Chapter 39: In the Midst of Despair Part II

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

"Hmm…."- Bijuu

Chapter 39:

In The Midst of Despair Part II

Kushina didn't know what was happening. It was like an apocalypse had suddenly rained down on her home village. Everything was happening so fast that she didn't know what she should do. The young girl could only stare in shock as she saw all the destruction around her as well as all the bodies of the people that had once been her family.

After her emotional breakdown in front of her parents, the young girl had decided to take some time for herself and away from everyone else as the world she knew was crumbling down on her. Her sudden realization of her feelings for a certain blond, her apparent departure from her home to another place that she knew nothing of. It was all just too much. So she had left. She had walked aimlessly around the village for the past few hours until everything around her really did collapse.

Kushina didn't know how, but the barrier that protected all of them had somehow fallen. Even she already knew the importance of the barrier in keeping them safe from the other shinobi nations. But it had been breached. And now, the destruction around her raged like a raging wildfire.

The young Uzumaki could only stand in shock as she continued to look at the fallen bodies of her fellow Uzumaki around her. Her brain still couldn't comprehend how all of this was happening. It just didn't make any sense. How could any of this be happening right now? Was this reality? Or was she just having a nightmare? Kami, she hoped it was a nightmare. She didn't want for this to be real life. It wasn't fair. Her life had been perfect. And then, out of nowhere, everything around her really was crumbling. And there was nothing she could do to fix things.

But Kushina was forced to come out of her thoughts as four chunnin from Kumo made their presence known as they jumped down from a nearby rooftop to the street below where the girl stood.

"Well, well, well," one of them begin with a smirk as he looked at Kushina, "what do we have here?"

"Heh, it looks like a lonely genin to me," another said as he noticed Kushina's headband. "What a damn shame for you to run into us, girl."

Kushina took a step back with wide eyes, her face expressing full terror. All that training that she had gone through in the academy and with her parents…..at this moment, Kushina forgot it all. She had never fought against a real opponent before in her life. Add to the fact the circumstances that she found herself in. Her mind was shutting down. She didn't know what to do. Her knowledge of how to protect herself had left her brain.

Taking notice of this, the four chunnin closed on the girl, intent of having some fun before the rest of their forces arrived. After that, they would have to march onto the heart of the village. Right now, they were just raiding the outskirts in order to throw off the Uzu shinobi before they could properly organize themselves.

Pulling out a kunai, the chunnin that had spoken first smirked as he neared the shaking Kushina. But before he could get another foot closer, his eyes rolled to the back of his head as his head was sliced off with a clean sword swipe.

The other three's eyes widened as Kaito suddenly appeared out of nowhere among them, his sword drawn. There was silence for a few seconds save for the burning buildings around them and the blood on the blade's tip dripping down on the ground. Then, as if a button had been pushed, the remaining three chunnin charged at the jonin only to be met with death as Kaito easily cut them down like he had done so with the first chunnin.

The Uzumaki jonin t'ched as he looked at the fallen corpses of the chunnin before he turned his attention to his shaking sister.

"Kushina, are you all right?" he asked as he knelt in front of her, placing his freed hand on her cheek.

Kushina's frightened eyes met his. "W-what's going on?"

Sighing, Kaito stood back up as he sheathed his sword to his back, grabbing Kushina's hand in the process as he began to lead her towards the abandoned streets.

"We're under attack. Somehow, our barrier was breached. Father is trying organize our forces from the tower. But some of our scouts were able to pick up a fleet heading for us. They should have touched down by now…."

Kaito left out how the fleet had wiped out theirs in an instant. Not that it was surprising. Their ships had been anchored. They hadn't been prepared for an attack. And now, the main army was already prepping itself to assault them full force. But what worried Kaito the most was how this attack force consisted of shinobi from Kumo, Iwa, and Kiri. It seemed as if they had been able to work together in order to take them down. But in order to bring those three nations together…..well, it took a lot of cunning. Kaito had no idea who could have done it. But if he ever found out, then he would gladly kill that person in an instant.

"W-what are you doing here?"

Looking back, Kaito could see how his younger sister still hadn't completely gotten over what she had just witnessed. Not that he could blame her. No matter what kind of shinobi you were, there was always some level of shock that came along with seeing your first kill. Or worse, actually taking the life of another human being for the first time. That was what had happened with him, after all.

