Chapter 49: Joining the War

AN: ...

A quick recap of the happenings of the war:

First Division: Locked in battle by the sea against White Zetsu Army and reanimated shinobi.

Second Division: Hanabi and Kimimaro are currently facing off against the White Zetsu Army.

Third Division: Kakashi, Haku, Guy, Sakura, and others in this division are currently facing off against the 7 Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist as well as Might Duy and Fugaku.

Fourth Division: Gaara's company with the aid of Onoki are currently facing the former 4 Kage and Jiraiya.

Fifth Division: Aiding the First Division

Others: Hiruzen is currently held up in a fight against Kagami and still trying to make his way to the Fourth Division. Naruto and Bee are leaving for the battlefields and so is Sasuke. And lastly, Izaya just finished his battle against Muramasa.

Alright that should do it for the recap, now back to the story!

Chapter 49

The moon rose in the air as the darkness of the night blanketed the world in a cold shadow. A few days had already passed since the beginning of the war. Each battlefield struggling to gain the upper-hand. The casualties continued to climb higher and higher. All members of the shinobi alliance were currently on edge and the decreased visibility of the night didn't help to alleviate their symptoms one bit. It was also at this time of the night that two of the most highly skilled and powerful reanimated shinobi dashed through the forest in complete silence. They made absolutely no noise as they travelled to their targeted destination. The first to speak was the reanimated shinobi who had white hair and was clad in blue armor.

"I never imagined that I would succumb to my own Jutsu. The first time was Orochimaru's doing. Now someone else has gained control of this technique. If there is one thing I regret during the time I was still alive it would be the creation of this Jutsu."

The other reanimated shinobi simply sighed as he said, "We cannot undo what has already been done Lord Second Hokage. We can only hope that someone will be able to find this Jutsu's caster and undo the technique. I have a bad feeling about the destination this Jutsu's caster is making us head towards."

Tobirama frowned as well as he too had a bad feeling. "You know who I am but I do not know who you are. You possess the Sharingan so you are from the Uchiha Clan. What is your name?"

"I am Uchiha Itachi."

Tobirama nodded in acknowledgement. "Itachi eh? You seem quite young. Since I don't know who you are you must have been born after my time. How is the Uchiha Clan doing these days?"

Itachi's facial expression faltered a bit at the question. After a momentary pause he replied, "They are all dead...At least most of them."

Tobirama widened his eyes in complete shock. "What do you mean all dead? Don't tell me that the Clan tried to do something drastic prompting the village to take them out? Tch, I knew something like this might have happened."

Itachi let out a sigh in lament. "I was the one to kill them."

"What? You? But aren't you a member of the Uchiha Clan? Why did you end up killing your own Clan members?"

"I was given an ultimatum from Danzo. Back then the Third Hokage relinquished his position to the Fourth Hokage. During that time something happened and the Nine Tails was unleashed upon the village. The Fourth sacrificed his life to protect the village and sealed away the Nine Tails. The Third took up his position again as Hokage and after investigating the matter the village discovered that the Nine Tails attack on the village was under the control of the Sharingan. They ostracized the Uchiha Clan in suspicion and stripped away any influence the Clan had in the village. This resulted in angering the Clan and overtime they planned a coup d'etat. In order to prevent any bloodshed in the village and to prevent the possibility of another war breaking out I accepted Danzo's ultimatum and massacred the Uchiha Clan, save for my innocent little brother. I chose to bear this burden for the Clan and the village to uphold the honor of the Uchiha name and to prevent unnecessary bloodshed. I wished for my little brother to grow up and kill me which would be the end of that matter."

Tobirama had a pensive look on his face. "I see. How admirable of you. Despite being an Uchiha Clan member you are a true Leaf shinobi. Although I am technically dead and my words hold no particular weight now, as the Second Hokage I thank you for preventing a calamitous event from befalling the Leaf. Was it discovered who controlled the Nine Tails with the Sharingan?"

Itachi didn't care for Tobirama's words of thanks and completely ignored his sympathy. "The one who controlled the Nine Tails to attack the village was Madara."

