Chapter 11

Nine months had passed since the conclusion of the Imperial Kumite in South Ichiyama.

Since then, the Imperial Nation had signed a non-aggression pact with both Iwagakure and Earth Country, as well as establishing a Pekara outpost in the Earth Capital. Onoki also agreed to have Iwa medic-nins come to Kimon to learn under Hinata in order to keep Iwa casualties down. Second, Naruto had reclaimed the ruins of Whirlpool Country and annexed it. He did not revive Uzushiogakure no Sato, as there was no need. He did, however, made Whirlpool into a major Pekara outpost.

In the months following the conclusion of the Imperial Kumite, Sasuke Uchiha had defected from Konoha and had murdered Asuma Sarutobi and the Konoha Civilian Council on his way out. The incident would become known as the Uchiha Slaughter. Given the fact that he had ran years earlier, and that he wielded the Magenkyou Sharingan, he was labeled as an S-class threat in the Bingo Book. Orders: Kill on Sight. Naruto knew that he had fled to Otogakure, as he was the one who manipulated the Uchiha to head there in the first place.

Now, it was only a matter of time before Orochimaru and Sasuke would invade Konoha. Orochimaru had not only been training Sasuke in learning how to control his Cursed Seal, but also had recruited bandits and missing-nin to the Sound, swelling his ranks, the majority of which having been subjected to the Cursed Seal. As expected, Orochimaru had ordered his nin not to antagonize the Pekara merchants and their caravans, as he did not want the Empire on his back. Sasuke balked at the order, but honored it, as Orochimaru did have a point. Kabuto had seen first-hand the Imperial forces in action, as the Akatsuki found out the hard way.

"We will make our move against the Empire and their interests soon enough," Orochimaru had told Sasuke. "But right now, our main focus is the Leaf."

It did not occur to Orochimaru that Naruto was manipulating him into attacking Konoha. Kabuto had his suspicions, but dismissed them, as he assumed that Naruto could not plan such a grandiose scheme. It did not occur to Sasuke that Naruto had manipulated him into defecting from Konoha by making him look worthless in the eyes of the shinobi world, nor that the blackout books from Danzou and the Hokage were planted by him. He had failed to take his late sensei's words to heart: "Look underneath the hidden meanings."

It did not occur to Tsunade and Jiraiya that they had severely underestimated their ex-godson. They thought he had the devil's luck in avoiding their hunter-nins and establishing the Empire, that he was like Jiraiya when the Sannin were under Sarutobi's tutelage: a dead last. They did not expect to be manipulated by Naruto, or that he would use Orochimaru and Sasuke to bring about Konoha's destruction with Naruto himself delivering the coup de grace.

Nine months later, Hinata had given birth to their second child. The couple named her Moka Kushina Namikaze. As the Imperial Nation celebrated the birth of their new princess, Orochimaru had decided that the time was right for them to attack Konohagakure. Captain Asahina had sent a communique to the Imperial Capital, notifying Naruto and Hinata of the invasion of Konoha. Even though he did not want to leave his newborn daughter, Naruto had to make sure that Konoha and by extension, Oto, could not threaten his family or the Empire. Hinata had understood and told him to do what he must, and that he had better come back alive.

Taking Kurama with him, Naruto used the Demon's Gate and the pair found themselves in Fire Country. Naruto had summoned the Six Paths and placed them under henges and had them join up with Orochimaru's army, while both he and Kurama set up in Konoha from their place on top of the ruined Hokage Monument...after retrieving the ashes of Hashirama and Tobirama Senju from the Konoha cemetery.

From their place on the monument, Naruto and Kurama watched as Tsunade had ordered the village to be evacuated of all civilians, followed by Konoha shinobi trying to strengthen their defenses. Several messenger birds had been dispatched to Suna and Mist, but Naruto knew that Gaara and Mei would not get involved. This would be Konoha's final war. One of two things was going to happen: that Konoha would somehow survive, but would be irreversibly crippled, or Konoha would be destroyed.

Naruto was going to make sure that the latter would be the desired result.

He had once told Hinata that when the time came, he would be watching Konoha's downfall on the top of the Hokage Monument with some drinks, a couple of sushi plates, and some popcorn. Much to Kurama's amusement, he did just that.

The invasion had begun in earnest shortly after noon. Sasuke and Orochimaru led the assault, backed by over two thousand Oto shinobi. While Sasuke went after Danzou (with two of Naruto's Six Paths) following him deep into the underground complex, where Danzou was located.

