1,897Well, here it is. The final battle of DDR. The clash between the Shinobi Alliance and the forces of Madara.
This fanfic has become much longer then I intended but I've been very happy for the most part. And I'm glad so many have enjoyed it. *nods*
Well, no reason to keep you all waiting. On to the battle!
-(insert song title)- = Play song
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the Inheritance Cycle, or The Red Warrior music. They are the property of Masashi Kishimoto, Christopher Paolini, and Hans Zimmer. Let's get this going!
Chapter 31
To End it All
The sky was gray and dark, as rain fell upon the rocky plains around Iwagakure no Sato. The fields were slightly muddy from the rain, making walking on them treacherous in holding one's footing.
Onto this field massed the combined might of the Shinobi Alliance. Ninjas from around the Elemental Nations stood shoulder to shoulder. Once bitter rivals, all now united for one cause.
At the head of the army stood the leaders of each of the Shinobi groups arrayed behind them. Kage and head ninja stood proudly in the pouring rain, eyeing the city before them.
Next to them stood Onyxia, Azuren, and Gamabunta, the boss of the Toad summons. Each with their respective rider or summoner on their back.
Naruto glanced at Hinata through the eye slits of his helmet. She glanced back, and nodded quietly, to which Naruto returned the nod.
In Iwa, all seemed silent. Not a figure was seen patrolling the walls. It almost seemed like the city was empty of life.
Tsunade narrowed her eyes, unnerved by the stillness of the city. She would have thought that Madara would have made a move before now. Or at least put his forces to field in a display of strength.
As if hearing her thoughts, the walls came alive with Iwa shinobi, causing some consternation in the Iwa members of the Shinobi Alliance army. And at the same time, thousands of white forms began to rise from the ground in front of the walls. Within minutes, the Shinobi Alliance found themselves outnumbered over two to one.
-The Red Warrior by Hans Zimmer-
Madara smirked as he watched from his vantage spot in the center of Iwa's wall, seeing the outnumbered Shinobi Alliance.
The sudden appearance of such a large force, one with vastly superior numbers, started to cause the shinobi to mumble and shift a bit, their confidence drained by the sight.
Naruto, seeing this, gave a small command to Onyxia. The black dragon moved forward, ahead of the entire army, before turning to face them. Naruto looked over them all, before slowly raising one hand.
"My friends! My comrades! My fellow warriors from all across these lands! Heed me now!" He shouted.
As the shinobi turned their attention to him, he continued. "I know you are afraid. We face an enemy who not only has a larger force then our own, but also has great power, few of which can rival! But we must not falter! Our enemy believes this battle is already his to win! But this day we shall prove him wrong!"
Some of the shinobi began to nod, as murmurs and shouts of agreement echoed through the ranks. Naruto drew forth Vindr from its scabbard at his side. "Though we may be rivals and strangers from different villages, we share one thing in common! We are shinobi! And today we unite to show those who oppress us that we will fight and die as proud shinobi! For your homes, for your villages, and for yourselves! WE STAND AS ONE!"
A mighty cheer went up as Naruto raised Vindr high in the air. Kunai, ninjato, and numerous other weapons rose to join his. Turning, Naruto pointed his sword at Iwa. With a mighty roar, Onyxia took to the air, as the Shinobi Alliance charged forward.
Madara just waved one hand, signaling his Zetsu clone army to advance, as the shinobi charged across the muddy field towards them, undeterred by the slippery round, the pouring rain, or the thousands of clones bearing down upon them.
Naruto and Hinata took to the air on Onyxia and Azuren's backs, struggling to gain altitude in the pouring rain, which made it harder to fly. But both dragons fought against the elements, and soon reached an acceptable height to begin maneuvering. They both wheeled around the flanks of the Zetsu army.
Madara's one visible eye narrowed as he saw the two dragons flank his army. With mighty roars, the two unleashed torrents of flames, burning the rear of the Zetsu clone army, cutting them off from Iwa and destroying hundreds in the process.
Madara growled as he turned to Sasuke. "Deal with them," he snapped. Sasuke just nodded as he bit his thumb and went through the hand signs for a summoning jutsu.
