Chapter 119

Title: War Across Dimensions 1

...

"Impossible...That's Gai...Right?" One random Konoha Shinobi asked as they watched Fight and hold his own against the Six Paths Madara.

"That Guy is actually this strong?" 

"To think that this is the power of his body alone...if he had actually trained his Chakra, I wonder how much more powerful he would be."

"But it's all futile... Madara isn't taking damage...or rather, he's healing too fast." Another voice said, this time, everyone actually turned to the owner of the voice.

"Even with the Fourth helping out, Madara is still Madara. I doubt he'll go down this way." A second voice said bedside the first one.

"We need to come up with a plan." The first voice said and looked around. "Are any of you trained in Taijutsu?"

"Captain Kobayashi is currently indisposed. After his battle with the Gold and Silver brothers, he's yet to recover."

"Heh. So much for being a genius on par with Shun. Pathetic that man." 

"Stop that. He's still stronger than a few people I know." 

"Hey, now that's mean. I'll have you know that I still would like to live a proper life after this is all over." 

"Well, I doubt that will happen if Gai loses." The owner of the first Voice said. "c'mon Kitsume, you're telling me you can help out somehow?"

"Nah...No matter how much I activate my blood, It won't generate enough force to rival that." Kitsume said pointing at Gai actually using the air as footholds.

"...Yeah, that's another level of Taijutsu right there. Perhaps other than Shun, no one else is that strong physically." 

"You bet, that man is the strongest man to actually walk this earth." Another voice interrupted the women causing them to turn sharply. A moment later, smiles of joy spread on their faces.

"Shun! When did you get here?" Kimizu asked. "I didn't see you come and don't tell me-"

"I'm Batman." Shun said, a mask and cape immediately appearing on his face and back. 

"Goddamnit Shun, be serious."

"I am, I'm Batman. Look." He said and pointed randomly causing the girl to look over before he began tiptoeing out of the area...or so he thought, as the girls just looked at him with deadpanned expressions.

"What are you doing?"

Shun paused and looked at the two. "C'mon. You're supposed to look away, let me disappear quietly."

"But really though, when did you get here?" Kitsume asked 

"Just now actually. I could feel a lot of familiar chakra so I came over." Shun said and looked around. "Why aren't you with Kakashi and Yusano over there?"

"Oh...we're from another unit, we all just came across each other here." She replied. "Izumi too, we were all gathering here when we felt five tailed beast Chakra over here."

"Oh? And the Kages?"

"Madara used some kind of Jutsu to banish them somewhere." Kimizu said.

"It's a Space-time Jutsu. I could never forget the like, even if I wanted to." Kitsume added. 

"Since when did Madara know any space-time Jutsu?" Shun wondered aloud but shrugged anyway. "Not that it matters."

"Confident as always."

Shun laughed at the remark. "You know me already."

"But where have you been?"

"Oh...here and there... preparing for the worst...that kind of thing." Shun said and began walking over to Yusano and Kakashi. He'd had something in mind ever since coming here.

"Yo." Shun greeted them as he approached them.

"Shun! You're finally here." Yusano cried and jumped to hug her little brother which Shun reciprocated.

"Yes sister, I've finally decided to grace you all with my presence." Shun said with a proud smile that caused Yusano to chuckle and punch him in the guts.

"Ouch."

"Oh don't be a baby now. That didn't hurt." Yusano snorted as she separated herself from him. "So? What made you finally come?"

"Nothing much, this war has already ended so I came to finish it up. You've all done everything humanly possible." Shun said and turned to the others who were intently watching Gai enter his final mode -Night Gai-

"Humanly possible?" Yusano frowned before she rolled her eyes at her little brother and just God complex. Although she found it cute at times, now wasn't the time for that. Despite that, she still had a bit of hope that he could put an end to the war.

"So..? Are you gonna help him or what? His life force is dwindling by the second." Yusano asked after she saw Shun nonchalantly stand there watching Gai.

"He's already going to die. After opening the last gate, his body can't possibly generate enough Vital energy to heal his wrecked body. His heart would stop as soon as he extracted everything he had to offer."

"And that's not good."

"No it's not."

"Then why aren't you doing something?"

"There's literally nothing I can do... okay that's a lie, I can do something but I don't want to."

"Can you do something about this? C'mon Shun help out Gai here." Kakashi, who had been watching Gai , snapped his head at Shun.

