1,703A Foxes Tale
Chapter 34
AN: Hello all it's been a while. Firstly Happy New Year, and I wish everyone nothing but the best in life going forward. Secondly I want to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited and followed the story. The chapter is a bit late as I wanted it out before New Years but honestly I just got sick of looking at the screen and took a break before I chucked my laptop.
Now then as far as story is concerned I'll be making a few changes but you should know that otherwise you'd just go back to cannon sources. Some fights I won't cover since they may not be needed and others I may do so due to how I'm going to change things. Also I'm doing this as if Kishimoto wasn't forced to change his ending for sequel bait and would like to point out I'm not covering Boruto and in my mind the series as a whole doesn't exist, just like Dragonball GT, though I wish a version of SSJ 4 was cannon. With that said here is the new chapter.
Start Now:
The Fourth Great Shinobi War unlike the previous wars was not meant to be a long, drawn-out affair. In fact its very declaration had merely been yet another in a long line of tactics employed for the fulfillment of the grand plan. In truth he hated that it came to this point but unfortunately the members of Akatsuki had been weaker than he'd expected. Granted some of them had been of worth but others had never reached the potential he'd foreseen. Even with that they'd gotten him close to his goal with seven of the nine biju captured. With only two biju outside of his grasp he'd used the war's declaration knowing the Kages would unite and the two biju would be hidden away. All of that had gone to plan, what hadn't been part of that plan was Kisame being killed by the Hachibi.
While they had captured a jonin from Konoha that exchange didn't sit well with him, even if the man carried enough of Hashirama's cells that they'd been able to boost the White Zetsu creation process. Unfortunately the failed attack had resulting in the enemy moving the biju and now he would need to go after them himself. As if that wasn't enough the knowledge that his Surprise Attack and Diversion Platoon had been defeated had also rubbed him the wrong way. Thankfully this was all something that he'd prepared for in advance, so he hadn't needed to make many adjustments and had been fights that were not part of the main battle.
For the Allied Forces on the other hand this news was a mixed bag, they'd lost four combatants, one of which had been capable of utilizing Mokuton and had only truly killed one opponent in Kisame. Unfortunately the resurrected shinobi couldn't be killed by regular means as they were revived by Edo Tensei and as such those bodies would simply regenerate if not handled in a particular manner. For her part Tsunade took the news impassively externally, while inside she was cursing her great-uncle as he'd stubbornly created the technique even against the word of his brother and Clan Head and now they were paying for it. Of course her grandfather had made his share of mistakes as well, sharing the secrets of sealing the biju and creating jinchurriki chief amongst them.
"So all they have is those Zetsu things and resurrected shinobi. Gotta admit I thought they'd have more." Said Onoki.
"It's the number of Zetsu that's important, that and who have they managed to resurrect." Said A arms crossed and frowning.
"They have seven biju, I'd say that's more than enough." Said Tsunade.
On this the two men agreed, there were not a lot of people alive that could fight even one biju when it had free reign. The biju were walking natural disasters and to this point they'd only beaten them by taking advantage of their comparatively miniscule size as no Kage had enough power to actually overpower any biju. That isn't to say that they couldn't hurt them because all of them could definitely do so, but all of them knew they weren't winning any drawn-out battle and killing one, like they would amongst other shinobi.
"The First Division has engaged enemy forces!" came the exclamation catching their attention.
"And now the real fighting begins." Mused Onoki.
While the war was starting in earnest in Kaminari no Kuni across the continent in Hi no Kuni, Sasuke could be seen standing on top of the Hokage Monument. He had finally been freed from ANBU custody the previous night after his final check-up with the doctor. His eyes, or rather Itachi's eyes had been unbound allowing him the first look he'd had of the village in years. He would admit that he had never truly appreciated the village as a kid, he'd been entirely too self-absorbed for such a thing. Of course learning that none of his beliefs from back then had been true had flipped his world on its axis which was one of the reasons he hadn't hesitated to accept the mission to infiltrate Oto.
