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>>4717782
To answer that question, you hear a voice inside your head – contact from headquarters.

[Uzumaki Naori-san, apologies for waiting to inform you but it seemed like you were busy with other things. First Jiraiya-sensei, then with Madara, so it didn’t seem like a good time to distract you.]

“Cut to the chase,” you demand.

[Well, suffice it to say you’re not the only one who’s been facing some tough situations…]

You are Uchiha Sasuke, and it hasn’t been a full day since you were insisting that you didn’t really feel hatred towards anyone in particular. But if that hasn’t already changed, it’s a very close thing.

“Sorry to bail, Naruto,” Killer B declares with a few wild gestures, “but with this guy here I gotta go.”

“Yeah, Octopops,” Naruto nods after a moment. “Do what you have to.”

Killer B and one of the reanimations that showed up before your group take off into the forest to get a little distance. He was a dark-skinned man with extensive blue tattoos, and with hair that was white on one side and dark on the other. You gather that they must have had some connection, in part because you’ve yet to see Killer B that serious before now, but mostly because of who the other two reanimations are.

“Naruto, Yugito-san,” Itachi insists firmly. “The two of you should keep going with Sasuke...”

“No,” you interrupt your brother, taking a step forward. “You’re the one with the plan, and I won’t have you relive the experience of fighting our parents like this.”

Your father, who aside from his eyes and the cracks on his face would otherwise look the same as he did on the last day you saw him alive, nods slowly. “Itachi, I assume that what Sasuke is referring to is a plan to defeat the shinobi behind the reanimation technique?”

Eventually, Itachi nods once. “Yes, father.”

“You’ve already managed to break free from the control seal,” your mother recognizes aloud. “Even for you, Itachi, that’s impressive. I would want to know more, but as things stand there’s not much time.”

“Itachi-san,” Yugito insists curtly. “Naruto-kun. Sasuke-kun has made up his mind, so let’s go.”

After a moment, Naruto nods curtly. “Got it.”

Yugito stares your brother in the eyes for a few tense moments. “Itachi-san.”

Eventually, Itachi turns. “Mother. Father.”
>2/3

>>4717787
This leaves you alone with your parents, for the first time in a long time. They exchange a brief glance before your mother takes the lead.

“You’re older than I remember,” your mother begins awkwardly. “How many years?”

“Nine,” you reply calmly. “Since Itachi-han took the lives of our clan. Less since he passed.”

“And how did that happen?” your father presses firmly.

>I killed him. He planned it out so that I would one day pass judgment on him.
>We think it was auto-immune, but in the end I weakened him without knowing.
>It was a mistake. I was out of control, and had to be brought to my senses.
>Other?

>>4717790
>>We think it was auto-immune, but in the end I weakened him without knowing.
>>It was a mistake.

>>4717792
>>4717790
This

>>4717790
>I killed him. He planned it out so that I would one day pass judgment on him.

>>4717790
>>I killed him. He planned it out so that I would one day pass judgment on him.
"I judged poorly, in retrospect"

>>4717790
>It was a mistake. I was out of control, and had to be brought to my senses.

>>4717790
“He was already dying,” you explain. “An auto-immune disorder, most likely, but definitely something congenital. I didn’t kill him, but I did weaken him to the point where the sickness took him.”

“… it was a mistake. I never stopped to think that maybe he kept letting me go so that I could kill him one day.”

“Nothing your brother did was without reason,” your father insists, shutting his eyes and crossing his arms. “Though we may disagree sometimes, I have no doubt that Itachi believed what he was doing had a purpose.”

It’s not your father who attacks you first, but your mother. All you know about Uchiha Mikoto’s abilities is that she had the sharingan in both eyes, and that she excelled in shuriken-jutsu – which would not sound like much to most people, but among the Uchiha clan the standards for ‘excelling’ at something were always pretty high.

“Sorry, Sasuke...” she apologizes sadly, unsealing a pair of familiar folding shuriken. “This is the last thing I want, but what I want doesn’t seem to matter a whole lot right now.”

You’ve actually never seen your mother fight before today.

