared at Naruto. He had sent the real Zetsu away as he couldn't risk losing his eyes around the world in his greatest spy due to a violent outburst from a jinchuuriki. He had lost enough valuable commodities in the members of Akatsuki due to missteps and various misfortunes all across the board, 'That sword…' The hilt of that sword had knocked against his body and the fan on his back when Naruto passed through him, 'Did he notice? Damn his bothersome clan…'

The Uzumaki Clan that had such close marital ties to Hashirama Senju, the Shodai Hokage of Konoha.

It always came back to Konoha.

Konoha.

Konoha.

Konoha.

Ever right from the beginning of his plans, who was it that cut off his first strong attempt to take the things that he wanted? The Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze and his wife Kushina Uzumaki.

Who was it that circumvented his getting revenge on Konoha and the Uchiha Clan by plunging them into bloody civil war? The elite ANBU captain Itachi Uchiha and his selfless act of patrotism.

Who tore apart Akatsuki and killed the most easy to manipulate path of obtaining a sacrifice with Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan in Sasuke Uchiha? Naruto Uzumaki. And to add salt into the wound it simultaneously drove Itachi past the brink, making him impossible to rein in any longer. Even with that there had been an opportunity to turn Itachi into his finest apprentice, but before Tobi could even begin the manipulation to set that in motion what happened? Danzo Shimura of Konoha's Root wound up doing battle with Itachi and taking him with him in death. And Kisame died as well!

It was always Konoha.

Tobi had been patient. He had waited, schemed, planned, made backup plans, took his defeats and licked his wounds to come back another day. But no matter how large his successes elsewhere, when it came back to that damnable village and their Will of Fire they always somehow threw a wrench in anything he had set forth.

Enough was enough, "Uzumaki." He said with a cold calm tone that promised nothing good, "I will tell you now that there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop me. You very well may kill Pein off the way you've said, but I am a different breed. Mark my words boy and mark them well. I have survived your predecessors, your parents, your masters, and no matter what I will survive you as well."

"I'm not afraid to die, even if you did have the balls to fight me yourself." Naruto stated firmly, "If you think being a rat and hiding in the dark for decades is going to work this time… you obviously don't know what makes Root who we are."

No. Tobi was hiding from the world no longer. Now when he was closer than ever before to achieving everything he desired, he was not going to go back to square one and start from scratch yet again.

"I am smarter than you." Tobi began to say, his fists tightening brutally at his sides, "I am more prepared for any and all occurrences that you and yours are capable of. I'll break your spirit, I'll destroy everything you've believed that your little bubble of protection has encircled, and when you've hit rock bottom, I've taken everything from you and made you watch it all… when I've stripped the biju from every last jinchuuriki and you've been saved for last I'll make sure your spirit is broken, I'll make sure you know that it was me… and then I will drain your biju and your very soul from your body through your mouth."

Activating the seal on his arm, Naruto absorbed the Amaterasu flames littering the field safely back into his left arm and flexed it out as he glared at Tobi, "If you're so confident why run away? Fight me now."

At that, Tobi just started laughing deeply. Laughing as if it was all just one big joke, "No. No, no, no, no. I don't think you heard me Naruto. You do not dictate any of this. You do not get to decide when or if this ever ends. This is all up to me. So have your little war. Gain your personal glory. Take what you believe will be your steps toward becoming the Hokage of Danzo's dreams. I just hope that when everything is over and you tally up the score, if you're alive to do it that is, that you can say that you gained more than you lost."

"Katon: Reizau Hari (Fire Release: Laser Beam)!"

A thin red high-speed laser pierced straight through Tobi's body, right through the heart, as he let out a cry of pain and stumbled back. Naruto turned to Yugito who had her mouth open from firing the shot, "I was sick of hearing him talk. It's a good thing he had tunnel vision on you so I could shut him up."

Tobi continued to gasp in pain until he lowered his hands from where Yugito shot him to reveal that he had no wound on his person at all. Once again he started laughing at the fact that he had managed to make Yugito believe that she had harmed him.

"Not a mark on me." Tobi said, "You'll have to work a bit harder than that if you want to even scratch my mask pussy cat." He taunted before getting caught in a swirl vortex that teleported him away, his laughter echoing out all the while.

'So that teleporting thing was the real deal after all.' Naruto thought to himself with a frown. Turning to his side he saw Yugito calming down and reverting back to normal from her drawing upon Matatabi's chakra, "You okay Yugi-chan?"

"I'm fine." Yugito grumbled. How did her jutsu pass right through him? It was like he was a ghost, but he was right there. She knew he was. He had never substituted himself of any cop out kind of crap like that. She hit him dead-on with her fastest and most focused attack and it did nothing, "Who was that guy?"

The coward. He was all set to come out and run his mouth like he had them in check when he had them surrounded, but the second it seemed like there was going to be an actual fight, and his little army was as effective as dry tinder against opponents that could actually stand up to them face-to-face he left with the greatest of haste, even if they couldn't hit him.