He had changed up his appearance since his release, though it was not his intent initially. Instead the change was prompted by one of his cousins, Izumi who like his mother was one of the few kunoichi to survive the massacre. Unlike his mother however this had been because she simply hadn't been there that night, instead she'd been out on a mission with her team and hadn't returned for another week. Upon her return however she had been forced to retire since the council hadn't wanted to risk her death.
Regardless it was at her insistence that he changed up his look and now wore dark blue nearly black pants, a short-sleeved mesh armor shirt with a collarless flak vest matching his pants. His hair had also been trimmed and combed so that it no longer spiked up in the back and while he still had some spikes they were now directed forwards. He also wore a pair of fingerless black gloves, and his sword was now secured on his back with the handle behind his right shoulder. His attention was soon pulled away from the view as several figures settled around him.
"Thank Kami they finally let us go! Its like they want us to miss the fighting." Came the voice of Suigetsu
"Jugo isn't coming he's still out from his latest round of testing." Said Karin
"His loss, just means more opponents for us!" Said Suigetsu.
"Hn lets go." Said Sasuke speaking up for the first time.
With those words he leapt away followed quickly by Karin and Suigetsu.
By midday the Fourth Great Shinobi war had truly started, and forces were engulfed in battle on several fronts. On the west coast of Kaminari no Kuni (Land of Lightning) the First Division under the leadership of Kumo's Darui were engaged against thousands of White Zetsu and numerous resurrected shinobi. Amongst the resurrected shinobi were many notable people such as Dan Kato, Hyuga Hizashi and Kakuzu. In Yu no Kuni the Surprise Attack Division under Kankuro's leadership were already in the midst of their second battle, though they had lost people during the first battle they'd captured Deidara while Sasori and a former Root ninja named Shin had returned to the afterlife. The second battle was proving much more difficult as they were facing The Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, Gari of the Explosion Release, Pakura of the Scorch Release and Haku of the Ice Release.
Needless to say they were not just outnumbered but outgunned and had called for backup which were made from a portion of the Third Division under the direction of their second in command Kakashi. The border of Shimo no Kuni (Land of Frost) and Kaminari no Kuni was also seeing action this time pitting the Second Division under Iwa's Kitsuchi against an army comprised solely thousands of White Zetsu. Jiraiya however had been called to assist the Daimyo Protection Squad who were under attack.
Arriving at the site of the attack he could see why he was called in as not only were there numerous White Zetsu but several reincarnated shinobi including Orochimaru and the group known as the Sound Four all of whom had been taken out by the Konoha Rookies years ago, though the only one still amongst the living was Sakon and as if that wasn't enough they were being supported by Manda. With a single signal of his hand his team split, and Jiraiya leapt into the air a spiraling ball of power coming to life in his hand. However this sphere was not the standard blue of the Rasengan but was a dark mixture of red, orange, yellow and even white looking like a miniature sun, the level of power it put out was enough to catch the immediate attention of Orochimaru and Manda the former of whom leapt away and while Manda tried to do so as well he was simply too big of a target and too late.
"Katon: Gōen Rasengan (Fire Release: Great Flame Rasengan)"
With the exclamation Jiraiya slammed the attack into the giant snakes midsection which proceeded to fling it out and away from the safe house the Daimyo were staying in for quite a bit of distance. The snake had only barely touched down before the attack detonated becoming a flaming twister that could be seen and felt for miles. While everyone was gaping at the destruction wrought by Jiraiya's opening move Sakon suddenly found himself bound and yanked away before he could even make a noise of surprise. When he was settled down the implements of his capture were revealed to be snakes while he found himself looking at the menacing grin of Mitarashi Anko at least for a few moments before consciousness left him. Anko smirked glad the toxin she'd used did it's work and while her target wasn't dead he would be out for quite a bit until the antidote was administered.
Naruto froze as a surge of power registered to his senses and shuddered in place as he recognized what it was. Jiraiya's Fire Release Rasengan was an attack that even his mother was wary of. She had likened it to being hit by a piece of the sun, needless to say anything it hit would be instantly barbequed and the resulting heatwave would take out anything surrounding it. Reaching out with his senses he could feel the fighting had truly started in earnest but was still in the opening stages as the one called Tobi still hadn't taken to the field nor had any of the biju.
