Chapter 23

A/N: Apparently some people had trouble with Tobi quickly, simply killing Hidan. Let me say this: I don't expect someone as paranoid as Madara to allow anyone into his organization without knowing exactly what they are capable of…and how to kill them should they betray them. If Madara wants to kill an Akatsuki, he can kill an Akatsuki. Plus, this Madara is likely more unhinged than the canon version. Naruto, after all, needs a really strong opponent for his final battle.

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Naruto had argued strenuously against bringing all of Jiraiya's ninja plus some from Suna. "We're spying. Three, four people tops."

One of the haughty Konoha ninja – none of whom knew who Naruto was – said, "It's for Lord Jiraiya's protection."

So…this travesty had spent more than a full day organizing itself…and then moved at half the speed Naruto could by himself. He began to get a sense of what having allies could mean…it had been much better to have students.

With a four man cell, Naruto had devastated an entire country over the course of a few months and, with a two man cell, lured out Orochimaru and killed him and banished many of his snake summons away. After Orochimaru's death, Naruto and Number Three had spent a bit of time lacing poisoned water sources with the poison neutralizer. With just four good ninja, he could cause – and eventually remediate – devastation.

With 20 they moved like a snail.

The group had made a camp – a camp! on a recon mission, what folly – four miles into the border of Hidden Waterfall. Now, nearly three days after Naruto volunteered the information, a team of almost 20 ninja were spying…on not much at all. Hidden Waterfall was actually the most hidden of any ninja village, relying on a cave system with protected secret entrances.

Jiraiya and two of his jounin were surveying the southern portion of the hill that had the main entrance hidden behind a beautiful waterfall. 'Gaara' and some of his ninja were monitoring the north eastern portion – along with the best view of the falls. Naruto…and some Leaf 'volunteers,' none of whom Naruto wanted…were sitting on the north western portion.

In the past three hours only a small handful of people had disappeared into the waterfall that was rumored to obscure the village.

Then Naruto twisted to look at what another Konoha ninja was pointing at. A Leaf ninja with Jiraiya's group was sneaking out from the protected forest area the kilometer or so from the base of the hill that contained Hidden Waterfall's caverns.

"What is Jiraiya thinking?" Naruto asked. He got no response.

But, as he watched, he saw Jiraiya's response. The Godaime Hokage ran after the ninja and tried to return him to the protected cover. That just made the rogue ninja run faster. Soon both were climbing the stony face of the hill.

"This man is a Sannin and the Hokage and he couldn't think of a sneakier way to stop an errant ninja…." Naruto had more to say, but the explosion at the top of the hill stopped him.

With a look of horror, the solid stone top of the mountain, at least a third of it, cracked and collapsed onto the caverns underneath. Naruto saw…a flying toad with a white haired man clutching onto it. At least Jiraiya had escaped. But unless that collapse had killed or injured a great many of the ninja inside, this was about to get ugly.

Like what happened to a dull-minded child poking at a wasp nest with a stick.

Whoever wasn't dead inside would soon be streaming outside to deal with the problem. And, if Naruto's intelligence was right, there were some powerful mercenary ninja inside. Jounins from villages all over the Elemental Countries; powerful fighters from village-less clans; and plenty of murdering bastards freed from every prison imaginable.

Individually Naruto could best any or all of them…but in a quantity of several hundred or a few thousand, that was a different story. Even the Flowing Red Death – his most prized and secret technique – had scaled to kill only three hundred at a time. He did use chakra cables to control them, but each Red Death puppet clone required more than ten individual chakra strings to control it.

He wouldn't easily be able to deal with that many by himself…. A real Gaara could kill hundreds with the right sand technique, but the 'Gaara' sitting across the way was much less powerful.

"We need to leave now," Naruto said to the Leaf nins performing surveillance with him (or was it 'on' him).

"Not until we know Jiraiya-sama is safe. You can leave if you're scared, little…."

Another unfinished statement.