She uses the two large folding shuriken with a particular grace, making full use of their capabilities – it seems as though they’re never still, even for an instant. First she thrusts with them, then she slashes with them, and often she unfolds them to let them turn in her hands, like something halfway between a true Fūma-style shuriken and a war fan. Her movements are difficult to predict, and seem to flow together so naturally as to blur the distinction between which sort of attack she’s using.

And of course, they’re made even deadlier by the fact that she’s flowing wind-nature chakra through them the whole time.

“It’s closer to Sarutobi Asuma-san’s technique Shimura Danzō-san’s,” she warns you, and from what you can see that seems to line up. “The extra reach doesn’t vary.”

“I understand,” you frown, continuing to sidestep where you can and parry when you can’t. The lethal enhancements to the shuriken and the way she can move them makes it hard to counterattack – you want to aim for one of her wrists, but it always seems like there’s a blade either in the way or ready to take off your own arm if you ever make a misstep. “I had no idea you were this good.”

“I wasn’t made a jōnin for nothing,” she replies with a slight smile. “To think my little Sasuke can keep up with me now… I was so disappointed when we realized Itachi was such a prodigy.”

“Why was that?”

You strike with an upward sweep to disrupt your mother’s next attack, pushing her spinning blade out of her guard stance and forcing her to take quite an acrobatic leap back to reset her positioning.
>1/2

>>4718345
“Because it meant I wouldn’t be able to train him, of course!” she admits. “It may sound a bit selfish, but for a kunoichi raising a child training together is always something we look forward to. So when it felt like Itachi graduated straight from potty training to ANBU, I was a little put out.”

You can’t remember your mother ever talking about Itachi that way, at least not to you. And when she was still alive, you never really stopped to consider why she always seemed that happy to manage your shuriken-jutsu training. The whole time you were looking for ways to turn down her help, she was secretly – or probably not-so-secretly – relishing in the chance to actually pass on her skills to a son.

“Hang on...” you realize something. “Was that part of why father seemed reluctant to start my training? Because he wanted you to have the chance?”

Your mother shoots your father a stern glare.

“Fugaku...”

For a moment, your father seems visibly uncomfortable. “You’ve grown, Sasuke...”

“Don’t ignore me, Fugaku,” your mother narrows her eyes. “That was part of it, wasn’t it?”

You rub the back of your head with your off-hand. “Forget it. I’m not Itachi, even if you’d explained it to me back then I’d probably just have complained.”

“No, you’re not Itachi,” your father agrees, stepping up to join your mother. “And you’re not me either. Had things been a little different, maybe… no. It does no good to wonder about such things now.”

His presence feels entirely different from your mother – where Uchiha Mikoto is graceful and completely tranquil even in the middle of a fight, Uchiha Fugaku is imposing with the sort of focused gaze that would probably set your hairs on end even if you didn’t know he was aiming it at you.

Both their respective sharingan fall heavily on you – your mother’s in their three-tomoe pattern, and your father’s as a pinwheel.

>Fugaku is the main threat here. You don’t even know how strong his mangekyō might prove to be.
>If you act quickly you may be able to seal Mikoto, who is still a threat despite her ‘weaker’ eyes.
>You hate to admit it, but you may need to take a page from Naruto’s book for this engagement.
>Other?

>>4718367
>>You hate to admit it, but you may need to take a page from Naruto’s book for this engagement.
>"I apologize for this Mother and Father, but i am rather strapped for time."

>>4718367
>>You hate to admit it, but you may need to take a page from Naruto’s book for this engagement.

>>4718367
>You hate to admit it, but you may need to take a page from Naruto’s book for this engagement.

>>4718367
>You hate to admit it, but you may need to take a page from Naruto’s book for this engagement.

>>4718408
>>4718367
i like this angle

>>4718367
>>You hate to admit it, but you may need to take a page from Naruto’s book for this engagement.

>>4718367
>>4718408
This sounds good

>>4718367
“I hate using this technique,” you admit, creating a shadow clone without bothering to form the specific hand seal for it. “Even though I know plenty of people use it, even from other nations, it’s always felt like I was using Naruto-kun’s technique. Guess that’s because he uses it so often.”

The battle resumes with renewed intensity – with your mother, your shadow clone has to carefully avoid her spinning blades while keeping her far enough away from you that she can’t cut you down or coordinate with your father. With your father, you already know that it comes down to a question of whose eyes are the stronger. Should your mangekyō be greater then you will win. Should your father’s be greater, then you will have to withdraw… that is, if you can.