Naruto and Onyxia were banking around for another pass when they heard a loud screeching noise. Naruto quickly looked over his shoulder, only for his eyes to widen. Behind him were three large hawks, each with an Iwa shinobi on their back. Turning to look forward, he saw off in the distance that Hinata had a similar problem, only she had two to deal with. (1)
On the ground, the Zetsu clone army moved forward. As they got within range, the shinobi of the Shinobi Alliance opened up with ranged attacks. Kunai and shuriken, some with explosive tags, mingled with ranged ninjutsu. The front ranks of the Zetsu clones were hit, white plant like corpses falling by the dozens. The Shinobi Alliance actually halted its advance, shredding the incoming clones with ranged attacks and forcing them to close the distance. When that happened, all hell broke loose.
A, the Raikage of Kumo, activated his lightning armor and become a literal blur, tearing through the Zetsu clones with relative ease. Tsunade joined him, smashing skulls, ribs, and limbs with earth shattering blows. Mei and Kurotsuchi, sharing a similar bloodline, both launched lava based jutsu, burning groups of clones, before Mei added in her Boiling Mist bloodline to create several clouds of mists. As groups of Zetsu clones were caught in these clouds, or entered them, they screamed in agony as their bodies melted away, revealing the mists to be made up of acid.
Gaara meanwhile was having some trouble. His sand was getting wet from the rain, making it more sluggish. However, it also led to him realizing he could still control sand, even as it turned to mud. Seeing the battlefield littered in mud, he began to use it to his advantage. While he wasn't able to use the sand to kill, he was able to use it to disrupt vast groups of Zetsu clones, leaving them open for other shinobi to dispatch them.
All throughout the battle, shinobi clashed against clones in an epic struggle. The shinobi had jutsu and weapons on their side, but the clones had vast numbers, which they used to their advantage, ganging up on individual shinobi.
Up above, Naruto and Onyxia rolled away as one of the controlled Iwa shinobi launched shrapnel at him from a boulder another had raised up for him to use. The sharp rocks missed and ripped into the fighting below, catching clone and shinobi alike. Naruto turned, raising one hand to cast a spell. With a cry of "Jared! (Break)", the magic in his palm shot out, connecting with the wing of one of the hawks. The hollow bones in that wing snapped, and with a shriek of pain, the hawk spiraled out of control, dispersing in a poof of smoke back to the summoning realm. Its rider was not as fortunate, and the Iwa shinobi smashed into the ground amidst the combatants and corpses.
Naruto grinned, only for his eyes to widen as he realized that only one of his two remaining pursuers was behind him. He turned wildly looking for it, only to hear the other hawk let out a cry of triumph as it dove on them. It raked its talons forward to rip into Onyxia's wing.
Thankfully for Naruto and Onyxia, the dragon reacted, rolling and meeting talons with claws and beak with fangs. The two battled, the hawk trying to tear into Onyxia's neck with its beak, and failing to penetrate her scales. Onyxia's fangs found no such problems digging through the feathers into the hawk's neck. It squawked in pain and broke off, flapping to escape, while its rider launched a barrage of shuriken to cover their retreat. Naruto stopped them in midair with another magic spell, and they fell to the ground below.
Hinata and Azuren found themselves in a deadly aerial ballet against their two opponents. The two hawks would circle her, each making a diving pass, then zooming back up while the other attacked, keeping Azuren's attention on avoiding their attacks on his wings. Hinata was put on the defensive blocking jutsu, shuriken, and kunai from the two Iwa shinobi on their backs.
Hinata finally managed to catch a break, as she slung her rebuilt circular shield onto her back to block a barrage of kunai aimed there. Her left hand freed, she shot out bolts of lightning at the other hawk summon and Iwa shinobi, who were preparing to dive. The hawk dived under the attack, but sadly the Iwa shinobi wasn't as lucky. He screamed in pain as lightning arced through his body, and he fell off the hawk, plummeting to the ground below.
The hawk summon, now no longer directed by its rider, wheeled away and dispersed as Hinata and Azuren turned their attention on the remaining attacker.
On the ground, the battle was slowly turning in favor of the Shinobi Alliance. Little by little, the superior skills of the shinobi were chipping away at the Zetsu clones numbers. Every shinobi who fell in battle managed to take at least five or more Zetsu clones with them. And every shinobi who didn't die went on to slaughter more, to avenge their fallen comrades or protect those still living.