Through control of the two paths accompanying Sasuke, he had seen the events which had led to Danzou's final fight with Sasuke, while Orochimaru and his forces carved a path to the ruins of the Hokage Tower, where Tsunade, Jiraiya and the remaining members of the Konoha 11 and their families awaited to make their last stand.

Orochimaru, being the sadistic bastard he was, had not only subjected half of his forces to the Cursed Seal, but also had used the Impure World Resurrection jutsu, bringing back once again Hashirama and Tobirama Senju, but also Hiruzen Sarutobi, Kakashi Hatake, Itachi Uchiha (who had accompanied Sasuke to kill Danzou), Asuma Sarutobi and the Konohamaru Corps to help in bring about Konoha's destruction.

Helpless under Orochimaru's control, the resurrected shinobi put their former village to the sword. Asuma Sarutobi had murdered his wife. The Konohamaru Corps had slaughtered a quarter of the Chuunin that had came up with them in their days at the Shinobi Academy, forcing the surviving Chuunin to lead the Konohamaru Corps into a trap, consisting of rigging the former Hyuuga Compound with explosive tags, destroying the compound and crushing the revived trio under the debris. Meanwhile, Tsunade, Jiraiya and the remaining clan heads and their children were fighting Orochimaru, the two Senju brothers and Hiruzen Sarutobi, while Kakashi slaughtered the majority of the ANBU Black Ops by using Amaterasu, Yamato and Yugao being among the casualties, but not before Yamato used his Mokuton to crush the Sound Four.

The Konoha Hospital was not exempt from Orochimaru's wrath. A squad of Oto nin, their bodies covered with exploding tags and under the influence of the Cursed Seals, leveled the building in a suicide attack. Among the casualties were Shizune Kato and Maito Gai, who had been in the hospital since Suna.

Despite this, Tsunade and Konoha had fought on, until the battle had began to inch to a stalemate. Tsume and Kiba Inuzuka were both killed by the Sandaime and his son. Hana Inuzuka, on her mother's orders had evacuated with the civilians. Shino and Shibi Aburame had met their end at the hands of the revived Shodaime and Nidaime Hokages. Sasuke had joined in the fray, and had cut down the remaining ANBU who were there to protect Tsunade.

Naruto, having seen enough, finally decided to intervene.

CLAP. CLAP. CLAP. CLAP.

The fighting between Konoha and Oto shinobi stopped as they heard the sound of clapping. The three Sannin stopped their two-on-one brawl, as did the revived Hiruzen and Asuma Sarutobi, Kakashi Hatake, and the Senju brothers. The warring parties looked around, trying to find out who was clapping, until the person in question revealed himself.

He stepped out of the smoke, accompanied by a redheaded woman. He was the one who was clapping, applauding at the mayhem that was unfolding, dressed in his shinobi uniform, the same one which Tsunade and Jiraiya had seen him wear in Suna. Kurama accompanied him, dressed in her battle uniform.

"Life's end. Isn't it beautiful? It's almost...tragic. When life ends, it gives off a final lingering aroma. Light is but a farewell gift from the darkness to those on their way to die," the Emperor stated.

Hiruzen blinked. "M-Minato?"

"I'm not my father, old man," Naruto sniped. "Oh yes, I know that the Yellow Flash was my father. You lied to me, Sarutobi. You lied to me ever since I was a child."

"Naruto...I did what I did to protect you," Sarutobi attempted to defend his actions. "Your father had many enemies from the last shinobi war. Please understand."

"I understand that you and Danzou tried to turn me into a loyal weapon," Naruto replied. "I understand that you betrayed my parents. Oh, yes, I understand that manipulating a boy was more important than honoring my parents' final wishes."

Hiruzen sighed, dropping the facade. "I suppose I can drop the act, then."

"Yeah, you should," Naruto replied. He turned to Tsunade and Jiraiya. "Remember what I told the both of you that day when you decided to banish me? Do you?"

Of course Tsunade and Jiraiya had remembered. They did not take it in account that he was serious. After all, they had written him off as the dead last, the Kyuubi brat who had robbed them of their loved ones. They had laughed off his threat.