"WHAT?! Impossible! My brother killed him!"

Itachi shook his head as he replied, "The reason we are being used for war with the Five Great Nations is because of Madara's instigation. With your ability to use the Flying Thunder God and my prowess in Genjutsu I have a feeling that we're about to do something drastic. We're getting close to our destination."

Tobirama frowned once more unsure of how to feel about everything as he sensed a large building with people inside up ahead. "This isn't good. That must be the headquarters of the shinobi alliance. Don't tell me the caster of this Jutsu is going to have us assassinate the ones in command of this war?"

Itachi frowned as well. "It seems that may be the case."

Swoosh!

They continued on their way to silently infiltrate the shinobi alliance headquarters which at this moment had a frustrated looking A and Tsunade seated at the main table along with Shikaku as main strategist, Ao as the sensor unit captain, and Inoichi as the information unit captain. Tsunade spoke up to break the silent tension in the room. "Inoichi, relay to us the current state of the battlefields."

"Yes!" Inoichi replied as he focused to relay the relevant information. "The First Division under captain Darui is under heavy pressure. They are fighting a night battle against the White Zetsu's who can somehow completely transform themselves to look like members of the alliance. They are also being bombarded by powerful bombs from Deidara in the sky and are having trouble facing off against Sasori and his hundred puppets technique. They are also having great trouble at trying to deal with Sasori's poison techniques. Hyuga Hiashi was heavily injured by the reanimated Hyuga Hizashi. The Sound Four Ninja were resurrected in their location but have been dealt with and sealed away. The problem is that they are by the ocean which gives an advantage to the reanimated Kisame and Zabuza. Even with the help of Mifune's Fifth Division and half of captain Kitsuchi's Second Division they are sustaining heavy casualties. The Second Division under captain Kitsuchi is also suffering losses as they are currently only at half strength. Not only are they under attack from the most amount of White Zetsu's but they are also being attacked by several powerful reanimated shinobi such as Hanzo of the Salamander, Chiyo of Sunagakure, Konan of Akatsuki, and Fu and Torune who were subordinates under Danzo. Many of the shinobi in the Second Division have fallen prey to Hanzo's poison as well as Chiyo's use of poison.

In the Third Division under captain Kakashi they are struggling to maintain their location. They have successfully sealed away Pakura of the Scorch Style, Gari of the Explosion Style, and three of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, but the other four are much more difficult to deal with as they have their swords with them. Another problem is that Might Duy and Uchiha Fugaku have been reanimated. With his undying body Might Duy's inexhaustible use of his Eight Inner Gates technique is devastating the Third Division. Luckily he has not yet unleashed the 8th Gate. Uchiha Fugaku is also an extreme problem as his prowess with his Sharingan and use of Genjutsu in combination with Duy's Taijutsu is currently too difficult for the Third Division to counter. The only reason they are currently holding out is thanks to Kakashi's many battle strategies, Sakura's healing prowess, and Haku and Guy's ability to stalemate Fugaku and Duy. I don't know how much longer they will be able to keep this up though.

As for the Fourth Division they have retreated as far as they could. If they keep retreating they will bring too much chaos to the First Division so they elected to stand their ground and fight. They have successfully sealed away the Fourth Kazekage but the Second Mizukage, Second Tsuchikage, Third Raikage, and Jiraiya are dealing massive damage and causing many casualties to the Fourth Division. And you already know that the Fifth Division is providing assistance for the First Division. Lord Third seems to be locked in a fierce battle as well which is why he has not yet arrived at the Fourth Division. Naruto and Killer Bee, with both of your consent are traveling right now to reach the other battlefields."

Tsunade, A, A's advisor Mabui, and Shikaku clenched their fists in frustration after hearing the situation of all the battlefields. Shikaku racked his brain for a solution. He thought that with half the Second Division and the support of the Fifth Division they could help the First Division overwhelm the enemy quickly, but reality proved different. There were too many variables to account for and Kabuto and Madara seemed to be just as cunning of strategists. The biggest issue was that the alliance didn't have enough information going into the war to prepare better countermeasures against the enemy. Just as Shikaku was going to speak up, Ao, captain of the sensory unit shouted, "Oh no! I sense two incredibly powerful signatures heading our way!"

