65

Chapter 65

Naruto and Akane vs. The Four Hokages!

The Nichibotsu Temple was located in the north of Hi no Kuni. If one were to be more specific, it was located several dozen kilometers from the Valley of the End, which bordered Ta no Kuni. Located essentially in the center between Ta no Kuni and Tetsu no Kuni, it was the perfect place to wait for the army of White Men.

Situated high atop a mountain, Nichibotsu Temple held a majestic appearance that seemed both ancient and new. The well-maintained buildings were large, impressive structures that spread out across the grounds.

The main gate that allowed one to enter the temple was an impressive object in and of itself. Made from numerous wooden columns, it was two-stories in height and possessed a slanted roof made of ceramic tiles. Immediately after passing through the gate, anyone entering would see the lecture hall, the main hall, and the pagoda. While the main hall was a place of worship, filled with statues and numerous displays, the lecture hall was where numerous meetings were held. The pagoda, a three-story structure made of slanted roofs and golden leaf, served as something of a burial ground. Naruto had been told the remains of several priests were stored there.

It was kind of creepy.

Konoha's army was not allowed inside the temple. The priests had been very strict about this, and Kakashi didn't want to upset them, so the group set up camp several kilometers away from the temple itself. Ultimately, their goal was not to fight at the temple anyway. It made little difference where they were stationed.

Naruto had visited the temple with Kakashi when they had first arrived, but outside of the standard greeting and pleasantries, the priests had mostly ignored them. Actually, when Naruto had visited, he got the distinct impression that most of them were glaring at him. It seemed they were a rather insular group and didn't appreciate outsiders.

It had taken one week to reach Nichibotsu Temple. After reaching their destination, the army set up a small base. They did this by clearing the forest in a twenty kilometer radius, setting up perimeter seals, and then erecting temporary structures to serve as barracks, medical ward, and command center. Overall, there were about two hundred tents that ranged in size from simple four person tents to sixteen person tents.

Naruto stood inside of the command center along with Akane, Kakashi, Shikaku, Yugito, Darui, Maito Gai, Asuma, Kurenai, Tsume, and Temari. They were the leaders who would be in charge of the divisions.

The group was standing around a table that had a map of the Elemental Nations. It wasn't as detailed as the one in the Command Centre back in Konoha, but they couldn't bring that one. Also sitting on the table were several shogi pieces. Shikaku was using them to illustrate the positions of their enemies and their allies.

"According to a report from our spies, the army has entered Hi no Kuni and is traveling inland toward Konoha." As he spoke, Shikaku moved the shogi piece representing the 50,000 strong army. "The army is currently stationed right here. However, they are making quick progress toward our location. The Anbu in charge of watching them have said that this army hasn't eaten or slept since they began marching. I'm not sure what these things are, but thanks to that, they moved a little faster than I anticipated."

They had originally anticipated that it would take them three weeks to reach Konoha. However, this was under the assumption that the army they were about to face was full of regular soldiers.

People needed to eat and sleep in order to remain in peak condition. While shinobi were trained to go for long periods of time without food and rest, that didn't mean they should. An army marches on its stomach, but this army seemed to have been made of creatures who didn't even have stomachs.

"As it stands, we just barely made it ahead of them." Shikaku glanced at the ninja currently inside of the tent and summed up his thoughts. "We'll have about one day of rest, maybe two, and then those White Men will be on us."

"It's a good thing we rushed to get here," Kakashi mused as he scratched his cheek. Giving the map a moment of contemplation, he turned to Temari. "Any word on when Gara will arrive?"

"It probably won't be for another few days," Temari answered as if she'd been expecting that. "I received a messenger hawk just a few hours ago. It was from Gara. He said they've entered Hi no Kuni and are making their way here."

"In which case, we will need to hold out for several days." Kakashi took a deep breath. "Have we managed to get a more accurate estimate on how large the enemy force is?"

The initial estimation was 50,000. However, that was a rough estimation that Naruto had made based on the memories he received from his clones.

"We've managed to get a more accurate accounting of our forces numbers," Shikaku said. "Naruto's initial estimation was a bit off. The army is about 60,000 strong."

"That doesn't sound good," Asuma mumbled.

"An army that large is going to be trouble," Maito Gai admitted. "While I am confident in our ninja, even the best ninja will fall when faced with such an overwhelming number of enemies."

"I'm afraid it gets worse," Shikaku said to the group.

"How can it get any worse?" asked Kurenai.

Shikaku gave her a look that truly defined the word grave. "The four Hokages and Sakumo Hatake aren't the only people who Orochimaru reincarnated."

Naruto felt a slight shiver run down his spine as he glanced at the others, noticing the worry on their faces. Those White Men were one thing. Their strength was negligible at best. However, if they were supplemented by reincarnated ninja… well, that was a problem.

"Who else have they reincarnated?" asked Kakashi.

Everyone present stared at Shikaku, who looked more resigned than Naruto had ever seen him.

"The Anbu who sent the latest report claims they've reincarnated the former members of Akatsuki."

"You… can't be serious!" Temari exclaimed.

"I am dead serious." Shikaku's expression really was resigned. "Deidara, Hidan, Kakazu, Kisame, Sasori, and even Itachi Uchiha. All of them have been reincarnated."

It was like the temperature had dropped by several thousand degrees. Naruto could practically see the icicles hanging in the air.

"Each one of those is an S-rank missing ninja," Kakashi muttered. "They all have a strength that is comparable to a Kage."

"If we add Yugito, Naruto, Akane, and yourself, then we only have four kage-level ninja who can contend with them." Shikaku's frown grew increasingly large. "Unfortunately, Naruto and Akane are going to be battling against the Four Hokages and Sakumo Hatake. That means only yourself and Yugito have the strength to deal with them in a one on one battle."

Everyone else remained silent as Shikaku spoke. He was their strategist. Even Kakashi didn't dare interrupt the man despite having become the Hokage.

"At any other time, I would have suggested creating several squads specifically to deal with this group." Shikaku sighed. "But that won't work either. We're an army of 5,000 strong going up against an army of 60,000. We're already grossly outnumbered, so we can't actually afford to spare any ninja to take them out."

Naruto stared at the map as he thought about this problem. It mostly came down to numbers. The simple fact was they didn't have the numbers to divert anyone from their post to take care of the reincarnated Akatsuki members. Perhaps if they did, they would have been able to do something. If he or Akane could spare some manpower, then… then…

"I might be able to help out." Naruto raised his head, causing everyone to glance at him.

"How can you help?" asked Asuma.

"Shadow Clones," Naruto answered with a smile. "With my normal chakra, I can summon over 10,000 Shadow Clones. However, when I use my Hybrid Mode, I can summon around 50,000. That should give us enough numbers to fight against this army and divert some forces to taking care of the Akatsuki members."

While several of the people inside of the tent like Maito Gai, Asuma, and Darui seemed to like the idea, Shikaku immediately vetoed it.

"The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu is a technique that splits your chakra in half to create a clone. If you split your chakra that many times, you'd barely have any left to fight with yourself."

Naruto was already aware of that, but he had still proposed it regardless. No one else seemed to have any ideas anyway.

"What else can we do?" asked Naruto. He stared at Shikaku and the others with a hard look. "We are outnumbered, outmatched, and currently have very few options available to us. This might be the only way to combat the army."

"You bring up a good point, but can you state confidently that you can defeat the Hokages after having your chakra exhausted by summoning an army of Shadow Clones?" asked Shikaku.

"Maybe." Naruto thrust out his chest. "I won't know until I try."

A strange tension seemed to fill the air as Naruto and Shikaku stared at each other. There was no hostility in either person's gaze, but it still felt like a battle of wills was happening between them.

Naruto understood how reckless his actions sounded, but even so, he believed in his own strength. He had never tested the limits of his chakra capacity after merging with Yami. That said, he knew that his reserves were nothing to scoff at. According to Akane, he had potentially even more chakra than she did because all of her chakra had been transferred to him when his mom removed the seal. He was sure he could do this.

However, just before anyone else could speak, another voice spoke from the entrance.

"Perhaps I… no, perhaps we can be of assistance."

Everyone looked over to find a beautiful woman with blue hair and amber eyes with lavender eyeshadow standing by the entrance. No one knew how she had snuck into their base. However, when everyone saw the black cloak with red clouds that adorned her body, they immediately drew their weapons.