"Oh...no. Look at him... That's resolved right there. That man is already resolved to die to protect you all. Let him do just that."

"But that's abandoning him." Kakashi frowned and said angrily. "You can do something about it, then do something."

"...No." Shun said and turned away from Kakashi causing the guy to almost blow up in anger.

"Look, he's about to be killed." Shun said, as if commenting on some random occurrence.

At that moment, Madara who had just dug himself out of the rubbles Gai had just kicked him into. Half his body was totally crushed yet his regeneration just healed him back in seconds.

"Your flame is about to go out." Madara said as he took in deep breaths while his body regenerated. "Allow me to turn you to ash before you do that on your own."

Saying that Madara threw a Truth Seeking Orb at Gai.

Back with the group, Kimizu suddenly said, "He's about to kill him."

"Hmm, I can feel Madara's life force is already gone." Added Kitsume 

"Hmm." Shun hummed and suddenly smiled. "He's here."

"Huh?"

"Look..." Shun pointed forward causing everyone to look, only to see a yellow flash appear above Gai and kick the Orb away.

Madara observed the boy he had just killed a few minutes ago and asked. "You're back? And you look different from before."

Naruto's eyes were now fixed to a (+) sign, symbolizing his perfect control over the Six Path Chakra. Without even looking at Madara, he walked over to Gai and placed his right hand on his chest, immediately resuscitating him.

Fwip* In an instant, both Naruto and Gai were gone only to appear before Kakashi and the rest. "He's fine now, he won't die." Naruto said before disappearing once more and appearing before Madara who was still kneeling from the pain of Gai's kick to his chest.

And without missing a beat, Naruto created a small Lava Rasenshuriken which grew at an alarming pace before turning into a small sun which he threw at Madara.

Now, Madara might be strong, confident and all, but he wasn't stupid enough to think he could take that on. He only had one Rinnegan for crying out loud. And with a quick stamp of his feet, he was already gone.

Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough as Naruto was quick on his heels.

'Tch. In that case, [Limbo].' The Limbo clone immediately went on the offensive, but when Madara was about to let down his guard thinking that Naruto would be defeated, Naruto twisted his body dodging the attack.

'Nani? He evaded it?'

'That's Limbo?' Naruto thought curiously as he threw the rasenshuriken at Madara.

"Arrgh!"

"Explode!" With a command, the rotating ball of Lava exploded sending out a wave of wind pressure that severed the Tree completely. As for Madara, he laid dumbfounded in a crater underneath the tree as.

"..!?" A look of confusion suddenly appeared on his face as he heard strange Whispers in his head. "What..?"

{Take me within you.}

{Who?}

{Take the Divine Tree...Ten Tails, All of Me into You...}

While Madara and the consciousness of the Ten-Tails were having their discuss, the others weren't very calm at the moment.

The Divine Tree that towered into the sky had just been severed and was currently falling. It wouldn't take a genius to know that should that tree hit ground, there was a likelihood that the earth won't recover from that one.

"Naruto did that?" Izumi couldn't help the shock. Not even Gai with all his strength managed to create so much as a noticeable dent on the tree, but Naruto...Just one Jutsu and this....

While they were all beginning to panic, Madara suddenly shot up from the crater he was in and approached the falling tree, absorbing it into himself.

"Hmm?" A confused Naruto hummed as he saw the tree suddenly disappear. He was already back with the other Shinobis.

"Gai-sensei is okay. He's not gonna die." He said to the sullen faced Kakashi and Lee. 

"You healed him, Naruto? But I thought he'd activated the Eight Gates?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, but I feel like I can do all sorts of things now." Naruto said and looked at the sun seal in his right palm. 

"Of course you can do a lot of things, Naruto." 

"Shun!" Naruto turned to the owner of the Voice and exclaimed happily 

"I see you got an upgrade." Shun said and flicked him on his headband.

"Ouch. How come it still hurts?" Naruto asked in surprise as he held his forehead.

"You still have a long way to go if you think you can resist my attacks." Shun said, chuckling, then turning to Kakashi and the others, he said. "See? I told you everything will be alright."

...

In another part of the battlefield, Sasuke was currently releasing Tobirama, Anel, Ishikawa, Reto and Byakuren from their prison. Madara literally pinned them all with the Sage Rods rendering them immobile.