Tsunade and A stood up in alarm and shouted, "Who?!"

Before Ao could give an answer a loud BANG sound could be heard as dust and debris filtered out of the hallway into the large room of the HQ. Two shadowy figures appeared in the cloud of smoke before revealing them as Tobirama and Itachi. Everyone was completely shocked.

"Uchiha Itachi?! And the Second Hokage Tobirama?!" Shikaku shouted in alarm.

A frowned and immediately cloaked himself in his lightning armor shouting, "How did you get here so quickly?"

Tobirama sighed with an apologetic look and said, "In the past when I met the Second Raikage for meetings we once held discussions in this room. For precautionary measures I once placed a marker for my Flying Thunder God Jutsu in a well concealed spot in the previous room. That is how we arrived so quickly."

Before anyone could say or do anything else Itachi reacted and said, "RUN!"

Without control of their reanimated bodies Tobirama formed the Tiger sign and said, "Genjutsu Infinite Darkness!" The room was immediately filled in complete darkness blocking out all sight, however, Itachi remembered the position of all the people in the room and expertly threw out a barrage of shuriken at their locations.

PSH PSH PSH PSH!

Blood splattered and screams were let out in the darkness only for no one being able to see or do anything. Tsunade and A began to feel a bit of panic inside but with their years of experience they immediately calmed down and were able to sense the danger of the shuriken effectively dodging just in time. With both of them calmed down they took a moment to remember their relative position in the room and dashed backwards throwing out a powerful punch behind them.

BOOM!

Immediately both of their fists made contact with the wall behind them and created a hole leading to the world outside and away from the area of influence of Tobirama's Genjutsu. Tobirama watched as Tsunade and A escaped the influence of his Genjutsu and nodded in approval. "Excellent choice. This Genjutsu is a bit different from other Genjutsus as it only affects those who enter its sphere of influence. As long as you leave the range of this technique you won't be affected."

Itachi stood off to the side with a look of sorrow as he stared at the dead body of Inoichi beneath him. "I'm sorry. This wretched Jutsu has forced me to do something against my will."

Tobirama walked over to Itachi also with a look of sorrow on his face. "It is as you said. This is war. We can only hope for someone to find the caster of the Jutsu and release this technique."

Itachi simply replied with a sorrowful voice, "To think that you would be the one to cast Genjutsu instead of me."

Tobirama looked around at the dead bodies before saying, "My brother and I developed this Genjutsu to help fight against the Uchiha Clan back in the old days. Anyways, it appears that with the Raikage and Tsunade escaping, our task is complete." He then placed his hands on Itachi's shoulder teleporting them both away.

Tsunade and A had both fallen all the way down to the ground after they punched a hole in the wall to escape. They looked up and noticed the dark sphere of Tobirama's Genjutsu disappear prompting them to return to the room. Tsunade quickly summoned Katsuyu and had her slugs attach themselves to the bodies of everyone in the room. After a few seconds of silence she clenched her fists and screamed. "AAAAAHHHH!" She punched out at the wall to her right completely destroying the entire right half infrastructure.

A was also furious and shouted in rage and anger as he smashed the table in front of him. Both Kage's stood there in complete silence as they took a moment to grieve the dead. Inoichi, dead. Shikaku, dead. Ao, dead. Mabui, dead. Everyone in the room had died save for the two Kage's.

"Akatsuki! Madara! Curse you!" A shouted at the top of his lungs bashing the room to pieces to vent his anger. Tsunade scowled as the look on her face was the fiercest expression she had ever put on and shouted, "ENOUGH! Raikage, you and I are the only ones left. I swear I will end Madara and this damn war! Until then you and I must keep it together. We need to relay what happened here to the Kazekage, Tsuchikage, and Lord Third Hokage as well as the other Division captains. We need to move our HQ and discuss a plan of action. Immediately!"