It wasn't an army that appeared on the field. Now, it was a slight, pale woman with her hair tied up…wearing a black cloak with red clouds. And a little ninja wearing a bizarre orange mask. And another ninja…oh, right, Itachi had identified him as Kakuzu.

This expedition was doomed then.

Three Akatsuki. One Immortal, Uchiha Madara, and someone with the Rin'negan – which was still mostly a mystery even after years of trying to learn of its effects.

The woman surveyed the destroyed mountain and then seemed to track the different locations where Konoha ninja and Suna ninja were stationed.

A few seconds later, she did some unusual handsigns and slammed her hand into the ground. Five more ninja were now standing around the girl.

Naruto had seen many things in his time…but he had never seen a ninja summon another ninja.

He took a second to create a few dozen Kage Bunshin, which immediately ran away from Naruto. They encircled the half destroyed hill within a few minutes – while the orange masked ninja and one of the dark haired summoned ninja spoke – and henged into other things, rocks, branches, and the like.

When Naruto fled he still wanted to observe what happened. Once his spies were in place…and the Akatsuki had made up their minds, Naruto gave one last warning – "Retreat!" – and then shunshined away.

Naruto was worried about Jiraiya, as the man was a powerful ninja…but the jounin he'd brought along hadn't impressed Naruto. The real Gaara would be just fine, even if the puppet version of him was in danger.

Naruto thought he was in the clear…until he felt something powerful shunshin behind him…he leapt and avoided a kunai to the spine.

The orange masked freak – Itachi said this was Uchiha Madara's disguise – was fast and not given to long speeches. A true ninja.

Naruto heard something like an explosion in the distance. He hoped the Konoha nin had finally had the sense to flee.

Naruto banished a few hundred micropuppets at Uchiha Madara. The first few landed, but the others passed right through. That was some kind of ultimate defense – phasing out of reality.

Naruto shunshined again and tumbled away from his landing spot. Again. He hoped that the miniscule amount of chakra poison…and one or more micropuppets' worth of optic nerve poison…had stalled Uchiha Madara.

He took a moment to breathe, to calm down. He hadn't felt this kind of terror even when he killed Orochimaru with his puppets. Why did this feel so different? Was being exposed like this worth it…he could do just as much running a puppet again from the safety of a bunker.

He felt a shunshin…slower and more wasteful…and somersaulted forward. As he was upside down, he shunshined again and rolled to the ground in his new location.

That damned Madara was stalking him now.

Naruto dropped a few slips of paper and then waited to feel the incoming shunshin. When he felt the chakra – memorizing it so he could always identify Madara in the future by chakra feel alone – he rolled again, this time to the left and shunshined. As he disappeared, the chakra string connecting Naruto to the papers was severed (intentionally). Just as Madara materialized, the papers beneath and to his sides released their contents. An explosive gas, a poison gas carrying even more deadly on this vapors. Madara avoided the physical blast, but the micropuppets that remained behind reported Madara began to cough.

That was good to know. Excellent, in fact. The ninja could very well be impervious to physical or chakra attacks if he could see them coming…but even he needed to breathe.

That was the first bit of good news Naruto had received since returning 'Gaara' to Hidden Sand.

Naruto kept shunshinning his way on a bizarre path out of Waterfall. He monitored the micropuppets surrounding Madara, but was unable to harm him again.

He remained intangible for the moment, but he wasn't pursuing. Instead he seemed to be wheezing rather fiercely.

The poison was a nuisance that any med nin could neutralize…but the spores Naruto had used were from a plant native to Grass Country…they began to break down in the presence of liquid. Some farmers or ranchers feared natural anthrax in their country; farmers in Grass Country feared the Spined Purple Fern above all else.

As the spores took dissolved in the liquid inside Madara's lungs, each one released a trio of toxic chemicals which aided the spore's growth. Within a few hours, the spore would be a full fledged mold. Within two days, the mold would have grown enough to fill a lung.

There was a rather simple way to kill the spores however. If Madara thought to pump steam down his throat, it would kill the spores within seconds (but not the mold). But it would likely also sear the inside of his lungs and throat, killing him.