Feeling he didn't need to do anything at the moment he dismissed it all and returned his focus to his meditation. Despite the rather short time he'd spent with him he'd learned a lot from Asura in the time they'd spoken, he'd even helped him a bit with his Bankai training. Initially he thought the training would be a lot more intensive he had no idea just how it would be however instead of learning something completely new he was refining the things he already did. The goal had been to increase the strength of his chakra itself which required constant meditation
"Yo, Mr. Nine its feeding time!" came the voice of B before he could delve deep.
Stretching the blond felt himself loosen up as he'd been in the same position for hours at this point. Opening his eyes he found B standing in front of him and accepted the container he held out within which was rice, chopped up steak and mixed vegetables.
"Thanks." Said the teen
As they ate there was a comfortable silence between the two. Naruto wasn't the only one that had been training as B had as well once he was clued in on what the blond was up to. What Naruto didn't know however is that B hadn't been the only one shocked as the Hachibi Gyuki himself had been floored. Then he'd been pissed and ranted for nearly an hour about 'that damned kitsune keeping secrets'.
'Still to think that such a thing was possible and the previous biju never figured it out.' Mused B getting grumbling from his companion.
Unlike humans the Biju had an instinctive grasp on how to use their chakra, nothing they did was something they'd had to learn, just control. Unfortunately it seemed because of that instinctive knowledge there were things they just hadn't realized about themselves or chakra. Humans had figured out more about how chakra worked but even they had only scratched the surface of what they could be. B as the new Hachibi was one of the few people that Naruto had informed, though then he'd sent a message to his mother with the information before returning to his training. Already B could feel that the kids training had been productive as the feeling of his chakra was almost twice as strong as it was previously, though not as strong as say Gyuki the kids chakra was nothing to sneeze at and would at the least make even an experienced jonin pause and take notice. He was just hopeful that he could get everything he needed accomplished before they were inevitably called to make their appearance on the field.
The Seven Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist were a legendary group of shinobi the combined force of which is said to be capable of conquering nations. In the time since their founding there had been quite a few members before the group disbanded, mostly due to people turning nuke-nin and taking the weapons with them. For this particular battle the strongest generation of the group had been the ones summoned which included Momochi Zabuza, Hozuki Mangetsu, Ringo Ameyuri, Suikazan Fuguki, Kuriarare Kushimaru, Akebino Jinin and Munashi Jinpachi. Upon there arrival to the battlefield to face off against the Alliances Surprise Attack Division and their Third Division backup Mangetsu was the one to make the first move removing a scroll from his person before tossing it into the air above them allowing it to unravel.
When it did so eyes across the field widened as the scroll summoned forth all six of the legendary blades. Kubikiribōchō fell into the waiting hand of Zabuza who caught it with ease, the twin blades known as Kiba fell into the waiting hands of Ameyuri, Samehada was caught by Fuguki, Nuibari was caught by Kushimaru, the Kabutowari was caught by Jinin and Shibuki was caught by Jinpachi. The only one left without a blade had been Mangetsu who rather casually stated the blade had a bonded wielder since it refused the call.
Unfortunately that was where the talking ended as while their personalities were not repressed they still went on the attack all of them absolutely feigning for battle. Kakashi as part of the squad sent to back up the Surprise Attack Division was in the midst of the fighting and found his hands full with Kushimaru with only his white Sharingan eyes allowing him to avoid the Nuibari as the needle at its end flew all over the place. In truth Kakashi had wanted to go after Zabuza first for the capture but they'd attacked first and he'd given the command to scatter to at least force the group to split up.