Tsunade grunted as she slammed her fist into the ground, creating a mini-quake that caused the clones surrounding her to fly into the air, where Gamabunta and Jiraiya fried them with a Toad Oil Bomb. The massive toad summon crushed more of the Zetsu clones under his webbed feet and massive bulk, while sending others flying with his sword.
Yugito and Kirabi were fighting back to back, both using the one tailed cloaks of their respective biju. Yugito had unleashed a pair of metal claw gauntlets, and the bladed gauntlets were matching Kirabi's seven sword style kenjutsu kill for kill, as they caused crimson blood to mingle with the falling rain.
Naruto grunted as he looked over his shoulder. "We have to deny these guys the freedom to maneuver. Onyxia, take us into the city. We'll see how they like some low level flying," he said.
Onyxia grinned at him. "My pleasure!" She roared as she shot away from the battlefield and into Iwa proper. She dove down amidst the buildings, with the two hawk summons trying to follow. Sadly, hawks are not meant to constantly flap and maneuver. Usually they perch somewhere, watching for prey, or soar up high in the sky, before diving down to capture their prey and eat. The almost constant flying and maneuvering, especially in bad weather, was taking its toll on the two hawk summons pursuing Naruto and Onyxia.
Madara's one visible eye narrowed as he watched Naruto and his dragon disappear into the city. "Sasuke. I think we might be able to land a crippling blow to our enemies. Come with me," he said, as he left the command post on the wall. Sasuke followed, eager to face against Naruto.
Naruto grinned as the pair banked around a tower, twisting to watch their pursuers. They were starting to fall behind, and one was forced to peel off or risk slamming into a building. Naruto grinned. "Just got one on us now. Let's get ready to deal with him."
Outside the city, Hinata and Azuren had turned the tables on their remaining opponent, chasing him down and putting hawk and Iwa shinobi on the defensive. The bird of prey tried to outmaneuver them, as Azuren launched fireballs after it, trying to bring it down. Hinata held on as Azuren followed the hawk's maneuvers, rolling to keep it in front of him.
The hawk went into a dive, heading down towards the ground, with Azuren and Hinata in pursuit. Its rider turned, launching a hail of kunai with explosive tags at them. Hinata raised a hand, using a spell to deflect the kunai away, causing them to explode around them.
The hawk pulled up mere feet above the battlefield, and winged its way above the carnage, screeching as its talons raked out and grabbed up a group of shinobi. Hinata's eyes widened as the hawk crushed them and dropped their corpses on the battlefield, before growling.
On the battlefield, Chouji narrowed his eyes when he saw that as well. He ran through several handsigns. "Full body Expansion Jutsu!" He shouted. His body began to rapidly expand, growing larger and larger till he was a giant on the battlefield. One that the hawk was heading straight to.
With a screech of alarm, the hawk pulled up and to the left, trying to get away from the massive Akimichi. That was its mistake, as that gave Azuren and Hinata the chance they needed. With a roar, Azuren smashed into the hawk, claws and teeth digging into it.
The hawk summon flailed and screeched in pain, trying to get loose. The Iwa shinobi moved to try and stab Azuren with a kunai, only for the knife to bounce harmlessly off his scales. In an instant Hinata moved from her saddle and moved to where she could stab the Iwa shinobi with her sword.
The Iwa shinobi's lifeless corpse fell towards the battlefield, as Azuren released the hawk summon. One of its wings was broken, and it squawked helplessly as it fell, before dispersing back to its summoning realm.
Azuren let out a mighty roar of victory, as Hinata secured herself back into the saddle. She quickly began looking for Naruto, only to find empty skies. She began to reach out with her mind to find him.
Naruto, inside Iwa, grinned as he and Onyxia flew between buildings, before coming around a corner. With a massive building fast approaching in front of them, Onyxia flared her wings and reached out, grabbing the side of the building with her four clawed legs, before pushing off and shooting back the way she came, just as the hawk summon came around the corner.
The hawk summon flared its wings and tried to pull up, only for Onyxia to launch a fireball at it, consuming it and its rider. The flaming mass fell to the ground below and crashed in a massive fireball.
Naruto grinned at that. "Nice job Onyxia!" he called out as they began to pull up.