Which was worse? The disease or its cure? And would Madara even realize this solution before it was too late to solve anything without needing new lungs or a replacement of all his internal organs?

Naruto made it to border, the agreed upon rendevouz location, and waited. It would be a long wait. Naruto gave up after two hours and continued on a zigzagging path to keep clear of Madara or his cronies.

As he continued his escape, he wondered what had happened to make that portion of the hill collapse and, second, how to make use of this new knowledge about Uchiha Madara. Would the paranoid little man start wearing a rebreather under his mask?

Naruto didn't kid himself that a lungful of mold would be enough to kill someone like Madara. No, he'd have a medic nin who wouldn't be able to kill the mold…but who could remove the infected lung entirely. This wouldn't be fatal, but it would be painful.

Naruto needed to have something or other as a backup. But…to neutralize Madara, Naruto didn't necessarily need to kill him, did he?

For the first time since Naruto had heard the name Uchiha Madara, he was able to smile. There might be a solution to this part of the problem. Maybe.

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Itachi looked up, pointlessly, when he heard stone on stone. His captor, Naruto, had returned.

Life as a blinded, useless hulk did not agree with Itachi in the slightest…but it was better than death.

He would answer Naruto's questions and get the boy to leave. That ninja bothered him and there was nothing else Itachi could do to relieve his irritation.

"You've been holding out on me, Uchiha scum."

The tone of voice was nothing like his previous interactions with Naruto.

"What do you mean?"

"How about the importance of the Akatsuki rings?"

Itachi shrugged. "They're used in a ritual of some sort. I never participated in one, so it was all theoretical to me."

"Bullshit. You wouldn't have put something like that on your finger without having a very good idea of what it did. I don't buy this, 'I'm an innocent Uchiha' business for a moment."

"Why are you so agitated?"

Itachi did not care to discuss what little he knew of the rings…and what larger body of suspicions he had about them. He still hoped that Akatsuki would capture and kill Naruto through the ritual…he still held out a small sliver of hope that one of his compatriots or even an ANBU squad from Konoha would find him. Being in a prison with others would be better than this solitary existence. Anything would be better.

"I finally…met this Uchiha Madara. You didn't tell me anything useful about him. He is beyond formidable."

"Far beyond Sasori, right? As I said all those years ago."

"Perhaps. He has an excellent defense…but I know little still about his attacks. Why don't you fill me in?"

"He has things beyond my capabilities. I do know he possesses the Mangekyo Sharingan…but I do not know what he has uncovered about it. He was the one who taught me how to access my basic abilities. I am sure he kept much to himself."

That wasn't entirely the truth…but this ninja would take what he was given and leave.

"There were some details you left out about this Leader character. He can summon himself…or copies of himself…or human puppets?"

Itachi shrugged. As much as he knew about Madara, he knew almost nothing about the Leader…only that the Leader in single combat had fallen to Madara. Madara had never said what he'd done to bring the other powerful ninja to heel.

"I do not know anything about Leader's abilities."

"Fine. Let's play this game you've starved a bit. Your water tap stays on…but no one will bring you food until I return in a week. We'll see if hunger loosens your tongue, Itachi."

Naruto left the room before Itachi could even respond.

When he shouted after his captor, he heard only footsteps receding.

It would be a hungry week. Itachi had done the right thing in the negotiation, but Naruto was playing by a different set of rules.

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Uchiha Madara, dressed as a halfwit named Tobi, walked through the devastation inside the caverns of Hidden Waterfall.

He killed any man wounded too much to be of further use to him. Mercenaries could be hired for a few thousand ryo; jounin-ranked missing nin for ten thousand a month; hiring a new crop would be expensive but better than having to pay a bunch of cripples.

Weakness. If there was one thing he couldn't abide…it was weakness. As Mizukage, he had implemented the Academy's training regimen. Students paired together from the moment they entered the Academy…who, four years later, were forced to face off in a fight to the death.