"This isn't over. Not by a longshot. You and all of Konohagakure decided to back a traitor over me. I will not forget this, and I sure as hell will not forgive the both of you for this betrayal. Pray that I don't come back to this godforsaken village, because when I do...I will destroy you all."

"Never let it be known that I keep my word," the Emperor said "I told the both of you in Suna that this was just the beginning. As my father brought about Konoha's rise, so I will bring about its fall."

"You? Bringing about the Leaf's destruction? Ha!" Sakura snorted. "You were so full of yourself, Naruto! Even back when we were kids."

"People change when you don't see or hear from them for years, Haruno," Naruto sniped. "Even me." He looked at the faces of the Sannin and those of his former cell and the Sandaime. "This is quite the reunion. It's been years since we've been here, together in the Leaf." He turned to Kurama, "And here, I thought they would be happy to see us, Kurama."

Kurama gave Naruto a fanged grin.

"But," Naruto continued, as Tsunade and the others could make out the forms of a man and a woman in the smoke from behind the Emperor and the bijuu queen. "I did not come alone." He turned to Jiraiya. "You told me in Suna that you honored my parents' sacrifice by allowing me to suffer, rather than respect their final wishes. Perhaps you would like to convey what you told me to them yourself."

With that, the two people emerged from the smoke. To anyone from Konoha, they recognized the pair almost instantly, even after being dead for over twenty years.

The man had blond hair styled in the same manner as his son. He was dressed in the standard Konoha jounin uniform, complete with flak vest. The white trenchcoat with the flame pattern on the tail end fluttered in the breeze. On one finger, through the ring, he was twirling a Hiraishin trikunai. His companion had long red hair, which she kept tied in a ponytail. Rather than the Konoha jounin uniform, she was dressed in the standard uniform of the Whirlpool kunoichi – which was similar as to what Hinata herself would wear. A ninjato was in her left hand.

The Yellow Flash, himself, Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze, and his wife, the princess of Whirlpool, the Red Death herself, Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze.

And the pair did not look very happy upon seeing the people who had betrayed and later, attempted to kill their son. People who they at one time, trusted with their lives.

Naruto smirked. "Orochimaru isn't the only one who knows the Impure World Resurrection."

In truth, Naruto did not know the forbidden jutsu. He had simply placed two reinforced clones under the henge to make them look like Minato and Kushina to use as a form of psychological warfare. However, through a twist of fate, the Shinigami allowed Minato and Kushina's souls to possess the two shadow clones for the duration of the clone's existence. Even the Death God agreed that Konoha had to answer for their betrayal, and had allowed them to return to the land of the living, if only for a short time.

This, Naruto had done before leaving Kimon for Konoha. Of course, it did give Minato and Kushina some time with their grandchildren before they left, as well as thanking their friends (the Ino-Shika-Cho and Hiashi) for honoring their final request in regards to Naruto. While Naruto was on the Hokage Monument, Minato and Kushina decided to vent out their frustrations by taking the fight to Konoha's forces until the time came for the big reveal.

"Give me one good reason as to why I should not do to this village what I had done to Iwa," Minato said, gripping the trikunai in one hand. "One reason!"

"We did what we had to do," Jiraiya defended. "Hiruzen-sensei saw that Konoha was crippled following the last Shinobi War, so we had to ensure that the Nine-Tails remained in Konoha to ensure our survival. When it became clear that Naruto could not be controlled, we saw him as a threat, and had to be dealt with as such."

Kushina, on the other hand, was livid. "So not only you tried to exterminate my brother and my clan, but you damned my son to a living hell?" she demanded. She was not known as the Red-Hot Habanero for nothing. She wanted to gut Jiraiya for what he had done.

"The Nine-Tails were the property of the Senju clan, and by extension, the Leaf," defended Tsunade. "Just as all of the other bijuu were."

Kushina looked at her aunt with a mixture of pity and betrayal. "You're wrong. I'm sure that my son has already explained to you that the bijuu are not the property of the Senju clan, but rather under the care of the Uzumaki clan, of which our ancestor was the Rikudo Sennin himself."

"That much is true," Hashirama said. "All I did was use the Mokuton to subdue them." He looked at the reunited family. "Who are you?"

"My name, Lord Shodaime, is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze," Naruto began. "Former genin shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato, former Jinchuuriki of Kurama, the Nine-Tailed Fox, descendant of the Rikudo Sennin, and Emperor of the Unified Western Empire. Tsunade Senju, as much as I hate to admit, is my great-aunt, since Mito Uzumaki was her grandmother." He introduced his parents. "My father, Yondaime Hokage of Konoha, Minato Namikaze, and my mother, the princess of Whirlpool and second Jinchuuriki to Kurama, Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze."