>1d6, first three
>DC 11
>SP: 3/3
>ES: 0/2 (0T)

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4720372

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4720372

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4720372

>>4720372
>Use 3SP and take 1 ES to pass
>Use 2SP and take 2 ES to pass
>Accept the failure

>>4720429
>>Use 2SP and take 2 ES to pass

>>4720429
>accept the failure

>>4720429
>Use 2SP and take 2 ES to pass

>>4720429
>>Use 2SP and take 2 ES to pass

>>4720429
>Use 2SP and take 2 ES to pass

>>4720429
>>Use 2SP and take 2 ES to pass

>>4720429
>SP: 1/3
>ES: 0 (4T)

“Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!”
“Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!”

Your massive fireball technique collides with your father’s, which raises a massive pillar of raging fire that your shadow clone and your mother are forced to give a wide latitude to. The same technique, but your father’s manages to very nearly overpower your own.

“Amaterasu!”

When the flames from the two massive fireballs clear you find that you’ve set the ribcage of your father’s Susanō’ō aflame, which he simply sheds as though it were nothing. You’ve made similar use of the Susanō’ō yourself of course – as it’s not a part of your body it hardly matters what happens to it. It’s honestly as close to a perfect counter to Amaterasu as you can think of, and anyone with the mangekyō sharingan has access to it.

Except, perhaps, for Uzumaki Naori and Kakashi-sensei.

“You share that technique with Itachi,” your father muses. “You will need to do better.”

Damn.

Your shadow clone fights off your mother in the mean time, carefully avoiding her flurry of attacks… you can’t be sure, but it almost looks more like he’s trying to observe her for long enough that he can memorize her attack patterns rather than beat her outright.

“Ah,” you muse, realizing the plan that the other you must be pursuing.

He intends to copy Uchiha Mikoto’s shurikenjutsu to use it against Obito’s short-range version of the Kamui, hoping that a continuous barrage of attacks will keep him purely on the defensive. It’s a bold strategy, and one which honestly costs you very little.

Your father’s Susanō’ō continues to manifest, a head and right arm in addition to the ribcage. You can’t beat him with your Amaterasu, and you very much doubt you can beat him in a contest of genjutsu – he has the greater experience, and his eyes are probably stronger in absolute terms even though he can’t have thoroughly mastered the mangekyō if no one ever knew he had it.

Where on the other hand, Itachi used his mangekyō so extensively he very nearly lost his eyesight by the end.

>You’re going to have to push yourself further than he can with your own Susanō’ō if you want to win.
>Itachi gave you spiritual weapons for your Susanō’ō – maybe now is the right time to learn how to use them.
>There must be some other sort of ninjutsu you can use to penetrate the Susanō’ō.
>Other?

>>4720852
>>There must be some other sort of ninjutsu you can use to penetrate the Susanō’ō.

>>4720852
>>Itachi gave you spiritual weapons for your Susanō’ō – maybe now is the right time to learn how to use them.

>>4720852
>>Itachi gave you spiritual weapons for your Susanō’ō – maybe now is the right time to learn how to use them.

>>4720852
>>Itachi gave you spiritual weapons for your Susanō’ō – maybe now is the right time to learn how to use them.

>>4720852
>Itachi gave you spiritual weapons for your Susanō’ō – maybe now is the right time to learn how to use them.

>>4720852
Your father is the one who said it – Itachi never did anything without a reason, and you’re beginning to suspect the weapons he left to you are something that he didn’t go out of his way to secure just for the sake of gaining more power. Uzumaki Naori seemed to know about them, and from what Itachi told you about how they work you’d be willing to guess that they were intended to counteract techniques exactly like the Susanō’ō.

And because he couldn’t have known that Kabuto would summon your parents, you have to assume that Itachi acquired these weapons specifically for the purpose of dealing with Uchiha Obito.

“I hope your Susanō’ō is at least as well-developed as mine was, Sasuke,” your father frowns as his Susanō’ō grows muscles.