"Can you teleport, second?" Sasuke asked as he pulled out the last of the rods from Tobirama.

'He touches Madara's rods but isn't affected? What happened to him while he was starting to die?' Tobirama thought as he tried to stand up only to notice something and say. "I see..."

"Yeah, since I linked myself to Lord Fourth's markings...but sorry. At my current strength, I can only teleport one person."

"That's plenty. I alone need to go." Sasuke said.

"You brat...are you looking down on us or something?" Anel who also just stood up.

"No. I'm merely stating that you all are no longer suitable to participate in the forthcoming battle." Sasuke said as he shot the man a glance that made the man flinch a little.

"You...that eye...how did you get it?"

"I see...so you got an upgrade huh? We really have no place in the battle to follow." Byakuren said with a smile and sat back down.

"But to think we managed to see two Rinnegans in our lifetime.."

"Hey, technically we're dead." Reto said as he stretched himself. "And we can't heal anymore." He said. Previously, he thought it was because of the rod, but now, even with the rod removed he noticed that their bodies weren't healing anymore.

...

"I see. The Divine Tree itself is..." Madara muttered to himself as he finished absorbing the Tree. "Hahahaha, the time when all shall become one has come."

Ignoring the man talking to himself up in the sky, Shun turned to look at Naruto having some small talk with the guys around him.

"Naruto..." Gaara called out.

"Hmm?"

"When you become Hokage, let's share a drink."

"...Sure." Naruto said with a smile before disappearing once again. This time again, no one could actually keep up with his movements.

Shun observed that Kakashi had a look in his eye. "Is that Naruto?" Last time he saw the brat, the Nine Tails had just been extracted from him and he was on a sand bed with Gaara and Karin going to find Minato. 'Obito...did you...?'

Shun watched this all in appreciation as he got the answer to his question. 

'Neither Kakashi nor Obito knows of Rin's existence.' Shun surmised and tried to locate her through her mask only to discover that she was on another part of the battlefield with another familiar chakra. 

'Hmm, Konan is still alive it seems.' he thought as he felt they were actually treating the injured over there. 'I guess it's time she served her punishment in full.' 

...

In the Kamui dimension, Karin stood before a half kneeling Obito and said. "You're actually my enemy y'know. You hurt and killed so many of my comrades in this stupid war. I don't really want to say this but I'm going to consider you an ally just this one time and...Thank you for saving Naruto."

Karin bowed in utmost gratitude to the man who had made the lives of many people miserable. Despite all this, the fact that he managed to bring Naruto back was enough for her.

In truth, she didn't really care about him. If not for this war, she was sure she wouldn't have known this man, hell, Hanagakure could just watch the world burn without giving two fucks, but here they were.

Seeing Karin give him a curt bow, Obito couldn't help but remember another red head he had killed, and without accepting her gratitude, he said. "I have a favor to ask of you...one that doesn't need you to be an ally..."

....

Swish!

Naruto appeared right where he was before and picked up a random Hirashin marked Kunai and put it in his mouth.

He could already perceive a similar yet different chakra from his own a couple miles out.

"You cannot take me down. I'm essentially completely immortal now. I have obtained Eternity." Madara who was floating up in the sky said as he looked down on Naruto.

"You idiot. I ain't taking you down alone..." Naruto said as he tied up his headband.

"..?" The energy of a spatial turbulence suddenly shook the area Naruto was standing causing Madara to raise an eyebrow as Sasuke appeared.

"We will take you down." Both Naruto and Sasuke said at the same time. "Your time has come Madara."

"Heh. How humorous. You awakened the Six Paths Senjutsu...and You awakened the One-eyed Rinnegan, huh... However, I've got both powers together... remember?" Madara asked.

"This is the final Battle! My powers versus yours.. Let us settle who is superior, once and for all!!"

[Senpo: Shadow Style Thunder Blast!]

As Madara unleashed the jutsu, crackling tendrils of black lightning shot towards the duo with great speed and precision. Naruto merely threw his Chakra rod at the incoming tendrils in defense while Sasuke directly disappeared.

'Wha... Sasuke's gone?' Madara thought in shock as Sasuke directly disappeared from his Perception, Visual and otherwise. However, an instant later, he picked up on his chakra behind him.