A huffed and panted in extreme anger as he attempted to calm down his rage whilst Tsunade turned to Katsuyu's clones in the room and said, "Katsuyu, I know you have a small clone by Sakura's side. Relay to her that we need their intelligence unit to connect to the Raikage and myself so we can quickly come up with a way to reach the others."

Katsuyu nodded in sadness and replied, 'Yes Lady Tsunade. I will have my clone do so right away!"

888

Swish! Swish!

Tobirama and Itachi dashed through the dark forest as the moon lit up the dark sky in what would have been a nice peaceful night had they both not of committed such a cruel act a few moments ago. It wasn't long before they both stopped in front of a forest clearing by a sparkling blue river and approached a figure sitting down on a boulder nearby. Itachi walked over and said, "Nagato."

Nagato turned to see both Tobirama and Itachi walk out from the dark forest. "Itachi, you've returned. It seems that the caster of this Jutsu will pair us up once more."

Itachi nodded as he had a look of sorrow on his face. Nagato taking note of Itachi's downcast expression commented, "The Jutsu caster must of had you do something painful."

Itachi let out a sigh as his body involuntarily supported Nagato's frame before they turned around to face Tobirama.

"Since the two of you are traveling together it appears that the caster has his own plans for where my destination will be." Tobirama commented. Without anyone saying another word they dashed off in separate directions parting ways. Tobirama headed towards the direction of Kakashi's Third Division as Itachi and Nagato followed the river to some unknown destination. They continued to follow the river all night walking along the dirt path on the side in complete silence as morning soon rolled around the corner. Itachi was the first to break the silence. "We've been walking for quite awhile now. We must be nearing our opponents soon."

Nagato glanced at Itachi. "I sense a similar chakra signature to your own. In fact I sense two of them."

Itachi widened his eyes in surprise and asked, "What do you mean two?"

"I sense one on the battlefield in the far distance and one that is approaching us." Nagato frowned as he also sensed Jiraiya's chakra whilst Itachi furrowed his brow lost in his thoughts. One is undoubtedly Sasuke. Could it be? Kabuto has reanimated father? Itachi noticed Nagato's change in facial expression and asked, "Are they close?"

Nagato smiled as he stared off in the distance. "This feeling is familiar. There are many others heading in this direction. Six individuals to be exact. One of them also has a similar chakra to yours Itachi."

The sounds of footsteps approaching became louder and louder until six figures came to a complete stop. Naruto and Killer Bee stood in front of Nagato and Itachi while Sasuke, Jugo, Suigetsu, and Karin stood behind Nagato and Itachi. Naruto took note of the reanimated shinobi in front of him exclaiming in shock, "Uchiha Itachi? Nagato?"

Sasuke was the next to exclaim in shock, "Big brother?"

They also caught a glimpse of each other at this moment nodding in acknowledgement but were too shocked at the appearance of the two reanimated shinobi in front of them to exchange any words of pleasantries. Nagato took a good look at Naruto and said, "Well...I never imagined that I'd be forced to fight you again, Naruto."

Itachi glanced behind him saying something similar. "Sasuke...I also didn't think I'd be forced to face you."

Nagato continued speaking at this moment. "You've changed a bit Naruto."

Naruto nodded with a smile. "Yeah, this is the Nine Tails chakra cloak. I call it my chakra mode. I'm in control of the Nine Tails power now."

Nagato smiled as he felt the immense power and warm aura coming off from him. "I see. You have changed. Not just the power you possess, but rather your facial expression. Your resolve is strong now. Have you finally overcome hatred, Naruto?"

With great confidence Naruto replied, "Yeah. I thought about a lot of things after we fought. As my senior you taught me about pain. Izaya helped me confirm my resolve, and the training I did at the waterfall of truth with Bee, getting to meet both my mom and my dad when learning to use the Nine Tails power, I have all of you to thank for where I am at now."

Nagato smiled once more as he listened to Naruto speak of his experiences. "I see. Then I'm glad. Naruto, there is one other thing I must tell you."