Your own Susanō’ō does the same, before you push it a little further and clad it in something that looks a lot like armored skin or hide of some kind. It’s only when you manifest this armored Susanō’ō that you see the Yata mirror on one of your Susanō’ō’s left arms, along with what Naori referred to as the Sakegari tucked under its lower right arm.

“Prepare your defenses, Sasuke!”

Your father starts by throwing a punch at your Susanō’ō, which you raise the Yata mirror to block – the blow lands heavily against the shield, but the shield holds easily under the strain. You reach for the end of the gourd with your upper right hand and draw it out, the blade flickering and flowing like some strange kind of fire before you sweep it down and into the left shoulder of your father’s Susanō’ō.

“I see!” he realizes quickly. “Good, that’s good Sasuke!”
>1d6, DC 9, taking three
>SP: 1/3
>ES: 0 (3T)

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4721864

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4721864
Dammit, dice.

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4721864
looking for a 4 or 6

>>4721864
You have to be careful here – of all people Orochimaru actually taught you something useful that applies to this scenario, which is that there’s such a thing as ‘catastrophic success’. It’s possible to succeed at such a wildly unexpected level that it actually turns out to be counterproductive: the example that Orochimaru gave you was of strategy where an unexpected degree of success causes an intricate plan to unravel as you’re forced to make snap decisions. This is a situation where the threat would be one of over-extension that leads to vulnerability.

But against your father, if you managed to strike him down with the Sakegari sword on the first blow you might run the risk of not learning enough about how to use that new weapon to guarantee that you could use it effectively the next time. According to Itachi’s warning when he passed you these weapons to use, that makes this an occasion where a catastrophic success is possible.

And so you proceed carefully, holding back for the most part, observing the effects of the Sakegari striking each time. The Susanō’ō does take some damage, but it also offers obvious resistance – the blade itself may look as though it’s flowing but it’s definitely solid in terms of how it interacts with a surface.

But it also feels like each strike weakens the area it lands against the longer the two surfaces are in contact. It’s not instantaneous but the Sakegari does draw chakra into the gourd the same way it might seal a physical target.

You do notice as well that a second strike to your father’s Susanō’ō in the same spot, in this case to the side of the head, meets with a similar resistance to the first blow. So that means that your father is able to, between the timing of each strike, regenerate the Susanō’ō at that spot without any serious decrease in the overall strength of the defenses. So it’s actually regenerating the damage, not redistributing existing chakra, which is something new that you’ve learned about the Susanō’ō.

“What are you waiting for!?” he eventually demands.

There’s a moment where you finally penetrate the torso, thrusting the Sakegari blade into your father’s reanimated form.

His Susanō’ō grabs hold of the blade in its hands…
>1d6, high roll, first three

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4722542

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4722542

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4722542

nice, full SP

>>4722542
It’s too little, and far too late.

Your father’s strength wanes as his chakra is pulled from his own body at the same time as the Susanō’ō’s hands are broken down from trying to hold onto the Sakegari blade for too long, and so he can’t use his chakra to build his defenses back up. And so his whole body begins to warp as he’s pulled into the gourd, his Susanō’ō distorting as well to follow in streaks of dark green.

“I see,” he muses. “Your Susanō’ō developed much further than mine had a chance to... that’s too bad.”

“How do you mean?” you frown.

“Your mother will tell you everything,” Uchiha Fugaku insists calmly before being drawn into the sealing gourd... for now, at least.

Your shadow clone very nearly finishes Uchiha Mikoto off at the same time, leaving her critically wounded – a rigged windmill shuriken’s blade, empowered by chidori flow, slices an arm off and a little more.

“Your father and I had both hoped that you and your brother would never develop the mangekyō,” your mother clarifies with a sad smile. “We wanted you to be strong, but what parents would we be if we wanted you to suffer?”

“That’s not how things worked out,” you shake your head.

“No,” she admits, turning slightly to face the real you and raising one of her shuriken. “And your father and I were sorry for that.”

As her blades clash with your clone’s she continues to speak, sharing her innermost doubts, the ones she never got a chance to share when Itachi cut her and your father down that night.

“We never got to see you graduate from the academy,” she tells you in-between attacks. “I never got to nag you with dating advice, your father never got to finish your fire release training. We weren’t there to share your triumphs or console you for your failures. We missed so many moments with you that we might have otherwise had. And the worst part was it didn’t need to happen that way.”