"I am not here to fight with any of you," Konan said.

"If you aren't here to fight, then what are you here for?" asked Darui.

In response to his question, Konan pointed at Naruto. Everyone froze when they saw this.

Naruto, who had been doing his best to remain calm, frowned at the woman. He sensed no killing intent in her. However, he could not forget that this woman worked for Pain, the man who had taken his sensei's life.

"Pain… no, Nagato wishes to speak with you," she said.

Naruto's right hand twitched several times, but he did his best to keep it still as he stared at the woman. He glanced briefly at everyone else. None of them looked happy with her words. In fact, Kakashi had even stepped forward.

"What makes you think we'll let him go see Pain? We have no reason to trust you."

"That is true." Konan nodded in acknowledgement. "I understand that you do not trust us, but Nagato no longer has any reason to go after the Bijuu after what happened. What's more, the reason he cannot go after the Bijuu is Orochimaru. We both have a common enemy. However, before we decide whether or not to join forces with you, he wishes to speak with Naruto." As she talked, her gaze had not once left his. "You both share the same sensei. That being the case, he believes you both share the same dream. That is why he would like to speak with you."

Naruto took several deep breaths as his emotions surged, as hatred warred with common sense and logic. Should he refuse to meet with Nagato out of hand? He wanted to. He wanted to so badly he could almost taste it. However…

Nagato is powerful.

He remembered the strength Nagato had displayed during their battle in Amegakure. That kind of strength could not be so easily dismissed.

"I'll go with you," Naruto said, much to the satisfaction of everyone present. Before they could express this, he pointed at Akane. "So long as she is allowed to come with me as well."

Konan glanced at Akane, nodded, and then turned to him. "That will not be a problem."

"Then lead the way," Naruto said with a gesture of his hand.

XoX

Konan led Naruto and Akane to a cave not far from where their base was located, making Naruto wonder if maybe these two had been following him this whole time. The cave wasn't much. It was literally just a small cave buried in the face of a tiny mountain. When he and Akane stepped into the dark interior, it was to see a man trapped inside of a strange contraption.

The device containing the man was unusual. It looked like a capsule with legs. The bulbous capsule that contained the man known as Nagato reminded Naruto of an eggplant that had the top half cut off. Meanwhile, Nagato was sticking out of it, his arms jammed into a pair of cylindrical devices attached to a T-shaped protrusion from the back via several cables.

If the device was unusual, then the man it contained was just as odd. His red hair had bangs that covered one half of his face. His pale skin looked emaciated, with his rib cage completely visible beneath the skin. Several stakes were sticking out of his back. However, the most odd thing about him were the ripple-like eyes of his doujutsu. Naruto remembered Jiraiya calling them the Rinnegan.

"I see you've come," Nagato said, and though he looked like a cripple, his voice was deeper than Naruto expected.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he steadied himself. He couldn't stop the killing intent that leaked out of him. This man had killed Jiraiya.

"You are angry at me." It was not a question. Anyone could tell what Naruto was feeling just by looking at him. "Do you hate me for killing Jiraiya-sensei?"

"Of course I hate you," Naruto spat.

Nagato nodded. "That is natural. When my friend Yahiko was killed by Danzo and Hanzo, I felt the same hatred you probably do now. Like me, you understand the pain of loss." Nagato stopped talking for a moment as he observed Naruto. He glanced briefly at Akane as well, but most of his attention was on the young man. "Do you want to kill me?"

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Naruto sorted out his feelings quickly.

"Of course I want to kill you. You killed my sensei, brutally murdered numerous jinchurikki by stealing their Bijuu, and have a hand in the terrible situation we're currently facing. I want to kill you so badly that I'm barely able to restrain myself right now." Naruto raised his clenched fist, which shook as though he was resisting the urge to punch the man in front of him. Then he sighed and let the fist fall to his side. "But killing you would accomplish nothing. It won't stop that army, and it won't defeat Orochimaru."

Nagato seemed somewhat surprised by the pragmatism Naruto displayed, even if everything he said was true. Most people did not have the ability or foresight to keep themselves from taking revenge when the opportunity presented itself. Yet here they were. Nagato seemed practically defenseless, confined to a strange contraption like a cripple, a perfect target, but Naruto wasn't attacking him.

"Besides…" Naruto continued. "Killing you isn't what Jiraiya would want, and it won't bring him back either. Jiraiya believed in peace. He believed in creating a world where people could understand each other."

"You and I have both experienced the pain of losing someone we care dearly about," Nagato said. "Does that not mean we understand each other?"

"Don't try to twist my words to make it seem like we can somehow relate after everything that's happened!" Naruto snapped as his glare intensified. "The sort of understanding you're perpetuating only brings about more sorrow! It won't bring peace! How can we ever have peace if people are so busy hating each other they won't give another person the time of day?!"

"Then you do not think that letting everyone experience pain will bring about true peace?"

"Of course it won't!"

Naruto was breathing heavily by this point. His rasping pants filled the room, his chest and shoulders heaved from the force of his anger, and his mind had become a boiling pot. He couldn't believe this idiot. Who the hell had such delusional thoughts? Was this man really Jiraiya's first apprentice? What a piece of work.

"Then tell me something." Nagato gazed at him with those deep eyes. The ripple pattern in them disturbed him. "What do you believe should be done to attain peace? What do you think we should do to avoid war?"

Calming down by taking several deep breaths, Naruto thought about the questions he was being posed. How to attain peace. How to avoid war. They were more or less the same question, but peace and war weren't always on opposite sides.

"Attaining peace can only be done through understanding and compassion," Naruto said at last. "You have to understand the other person. Furthermore, you have to make an effort and reach out to that person. For a nation, that means reaching out toward other nations and joining hands."

Naruto thought his words were logical and well thought out, but Nagato snorted. "You can afford to have these lofty ideals because you live in a relatively peaceful village, but what you fail to realize is that your village, Konoha, has been a part of this problem for centuries. You of the Five Great Nations constantly wage war against one another, and the smaller villages like my own are often trampled on as a result."

Nagato closed his eyes. Beside him, Konan bowed her head. Naruto was so startled by the suddenly solem air permeating them that he couldn't think of anything to say. While he remained silent, Nagato began telling his story.

"I came from a small village inside of Ame no Kuni. It was a simple existence. I lived with my family, and even though we were very poor, I was happy." Nagato sighed as though tired. "But that happiness could never last. The Second Shinobi World War happened, and my parents were killed by Konoha ninja in the ensuing conflict."

Naruto sucked in a deep breath. He didn't want to say he felt bad for Nagato. He didn't want to admit it. However, he also couldn't lie to himself. Even so, he wouldn't show pity to someone like this. Not to this man.

"Your village is one of the many villages that have trampled upon the weak, killing and murdering without discretion." Nagato's glare suddenly hardened. "What gives you the right to talk about peace?! How is what I did any different from what your village did to me?! You speak of understanding and compassion, but the world isn't so kind, and people are not willing to understand others! Only when all the people in this world have felt the pain and fear of losing someone will they come to desire peace!"

Naruto took several steps back from the force of Nagato's shouting. The man who'd been taught by Jiraiya appeared frightening despite looking so frail—no, perhaps it was because he looked so frail that his anger was frightening. His emaciated visage was like something from a horror story told by children back in the Ninja Academy. The anger radiating from him in waves only served to further enhance his grotesque figure.

A heavy silence fell upon the cave. No one spoke up for a long time. Naruto could not think of anything to say, and Nagato appeared to be waiting for his response. Within this tense stalemate, someone snorted.

"The amount of emotion you humans display never ceases to amaze me," Akane said, stepping forward.

Nagato narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"

In response to his question, the smiling Akane let go of the transformation she was using. A pair of blood red ears popped on her head and nine bushy tails sprouted behind her back. Her transformation resulted in the eyes of both Nagato and Konan widening, but that only caused her to relish in their flabbergasted expressions. Grinning, she spread her arms wide.

"My name is Akane. However, the name most humans refer to me by is Kyuubi."

"Kyuubi," Nagato murmured, his eyes darting from Akane to Naruto and back again. "I see. You were somehow… unsealed… and this form. Why do you look human?"

