1,823A Foxes Tale
Chapter 39
AN: Now I know ya'll didn't think I'd let you out of 2024 without an update to this story right. Truthfully this ones kind of late, I wanted it out for Christmas but ended up out of town and didn't take my laptop with me.
Anyway as always I want to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I know some of you guys may not like how similar the war arc has been to the manga but I honestly liked some parts of the war arc and wanted to put my own things in place and needed time to do that.
Also for the sake of this story and what has already been established I'm ignoring the retcon about Tobirama inventing Kage Bunshin and Hiraishin. I don't like it, all it did was take away from the 4th while throwing away Tobirama's unrivaled water mastery which we never got to see. I'll stop there before I start ranting though. Happy New Year to all of you and I hope you like this new chapter.
PS: For those wondering, yes, the sequel is still happening.
Start Now:
What. The. Fuck.
Three words, rather simple ones at that but they were enough to encompass the thoughts of the group of shinobi as the Jubi made its appearance. It was a strange creature, brown in color with a grotesque bulb-like body with long arms and clawed hands, but no visible hind legs, as well as a wide mouth with multiple rows of pointed teeth and a single spike on its chin. Dark veins similar to those of a plant ran along its body, and the endings of its tails resembled leaf buds.
It possessed only a single eye which takes up most of its head and spiky protrusions growing out of its back in a shape reminiscent of a conch shell. The eye itself was blood red with three concentric circles in a ripple pattern similar to the Rinnegan, only on each circle were two tomoe sat on each circle for a total of six. In terms of size as it was titanic, dwarfing the biju with just the length of its arm to the elbow.
"How is this possible, I thought that thing couldn't be revived without all nine biju!" exclaimed Mikoto.
"Kumo's Gold and Silver Brothers were revived via Edo Tensei. When they appeared on the battlefield Obito arrived soon after and yanked the Kyubi chakra right out of them and into the statue." Came the telekinetic voice of Inoichi.
"What about the Hachibi's chakra? How did they get their hands on that?" questioned Kakashi.
"That one I can't answer." Came the response from Inoichi.
"I can." Said B, his vocal tone that of the Hachibi, getting the attention to turn his way.
"If they were able to absorb the nine tails chakra from Kinkaku and Genkaku then its more than likely they did the same with the tentacle B and I used to escape when they came after us."
At these words several eyes widened. Naruto however paid all of this no mind, instead his attention was focused on the head of the Jubi where Uchiha Madara stood with his arms crossed looking down on them. His eyes narrowed as though he couldn't physically see the man being able to sense his chakra made that point moot. What vexed him though was despite being just in front of him and standing taller than mountains and even the biju he couldn't sense the Jubi at all. There was nothing, not a hint of power, malice or anything to even hint that the creature was there other than the fact that he was actively looking at it.
"Sensing that thing is impossible, it's power is beyond your ability to comprehend." Came the voice of Kurama from the depths of his mind.
"What do you mean?" questioned Naruto frowning.
"Remember that creature was born of the planet and its energy is the same as that of the planet itself. It's energy is on a completely different level." Said the kitsune.
Madara, atop the head of the Jubi, shifted his eyes to his right as Obito emerged from one of his portals both of his eye sockets now sporting Sharingan eyes.
"The hell was that for?" demanded Obito.
"This was not the plan." Said Madara calmly.
"No, that changed the moment that fool Nagato used the Rinnegan's revival technique on the people of Konaha." Said Obito.
"I see." Said Madara frowning.
"Whatever, let's just start the ritual for the Infinite Tsukiyomi like I was about to do before you interrupted me." Said Obito.
"That's not possible yet, casting a genjutsu on the moon of that scale takes a phenomenal amount of chakra. Furthermore that technique can only be used when the Jubi has taken its true form. Without the full, collected chakra of the nine biju it will take time for that power to be built up. That is why I wanted all of the tailed beasts captured before the Jubi was revived." Said Madara causing Obito to scoff.
"Sounds like an excuse to play with a new toy." Said Obito.
"They're starting." Said Naruto breaking his silence.
The opening attack was a wave of earth sent rocketing towards them by one of the beasts tails. Before it could close even have of the distance Naruto slashed out with his sword sending out a wave of red energy. Though dwarfed by the size of the wave of earth when the two attacks met the energy wave expanded before detonating. Madara undisturbed by the explosion flicked his eyes upwards to the right just in time for the Hachibi in full biju form to appear in the air before launching a biju bomb at them.