They had just cleared the buildings, when the last remaining hawk summon, who had peeled off earlier, came tearing down towards them, slamming into Onyxia. The four of them smashed through a building, and crashed into a large plaza. The hawk stumbled to its feet, one wing broken and trailing on the ground. Onyxia had several cuts from where fragments of stone had managed to rip through her scales, but was not otherwise wounded.
Naruto slowly crawled off of Onyxia, battered and bruised but otherwise fine. He looked up just as the Iwa shinobi was descended at him, kunai in hand. Naruto reacted quickly, blasting him away with a spell. The Iwa shinobi hit a wall and fell over, unconscious. The summon, in no condition to fight, poofed away as well.
Naruto grunted as he went to climb back into the saddle on Onyxia's back, when he heard the sound of someone clapping. He turned to see Madara approaching, slowly clapping as he did. Behind him, Sasuke stood; one hand on his chokuto in its sheathe at the back of his waist.
Naruto slowly drew Vindr while settling his shield onto his left arm. "Madara Uchiha," he growled softly, his voice shifting to its more demonic growl.
Madara smirked. "Spare me the theatrics, Uzumaki. Your voice doesn't frighten me."
In an instant Onyxia was behind Naruto and roaring loudly and defiantly at the pair. Naruto grinned. "Maybe mine doesn't, but I'm betting hers did."
Sasuke smirked. "Big talk when you have a dragon at your back, dobe. Take her away and you're nothing. Just like you were when I left you at the Valley of the End."
Naruto growled softly to himself. '…..Onyxia, go and help the army deal with the Zetsu clones.' He thought to his dragon.
Onyxia growled. "You are playing into their hands little one. Let me stay and fight with you, as I have done before."
'I know Onyxia. But at the same time, there is strategic value in this. You can't move as fast as they can. And not only that, but your movement is limited here. If one of them managed to gain the upper hand and threaten you in some way….I wouldn't be able to bare it.' He glanced at her, trying to make her understand.
Onyxia rumbled softly. "I understand little one. Give them hell for me. And you, Kyuubi…protect him since I cannot."
Inside, Kyuubi grinned. "Count on it scale butt," she said, but in a teasing manner instead of an insulting manner.
Onyxia just huffed before taking off and flying towards the battle. Naruto held sword and shield. "There teme. Now you can't cry foul when I beat you both. And you no longer have a possible hostage to use against me."
Madara smirked. "A poor choice Naruto. You should have kept your dragon. Now you don't have anyone to watch your back."
Both Madara and Sasuke froze when they heard Naruto laugh. "You don't know me at all, do you Madara. Or you Sasuke. I always have someone watching my back." In a poof of smoke, a second armed Naruto stood beside him. "Now let's get this done!" with a roar, the two Naruto's charged the two Uchiha.
Hinata had found Naruto, sensing him. But before she could contact him, she saw Onyxia flying towards them. Azuren pulled closer to her, as Hinata called out. "Onyxia, where's Naruto?"
The dragon rumbled. "He is facing the two Uchiha by himself. He told me to support the army out here. I'm sure he wants you to do the same."
Hinata blinked. "We can't let him fight the both of them alone!"
Onyxia looked down a bit. "We can serve a better purpose here. Because of Kyuubi, they won't kill him. So even if he's defeated, we can still rescue him. But only if the enemy's army is defeated. Let us ensure that happens!" With that she dove down, firing fireballs into the rear of the Zetsu clone army. Hinata lanced in the direction she sensed Naruto, before doing the same.
Back inside the city, Naruto had gone after Madara, letting his clone face off against Sasuke. However, Naruto found himself at a disadvantage right off the bat. Madara was continually phasing his body, causing Naruto's attacks to pass right through. When he countered though, his attacks felt solid. Naruto gritted his teeth as he countered the katana Madara had slid out of the sleeve of his robe with his shield, swinging low at Madara's legs.
His clone had locked blades with Sasuke, and the two were engaged in a fast taijutsu/kenjutsu battle. Sasuke jumped back, creating some distance as he went through handsigns with only one hand. "Fire style, Dragon Bomb Jutsu!" he launched a massive, white hot fire ball at the Naruto clone, who rolled out of the way barely in time to dodge it. He was back up in time to counter Sasuke's blade with his own sword and smash his shield across the Uchiha's face, causing him to stumble back.