"Father informed me how you were still out here," Kaito answered as he turned his face back. "Before anything else, I have to make sure that you're safe."

Shaking her hand free from his grasp, Kushina shook her head. "No! I'm a shinobi too! I should be out here, fighting with you! I don't want to protected like a baby!"

Turning around, Kaito looked at his sister with narrowed eyes. "This isn't for discussion, Kushina. Before you can be treated like an adult, you have to act like it. And right now, you're not. You're acting like a spoiled brat. Do you think that there is any honor in any of this? Because there isn't. Being a shinobi isn't about fun. It isn't about glory. There's no glory to be found in killing others. And you're not ready to handle that yet. You're the future, Kushina. That's why our parents and I want to make sure that you can live on. So that even if we perish, you'll be able to see tomorrow."

But Kushina continued to shake her head as tears formed around her eyes. "But I can't live like that! I can't live without you!"

Sighing, Kaito placed one of his hands on top of Kushina's head, making the girl look up at him. "I know this isn't easy, sister. And I wish it wasn't so. But this is what life is about. Sometimes, you'll be faced with hard choices, none of which you will be happy about. But you're forced to choose anyway, choosing the lesser of two evils along the way. That is a part of life. It's what being an adult is all about. It's what you're made to do as a shinobi. No one is happy with that outcome. But it's something that you have to struggle with all your life. Even if you stumble, I'm sure that you'll be able to figure things out in the end. To make your own hard decisions. But right now, it's not your time. It's ours. And we have picked our choice. If it means keeping you safe, we will gladly give up our lives."

Kushina continued to shake her head. "But why!? Why can't you just leave with me!?"

Kaito smiled. "Because we're still shinobi. And we have a duty to protect our home. Just like you will have many chances in the future. But right now, it's not. Your only priority is to make sure that you live on."

But Kushina didn't want that. She didn't want to be left alone. She couldn't imagine a world where neither her parents nor Kaito were there. It just wasn't her reality. But all of that was being stripped away from her now.

Their talk came to an end, however, when they both felt a strong chakra come out of nowhere. But they knew it wasn't ordinary chakra. Heck, even Kushina could sense it. It was a chakra full of malice.

The two siblings turned their head to the other side of the village to see a pillar of red chakra shooting up to the night sky.

Kushina's eyes widened even further while Kaito's narrowed.

'That's definitely not good….'

There was an invasion looming over them that they had to deal with this. And now this!? Well, this was certainly turning out to be one hell of a night.

Before Kushina could say another word, Kaito grabbed her arm again before he took off running towards their house with the intent to make sure that Kushina got out of the village before the fighting began along with the other villagers.

But there was something else that he knew that he had to take care of.

He had to find a certain idiotic blond along with his other students.

Arashi narrowed his eyes as he dug his fingers as deep into his chair as he could. The Uzumaki clan head could only stare at the pillar of red chakra with fear and anxiousness. This chakra was too similar to that of the mysterious person who had kept contact with him in the past couple of years as well as the one of that ambush in the last war. But unlike the previous times, it now carried hatred and malice along with it. And Arashi already knew that that wasn't a good sign. He was already busy trying to come up with some sort of strategy in order to push back the coming army of three shinobi villages. And now this showed up too.

"Arashi…."

Looking back, Arashi met Kazumi's worried gaze. He couldn't blame his wife. Right now, this was a time of complete chaos. His fellow clansmen laid dead on the very streets they called home. He had lost his fleet. Most of his shinobi were scattered throughout the village in disarray. But this was the first time in their clan's history that anyone had breached into their village. As such, there weren't any contingencies plan other than to get the civilians to safety via tunnels hidden under the village. He was sure that Kaito would bring Kushina to their home where a tunnel laid hidden which connected to the main ones which would bring her to the mainland and out of harm's way. Not to mention that Naruto was still missing. Kaito had told him that he would go out in search of him and the rest of his team as soon as he got Kushina to safety. He could only hope that everything did go that simple.

"You need to get out of here," Arashi stated with the most serious tone he could muster. "Meet Kaito back at the house and get Kushina out of here. I'll send a squad with you to make sure that you get there safely."

"But what about you?"