Kakashi however wasn't the only one with his hands full as Omoi found himself clashing against Ameyuri both of them swordsmen who used Lightning Release, however whereas Omoi only used one blade the sole kunoichi of the Seven Swordsmen used a pair of twin swords. That left Gai facing off against Fuguki and Mikoto to face off with Jinpachi her purple Sharingan allowing her to dodge through the explosions without harm. Of course there were the rest of the Seven Swordsmen, Gari, Pakura and Haku to take into consideration as well. Amongst the shinobi that had accompanied Kakashi as part of the Third Division were several Nara and Yamanaka amongst a host of other shinobi from various villages. However there were a few shinobi from Konoha that proved to be the difference makers, all of them sporting the red hair of the Uzumaki clan.
"Bind them."
The speaker was Uzumaki Honoka whose order was quickly followed as a pair of scrolls were suddenly slammed to the ground from which chakra chains shot forth. While Zabuza and Mangetsu were able to dodge Jinin was not so lucky and soon found himself bound in the chains. He was only bound for a few moments before Honoka launched a seal tag at him which landed with precision on his head. For a few moments nothing happened before the tag activated his body began to glow before it fell apart as a white light escaped it before turning into a butterfly and flying away.
"What the hell was that?" questioned Zabuza.
"We broke the connection between his spirit and the jutsu allowing his spirit to return to the pure land." Said Honoka.
"Well that's good to know. I'll take you up on that offer as soon as we're done having fun!" said Zabuza with a savage grin.
Jiraiya panted his form covered in sweat while Orochimaru stood calmly across from him. They'd been fighting for hours and though he was winning he could feel that the tide would soon turn against him. The toad sage would acknowledge for all of his ability and power that he was an older man and well outside of his prime. While he could still fight as well as ever, that was due more to strategy than endurance. Perfecting Sage Mode had given him a massive boost which had helped him initially as that's what allowed him to use Rasengan with his Fire affinity. Unfortunately Orochimaru was dead and as a resurrected shinobi found that he didn't tire, his injuries regenerated as did his chakra. That was definitely the plus side in his mind and was where he would direct his research once he finished this battle and made his escape as he had no intention of returning from the place he'd come from.
"We're going to have to end this soon Jiraiya-boy." Said Fukasaku, a sentiment the toad sage shared.
"Kukuku it seems you share Jiraiya's foolishness. I've only entertained this battle so long to test what this revived body is capable of. It seems however I've run out of time so I'll show you my true power…"
The Snake Sannin found himself cut off as Jiraiya appeared in front of him his fist having punched clear through Orochimaru's sternum. Looking at his face Orochimaru saw the yellow eyes of a toad.
"Bastard, this whole time you've been a sage." Said Orochimaru eyes wide in fury, as this was the one ability he'd been unable to attain in his life
"Apologies old friend, but this is where it ends."
At that moment golden chains erupted from the ground before the Snake Sannin found himself bound and Jiraiya stepped back removing his arm from his former teammates body in the process. Removing a seal tag from his pocket he slapped it on Orochimaru's head. Almost immediately the Snake Sannin stiffened and unknown to Jiraiya who could not see it a pair of gates appeared silently behind his former teammate.
"N-no you can't have!" exclaimed the man in horror his eyes wide in fright as he tried to break himself free only to find his body not responding.
As the gates swung open and a hand reached out Orochimaru screamed bloody murder yet could not bring his body to move. Even as his spirit was ripped from the confines of the resurrected body the man was still screaming as he was pulled through the gates, and they slammed shut. Unknowing of the fate that had befallen the man Jiraiya watched his resurrected body fall to pieces and gave a sigh of both relief and more than a little grief allowing Sage Mode to leave him before making his way back towards the Daimyo's safehouse and the rest of his team.
Meanwhile back at the daimyo's safe house the Black Zetsu was smirked as he noticed the daimyo had been left inside the safe house on their own. Honestly while he wanted the attack to continue in order to distract the shinobi acting as guards and thus keep them occupied this was too good of an opportunity for him to pass up. As if that wasn't enough though it was suppressed he was able to sense the chakra of the Kyubi jinchuuriki inside as well, meaning he could not only kill the daimyo but capture the jinchuuriki as well. While he knew that the two jinchuuriki had been moved he hadn't thought the Alliance would actually move one of them to the daimyo's safehouse. That was an inspired move, unfortunately for them he'd discovered this ploy of theirs.