"What is it?"

Nagato frowned before speaking. "It appears that the caster of the Reanimation has also revived Jiraiya-sensei."

Naruto widened his eyes in shock as his heartbeat quickened. "So even Jiraiya-sensei was…" He whispered to himself. Before Nagato could say anything Naruto looked up with confidence and said, "Don't worry. I've learnt a lot from everyone. I will confront Jiraiya-sensei so that he can finally rest in peace. That means I will help you too, Nagato. In the end you were able to let go of your hatred in front of Izaya and I. I will stop you here so you don't have to spread the hatred that you worked so hard to let go of."

Nagato's facial expression softened as he realized that even though Naruto learnt of Jiraiya-sensei's resurrection, he didn't let the hatred consume him. Sasuke spoke up in sorrow at this moment and said, "Itachi. So you were also reanimated. Even after all the precautions taken to protect your body."

Itachi remained silent for a moment before responding, "So Izaya was able to bring back my body and keep it protected. Does this mean you've awakened the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan?"

Sasuke's eyelid twitched when he heard what Itachi said as it meant Izaya was truly speaking the truth back then. "So it's true then? That you agreed to let Izaya protect your body? That he convinced you to tell me the truth?"

Nagato raised his eyes in surprise listening to their conversation. "Truth? What truth, Itachi?"

Itachi shook his head ignoring Nagato's question. "Sasuke, it's true. But don't say anymore about me to the village. In the end it was a decision that I chose. I would like to keep it that way. You know the truth. So does Izaya. That is enough for me. You are my pride and my one and only younger brother. I have already left everything I had for you. I'm currently being controlled by the enemy and they have already forced me to perform horrible acts of war against my wishes. I will entrust you to stop me and seal me away."

Sasuke had a downcast look on his face as he stared at Itachi before nodding his head. Itachi noticed Sasuke's downcast look and smiled at his little brother. "Sasuke. You've grown. It is because I have entrusted everything to you that I must tell you this. Most likely...Father has been reanimated as well."

"WHAT?!" Sasuke exclaimed in shock. Before Itachi could explain more he shouted, "Fire Style FireBall Jutsu!"

Nagato also placed his hands out in front of him and said, "Almighty Push!"

A giant ball of fire shot out at Sasuke while Naruto and Bee were pushed extremely far away. Sasuke quickly formed the hand signs for the same Fire Style technique and shouted, "Jugo, Karin, Suigetsu, stay out of this. Fire Style FireBall Jutsu!" Two giant balls of fire crashed into each other as Jugo, Karin, and Suigetsu dashed in the far back watching the confrontation of both sides. Nagato quickly formed the Summoning hand signs and said, "Summoning Jutsu!"

Poof!

The giant billed-beak bird carried Nagato on its head as a giant dog, ox, rhino, crustacean, chameleon, and three centipedes appeared.

Whoosh!

Sasuke and Itachi exchanged several moves of Taijutsu while Sasuke asked, "What do you mean father was Reanimated?"

Itachi blocked a punch from Sasuke and threw a kick to Sasuke's head as he replied, "Nagato sensed two chakra signatures similar to my own. One was you. My guess is that the other was father. He was probably reanimated and is fighting on a battlefield somewhere. Quickly seal me away and go stop father."

Sasuke pulled out his sword and swung while Itachi pulled out a kunai and deflected the sword.

Ting! Zwing! Cling! Fling!

"Why did you kill the Clan? I've been thinking about everything you did the entire time. Everything you did, you did it for the village. Just what is a village? Why would you kill the entire Clan for the village? What does it mean?" Sasuke asked with mixed emotions as he continued to clash with Itachi who's facial expression softened at Sasuke's question while he continued to dodge, parry, and strike.

"A village...To understand what a village is you have to understand its history. Sasuke, before the concept of a village there was only Clans and unending wars. Back in those days was an era known as the warring states. People barely lived past their 30's. Each Clan fought for their own benefit without a care for anything or anyone else. This led to constant chaos. Even children would not be spared the taste of war. Clans would be hired to fight battles to help expand the lands of small countries. In the end it didn't matter to the Clan who they were hired to kill and it didn't matter who they sent from the Clan to do the job. All that mattered back then was that the job was done. There was no stability or rules, only bloodshed.