The real Naruto locked blades with Madara, before finally capturing the man with a surprise head butt, causing his mask to crack and nearly shatter form the force of it meeting Naruto's helmet. Madara stumbled back, dazed as Naruto went for a kill strike there, but Madara managed to dodge the attack slightly. Instead of Naruto's sword piercing through his chest, it cut his side.
Madara jumped back, glaring at Naruto while touching his side and seeing blood. "It's been a long time since someone was able to make me bleed," he spat out.
Naruto grinned. "It won't be the last time today," he said. However, he stiffened as he felt his clone dispersed due to Sasuke launching a series of lightning senbon into it. He barely turned in time to block Sasuke's sword, but not the kick to his chest, sending him crashing into a wall.
He grunted as he slowly got up, seeing both Uchiha ready to fight him. Sasuke smirked. "Looks like you're on your own again, dobe," he said.
Naruto growled as he readied himself. "I'd rather fight alone then alongside a traitor to my village and family," he snapped back.
Sasuke growled. "Madara was betrayed by the village and the idiocy of the old Uchiha clan! He would never betray them!"
Naruto blinked, before laughing. "You mean you never told him? Oh that's rich! You never told him you're responsible for the death of his clan, both directly and indirectly?"
Madara growled as he attacked Naruto to try and keep him quietly. Naruto managed to hold off his assault. "You sure know how to pick your allies teme! Madara here is the reason Itachi had to slaughter your clan! He's the one who caused Kyuubi to attack Konoha the night I was born, knowing my father would do the honorable thing and sacrifice himself to stop Kyuubi. He was getting rid of the one of the few people who could stop him! If not for him, Kyuubi would have never attacked Konoha!"
Sasuke growled as he watched Naruto shove Madara away and start his own offense. "You lie! He told me that the Kyuubi attack was a freak coincidence!"
"Who you going to believe teme? The man who claims to be innocent? Or me, who has my information from Kyuubi herself!?" Naruto said, before barely dodging a fireball from the now enraged Madara. "And let's not forget Madara took part in killing your clan either!"
At this, Sasuke moved between them, blocking Madara's sword, glaring at Naruto with Sharingan eyes. "What did you say?"
Naruto grinned. "Sasuke, do you honestly think your brother alone could kill an entire clan of his fellow Uchiha? Not even he was that good. No, he need some help. Help from the one who had the most experience and knowledge of the Sharingan. Help from Madara Uchiha."
Sasuke trembled as he looked at Madara, who was glaring at Naruto with absolute spite and anger. "Is this true?" He whispered.
Madara snarled. "So what if it's true? The Uchiha clan was weak! In my time, it would have taken an entire Shinobi village to wipe them out! Forget what this boy has said! We can still rebuild the clan the way it was meant to be! As rulers of this world!"
Sasuke growled. "I still intend to get my revenge on Konoha. But I swore to avenge my clan. Which means that I need to kill you too!" With that he struck at Madara, his sword phasing through him and the Uchiha stumbling through his body. He turned to strike at Sasuke, only to let out a scream of pain as Naruto's sword ripped through his left shoulder, missing his heart. He phased away, appearing some feet away nursing his left shoulder.
Now the three combatants formed a triangle, looking at each other. Naruto had caught a breather by dividing the Uchiha against each other. But that still left him with fighting the both of them. Just now they weren't working together.
Sasuke summoned lightning to both his sword and his left hand, glaring at them both, before launching spears of lightning at both Naruto and Madara. Madara phased through it while rushing at Sasuke, while Naruto dodged and launched a ball of fire at Sasuke with the 'Brinsgr' spell.
Sasuke dodged the fireball and blocked Madara's sword with his own, before punching at Naruto with his left fist. Naruto blocked it with his shield while slashing at Sasuke, who yanked out a kunai in time to block the sword. The three of them became a spinning dance of sword, shield, fist, magic, and jutsu, each trying to overcome one or both of the others while protecting themselves.
Eventually, Madara jumped from the fight, growling. "Enough! I've had it with you pitiful worms! This ends now!" He growled, his Sharingan morphing into the Mangekyou Sharingan. Red chakra erupted around him, forming into a ribcage.
Naruto growled. 'What the hell is that?!" He shouted, as Sasuke was stunned too. He had no idea what that was.