He would have to take out the jinchurriki first though and while he was not truly a fighter himself all he needed to do was get close to him undetected and he had the perfect ability for that. As his natural self was shapeless sneaking inside of the safe house was easy enough and spotting the jinchurriki even the small doubt he had faded as he could see the boy was out of it, the result of training apparently.
If ever there was a better opportunity for him to move on the boy it would be while he was on deaths door itself and as such he didn't hesitate to move on him falling from the ceiling and instantly merging his form with that of the jinchurriki. Due to his unconscious state it was ridiculously easy for him to push the boys consciousness down even further the end result of which gave him full command of the body. As the knowledge of how the boy used his abilities came to him he smiled darkly and stood withdrawing the boys sword and cutting down the first attendant he came across before they even knew it. As those around him looked on in horror he was already moving on to the next corpse cackling.
In the real world Anko looked at the creature cackling away and shivered. The thing was actually bound in the embrace of a large purple tree and was clearly in a world of its own, apparently the thing was called the Sinning Tree and feed on the life force of its victims all the while sending them in a constant looped hallucination. She didn't know exactly how Jiraiya had received the seed, but he'd informed her of its dangers and gave it to her just prior to their arrival. Locating the creature had been a chore itself but she'd used a snake summons, small ones to scout out the grounds and upon locating him she'd had one of them bite him before planting the seed into the creatures body.
Moving over she made quick work of sealing both it and the tree into a scroll happy to know that the tree would never release the creature from its embrace. Unfortunately the capture of the black one didn't seem to be enough to stop the white ones, but with both Zetsu and Sakon captured she was sure between Ibiki and the Yamanaka they'd figure things out.
Hatake Kakashi was the sole remaining surviving student of the Yondaime Hokage. Hailed as a genius from a young age he'd more than proven that title over the span of his life as a shinobi and the addition of the Sharingan had only added to his level of ability. The possession of the Sharingan and his lightning affinity meant that he was the person to come the closest to emulating his teachers combat style and while Naruto had learned it well himself Kakashi was still the closest. Though the Yondaime had only lived to be 24 years old, to this day there was debate on who was stronger between him and the Shodai. Kakashi now in possession of two natural Sharingan eyes was making great use of them and his training under the Yondaime and as such had been able to figure out Kushimaru's fighting style and stay ahead of Nuibari.
Kushimaru was indeed worthy of his place as the unorthodox way he used his sword was truly inspiring. Kushimaru didn't just use the blade as the longsword that it was, instead he had no problem launching the sword out and controlling it with the wire that was attached to it, making him a nightmare for both close and mid-range combat. The presence of the dense mist that filled the area meant Kakashi was at an even deeper disadvantage ruling out Kamui for the time being as he couldn't actually see too far ahead of himself even with greater perception in both eyes. Already he'd had a few close calls that resulted in a few scratches on his person though he'd luckily been able to avoid anything major landing as he knew that one wrong move would spell the end in this battle.
Thankfully his previous battle against Zabuza in Nami no Kuni (Wave Country) had given him a pretty good idea on how to operate when trapped in the Hidden Mist Technique and it helped that he was still mentally connected to both a Nara and a Yamanaka. Because of this with the sensor abilities of the Yamanaka he'd never quite lost track of his attacker.
"He's coming, frontal attack."
The words from Yamanaka Santa had him narrowing his eyes even as they changed shape taking the appearance of a pinwheel formed from three triangles shaped around his pupil. As Kushimaru appeared mid-swing of a diagonal downwards slash his eyes widened as his blade passed right through his opponent as if he was never there. At the same time as the sword was exiting from Kakashi's side the man's right arm was in motion slamming a kunai to the hilt into the revived Kiri shinobi's throat.
'Now." At his mental command a shadow detached from him and leapt onto Kushimaru holding him in place causing him to curse recognizing the Nara Shadow Possession Technique for what it was.
"Maki!"
At the call a young woman emerged from the mist garbed in the uniform of a Suna shinobi who proceeded to bind the Kiri shinobi with a massive amount of cloth hiding him completely from view just as a seal tag was slapped onto him.