Tobi didn't seem like the type to stand and fight if he didn't need to though.

"He was nobody." Naruto said lowly. He spared one glance at the now quiet battlefield that was littered with the ash from dead White Zetsu clones and let out a sigh, "Come on. We need to keep going to get you home. Who knows how many more of those stupid things are raising hell in other Kumo camps."

Naruto never made promises to himself or to anyone else. Promises made you and others die in the end. But this time before he killed that bastard, whoever he was, Naruto promised himself that he was going to rip that mask clean off of his face even if he had to pull his head off with it.

Still, his sword had hit Tobi when his hands and chakra had not. Due to his sensitivity to everything around him in Sage Mode, Naruto was able to clearly feel when his sword had hit even in the state that his enemy had been in, 'Did I imagine that or was it the real deal?'

The great chakra beast within him that drew the chakra from nature needed for Sage Mode grinned with its big white teeth from the mental landscape inside, "Senju… you magnificent bastard. I understand what that sword is really meant to do."

'What?'

"I'll tell you later boy. Now look alive. Matatabi's host is waiting on you."

Touching at the hilt that still had some residual vibration, Naruto looked over at Yugito who seemed to be amazed and confused at the fact that there was a Sharingan eye sitting in his right eye socket. Activating the lens back now wasn't going to make that conversation go away. Oh man. What was he going to say about this one?

XxX

(Amegakure no Sato – Pein's Tower)

The war was going poorly all things considered. Though Suna wasn't an offensive factor in the battles they hadn't been conquered or defeated either. They were crippled, but not out of it.

Konoha was stretched thin fighting a war on two fronts as well as reinforcing Suna just in case they were attacked again, but they were rolling the enemy back and closing in on Kusagakure and they had smashed through the defenses of the C.N.F. in Shimo no Kuni.

The western portion of the federation, his portion, they were staying strong despite the failed march on Suna because of Pein's presence as the overall leader. Not to mention the fact that other than the one battle they were not losing the war decisively the way it seemed to be everywhere else.

The only positive for certain that could be taken as something going their way was the fact that Kiri was still unable to make a landing on the mainland for whatever reason. That and Iwagakure saw fit to stay out of absolutely everything for the time being; avoiding supporting one side or the other and remaining neutral.

So Suna could not attack due to their situation, Kiri had not entered into the war in earnest due to whatever maritime purposes prevented them from doing so, Kumo was muddled in a quagmire of a conflict dealing with a focus of all the smaller villages they had bullied over the past few decades in their region while building up their military power, and Konoha was stretched too thin to focus an attack at heavily fortified Amegakure despite the fact that they were doing serviceably well in the field.

"All alone again." The emaciated and red-haired Nagato said from his chair inside of his room, "I'm all alone again Konan." He said as the rain poured down outside. This time it wasn't Ame's climate doing so. It was Nagato, or 'Pein', doing it himself to make sure no outsiders were inside of his village. There would be no spies in this wartime, "I amassed the strongest group of shinobi in the entire land to help me bring about my world of peace, and now what? Due to Tobi's treachery it's down to you and I again, while he flitters about setting fires who knows where."

In all honesty the two had been in the silence of each other's presence for hours before Nagato had spoken up. There wasn't any need to say anything, "Nagato…" Konan uttered quietly.

"I'm at war with the world." Nagato continued pitifully, turning his head to look outside at the high view of the village. The reconstruction being done was being done for war. Buildings were being, "If Yahiko were here he'd…" He started to say before trailing off, "It doesn't matter anymore. You are the only person that I can count on."

Nodding in the dimly lit room, Konan's face gave a small and almost unnoticeable smile in return, "Of course." No matter how she felt about the war in general, Nagato was literally the only thing that she had.

She had been hoping that she possessed the ability to talk him down, to put an end to this before it got too big to stop. That all changed dramatically when he actually committed Amegakure to moving on Suna; officially marking that moment as the point of no return.

For the majority of her life she had learned how to exploit weakness. Weakness of all sorts; including things like fear, greed, pride, all of these things and more to get people to do what she needed them to do for her friends and loved ones. And as she watched those dwindle down to just one she found that nothing she had learned to help in this action would work out in this regard, and the reason for that was simple.

Nagato truly believed everything that he told the people around him. He was not lying when he considered himself a deity due to his Rinnegan, that was how he felt. He was not lying when he assured everyone in Amegakure that they would be the chosen that showed the world the way when his plans finally came to fruition. These were the things that he believed in from the second he woke up in the morning until the very moment that his eyes closed at night.

The reason that there had never been anything Konan could do to dissuade Nagato was because when you were dealing with true believers, none of those previously mentioned weaknesses are there. All you can do is either help or get out of the way.

And Konan had made her decision that even if it went against what she felt her original morals were, even if they were in the wrong, even if they eventually brought the world to ruin in trying to save it, she would stand by Nagato.

For the simple reason that he was all that she had left, and she would take her own life a thousand times over before she ever let him die alone. She would stay by his side and they would win, even if they were wrong. And even if they were in the wrong, did it really matter when they were the ones that were the victors?