Walking up to the love of his life, Arashi placed a reassuring hand on her cheek. "I have to stay here. Lead our clan until we've evacuated. That's my duty. It's the oath that I took once I became the clan head. An oath that I will follow to my death."

As much as she wanted to snap back and tell him to come with her, Kazumi knew that their lives were defined as the way of the shinobi. As such, they had a duty to uphold. And her husband's was to make sure that they lived another day, even if he himself didn't. And while it pained her heart, she knew that she had to accept that. Especially when he got this serious. There was no budging her husband then. It was that simple.

Nodding, she leaned in for one final kiss which Arashi returned with as much emotion as he could.

The aged Uzumaki could only watch her go before he turned his attention back to the pillar of red chakra.

'Kenji, where the hell are you? I really need you here….'

Danzo didn't really know how to describe what he was seeing right now. Whomever that boy was, he wasn't ordinary. And even though he couldn't make out any specifics through that vortex of chakra, Danzo knew that, whatever this boy was transforming into, it wasn't pretty. Not only that, but even the air around them was stinging. And all these emotions of intense hatred and agony…..all directed at him.

But even though it was being directed at him, the remainder of his men still felt it. And even with their training, their knees began to shake in fear as the vortex of chakra began to die down.

Danzo's eye widened in realization as he saw what stood before him. It was some sort of beast…..a six tailed beast to be exact along with some exoskeleton of some kind...

'This boy…..he's a jinchuriki!'

But how could that be!? Uzu didn't have any jinchuriki or any bijuu that they could use to turn someone into a jinchuriki. And the last time he had heard, the Rokubi was in the possession of Kiri but with no current available host. So then, what exactly was he seeing in front of him at this moment?

"You…."

Danzo t'ched when he heard the beastly voice. Whatever the boy had done, he was still somewhat able to hold his own thoughts. But Danzo highly doubted that it would remain that way forever. It wouldn't be long before the beast within took over. And then…..well, then everyone was screwed.

The transformed boy didn't move for a few more seconds before he suddenly vanished out of their line of sight.

Danzo's eye widened again as he jumped up into the air a split second before the beast cut right through his men and him as well if he hadn't moved.

But the transformed child wasn't so easy to fool as he immediately caught sight of him in the air.

Danzo barely had any time to twist his body around as the unknown jinchuriki fired a barrage of some sort of beams at him. But he wasn't able to dodge them all as he was hit by the final phase of the barrage.

The influential Konoha shinobi gasped in pain as he was hit and was sent flying back to the other side of the neighborhood.

The transformed Naruto grinned, thinking that he had managed to kill his target. But he quickly dropped the grin when he saw that Danzo was still alive. Holding his side in pain as blood splattered everywhere from his wounds but still alive.

As for Danzo, he could only cough up more blood as he analyzed the situation in front of him. Things had taken a turn for the worst. There was no denying that. There was no way that he could have ever accounted for a damn jinchuriki to be here. That other mysterious individual that had attacked him those years back, sure. But not a jinchuriki. And he had to ask again: how did Uzu ever attain one!? This was what happened when you had barely any information on your enemy. Too many surprises that you couldn't account for. But it wasn't Danzo's fault. Before tonight, Uzu really was impenetrable. The only ones they ever allowed into their village were traders for commerce. But even then, they were never allowed to stay over. They left the same day that they came in. If one was ever unaccounted for, they would hunt the person down no matter what. So trying to send in spies in such a condition wasn't helpful to him. But because of a lack of knowledge, he was now paying the price.

'Damn it all to hell…..'

Knowing there was only one thing he could do in his condition, Danzo gritted his teeth as he poured every ounce of his energy and determination into a tactical retreat. The man took off to the rooftops with the intent on heading back to the island's main port so that he could rendezvous with the rest of the army and figure out a way to bring down this jinchuriki.

But another barrage of those beam-like projectiles from behind him let the man know that this wasn't going to be easy: the jinchuriki was right on his ass. And Danzo already knew that he wasn't as fast. The jinchuriki would catch up to him no matter what.

Coughing more, Danzo decided that there was only one thing to do: present the jinchuriki with more targets.

With that in mind, he quickly headed for where most of the advanced force should be at by now.