"What the kit speaks is the truth," Kurama confirmed. To back up Naruto's claim, nine fox tails emerged from her backside. The bijuu queen smirked as she savored the looks of disbelief on the faces of the Sannin and on the resurrected Kages. Even Orochimaru looked shocked. "In case you're a bit slow, I am Kurama, better known by my title: Kyuubi no Yoko, the Nine-Tailed Fox." She looked at Hashirama. "You don't look so good, Hashirama. Mito would disapprove."

Jiraiya was shocked. The hot redhead that had been hanging around Naruto had been the Kyuubi the whole time?!

Naruto looked at the gathered kages. "Isn't this something. All of Konoha's kages together."

"You broke the seal?!" Hiruzen demanded in a rage.

"I did," Naruto replied. "I did this after I was banished from the Leaf by your successor."

"You were banished from the Leaf?" Hashirama asked, now interested in Naruto's backstory. "What was your crime?"

"Being a hero," Naruto replied. "Konoha favored a potential traitor over me. That and because I was Kurama's jailer, and that both Tsunade and Jiraiya blamed the death of my parents on me, as did Hiruzen for the death of his wife. Long story short, a former student of my father's thought to have been KIA, returned and unleashed Kurama onto the village as my mother was giving birth to me. My mother died from complications surrounding her birth and my father had to use the Shiki Fujin to seal Kurama in me at the cost of his life."

Tobirama nodded. "A noble sacrifice," he said.

Naruto scoffed. "Konoha didn't seem to think so. Neither did Sarutobi or those two idiots. My father's last wish was for the Leaf to see me as a hero. But I was denied my inheritance by Sarutobi, and the village treated me like a virtual pariah. But that is just the tip of the iceberg, Lord Nidaime. Saurobi and Shimura wanted to make me into Konoha's weapon, but died as a result of sealing Orochimaru's arms with the Shiki Fujin. Sarutobi's scheme soon fell onto Tsunade and Jiraiya." He turned to Orochimaru. "Sasuke Uchiha was assigned to Cell Seven, the same as me. He was seduced by the promise of power from Orochimaru and had defected from Konoha as a result. Tsunade had ordered a retrieval team to go and recapture Sasuke before he could make it to Orochimaru."

"It's true, as much as hate to admit," Orochimaru conceded. "While his teammates fought my Sound Four, Naruto had fought Sasuke at the Valley of the End. Naruto had defeated Sasuke and brought him back home. Instead of being recognized as a hero, he was instead blamed for Sasuke trying to leave. He was banished, and Tsunade even went as far as to send out ANBU and hunter-nins to kill him. That was when he had disappeared." His smirk deepened. "Your own granddaughter and great-niece banished a hero and pardoned the traitor."

The two male Senju turned to Sarutobi and the other two Sannin. "Is this true? You banished Mito's descendant?" he demanded.

"They did," Kushina said. "At the cost of razing Whirlpool Country and Uzushiogakure on Sarutobi's orders. You sold out the Uzumaki clan. My clan. My family. All for what? The chance for Konoha to regain control of Kurama. Good thing that I didn't fully trust you, which is why I had Takuma and nearly all of Uzusiogakure relocate back to the West...after eliminating the invading shinobi and dressing them up in Uzu's shinobi uniforms.

Orochimaru and Sasuke stood on the sidelines, watching this drama play out. 'This is very interesting,' the snake thought. 'I wonder how this will play out.'

Sasuke, in the meantime, was thinking along the lines of, 'Hope the Dobe gets himself killed.'

"While you thought that the Uzumaki was nearly extinct, they were in the West, out of sight, out of mind. Of course, Mom could not send word to Uncle Takuma, as she knew that you were watching her like a hawk," Naruto finished.

Jiraiya growled. Naruto had all but confirmed that Kushina had deceived him, the great spymaster of Konoha. Even Hiruzen, who had signed off on the order, was irate that the Yondaime's wife had played both him and Jiraiya.

"The power of the Kyuubi belonged to the Leaf," the one-armed sage shouted "There was no way that I, nor Hiruzen-sensei, would allow the Uzumaki to take what was rightfully ours!" He pointed to Kushina. "You were only protected because you were Minato's wife!"