'That eye... Instantaneous movement...so that's what it can do..No, it's not that he moved...' Madara thought, trying to come up with an explanation but Naruto wasn't having it.

"Tch." Madara clicked his tongue seeing Naruto appear above him and im a downward swing. '[Limbo]'

"!!!"

"!!?"

While Naruto was alarmed at his attack stopping mid-air, Sasuke was both alarmed and curious. Unlike Naruto who suddenly felt something block him, Sasuke saw a shadow of Madara appear suddenly and block Naruto's attack.

But Naruto wasn't a novice in close quarters combat, in one swift movement, he made for another attack but was blocked by that same thing.

'He did it again.' Naruto thought, but Madara was already getting annoyed. [Senpo: Storm Style, Fang of Light.] 

A compressed laser beam shot out of Madara's mouth, but Naruto was quick to dodge by tilting his body at an inhuman speed.

'Impressive. His observation Haki should be enhanced with the Six Path Chakra...' Shun thought as he stood with the group. Of them all, only he could actually see what was going on. Not even some Hyūga with them could.

Shun didn't put it above Hinata, but he didn't really care.

'Again! Something is coming at me.' Naruto thought and swung his rod at the thing, at the same time, Sasuke threw his sword towards the thing which unlike Naruto, he could see.

'It didn't hit.' Sasuke thought in alarm but Madara wasn't new to the battlefield as he took the opportunity from their confusion and kicked Naruto away.

"Sasuke! It's headed your way. Something I can't see is scrambling about." Naruto shouted as he got up from the crater he formed from the fall.

"Oh yeah? I can see it just fine." Sasuke said and dodged an attack from the invisible clone.

'They can see my Limbo?' Madara thought, getting increasingly annoyed.

"It's another Madara." Sasuke said to Naruto. 

'The Rinnegan is allowing him to see it. And Naruto...you can't see it but you can sense it.' Madara quickly concluded. One should know that Madara was one of the two strongest of his time.

To survive and have that title didn't depend on Strength alone. Wits and intelligence were all a part of it, and while Naruto and Sasuke were still trying to understand their foe, he had already gotten a good read on their ability.

"It seems our physical attacks have no effect on this other chakra." Sasuke said.

"Yeah figured as much. But I don't think it's just physical attacks." Naruto said.

"Hmm, he did block your Six Paths Rod so..."

"Unfortunately, you don't have access to sage mode." Naruto looked at Sasuke before pulling one of his orbs to himself and converting it to a sword. "Here."

'Impressive children. Normally one shouldn't be able to sense or see it from this Realm. The me that exists in the Invisible Realm of Limbo. How'd they gain such power so suddenly?' Madara thought as he watched them.

'That Uchiha Sasuke...He awakened the straight pattern Choku-Tomoe Sharingan. Just like mine... Sasuke and I may share some relationship beyond just blood.' Madara thought and immediately shot towards Sasuke. "Then I think that left eye of yours will suit me quite well!"

Sasuke however, just looked at him like; Oh yeah? And the next moment, Madara found himself impaled by Sasuke's newest sword while still mid-flight.

"Huh?" Even Naruto was confused at the turn of event. 'When did he throw the sword? Or is that his new Ability? What's that?' Naruto wondered too. 

'So that's how your left eye ability, huh...'

"Then try it." Sasuke said to Madara. "That's not enough to kill you, is it?" 

Despite the blood flowing out of his chest, Madara still looked like he was having a field day.

"Hmm." Madara hummed and looked at his Limbo Clone only to see a similar sword protruding out of its back. 

'The Six Paths Sage Chakra can affect the shadow Madara too. That wound from his right arm is from when he blocked Naruto's attack earlier.' Sasuke thought. "Seems your shadow returns to your body after a fixed amount of time."

"Naruto, if and when his shadow emerges again you ho after the shadow. I'll take on the visible one however." 

"Heh, it's always annoying taking orders from you. Some things apparently never change, huh?" Naruto said but knew that Sasuke's reasoning was spot on.

Sasuke didn't have the Six Paths Chakra that Naruto has, so he couldn't deal damage to the Shadow. Since that was the case, it was only reasonable that he took that one on.

And while Naruto and Sasuke were making up their plans of action, Madara was too.