The Sandaime Raikage stood on board the main ship of the fleet as his men and the other shinobi from Iwa and Kumo disembarked. His skin still hadn't fully healed itself from being on the receiving end of that boy's attack in the last war. But now, he was able to function as he always did.

But the man wasn't concerned about his skin problems at the moment. No, he was just a bit annoyed at how that damn Onoki hadn't shown up personally to see the end of Uzu. It was a sign of a coward as far as the man was concerned. Then again, the Mizukage hadn't shown up either. But no one knew who that man was to begin with. Something else that he didn't like. But the Raikage also knew that he could use this to his advantage if he played his cards right. Especially after witnessing that pillar of red chakra earlier. The man could only think of one person that it could belong to. And hopefully he was right.

"Tell the main force to begin their march towards the center of the village."

The shinobi behind him, one from Kiri, took a step back in surprise. "But we were told to wait for Danzo's signal!"

Turning around, the Raikage narrowed his eyes at the Kiri shinobi, making the man take another step back as he swallowed a sudden lump in his throat.

"This isn't a suggestion. This is an order. Now, be a good shinobi and follow it!"

The fact that they were from two different villages didn't concern him in the least. Right now, he had command of this entire force. And he was going to use it until they were no longer useful to him.

The Kiri shinobi could only nod before he scrambled off to complete his new set of orders.

'It looks like I have two targets now,' the Raikage thought to himself as he turned to look at the village before him with his arms crossed in front of him.

He smirked. 'This will be an interesting night.'

Kaito led Kushina through the darkened and empty streets. But the jonin knew that it wasn't going to stay that way for long. From what little information he had been able to get before he had taken off to find Kushina, the enemy force had amassed around a perimeter in the main road of the village. They were keeping that area sealed tight from any possible attacks. And Kaito knew why. With the main road in their control, the main army could just march on through straight towards the main office building where his father was in the center of the village. Once they captured that, they would cut them in half as well as rip off their head, leaving them even more stunned and scattered.

But in order to reach their house, Kaito knew that they had to cross through the main road. That was why he had chosen what he thought was one of the less guarded portions so that he could slip in even more easily just like he had done before. But now, he had Kushina with him. And his sister wasn't all that good with stealth. But Kaito knew that he would just have to make due and hope for the best. At least, those were his thoughts until he felt that same chakra from before again.

Feeling her brother tense as they came to a halt, Kushina was about to ask him what was wrong until the same feeling from before reached her. This chakra…..just what was it?

Kaito t'ched as he grabbed his sister by the waist as he jumped up to a building in front of them. Down below was the main road of the village. And while Kaito knew that it was foolish to be out on the open like this, he also knew that it didn't matter right now. Why? Because the enemy shinobi were too busy scrambling as something headed their way.

Danzo screamed out in frustration as he threw a pair of shuriken at the still rampaging jinchuriki. But it did nothing to deter the mindless boy as he continued to jump back from his attacks on the street. All around him were the shinobi from the advance unit as they stared at the confrontation before them. But none of them dared to jump in, knowing that it wouldn't end well for them. This wasn't why he had come here, though. The whole reason he had was so that they could serve as a distraction for him to get away. But the jinchuriki ignored everything but him, almost like a machine that wouldn't stop until its mission was filled.

"Kill…..kill you….."

Danzo felt a small chill run up his spine at hearing those words. It had been a while since he had felt any form of fear. But right now, he was staring at fear right in the face.

His body finally gave in, however. He had been moving around far too much with the wound that he now had. And it was the worst possible time for it to do so.

Danzo came to a halt as he felt down to one knee, panting heavily as more blood came gushing out. His vision began to darken before he shook his head. He couldn't afford to pass out here. If he did, he knew that he wouldn't make it.

Turning back towards the jinchuriki, Danzo cursed to himself when he saw him circling around him, like a predator savoring the meal to come. Danzo could tell that the boy already knew that he was on his last leg. He had nowhere else to go.

"What the hell are you all doing!?" Danzo shouted at the gathered shinobi who still refused to move a muscle. "Take this boy down!"

That made all the gathered shinobi even more shocked. THAT was a boy? There was just no way that thing could be human!

Danzo cursed again when he saw how his words had had the opposite effect on the shinobi. It seemed like he really was on his own now. And that didn't help him any.

