Naruto makes his Susanoo dive into the ocean several kilometers from the coast of Mizu no Kuni. His arrival is far, far quicker than it would have been by foot, and he hopes that this is what gives him a bit of time to figure out what the best course of action is.
Kirigakure is so far removed from the majority of the Shinobi Nations that it's often hard to get any information from them. But his mission remains; ascertain the status of any Jinchuuriki and only take action if the situation isn't viable for defense against the Akatsuki.
It might be too much to ask for a warm welcome, given that someone of his growing reputation would be seen as a potential invader, which is why he decided to kit out with armour. He is strong, not stupid. It's said that the Mizukage has something of a temper, and the Seven Ninja Swordsman are all powerful Shinobi. Presuming that there are any left that haven't gone rogue in some capacity. So he would approach as diplomatically as he can manage. Not worried about his own safety, but more so for the success of the mission in warning them of the Akatsuki and asking them to agree to a Kage Summit.
The mist is honestly the biggest pain. It's so loaded with chakra that even his sight can't penetrate all the way through, but it's raising red flags in his head. Such a dense Kirigakure no Jutsu would only realistically be used in an actual battle scenario unless it's how Kiri detects intruders. Resurfacing on the sea water by foot, he starts walking his way to the nearest Chakra signatures to try and find out exactly what's going on. Using the affinity to Suiton given by the Rinnegan, he draws all water from his form and lets it rejoin the sea.
A slight flitter at the end of his senses has him on guard, and the tiniest poke against his sandal has him leaping into the air and drawing his Gunbai.
He swings it forward to meet a slim blade with alternating sharp prongs. A good ten feet behind him, its twin launches out of the surface of the water, riding upon a thin fang and heading straight towards his back. Half-a-dozen more water fangs spear out with precision and chase him.
Naruto swings across them, punting one of the swords into the water and dodging the spearing torrents. The oppressive mist is making things harder, so he charges his Gunbai with wind chakra, making it glow white. He whips up a gust, not enough to agitate the surface any more but to at least make it clear who he's fighting.
But the mist regenerated quickly, and he didn't spot anything within his vicinity. The water under his feet is extremely dense, but he can't pinpoint the person or people doing it. It's disturbing that even his legendary sense can't accurately find anything. Fighting Kiri Shinobi with their home field advantage is proving more annoying than expected.
But he can adapt. Uchiha Naruto doesn't give up. He makes a few signs with his left hand and dips it into the water.
"Raiton: Bakurai(Depth Charge)!"
The dark blue water glows and crackles as the lighting Chakra spreads through it, but all of it is channeled and caught into a network that sends it straight into the twin blades. They come back swinging and stabbing, now sparking with lightning.
Naruto narrows his eyes. Even through the mist, he could see the resemblance between those pathways and a human Chakra pathway system. And then he grins, now understanding just what kind of threat he's facing. He focuses chakra to his eyes and uses them to send a Genjutsu straight into the water.
"Fuseikoi(Malfeasance)."
His chakra overpowers the control needed for this Shinobi to stretch themself over the large body of water, and the glowing leylines shrink to human size. The tendrils holding the blades sink in and vanish.
"Hozuki Clan Hiden-Jutsu, hydrification." Naruto speaks to the mist and sea. "Wielding blades that perfectly circumvent its weakness to Lightning Chakra. Are you one of the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist?"
"You could say that." A man's voice reaches his ears from every direction at once. "You're in the Bloody Mist now, stranger."
"I'm on a diplomatic mission to speak with the Mizukage."
"I guess ya haven't heard, kekeke. The Mizukage went nuts and started killing every Kekkei-Genkai Shinobi in the village. Ya won't be able to talk ta him if ya tried."
Naruto exhales a sigh of annoyance. That makes things complicated, and he hasn't even really started yet.
"Who do I speak to then, to resolve this?" Naruto dodges two charged blades with a cartwheel backwards.
Kiri Shinobi are quite clearly mad without an insane Mizukage.
"We got somethin' of a resistance goin' if ya feel like helpin' out a bit." Another high-speed slash, blocked with his Gunbai before the man immediately retreats into the mist. Even as he gives the olive branch, he still won't stop attacking.
"Why don't you stop attacking me so that you can introduce me to your faction then?"
"Kekeke, sorry Konoha Shinobi. It's just customary to greet outsiders warmly in Kirigakure."
Ah. Kiri doesn't want to let outsiders in at all, so they're trying to scare them off before they get close. Things must be bad.
"As much as I love the thrill of the fight, I am here on business." Naruto stows his Gunbai.