“I feel like I have no right to ask this now,” your mother confesses, “but... are you going to be okay?”

“I...”

In a moment she rushes forward, practically throwing herself chest-first onto your clone’s blade.

The other you stares at her in shock. “You... why?”

“Because I know you have a kind heart, like Itachi did,” she admits tearfully. “I can know that just based on how you fight... that you’re not just analyzing me, but that you have trouble attacking me – more so than your father. But tell me, are you going to be okay? I have to know.”

“... some day, I will be,” your clone admits. “Some of the people I have around me these days can be a pain... but they’re good.”

“That’s all I needed to know.”
>1/2

>>4723397
This time, something unexpected happens – a pale, translucent image of your mother, something not quite chakra, separates itself from the vessel. The body that took on her appearance fades to dusty grey, and then collapses into a pile of grave dirt and ashes around the body of a young man not much older than you: the sacrificial victim.

“Goodbye, Sasuke,” your mother smiles sadly down at you. “Try to be happy, and don’t hurry along.”

…

You are Uzumaki Naori, and you’ve just been told something aggravating.

“Damn him,” you curse bitterly.

[It’s his parents…] the voice from headquarters begins.

You shake your head. “Yeah no, that’s not who I’m cursing.”

“So it seems we’re on our own here,” Ōnoki grumbles. “Even if that Uchiha whelp could beat his father Fugaku quickly it would still take time for him to make it here. And I simply doubt that Madara will allow us that time.”

“You’re right,” you agree curtly. That certainly does match your impression of the man – he may have presented a civil exterior, but that patience will only be superficial. “I can take the lead on this situation, but I’m not entirely sure how effective my techniques will be.”

“Don’t you have senjutsu?” Naruto wonders aloud.

“I intend to lead with that,” you nod. “But yeah, no… Uchiha Madara has the mangekyō sharingan and several decades more experience.”

>I will fight alone. Anyone else would just be someone I’d feel like I had to protect.
>Some backup might be useful. Even the strongest shinobi can be overwhelmed with numbers.
>It’s not my place to give the orders, but I’d suggest caution in how your units engage.
>Other?

>>4723530
>>I will fight alone. Anyone else would just be someone I’d feel like I had to protect.

>>4723530
>I will fight alone. Anyone else would just be someone I’d feel like I had to protect.
>>Other?
>>"It might be time to wake up the Hokages"

>>4723530
>Some backup might be useful. Even the strongest shinobi can be overwhelmed with numbers.

>>4723530
>>It’s not my place to give the orders, but I’d suggest caution in how your units engage.

>>4723530
>>It’s not my place to give the orders, but I’d suggest caution in how your units engage.

>>4723605
supporting this

>>4723530
>>It’s not my place to give the orders, but I’d suggest caution in how your units engage.

>>4723530
>>4723605
supp

>>4723530
>I will fight alone. Anyone else would just be someone I’d feel like I had to protect.

>>4723530
>I will fight alone. Anyone else would just be someone I’d feel like I had to protect.

>>4723530
>>4723605
supporting

>>4723530
“I’ll fight him,” you decide aloud. “Anyone else much short of a kage is just going to become a liability for me to protect.”

There’s some immediate and obvious discomfort with that declaration, though only the Tsuchikage speaks up to oppose it. “I know you’re eager to take the lead on this, but it’s not your place to decide how our forces are deployed.”

“Then this is being done over my explicit objection,” you insist curtly. “I take it you’re also not going to let me bring any additional ‘guests’ to this particular party?”

The Tsuchikage shakes his head. “Tsunade-dono is the one who needs to approve of that. She’s currently still fighting against Jiraiya.”

“I’ll back you...” Gaara begins, only for Temari to interrupt.

“No,” she insists firmly. “You, Naruto-kun, and Tsuchikage-dono all need to recover.”

“Then the rest of you will follow Uzumaki Naori,” the Tsuchikage orders loudly. “Don’t look into his eyes!”