The two major Clans of the past were the Uchiha and the Senju. These two Clans had clashed for decades with both sides losing many of their brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, and children during their ensuing war. Eventually both sides became weary of all the fighting and deaths and one day the future First Hokage, Senju Hashirama offered the Uchiha Clan a peace offering. They accepted the peace offering and the fighting finally stopped. Madara, the head of the Uchiha Clan at the time as well as Hashirama, the head of the Senju Clan decided to band together and form the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The reason is because they wanted the fighting to stop. They no longer wished to war against one another and no longer wished to see their own Clan members, which included the children, to suffer at the hands of war. Finally peace and stability was brought about in the world. With the Uchiha and Senju Clan banding together their strength was unmatched and this allowed for the children of the Clans to grow up and finally experience a life other than that of bloodshed.

Children were able to learn what joy was. They were able to experience the joys of playing in the water during summer, the joy of playing in the snow during winter. They came to know a bit of the light that exists in the world other than having to experience the wrenching pain of poison from an enemy or the sharp pain from the enemy's knife. In time many other Clans saw the peace and power the Village Hidden in the Leaves brought about by the union of the Senju and the Uchiha. Some joined the village while other Clans formed their own. The life expectancy of not only shinobi, but of other people had increased do to a more stable foundation. A system was created and that was the system of the shinobi villages.

Village's are not perfect. I understand that there are many flaws that exist in the system of a shinobi village, but even if there are flaws and even if village's had continued to war against one another it was no longer the burden of a single Clan, and that allowed for many members of each Clan to continue to live on. Not only this, when many people of different backgrounds come together, then greater things can be accomplished rather than being on their own. For instance, the growth of an economy, of education, of a home, of entertainment, of music, of art, and many more. In a village, there are things that tie people together that go beyond just a Clan. Having common interests with others in the subjects I mentioned earlier. There are also bonds that you forge with others that can tie people together. There is the stability of a home, a land, a country, a family, the company of friends, children, and many things that are more important than just a Clan.

A Clan is only a name that one carries with them. It has its own rules and regulations and restrictions. A Clan is only the root, it is not the part that sprouts and blooms. A village is formed of many clans therefore it has many roots, however, when these Clans join together they create something meaningful. They create a place that one can call home. A place where one does not need to be bound by the rigid rules of a Clan. They no longer need to be completely tied down to only one stagnant place and have the freedom to explore and experience things that were unavailable to them before. That is a village Sasuke. That is why I had chosen to remove our Clan.

One Clan alone does not have the right to choose how a village is run. Even if the Clan was temporarily ostracized they turned to violence too quickly for the answer and became too lost in their emotions and sense of superiority. Our Clan had become too short sighted and would risk the lives of innocent people just to fulfill their own motives. Not only would this weaken the village and cost the lives of many innocent people, but it would also allow outsiders who wished for the downfall of the village to act and potentially wipe out not only the other Clans, but perhaps the village itself. There was the potential for the instigation of another Great War. In order to prevent that from happening I chose exile and to bear the burden of the Clan. The system of the shinobi village is not perfect, but it is something worth fighting for that is greater than just a Clan. A village is progress from just a Clan and I'm sure in the future that there will be progress from that."