At the same time on the ground Naruto was also within his full tailed beast form chakra gathered in front of the head of his fox avatar in the form of a tailed beast bomb. Rather than immediately launching it outwards the ball was sucked into the head and held for several seconds before the mouth opened releasing a blast of pure power towards the Jubi. As the two attacks neared the Jubi lifted one of its hands and with an almost contemptuous manner simply flicked the tailed beast ball sending it flying back at the Hachibi almost instantly striking it in the chest causing an explosion.
At the same time as the blast of power neared the gigantic beast merely placed its hand back down with one of its fingers in its path. When the blast hit there was another massive explosion the smoke of which was quickly disbursed showing not even a scratch been made. Before they could think to comment on the two useless attack loud screeching noises had them turning around to find a pair of Rasenshuriken already flying towards them. It was reflex alone that saved Obito, his Mangekyo Sharingan activating and allowing him to slip his body into its linked dimension allowing him to phase through the attack.
Madara's eyes also shifted quickly from the Sharingan but instead of changing into the Mangekyo Sharingan his eyes changed completely turning purple with ripple-like patterns as the Rinnegan emerged. Like Obito he had no time to move allowing the attack to hit home, only for the technique to be completely absorbed by his body.
"Using a pair of biju attacks as a diversion, positioning yourself behind us and going for an immediate killing attack. Commendable but still doomed to failure." Said Madara dispassionately.
"Was it? I don't think Obito would agree with that assessment." Stated Naruto smirking.
Within the Kamui dimension Obito only barely cleared the Rasenshuriken when he was met with a punch to the face that rocked him back. As he regained his footing he was greeted to the sight of Kakashi standing before him with a glare.
"You and I have unfinished business." Said Kakashi as he began advancing.
"All that to set a trap for Obito." Said Madara eyes still showing disinterest.
"I knew he would run and how he would do it. All I did was put a wall in his path. This was never intended for him though; I merely factored his presence into the strategy." Said Naruto with a shrug.
"Yet now you see the futility of such a strategy against me." Said Madara dismissively.
"True I used a shit ton of chakra but the attack did exactly as it was intended." Said Naruto.
Before Madara could comment he stumbled as his vision blurred heavily forcing him to shut them hastily even as he felt a substantial drain to his chakra reserves.
"As should be obvious now no facet of my plan failed. I wanted you to use the Rinnegan, was counting on it honestly. I figured you would use the Preta Path to absorb the chakra from my attack but that was a necessary sacrifice to bring out the Rinnegan." Said Naruto.
"You, what have you done!" demanded the legendary Uchiha.
"I planted a seal on those eyes months ago, after Nagato's failed attack on Konoha. I knew those eyes were a transplant even then and while we allowed Konan to take his body for burial I had already placed a chakra seal on the eyes since I doubted they would be left alone. Granted I didn't know that they were your eyes until you used the Rinnegan as an Edo Tensei and honestly I hoped you wouldn't be an issue when the jutsu was lifted. I guess everything couldn't go my way though." Said Naruto.
"You allowed Fugaku and Obito to run around using the Rinnegan though, why?" questioned Madara.
"The seal I used requires both eyes to be in the same body. I expected that whoever it was behind that mask claiming to be you would implant both eyes into themselves. I didn't even know there were two of them until right before you showed up here." Said Naruto.
Madara didn't say another word, head down as he seethed in rage. He'd fallen into a trap meant for someone else because Obito failed to keep an active watch on Nagato in case he was killed! That was the entire purpose of Zetsu, to keep tabs on his eyes so they wouldn't be lost. He calmed as he noticed his vision return in the signature red hue of an active Sharingan so at least he hadn't lost his sight completely. In the next instant he moved closing the distance between himself and the blond and slamming a kunai to the hilt into his abdomen and viciously pulling it up creating a long vertical gash. Naruto's eyes widened for only a moment before he pitched forward with Madara only barely stepping away before his body hit collapsed atop the Jubi and turned into a puddle of blood.
'A clone.' Thought Madara scowling.
On the ground the real Naruto smirked as he felt the seal fulfill its purpose. Even though he'd had to sacrifice one of his Blood Clones it was well worth it in his mind.
'Serves him right, dropping fucking meteors on me.' Thought Naruto, it had been a shadow clone, but he still had the memory so as far as he was concerned it counted.
Kakashi panted heavily as he eyed Obito standing across from him. He'd never been a stamina or chakra monster and that hadn't changed just because he lost the implanted Sharingan he once possessed. While the drain wasn't as severe in the set that he developed in his own natural eyes it was still there, and he still had the same reserves as he always had. Obito unfortunately still looked relatively fresh, at least stamina wise, though he had certainly taken more hits than Kakashi had.