Up on the nearby rooftop, Kushina trembled in fear as she gazed at whatever that thing was, bringing herself closer to her brother's body. "What is…..that?"

But Kaito couldn't answer, for he himself didn't know. He did know that whatever this thing was, it was the source of the foul chakra. And what made this all even more interesting was whom this beast was fighting. Kaito could recognize the man from a mile away: Shimura Danzo.

Kaito's hands clenched into fists as he narrowed his eyes. Well, at least he now knew who was behind all of this mess. But now from the looks of it, he knew that Danzo had gotten into a mess himself. It served the bastard right.

Looking up at her brother's face, Kushina saw how he was staring at the commotion down below intently. The young girl could see that he wasn't going to budge until he saw this to the end.

Down below, the transformed Naruto continued to circle Danzo until he did a full circle around him, coming to a stop at where he had started. He seemed to grin in anticipation as he prepared to fire a Bijudama at Danzo in order to obliterate him out of existence. Then, only then, would he rest at ease.

Everyone's eyes widened in shock when they saw a dark sphere of some kind forming itself in the jinchuriki's mouth. Or what they assumed was a mouth. Even though none of them were sensory shinobi, they could still sense how dense that sphere, of what they assumed was chakra, was. And they knew that it wasn't going to lead to anything good.

Their fears were confirmed when the sphere grew in size to an enormous proportion.

Danzo could only stare in shock at what was happening in front of him. Was this how it was going to end for him? Right in the middle of trying to accomplish his dream? He still wasn't Hokage. Nor had he secured Konoha from all of her enemies. He still had so much to do. He was the one that was going to change the shinobi world. It was him. He just couldn't die here tonight.

But undeterred by everyone's fear, the transformed Naruto prepared to fire.

Coming out of his shock, Kaito grabbed Kushina as he instantly jumped off from the rooftop and to the other street, knowing that something big was going to happen.

But before Naruto could fire, though, he felt his control leave him for a second.

"You're not going to do this, brat!"

The next thing everyone knew, there was a gigantic explosion that covered the whole area, decimating any building within rage and leaving behind a giant crater in their place.

In Naruto's mind, all nine bijuu were lined up in a circle as they looked at Naruto who was in the center. The blond was on his knees as he stared at his reflection on the water with a set of dead eyes unlike his usual shining ones.

Gyuki glanced at Kurama, knowing that his sibling had been the one stop Naruto from going all nine tails. But he hadn't been able to stop the transformation itself. Unlike the rest of them, Naruto had had Kurama's chakra in his body all his life. His body had become perfectly in tune with the fox's chakra. As such, the blond had a connection with the chakra. Almost like he could will it himself even without Kurama. The chakra responded to the blond's emotions and will. And right now, both of those were dead set on killing that human named Danzo. Not only that, but they had all felt the grief that had overcome Naruto when he had seen Aika die in his arms. But Kurama was affected the most out of all of them since he and Naruto were like two consciousness combined into one. So a part of Kurama no doubt wanted the same thing that Naruto did before he had come to his senses and took back control from Naruto at the last second.

Kurama for his part simply stared at his partner in silence, his eyes not giving away whatever it was that he was thinking. The rest of the bijuu knew that this was something extremely personal for him, giving the fact that he and Naruto had been together the longest. Even so, the bijuu weren't going to stay out of this either. They were now with Naruto too. And they would be damned if they let something happen to him because of this.

"It seems that things have reached their climax."

The nine bijuu's eyes widened as Hagoromo himself appeared next to Naruto out of thin air, floating in his normal sitting position with his staff floating next to him as well.

The next person to make her presence known was Miyuki who came walking from behind Kurama, a worried look on her face.

Hamura was next. The Otsutsuki stood next to Shukaku, his arms crossed in front of him as he stared at the scene before him with a passive look. But Shukaku paid him no mind. Instead, he was staring at Hagoromo along with the rest of his brothers.

The last to make his appearance was Nori himself as he strolled in from behind Matatabi, his eyes closed but with a smile on his face.

Miyuki knelt in front of Naruto, grabbing his shoulders and bringing him closer to her. Unlike before, however, Naruto didn't fight back.

"So you finally show up again, Old man," Kurama began, speaking what was on everyone's mind.

Nodding, Hagoromo said, "Yes. It has been a while since we last talked, my Kurama. And unlike before, your other siblings are here with you."