Akane rolled her eyes. "Obviously because it is convenient. Do you know how difficult it is to travel when you're a giant nine-tailed fox? People everywhere attack you. It's all terribly annoying, so I use this form when traveling." She paused and cocked her head. "Well, that was the original reason. Ever since I was unsealed, I've used this form because I have decided to remain with Naruto."

"I… see…"

For the first time since this meeting began, Nagato seemed truly confused. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open. It was like his brain was having trouble comprehending the woman's words, simple through they were.

"Akane…" Naruto murmured.

"Humans are an altogether unpleasant group," Akane said. "You are constantly fighting, arguing, stealing, murdering, and taking from each other. I have lived for over a thousand years, and in that time, I have never seen this 'true peace' that you keep speaking about. The simple fact of the matter is that true peace is a lie. So long as there is someone who wants what other people have, there can never be true peace." Akane's smile was sardonic and filled with derision. "The only peace humanity will ever possess is the peace of the grave. When all humanity has been extinguished, perhaps then the world will know peace."

Naruto closed his eyes as he listened to the woman's words, which were a reflection of everything she'd been through. He knew she still thought this way. He also never blamed her for it. With his seventeen years of life, Naruto did not have the worldly experience that this ancient being possessed. She knew of things he did not simply from having lived for so long and seen so much.

Nagato was likewise silent. Whether this was because Akane's words shocked him or some other reason, Naruto could not say.

"That said…" Akane let out a deep, slow breath. "For as despicable as humans are, they are also infinitely interesting. I never cease to be surprised by their actions, and occasionally, there will come along one human whose thoughts differ from the rest. These people go on to do great things. Sometimes these great people bring about a peace that lasts for a time, sometimes they bring a great war that destroys huge swaths of land and takes the lives of numerous people, but all these people had one thing in common."

"And what is that?" asked Nagato, who had finally regained his voice.

"The effects of their desires and actions are always temporary," Akane declared. "No matter the atrocity, no matter the achievement, everything will eventually get swept away by the sands of time."

There was a moment of absolute silence, so deep and encompassing that Naruto dared not break it for fear of what would happen. However, Nagato took a deep breath.

"You are saying that even if I achieved my goal, it would only be temporary?" he asked.

"But of course." Akane smiled, and it was so bright and cheery that Naruto couldn't help but think she was mocking Nagato. "Let us say you accomplished your goal. The world experiences a pain so great they decided to sue for peace because they never wanted to experience that again. Perhaps for a time those people will indeed sue for peace. However, the people who eventually experienced that pain will pass away. The people they leave behind will be those who did not experience the pain you brought about, and among those people, there will eventually come a person whose ambitions are to dominate others. This person will gather like-minded individuals and begin his or her conquest, and then the cycle of war and peace will begin again. It has always been this way."

In the face of such a bold claim, no one could say anything to dispute her words. Naruto had already accepted that what she said was a fact. He knew, even if he didn't want to admit it, that true peace might very well be a lie. Perhaps it really didn't exist.

Nagato seemed to be struggling. A single glance at his face, which was twisted into something truly unpleasant, confirmed this.

Akane glanced at Naruto. Her eyes seemed to say it was his turn to speak. Realizing what she wanted, he stepped forward.

"Her words might be correct," he said at last. "Perhaps true peace cannot be attained." Nagato frowned at him. "But I also believe it is possible for us to avoid senseless war and bloodshed."

"And how do we do that?" asked Nagato.

Naruto closed his eyes. "By creating an order whose job is to uphold the peace." Opening them again, he stared at Nagato. "I will create a group who will work in secret to monitor the Elemental Nations and dispose of cancerous elements whose ambitions would bring harm to others. If we put out the sparks before they become a fire, we can achieve something close to peace."

Nagato remained silent for a long moment, and then spoke slowly. "According to the Kyuubi, such a group would only work for a time. There will eventually be someone who will destroy all that you have worked for and war will begin anew."

Nodding, Naruto smiled. "Yes, but even if I can only achieve a temporary peace, I'll be satisfied so long as the people can live with smiles for a time."

Taking a deep breath through his nose, Nagato grew pensive as he stared at Naruto, who did not dare break eye contact. There was no way to know what was going through that man's head. However, Naruto knew this moment would be the deciding factor in their conversation.

"I think I understand you very well, and you may have a point. True peace might indeed be impossible." The strength in Nagato's shoulders seemed to leave him. "Very well. You have convinced me. I will help you in this fight by taking on the ninja who have been reincarnated. I wish to see what sort of peace your way of doing things will bring about."

With those words, an accord was struck. Naruto gained an ally, and though it was not someone he wanted help from, he knew better than to not accept the help.

After all, given what they were up against, he and the others would need all the help they could get.

XoX

Hi no Kuni was a nation made mostly of forest, but that didn't mean the entire nation was all forest, and within the thick foliage were numerous large clearings.

It was one of those large clearings where the Konoha army had gathered. They stood within the foliage just before the clearing, on top of branches, behind trees, and under bushes. All of them were waiting on bated breath for the moment they would engage their enemy in combat. Sweat slowly dropped from their brows, leaving glistening trails. A few swallowed heavily as though trying to keep from being consumed by the tension. Mixed in with the standard blue and green of Konoha ninja was the black and white of Kumo ninja.

The clearing that spread out before them was large, a flat piece of land that easily spanned fifteen square kilometers. At the moment, there was nothing present, but all of the reports they had received indicated that the army of White Men was traveling toward this clearing.

Standing among these shinobi were several notable figures. The first among these figures was Naruto, whose spiky blond hair and blue eyes made him easily recognizable. Akane, the redheaded beauty, stood next to him. Temari, Yugito, and Tenten were also nearby, prepared to lend a hand at any given time, though their job was different from Naruto's and Akane's.

Of course, there was also Pain and Konan, a pair who recieved many incredulous glances, though whether that was because of Pain's emaciated figure or the Akatsuki cloaks they were was anyone's guess. They stood out the most. Pain was leaning on Konan's shoulder as the woman supported him. It was enough to make people wonder what business this cripple had on the battlefield.

Kakashi stood at the very head of this army. His single eye was narrowed as he stared at the clearing, watching it for some sign of movement. Alongside him were the captains who would be leading the charge once the battle took place. The only one not present was Tsume, who had a different task from the rest of them.

"I sense a large amount of chakra signatures coming," Nagato suddenly said as he raised his head.

Grimacing as the man spoke, Kakashi said, "then I guess it's about time we all got ready." Lifting his headband, the man revealed his Sharingan eye and raised his hand.

The world around them became quiet. All of the nervous movements from the ninja who were preparing to battle slowly settled down, until not even a rustle could be heard. These weren't some green as grass Genin. Everyone there was at least a Chunin, and they all had experience with combat, if not war.

At that moment, something emerged from the trees on the other side of the clearing. It was a single man. He had spiky blond hair, blue eyes, and looked a lot like Naruto would if he was a few years older. This man stared at the other side of the clearing with a stern frown that didn't suit his face.

"Minato-sensei…" Kakashi sucked in a breath.

After a moment, another man appeared. It was the white-haired Nidaime Hokage. He was quickly followed by the Shodaime and Sandaime Hokages. The last person to emerge was none other than Sakumo Hatake.

The four Hokages and Sakumo stared into the forest at the other end of the clearing, where Konoha's army lay in wait. It was obvious to anyone they had been spotted. However, the five reincarnated ninja did not do anything right away.

Following their appearance, even more figures emerged. It was the White Men who reminded Naruto of Zetsu if Zetsu had been split in half. They came out of the forest in droves, thousands of them, so many that it was nearly impossible to count them all.

Among the White Men army were several more reincarnated ninja. They wore black cloaks with red clouds. There was a man with blond hair covering one of his eyes, a man with slicked back white hair, a man with a hunched back, a man whose skin looked rough and had eyes with no whites, a black-haired man with Sharingan eyes, and a man who looked like a walking shark.

"I guess we're up," Naruto said as he looked at Akane.

"I suppose so." Akane sighed as though this whole situation was more trouble than it was worth. "I'm not really a fan of fighting, but I guess there's no helping it."

"We will deal with the reincarnated Akatsuki members," Nagato announced.