"This is pointless. You have already lost. Just accept it." Said Obito.
"It's over when I say it's over." Said Kakashi.
"Such bravado is wasted at this point. Still if this is the way you wish to handle things then I shall show you true despair."
Kakashi tensed yet rather than attack Obito simply phased away leaving the Kamui dimension and Kakashi behind. Stepping out of the dimension himself he stumbled and was thankfully caught by Gai before he could actually collapse.
"I hope that was enough time, I've got nothing left." Said Kakashi, his eyes already reverted to their natural state.
"It was more than enough. Madara no longer has the Rinnegan, though he's still a monster." Said Naruto.
"That's enough. Taking away the Rinnegan takes Madara from a calamity to a monster. Monsters are much easier to deal with." Said Mikoto.
"Fuck." Said Naruto looking over towards the Jubi.
Following his line of sight the group of shinobi looked up only to see the Jubi with a massive ball of power hovering in front of it that all of them recognized as a tailed beast bomb. Suddenly as the ball swelled the Jubi was tilted and fired sent out a gargantuan blast that made the one Naruto fired earlier look tiny in comparison. The blast went directly into the sky and even more at an angle to the side of them rather than above them.
"The hell?" said B.
"Just in time." Said Naruto softly.
Just as he spoke Hinata landed beside him supporting Ino who still had her hands in position for one of the Yamanaka clan mind techniques. Neji landed next supporting another Yamanaka who'd also clearly used one of the Yamanaka mind techniques.
"Jeez those guys are strong; they broke the hold in just five seconds." Said Ino
"Even still you managed to redirect that blast." Said Neji.
"Naruto-kun are you ok?" questioned Hinata.
"I'm fine." Said Naruto
In the next few moments the entire army converged on their position with medics quickly seeing to Mikoto and Kakashi. At the same time the gathered shinobi began a massive collaboration technique incorporating members of each shinobi village. First Kumo using a pair of lightning techniques to blind Madara, Obito and the Jubi, then Kiri using their villages trademark Hidden Mist technique followed quickly by Konoha's Aburame clan utilizing the bug jamming technique, then Suna using a wind technique. Quickly following that they began another set of collaboration techniques starting with Iwa using an earth technique to sink it into a massive pit followed quickly with magma to fill it with ash. Then Kiri adding water to the mix and ending Konoha's Sarutobi clan utilizing a fire technique to harden the mixture. The result of all of this was the Jubi trapped within a concrete prison.
The prison held for all of three seconds before the Jubi broke free with its body transforming as it did. Within seconds it took on an emaciated humanoid form with elongated limbs and a twisted neck. It now possessed bony legs, which it used along with an equally bony right arm to stand with while its left arm was missing from the elbow down. The beast's head had also changed, its eye remained on the front of its head, but it had grown a single ear on the right side, and its mouth moved to the left side was formed into a wicked grin exposing its new straight teeth with a single triangular nostril appearing above it.
Several horns formed on various parts on its head with two above each side of its face, one on the back of its head and one on the front above its eye resembling a crown. It had two more horns beneath its eye, and another below its ear. Its tails had also changed as they were now elongated with human-like hands at the end causing them to look more like arms than tails and finally its conch shell shifted so that it now sat higher up its back just beneath would be the shoulder blades. As its transformation settled it leapt from the pit and back onto higher ground.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."
He created only a pair of clones that immediately shot off to the left and right respectively using Shunpo to cover the distance they needed. When they got enough distance, putting the remnants of the army between the two of them, the clones stopped and slammed their hands to the ground.
"Kongo Fusa (Adamantine Sealing Chains)
For several long seconds nothing happened before glowing golden chains burst from the ground within the pit surrounding the Jubi quickly ensnaring the beast completely, yanking it viciously back into the pit and even pinning its tails down to the bottom and along the walls. Seeing this several of the Uzumaki amongst the army, scattered as they were, removed scrolls from their person and slammed them on the ground. Instantly even more chains burst free from the scrolls and proceeded to add to those binding the Jubi in place.
"Good job Naruto." Said Kakashi.
"Not done yet." Said Naruto.
As he said this orange pigmentation appeared around his eyes which he soon opened showing that while the iris was still orange his pupils had changed now possessing a horizontal toad-like slit on top of the vertical slit that was already present. Naruto ran through several seals so quickly his hands were mere blurs before lifting his right hand with his index finger raised and sparking with yellow energy pointing towards the Jubi.