Evidently, it's not enough to dissuade the Hozuki and Naruto feels several dozen projectiles of water launch at him quickly. Naruto sighs again, flipping through the volley and dashing towards his original goal; actual land.
"Yer holdin' out on me, Konoha Shinobi." The voice follows him eagerly.
"You have no idea how much. Believe me when I say that I don't like being interrupted when I'm busy."
"Show me!"
Another enormous volley of water projectiles are sent straight at him, along with lightning currents from every direction. Naruto raises both arms out, projecting a translucent shield in front of his form.
"Gakido."
Every shred of chakra being sent at him and permeating the atmosphere is steadily absorbed into the shield. The Kirigakure no Jutsu vanishes quickly. When sunlight finally peers through, the stunned man that had been fighting him is revealed to be barely older than Naruto himself.
"Well..." The man starts uncertainly, but with his shark-tooth grin widening. "Ya certainly made me eat my words. And ya ruined my Silent Killing technique too."
The man readies his dual-blades again, sparking with chakra.
"I'm Hozuki Mangetsu." He introduces merrily.
And is stabbed from behind, through his shoulder with a black rod that completely annihilates any control over his chakra.
"I am Uchiha Naruto," Is Naruto's whisper into his ear. "And you're going to show me where I can find your leader."
The 'Naruto' that absorbed the Ninjutsu splashes into the sea, revealing it to be a water clone.
"Mei-sama." Ao calls upon her, taking her attention away from grimey maps stained with dirty hand-prints.
"Ao." Mei greets in return, blowing a sweaty bang of auburn hair from her eyes.
She took a while to adjust to being called Mei-sama with reverence rather than standard formality. True, she did come from a well-known family famed for various Kekkei-Genkai and Shinobi skills, but she'd always been treated with disinterest and later on, disdain by the general population once whispers began to spread about the 'abominable mutants' known as Kekkei-Genkai Shinobi.
Mei becomes increasingly bitter when she understands that Yagura's crazed behavior had been leading to this from the start. The vast majority of the resource-providing civilians had been of the mind that since it didn't really affect them, then they could remain apathetic to the decreasing human condition of genetically gifted people. They'd stayed in Kirigakure, providing their trades and services to the people that would hunt them down for the crime of being born. The Resistance has survived this long on strength and hardiness, thieving when needed and dominating territory to gain tactical advantages with their superior power over the oppositions numbers.
Some hadn't stood for the blatant tyranny of the Mizukage, even without having a Kekkei-Genkai for some extra sympathy to their cause. Two of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were displeased with the bloody mist culture that engulfed their nation since Yagura had gone nuts. Mangetsu doesn't care as much for the survival of Kekkei-Genkai Shinobi alone, but rather for the state of weakness that their village has been reduced to. The constant in-fighting is leaving them vulnerable, and even a bloodthirsty fighter like him is questioning the endgame of Yagura's plan. Their isolated island is not completely invulnerable to the woes of the world. Enemies would find easy prey if only they looked.
"Mangetsu is back from border patrol." Ao continues stiffly.
"Good, we're about to strike at-"
"-He's not alone."
Mei narrows her eyes. "An intruder?"
"In a manner of speaking." A deep voice echoes through the hall before the meeting room.
A pair of footsteps breaks some of the silence of the dank hideout. Mangetsu is first, with a black rod poking from his shoulder. Water splashes ineffectually around it, making it clear that it's not a wound but something that's preventing him from completely liquifying.
Mangetsu gets pushed forward and he stumbles to the floor. The figure behind him retracts the strange rod into his hand and steps out of the shadows. Mei and Ao harden their guard, and Mangetsu doesn't bother to re-draw his Kiba.
"I wouldn't bother, heh." Mangetsu chuckles darkly. "Guy coulda killed us already if he wanted to."
Like that somehow reassures Mei.
The giant of a man looks like he's equipped for a war. Crimson armour clinks in a distinctly un-stealthy way, and the Gunbai on his back is already eye-catching on its own. The Konoha forehead protector hiding under a long bang is still clear against above eyes unlike anything she'd seen before.
And his Chakra... Never has she felt anything more powerful in her life.
"Who are you? Why are you here?" Mei questions sternly.
"I am here on behalf of the Godaime Hokage. My mission is to confirm the status of your Jinchuuriki, and to give the Mizukage an invitation to the Gokage Summit. I've been made aware that particular goal may be out of the question, so I sought to meet the possible replacement of this 'Mad Mizukage' and aid them in exchange for an agreement to attend the Summit."
"Why is the Hokage calling for this Summit and why do you need to know the status of our Jinchuuriki? In addition to that, who are you and what good is one man against the majority of Kiri's military force?" Mei rapid-fires her questions, thinking this to be a Konoha trap.