You glare at him, but the old man doesn’t back down. He must have his own strategic thoughts on how to deploy his men, and so Gaara follows his lead if for no other reason than to offer as much backup as possible. Hundreds of shinobi all prepare themselves for the worst, so many that only a few stand out to you. A man’s hand trembles as he reaches for a kunai. A kunoichi with the sealing corps prays silently with a small rosary in her hands. Clouds slide slowly between the sun and the battlefield, casting a deep shade that creeps towards the front line.

It’s impossible to know who the first to shout is, but soon exactly the thing you had warned against comes to pass.
>1d6, high roll of the first three

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4725242

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4725242

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4725242

>>4725242
>high roll of the first three
I can't remember what this one means, do you take the highest singular roll out of the first three rolls, or is this just a different way of saying that this is an unrecoverable High DC

>>4725264
It's a high roll, taking the first three rolls.

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4725456

>>4726238
You okay there bud?

>>4725242
Many of the shinobi around you are more eager to rush into conflict, and so they pass you on either side.

You close your eyes, take a deep breath, then slowly open them again – calm, tranquil, and totally in control. While you can’t go straight from where you are to where Madara is charging forwards in one step, you do manage to sidestep the shinobi who are in your way, picking your way carefully through the crowd as you pass them just the same way they passed you moments before.

Umekiri leaves her saya in an instant, and Madara carefully meets your attack with the edge of his gunbai. Your followthrough roundhouse kick is met with a kick of his own, and instead of following through you withdraw your leg and strike downwards with your kodachi as your momentum reverses. Again Madara meets you with flawless technical skill, then unseals a handful of shuriken.

These don’t find you. They’re not meant to. Instead they slice into nearby shinobi unfortunate enough to have had no choice but to follow the orders of the Tsuchikage and Kazekage. Each shuriken – nearly a joke among many shinobi of Akatsuki’s calibre – has the capacity to kill a full-grown man in a flak jacket.

“How dirty,” you frown.

Madara is all too cavalier in striking down any shinobi he can at any opportunity, and plenty get between the two of you by mistake or by the legendary Uchiha’s crafty footwork. You have to carefully avoid slashing straight through human shields tossed by Madara into the way specifically to frustrate you, though the shinobi surrounding you are not nearly so cautious or so successful. Many either take kunai or shuriken to the back that were meant for him, or fall prey to his gaze despite having been warned.

“You can’t save them all,” he taunts you callously even as he folds a man in half on the edge of his gunbai while a sword he stole from another dead man is locked against Umekiri. “You may be a sage, but you aren’t the goddess of mercy.”

“Yeah no,” you grunt, throwing him back with a burst of strength. “I know that... that’s why I wanted to fight you alone.”

In the process of retreating Madara weaves a hand seal, fast enough between step and hand speed that he can form the single seal before you can catch up and punish him for it.

“Katon: Gōka Mekkakyu!”

The massive sea of flames might ordinarily take multiple jōnin worth of water release techniques to counter completely, as it rapidly spreads to the point where it’s threatening to engulf the whole of Gaara’s division if left unchecked, but you don’t have time to arrange that sort of backup.

You instinctively draw Tenryūshi and begin flowing chakra into your two blades. “Ranton: Rekuyemu no Odori!”
>1/2

>>4726665
The twin slashes meet with Madara’s spreading flames, the elemental advantage overwhelming them and turning them back on their origninator in an even greater mass of blossoming chakra like glowing storm clouds racing along the ground. Were there anything to scour before there wouldn’t be now – anything caught in the line of either assault would have been erased from existence.

But Uchiha Madara seems to have been prepared for a situation like this.

“Uchiha Gaeshi!”

The center of your counterattack dissipates and reverses again, this time in the form of a powerful blast of compressed wind... you can tell just by looking at it that it’s essentially a tangled interwoven mass of slashing invisible blades. Not something you want to be hit by.

You bite the tips of your thumbs and reverse your grip on Umekiri and Tenryūshi, thrusting them into the sand in front of you. “Kuchiyose: Kongō Taiyōmon!”

The deeply-graven stone gate appears in a burst of smoke, strung round its corners with as many Kongō Fūsa chains as you can figure out a way to attach to it, immediately rejecting the Uchiha Gaeshi at its point of contact. Then you unsummon the Taiyōmon and rush forward, returning Tenryūshi to its saya for now and flipping your grip on Umekiri’s hilt back to a forward hold.