"Senjutsu: Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō (Six Rods Prison of Light)
At his words the light shot from his finger into the air splitting into six separate, wide beams of light that quickly covered the distance and slammed into the midsection of the Jubi from six different angles thus surrounding it. Naruto panted after his attack landed Sage Mode already leaving him as he'd poured all of his gathered senjutsu chakra into the attack.
"Now's our chance! With the Jubi pinned we can attack Madara and Obito directly and without the Rinnegan Madara is no longer immune to jutsu! Take them out!" came the impassioned call of Shikaku over the telekinetic connection previously established by Inoichi.
The gathered shinobi needed no further prompting all of them leaping to attack and preparing their most powerful attacks for use on the duo of Uchiha.
When Obito appeared on top of the Jubi once more it was to find Madara standing with a scowl on his face and what looked to be the root of a tree connecting him to the Jubi from his stomach.
"Resorting to this already?" questioned Obito.
At the words Madara looked over to him wit fury contorting his features for only a moment before turning his attention forwards once more.
"The Kyubi boy, who is he?" questioned Madara.
"Uzumaki Naruto, a direct descendant of Senju Hashirama's, the grandson of Hashirama's granddaughter Tsunade." Said Obito.
"Uzumaki Naruto, I see. You underestimated him, he placed a chakra seal on my eyes. He was able to strip the Rinnegan from me because of that." Said Madara.
"You can't overpower his seal?" questioned Obito.
"Pay attention, I said he stripped the Rinnegan, not sealed it. Whatever he did made it so my eyes will no longer transform into the Rinnegan, there's nothing blocking the transition to the Rinnegan because there is nothing for my eyes to transition to." Said Madara.
"I'm surprised he was even able to touch you to accomplish that." Said Obito.
"He didn't need to; he placed the seal just after Nagato died. You neglected to examine them and once both eyes were in the same body he was able to activate the seal. The only reason I still have control of the beast is because I never disconnected my chakra from it." Said Madara, anger leaking into his voice momentarily before he reined it back in.
"Regardless controlling the Jubi will be exponentially harder than without the Rinnegan, even with those eyes it was going to be more difficult from this point. We will need to Hashirama's cells to strengthen the connection bonding us to the Jubi."
As Madara finished speaking Obito found himself frowning even as he used the Hashirama cells within his body to generate a root-like extension from his side that went down and connected him physically to the Jubi. Immediately he grunted even as he enforced his will over the beast silently thankful it was pretty much mindless which made controlling it much easier. Before either of them could do more they watched as the Jubi was quickly bound in chakra chains before the six beams of light slammed into its midsection. As the shinobi of the allied forces leapt to attack them Madara scoffed.
"Pathetic." Said the Ghost of the Uchiha dispassionately with his arms still crossed.
"Indeed. This hope they so desperately cling to doesn't exist, just as there own existence is about to be snuffed out." Said Obito.
In the next moment the Jubi roared, just the force of which was enough to rebuff the incoming shinobi army, disrupting their jutsu and sending all of them flying away for crash landings that left them sprawled along the ground. Still roaring the beast flexed its might as it was suddenly surrounded by power and shattered the rods of light and the chains that held it in place.
On the ground Naruto grunted, since he hadn't been in the air with the rest of the attackers he'd avoided the fall but had still been thrown off his feet by the force and rag dolled across the ground hard enough to dislocate his left shoulder. Gritting his teeth he grabbed his shoulder with his right hand and forced it back in place allowing his healing factor to immediately kick in dulling the pain.
"How the hell did that happened! Its movement was sealed for sure!" exclaimed one of the shinobi.
"Those were Uzumaki chains, those things subdue chakra!" exclaimed another.
Atop the head of the Jubi the two rogue Uchiha eyed the field disdainfully. The Jubi had once more freed itself from the pit allowing them to look down on the shinobi littering the ground.
"I believe that was a suitable test of the Jubi's power." Said Madara.
"Perhaps, but not enough. Let's give them all a glimpse of true despair." Said Obito.
At his word the attention of the shinobi on the battlefield was pulled to the Jubi as it began gathering chakra to it with the distinct red and blue coloration that told those who recognized it that a bijudama was coming. Iwa's Kitsuchi one of those who recognized what was happening quickly called for its footing to be disrupted by the Earth users. As the beast tilted it released the bijudama causing it to go off target and explode in the distance, undeterred it fired off another shot, then four more in quick succession. As the last of the blast was fired Kakashi followed it, eyes widening as he realized the direction it was heading in.