Minato had heard enough. The Yellow Flash of Konoha slugged his former sensei right in the jaw, knocking him ass over teakettle, the Toad Sage landing flat on his back. Minato was more than angry. He was downright furious at the blatant disregard of his final wishes in regards to his son. He was irate over the betrayal that Konoha had done to himself, his wife and his son.

"I trusted you, Jiraiya," Minato said. "You were like a father figure to me. And you go and you do this? You and Tsunade betrayed not only your godson – my son – but you and Sarutobi damned him to a life of misery and pain!"

Naruto snorted. "You really are a piece of work, Jiraiya. So much for 'honoring' their sacrifice." He turned to Hashirama and Tobirama. "I had every intention of letting Konoha self-destruct on their own through the choices they made. Payback for betraying me and my family. But that damned warhawk and his two buddies on the council decided to send Sai and a hit squad of his ROOT ANBU to try and not only assassinate me, but also my wife, the four clans who had defected from here, and the Imperial Council when I refused terms for an alliance."

Tsunade's eyes widened, as did Jiraiya's and Sarutobi's. This entire mess was Danzou's fault?

"Koharu and Honmura on the other hand," continued the Emperor, "let's just say that they were long overdue for retirement. I decided to be nice enough to leave Danzou for Sasuke."

Tsunade and the others immediately caught the hidden meaning. Naruto had killed them. Tsunade mentally cursed to herself, as she had written off their deaths as accidental and in the case of Koharu, natural causes.

"Aside from his crimes of attempted regicide, Danzou also has secrets of his own. I thought that you were under the influence of the Sharingan he has implanted underneath those bandages, but as it turns out, that was not the case," Naruto continued, his own eyes morphing into the Rinnegan. "I know because of my own bloodline, which I can detect other bloodlines and identify whether or not people are under a genjutsu. Shimura not only has the Sharingan, but also has a special arm hidden underneath his robes containing not only multiple Sharingans, but also DNA harvested from the body of the First Hokage."

Hashirama's eyes narrowed, as did Tobirama's own.

"Power...oh, she is a seductive mistress," Naruto continued. "She is an addictive thrill. One taste of it and the weak-minded are left yearning for more. It can drive certain people mad. Orochimaru...Danzou...Sarutobi...even Tsunade. With such great power comes even greater responsibility. You and your brother knew that. My father knew that. Lord Shodaime, you once preached about the Will of Fire. The Will of Fire has been extinguished at the hands of your former student and those of his own students, one of which is your own granddaughter."

"Yes." Hashirama looked visibly disturbed at this chain of events. "It appears so."

"Grandfather, no! Don't listen to him!" Tsunade attempted to defend herself. "The brat is lying!"

"I told you before, old hag," Naruto shot back. "I never lie." His smirk deepened. "Want to know just how bad you underestimated me? You got a sample of it back in Suna. But this could count as my masterpiece." He turned to Jiraiya. "For a spymaster, he obviously did not see this coming. Then again, neither did the both of you. Imagine that, the Demon of Konoha, the Dobe, manipulating not only Konoha's greatest spymaster, but also the Godaime Hokage of Konoha and the Snake Sannin."

"Be careful as to how you speak, boy," Orochimaru hissed. "You may be strong, but you are not stronger than me."

"Now that's no way to thank the person who had delivered to you the key to immortality," Naruto chided, wagging a finger at the snake. "Did you really think that Sasuke came to your side willingly? Of course not."

Tsunade's eyes widened at this revelation, as did Jiraiya's own.

"I knew it," Kabuto said. "I had my suspicions, but I did not have any proof. You manipulated Sasuke into defecting from Konoha."

"Amazing what blackout orders detailing the Uchiha Massacre and Sasuke's role into creating a Uchiha clan subservient to only the Hokage can do," Naruto confessed. "Then again, it was easy to make that idiot think that he was not as much of an Elite as he thought himself to be."

Sasuke growled as his eyes shifted into the Sharingan. Naruto had played him for a fool yet again. "The Kumite back in the Empire...you designed it solely just to humiliate me?!"

Naruto shook his head. "Actually, I didn't. I just manipulated the tournament so you would end up fighting Rasu. The fact that you managed to get as far as you did was a miracle in itself. You should feel honored, Sasuke. Thanks to me, you will get a place in history as the man who brought about Konoha's downfall. A spiteful, bitter, spoiled Uchiha...although I will gladly take the credit for destroying the Leaf."