Naruto wanted to ask what he could do in his condition, but he didn't. If this man said they would deal with the former Akatsuki members, then it meant he had confidence in his ability to do so. The man had the Rinnegan. He probably had some tricks up his sleeves.

"We'll leave them to you," Kakashi agreed. "Naruto?"

"Right."

After taking a deep breath, Naruto undid the lock that kept his powers in check. The people standing near him backed off when chakra exploded from his body. It was not the blue chakra that a human possessed, nor the red chakra of a Bijuu. It was a dark purple, a mix between the two colors.

The ground beneath his feet cracked. Fault lines spread out and widened. However, Naruto ignored that as his body transformed. His hair grew longer and went from blond to a deep red, the whisker marks on his face turned jagged like thick scars, his eyes went from blue to purple and the rounded pupils became slits, and finally, his nails turned into sharp claws.

Unknown to Naruto, nine objects resting on the inside of his shirt began to glow the moment he unleashed his Hybrid Mode.

Everyone who saw the transformation looked at him in shock, but that shock was nothing compared to how they acted when Akane suddenly revealed her true form. There was no exploding chakra like what happened with Naruto. A pair of fox ears simply appeared on her head. Then nine bushy red fox tails unfurled from her back. Numerous eyes widened when they saw those, but no one dared say anything. Now wasn't the time anyway.

As the chakra from Naruto surged like the rising tide, the army led by the four previous Hokages and Sakumo moved. They ran across the field as though rushing to their deaths. However, given who these people were, it was clear that the euphemism didn't truly work.

"Let's go, Akane."

"I'm right behind you."

Before the eyes of everyone, Naruto and Akane vanished. There was no forewarning. They were just gone. Not even a split second after they disappeared, a massive explosion of energy and sound slammed into them. Everyone held their hands to their ears as the wind howled and the world shook. Kakashi, who also had a hand to his ears, watched with his Sharingan eye as Naruto and Akane attacked five of the most powerful ninja to have graced the Elemental Nations.

It was unlike anything he had ever seen. Naruto and Akane had appeared in front of the group with a speed that seemed unreal. Even his Sharingan had trouble keeping up with it. A small orb of spinning chakra took shape in Naruto's hand. Then Akane added her own chakra into the mix, turning the spinning purple sphere into a gigantic red ball that was easily two times the size of a human. Naruto slammed the sphere into the ground in front of the Hokages and Sakumo, which detonated with a power that was unlike anything he'd ever witnessed before.

Of course, the people those two were fighting were not some wet behind the ears ninja. They reacted with instincts and reflexes honed from years of combat training and warfare. The Shodaime, Sandaime, and Niidaime Hokages and Sakumo lept backward to avoid the massive explosion. Meanwhile, Minato used the space-time ninjutsu he was known for, the Hiraishin, to teleport himself away.

Seconds after the attack exploded against the ground, the fierce winds from the jutsu slammed into them. Kakashi and the others had to keep themselves grounded with chakra. While many of the ninja hunkered down to avoid being blown off their feet, he stared into the attack and watched as plumes of energy rose all around the clearing. That attack might not have hit the Hokages and Sakumo, but many of the White Men were blasted off their feet and some were even caught up in the explosion.

The attack eventually ended. When it did, the ninja present were able to see the damage that Naruto and Akane's collaboration Rasengan had caused.

"Holy shit," Temari mumbled. Kakashi couldn't disagree.

Spreading out before them was a massive crater that had to be at least fifty meters wide. Kakashi couldn't guess how deep it was. However, the size of the crater was impressive on its own. That said, he knew that now wasn't the time to be impressed. Raising his hand, he signaled to everyone that it was time to fight.

"Charge, everyone!"

A fierce battle cry went up as Konoha, Kumo, and Suna ninja rushed out of the clearing to meet the army of White Men. The attack from Naruto and Akane had done a good job of scattering the enemy forces. They were spread out now, which meant it would be easier to pick them off.

Kunai sailed through the air. Some had exploding tags attached to them, which detonated when they struck the ground, taking out numerous White Men with them. Several meters to Kakashi's left, Tenten took out two scrolls, opened them, and launched thousands of weapons from within. They struck more enemies, downing them with an almost insane degree of accuracy.

It wasn't just projectiles that soared through the air; several ninja had created a number of hand seals and shouted out the name of their respective jutsu.

"Fuuton: Reppusho (Wind Release: Gale Palm)!"

"Katon: Gokyaku no Jutsu!"

Several Suna ninja clasped their hands together, compressing the wind between their palms and transforming it into a powerful gale. As they launched the gale technique at the enemy forces, a number of Konoha shinobi inhaled deep breaths of air, and then spewed massive fireballs from their lungs. The fireballs converged, becoming bigger, and then they struck the gale technique.

It was like a firestorm. The moment the combination fireball technique struck the wind, the fire expanded rapidly into a tempestuous storm that seared the very ground. A large number of White Men were unable to do anything as the massive sheet of fire, which was reminiscent of a tidal wave, washed over them. Their bodies combusted as they were reduced to ash. They didn't even get a chance to scream.

Not wanting to be left out, Kakashi ran through a series of hand seals as he raced toward the the White Men. A spark appeared on his hand. It was followed by an intense crackling noise. The crackling turned into chirping. It was like one thousand birds had all began chirping at once.

"Raikiri (Lightning Blade)!"

Lightning appeared on Kakashi's hand. While it looked like nothing more than a mass of electricity at first, it quickly compressed around his hand, transforming into a sharp blade.

Channeling chakra into his feet, Kakashi suddenly disappeared as though he had used the Shunshin no Jutsu to randomly appear in front of a White Man. He sliced through the enemy's body without mercy. As the lower and upper halves flew in separate directions, Kakashi disappeared again, only to reappear and slice his hand downward. The enemy was split open from the top of his head down to his groin.

Using his speed and the predicting ability of the Sharingan, Kakashi sped through the White Men and cut them down. Dozens of enemies fell by his hands.

Some of the White Men tried to latch onto him, ganging up on him and pouncing, but Kakashi made judicious use of the Kawarimi no Jutsu (Substitution Jutsu) to replace himself with a log. Those same White Men who tried to attack him were mercilessly cut down. Legs, arms, and heads flew through the air and bodies hit the ground.

As Kakashi fought his own battles, all around him, others battled as well.

Including Konan and Pain.

XoX

"Katsu!"

High in the air, Deidara made a hand seal and the numerous clay objects surrounded Nagato and Konan exploded. The heat from the explosions was enough that the paper wings Konan was using to fly were singed. Even Nagato broke out in a sweat.

Nagato raised his hands as he activated the abilities of the Preta Path. A barrier formed around his and Konan's bodies, not only protecting them from the explosions, but absorbing the chakra that had been used to fuel the explosions in the first place. The flames surrounding them slowly dissipated as all the chakra was absorbed. With something akin to a pitiful cry, they disappeared.

"Hmmm… it seems I might be able to revitalize myself if I can absorb more chakra," Nagato murmured. He felt stronger than before. He wondered if this was the result of these things being reincarnated. Perhaps their near infinite well of chakra revitalize him. "Konan, try to get us closer to Deidara."

"Yes!"

Konan flapped her swings and ascended into the sky. However, before she could get too far, a surging tide of chakra alerted them both to danger from down below. They glanced down to see Kakuzu release a small fireball. While it didn't look like much, one of the masks he used released a powerful tornado-like mass that amplified the fireball's power. It soared up to them, and Nagato was forced to once more absorb the chakra using the powers of the Preta Path.

While he did that, Deidara quickly molded more clay in his hands and threw what appeared to be tiny spiders at the two of them. Nagato couldn't count all of them, but he judged there to be at least several dozen. The man formed a hand seal as the spiders fell.

"Katsu!"

Another explosion went off, but Nagato absorbed the chakra again. He was beginning to feel a bit better. If he could just absorb all the chakra from one of these reincarnated ninja, then…

"Amaterasu."

Black flames suddenly swarmed all around them as Itachi appeared in the air. Nagato grimaced as he kept his energy barrier up to absorb the chakra of those flames, but even though he was able to do so, the heat from the black fire made even him feel pressured.

While he was stuck absorbing the chakra, unable to move, another figure appeared over their heads. The blue-skinned Kisame grinned with his shark-like teeth as he descended and brought Samehada down on their heads.