Within the Allied Shinobi HQ all words stopped as they beheld the sensing sphere they'd been using throughout the course of the war. The power of the Jubi had morphed it creating a connected but clearly separate sphere as if it was its own planet.
"How is this even possible?" questioned one of the sensors monitoring the sphere.
"That doesn't matter! What matters is without being able to bind the Jubi we can't even think about going after those damned Uchiha." Said another, this one clearly a Nara.
As the Jubi began firing off bijudama almost indiscriminately Shikaku quickly realized what the actual purpose was, especially as an entire city was wiped out by just one of the attacks. As he explained what was actually happening expressions turned grim especially as they realized that a bijudama was headed right for them.
"It's fine right, we have a barrier." Said one of the shinobi nervously.
"A barrier powered by humans; I don't think even the Uzumaki could maintain against that." Said another.
"Shikaku what do we do?" questioned Inoichi quietly.
"We do what we have to until the end. Connect me to everyone on the battlefield." Said Shikaku decisively.
On the roof of the building blue eyes narrowed as the bijudama neared.
"I don't think so." Muttered the blond launching into a sequence of seals.
As the ball of power neared it slammed into the barrier maintained by the barrier squad which held for only a moment before it failed. Those inside could only brace themselves as the ball fell upon them only to suddenly vanish before an explosion lit up in the distance.
On the battlefield the allied shinobi could only look on in dismay as the bijudama fell upon the HQ. What they were not expecting however was for the ball to appear and slam into the side of the Jubi causing it to cry out even as the ball exploded. As the backlash from the explosion washed over them the shinobi could only look on stunned as it passed over them harmlessly thanks to a barrier appearing that surrounded the entire army. Looking around Kakashi could see Naruto standing at the forefront of the group holding the glowing sheath to his sword horizontally in front of him
"What the hell?" questioned Darui, the Raikage's second in command.
"Naruto, what did you do?" questioned Kakashi.
"Hiraishin: Durai. (Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder)" Said Naruto.
"Durai? Wait you teleported the bijudama away?" questioned Kakashi surprised.
"Fool ya fool, Mr. Nine did more than that. He hit them with the reverse, return to sender, ya dig" said B.
"Wait are you saying you hit the Jubi with its own blast?" questioned Kurotsuchi incredulously.
"You didn't think I'd left the HQ defenseless right? I've had a clone there since before I reached the battlefield." Said Naruto
At the Allied Shinobi HQ the gathered shinobi could only look on in both surprise and confusion upon finding themselves unharmed. Still connected to everyone on the battlefield as they were Shikaku and Inoichi could only listen on as Naruto explained what he'd done. Once that was done they silently disconnected so as not to distract those on the field.
"That Naruto, he's becoming more and more like his father." Said Shikaku
"I need to figure out a gift for him. He's already marrying Ino, so that's out." Said Inoichi quietly causing Shikaku to chuckle.
Turning away from Inoichi he looked over to Uzumaki Shikichi to find the man checking with the barrier squad.
"Shikichi what's the word?" questioned Shikaku.
"We're changing things up. We're going to use a different barrier, this one will make us invisible to any kind of chakra sensing, we'll blend right in with the ambient chakra around us. Unless we give the game away they'll think that did us in." said the man.
"Alright, once you've got that handled activate that plan." said Shikaku getting a smile full of teeth in return.
Naruto blinked in surprise finding himself standing within his mindscape with both Kyubi no Benihime and the old Kyubi, Kurama looking upon him.
"What will you do now Naruto, that barrier took the last of your chakra. I doubt you can hold your minimalist bankai state for much longer." The inquiry came from Kurama who was regarding him calmly.
"What else can I do but keep fighting. It's not over until its over right." Said Naruto, his inner form covered in sweat while he panted.
"Shikaku's plan may work, but we will be unable to execute until we can recover." Said Benihime.
"I was kind of hoping that blast took them enough by surprise that it at least took out Madara or Obito, but I doubt we get that lucky." Said Naruto.
"So the question remains what will you do?" questioned Kurama.
It was a good question; one Naruto didn't have the answer to. One thing he did know though is whatever he did would require him releasing his bankai for a while.
AN: That's it, the chapter's over. I hope you guys liked it, and please, please review. Let's see if we can push this bad boy to 2000 reviews. Happy New Year once again. I'll see ya'll in 2025, LATER