'He's postulating the Limbo's duration, activation interval and how to counter it. He's got sharp intuition. Calm analyzing and judgment skills and a Sharingan just like mine. If he's only been born earlier than Obito, I'd have...No. there's no point in reflecting on what could've been. No matter what happens, I just have to keep In mind that these two are no ordinary brats... I need to get my other eye back soon.'

A surge of chakra however, brought his attention back to the battle as...

[Senpo: Magnet Style Rasengan.]

The chakra within the Rasengan took on a dual-colorization, with alternating bands of blue and red energy swirling together in a mesmerizing pattern. 

[Chidori.]

Sasuke's chidori, unlike its usual appearance, had a very distinctive black color together with a very destructive feel to it.

"Naruto, shoot your Jutsu right at me. I'll take care of the rest."

"Oh-ho? With pleasure." Naruto smirked without  questioning Sasuke and shot at Madara.

Madara who was beginning to get confused suddenly found himself displaced spatially and before he knew it he was being bombarded with destructive energies of different elements.

"Naruto. That Jutsu the old man gave you! You know what I mean?"

"Yup! This is the moment." Naruto replied…however, if only it were that simple.

"He shifted!" Naruto said. "Yeah! I noticed!" Sasuke said, almost rolling his eyes at this friend of his.

'He substituted in…his shadow?' Sasuke analyzed. 

"Over there! Sasuke, I'll hold this one down, you go after the main body." 

Madara was already flying at speeds that would put any one of the Raikages to shame, and Sasuke, despite being an Uchiha and all that, wasn't fast enough to catch up on land. Naruto maybe, but definitely not him.

So with that in mind, he made to spatially displace Madara once again but found that he couldn't. "Kuh!" He closed his eyes as it throbbed in pain.

'I see. Looks like his Rinnegan can't reach this far away. I'm starting to understand your left eye abilities, sasuke.' Madara thought in glee as he flew away.

"Hurry, Sasuke! Madara is heading towards…Kakashi-sensei!!"

And faster than anyone could actually follow, Madara approached Kakashi from behind before gouging out the Sharingan from his left eye sockets and putting them in his. 

Meanwhile, in the Kamui dimension, Obito had asked Karin to destroy his Rinnegan as he wasn't sure he had the endurance to hold off Black Zetsu any longer.

"Hurry, Karin. The fate of this world depends on you now." Obito urged but Karin was still a little bit apprehensive. 

"Alright." She said, however, it was too late as a swirl appeared within the dimension and Madara..? Half of Madara burst in with anger screaming. "No you don't!" And shot a chakra rod at her.

The anger on his face was palpable, maybe due to his missing lower half or maybe due to the affront about to be committed by Obito.

Just seconds ago, while he was trying to heal the Sharingan he had harvested and sync it with his chakra, Sasuke had appeared out of nowhere and sliced him in two. 

It was only due to his immense vitality that he could still move around like this. However, that didn't change the fact that mere kids actually made him this miserable.

As the rod approached the unassuming Uzumaki, Obito grit his teeth and cast the Kamui on the Karin, sending her away from the dimension.

"You…are Karin? Shun's student?" Kakashi asked and looked around only to see a select few still around him.

Yusano, Izumi, Kimizu, Kitsume, Sakura, Itachi and Shisui. As for the rest, they had wisely retreated from the area of battle as they knew they could actually input nothing. Plus, Gai needed special treatment. A few of the Konoha nine were here though. Gaara wasn't as he had to transport Gai smoothly without further hurting him.

"Karin-chan. Fancy seeing you here." Shun said with a smirk seeing her.

"Sensei…you're finally here. I'm gonna kill you." She snarled and jumped at Shun but he only tapped her head paralyzing her from neck down.

"Calm down now, we're at war. What's the situation with you appearing out of nowhere." Shun asked and she snorted.

"She'd been taken to the other plane by Obito…right? Karin, What's going on over there?" Kakashi asked as blood dripped down his cheek.

Seeing the man bleeding, Karin made to stand up to heal him but found it impossible. "Do you mind?"

"Oh." Shun said and dispelled the paralysis.

"Your eye…" Karin began as she came to heal it up. 

"It happened in a flash. Seems Madara stole my Sharingan." Kakashi said.

"No wonder. Let me see."

"Don't mind me, what if Obito? I'm sure Madara used my Sharingan to teleport himself there…"

"Yeah. One moment I was about to destroy the Rinnegan, and then I blinked and I'm out here." Karin said and narrated everything that happened to her since Naruto left.