No. Because 'right' and 'wrong' were determined by who was left to tell the story afterwards.

"What do you need of me Nagato?" Konan asked resolutely.

For the first time in quite a long while, Nagato actually smiled. It was a smile that would never be seen by anyone other than the closest of the people to him, which narrowed down the number of people that would see it to Konan and no one else.

The woman really was an angel. His angel at least. And since he was God it made him the same thing. At any and all costs he could not lose Konan. This was why he kept her from participating in active battles during the war. This was also why he had never dispatched her beyond the limits of his view to collect a jinchuuriki; because if Konan had been lost in any way he himself would have no inkling of what he would do.

"I need you to scout out Hi no Kuni." Nagato told Konan who was listening intently, "Defensive capabilities have been underestimated in the past during the invasion of Suna, thus when I plan the attack on Konoha this time I need the entire story. I need to know how complete their defenses are down to the last detail. It is of the utmost importance. Meanwhile I will send out the next orders to other villages. Kusa must hold out for as long as possible."

Konan nodded with a serious look on her face, "Whatever you need of me Nagato." Things were too far along to stop now. It was time to bring things back to basics, just a bit larger in scale. She would protect Amegakure and bring it peace by first waging war, "

The man was not God. Not to Konan. But that was what made it more important than ever that she stuck by him.

XxX

(Some Time Later – Konohagakure no Sato)

Tsunade couldn't help the smile that pulled at her lips as she read the message from Takigakure. Negotiations. That was one heavy-hitter down. They had already pulled their forces away from the defense of Kusa's territories and left a big gaping hole in the defense strategies of the western C.N.F.

They didn't have the will or the resources to fight Konoha any longer… because even though they didn't list it they were missing their secret weapon of the Hero Water and even though they hadn't written it their village had been torn asunder from within before their mystery attackers withdrew.

Without the ace in the hole of their water or their jinchuuriki they felt naked. Any confidence they had in their defenses got spat on when their village was set ablaze, several high ranking shinobi were killed, and their village leader was killed along with them right in the most sacred place in the entire village.

If a small unidentified squad could do that, what would the actual army do once they finished up in Kusa and turned their attentions back to them.

Damn it, she hated to say it because of what Danzo had stood for throughout most of her dealings with him prior to her return to Konoha, but Root was incredible. She still had most of the regular ANBU committed to important duties running select missions out on the battlefront behind enemy lines to assist the main army.

But Root did things dirty. They went for the throat. Along with that, and their apparent fearlessness to do any mission they saw fit to benefit Konoha they were willing as had already been shown to strike at the heart of the enemy in the most dangerous places. Doing it themselves so that Tsunade didn't have to utilize any vital ANBU squads and risk losing them over something so insane.

It was a load off of her mind, but she still had to be wary. They had done their work so that they would never have to report on a thing. The only reason Tsunade knew that they had gone at all was because the results of their work had been blatant. She had given them the go-ahead to do as they pleased, and they wasted no time whatsoever.

Perhaps now she could see why her sensei Hiruzen kept Danzo around when it was clear that he still had Root after he had ordered it to be disbanded?

He did it because things still got done and he had plausible deniability. Not that it mattered while they were at war. Almost anything was justifiable these days. But that would be something supremely useful in times of peace.

'Hmm…' Tsunade thought to herself as she set Takigakure's message aside to think. She'd strong-arm them using her grandfather's name to guilt-trip the hell out of them and scare them as well, and then she'd let them sweat it out on the vine a bit while they sacked Kusa. That would merely take days at this point.

Was it possible to underestimate the strongest villages in the world? It seemed like it was.

Too bad for them there were certain portions of Konoha's system that didn't come off as weak on the surface as the rest of the village did with their overall philosophy. Because the thing about their whole Will of Fire concept that most people abroad didn't seem to grasp until it was too late was the fact that the most important aspect of fire was that it burned.

XxX

(With Naruto – Kumogakure no Sato)

"WHAT?"

From the office of the Raikage, an entire desk was hurled and smashed right through the wall, flying through the air over the heads of many of the villagers into the distance. A was in a rather foul mood when Yugito reported back and she and Naruto told him what they needed to.

At first he was in a fantastic mood, and had preparations immediately made for his assistant Mabui to send word to the army getting cut apart with the tunnel guerilla tactics in Shimo no Kuni, but then he received word of an entire company being taken down in battle, that went along with another report of something similar from the week prior, marking it as the second company to be destroyed in two weeks.

"White Zetsus?" A growled to himself, sitting in his chair that no longer had a desk in front of it, "Clones that can perform perfect transformations right down to the chakra…" An artificial army. Where was the pride? It was simply a sign that the end was near it seemed, "…The days that one can rely on an army of ninjas that one can merely spawn ready to do battle… then we're all obsolete and useless. Damn Madara Uchiha… he isn't a part of the war so what is his game?"