"Well that's one down." Said the kunoichi.
"Zabuza's next." Said Kakashi before he and his group went to meet back with the rest of the squad.
The Hyuga clan had for the most part been placed in the Second Division which made sense as this was the close combat division. There were a several who were placed in other divisions such as scouts in the Third and Fourth divisions and even some fighters in the First division including their clan head Hiashi. The vast majority of those fighting in the war however had been made part of the second division including Neji and Hinata. Though they had definitely given the second division some extra muscle one thing that had been proven was that the Hyuga were not stamina monsters. Thanks to the Jyuken most Hyuga were not used to long lasting battles and in a battle of attrition such as what this had become against the White Zetsu army they had come to realize this shortcoming.
One person who surprised few in the clan for having the stamina to fight for long periods was Neji, who had been under the supervision of Maito Gai for the duration of his career. The surprise however was Hinata who on a scout team since the start of her career no one was expecting to have the stamina to fight for just as long as Neji. Furthermore they saw none of the hesitance they had expected to see from her as even training directly under Hiashi had not put a dent in her kind nature. As a tandem the two of them worked quite well together and as good as Neji was with the original Jyuken many could see Hinata was matching him with Type II. Still even the two of them needed to rest as eventually their stamina wore down as well.
This could be said for more than just the Hyuga however as they'd been fighting nearly all day and unfortunately had less than half of the forces they'd started with. Half of their forces had been called away to back up the First division with their commander Kitsuchi leaving them to fight a stalling battle until reinforcements could arrive. As she had been pulled back in order to rest Hinata was taking the time to meditate, while she would much rather be sleep she'd learned that meditation would allow her to rest and recover at least some of her chakra, though not as much as proper sleep would. She was deep in her meditation when her awareness sharpened, and she found herself seated within a beautiful garden on a stone bench.
"What is this?" questioned the girl in surprise.
"The garden in the house I grew up in."
Turning to the voice she found herself looking upon an old man. He had deep wrinkles in his face and his hair had turned grey. He wore a white kimono with a black wide collar ceremonial kimono, with a light green sash tied over his right shoulder. He was pale-skinned man with hairless brow ridges with small horn-like protrusions on his forehead and a pair of Byakugan eyes.
"As for where we are physically, in truth we are in a midpoint between your soul and mine."
At his words Hinata narrowed her eyes, she knew instinctively that he was telling the truth, but more than that there was something about this man that she found very familiar, enough so that it put her at ease, even though she knew she should be panicking.
"Forgive me child, it's been a long while since I spoke to one who did not immediately know my name, I am Otsutsuki Hamura." Said the man causing her eyes to widen in shock.
"As to your next question on how this is possible, let us just say that chakra is much more powerful and potent than humans realize. The reason for why we are here however is more important and it involves the war you currently find yourself engaged in. Unfortunately in our time amongst the living my brother and I were unable to destroy the Jubi beast and could only seal it away. Your enemy seeks to revive it as you know and in doing so take the chakra of your love to complete it." Said Hamura.
"I want to do more, but as hard as I've training I don't know how I can." Said Hinata softly.
"That's why I'm here child. You are the Byakugan Princess, directly descendant from myself and as such in a manner of speaking my heir. Your chakra as such comes from me and is not only incredibly strong but honestly incredibly pure. I knew things about chakra even my brother had no knowledge of, I'll teach you that and how to evolve your Byakugan to the next level.
The fighting on the west coast of Kaminari no Kuni had exploded into a massive battle that lasted throughout the day and into the night with the First Division now bolstered with back up from the second, third and fifth divisions engaging not just a massive White Zetsu army but a host of revived shinobi. During the course of the conflict several of the reincarnated shinobi had been captured and sealed including Hyuga Hizashi and Dan Kato, though those numbers had been bolstered by the appearance of a second wave of the Zetsu army and revived shinobi. Leading the revived shinobi were the Gold and Silver brothers, Ginkaku and Kinkaku of Kumo whom Darui decided to engage personally alongside one of B's students Samui and her brother Atsui. Unfortunately the siblings did not last long in the battle and were taken out thanks to stolen treasures said to have once belonged to the Sage of Six Paths that they stole before their passing's.