"Tsunade requests the Summit in order to negotiate a ceasefire between the Five Great Shinobi Villages. The status of all Jinchuuriki is being assessed because of this. A group of S-Rank Criminal Shinobi have allied in order to obtain all of the Bijuu and use them against the greater nations. Doing so will give them absolute military superiority, which is the barebones ultimate goal of this organization. A tumultuous village is one that is easy to infiltrate and acquire a Jinchuuriki or a Bijuu, so the Hokage sent me just in case there's trouble."
Mei watches stiffly as the man approaches casually and unconcerned with them.
"I am Uchiha Naruto, Leader of the Uchiha Clan. I am more than enough to end any conflicts occuring in this village, with either faction. So I implore you to consider me carefully."
She recognizes the name. An anonymous drop of intel from Konoha's 'Monster Genin' team under Hatake Kakashi listed this boy as the greatest threat on the team three years ago. And now he's all grown up and claiming to be the perfect solution to their woes. He looks like the picture, she just hadn't imagined that child could grow up to be this frightening.
"Chojuro! Escort him outside please."
Amegakure
Pain isn't too pleased with Madara's prodding. The man had pulled two syringes and taken a sample of his blood, along with poking another into his eye after applying some eye drops. The vision in his left eye is blurry, but Madara assures him that Kabuto's solution is safe and would wear off in a few hours.
"It's always wise to have a backup plan, Pain." Madara slots the blood and 'enzyme' vials into a clear bag.
"Pain has never lost in battle." Konan defies Madara's word with little inflection.
"But he is still not immortal." Madara counters. "The Rinnegan is an exceptionally versatile and powerful Dojutsu, but even a master with a pebble can defeat a novice with a shuriken."
"Why not just take the Rinnegan? If you believe yourself so infalible, you could take these eyes from me and get the job done yourself." Pain interrogates boldly.
"Think before you speak, boy. It would be a complete waste to rob you of your power for an eye that my body probably can't control. But if it's any consolation, I'll pluck those eyes out if you fail the plan and find someone who can control them. This is part of your Destiny as a wielder of the Rinnegan. To be a savior of this world. Don't demean yourself with such things." Madara shakes his head in clear annoyance.
Madara looks like he's about to whirl away until Zetsu comes sprouting out of the floor.
"Uchiha Naruto has arrived in Kirigakure. How exciting!"
Pain's eyes narrow. Madara is unperturbed.
"I'll make sure that Konoha doesn't acquire the Sanbi, one way or another."
Mizu no Kuni, Resistance Camp
Naruto perches cross-legged on a rock with his Gunbai beside him after being dismissed by Mei while she discusses this development with her 'council'. He is surrounded by a large number of beaten-down Shinobi, though he isn't responsible. It seems that this civil war has run them ragged, but they jump up at the opportunity to serve this strong woman.
He keeps his amusement hidden as a timid young man shies away from his gaze. Any sensor in their group would easily be able to tell just how out of their league he is. It doesn't seem like any of them know who he is however, which leads Naruto to believe that information going into the country is just as scarce as anything going out right now.
"Who is this guy?" One fighter whispers to another.
"Beats me, but you saw how he manhandled Mangetsu. Crazy strong people shouldn't be here."
"He's scary. Look at the size of him, and that Chakra..."
Naruto thinks that Mangetsu is strong, but below the pay-grade of someone like him. He has potential but then again, Naruto had only seen him with the battlefield advantage. He wonders what else that man has up his sleeve.
Kiri's trials of Ritual Combat to determine who would be the next wielder of one of those legendary blades had produced exceptionally powerful Shinobi Swordsman. It is something bloody and unlike anything in the other nations, save for maybe anyone stupid enough to try training Shinobi to be completely emotionless. Even Konoha, famed as it is for producing a single genius Shinobi regularly every generation doesn't have anything quite this brutal, with Academy spars being non-lethal. Every generation in Kiri has the Seven Swordsman, and they are always powerful. At least that's what they teach in the Academy, but it must have some merit if the intel acquired on this culture long ago was accurate enough to teach to Shinobi students.
"Stay where you are!" Chojuro, the boy who escorted him away from the others, keeps a massive blade pointed towards Naruto.
"Ho? Is that another one of the Seven Legendary Swords?" Naruto asks casually with a tiny grin. "That's four of you that I've met now. All of you are quite strong, I wonder how you compare to the rest?"
Chojuro scowls and grips the sword, as if to strike at a moment's notice.