It was time to get the word out to his forces, to find some sort of system to routinely identify who was truly a Kumo ninja. A squad of the White Zetsus must have somehow gotten the chakra signatures of his troops on a mission and slipped back into the camps in their places.

This could never be allowed to happen again.

Naruto, Yugito, and Mabui stood in front of the Raikage while behind them at the far wall the hole from where A's desk had been thrown was prevalent. They were all ignoring it though, "Sorry that you had to see that." Mabui said quietly to Naruto, "It doesn't happen that often." That was code for, 'It happens all the time, don't think too badly of us.' Someone had to save face for the Raikage, why not his assistant?

He just waved off the concern and attempt to save face. If seeing someone destroy furniture and office infrastructure made him uneasy about someone's right to be a Kage he'd probably have been questioning Tsunade's aptitude based on that from the jump of her reign due to the amount of money that had been spent on replacement desks, chairs, etc.

Yugito's focus was on her village leader though, "Matatabi and Naruto-kun's Kyuubi say that this man doesn't feel like the real Madara Uchiha. They feel something, but if it was the real deal I truly doubt he would have run away from us Raikage-sama."

Madara Uchiha was infamous for his enjoyment of battle and showing his skills. He was also not the type to dally. If that man knew that he could beat both Naruto and Yugito (which the real one could have, without a doubt) he wouldn't have wasted a moment.

The name in of itself was a sort of weapon. And for someone that claimed that they didn't want to be anyone, why not take the name of one of the most famous ninjas in history to achieve his own ends?

"I'll commit a force to searching for and hunting this man." The Raikage declared, moving to pound his fist on his desk that was no longer there. Mabui gave him a deadpan look when he got up and ran over to a punching bag that he destroyed with one hit instead, "For now we move through Shimo no Kuni and stamp out the fighting there!"

Mabui turned back to Naruto to give a bit more detail into what was expected, "With Konoha having broken through and with the information you've given us that will allow us to do the same we can finish up the battle southwest of here together. From there we can commit forces to help you fight on the western side of your country against Amegakure's led forces and Pein."

"First Sanshouo no Hanzo and now this Pein character…" A said as he walked back to his desk and retook his seat, "Amegakure seems to have a habit of producing troublingly powerful shinobi don't they? I think I liked Hanzo more though… I can't say I'm much of a fan of mass murder."

Despite taking a vicious beatdown the first time around, Naruto was not afraid of Pein in the least, Rinnegan or not. His entire demeanor simply rubbed him the wrong way. He seemed like too much 'woe is me'. More so than anyone else Naruto had ever met. So much so that he had to… teach the world his pain? Teach them all true pain?

Give him a break.

"Strong or not he's weak somewhere else." Naruto said with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face as he thought back to his one meeting with the man, his village, and the actions that had been taken since then, "What kind of man goes and calls himself a God and feels secure in starting a world war? Usually it's someone who feels so sorry for himself that they'll feel justified doing anything. Megalomaniacs are basically just big, whiny losers." It didn't make them any less dangerous though.

A gave Naruto a look of interest while Mabui and Yugito looked surprised at the scathing statement. That kid really didn't like Pein at all. Either he was still sore from the asskicking that the Ame leader gave him, or it was something deeper. The aforementioned asskicking probably didn't help though.

Be that as it may, Naruto's mission was done, "The job done getting Yugito home safely is much appreciated Uzumaki." A said gruffly as some of the Kumo ninjas stationed at home for duties there came in and set down a new desk in place of the one that A had sent flying. The Raikage merely acted as if it was business as usual, "The problem now lies with how to get you back to your village safely in return. You are free to stay here much in the same capacity that Yugito did in Konoha."

Now that sounded good to Yugito. To have Naruto stay with her and indulge in her hospitality until she was slated to go out into the field and join the battle. That hospitality probably wouldn't wind up with them leaving her home until that point, but it would have been just alright with her. She'd have made it be just alright with him too.

Naruto's mind quickly fell to a similar state of thinking for a moment, 'Tsunade-baachan did say that I needed to take some kind of downtime…' But still, no. He couldn't do that, even if it would have been quite a vacation to have. His godfather, his comrades in Root, and the friends that he had fought with for years were all working without rest. Hell, he was supposed to be some kind of stamina-freak super soldier. Well with great expectations… "That sounds great. But still, I've got to go home. Kumo needed Yugi-chan here, and I can't just sit up here while everyone from home is fighting."

Still, getting back through Shimo no Kuni now that the war had undoubtedly opened up wide in that theater of operations was going to be a problem in of itself.

A's powerful hands slammed down on the desk with a resounding crash. Those things had to be built sturdy for the imposing powerhouse of a Raikage, so they had to at least be able to stand up to outbursts as 'weak' as that, "It's decided then! We'll have an escort take you back."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, as did Yugito, while Mabui sheepishly scratched her cheek, "That's okay, I can just skywalk back."