"Konan!"

"Shikigami no Mai (Dance of the Formula Paper)!"

Konan quickly converted her chakra into paper, allowing her body and clothing to transform into numerous sheets of paper that split apart. With no one left to hold him, Nagato fell, which allowed Samehada to miss them both. The paper sheets then wrapped around Kisame, completely covering his entire body before exploding.

Nagato was pushed down by the massive blast of fire and chakra. Before he could hit the ground, Konan appeared behind him, transforming back into her original body before catching him. The two of them descended toward the ground. However, the moment their feet touched down, Hidan attacked with his scythe.

"Bind him!"

"I'm on it!"

At his order, Konan converted herself into paper once more. Hidan, who had raised his scythe to swing it down at them, suddenly froze as paper wrapped around his body. The paper quickly hardened to keep the man from moving. During this time, Nagato reached out and grabbed the man's face. He once more activated the Preta Path, absorbing the chakra within Hidan and using it to heal himself.

Nagato's body slowly changed as he absorbed Hidan's chakra, becoming less emaciated with each passing second. His exposed rib cage soon disappeared underneath a layer of muscle and fat. His scrawny legs that seemed unable to hold his weight gained mass. It was like he'd gone from being a mummy to transforming into a young man.

He wasn't able to completely recover. The chakra of a human didn't have that ability. He'd probably need to absorb a Bijuu's chakra to heal completely, but he looked and felt better now than he had in years.

Now that he no longer needed help to stand, Nagato went through several hand seals and slammed his hands into the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Knowing that he needed something hard to kill, Nagato summoned a giant multi-headed dog. The dog quickly attacked Kakuzu, who had been getting ready to launch another jutsu at him, forcing the man to dodge. While he back pedaled, hundreds of threads burst from his body. He wrapped these threads around the dog and squeezed. The dog's body burst apart, but rather than exploding into a gory mess, the dog merely split into two, and then three. The three dogs then attacked in unison.

With Kakazu being kept busy, Nagato activated the Asura Path. Four additional arms appeared on his body. Two of them arms transformed into cannons, which he aimed at Hidan. After taking careful aim, he fired a pair of intense chakra blasts from each cannon, and the pale blue chakra shot forward and slammed into Hidan, whose entire upper body exploded into ash.

Now that Hidan was at least temporarily out of the way, Nagato turned his attention on Kisame and Itachi, who were trying to box Konan in along with Deidara. He pointed his hands at them both and switched from using the Asura Path to the Deva Path. However, before he could help her, a long metal tail shot at him from his left.

"Shinra Tensei."

He repelled the tail with his jutsu. Several meters away was Sasori. Nagato pointed a hand at the hunchbacked figure and clenched his fists. A massive explosion went up. However, it wasn't an explosion of fire. Sasori's body just blew apart as if an invisible force had destroyed him from the inside out. A figure jumped out of the puppet, the real body of Sasori, and Nagato sent him flying with another Shinra Tensei.

Once that was done, he turned back to help Konan.

"Bansho Ten'in."

Manipulating attractive force to pull matter to him, Nagato grabbed Itachi and Kisame with this power and pulled them both toward him. The two were in mid air as they tried to deal with Konan. With nothing beneath their feet, the two didn't stand a chance and were yanked to the ground.

"Amaterasu."

As expected of a powerful ninja, Itachi did not waste time trying to break free from Nagato's technique. Black fire exploded from eye. Nagato was forced to activate the Preta Path again, using the absorption ability to drain the jutsu of chakra. During that time, Kisame landed on the ground and attacked with Samehada.

Nagato quickly transformed from the Preta Path to the Asura Path. He reached out with two of his six arms, grabbing Samehada as it descended. A loud screeching sound echoed from where his hands met the sword. Despite the power Kisame had put into his attack, the massive shark-like sword would not budge. As the man struggled, Nagato aimed two more of his hands, which had been transformed into cannons, at Kisame's body.

Two massive bursts of chakra emitted from the cannons, blowing two holes clean through Kisame's chest. The man staggered back. His grip on Samehada eased up and the pressure on Nagato relaxed, giving him the perfect opportunity to attack again.

"Shinra Tensei."

This time, Nagato manipulated the repulsive force to push matter away. In this case, Nagato slammed this force into Kisame, who was blasted off his feet and sent flying far into the distance.

With something of a free moment, Nagato took a quick chance to survey the battlefield. Numerous White Men were engaged with the Konoha, Kumo, and Suna ninja. Nagato knew they were the white half of Zetsu. Hidan had already regenerated from Nagato's last attack and Sasori was back. Meanwhile, high above his head, Konan was engaging Deidara in a battle of paper jutsu versus exploding clay bombs.

"Konan! Help me lead them away from the battlefield!"

"Okay!"

Konan held her hands above her head, gathering a vast quantity of paper sheets into a single chakram-like shape. She didn't waste time in hurling it toward Deidara. The S-ranked missing ninja from Iwa created a large clay bird, which he sent flying at the chakram.

"Katsu!"

The bird exploded, taking the chakram with it, but Konan used that moment to fly away and head toward Nagato, who was already running away from the battlefield. The six former members of Akatsuki were quick to give chase.

"I'm guessing you have a plan?" Konan asked as she flew alongside Nagato, her wings flapping.

Nagato nodded as he raced across the battlefield. There were so many independent battles happening all around them that everything looked like a confusing jumble of individuals fights merging together. Several meters to his right, a group of ninja were trampled on by over a dozen White Zetsus. On his left, a pair of ninja created a collaboration water and lightning jutsu to fry numerous White Zetsus. The ground was quickly becoming littered with corpses and stained with blood.

"I noticed it before, but our former comrades did not use some of their more powerful ninjutsu," Nagato explained. "That leads me to believe whoever is controlling them put harsh restrictions on their personalities. I guess Orochimaru didn't want to risk them resisting his influence. However, that means they aren't as capable now as they would normally be. Look. Even now they are chasing after us instead of attacking the surrounding ninja to thin out the enemy forces."

Konan looked behind her to see what Nagato was talking about. Indeed, the six ninja weren't even bothering to engage any of the other ninja. All of them were chasing after them instead.

"So what are you going to do?"

"I need to get far enough away from the main force so I can use my Chibaku Tensei. Even if that doesn't kill them, it will hold them until we can release the reincarnation ninjutsu."

Konan nodded. With Nagato's revitalized form, it wouldn't be hard for him to form a Chibaku Tensei with relative ease.

The two of them quickly left the clearing and began leaping through the forest. The five reincarnated ninja moved swiftly as well, chasing them like a bloodhound. As they darted through the trees, Nagato was forced to absorb more jutsu using the Preta Path when Itachi and Kakazu attacked him.

"I just noticed something," Konan began as she used several paper shuriken to slice a number of clay bombs apart. "Why isn't Madara with them?"

The moment she asked this question, Nagato's body grew tense. His senses warned him of danger. He reacted to this quickly, grabbing Konan and leaping away from the place where they had been soaring. His actions were just in time. Barely a moment after he left that spot, a distortion appeared around the branch he leapt off. The branch vanished.

"It looks like there is your answer," Nagato said glumly.

At that moment, a familiar man in an orange mask descended from a tree and tried to attack them. Konan and Nagato split apart. Madara went over Nagato, performing a series of hand seals and releasing a massive fireball jutsu. Nagato made liberal use of the Shinra Tensei to destroy the fireball and push Madara back.

During the time where Nagato was pushing Madara back, the other five descended upon him. Kisame sliced at him with Samehada, but he blocked it by once again using the Asura Path's incredible strength. Kakazu tried to use a jutsu. However, the now six massive dogs had stuck on his tail and attacked him in mass. Itachi broke into a dozen crows and appeared before him, but Nagato recognized the genjutsu and broke it quickly. He then used Bansho Ten'in to pull the man toward him before reverting to the Asura Path and kicking him in the chest. Pushing chakra into the bottom of his feet, he sent Itachi soaring backward. At the same time, he sent a Shinra Tensei toward Sasori, smashing the human puppet into a tree that broke apart on contact.

Konan did an admirable job of keeping Deidara busy as they fought a moving battle. It didn't take much longer before they entered another clearing. This one wasn't as big as the one where the other battle was taking place. However, Nagato judged that it was far enough away from the main battle to suit his purpose.