"What do you say, up for a spar while we wait?" Naruto's hand shuffles over to his Gunbai.
"Enough!" Mei thunders from behind. "Uchiha Naruto! Come here."
Naruto stands up and stows the Gunbai, walking past Chojuro who refuses to put his own blade away. At least one of them has good instincts. Maybe the myths about the Swordsman have truth to them.
"Here's the deal. You help me overthrow Yagura, and I'll agree to attend the Summit as the Mizukage. You'll do your utmost to not destroy the infrastructure of the village, and leave as many civilians alive as possible." Mei arbitrates.
"I can agree to that," Naruto acquises easily enough. "But I'm also here to verify the safety of your Bijuu."
Mei, Ao and the two swordsmen exchange uncertain looks.
"Ya know our nutcase Mizukage? He's tha Jinchuuriki." Mangetsu provides.
"We believe that he's under the control of an enemy. His personality has taken a drastic shift over the past years." Ao speaks up, likely to convince Naruto to stay here rather than to go over to the Mizukage personally and aid him instead.
"We don't think that it's a mental illness, per se. His change was overnight, he started making strange choices like sending unqualified Shinobi out on dangerous missions and when we got tired of it and rebelled, all of his efforts went to putting all of us down instead of continuing like he had been. It's like his only goal is the destruction of our village." Mei explains coolly.
Naruto considers this, not really caring if it's a lie but seeing an opportunity to gain agreeable representatives to meet at the Summit. The chaos happening in the country would have to end. A united nation would be far stronger against the threat of the Akatsuki than one that is divided.
"And what of the Bijuu?" Naruto asks, getting to the point.
"We will try and capture Yagura," Mei states. "If we can do that, then we can seal the Sanbi into a new Jinchuuriki."
"And if he dies?"
Mei's eyes harden in a scowl. "Then so be it. It will give us time to set this country in order before it regenerates."
Naruto likes this woman. A leader with her head on straight.
"Very well. In exchange for my help, you'll attend the summit. Deal?"
Mei puts her hand out, and Naruto takes it.
"Deal."
The dark alleys of Kirigakure are encompassed in a fine mist. The paths have little visibility after a few short feet, and if not for the street lamps and house lights, it would be nearly impossible to navigate the streets without knowing them like the back of one's hand. Thin wires can barely be seen overhead for longwire fighters. They'd be invisible if not for the tiniest glimmers of light reflecting off of them. This district is isolated by comparison to the rest of the suburbs, being accessible by only two bridges over a wide moat.
But ever-vigilant, loyal Jounin patrol the streets and keep trained eyes on any suspicious movement. Any signs of rebellion are put down swiftly, although civilians have little to worry about in that regard. Some wonder how long it will take before they are targeted to satisfy the Mizukage's bloodlust. Most Shinobi loyal to the Mizukage's Bloody Mist regime are all for the idea of civilians earning their keep through conquest and battle. To take the fight against each other to the rest of the world. Anyone criticizing this has their life swiftly ended. Or at least, live to fight another day with Terumi Mei's pathetic rebellion.
A Jounin looks up as a wire slaps against another, and another wire launches across the rooftops. He straightens and puts his respirator over his mouth, not wanting his lungs burned from the inside out by Boil Shinobi.
He looks down at his gloved hands, and sees faint speckles of green dust sweep across them. Glancing up, he feels a cold wind on his exposed cheeks and eyes. Around him, civilians returning to their homes begin to stumble.
'Chemical attack?' He asks himself, catching a woman before she and the baby she is carrying fall to the ground. He looks at the pale and unhealthily skinny child, and wonders how long it will take for the terrorists to be put down.
He jumps at the sound of an explosion, but it sounds muffled. Almost inert. It's like thumping noise, coming down the street and getting closer and closer. He shimmies the fainted woman into a stall and lies her and the child down. He peeks his head back out and sees flashing coming closer, along with the terrible noise. He readies his kunai.
All of a sudden, a great thump sends a person practically rolling down the street. He assesses this man, and sees a large signature sword in his hands, less of blade and more of a reel of explosive tags.
"Shibuki?!" He sputters, looking at the foggy blastsword.
The bearded man holding it growls at him and bares jagged shark teeth.
"Don' stand there boy! The bloodline mutants are here!"
Swallowing, he readies his kunai and dashes horizontally along the building to flank from the trespassers side. He can see a white glow in a strange curved shape through the mist. Several of his comrades converge on their location, and they leap into the mist to attack Jinpachi's foe. As their various blades strike, they are all stopped by thick roots that spontaneously erupt from the ground.
A hollowing scream echoes through the street, and the Jounin only has time to register one skewered torso fly past him and land with a wet slap.