"I insist on it." A said in a tone that left no room for argument. The Raikage was a stubborn, headstrong man with the power to back it up, "Head south and we can sail you around the islands that block the mainland. We won't be attacked from shore that way, and we can drop you in Yu no Kuni, far closer to your home in Konoha-held territory."

It would be easier now that the chunk of land that separated the two powerful hidden villages was now being overrun by both of them. The northeastern C.N.F. wasn't going to be able to stop ships from shore if they were too busy worrying about getting their heads lopped off on the ground.

Actually that sounded pretty sweet. All of that running, running, and running got old. Even if he used his perfected Burst Limit in Sage Mode to just run on the skies to get home, he'd be exhausted upon doing so. In no condition to take another S-rank mission once he returned without some rest. At least this way he could rest on the boat ride and run back to Konoha normally when it landed, leaving him in good enough condition to set out again immediately right after.

"Alright Raikage-sama." Naruto said with a good-natured smile on his face, "I accept."

XxX

(Yu no Kuni – Near the Border of Ta no Kuni)

Jiraiya hoped that Naruto had gotten past the difficulties of the country and had stayed far ahead enough of the battle to safely travel to Kumogakure, but since he had heard no word from any advance teams still driving deeper into the heart of the territory he figured that his godson was fine.

Within the week Konoha would reach Shimogakure itself and hope to knock them right out of the war.

Heh, he still had it. In the west, Konoha had broken out across the Tenshi Bridge days before he had and they were still fighting through that weird land setup. He'd wind up doing mop-up duty in this region before they managed to force Taki or Kusa to surrender first.

Yet another reason why Jiraiya was the self-professed greatest and most shining example of manhood in the entire world. He needed to teach a damn special course in the Academy meant only for the young men. He'd call it something like: Being Awesome 101 (a.k.a. Remedial Badass), or something like that.

Delusions of grandeur aside, Jiraiya actually had a problem at hand.

Not with the advance because that was going smoothly. When the tunnels were rendered useless, no one could retreat fast enough to cause a delay in Konoha's assault with a defensive stand. None of Konoha's forces were getting bogged down anywhere, and the C.N.F. couldn't run away fast enough to defend. With Kumo slowly advancing as well with their large war machine the plan was simple.

Kumo would take down Hoshigakure and focus their attention back to the northern section of Kaminari no Kuni where they were being pestered by some of the smaller sections of ninja society that saw the war as a chance to take their shots at the lumbering military juggernaut that was Kumo.

On the other hand, with Kumo stopping the powerhouse Hoshi ninja, Konoha would continue to clean up the rest of the country after finishing off Shimogakure which was the major conspirator of this region.

The problem wasn't in the plan itself or how they were going about getting to work on it. The problem was that the rear line for Konoha was being arbitrarily pestered. This had been a problem even when they had been locked in a stalemate at the border of Shimo. But it was still happening.

Otogakure wasn't in the war, but they wanted to get their pound of flesh it seemed, and they were taking it guerilla-style.

He handed off control of the division to Shikaku Nara temporarily in order to take a select few with him and backtrack. Further back than the rear line. Back beyond where they had initially been stopped and into Ta no Kuni, the notorious main stomping grounds of Oto.

It was probably for the best anyway. He really wasn't any kind of jounin commander. He was simply perceived as being the man that headed that division up due to his experience and his name notoriety. While he wasn't bad at it, Shikaku was better equipped for directing large forces than him. Just leave the direct battlefield action and coordination from there to him, he was best in the field taking things into his own hands.

Of course he had brought help as well. A young man with a nose that belonged to the best tracking clan in Konoha, another stoic young man with a shrewd analytical mind and versatile insects at his command, and a young woman with 'all-seeing eyes'… and a figure that was quite pleasant for Jiraiya.

At least if the trip was a red herring he'd have that little cutie to look at on the way back.

Team 8 seemed completely stunned when Jiraiya asked for them by name and pulled them from the front lines to work with them. They didn't know he was even aware of who they were. Needless to say, Kiba's ego swelled greatly.

"So whose ass do you need us specifically to kick?" Kiba asked and Akamaru barked in agreement as they moved through the trees in Oto country.

The boisterous exuberance from the ninken-controlling ninja didn't put Jiraiya off at all. He liked that kind of thing, "I'm sure you've heard about the attacks coming from behind the front lines. About how supply lines are being hit by attacks from Oto. Well let's just say we're going to be scouting out exactly where they're coming from."

"We're going to be fighting a war against Otogakure as well?" Hinata asked uneasily. She was just starting to feel a bit better since the war in Shimo no Kuni had finally started going well. Now there were even more enemies to fight?

"Well they seem to want to pick a fight." Jiraiya said, turning to wink reassuringly at the young teen girl, "I can't just let them keep picking away at the people that I'm responsible for and let them get away with it. Don't worry honey, I wouldn't have selected you for this if I didn't think you were capable of handling it."

That was enough to settle Hinata's nerves. This man was the sensei of the Yondaime Hokage and of Naruto. If he felt secure in bringing them along to assist him it was fine and she had to believe in such. Now was not the time to be tentative. One had to be decisive in such times of turmoil.