Asuma, having been silent for the duration of this confrontation, balked. "You used us. All of us. Just so you could destroy Konoha."

"Don't you just love it when a plan comes together? I sure do. This was something that Hinata and I had came up with while we were fighting in the Unification Wars as a joke. But once we united the lands, we gave it some more serious thought. But before we could deal with the Leaf, there was Obito and the Akatsuki, as they would more than likely come after me for having the bijuu in my possession. Obito invading Suna gave me the excuse needed to go to war, as Suna is an ally. Once Obito and the Akatsuki was wiped out, I could finally focus on Konoha."

Hiruzen had heard enough. Madness in his eyes, he charged at Naruto, as did Asuma, brandishing his bloodied trench knives. However, Kurama intervened. Two of her fox tails had speared the resurrected father and son and lifted them into the air. As the Konoha side watched in horror (save for the two Senju brothers and Orochimaru), Kurama incinerated both men, reducing them to charred bones, the special kunai designed by Orochimaru to control them fell to the ground, charred from the intense heat.

"SENSEI!" Jiraiya shouted in horror.

"Goodbye, Hiruzen Sarutobi," Naruto sniped. "Give my regards to Koharu and Honmura."

Jiraiya, at that moment, saw red. "You...YOU DEVIL!" the enraged super pervert screamed, forming a Rasengan in his hand, and charged at the Emperor, who slid a pair of Hirashin kunai - one black, the other the classic trikunai - in his hands. Sidestepping the Rasengan, Naruto impaled Jiraiya with the trikunai in his left hand.

Jiraiya's eyes bulged as the Rasengan dispersed as he felt the intense pain in his gut, looking at the man who in his mind, looked so much like the man whose son he had forsaken along with most of Konoha.

"That's for my parents who you betrayed," Naruto snarled. He then shoved the trikunai even deeper. "That's for the Uzumaki clan, who you tried to exterminate." He raised the second kunai and drove it into Jiraiya's neck. "And this is from me. Fuck you and die."

Naruto yanked out the trikunai out of Jiraiya's gut and kicked Jiraiya back. Jiraiya died, looking at the darkening night sky. As he died, the last thing he had seen was the faces of Minato and Kushina, looking at him with nothing but disdain.

"And then, there were two," Naruto mused, turning to Orochimaru. "Even though I have no love for Konoha, you are still a threat. The main reason why you are here is to save me the trouble of invading Otogakure. What better way to eliminate all of my family's enemies than to have them all together in the same place."

"Is that so?" Orochimaru retorted. He turned to Kabuto, Kakashi and the two Hokages. "Kill him," he ordered. "We'll send his head to his wife."

Kabuto nodded, while Hasirama and Tobirama turned and faced the Emperor. The two Senju prepared to use their Mokouton to ensnare the Emperor and the bijuu queen, while Kakashi prepared to face off against his former sensei.

But Naruto was not known as the unpredictable maverick shinobi for nothing. Raising the bloody kunai, he flung it at Kakashi, which was followed by...

"Hiraishin no jutsu!"

One crimson flash later, and Naruto was holding the kunais with the special talismans attached to them which Orochimaru used to control Hashirama and Tobirama in one hand, and his unsheathed O-katana in the other. Naruto had yanked them out of the two Kages, right before Sasuke and Kakashi had both been sledgehammered back from punches to the face by the young Emperor.

Kabuto stood there for a split second. Then his glasses fell to the ground, nearly cut in two, which was followed by Kabuto himself, Naruto having vertically bisected Orochimaru's right-hand man.

"Try and come back from that," Naruto said.

Minato could not be any more prouder of his son. "Impressive," he complimented.

"Our village has done this boy wrong, brother," the Nidaime said as he began to fade into dust.

Hashirama nodded. "He is in the right to destroy Konoha. This is not the village we have died for." Before fading away completely, he addressed Tsunade. "You are a disappointment to the clan, Tsunade."

Now, Tsunade and Orochimaru closed in on the Namikaze family, with the surviving Konoha shinobi, Tsunade having lost any and all sense of sanity following her grandfather's denouncement of her, and Orochimaru, Kusanagi in hand. Kakashi had retrieved a pair of kunai from his pouch, while Sasuke summoned lightning to his chokuto, wanting to get in on the action of finally eliminating the Dobe once and for all.