"M-my legs!" The other man rasps weakly through his own respirator.
He faces forward after glimpsing at the mutilated Chuunin, knowing that one would only have a minute to survive at best.
A massive wrapping of explosive tags launches around the mysterious assailant, all of them pointing directly towards a singular, contained explosion that would vaporize anything inside its radius. He doesn't bother moving, he instead looks for other threats. He doesn't see or smell anything, but another mute explosion is a strange thing to hear when Jinpachi is the one fighting. He's right next to the action and yet, the entire battle doesn't seem chaotic.
There are flashes of light where the explosions should be, but looking at the scroll of explosive tags, he sees that each explosion is seemingly swallowed by a translucent shield that's transferring all of the energy into a fan-like weapon. On closer inspection, it's almost as though the mans armour is glowing white, and is absorbing much of the explosive force and diverting its energy as well.
And then he is looking at one eye. It's not a familiar one. There is something eerie and frightening about this inhuman eye, and it feels as though time is slowing down as he aims his kunai straight for it.
"Uchihagaeshi."
Everything feels hot. Scorching and blinding. A single second feels like an eternity as he tries to chase away the flashing in his eyes by blinking. The chaos around him doesn't stop, but everything feels so gone.
When the brightness in his eyes leaves, his respirator falls from his mouth with a long trail of spittle. He realizes that he's propped against a wall. Everything still feels hot. He tries to move but only his eyes obey. They trail downwards.
Stumps is not the right word, given the shattered bone fragments poking out from where his elbows used to be. His breath stops entirely. He can't drag in any air, and his eyes go further and see that there is nothing left from his ribcage down. Blinding panic consumes his mind but what is left of him does not respond. As if by instinct alone, his mouth opens and shuts soundlessly like a fish out of water.
The mysterious monster deflects another onslaught of explosive sword swings before stopping right in front of him.
"This will all be over soon."
A hand is placed on top of his head, and his world is plunged into blissful, unsuffering darkness.
Naruto withdraws his hand from the little Jounin's mind after doing a bit of searching in it through his last moments.
Suiton Ninjutsu. An upcoming birthday. How to surf and surf lifesaving techniques. General hints towards what life is like and the different kinds of struggles they deal with in comparison to Konoha. It's all very interesting, but there is an explosion-happy swordsman trying to kill him so he supposes it's not the best time to scour through the minds of dying men.
The blast from using his Jutsu had virtually obliterated a building, so maybe it would be best to use a few less 'destructive' Jutsu in order to keep to his word about leaving most of the infrastructure intact.
"This is sad, Munashi Jinpachi." Naruto taunts provocatively. "Zabuza was far more competent than you. Is this really the best you can offer? I thought that the Seven Swordsmen were meant to be strong, but I see they were scraping the bottom of the barrel with you."
Jinpachi bares his jagged teeth but doesn't bite. Seems this one is smarter than he looks.
'What will you do?'
To Naruto's surprise, the swordsman shouts a retreat from the district.
"Regroup! Fall back!"
The mist begins to dissipate and every Shinobi in the area flees to the lake-like moat surrounding the main village district. A huge home field advantage, and a massive wall to add to defenses. Tactically sound, at least.
He catches one Shinobi lagging behind the rest and focuses Chakra to his eyes.
'Fuseikoi(Malfeasance)'
"We need the advantage, get on the water and prepare some Suiton Ninjutsu." Jinpachi growls out. "That Jutsu of his, he can absorb energy and send it straight back at us, but there's gotta be a limit. If yer shit at Ninjutsu, use weapons and tags!"
"I got a look at his headband, he's a Konoha Shinobi." One Chuunin points out, who'd been slower than the rest. "We should sound the alarm that we're under attack."
As soon as the man is finished speaking, sirens begin ringing with deafening loudness from the main district. They it a good way on the water surface before Jinpachi speaks again.
"I get tha feelin'," Jinpachi spits. "That he's workin' with tha rebels. Nevermind, get ready!"
The Chuunin nods and pulls out a kunai, and goes to stab Jinpachi.
"What tha hell are ye doin'?!" Jinpachi deflects the attack. "Ya gone mad, boy?!"
"No more than your Mizukage." The Chuunin smirks, voice smooth and calm. He weaves through the men trying to stop him with unseen grace, continuing to assault Jinpachi.
"I don' wanna kill ya boy! Snap out of it!"
The Chuunin smirks at him and continues to attack.
"It's Genjutsu! We gotta snap him out of it!"
Jinpachi would have just killed him, but they're low on healthy troops as it is.