"But I'm sure you already knew that," Matatabi said with a shake of the head. "After all, that woman acted on your behalf."

And by "woman," it was none other than Miyuki. But said woman didn't speak up when her name was mentioned, instead giving Naruto all her attention.

Nori chuckled as he saw this. "Well then. It seems that you're happy to have your master back in your arms."

Hamura looked at him. "You shouldn't talk right now. We already know what you did. You're on thin ice as it is."

But the man shrugged. "Does it matter? Like I've said before, you can't touch me. You're dead. I'm alive. I can do as I please. Not only that, but if it weren't for me, none of this would be possible. I suggest you don't forget that, Hamura."

Kurama let out a growl. "If I could, I would squash you where you stand."

Nori h'mphed. "Don't get all melodramatic on me, beast. After all, weren't you the one that hated humans with a passion? Why are you now so compassionate?"

"Because he learned, just like the rest of us did, that there is no use in holding onto that hatred," Kokuo stated.

"We have been responsible for our own share of hatred," Isobu added. "Even if humans have wrong us, we have done many wrongs as well."

"So you can take your fancy talk and shove it up your ass!" Shukaku finished.

Hagoromo smiled when he saw Nori about to respond. "Take heed what you have to say. Even if I can't touch you, Naruto can."

Nori calmed down at this, another smile forming on his face. "Is that really what you believe? Do you think Naruto will still want to stand by your philosophy after knowing that this is all your doing?"

For the first tine since the bickering had started, Naruto moved his head away from Miyuki's comforting embrace. "What?"

It was a single word, but it was uttered with a threatening tone underneath it.

Turning his attention to Naruto, Nori elaborated. "But of course. What do you think this is all about, Asura-kun? This is your test," he said the word with as much sarcasm as he could, "to see if you're worthy of inheriting the power that Hagoromo can give you. The same power that you used once in order to stop that ambush in the last war. That's all. It's all about power."

Naruto turned his attention to Hagoromo who was staring at him with his Rinnegan eyes. "Is this true?"

"Yes." Hagoromo knew that there wasn't anything he could hope for in lying. "This is a test."

Naruto's hand clenched into a fist. "So…..it was all inevitable then? No matter what I did or do now, Uzu will be destroyed? Aika, Haru, and the others…they're meant to be dead?"

Hagoromo was silent for a few moments. Nori waited patiently as well, knowing that it would all go his way in the end.

"Yes and no," Hagoromo finally answered. "Things can be changed. In the original timeline, they did perish the night that Uzu was destroyed. But with your arrival, things became unpredictable. There were a great many deal of things that you could have done differently that would have given you a different outcome. But like with any other choice, you also have different consequences. For example, you could have left Uzu, gone to kill Danzo, but then exposed yourself even further. Or you could have told your grandfather whom you really were, revealed everything to him, and then worked alongside him. But even then, knowing of the attack would have been impossible. Even so, there were an infinite number of choices that you could have picked. That is why I gave you and Sasuke the freedom to do things however you pleased."

But none of that made Naruto feel any better. Instead, it only made him feel even worse than before. "So…..she's dead because of my inept self…..because of my weakness."

"No," Nori said as he walked forward. Kurama t'ched when he saw this but didn't move. "You shouldn't fault yourself for this. It's the world. It's reality. It's human nature. Those are the causes for this. It's what I've told you this whole time. Humans aren't interested in change. They're scared of the things that they can't comprehend. And they take anything that will be useful to them. Why do you think that Hagoromo is here, today, talking with you as a failure? Because even with all his power, he wasn't able to do anything. He simply gave humans an even greater power with which they could cause even more destruction with. That's all chakra is now. A weapon in the hands of the worst race possible."

"Don't act so arrogant," Miyuki interjected with narrowed eyes. "You're nowhere near being a perfect being. So you have no right to point any fingers. Especially after what you did to Haru."

Naruto's eyes widened as he stood up, looking at Nori with rising anger. "What did you do to Haru?"

Nori shrugged. "Nothing that wouldn't otherwise have happened to him."

Naruto growled as he took a step forward. "You son of a bitch…do you think that you can manipulate me like this!?"