Reverting to the Deva Path, Nagato began building his chakra as he did everything he could to avoid being killed. Black fired tried to engulf him. Waves of water attempted to crush him. Massive explosions rang through the sky, causing the air to burst. Throughout it all, he and Konan played a defensive battle.

They landed on the ground, back to back. Konan went through several hand seals. Thousands of paper sheets split from her body and flew around them two of them, spinning so fast they looked like a miniature tornado. The paper quickly covered them like a dome. Multiple explosions came from outside. Then black fire began eating away at the paper.

"You had better hurry," Konan grunted. "This defensive measure won't last much longer."

Nagato didn't say anything as he clapped his hands together. His chakra surged between his palms as he slowly drew his hands back, revealing a small black sphere. He gritted his teeth as he summoned as much chakra into this technique as he dared. One sphere turned into two, which became three, then four, five, six, and finally, seven.

"I can't hold on any longer!" Konan shouted as the paper dome suddenly evaporated, eaten by the black flames.

"I'm done! Chibaku Tensei!"

At that moment, Nagato released all seven spheres into the air.

Nagato had never used the Chibaku Tensei like this. The seven spheres swiftly flew into the air. Each black sphere acted as its own centre of attraction, drawing in everything around it. The air distorted as the sucking force ripped massive chunks of earth from the ground. Nagato grabbed Konan and used the Asura Path to propel them both away from the center of his technique.

The former members of Akatsuki weren't so lucky.

Turning around to watch what was happening, Nagato was able to witness each member of Akatsuki get pulled up by the respective heavenly body that had grabbed them. They did try to escape. However, the attraction force was far too strong. Along with the massive amounts of earth, numerous trees were ripped from their roots. Nagato eyed one large piece of land that was torn from the ground, broke apart, and slammed into the sphere that contained Itachi. Almost a minute after he performed the jutsu, the technique was complete, and seven spheres several times the size of a person hovered in the air.

"That should hold them," Nagato muttered with a heavy sigh.

"Are you okay?" asked Konan.

"Yes." He smiled. "I am just tired."

"Then let's rest for now," she suggested. "Our part in this battle is done anyway."

"Yes."

Lowering himself to the ground, Nagato winced as he bent his stiff legs. It had been so long since he had used them that they felt awkward.

Konan also sat down beside him. Together, the two of them looked into the sky at the floating satellites overhead.

XoX

Running away was harder than it looked when the people chasing after you were kage-level opponents.

"Mokuton: Mokuryu no Jutsu (Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu)!"

From their left, a massive dragon made of wood burst out of the trees and charged toward them. Its long, serpentine body had to be at least twenty feet long. Numerous bone-like protrusions grew from its head in a crown and descended down its back. This massive beast, which flew toward them with its jaws wide open as though seeking to devour them, was met by Akane.

"Ha!"

It was impressive how Akane turned the moment her feet touched the branch, blasted off like a fire jutsu, and reared her fist back. The air around her fist distorted as she channeled vast amounts of chakra into it. Then she brought it down on the dragon's head. It exploded. Massive red chakra slammed into the beast's head, rippling outward, and then the head and dragon exploded, scattering wood fragments everywhere.

"Suiton: Suijinheki (Water Release: Water Wall)!"

A loud shout echoed through the air. Naruto had only a moment to leap away before a water exploded from the ground. He flipped through the air, channeled chakra into his fists, and launched them forward.

"Senpuken!"

Two fist-shaped bursts of highly compressed air slammed into the water, causing it to detonate.

As water exploded everywhere, a kunai appeared in front of him. It was tri-pronged. Naruto barely had time to ponder this kunai before a blond-haired man appeared next to it. Minato Namikaze was already preparing to attack. A swirling blue ball of energy appeared in the hand that he thrust forward. Naruto met the Rasengan with his own. The two attacks grinded against each other before exploding and sending them both flying away from one another.

Naruto landed on the trunk of a tree and glanced at Akane. The redhead was locked in battle against Sakumo, whose blade moved so fast it only appeared as a white flash of light. Despite its speed, Akane had no trouble keeping up with it. She dodged an upward slash by taking a step to the left, then avoided a horizontal swing by ducking. As she came up, her left hand curled into a claw, which she used to strike Sakumo with.

Red chakra burst out from her clawed hand, striking Sakumo dead on and tearing his body apart. Of course, this man was not alive. Rather than his body turning into a gory mess, it became ash as it scattered across the ground. Sakumo was out of commission for now, but it was only temporary. Naruto could already see the man was healing. Ash gathered around his body and congealed to form the parts that had been destroyed.

He and Akane joined forces again and continued running. However, before they could get too far, a pair of figures appeared before them. They were Hashirama and Tobirama Senju. The two founders of Konoha went through a series of hand seals.

"Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Bullet Jutsu)!"

Naruto could sense the chakra surging through Tobirama before the man spat out a powerful torrent of water. Creating a Rasengan in his hand, Naruto met the force head on, the spinning sphere of chakra slicing through the water bullet as though it was made of paper.

"Kuchiyose: Rashomon!"

Hashirama slammed his hands onto the ground and summoned a massive gate with a demonic face on the front. It was incredibly large. However, even though it was nearly ten times bigger than them, neither Naruto or Akane stopped running.

"Don't think this can stop us!" Akane shouted as she channeled chakra into her left hand. The chakra formed a whip, which she used to slice through the Rashomon gate. Naruto almost whistled when he saw the gate's upper half separate from the lower half.

He and Akane leapt over the remains of the gate just as Hashirama and Tobirama did the same. The two experienced former Hokages engaged them in a taijutsu battle. Naruto blocked a fist aimed for his head, and then he tried to knee Hashirama in the testicles, but he was blocked by his opponent's knee. On the other side, Tobirama and Akane were a blur of fists and feet.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Naruto created a shadow clone and replaced himself with it. Now behind Hashirama, he slammed a Rasengan into the man's back, sending him hurtling forward. He didn't wait to see the results of his attack. Turning toward where Akane and Tobirama were engaged in combat, Naruto took a deep breath and channeled his chakra.

"Senpuken!"

A pair of compressed, fist-shaped wind attacks slammed into Tobirama and sent him hurtling away. The man struck the ground. Rather than roll across the forest floor, however, he twisted himself into a spin and flipped onto his feet.

Akane and Naruto stopped paying attention to him. They put on a burst of speed and rushed through the forest. Their goal wasn't to lose these five, but to lead them somewhere else.

"You know, I just realized we haven't seen that old monkey anywhere," Akane muttered as they ran.

"Yeah… I noticed that too." Naruto suddenly felt on edge as he looked around. "That man is known as the Professor for his knowledge of jutsu. It's been said that he's one of the most skilled shinobi to ever exist. If that is the case, then…"

"Doton: Doryu Taiga (Earth Release: Earth Flow River)!"

The ground underneath him and Akane turned into a flowing river of mud that swept the two of them off their feet.

"Doton: Doryudan (Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet)!"

Before they could even thinking of getting out of this situation, a dragon head appeared within the mud and shot several mud balls at them.

"Katon: Karyu Endan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet)!"

Several dragons made of fire covered the mud balls, which burned all the more fiercely. Naruto could feel the heat singing his arms even though it was meters away. As the flaming mud balls came closer, Akane's chakra exploded from her body and created a dome of energy. The flaming mud balls slammed into the dome and dissipated.

At that moment, Naruto glanced around and saw Sarutobi standing on a tree branch several meters above them.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Naruto created two clones. One created a Rasengan, while the other channeled more chakra into the Rasengan, causing the jutsu to grow in size. The two clones launched themselves at Sarutobi. However, Naruto and Akane didn't wait around to see what would happen.

Seconds later…

"My clones were destroyed," Naruto sighed as they continued running through the forest.

"You knew they would be," Akane muttered. "How much further do we have to go?"

"We're almost there," Naruto assured. "In fact, we should be reaching the Valley of End any minute now."

Just as Naruto said that, the forest around them disappeared as they burst out of it. The land beyond was a massive valley. He and Akane were standing on a precipice overlooking the valley, which allowed them to see everything, including the flowing waterfall with the statues for Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.