"Dammit! We're in trouble now." Some of the younger ones there complained while others just wore grim expressions.

Itachi, Izumi, Shisui and Sasuke were having a little talk by the side while Shun just watched on with a calm face.

…

With his hand inside Obito's chest, Madara said. "The curse seal tag I placed on your heart is gone. How'd you remove it? You shouldn't have been able to damage it yourself."

"I had Kakashi stab through me…and got rid of it that way…since it was in the way…of me making myself into the Ten-Tails Jinchuuriki…I gambled my life on it…but I wasn't going to keep doing what you wanted…" Obito replied with ragged breath.

Madara merely chuckled in disdain. "That's where you're wrong. You did exactly as I'd intended."

"What's so funny?" Obito asked.

"A curse seal meant to make you a puppet that'd restrict your movements should you try to remove it from inside the body it's implanted in. Looks like you knew it, Obito. About these curse tags I have implanted in the two of you…Naturally, you couldn't have killed yourselves either…since you both were my precious pawns."

"The…Two Of You?" 

"Call it fate or karma, but it's ironic that the both of you ended up getting rid of them via the exact same method…" Madara said and immediately, an image flashed in Obito's mind.

The same method…Kakashi just removed his through a stab to the chest…The only other person to have been stabbed that same way in the chest that he was familiar with was…

"Rin..!?"

"That's right. That plot to make that lass into the three tails Jinchuriki and have her rampage through Konoha was mine, not the Mist's. That lass took advantage of Kakashi's move towards the enemy to foil it and the cost of her life. But that too was part of my plan. In order to pitch you into the darkness and make you my pawn." 

The look on Obito's face was already one of immense horror and agony, yet Madara.

"You deliberately had me see it?" He asked through gritted teeths.

Madara then went on about how he had anticipated Minato's movements during that war, how he had manipulated the Mizukage of that time to kidnap and seal the Isobu in Rin. How he had asked the Zetsus to tell him things, when to tell him, how to tell him and where to tell him things.

"Why… Why me?"

"You were genuinely devoted to and kind to others. Wasn't elder care your specialty? Your deep love for Rin, for your comrades, for the Hokage and all other Shinobi. Once you fall into the darkness, it would conversely transform into an equally profound hatred for this world." Madara answered.

"There's just one more thing I need for things to fully go my way…I'll be taking that left eye back."

…

"This should do it. You can't move anymore." Naruto said happily as he struck the third Rod through the Shadow Madara and created a clone. "I'm leaving him to you."

"Sure. You can count on me." Replied the clone.

–

"So that's what Obito said, huh?"

"We have no idea when they might emerge, so keep your guard up." Sasuke said before snapping his head to the side.

"What about just Shadow?"

"My shadow clones and I have immobilized him with the Six Paths Rods." Came a reply as Naruto appeared again.

"Naruto-kun." Karin called him endearingly which all but Naruto himself noticed.

"Ah. Karin-chan. Let me." He said after giving her a smile. He then walked over and pulled her hands away from Kakashi's eye.

"Huh?" Karin was confused at the development, but before she could voice her confusion, Naruto placed his hand on Kakashi's eye and casually gave him a new eye.

Shun watched the interaction with a wry smile. 'For real though…where's the equality here?'

"No way! How'd you do that?" Sakura asked. Karin too looked curious. Not even with her physique could she hope to do something like this. This was basically Godlike. Growing out a new eye from an empty socket? Which human could do that?

Nohuman. That's who.

"Er…it's kinda hard to explain but…I took part of Kakashi-sensei and then kinda em.."

"I was telling everyone not to let their guard down, Naruto." 

"Huh? But it's the first time I'm hearing of it."

"Yeesh. Quit your cheeky talk back for once Naruto. And you still owe me an explanation." Sakura said.

"Madara took Kakashi's eye and went to where Obito was. He'll emerge next with both his Rinnegan in him."

"What?! For real?"

"Hey Sasuke." Kakashi suddenly called out. "What's your dream now?"

Last time, it was to get answers from his brother. The anger and hate in him back then was palpable. Despite Shun's efforts, Sasuke was still hellbent on his path.

"Team 7 coming back together again like this is perhaps destiny. Sasuke, if you don't want to tell us what you are really thinking right now, that's fine. However, the fact that we were once team 7…that fact has never changed, right?"