Kurenai wasn't there. She was back in Konoha with the child that she and Asuma had brought into the world. That meant that Hinata had to be doubly strong and show that she could be relied upon just like her other two teammates.

The people that kept being ambushed needed her to be at her best as well.

"Of course we can handle it!" Kiba continued to spout off at the mouth, "Just make sure you get a good look in case something happens. You're going to want to train me as your next apprentice, I guarantee it. It'd be fitting too since I'm gonna be Hokage one day."

A bark of laughter came from Jiraiya in return, "Nice spirit kid, but I'm officially retired from training future Hokage. One was enough, the second one I trained that's going to be Hokage took a few years off of my life and wound up with me losing my arm. I don't think I'll even live long enough to finish training the next one."

"That is highly unlikely Jiraiya-sama." Shino said in his usual stoic way, "Why? It is of course because your age is not as advanced as your speech would imply. Missing arm or not you are still on the level of the Hokage in terms of combat capability."

"And don't you kids forget it." Jiraiya finished for Shino before launching into a tangent, "I know how you young guns are; looking for the big break to shoot yourselves into legend. I ain't a notch in anyone's belt. If you brats are ever feeling salty the almighty Jiraiya-sama will be your tequila. Just go ahead and sprinkle some salt on your hand, take a lick, and take a shot of Jiraiya, but don't get drunk or else you'll wind up with my foot in your ass and my fist in your mouth!"

All of Team 8 just looked at Jiraiya strangely before Shino spoke up again, "…I'm not sure what you just said, but I'm quite sure that you meant it."

"Whatever…" Kiba said before sniffing at the air again, "I've still got Gennai's scent." One of the people taken in one of the raids on the supply lines, Kiba already knew of him quite well, having worked with him some in the past, and had gotten his scent from the belongings he had left at camp for what was supposed to be a short mission. Like more than a few others, he never returned due to his capture.

With a nod, Jiraiya motioned forward for Kiba to lead the team along with Akamaru. They'd find the current location of the Oto interlopers and then he'd commit a strike force to take the bastards down.

XxX

(Hidden Otogakure Base – Ta no Kuni)

"Just about ready." Kabuto said to himself in a gleeful voice as he walked through the dark halls of his underground facility.

It was a voice filled with self-satisfying sentiment, of hard work well done, of something worth the effort being put into it. In his opinion it was of course well-deserved. He had taken the most forbidden of secret techniques to its absolute pinnacle… and he still wasn't done with it yet. He still had one more grand move left to make.

It was said that the meek would inherit the Earth. That was wholly inaccurate. The Earth would always be passed down to who was left, simple as that. So in order to have the world, one only needed the ambition and intelligence to take it, keep it, and control it to your liking.

Most importantly in order to truly have the world one required a body that insured that you would never have to give it up.

Orochimaru was ahead of the curve when it came to that mindset, though his desire for wishing to be immortal was much smaller.

"I think I should give this a final test run… to see just how complete the jutsu is before I begin my final plan." Kabuto said as he entered a block of the base that contained tightly bound and sedated prisoners. Due to his medical expertise, he was able to keep them in a state that was very easy for him to do what he needed.

It was a good thing too, because the vast majority of these prisoners had been Konoha ninjas snatched right off of the roads on their way to the front lines. That tended to make for rather testy and disagreeable prisoners, and Kabuto was not a fan of that.

Besides, he needed copious amounts of bodies for his experimentation.

In the middle of the floor in the facility sat a completely immobile Konoha ninja, showing that he had recently been captured in a struggle due to the scrapes and wounds on his person. That was meaningless now though. He was just supposed to be a medium.

Blood of some sort was smeared on a special scroll that Kabuto set down on the floor and a large seal array spread out underneath the captured ninja. Though he couldn't move his eyes were filled with fear as to his fate, and it only increased further when he heard Kabuto utter the name of the jutsu he planned on using, as if it was some cruel way to get his kicks off of reading the expressions on his dulled victims.

"Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei (Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation)."

Ash began to cover the poor hapless ninja's body and enough awareness returned to allow him to scream in outright pain and horror as the life of another was brought back to the realm of the living at the cost of his own. All of the prisoners bore witness to this for the first time, as Kabuto usually had a prisoner moved to his personal lab before testing the jutsu on them.

Kabuto just chuckled smugly to himself as the assimilation took place and the yells died down. He allowed the newly restored ninja of his choice's body time to settle down. As he walked forward and planted the control talisman in the summoned soul's head he felt as if something of a score had been settled.

The grey and cracked skin of the decayed body's appearance began to gain life again and the person seemed to awaken from a slumber, "…What am I-? Kabuto?"

"Stand up." Kabuto ordered and his eyes twinkled in dark mirth as the soul under his control did just that. It felt almost ironic, "You should have killed me instead of thinking I was too pathetic to waste the effort on after you ended Orochimaru-sama's life. And to think… with all of that effort you put out to kill him you still wound up under the control of someone 'beneath you.'"