Aided by Ino, Shikamaru and Choji Darui was able to fight the brothers off and recover the four tools they'd stolen and even nearly neutralized Ginkaku. Unfortunately the latter effort failed and resulted in little more than pissing the brothers off resulting in them transforming into six tailed biju cloaks with it soon being revealed they'd gained the chakra of the Kyubi after being eaten by it and in turn somehow managing to absorb some of that chakra into themselves. With two miniature biju loose and working under the enemies command the Alliance found themselves quickly on the defensive as the two rampaged taking out hundreds of shinobi in the process.
It was at that point that the masked menace formerly known as Tobi made his appearance on the battlefield and proceeded to summon the statue known as the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path surprising many with its sheer size. While everyone was in shock about his appearance he acted quickly forming a single seal before chains shot out of the mouth of the statue and into the brothers before quickly withdrawing taking all of the chakra with them causing the bodies to crumble.
"So he has chakra from all of the tailed beasts within the statue then." Said Onoki frowning as the report on the event was finished.
"Only a small amount of the Hachibi's chakra though since B substituted with a tentacle." Said A
"But does the amount matter at this point?" questioned Onoki.
"I think it does. Yes now it can move around but I don't think its near full power, otherwise why not cast his jutsu now." Said Tsunade before looking up as the door to their small meeting room was opened.
"What's wrong." Questioned Tsunade seeing the expression on Shikaku's face.
"We're getting multiple reports, the White Zetsu are capable of shape shifting able to transform not just the body but the chakra signature as well."
"Of fucking course they can." Spat A knowing exactly what kind of havoc such an ability would have.
"Can any of the sensors tell who they are?" questioned Onoki.
"No, not even the best we have." Said Shikaku
"Summon Naruto." Said Tsunade bringing the rooms attention to herself.
"Naruto has inherited the foxes ability to sense emotions, he'll be able to tell." Said Tsunade
"I don't like calling them out so soon." Said A.
"We don't have a choice, The Zetsu transformations could play havoc on our forces and cause the entire army to collapse due to suspicion and infighting." Said Onoki.
"I said I didn't like it, not that I didn't see the necessity." Said A
Naruto had been in the midst of meditation when he received the order from one of the chunin still with him. Instead of heading immediately out however he'd headed into a small room and removed a scroll from his person. Sitting it down on the floor he made a few seals before touching the scroll causing it to enlarge to nearly twice its size before unrolling it. The scroll had been given to him when he'd first been summoned onto the boat and as such this was his first time opening it. Upon unrolling fully there was the customary plume of smoke which soon cleared to show an assortment of items.
Removing his clothes he was soon garbed into a standard Konoha shinobi uniform which consisted of black pants, the flak vest, a long-sleeved black shirt and a pair of black combat sandals. On each of his forearms were two rings that held his sleeves down and his black Konoha hitae-ate had been replaced with a matching one only with the kanji for shinobi on it. Benihime had been secured to her place at his side as had his pouch on his hip. His kunai however had been replaced as instead of single bladed kunai he now cared the tri-bladed Hiraishin kunai made famous by his father only these carried his personal seal instead of his fathers. Finally to finish off his look he wore his orange and black haori he'd been given by the toads.
"You are ready." Said Benihime as she appeared at his side voicing not a question but a statement.
"We are." Said Naruto getting a small smile from the zanpakuto spirit before she vanished as if she was never there.
Leaving the room Naruto walked through the temple with purpose meeting B at the door and getting several wide eyes at his appearance.
"Ready?" questioned Naruto.
"Let's go, it's fighting time Mr. Nine."
Smirking Naruto and B shared a fist bump before to the eyes of those around them they vanished in bursts of speed.
AN: That's it the chapter is over. I was going to add two more fights but took them out to save those for next chapter. Thanks for reading and please review. Til next time, LATER.