Before Sasuke could reply though, there was a sudden shift in space which only a few of them noticed. Kakashi included. "Here he comes."

For some reason, while all this was going on, Shun's presence with the group suddenly thinned and by the time Madara was out of the Portal, his presence was gone entirely.

The reason being that he didn't want to spoil the fun the kids were having. Of everyone gathered here, only Naruto and Sasuke could actually hope to inflict any form of damage to Madara, yet, everyone was so gung-ho about fighting.

Shun wasn't one to dissuade anyone from fighting. It was through fighting that one grows after all and everyone standing here were pillars that would hold the future of this world.

Whether that pillar was steady or squeaky would depend on how he took this battle. He could be their protector, but he won't be their babysitter. They could go and fight, get injured, get beaten to an inch of their life, and Shun wouldn't Interfere. However, should they be close to death, he would stop that from happening. 

And so Karin and Sakura, two emotionally confused girls rushed at Madara, and while Karin was a little bit wiser than normal, Sakura just went in headfirst.

Well, Sakura was also wise as her Mitotic Regeneration Technique was already activated, so as long as she had chakra, she won't actually die. Karin on the other hand made use of her chains to hold him in place. Not that he was going to dodge though.

Anyways, mid punch, Sakura found herself impaled by a chakra rod, but gathering her willpower, she still went through with the motion and threw the punch. 

Luck however, wasn't on her side as she struck an invisible wall.

'An invisible wall? I can't reach him…' she thought while Karin was just shell shocked at how easily her chains were snapped .

While the two ladies were in a state of shock, Naruto and Sasuke immediately flashed beside them and pulled them away from danger.

While Naruto saved Karin, Sasuke saved Sakura. 

Shun smiled at this development. While Sasuke wasn't as cold as he was in the original, he wasn't all that of a romantic either. However Shun could tell Sasuke appreciated Sakura. Not as a lover, but as a close friend, which was something in his books.

"Are you okay?" Sasuke asked coldly without looking at her. 

"Yeah." She said but looked downhearted as she saw that he wasn't even looking at her. "I'm alright."

"Naruto!" Sasuke suddenly yelled.

"Yeah! I know! There are more of them, right?"

"..?!" Was basically what was floating atop everyone's head during their short conversation.

It was also then that Sakura noticed something. 'That left eye…is that a Rinnegan?'

[Ice Style: White Out!] Yusano took advantage of the lapse in everyone's guard and shot a white beam at Madara, unfortunately, similar to Sakura, it was met by an invisible wall.

"It's no use. Only Senjutsu can hurt them." Sasuke said 

"Them?"

"Yeah. Shadow Clones in the very essence of it."

"Like…real shadows?"

"Hmm. And invisible at that." Naruto said.

"But you two-"

"I can see them while Naruto can sense them." Sasuke replied.

"So we're basically useless while being burdens." Izumi sighed. "I never thought this day would come so soon." 

"Yeah…the little brats from back then have surely grown." Yusano said with fake tears.

And while they were in a joking mood, Shun was facepalming at his oversight. 'Seems like a world wide reward will be necessary after this war ends.'

'Madara's got four Shadows now…' Sasuke thought grimly. 'And there's only two of us…wait hold up. Doesn't Naruto have the shadow clone Jutsu?'

"Enough with the sideshow." Madara said and flew up. Opening his hand condensed Nature Energy in its raw form gathered before scattering all over the place.

[Catastrophic Planetary Construction.] 

"What's he up to now?"

As if to answer Kakashi's question, an earthquake suddenly struck as the ground began to quake and shatter before rising up to the sky, and in no time, massive meteors were suspended in the sky.

"Th-this is the Six Paths Power..?"

"They're bigger than Pain's…and a lot more of them."

"Don't be distracted by what's above! His shadows are here on the ground with us." Sasuke said, drawing back everyone's attention.

Madara's voice then sounded from the sky as he said. "They're a bit more solid and larger than raindrops but…"

"Here they come." Naruto said and created shadow clones to go on the defensive, however…

"Heh. And here I thought our time to Shine has passed. You Uchihas up for this?" Yusano said with a grin.

"Since the day I was born." Was Shisui's reply as he took off his eye patch to reveal a pale red Sharingan lying Within. That was his other Mangekyou Sharingan, stolen by Danzo and later retrieved by Sasuke.