"I heard this was where Sasuke disappeared," Naruto muttered. "I have never been here before."

"Do you think this is a good place to have our battle?" asked Akane.

"It's as good a place as any." Naruto shrugged. "Come on. Let's set up shop before those guys arrive."

Naruto leapt down from the ledge and Akane followed him. The two landed on the ground, then Naruto created six shadow clones. He gave a scroll to four of them. All the clones disappeared. They knew their jobs.

"And now we wait," Naruto said.

"What do you think our chances of winning are?" asked Akane.

"What are you saying?" Naruto grinned at the lady. "Chances of winning? We're going to kick their asses."

Akane shook her head as a resigned smile lit her lips. "Where does that confidence come from, I wonder? You realize our opponents are five kage-level ninja, right?"

"So?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. "You have ten times more chakra than all of them."

"That doesn't mean much." She frowned. "That Hashirama has some weird ability that stops me from using my powers. If I get caught by him, it's pretty much over."

"I'll fight him," Naruto said. "If you can take on his brother, Sakumo, and Sarutobi, I'll deal with the Shodaime Hokage and my old man."

"Giving me more opponents?"

"I figured the all-powerful Kyuubi would prefer to fight more people."

As the two of them bantered, the five ninja they had been fighting appeared on the ledge they had jumped off several minutes ago. Naruto was surprised it had taken so long for them to arrive. The two groups stared at each other, one from down low and the others high above. Then the group of five descended from the ledge and landed on the ground.

"These two are quite powerful," Tobirama murmured.

"Indeed," Hashirama said. "I was most surprised that such young individuals could hold all five of us off so well."

While Hashirama, Tobirama, and Sakumo didn't have any feelings for him and Akane one way or the other, Sarutobi and Minato looked at Naruto like they had seen a ghost. Considering what they were, Naruto found that slightly ironic.

"Naruto… is that really you?" asked Sarutobi.

"In the flesh, Old Man." Naruto spread his arms and smiled. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

Sarutobi smiled and slowly shook his head. "Although it only feels like seconds have passed for me, I can see that you have already grown up. You've become quite powerful."

"Obviously." Naruto thrust out his chest and grinned. "You are looking at the number one most powerful ninja of the Elemental Nations."

"Of the Elemental Nations, huh?" said Sarutobi. "That is a bold claim."

"Naruto…" Minato mumbled.

"Yo, Dad." Naruto raised a hand in greeting.

"Naruto… you… you've become so big." Despite his face being fairly emotionless, perhaps due to the controls placed on him via the reincarnation jutsu, tears welled up in his eyes. "You were just this little thing when I last saw you."

"Ugh… if you're going to tell baby stories, then I'm leaving," Naruto grumbled.

While Sarutobi snorted, Minato's lips actually twitched a bit. However, it seemed whatever controls had been placed on these five was strong. His face still didn't display much emotion. That said, he got a better reaction from Minato and Sarutobi than he did Hashirama, Tobirama, and Sakumo. He didn't know if those three had more control seals on them, or if they just didn't care because they had no idea who he was.

"Naruto…" Sarutobi suddenly asked. "Do you mind if I ask who that woman with you is?"

"Woman?" Minato suddenly focused on Akane. "Now that you mention it, I am also curious. It seems you and she are close. I guess that means you share my taste for redheads."

"Well… kinda," Naruto skirted around the issue.

"What do you mean kinda?" asked Minato.

"Our relationship is complicated," Akane said at last. "It is also none of your business."

As she spoke, the fox ears on her head suddenly twitched, and the nine tails writhing behind her became a flurry of activity. The five kage-level ninja quickly spotted these appendages. While they seemed confused at first, enlightenment entered their eyes moments later.

"I thought I recognized that chakra," Minato muttered in shock. "You are… the Kyuubi?"

"That's right," Akane said.

"Huh…" Minato cupped a hand to his chin. "I had no idea you were a woman."

Neither Akane nor Naruto bothered to explain that she technically wasn't male or female. She could theoretically choose whatever form she wanted. Akane had chosen a female form because her observations had shown her that it was easier to manipulate people if she was a woman.

Having decided that the time for conversation was over, Naruto and Akane rushed forward. Minato, the fastest among them, threw his kunai and appeared between the two. It was way too fast. Had they been anyone else, neither of them would have been able to respond. However, they had already known what to expect, so when Minato appeared between them, a Rasengan in each hand, Naruto and Akane slammed their feet into his face.

Minato was launched clean backward. He slammed into the cliff wall, which broke upon impact and sent a massive amount of rubble tumbling down.

That moment initiated the battle.

"Chojo Kebutsu (Top Transformed Buddha)!"

After going through a series of hand seals, Hashirama created several gigantic wooden statues, each of which had hundreds and even thousands of hands. Naruto raced toward the Hashirama. The man commanded the hands to descend upon him. There were so many that it should have been impossible for anyone to dodge.

Naruto vanished on the spot. The hands slammed down, and then Naruto reappeared on top of the long arms. With a slice of his hands, he created a wind blade that cut straight through the wooden arms. However, more hands were coming. They rose into the sky and flew down swiftly, forcing Naruto to perform his disappearing act several more times.

The ground around them shook and broke apart, with massive fault lines spreading out all around Naruto. Each one was large enough that he was afraid of falling in. He did his best to focus on dodging the hands as they came, but there were so many, and the longer he continued to avoid them, the closer they came to hitting him.

Hashirama is getting my timing down!

He only realized a few seconds too late what the man was trying to do. Just as this thought flashed through his mind, several hands crashed into him. The force of the assault was so powerful that Naruto felt like he was being crushed. Each hand slammed into him like a tsunami crashing into a small village.

Gritting his teeth as he endured the pain, Naruto released a massive burst of dark purple chakra. It was nothing more than him exercising his excess power. However, his chakra had a unique corrosive effect on other jutsu. The wooden fists attacking him decayed and burned away as though they'd been ducked in acid.

Once he destroyed the hands, Naruto attacked the statues. He created one Shadow Clone for each statue. The shadow clones created a Rasengan with wind chakra enhancing them, and then they attacked while Naruto went after Hashirama.

With a ferocious yell, Naruto engaged Hashirama in a taijutsu battle. He swung at the man with a sloppy corkscrew punch. His opponent, seemingly shocked that he would use such a sloppy technique, easily avoided the attack in a manner that was almost lazy. Naruto used that moment to surprise his opponent by stomping on the ground and releasing a burst of chakra. The ground shook, Hashirama stumbled, and Naruto slammed a Rasengan into his face.

It's just as I thought. He isn't as strong as he should be. Orochimaru probably has a tighter leash on the kages and Sakumo to keep them from resisting. However, that came at the price of making them less powerful.

As this thought flashed through his mind, six tri-pronged kunai suddenly appeared around him. Naruto sensed the air currents shift and spun around. He raised his arm to block Minato's attack, a powerful punch that jolted his arm. Before he could consider retaliating, his dad disappeared and pain suddenly erupted from his spinal cord. Gnashing his teeth together, Naruto spun around and sent a wind blade at his opponent, but Minato had disappeared by then.

It wasn't long after the initial attack that Minato began flashing around Naruto at speeds he just couldn't keep up with. The man was so fast he was like lightning. Cuts and bruises appeared on his body as he tried his best to keep up with the man, but no matter how quickly he responded, Minato was always just a little bit faster, disappearing one moment and attacking from his blind spot the next. All he could do was move to avoid letting his vitals be attacked.

"Mokuton: Daijurin no Jutsu (Wood Release: Great Forest Technique)!"

While Naruto was busy engaging Minato in a losing battle, Hashirama's arms suddenly transformed into giant trees. The trees rapidly grew, lengthening at a baffling speed as they forked into many branches. Then the branches transformed into sharp stakes.

At that moment, Minato leapt back and allowed the stakes to attack Naruto. They pierced his body numerous times. However, just as the attacks stabbed into him, the Naruto in front of them was replaced by a log.

Before either of them could begin searching for Naruto, a loud screeching noise echoed from above them. They looked up. Naruto was hovering in mid air. He had raised his hand eye over his head, where a swirling ball of bright purple chakra spun around in all directions.

The Rasengan was much larger than a normal one. Aside from being nearly twice as large, it also had several pointed blades spinning around it, making the jutsu look like a Fuuma shuriken.