Nori chuckled. "It's not manipulation. It's truth. Hagoromo already told you this. After all, I didn't have a hand in Aika's death. And yet, here we are. The same could be said about your other teammate. I simply made his death painless. But now you should know the errors in your way."

The blond looked down at his hands, feeling more powerless than he had ever felt before.

"You're too forgiving," Nori continued with a shake of his head. "You try to convert those who oppose you. And then, even when they disagree with you, you still let them go. How can you ever achieve what you want when you let your enemies walk all over you? That's why you're in this mess."

Walking towards him, Nori placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "But I can fix all of this. I can give you those you want."

Naruto's eyes widened at hearing this, making Nori smile. "That's right. Just turn your back on this world. Come with me, Asura-kun. You can make a utopia for yourself and those you cherish, including Aika. You can spend the rest of your days there in peace with no one trying to take your happiness away. There's nothing wrong with that either, now is there? This world has taken your loved ones one after another. Your parents, the Sandaime, Jiraiya, Neji, Aika, Haru. And if you continue, the odds of you losing even more are high. So what's the point in saving a world that allows that? There isn't any."

Miyuki stood up as well with gritted teeth. "Oi, what are you-"

But she was quickly silenced by Hagoromo who raised up his hand as he watched this intently. The same could be said about Hamura.

"Don't you think so too?" Nori continued, taking a step back as he extended his hand out to Naruto. Said blond looked at it, already knowing what Nori wanted. "That's right. Just take my hand, and I can make it happen, Asura-kun. You'll be able to see Aika. It's that simple."

"I've had enough of this crap," Kurama stated as he looked at Naruto, making the blond turn his attention to him. "After everything we've been through, if you take his hand and go with him, then you aren't the Naruto that I know. Nor will you be the Naruto that Aika fell for. You'll only be an impostor. Nothing more."

Hagoromo hid his smile at hearing Kurama say that, but he wasn't able to hide it well enough as Hamura caught it.

Nori looked up at Kurama. "You have no say in this. So stay out of things that don't concern you."

Naruto and Kurama met gazes. In an instant, Kurama could see exactly what his partner was thinking.

Turning back towards Nori, Naruto closed his eyes as he reached for the hand, making Nori smile. At long last, he had broken Asura. Ever since the first time that he had approached the man and had been rejected, Nori had vowed to one day break the man's useless philosophy. It had no real merit in the real world. He had lived for thousands of years, after all. He had seen so many wars throughout the years. He had even seen how Kaguya had failed to maintain the peace that she had set out to make. And today, it was not going to be any different. He was only going to be proven right.

But those thoughts left him as Naruto, instead of taking his hand, brought his fist back and sent a punch straight for the man's jaw. It was the first time in a long time since Nori had been struck by someone. The pain that came afterwards was enough to make him dizzy for a few seconds.

The bijuu, minus Kurama, watched this with surprise. They had honestly been thinking that Naruto might take that offer. Miyuki was in the same state as well before she looked towards Hagoromo who had his eyes closed, almost as if he had already known what was going to happen.

'Well, well,' Hamura thought from his spot with a smile. 'It looks like you won't be losing your brother, after all, Sasuke.'

Nori scowled as he looked at Naruto, his cheek still stinging from the punch. "What the hell are you doing!?"

Naruto opened his eyes again, making Nori's eyes widened when he saw them.

"You….you awakened….."

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm not anyone's puppet," Naruto stated, his eyes shifting to a more yellow color. This signified his transformation into Six Paths Sage Mode, just like he had done so in the last war.

"I'm not going to abandon anything," Naruto continued as he shook his head. "I could never forgive myself if I did. Besides, if I did see Aika-chan after only this, she would only lecture me. And that's no fun."

Nori could only scowl again. "You brat….do you really think that you can actually change anything after all of this!?"

Naruto chuckled as he shrugged. "Who knows? But I'm not giving up. You should know that by now. Although I guess I should be somewhat thankful to you….."

Nori did look a bit confused here.

Turning his back to him, Naruto said, "You made me realize that there really isn't any alternatives sometimes. There are some people that really will never change. Even though I knew this before, I still struggled with the concept. I didn't want to forsake anyone. But now, I know that that is really naive. No matter how much I would like to think otherwise, I can't let those that will only spread more hatred go. And that includes you. Next time we meet, I will kill you. For Haru and everything else that you have done. I promise you that. And I never go back on my promises."