Due to having been misused, its light was basically gone and was therefore useless. Now however, with the two eyes together, he was sure he could conjure a Susanno capable of shattering a few of these meteors.

Looking around, Izumi and Itachi all looked resolutely at each other before nodding at them, and at the same time, they all activated their Susannos.

Yusano seeing this wasn't to be outdone and with a loud clap, she gathered every single drop of chakra in her body, but before she completed the Jutsu, she turned to Kakashi. "Make sure to take care of my body after this. I can't trust that little brother of mine. One moment he's here the next he's gone."

"Hmm." Kakashi nodded.

"[Ice Style: Supreme Ice Goddess] 

As her technique was activated, a strong chill suddenly pervaded the battlefield but quickly disappeared as soon as it came, and in the spot Yusano once stood, a gigantic humanoid figure gradually formed.

Shun observed this technique with both awe and trepidation, if she continues like this, Shun was sure she'd die at worst or end up crippled at best after it's released.

Many might not notice it, but this technique was actually siphoning off the cold energy of the world. Basically, she was forcefully using my breathing technique to make herself a Goddess.

Names have Power and Naming a Technique like that without proper mastery of it could lead to unforeseen circumstances. With a wave of his hand, Shun sent a good portion of neutral Natural Energy into the Avatar to stabilize it…he also did the same to the Susanoos.

This way they could actually have enough power to shatter those meteors.

Meanwhile, the Uchihas were making waves as they went about destroying one meteor after another. And while Naruto's clones dealt with Madara's Shadows, Sasuke and Naruto joined in destroying the meteors while also keeping the others who couldn't attack safe from harm's way.

'There's no end to them.' they all thought, as with everyone destroyed, another would just take its place.

"Wow…" Sakura and Karin said at the same time as they watched the spectacle in front of them. If anyone said that Shinobis were actually fighting here, no one would believe them.

'This was basically a battle of Gods.' She thought.

"I'm telling you." Shun agreed with her thoughts as he stepped out of his concealments. 

"Gyah! Shun-san/Shun-sensei! You're still here?" They both asked at the same time.

"I never left, I just stood in one spot and moved so fast that you all couldn't see me anymore." Shun said with a smile.

"And you expect us to believe that?"

Shun shrugged but said nothing. 

"Uh…"

"Yes, Sakura?"

"Aren't you going to help them?" 

"What do you mean? I'm already helping them. Look at the Uchihas, do you think they'd have that much stamina and chakra to split meteor after meteor without going blind by now? And my sister…you all might not have felt that chill on a deeper level, but do you think she would survive this transformation just because she trained it? That's an unfinished technique I introduced to her. She's not ready to use it but used it anyway. If not for my help, she'd be mist flowing around by now."

"Mist?"

"Yeah, imagine when water turns to ice, but then instead of going back to being water, it directly transforms to mist. That's what would happen if I didn't interfere."

"..." Kakashi merely squinted his eyes at me and Shun smiled back before looking up and smiling even brighter. 

"Remember that new world I always talked about, Kakashi?"

…

High up into the night sky, while Naruto and Sasuke as well as the others were occupied destroying the meteors, Madara was looking directly at the moon with his third eye open.

'According to the stone tablet…when one possesses the power of the Rinne-sharingan…they should draw near to the moon…The Eye that can reflect off the moon and Grant infinite Dream Shall Open.'

"Shine Upon the World… Mugen Tsukuyomi!" Madara declared 

…

"Remember that new world I always talked about. Kakashi?"

"Hmm. A world where only those with true power will have the right to talk…yup."

"You may have probably thought that I was just a genius with character or ambition or something like that…"

"Heh, weren't you?"

"Of course I am. But you see, unlike Naruto, Sasuke and the Uchihas over there, it's you three I actually appreciate. Mere Humans with no bloodline…yet, you are capable of standing on the same pedestal…it may sound ironic but…despite my love for humanity…the normal mundane humanity…A lot of them have to die for this new world to actually take root."

"What are you saying, Shun?" Kakashi asked and slowly stood up.

"I'm saying…it's time."

"SHINE UPON THE WORLD…MUGEN TSUKUYOMI!!"

********

A/N: This is a 6.5k words Chapter. It'll be a hassle posting daily chapters of this length so feel free to check out the entire thing on Patre@n.