Standing in front of Kabuto, with a hateful glare on his face despite the fact that he could do nothing about his situation was Sasuke Uchiha, "You bottom-feeder." He seethed in anger as his Sharingan subconsciously turned on.

"Ooh, and your Sharingan is still in perfect condition." Kabuto said, "That's just perfect for what I plan on doing with this jutsu. Now I believe some curious folks from your home are on the way to try and discover the fate of their comrades that I captured. Greet them accordingly, would you?"

XxX

(Waterways South of Kaminari no Kuni)

Ever a Kage true to his word, A provided a small transport ship to get Naruto to the peninsula tip of Yu no Kuni where he could get himself home to Konoha at a quicker pace. And he had a crew doing all of the work, allowing Naruto to simply get to the crux of something he needed to approach.

Sitting on the deck of the ship in the sunlight and the sea air, Naruto held up his heirloom sword that he had been using for over two years. He had still yet to crack the secrets of the sealing arrays inscribed on it, and even Hamako had trouble with most of it. He knew some things, like how it was created under Hashirama's orders as a gift to Uzushiogakure; a weapon that could somehow use ying-yang chakra due to having Madara Uchiha's chakra sealed within it. It could even cut into time and space, but Naruto had no idea how to do that yet.

'Okay Kyuubi.' Naruto thought instead of speaking aloud so that he didn't seem crazed. He didn't take into account that the people there were used to nutso jinchuuriki like Kirabi, but he didn't live in Kumo either, 'Time to give me some food for thought here. What do you figure about the sword?'

"Your sword cuts time and space when you channel chakra into it, you just can't see the tears. You've been trying to find out how to jump through the tears, but that is impossible. It closes far too quickly. Even if you could see them you would be unable to get through them. You aren't fast enough, and the only reason you can see them is because of your Sharingan eye."

'I was thinking more along the lines of you telling me stuff that I didn't know instead of you cutting me down verbally.' Naruto thought with a dry expression on his face, 'I know you get your kicks off of that kind of thing, but save that for our downtime.'

"You don't take downtime." Kyuubi pointed out with a perturbed gruff. It liked being just as lazy as many humans seemed to enjoy, but since the war started Naruto had been working his ass off, either in training to be ready or since his missions started in life and death battles on said assignments, "Now shut your lips and learn. Instead of focusing on what you can do, focus on what you see with that detestable eye of yours when you swing the blade."

He saw a distortion in the air.

"Now what did you see when the Madara impersonator used his jutsu for space and time?" Kyuubi already knew. Since learning senjutsu through Naruto it got an even wider range of senses for the things that Naruto did. It could even see through Naruto's eyes and feel what he felt whenever he was in Sage Mode. It could tell Naruto flat out, but it was more fun to watchi squirm and figure it out, "You saw it when you passed right through his body as well. I know, because you saw it in slow motion and got an eyeful."

It wasn't like there was much figuring to do when Naruto knew full when what the Kyuubi was alluding to, "The air warped like when I swing the sword!" Just bigger because it had to work for the size of an entire human body. His outburst got some attention, but not too much, "Are you telling me-?"

"And he gets it. And your prize for deducing the clues will be…"

'Cutting that fuck down to size when I see him again.'

"He screwed your family by making them sacrifice themselves for your village, he screwed you on the day you were born by setting me with you and marking you as a target for the rest of your life. Most importantly he screwed me as well by using me for his plot and continuing to try and do so. You had better kill him painfully."

'I'm sure getting cut to shreds with the Sen'nenki no Ken's transformed state is going to be painful enough.' Naruto thought, pulling enough of the sword free from the sheath to look at some of the seals engraved on the steel of the weapon, 'Why was this thing made the way it is? I don't understand what the Shodai forged this to do.' It couldn't have just been a gift. Gifts looked nice. Gifts didn't distort time and space with every swing.

Damn ancestors and their damn secrets. Hamako was good when it came to fuuinjutsu, but she didn't know much else about secret Uzushiogakure things. Could a few of them be alive so that he could pick someone's brain for all of this stuff?

XxX

(Elsewhere at Sea)

Karin sharply turned in a direction after a chakra signature came to her immediate attention. Thinking of the person behind it made her seethe in rage at the thought of what they had done to her beloved Sasuke, "Uzumaki…" Without wasting any time she stomped toward the pirate captain Gataro who was manning the helm and turned him around before pointing in the direction that she felt her most hated enemy in, "Go that way… right now."

"That's not even the direction of Kiri woman." Gataro responded saltily, "You wanna break the blockade? Your heavy-hitting buddies are the main reason it's held so easily."

"I. Don't. Care." Karin said. While Madara (Tobi) had given them the orders and had granted Suigetsu with Kubikiribouchou in return for their cooperation, she cared nothing for it in the end. That dusty old fart could say and do what he wanted, this superseded everything else to her, "Do it!"

