KONOHA
Tsunade heaved, drawing chakra from her core and storing it in her right heel as she leapt thirty meters into the air. Spinning into a cartwheel, she swung her foot down in an axe kick, the chakra-charged appendage explosively cratering the ruby-red, crystalline surface of the barrier jutsu imprisoning her former teammate. Hairline cracks shot through the structure a split moment later before the entire thing imploded.
The legendary sucker leapt away, her narrowed glare wary as she waited for the resultant cloud of dust to disperse. Three figures walked out of the dust plume and a sigh of relief escaped from her lips as she recognised them. The relief on her face quickly slipped away as she caught sight of a small, orange-clad figure cradled in her fellow sannin's arms.
"What happened to him?" Tsunade exclaimed as she rushed forward to check the little fool's pulse.
"
He is fine," Jiraiya grunted in response as Tsunade pried Naruto from his grasp. "That Uchiha kid jumped us and stole some of the Kyūbi's chakra. Naruto is fine though; somehow the little bastard managed to extract the fox's chakra without killing him in the process."
Tsunade sighed again, relief washing over her as she confirmed her colleague's words. Handing the blonde to Shizune, she turned to face Jiraiya her expression turning grave as her mind, no longer clouded with concern, suddenly registered the sheer amount of chakra control required to pull off a feat like that.
"The kid jumped you two?" she asked, her eyes jumping between Jiraiya and Yamato as they turned to race towards the Hokage Rock. Tsunade frown deepened as she focused on the sinister, unfamiliar chakra radiating like a beacon ahead. The thought that a mere boy was capable of feats like that unnerved her more than she wished to admit.
"Actually," Jiraiya said, his voice snapping her from her thoughts, "I think his clone did, but he had help nonetheless. Two Kunoichis; one Kekkei Genkai user that used crystals and a Fire release user of unknown origins.
Names, Guren and Kage respectively. Both elite Jonin at the very least."
"Crystal user?" Tsunade asked with a frown.
"You know something of this, Lady Tsunade?" Yamato asked.
"...I never thought it truly existed," Tsunade replied after a moment of hesitation.
"What?" Jiraiya asked.
"Some time ago a story had spread about the existence of a Ninjutsu that could crystallize all matter; rumour had it that an entire hidden village was wiped off the map with the technique. After that alleged incident though there were no verifiable reports by witnesses or survivors so it was quickly dismissed. If this is the same technique then it would be prudent to neutralise its user as soon as possible."
Jiraiya grunted in agreement as the shadowed silhouette of the Hokage Rock came into view. "How's our status?" he asked.
"Lord First and Second as well as their ANBU compliment have surrounded the boy and Orochimaru on the Hokage Rock. The rest of our forces are currently preoccupied with responding to the sudden appearance of their goons at multiple strategically sensitive locations. With how quickly and stealthily they are popping up all around the village, Lord Second's fears about Hiraishin being compromised beyond what we already suspected might not be so far-fetched after all. Either way, Mito-sobo is running mission control."
Jiraiya nodded in understanding. "Although the ease with which the Uchiha unsealed and extracted the Nine-tail's chakra unnerves me, it shouldn't matter much in the end. To assume the Kyūbi's chakra would level the playing field against Lord First is simply wishful—"
The toad sage never finished that sentence.
Tsunade's head whipped around towards the Hokage Rock, eyes googling at the sudden, violent, display of power and martial prowess. Only by the sheer depth of her skills could she perceive all that was going on in the distance. Mere seconds had passed and nearly a dozen techniques had been exchanged. Skilled operatives turned corpses scarcely had the time to fall limp to the floor when a lance of molten light erupted from one figure to erase another from the battlefield.
Tsunade froze when she felt her grandfather's chakra signature fade away from the battlefield.
…No—
"Snap out of it!" Jiraiya growled as she suddenly began lagging behind. "Lord First is functionally immortal. His vessel will reform in a few minutes; get your head in the game, woman!"
Yes… Rght. Immortal. Forgot.
Shaking her mind free, Tsunade lurched forward again before her body froze again as the howl of an unending chain of explosions rang out as it shook the hillside from which the Hokage rock was carved.
Another chakra signature blipped out of existence.
For a moment, even Jiraiya's stoic facade slipped to reveal an uneasy interior.
"...Shit!" the sage spat.
"Shit," echoed Tsunade.
***
We stared at Tobirama's surprised expression, suspicious.
Was this the legendary battle genius? Once could be ascribed to ignorance, but twice? That's just incompetence. Either way, it mattered little to us if he fell for the same trap twice. Our eye had revealed to us the adaptable steps needed to quell our hate; we only needed to execute them perfectly. The eidetic memory granted by our Sharingan ensured the vision—a mere glimpse at the threads of fate imbued with our hate depicting our path to victory—remained seared in our mind.
"I owe you a favour for last time," we said in accordance with the path, our lips curling into a facsimile of a smile. "I am sorry your current state won't let you enjoy it as much as I did," we continued before weaving a seal with our good hand.
"Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags!"