Naruto, Minato, and Kurama responded by letting loose with a torrent of black Hiraishin kunai – the ones with the Hiraishin seals etched onto the blade – at the surviving Sound and Leaf shinobi, as well with the classic trikunai. As expected, Sasuke, Tsunade and Orochimaru had dodged the rain of steel, but some of their subordinates were not as lucky.

"Hiraishin no Jutsu."

Minato Namikaze had became famous for using the Flying Thunder God to annihilate a sizable portion of Iwagakure shinobi. Now, Konoha and Sound had gotten a full taste of the combined wrath of the Yondaime and of the Emperor. First a crimson flash, followed by a yellow flash, and the dying started.

When the flash faded, carnage was left behind. Kakashi Hatake was slain, his soul sealed. Kushina and Kurama had cut down a number of shinobi from both sides. Naruto had cut down Sakura Haruno and Tsunade and Orochimaru were mortally wounded, Naruto placing a special seal designed to nullify his powers before severing his spine. Tsunade had been stabbed repeatedly by Kushina, the wounds causing her to bleed internally.

Naruto, on the other hand, did not want to deal with the Uchiha, as he had already beaten him three times already. He wasn't going to fight him, but he wasn't going to outright kill him. Naruto simply slashed at the tendons in his arms and legs, thus rendering his former teammate a cripple...but not for very long.

The rest of the attacking shinobi, having seen the power of the Hiraishin and who had survived Minato and Kushina's assault, retreated deeper into the village.

"Behold," Naruto began, arms spread out, looking around the ruined village. "the end result of your betrayal."

"N...Naruto..." Tsunade pleaded. "Please...don't destroy Konoha...I'm sorry for betraying you...please...show mercy..."

"Mercy? I don't show mercy to traitors. Now, it's time to end this," Naruto stated calmly as he retrieved Sasuke's Chokuto and Orochimaru's Kusanagi as trophies of war. Turning to the dying Tsunade and Orochimaru, he gave him his final words, ignoring Sasuke's screams. "The both of you won't die just yet. You will live long enough to see Konoha burn. I think what I have in store for Konoha's fate is fitting. Farewell."

The bijuu queen and the Namikaze family then vanished via shunshin.

Outside of Konohagakure...

"Funny how things come full circle," Kurama mused, now in fox form, just as she was all those years ago. Only this time, the mountain-sized kitsune was now a willing participant in Konoha's destruction. "Had Konoha had honored your father's request, and favored you instead of the Uchiha runt, then this would not have been their fate."

Naruto and his parents was seated on Kurama's head. "I know. But there is no time for regrets. The Leaf has made their bed. Now it's time for them to lie in it."

Minato, on the other hand, looked sad as he watched his home village in his final moments. He had once believed in his village. He had believed in the Will of Fire. When Naruto had told him of how Konoha had become corrupted, he did not believe him at first. But then, he saw it with his own eyes. He had seen and heard of Jiraiya's betrayal.

Kushina placed one hand over her husband's own. "Minato. I'm sorry, but this had to be done. It's hard for me too."

Minato sighed. "I know." He turned to his son. "Naruto. You know what to do."

His son nodded. "Kurama. Level the village."

"Gladly," the fox replied.

The Bijuu's signature attack was the Bijuudama – the Bijuu Bomb. It is also considered the strongest of the bijuu's techniques. Now that Minato Namikaze's soul was released by the Shinigami, Kurama's Yin chakra had been restored, Kurama was back at full power.

And the power of the bijuu queen was a terrifying sight to behold if you were on the wrong side.

Kurama opened her maw and began to summon both positive and negative chakra, compressing it inside her mouth. For the bijuu, unleashing a perfect Bijuudama was tricky, as the chakra needed to be balanced at an eight-to-two ratio lest the Bijuudama could backfire. Gyuki found that out the hard way shortly after the Six Paths had separated them, which had resulted in a dislocated jaw for the Eight-Tails.

The Ten-Tails' Bijuudama could level an entire village. Kurama was no different. Her Bijuudama was just as destructive.

"Fire," Naruto calmly commanded.

Kurama fired the Bijuudama.