Gataro was just a hair away from backhanding that miserable bitch the way he had been planning on doing for a month, but the same thing that always stopped him from doing so stopped him again.

"Is there a problem?" It was a kid that could turn himself into water and apparently had a thing for cutting off the limbs of his enemies in battle. Suigetsu was very unpleasant to say the least… and they were pirates, "What's up now Gataro?" He asked from directly behind Gataro, alarmingly close. He had never felt him get close.

He had never admitted to being afraid of anyone before, but he had seen Suigetsu devastate everything that had come their way at sea for a month, and he seemed to relish in every bit of it. This young man terrified him to the core, "Nothing." Gataro said, trying to diffuse the situation, "The girl wants to break the blockade to head northwest."

That was all? The look on Suigetsu's face said that he was fine with that. He didn't care a bit where they went. The training he was getting with his swords was absolutely incredible, "So let's go. Why do you give a crap about this blockade? You're pirates, and you already got paid by that masked douche so who cares what you do?"

He cared because 'Madara' scared the hell out of him and killed a large amount of his underlings when he visited his island to employ them to raise havoc at sea. The last thing he wanted was a man that could teleport anywhere wishing to take his life, especially since he had already proven how easy it was, "He'll kill us."

"I'll kill you too." Suigetsu pointed out with a threatening grin as he put his finger to Gataro's head in the form of a gun, "I'll just enjoy it better." He then turned his gaze toward Karin and saw how angry she seemed, "What do you got?"

Karin turned towards him and narrowed her eyes, "Do you feel like killing Naruto now? I'm sick of waiting. 'Madara' is never going to let us go after him. He's doing this to get us out of the way."

An opponent that he knew was strong? And he was also the one that had coincidentally disrupted their 'happy little family' among other things that he had done. Suigetsu was all raring to go, "Any time, let's roll. I'm sure Juugo's getting sick of staying on this tub. If we don't find him someone to vent on soon he might stop being such a tree-hugger and kill some of these poor bastards."

Besides, he didn't listen to that jackass in the mask anyway. He only went along with it to get Samehada, and now that he had that, Hiramekarei, and Kubikiribouchou he didn't need to listen to that man any longer. To hell with him and his damn blockade of Mizu no Kuni.

What did they care if Kiri managed to reach the mainland? As a matter of fact what did 'Madara' care?

With a war it would be far easier for him to find the rest of the Seven Swords. Hearsay of the swords being used somewhere somehow would reach him easier even though they were lost, and he would be right on whoever had it like a bloodhound.

A rather devious smirk took form on Karin's face as she addressed the ship's captain Gataro again, "There. You heard him. So go where I tell you to, and head that way." She said, pointing in the direction of where she could sense Naruto's absurd amounts of chakra. It was like the damn North Star to her; she could find it anywhere if she just looked up into the sky at night.

It was one star that was about to burn out though, because they were going to put it out.

Figuring that it was best to listen to the guy with the massive swords that could sink entire ships all by himself, or at least the girl that could have him killed by that same person despite the fact that they seemed to hate each other most of the time, Gataro changed course of his ship at Karin's behest.

He really wished the ninja world would have left him alone in his stronghold on Battleship Island. There he was the man. But now he was stuck in the middle of a world war on a ship with two homicidal figures and a bossy chick with a fluctuating personality.

And now they were going to chase down the ship of some poor bastard. Kami have mercy on his soul.

XxX

Naruto blocked a sneeze to keep from spraying nastiness everywhere as he had been in the middle of a conversation with Hamako via the seal that connected the two of them, "…Gross." Naruto said, sniffing as he returned to his conversation, "Okay, so I guess I'll ask Hamako-chan to ask Tsunade-baachan what missions she'll have ready for me when I come back."

"What's up Mister Nine?"

"What's up B?" Naruto said offhandedly before blinking in confusion. That wasn't right. Kirabi couldn't leave Kumo because he was the village's 'guardian' or some other crap like that. So why did Naruto turn around to see a very muscular black man with sunglasses and a huge grin on his face, "…Why are you here?" He asked, trying his hardest to keep things straight and to not freak out.

The other amassed Kumo shinobi on board had plenty of reason to do so and the only thing that kept them from doing it was the fact that at least they were sailing away from Kumo at this point.

"My big bro A is harshing my vibe… so I figured vacation time!" Kirabi said, picking Naruto up off of the ground and throwing an arm around his fellow jinchuuriki, "What better way to spend a vacation than chillin' with my homie from another nation?"

"There's a war going on right now." Naruto deadpanned. He liked Kirabi because he was a generally good guy, but seriously. He himself wasn't that headstrong; he listened to orders. Kirabi was a serious maverick and had issues with authority… more than Naruto did by far, "B, go home."

Kirabi basically ignored him and walked around the ship, still keeping a powerful grip on Naruto, "Hell no." He said firmly, "When I go home A's gonna have my head. I might as well have fun before I end up dead."

This was going to be a long ass ship ride.

"Ye~~ah! Gonna write some vacation lyrics! Some ship ride rhymes!"