That was motivation.

The problem – the reason he was not feeding a paralytic to the Nine Tail carrier and keeping him imprisoned until Pain solved the extraction procedure problem – was because he felt weak right now.

That bastard…had done something to him. With his time/space ninjutsu, he should be invulnerable…but that rabid child had still managed to land an attack…several attacks, if Madara was being honest with himself.

Tobi jumped up and snapped another mercenary's neck under his feet.

Something was happening inside his body. He'd need to find a good med nin soon to figure out what was happening. He'd been hit by small pellets at one point…and was dosed with some type of powder.

His body felt weaker. His muscles were beginning to feel tired.

He was Uchiha Madara. He was an immortal. This…punk was always slated to die…but now Madara would ensure it was unusually painful.

Madara had not been wounded in battle in many decades, not since the last year of his reign as Mizukage. He had bored of the position and the pissant village he led…and he got sloppy. An assassin from Kumo managed to land a single attack – before the water in his body vaporized and he exploded outwards everywhere.

He wasn't overly fond of pain or illness…or of any type of weakness.

Madara spotted one of Pain's 'bodies' and jumped toward him, looking foolish and carefree, trying to keep from coughing.

"Tobi got to kill three people." He'd dealt with the jinchuuriki's spying compatriots before pursuing the Nine Tail.

"Stop it with the stupid 'Tobi this' and 'Tobi that.' What do you want?"

"The Nine Tail in a prison cell awaiting the new extraction technique you promised."

"I am less convinced that we need this demonic amalgamation. We need an unconquerable army," Pain said.

Tobi jumped up and down for anyone watching him, but his voice was pure Madara. "No, we need this weapon. We also need to ensure that no Hidden Village has a jinchuuriki. Our 'regular members' are strong…but the Nine Tail likely killed Kisame and Itachi by himself…and that was three years ago. We will not be able to assemble an army of S-rank ninja. We need the Hidden Villages weak enough to conquer. Our army would be worth less than warm spit if one of these damned jinchuuriki showed up and slaughtered them. You said it yourself years ago, Pain."

"I know. But I am reassessing. The loss of the rings…. It would take us another decade or longer to reforge the statue and the rings. There are other techniques we could use, but they would probably fail against the Seven Tail and its betters. The King of Hell technique had the advantage of using the power of the already captured bijuu to help harvest the next ones. That's the reason we need to harvest the One-, Two-, or Three-Tail before attempting anything harder. You know all this. Why are you pushing…it was always meant to be a tool of last resort. We would be able to use it, at most, once. After all, we can't enforce peace on a bunch of dead people."

'Tobi' was quiet for a moment. "I defeated three of your 'bodies' in our little spar. That was before your glorious little battle with Hanzo. I was stronger then…and I'm stronger now. That's the reason I'm in charge here. We will capture the power of the bijuu. You will make this happen. Strength is the only thing that will allow us to succeed."

The Pain body just shook his head. It wasn't acceptance or agreement, but it signaled no more argument.

"What did you think of the Nine Tail?" Pain asked.

"Mediocre skills at best. But he managed to set a couple of interesting traps with little notice. He'll have to be captured with the element of surprise on our side."

"An interesting assessment. I, however, am more interested in how Sasori assessed him. An unknown type of power. From the 'volunteer,' we know he is some type of puppeteer…."

"Puppets are nothing. Useless."

Pain just smiled. "We shall see, Madara. We shall see."

"I care not for opinions. I want results."

Madara leapt away before he lost control of his need to cough. A hundred meters away, he allowed his body the luxury of a cough. The deep, nasty rattling sound unnerved the ancient ninja.

The Nine Tail would feel pain…pain for days for this affliction.

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Naruto took a few days before returning to Hidden Sand. He thought he had lost Uchiha Madara, but he was paranoid enough to keep to an unusual path.

When he arrived he found 'Gaara' in good condition. He also found Jiraiya almost ready to return to Hidden Leaf with his arm in a sling. Apparently he'd busted his hip in the whole debacle.