The smile on our face slid off as we suddenly found ourselves standing beside our main body. In that split second, our gaze met that of Second Hokage whose left hand clamped down viciously on our main body's shoulder, the Fūinjutsu seal that was meant to prevent him from using the Hiraishin technique formula on our ankle body broken.
Ah, we thought to ourself, impressed, he figured out how to break the seal. And he managed to resist the urge to do so earlier so he might catch us at such a decisive moment. Impressive. Sadly for him, the path we tread demands our victory.
His little ploy was destined to fail from the start.
Our gaze flickered to meet that of our main body, impassive eyes expressing understanding, then acceptance. To remain blind despite seeing so much. To have the fate of the world laid bare before our eyes, yet find we may see none except ours, blinded as we are by our hate.
Half-measures … we seldom appreciated them.
Either way, we remained unfazed.
This path we tread demands our victory.
And our victory we shall find.
***
Hiruzen slid to a stop, the supersonic bolt of water he fired dispelling the last of Sasuke's clones. His gaze turned towards the chain of explosions that continued to rock the hillside, birthing an avalanche that levelled what remained of the Hokage compound. Panting lightly as he steadied his harried breath, Hiruzen grunted, acknowledging his former student's arrival.
"Lord Second?" Tsunade asked, pale-faced.
"I think he pulled off a suicide attack," Hiruzen replied. "It appears he succeeded in breaking the barrier seal Sasuke used to prevent him from using Hiraishin to reach him earlier. I couldn't tell due to the steam obstructing my vision, but I think Tobirama-sensei managed to turn one of the boy's attacks against him."
"...Lord Second claimed he couldn't break the seal, did he not?" Tsunade asked, baffled.
"He lied to us," Jiraiya interjected, his expression seemingly craved from the same granite beneath his feet.
"...He didn't trust us," Tsunade concluded.
"You are not the one to talk," Hiruzen grunted before the discussion could be further derailed. "Try as you might, I was the one to lay the foundations for your rise as a Kunoichi, Tsunade. Of all my students, you the most lacked the innate capacity to deceive. I don't know what it is, but intuition tells me you as well have secrets of yours you ought to share but refuse to do so out of distrust."
Hiruzen ignored the muttered grumbles from the spoilt woman as he tried to squint past the billowing dust cloud. The explosions slowly pittered out before an ominous silence descended on the battlefield.
"Where is Orochimaru?" Jiraiya asked.
"He left before the battle started."
"...What? Does that mean—"
"Yes. We have been fighting the boy alone."
A stiff breeze blew, slowly dispersing the screen covering half the battlefield. Hiruzen flexed his fingers as he waited. The boy put up a valiant fight, but Hiruzen knew even he couldn't possibly survive an attack of that magnitude at near point-blank range.
The greatest threat to the village since the Kyūbi's attack had hopefully been neutralised. Lord First's aura slowly returned; Hiruzen could see his body rapidly regenerating in one corner of the battlefield. Lord Second would reform soon after and they could all take their time to correct the mistake he made all those years ago by letting Orochimaru escape.
Then everything would be alright.
There would finally be a chance at peace again.
A cold chill ran up Hiruzen's spine as the dust cloud thinned further and a dark, iridescent glow leaked from the gaps in the tufts of suspended micro-debris. Another stiff wind blew to reveal a sight that sank the Hokage's heart.
The young Uchiha who had sworn vengeance upon the village sat, cross-legged on a dislodged boulder. The boy's gaze was languid, unmoving even as a severed arm hung limply from his right shoulder. The boy grabbed the arm, freeing himself of its grip before tossing it casually behind him. He rose to his feet, the phantasmal ribcage of oily black and firey orange chakra wrapped protectively around his form rising with him.
Then suddenly, without warning, the ribcage grew, gaining mass and form. Transforming. The long serpentine spine extended upwards to form three fused heads; a simple human skull with three pairs of skeletal wings extending from where the ears ought to be and curling regally around the head like a crown to the right; a flat, featureless face—like a board—with six darkened magatamas carved into it to the left; and an incomprehensible void in the centre.
Three pairs of skeletal forelimbs sprouted, followed by elongated hip bones sprouting three pairs of skeletal hind-limbs and nine blade-like tails. The monstrosity fell forward to rest on its forelimbs as the three pairs of wings on its back sprouted. Cords of chakra raced over the structure to form muscles and tendons. As the wings grew crimson feathers and oily black scale armour raced to wrap around the… thing, and a shinigami mask phased into existence over the right head. A tengu mask with three tiny magatamas each under the supposed eyeholes as tear drops hid the left from view.
Crowning the monstrosity, a fox skull and lower jaw warped around the incomprehensible centre to give the illusion of a visage frozen in a perpetual howl.
As it turned to face them, the thing glided on its twelve limbs—six feathered wings beating gently—in a manner so uncanny as to goad Hiruzen to nearly take a step or two back in horror and sheer revulsion. His intuition screamed to him as he watched the thing move. Despite its obvious bulk, he had harboured no delusions about the speed of the chimeric—draconic—thing the mad child had created. It looked fast. Acted fast.
Very fast.