Orochimaru was dead. This Tsunade knew. Surviving Konoha and Oto shinobi ran about, trying to find a way out of the doomed village, but the exits were blocked, Naruto having trapped the shinobi inside via exploding tags, blocking their escape route. Sasuke Uchiha was alive, but not for long. Tsunade had guessed that he would bleed out in less than five minutes.

Tsunade looked at the bodies of Orochimaru and Jiraiya. She was the last of the Legendary Sannin alive, but not for long, as her grandfather's final words echoed in her mind.

"You are a disappointment to the clan, Tsunade."

'How did this happen?' Tsunade thought. 'How in the hell did Naruto outsmart all of us? This was not supposed to happen. Konoha is supposed to be the strongest of the villages. Where did we go wrong.'

Sasuke was thinking along the lines of, 'This can't be happening! I don't want to die!,' showing that through his facade of being a superior Uchiha, he was in fact, afraid of dying.

Those were their final thoughts as they were overcome with a blinding flash of light, and knew no more. So ended the Legendary Sannin of Konoha. So ended the Senju. So ended the life of Sasuke Uchiha.

The Bijuu Bomb – in the form of a black mass of chakra – detonated over Konohagakure, instantly turning night into day, the night sky lighting with the radiance of a thousand suns. Any surviving shinobi that was caught in the flash was instantly reduced to carbon as a result of the flash, others who were hiding inside the buildings within Konoha were crushed as the blast wave expanded, turning stone, wood, concrete and glass into shrapnel, shredding and impaling any and everything in its path.

Not even the Hokage Mountain was left standing, as that was also pulverized into oblivion. Only the training fields were left unscathed from Kurama's blast, although it did rattle the critters in the Forest of Death.

As the light from the blast faded, the village of Konohagakure no Sato was awash in a sea of flames. It was truly to anyone who had lived through the ordeal, Hell.

"To whoever once lived here in Konohagakure no Sato..." Naruto's chakra-masked voice carried on the wind. "I curse its remnants, from its remaining shinobi to its surviving civilians, and their descendants. I condemn the Konoha Remnant to wander the Elemental Countries in shame and guilt for the crimes they had committed in the name of the village. You will wander, looking for a new place to start over, but you will have no rest. You will have no reprieve. Until the last of the remnant dies out, you will never have no form of peace."

With his declaration done, Naruto and his parents hopped off of Kurama's head. The bijuu queen assumed her human form. Naruto turned to his parents. "So...I guess this is goodbye?"

Kushina nodded sadly. "Yes. The Shinigami said that this was good for only twenty-four hours." She embraced her son. "I am so proud of you, Naruto."

Naruto smiled. "Thanks, Mom."

Minato stepped forward and patted his son on the shoulder. "Sochi...you have exceeded my expectations. For you to become Emperor of the West. You have done me proud."

"Thanks, Dad."

Kushina turned to Kurama. "Watch over him and his family, Kurama. Consider it a request from an old friend."

Kurama nodded. "I will, Kushina."

Moments later, the clones dispersed, while their souls ascended to a higher plane of existence. Naruto and Kurama watched them until they were out of sight.

Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he faced Kurama.

"Your wife and children are waiting for you," she said. "Let's go home."

Naruto nodded. He was drained. All he wanted to do was go back to Kimon and sleep. Kurama activated the Demon's Gate Jutsu and the pair stepped through. Behind them, Konoha burned. Come the morning, Konoha would be nothing but a ruined wasteland.

Imperial Complex – within the Imperial Palace.

"Is it over?"

Hinata's voice had broken Naruto out of his thoughts as he looked inside the bedroom that Minato and Moka shared.

Naruto turned to his wife, who was in her shirt and shorts and nodded. "It's over. Operation Scorched Leaf is a success. Konoha has been destroyed. The Sannin are dead. Sasuke Uchiha is dead."

Hinata nodded. Despite everything, Konoha was their hometown. It had pained them to see that Konoha had become corrupted, but in the end, they had chosen their own paths. Konoha had become a threat, and had to be neutralized. Through this action, the Empire – and the East – would remain safe. Suna would retain its status as the strongest shinobi village, while Kazahana's shinobi village will take Konoha's place as one of the five.

There would be no power vacuum, as Naruto had made sure of that. Sasuke Uchiha would be forever remembered as the shinobi would had brought down the Leaf. Only he and his closest allies knew the truth.

With Konoha gone, Naruto and Hinata can now look to the future of the Western Empire. The Emperor's wrath was finally sated.