Turning his attention to Hagoromo, Naruto walked up towards him. "You and I have many things to talk about, super gramps."

Hagoromo chuckled as he opened his eyes. "Yes, that we do, my boy. But that will have to wait. You still have to make sure that those you care about make it out of this mess alive."

Naruto nodded as Miyuki walked up to stand next to him.

Hagoromo motioned towards her. "Miyuki is now at your service. She will help you in this. And she will remain at your side from now on."

Naruto didn't respond to that as Miyuki nodded her head in agreement. The blond merely turned his attention back to the bijuu.

"Guys….I'm sorry for what-"

"Don't apologize, you idiot," Kurama interrupted. "We already knew that you wouldn't give in because of this."

"That's right!" Saiken said excitedly. "We will always believe in you!"

Naruto nodded with a smile of his own.

Hamura smirked from his spot as he looked at the seething Nori. "It looks like your plan has failed, after all. The boy won't budge, no matter what you do."

Nori h'mphed as he glanced at him. "We shall see about that. The future is unpredictable, Hamura. And I still have a few cards left to play."

With that, he disappeared, no doubt back to his dimension.

But Naruto paid him no mind. He had other things to worry about. And with Miyuki on his side, he now had a better chance on making sure that the others made it out of this alive.

He just hoped he wasn't too late.

Danzo couldn't believe just how much pain he was experiencing right now. Since he had been the closest to that blast radius, he had taken the most damage. He also knew that it was a miracle that he was still alive. He didn't know why or how, but the boy had misfired his jutsu. He had been able to catch that before the explosion had happened. The jutsu was similar to the ones that he had fired him with while he had chased him through the village, after all. This one had just been much more focused and a lot more powerful. So it hadn't supposed to have blown up right in front of him like that. But if he had actually completed it and fired it, Danzo knew that he would be a goner right now.

As a result, the damage he took was only from the shockwave itself. But it had been powerful enough to send him flying straight into a building before the entire building had collapsed right on top of him due to the shockwave as well. Fortunate for him, what had once been part of wall had shielded him from the rest of the debris that would have no doubt squashed him like a bug.

His body still hurt, though. And he had lost a lot of blood. It was only because of willpower that he was still conscious right now.

Having deemed himself ready to move, Danzo attempted to stand up and make himself scarce until he felt the chakra from the jinchuriki boy change again. But this time…..it was much more powerful than before. And it was heading straight for him.

It didn't take long for Naruto to walk through the smoke that the Bijudama from before had caused. And when he did, Danzo was too shocked to say anything. His appearance had changed drastically from before. Not to mention that he now had nine orbs orbiting around him as well as two rods in his hands.

"Just who are you?"

Naruto looked at him for a few seconds before he replied, "It doesn't matter now, Danzo. No matter what I tell you, it won't make a difference. You're too set in your ways, believing that stepping over others will create peace. Well, it won't. This isn't peace. It's far from it."

Coming out of his shock, Danzo frowned. "I don't know how you know me, but don't try to lecture me, boy. Everything that I have done, I've always done it for the well being of Konoha. And I don't regret a single thing."

Naruto sighed. "It seems that we really can't come to an agreement. Unfortunately, I can't say that there isn't a part of me that won't enjoy this. You're the one that took Aika away from me."

Danzo t'ched. "No! I'm not supposed to die now! I'm the one that will forever change the shinobi world! I won't die at your hands, you brat!"

Whatever else he had to say, Naruto didn't let him finish it.

Danzo's eye widened as Naruto effortlessly threw one of the rods straight through his heart.

"This is your end, Danzo," Naruto stated. "My only regret is that I hadn't done this sooner."

The rod pulled back into Naruto's hand again, leaving a huge gaping hole through Danzo's chest. But it didn't matter anymore. The man was already dead.

It was then that Miyuki appeared next to Naruto through one of her portals.

"It seems that we have a whole army upon us," she stated as Naruto turned to face the main office building in the center of the village. She also ignored the corpse that laid in front of them. "What are you doing to do now, Naruto-sama?"

Not bothering to correct her with the -sama, Naruto turned back to look at her. He could already sense his mother's chakra. As well as a certain someone's off in the distance.

"I'm going to save my family."