'That prick is controlling him, then it's probably to see what I can do to break him out of it.'
"Kai!" A Jounin attempts after grabbing the still Chuunin's shoulder.
"Nice try, but you'll need more control to throw off my Chakra." The possessed Chuunin grabs the hand, pulling it into a lock and snapping it at the elbow.
Jinpachi unreels some blank scroll paper from the blade, but before he can try and seal the Chuunin to snap him out of the Genjutsu, a wire goes spearing through the Genjutsu victim's heart. The needle sweeps around as if by its own will and lands in the hand of a tall and gangly blonde man.
"Heheheh! You've gone soft, Jinpachi!"
"Kushimaru." Jinpachi nods at him. "At least that's one problem solved. Someone tend to that broken arm!"
"I could tend to that, I'm something of a medic-nin." The possessed Chuunin speaks up, seemingly unaffected by having his heart skewered.
"A talking corpse? Heheheheh! You should be dead!" Kushimaru chuckles flamboyantly.
The persistent smile on the Chuunin's face doesn't leave. He pulls one explosive tag out of his pouch.
"Gojo Kibaku Fuda(Mutally Multiplying Explosive Tags)."
One tag becomes two, then four, then eight, and the remainder of the squad only has time to run before the inevitable consecutive explosions. One of the braver ones dives into the water and pulls the Chuunin under, and essentially defuses the walking bomb at the cost of his own life.
"Fuck!" Jinpachi curses.
"The ability to control another's actions is a trait of the Uchiha Clan, kekeke. I suggest not looking at his eyes, you might yet live to tell the tale, Jinpachi."
"Here 'e comes." Jinpachi mutters, eyeing the armoured monster casually approaching them on the water. They should really be with the main force to stop the rebel invasion, but this man...
"I am Uchiha Naruto." He introduces with the same nonchalant inflection he used when speaking through his Genjutsu captive.
"Yer dead meat, boy." Jinpachi snarls. "Yer in shark infested waters now."
"Looks like sashimi from here. You've been struggling as it is. But since I'm generous, I'll give you one chance to surrender and join Terumi Mei's resistance before I skin you alive. Should I keep my eyes closed to make things even, or are you perhaps overconfident?"
'Those abominations are more dangerous to Kiri than we are.' Jinpachi readies himself.
"Don' underestimate 'im, Kushimaru. You know what these Uchiha are like."
Jinpachi gives some signals behind his back, ordering the other Shinobi to engage in some preemptive action. They circle around Naruto, who does nothing to dissuade them.
"It would be wise for you to surrender. I have you surrounded." Naruto states with offhanded, joking arrogance, grating on Jinpachi's nerves.
Heavy rain starts pelting the lake surface, but it's turning the surface black and murky.
"Rain?" Naruto holds his gloves hands out, wiping the black droplets from his wrist as if to test what it is.
Jinpachi slams the blastsword against the darkening water, causing it to erupt in fire. The surrounding Shinobi all weave hand signs without pause.
"Oil!" Naruto exclaims, appearing to be excited at the unique fighting method.
"Suiton: Bakusui Shoha(Exploding Water Colliding Wave)!"
An eruption of water makes the lake unsteady as it's dragged into the giant, oil-filled flaming well. The wave itself eclipses the wall surrounding the village. Thin, nearly invisible wires circle around Naruto, limiting ways of escape. Jinpachi throws out a long scroll from his blade, filled entirely with explosive tags.
Naruto gives a light swing of his Gunbai. It generates the tiniest of gusts to redirect the oil rain to in front of him rather than on him, and as he stows the weapon and puts his hands forward, the oil is seemingly drawn off of him and ditched into the lake.
"Most impressive-" Naruto smirks darkly and uses the Horse sign. "-Katon: Goka Mekkyaku(Great Fire Annihilation)!"
A wall of flames unlike anything Jinpachi had ever seen collides with the wave and to his frustration, actually contests it with sheer velocity alone. But to him, it doesn't matter. The fool has failed to consider Jinpachi and Kushimaru's attacks.
Or so he thought. Until the etheric blue glow of a demonic ribcage simply absorbed most of the explosive force of the tags and keeps the wrapped wires tight around its form instead of Naruto himself. The blue construct appears fractured but not broken.
The skeletal shield unravels into dozens of similarly coloured chains, tipped with dragon-like heads with glowing yellow eyes. They spear out and begin a deadly chase of every one of the Kiri Shinobi. Very quickly, many of them find themselves staring at their own hearts that are plucked from their chests in the mouths of the shackled dragons. If they aren't already dead from the quick maiming, they soon would be. As the chains crash into the waves through the inferno, the oil in the water is either burned away entirely or dissipates as uncontrolled Chakra does.