Sasuke's expression softened at Itachi's explanation and reasons and backflipped away from Itachi's reach as he closed his eyes for a moment to let everything sink in. He recalled the faces of Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, and Izaya. Recalled the memories of his old missions and the amusing stupidity of Naruto. The very affectionate Sakura. The always late Kakashi. The calm and mysterious Izaya. He recalled the feeling of what bonds were as the memory of the Chunin exams resurfaced in his mind. Back then he had risked his life to save Sakura and Naruto from Orochimaru in the Forest of Death. He recalled the look of relief and joy on Team 7's faces when he returned to Konoha after his fight with Itachi. And he felt the box of Sakura's Soldier Pills, his old forehead protector given to him by Naruto, and Izaya's special kunai stored away by his side at this moment. He let out a deep breath and finally opened his eyes revealing the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

"I see. Perhaps you are right. A village isn't perfect. It isn't without its flaws but...It does seem to be progress from that of a Clan. And I suppose there is progress even now from that of a village. In this war the Five Great Nations and villages have banded together as one into the Allied Shinobi Force to face off against Madara. They were able to put aside their differences to work together. Whether they will remain that way after the war is unpredictable, but I suppose it remains a fact that they have banded together here and now and that can count as progress from a village, to just shinobi." Sasuke raised his sword in front of him as he looked at Itachi with a look of great sorrow. "Big brother, I will uphold the honor of the Clan, I will stop you here and now, and I will go and stop father as well."

Itachi smiled at Sasuke as a feeling of warmth and pride filled his soul. "Forgive me Sasuke. I'm counting on you."

At the same time that Itachi and Sasuke were engaged in combat Suigetsu, Karin, and Jugo fought against Nagato's Rinnegan summons whilst Nagato himself engaged in combat with Naruto and Bee.

Boom! Swish! Clank!

"Lariat!" Bee shouted as he successfully struck Nagato off of his giant drilled-beak bird and down towards the forest, however, Bee was shocked as his chakra was being drained by Nagato. Nagato's hair color changed from ash white to red as his complexion became much better. Before Bee could disengage, Nagato placed his palm on his shoulder and said, "Almighty Push!" A powerful gravitational force thrusted Bee straight down into the ground creating a large crater from the impact.

Whoosh!

Naruto jumped down towards Nagato with an axe kick from above only for a tongue to shoot out of nowhere and ensnare him. "Guh! It's his damn invisible chameleon summon!" Naruto shouted as he struggled to escape out of its grasp. Nagato arrived before him and placed his hands on Naruto's chest saying, "Human Path!" As he pulled his hands away from Naruto a translucent blue and white aura emerged from Naruto's body extracting his soul.

Greatly alarmed Naruto grabbed onto the aura being pulled out of him and shouted, "Nagato! Oi! What the heck is this technique? I don't remember you having something like this! Oi! Can you hear me?" Naruto frowned as he stared at Nagato. Nagato could only shake his head and said, "I'm sorry Naruto. My body is restricting me from telling you about my abilities. It appears the caster of the Reanimation doesn't wish to suppress my personality yet but he's restricting what I can reveal."

Naruto gritted his teeth in frustration. Damn it what do I do? I'm losing strength as he's pulling this thing out of me. I know Ninjutsu doesn't work but I can't escape his grasp. Nagato raised his left hand and said, "Naraka Path!" A giant head with Rinnegan eyes rose from the ground not far from him and opened its mouth as he slowly walked towards it while pulling on Naruto's soul. Bee recovering from his earlier clash with Nagato jumped from the sky and struck down at him only to be caught in several mechanized arms.

"What the hell? This guy is strong! He's got a bunch of weird techniques, yo!" Bee said as he struggled in Nagato's grasp. At this moment Sasuke shouted, "Susanoo!" A large purple arrow shot forth towards Nagato prompting him to stick his hands out at his side and said, "Almighty Push!" The powerful force knocked the arrow aside letting Sasuke use this moment to have one of his Susanoo's arms chop downwards at Nagato. This forced Nagato to release his hold on Naruto's soul and jump backwards with Bee in his arms to avoid being crushed. However, this was also enough time for Naruto to kill the chameleon holding him and create a chakra arm that grabbed Bee wrestling him away from Nagato's grasp.

Fwish Fwish Fwish!

Sasuke, Naruto, and Bee grouped up with their backs against the others as Sasuke commented, "Heh, I can't believe you got caught in something like that, Naruto."

Naruto smirked. "Oi, I was just warming up-dattebayo!...But thanks, Sasuke."