Naruto took the time to get Jiraiya by himself before asking a few hard questions.

"What the fuck happened?" asked Naruto in his calmest, most dangerous tone of voice.

"The man I followed – the ninja I tried to stop – had been sent by my village on a suicide mission. He was to kill me…."

Naruto cupped his head in his hand. "Why am I not surprised?"

Jiraiya at least sounded anguished about this realization: that a faction in his home hated him enough to attempt a clumsy assassination.

"When he was a quarter up the mountain I was nearly able to stop him when I took a second to summon a large toad. His tongue shot out and wrapped around the ninja. When Gama turned him around the ninja was smirking. He couldn't make handseals, but the self-sacrificing technique he was about to use didn't need them. I climbed on Gama, left the ninja there, and…well, you saw what happened."

It took a few seconds to determine that Jiraiya actually believed the story he was telling. A suicide technique strong enough to damage a large hill.

"What's the technique?" Naruto asked.

"Something that the Root program dreamed up. Captured agents were supposed to kill themselves and their captors rather than submit to questioning. The bastard in charge of it…."

"Danzo," Naruto said. "Don't forget I stole the Hokage's files years ago. I know more of Konoha's dirty secrets than you do."

Jiraiya scoffed at that, but continued his explanation. "The bastard, Danzo, worked out a way to open the Eighth Heavenly Gate without needing to open the other seven. All that chakra flooding the body without using the other gates…it apparently causes someone to explode, enough to take out a block of buildings…or a quarter of a mountain."

"Why is he still alive if he's teaching forbidden techniques like that? How many people did he kill just to figure this out? The Snake Sannin got driven out for his depraved experiments…."

"It's political," Jiraiya said.

"Well, what are you going to do now? Somehow this 'political opponent' got an agent close enough to kill you…while the whole thing was likely to be blamed on a failed mission."

"I don't know. I'll speak with Sarutobi…."

Naruto shook his head. "Whatever you decide, you're likely to incite a civil war. It won't matter what advice you get or how you act. Your returning alive to Konoha…will be the trigger."

"I know."

Naruto laughed. "Be sure to tell the Old Man…tell him I said 'hello.'"

"You could do it yourself."

"I'm a bit busy right now." Saying that to a man about to partake of a civil war was a bit high handed, but it was true. Naruto hopped away and left Suna a few minutes later.

Jiraiya looked at the departing young ninja and wondered if Sarutobi was right. This boy was missing a leg? Jiraiya couldn't tell.

His mind quickly put the matter out mind. There was too much already going on: 25% smut, 25% anger, 25% planning, and 25% fear for what was about to happen in his home.

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Naruto didn't have much time left. He was in full countdown actually. The Akatsuki were riled up; 'Gaara' might have to fight again, but the puppet using wind techniques could only achieve maybe 20% of what the real Gaara could. That excluded its lack of being able to assume a demonic form.

It wouldn't be long before his puppets were found out for what they were. It was only a question of whether a Hidden Village would figure it out first…or one of the protected jinchuuriki managed to escape their confinement.

Naruto needed to get Sasori alone. He was a powerful ninja, but he'd be nothing compared to this Pain and the Uchiha.

Then he could focus on Madara. He seemed the more problematic of the final pair: but Naruto had some valuable insights about him while he still knew nothing directly about Pain. Madara's time-space jutsu – his phasing out of danger – was formidable but it had flaws, flaws which Naruto could exploit given the right conditions.

Still…

Sasori first. As payment for the horror committed on Number Two.

Puppeteer versus puppeteer. He wanted to see how good his techniques really were against someone who'd been studying for decades. Perhaps they'd be evenly matched, but Naruto doubted it.

And Naruto refused to fight fairly.

He entered a safe house in Tea Country and fell asleep. Minutes later he was dreaming of an epic battle with Sasori.

Then the dream changed. Even his unconscious mind knew that direct confrontation was a bit stupid. The images from then on were mixed and confusing.

Naruto tossed and slept badly.