Jinpachi manages to deflect the fast-moving chains and dodge them with some effort, but his explosive weapon is rendered seemingly useless against the chains. Touching them makes his weapon harmless, so all he can do is try and set it off mid-air with a carefully manipulated Suiton against the edge to knock them back.
Kushimaru has less trouble, being far quicker between the two of them but can't find an opportunity to attack. But they are whittling down, already it's just the swordsmen remaining. If they don't act now then they wouldn't live to fight another day.
"This is getting boring." Naruto's lips tilt down with dissatisfaction.
"Kushimaru," Jinpachi hisses. "Listen, he can deflect kinetic attacks and Ninjutsu but he hasn't shown he can do both at once! All in. Let's end this prick! An' look, his feet are exposed when he uses tha' skeleton Chakra, an' he doesn' move!"
"Gotcha." Kushimaru makes some water clones under his feet, and they all swim out with speed for his next assault.
Jinpachi forces as much Chakra as he can to force it to spawn more tags, and unleashes everything he has in loops around Naruto.
"Have you gone senile? You've tried this one already." Naruto casually dodges multiple wire blades thrown from the clones.
"Suiton: Suiryuudan(Water Dragon Jutsu)!" Jinpachi cast with anger.
Naruto leaps into the air after needle blades poke at his sandals, right into the effective radius of the explosive reel. The water dragon surrounds him in laps and the wires thrown seemingly at random, suddenly tighten with extreme speed on Naruto's form.
The water dragon drags the explosive tags closer and the wires all align within an unsafe area for Naruto to deflect.
"Yer fucked now." Jinpachi grins wickedly.
Naruto grins back, equally evil.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Yagura stands with his arms behind his back, chuckling carelessly as he sees the massive shockwave expand and push all the air and debris in the area away. A veritable tsunami is pushed around the moat before it settles not long after, albeit not as calmly as it was before. He knows that the swordsmen are dead long before anyone else.
"Yagura-sama, please! The Rebels are here to seize control, we must push back with full force."
"Yes, yes. I understand." Yagura turns away from the window to his emergency council.
"All reserves should be deployed at the main battlefield and at the moat with those intruders."
"Intruders? It's just one man, dear councilor." Yagura giggles. "Yes, perhaps it's best that I make an appearance personally."
Looks of relief spread around the room and Yagura's smile widens.
"Who will be handling troop deployment in your absence?" One asks greedily.
"None of you." Yagura replies, spectacularly candid.
Before they can even blink, he whips around with his staff and uses its hooks to dismantle every last person in the room.
Yagura laughs madly, leaping out of the window deftly and leaping through the mist of the village, cutting down any of his 'allies' as he did so.
"Yagura's on the move." Ao, having witnessed the meeting with the Byakugan, informs Mei.
"Alright. Mangetsu, Choujuro. Take our troops and mop up anyone who doesn't surrender. Ao and I will tend to Yagura before he gets out of hand." Mei barks out.
"Gotcha."
"Hai, Mei-sama!"
Naruto spots the massive moving ball before he bothers to try and sense it, but it rolls through the village and crushes every building in its path without losing any of its momentum. It's coming straight for him however, which makes things a bit easier. He doesn't want to be responsible for more carnage right in the middle of the village, so he takes the active measure of retreat to find some open space without anything at risk of damage or death nearby.
But the transformed Jinchuuriki bounces off the wall like a child's ball, leaping straight after him and bounding off the air itself.
Naruto substitutes with multiple imprinted items that he'd left a trail of before finally arriving on the beach that he'd landed at when first coming to Kiri.
"Mokuton: Hobi no Jutsu!"
A dragon-shaped wooden mask combination of Mokuton and Fuinjutsu sprouts from the beach sand and conceals Naruto. The technique and the ground shake violently from the force of the curled-up Sanbi, colliding multiple times as Naruto collects its energy into his Gunbai. The mouth of his Jutsu opens up, and Naruto expels as much wind Chakra as he could back at the Sanbi before it smacks down again.
Naruto hasn't fought a fully transformed Bijuu before, but he certainly wasn't expecting it to shrug of the Jutsu in its entirety, so he is forced to leap away and assess the situation while dodging.
'Too fast to catch with my chains, but too eager to press the advantage for single attacks to deter it.'
A repeated assault is the next reasonable step; determine how much damage it can take consecutively before it budges and gives an opportunity to disable it. A full-frontal assault may be key, seeing as it can bounce off of anything else.
"Kanzeon Renge-Ō(Lotus King)!"