Bee furrowed his brow as he said, "What the hell-yo! These guys are strong as heck-yo! What should we do then? They won't stay down unless we can seal them."

"Tsk. I don't know any Jutsu to seal them. Do you Sasuke?" Naruto asked. Sasuke frowned. "I don't either."

Just as they were all racking their brains Nagato released a black mass of gravitational energy into the air causing everything in the vicinity to be sucked in towards it. Immediately Naruto and Sasuke had a sense of Deja Vu as they remembered how Izaya instructed them to defeat this technique. Naruto quickly shouted, "Bee! Use your most powerful long range attack and shoot it upwards. Sasuke and I will do the same. It's how we defeated the technique last time-dattebayo!"

Bee nodded as he semi-transformed into the Eight Tails and created a Tailed Beast Bomb whilst Naruto created a Rasenshuriken and Sasuke activated his Susanoo using his Yasaka Magatama Beads.

BOOM! FWISH!

A powerful force was generated from the blast of all three techniques effectively destroying Nagato's Jutsu creating a giant plume of dust and debris that flew in every direction. At this moment Itachi utilized his Susanoo's Totsuka Blade and stabbed at the position where Sasuke was only to find that not only Sasuke, but Naruto and Killer Bee had disappeared. He quickly raised the Yata Mirror of his Susanoo behind him just in time to block a barrage of 30 kunai. The dust and debris finally cleared revealing Sasuke, Naruto, Bee, and one other person standing in front of them. A man whose clothes were torn, ripped, and shredded in multiple areas. A man who had multiple bloodstains all over his body. A man donned with the striking features of snow white hair and a black blindfold over his eyes.

"Izaya?!" Everyone exclaimed at the same time. Itachi widened his eyes as he turned to Nagato who was now by his side and said, "You also know Izaya?"

Nagato nodded his head. "I do. He was the one who showed me that there could be a different path to peace and the one to shed light on the errors of the peace I attempted to create."

"I see. So he was able to help you as well Nagato." Itachi said softly.

Sasuke looked at Izaya's battered form and commented, "I know you said you were going to a potentially dangerous place...But where the hell did you go to be in such a sorry state?"

Naruto had a confused expression as he commented, "Err...Izaya, are you okay? You don't look so well-dattebayo."

I simply smirked at hearing their comments. "Let's just say that I had a rough time, but in the end it was handled." I took note of Itachi and Nagato nodding my head acknowledging their presence. "Itachi. Nagato. I'd like to chat with you both a bit longer if only it were under different circumstances. Apparently I missed quite a lot of things while I was on my excursion."

"Mn." Itachi and Nagato nodded.

"The war began a few days ago. And I see you're still wearing your blindfold." Itachi commented.

I silently brought my hands up behind my head and unfurled my blindfold keeping my right eye shut as it still needed time to assimilate with my body and replied, "Itachi, you are someone who I greatly admire and respect and also one of the few who know my secret, it would be a dishonor to face you without revealing this eye," I furrowed my brow and continued, "but what do you mean that the war began a few days ago? Do you really mean that?"

As I expected everyone ignored my comment about the war and were instead shocked to see me reveal my left eye as a Sharingan except for Itachi. Sasuke was the first to speak in complete shock. "Sha-Sharingan? Why do you have a Sharingan?"

Without taking my eye off of Itachi and Nagato I responded as best as I could. "I don't think I have much time to explain given the situation but, in short I was an experiment of Orochimaru's. Abandoned when I was 5. Ended up in the Leaf. Met with Itachi. You know the rest. We can talk all you want later. First, let's seal away Itachi and Nagato. Bee, provide support. I'll perform the seal. Sasuke, Naruto, hold onto one of my special kunai and engage Itachi and Nagato in combat getting as close as you can to them. Also, is it true that it's been a few days since the war started?"

I took note of Naruto and Sasuke's complex expressions knowing that they were probably struggling to reign in their emotions of shock in order to focus on the current more pressing task at hand. Eventually they both nodded along with Bee as they replied, "Alright. We'll do as you suggested. And yes, the war already started a few days ago."