Madara chuckled. "Oh Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke. You still had so much to learn about your bloodline. But sadly, it doesn't matter now. This is Susanoo, the ultimate technique of the Mangekyou Sharingan! With it, I shall defeat you both and that pathetic rabble that dares to challenge me!"
As he yelled this, the ribcage started to form into the skeletal upper body of a humanoid shape. Glowing yellow eyes peered down at the two of them from the skull. And it seemed to be growing still.
Naruto cursed. "Sasuke, we need to stop him now, or else this battle goes to him. I can stop him from moving, but you need to try and find a way through whatever he's creating!"
Sasuke just growled. "We're still enemies after this, dope," he said, before he moved away. Naruto just turned to Madara, praying this worked.
Madara just laughed as 'skin' started to appear over his Susanoo, only to stop when he felt something pressing against it. He glared at Naruto, only for his eyes to widen as he saw some type of energy with his Sharingan trying to get through Susanoo. The energy wasn't chakra, but something else. Something he couldn't indentify.
With a sudden burst, the energy broke through and slammed into him, his limbs snapping against the sides of his body. Susanoo growled, glaring at Naruto who was holding out his left hand, his shield on his back.
Naruto grunted from the strain of holding Madara in place with his magic, while Madara was inside Susanoo. He could see the giant chakra construct struggling, trying to attack him with a wavy blade of pure chakra. "Sasuke, now would be a good time!" he shouted.
Sasuke just growled, as he finished his handsigns. "Chidori Eisou!" he shouted, shooting a spear of lightning straight at Madara's prone form.
Madara struggled to escape Naruto's spell, as the spear approached and slammed into Susanoo. Unfortunately, the chakra guardian held against Sasuke's attack. Madara smirked, and began to laugh.
Naruto growled at that. 'Damn it, his attack can't get through! We need something here!'
Kyuubi answered. "I've got an idea. But this is going to take my energy as well."
Sasuke growled, trying to force his spear through, but he couldn't. He blinked when he sensed Naruto's chakra spike, causing him to glance over. Naruto was surrounded in the red bubbling aura of Kyuubi's chakra, as one tail began to form. Naruto had stabbed his sword into the ground, and was forming a demonic purple Rasengan in that hand. With a roar, Naruto actually launched the Rasengan from his hand with his magic. (2)
The biju enhanced and magically propelled ball of chakra smashed into Susanoo's chest, grinding against the massive chakra construct. Susanoo groaned, as he tried to resist the power of the attack. It was the age old question of an immovable object hits an unstoppable force.
In this case, the unstoppable force won. The chakra forming Susanoo's chest collapsed against the Rasengan, and Sasuke's Chidori Eisou struck at Madara. Madara's eye widened as he let out a final scream, before the spear of lightning pierced through his chest and out the back. His body began to jerk madly as much as it could against Naruto's magical bindings. As it did, Susanoo began to collapse around Madara. (3)
On the battlefield, the Iwa shinobi who had been manning Iwa's walls all suddenly grabbed their heads, crying out in pain as they dropped to their knees or onto the ground. The brainwashing technique Madara had used on them was fading.
Back with Naruto and Sasuke, they watched as Madara's body kept jerking, even as the life left form his body. Naruto ended the spells binding Madara's body, and watched in morbid fashion as it kept jerking around, smoke pouring from under the mask and under the cloak.
Sasuke ending, the jutsu, watching as Madara's body kept jerking and smoking. He turned to Naruto, panting lightly. Naruto had let the Kyuubi cloak disperse, and was panting as well, looking at Sasuke.
The two of them nodded, before slowly settling into their combat stances. Naruto drew his sword, but kept his shield on his back.
Without a word, the two charged each other again, clashing in a shower of sparks as sword met sword. They grunted as they kept striking and parrying, each trying to get the upper hand on the other.
Hinata watched from above, as the Iwa shinobi who had been their enemies got up shakily. As they recovered, she heard angry shouts, and small groups began to rush down the wall, charging into the rear of the Zetsu clone army. The end of the battle began, as the Zetsu clones found themselves being smashed between the Shinobi Alliance, and the angry ninjas of Iwa. Seeing the battle had turned in the Shinobi Alliance's favor, Hinata and Onyxia turned, heading towards Naruto.