A construct of wood sprouts from the sand, armed with hundreds of arms stored behind its back. Naruto strikes quickly as the Sanbi makes a returning run, using every hand to smack into the Bijuu. The arms get blasted away, virtually into sawdust by the spinning monster, but the creature slows down just enough to engage a different way.
The almost-ornamental faces decorating the wood statue above its 'forehead' all shoot out Ninjutsu of each basic Chakra Nature. The Sanbi howls angrily and stops in motion entirely, being pushed back by the force.
"Mokuton: Mokuryuu(Wood Dragon)!" Naruto summons wood dragons to bind the three swishing tails, effectively capturing them and preventing the Bijuu from becoming mobile again.
"Almost got you." Naruto huffs, not quite used to rapid expenditure of Chakra on this scale but with plenty left in the tank.
He looks at the Sanbi in its eye and attempts to subdue it with Genjutsu. But it seemingly slips off, not unwilling to rend it under his control but almost as though it's being blocked. His mouth turns down with confusion, but he soon realizes that if Yagura is already under someone's control in his poor state-of-mind, it wouldn't be so easy to get through to him. Someone as unstable as this couldn't simply be coerced into doing what he wants, especially with the Bijuu defending its 'territory' so to speak. Either one alone would be easy. Together, Genjutsu doesn't have much of a chance.
Near-translucent blue orbs and dense red ones start appearing in front of the Sanbi's face, and Naruto thinks he may be a bit too close for comfort.
Mei and Ao startle at the explosion, more so when an arm of wood as tall as a building lands beside them with a deafening 'thunk'.
Naruto lands in front of them after fleeing a barrage of Bijuudama.
"We should retreat, Yagura's transformation is perfect synchronization." Mei looks at the rampaging Bijuu fearfully.
"Don't be so hasty." Naruto disregards her fear, remaining in a crouch.
"Boy, I don't think anyone is strong enough to defeat that!" Ao grabs Naruto's shoulder, trying to pull him away.
Naruto shrugs him off and brushes his bang off his eye. His two Rinnegan observe the Sanbi as it charges another attack.
"Focus." Naruto orders for himself.
"We need to go!"
"Not yet..."
Naruto leaps into the air, suspending himself with the gravitational forces provided by the Rinnegan.
The Bijuudama grows to eclipse the Sanbi.
'This would be much easier if I could use Susanoo.' Naruto sighs, but the destructive force of Susanoo vs Bijuu would certainly leave nothing left to defend against the Akatsuki. He sees this as even more motivation to stop them before they can get the Bijuu; the destruction they wrought is far too potent for anyone to stand a chance against, let alone the Juubi or its Jinchuuriki.
The Sanbi launches the Bijuudama, and Naruto looks directly at it.
"Limbo: Houken(Consecration)!"
Mei honestly thought she was about to die. As did Ao, given the way he dropped to his knees.
Right above them is the massive Bijuudama. Motionless. As if time itself had stopped and left it paused in the world, a dangerous thing that no-one alive gets to look at this close.
It's almost mystifying. But Naruto puts his hand on its surface, and sends it straight back at Yagura at the exact same speed. It collides and explodes against the Sanbi's shell, sending chunks of its tails sailing through the air and into the ocean.
Her jaw hangs open as pieces of the Sanbi tear away and slowly, all of it is in the ocean. Magnetized to itself, but Yagura is seperated. His corpse falls lifelessly to the beach, and the 'killed' Sanbi dissipates into Chakra to reform elsewhere.
Naruto lands back in front of them, fetching a scroll from his coat.
"Set your nation in order. I expect you to attend the Summit, Mizukage-dono."
"Looks like you didn't need to do anything, Madara-sama."
"I would have preferred to keep Yagura locked up somewhere safe, but this is fine as well. Predicted regeneration?"
"A few months at most. I'll be watching."
"Notify me as soon as it reappears."
------------
Naruto's Rinnegan Ability: (Limbo: Houken). The way I demonstrate it in this chapter probably isn't sufficient so I'll do so here. The Jutsu essentially creates an area-of-effect in which Naruto can manipulate time and space by 'freezing' the area around him for limited range, or directly where he's looking for higher range. He uses it in this chapter to turn the Bijuudama around, which is pretty simple but I believe it has extensive potential.
'Houken' meaning consecration, protect, guarantee, keep, preserve, sustain or support. The general idea is that to Naruto, it provides what he desires most. Absolute control(in his space) so that at no time are the people close to him at risk of anything.
Asura and Indra: The whole 'reincarnation' thing will not be present in this story at all. Their existence is acknowledged but disregarded for the purposes of this story.