"Fuuton: Rasenshuriken!"

With the power granted to him through his Hybrid form, Naruto lobbed the attack toward Minato and Hashirama. The pairs eyes widened just as the speeding technique slammed into the ground between them.

After striking the ground, the central sphere of the Rasenshuriken detonated with a powerful destructive force. A vortex of wind spread across the area. This purple-white vortex expanded rapidly, growing until it was about fifteen meters in diameter.

Even though the amount of destruction was contained to just the vortex, the jutsu was so powerful that Naruto was pushed backward and dust flew everywhere. He landed on the cliff wall and stuck there with chakra. As he knelt upon the wall to catch his breath, he glared into the vortex to see if the two had survived.

While Naruto was battling against Hashirama and Minato, Akane had taken to engaging the other three kage-level ninja. She used no ninjutsu in her attacks. She didn't need to. Her nine tails grew until they were nearly ten times their original size and slammed into the ground, creating earthquakes with every attack. Sarutobi, Sakumo, and Tobirama were constantly being forced to leap around in order to avoid the attacks. Whenever one leapt into the air, Akane would launch a compressed ball of chakra that slammed into their bodies and detonated with a destructive force that didn't lose out to his Rasenshuriken.

That woman…

It was clear from how well she was doing that Akane really did have more destructive potential than him. Her control over her own chakra was fantastic. He wondered if he'd be able to use his chakra like she did eventually.

As he eyed their battle out of the corner of his eyes, Naruto watched as Tobirama and Sarutobi created a water/lightning combination attack. The powerful beam of energy that formed from their two jutsu raced toward Akane. However, just when it looked like the beam of destruction would slammed into her, a red barrier appeared and took the attack. Despite the attack being blocked, the ground underneath her feet shattered, which caused Akane to lose her footing.

At that moment, Sakumo appeared and thrust out his sword, which Naruto realized was coated in lightning chakra. It looked like his attack would pierce her chest. Yet Akane raised her hand just before it hit. The white blade slammed into her palm but didn't penetrate it. Naruto wondered why at first, but then he saw the red chakra being emitted from her palm and realized it was because she had created a thin layer of chakra to form a protective shield.

As Naruto was admiring Akane's supreme chakra control, the vortex of swirling wind energy disappeared. He looked at the giant crater his attack had formed. It was about fifteen meters across and probably five or ten deep.

Minato and Hashirama weren't there. For just a moment, Naruto wondered if perhaps they had been blown to bits, but then he sensed movement behind him and leapt off the wall.

An explosion of chakra pushed Naruto back. He landed on the ground and looked up to see his dad standing where he had been. There was a massive hole in the wall. Naruto recognized the damage, which could have only been caused by a Rasengan.

"Mokuton: Mokuryu no Jutsu!"

Naruto wasn't given time to admire his dad's destructive power as another serpentine dragon appeared before him. Hashirama was several meters away. His hands were stuck on one seal. The wood dragon had already blasted from the ground and flew at him with an enraged war cry.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Naruto created a shadow clone, made a Rasengan on his hand, and had the clown feed it chakra. As the Rasengan increased in size, Naruto forced it to grow smaller and smaller, until it was about the size of his thumbnail, and then he aimed it at the dragon.

"Rasenshotto (Spiral Shot)!"

Slamming his fist into the tiny Rasengan, Naruto launched the sphere toward the dragon. It struck the dragon's head. There was a moment where the wood dragon seemed to resist the tiny Rasengan. It was only for a moment, though, and then the Rasengan drilled straight through the dragon and burst out the other side. Perhaps due to the destructive energies of the Rasengan, the dragon exploded from the inside out and broke apart.

"Ha… Ha… Ha…" Naruto took several deep breaths as Minato landed next to Hashirama. "Damn… I'm actually beginning to run out of chakra…"

Naruto had no idea how long this battle had been going on for, but he was actually running low on chakra thanks to how many high level jutsu he'd been firing. Some of those jutsu were still in the experimental phase too, so they wasted a lot of chakra. Maybe he should have held back. However, given his opponents, Naruto didn't think that would have been a good idea.

Someone landed behind him. Naruto didn't turn around to see who it was. A soft back pressed against him, and several furry tails touched his legs.

"Are your clones almost finished?" asked Akane.

"I don't know," Naruto grumbled. "Don't ask me."

"Who else would I ask?"

"Ugh. Good point." Naruto sighed as he realized that all five kage-level ninja were surrounding them. "I think they should be finished soon."

Akane clicked her tongue. "That's a very vague answer."

"Well, excuse me for being vague."

A lull had entered the battle, which was the only reason the two of them could banter like this. Their five opponents seemed wary of their battle prowess. This fight had gone on for quite a while, a number of techniques had been thrown about, and despite being outnumbered, he and Akane still gave as good as they got.

"These two are quite tough," Hashirama said.

"Yeah…" Minato agreed.

"That boy is your son, right?"

"That's right."

"You should be proud."

"I am very proud."

Naruto heard the conversation between Hashirama and Minato, but he didn't have the time to feel pride because his clones finished their task at that moment.

"Kekkaimon Gofujutsu: Hachimon Heijo - Uzumaki Sutairu (Barrier Gate Five Seals Technique: Castle Closing Eight Gates - Uzumaki Style)!"

The moment those words had been spoken, four giant gates emerged from the ground in the north, east, south, and west of the Valley of End. Then a barrier suddenly sprang to life, connected to each of the four gates. Naruto, Akane, and their five opponents were trapped in the center of this technique.

"This technique…" Hashirama mumbled. "It's quite the strong barrier technique."

"It's a modified version of the Kekkaimon Gojutsu: Hachimon Heijo," Naruto said. "I perform the jutsu using my shadow clones, who each have a map of the specified area where the jutsu will be used. It uses up all of their chakra, but in exchange, the jutsu not only lasts for twelve hours, it can't be broken no matter who tries to break through it."

"An ingenious technique, no doubt." Tobirama nodded. "However, you are now trapped in here with us. In the end, nothing has changed."

"Of course it has." Naruto grinned. "I made six clones. This technique only requires four. What do you think the other two clones are for?"

At that moment, Naruto and Akane were replaced by Naruto's Shadow Clones. The two appeared outside of the barrier. Naruto wore a broad and satisfied grin.

"Hmph!" Tobirama snorted. "If you can just escape this by using the replacement technique, then so can I…"

Tobirama tried to use the replacement technique, only for nothing to happen. He frowned, repeated the hand seals again, and still nothing happened. A moment of silence passed. Finally, he seemed to realize what this meant.

"I did say this was a modified technique," Naruto informed him. "I made sure Akane and I had an escape route."

"An excellent job, Naruto." Sarutobi nodded in approval. "You've done a great job capturing us. However, now I have to ask what you plan on doing with us?"

Naruto shrugged. "Nothing. I have no way of breaking this technique. Therefore, the only way to release you all is to find Orochimaru and force him to end the jutsu himself. My entire point in coming to the Valley of the End was to trap you guys here so I could help destroy that army you guys came with. After that, we'll have other people maintain this barrier while we go ahead and find Orochimaru."

Minato cupped his chin before nodding several times. "You've thought this out well. I'm very impressed."

"It looks like there is nothing we can do to escape from this," Sakumo spoke for the first time. "I guess that means we failed."

"Indeed." Hashirama and Tobirama nodded.

"Anyway, you five can just stay there," Naruto said. "Hang out and play shogi or something. Akane and I have to help finish off that army."

Naruto didn't give the five kage-level ninja time respond as he and Akane leapt onto the cliff wall, ran up it, and disappeared. As they vanished from sight, the five looked at each other.

"What should we do now?" asked Minato.

"I like that kid's suggestion," Hashirama said. "Anyone up for a game of shogi?"

I used a few canonical ideas and twisted them a bit to fit this chapter. Like Nagato. I think the reason he was able to revitalize during his battle against Naruto and Killer B is because he absorbed Kurama's chakra, but I changed that so he could heal by absorbing any chakra.

Once again, I would like to thank everyone for reading this story. I know it's a mess. If you have any questions or would like to know what sort of lewd things I'm getting up to, you can follow me on Twitter or Facebook. Twitter is better for immediate updates. I go on there