The two combatants leapt apart, panting. Sasuke's Sharingan, even at full, was having a very hard time keeping up with Naruto. Still, he was able to keep up with Naruto, if barely.
Naruto panted as he stared at Sasuke. He had higher stamina and chakra reserves, but he had also expended a lot of energy bringing down Madara and Susanoo. If he would guess, he would say he and Sasuke might be roughly equal in terms of energy they had left to spend. Naruto had more, but his magic and jutsu burned through his energy and chakra a lot quicker.
Sasuke slowly stood up straight, growling. "You can't stop me Naruto. My family needs to be avenged! Konoha killed my family! They took away my entire clan!"
Naruto growled. "Only because your clan was going to tear the village apart! They were going to cause hundreds of innocent people to die, and all because of stupid rumors! If your family had simply waited and proven they were loyal to Konoha, none of this would have happened!"
Sasuke growled. "It still doesn't make it right! I will AVENGE THEM!" He shouted, as he rushed at Naruto.
Naruto parried the wild slash down, and went for a quick thrust. Sasuke parried the blow and slashed at Naruto, only for Naruto to duck and counter with an uppercut. Sasuke flipped back, launching kunai at Naruto. The knives just bounced harmlessly off his chainmail and helmet, not finding any openings to exploit.
Naruto growled, charging in and slamming his shoulder into Sasuke gut. Sasuke let out a gasp, the air rushing form his body, before he slammed the hilt of his sword into Naruto's back. He pushed Naruto off him and drove the hilt into Naruto's helmeted head, causing it to ring and disorient Naruto. He wasn't able to stop the blade form stabbing into his right arm, causing him to yell out in pain as he dropped his sword.
Sasuke kicked Naruto, sending him onto his back and quickly stepped on his chest, keeping him pinned. He held his sword at Naruto's throat, panting. "You'll be the first….Naruto…..you'll be the first step in my path of revenge," he said, as he raised his sword.
At the last minute, Naruto managed to move his head and throat out of the way, so the sword stabbed into the ground. He used his left arm to smash Sasuke's leg off of him, before rapidly crawling to his sword. Sasuke grabbed his blade and leapt at Naruto, just as Naruto spun with his sword in his left hand. There was a squelch and a splash of blood, as the battle between them was ended by one final blow.
Hinata, Azuren, and Onyxia arrived to see the conclusion of the fight. Naruto lay on the ground, panting heavily as he held his sword up. Sasuke was above him, his eyes lifeless as Naruto's sword as protruding out his back.
Naruto grunted as he raised his leg up and pushed Sasuke off his sword, before slumping back on the ground, panting and exhausted. He barely noticed Hinata rush to his side and remove his helmet. But he did grin when he saw her worried eyes. "You….okay?" he managed to get out.
Hinata let out a giggle, nodding as she held his face. "I'm fine. And you?"
Naruto grinned. "Never better," he said, before closing his eyes out of sheer exhaustion, not seeing the gates of Iwa be thrown open, and the combined forces of the Shinobi Alliance pouring through.
The Battle of Iwa, and the Fourth Shinobi War, was over.
Finally! Took me for-freaking-ever to write this! Sorry about the long wait people, my motivation to write has been crap lately. At least this chapter. Not sure why.
Well, I was expecting this to be the last chapter, but my muse has demanded that I write one more to properly end this. So, expect one more chapter, and then the tale of the Demon Dragon rider will be over! Which honestly makes me sad and glad. Sad that another of my fanfics is over, but glad that I finally got this sucker done!
So, please let me know what you think. I'm actually a little disappointed with the battle, but not a whole lot. I think it could have been better, but I'm not sure how.
Just a few notes here, before I end:
1. Spoilers here. For those of you who don't remember, or haven't read the manga, shortly after joining 'Madara', Sasuke showed he had a hawk summoning contract. In order to give Naruto and Hinata more of a challenge, I'm implementing said contract here.
2. For those of you who might call foul or something here, remember back in chapter five, I had Naruto launch a Rasengan form his hand at the Iwa fortress of Ru-Take. So this isn't a spur of the moment thing, it's a skill I gave Naruto, that I think works if you combine chakra and magic.
3. For those of you who ask why didn't Madara phase to avoid the attack, I would point out that he's using an incredible amount of chakra to form and maintain Susanoo. I believe he would be incapable of phasing while using it.
So, please review!