You use the Kongō Fūsa to defend yourself as Madara swings a massive sword at you.

“Susanō’ō already,” you muse aloud.

Like many previous examples of the technique you already know of, the multi-armed avatar has been wrapped in muscle already from the waist up, and it bears two jagged swords.

>You can engage easily enough using Kongō Fūsa and Umekiri, just as you have.
>If he’s not using his gunbai, you can probably crack open his Susanō’ō with Storm Release.
>You can probably get him out of the Susanō’ō by exploiting the ground at his feet.
>Other?

>>4726896
>>If he’s not using his gunbai, you can probably crack open his Susanō’ō with Storm Release.

>>4726896
>>If he’s not using his gunbai, you can probably crack open his Susanō’ō with Storm Release.

>>4726896
>If he’s not using his gunbai, you can probably crack open his Susanō’ō with Storm Release.

>>4726896
>>If he’s not using his gunbai, you can probably crack open his Susanō’ō with Storm Release.

>>4726896
>If he’s not using his gunbai, you can probably crack open his Susanō’ō with Storm Release.

>>4726896
>>If he’s not using his gunbai, you can probably crack open his Susanō’ō with Storm Release.

>>4726896
>>If he’s not using his gunbai, you can probably crack open his Susanō’ō with Storm Release.

>>4726896
>1d6, DC 9
>taking first three
>SP: 6/6
>ES: 0 (0T)

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4728012

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4728012

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4728012

>>4728012
This may be a powerful move for him, but the way you reckon it Madara has made a mistake – he’s choosing to rely on a defense that’s based on chakra, against the chakra-absorbing version of the storm release kekkei genkai. Whether that’s because he’s never seen this form of elemental transformation fully developed, as a chakra flow style of kenjutsu, you can’t say. It could just be that he wants to confirm how your kekkei genkai works.

Either way, it fits your plans perfectly.

Kongō Fūsa gives you a way of intercepting the powerful blows from his Susanō’ō’s swords, especially when you combine them with a quick turn on your toes. Almost more like a dancer, it’s a trick you picked up from watching the Hyūga fight – the rotational force combines with the trailing nature of the chains to create a loose sphere similar to the traditional barrier form of the Kongō Fūsa.

It gives you just enough coverage to get in close, before you wrap one of his blades and vault atop it.

“Hiken: Rekuyemu Renbu!”

A series of quick slices dismantles the blade as you charge along its side, only for you to turn over the Susanō’ō’s shoulder in a complicated manuever only made possible by looping your Kongō Fūsa around its arm. Then as Madara tries to hit you with his free arm you loop the golden chains around that wrist, before pulling taut to create an opening under one of his Susanō’ō’s right arms.

“You-”

His realization of what you’ve done comes too late for him to get the words out, and you kick off the ground with a brief burst of empowerment from the eight gates. Umekiri slices into his Susanō’ō around where its ribs would be were it anything but a shell, and after a moment of sustained contact the ranton chakra robs it of enough strength that you break through.

He swings his gunbai down off his shoulder at you, which you push out of the way with your left palm, letting your rotation and momentum carry the right side of your body to safety...

>Try to leave a Hiraishin marking on his gunbai. If you force him to give it up it works to your advantage.
>Don’t tip him off that you have that ability. Not yet, not when it can’t be used to create a decisive advantage.
>Other?

>>4728093
>Don’t tip him off that you have that ability. Not yet, not when it can’t be used to create a decisive advantage.

>>4728093
>>Try to leave a Hiraishin marking on his gunbai. If you force him to give it up it works to your advantage.

I don't think this Madara geek can be ganked with a surprise asspull so gotta knock him down one trick at a time.

>>4728093
>Try to leave a Hiraishin marking on his gunbai. If you force him to give it up it works to your advantage.

>>4728093
>Try to leave a Hiraishin marking on his gunbai. If you force him to give it up it works to your advantage.

>>4728093
>Try to leave a Hiraishin marking on his gunbai. If you force him to give it up it works to your advantage.

>>4728093
>Try to leave a Hiraishin marking on his gunbai. If you force him to give it up it works to your advantage.

>>4728093
>>Try to leave a Hiraishin marking on his gunbai. If you force him to give it up it works to your advantage.

>>4728093
>Don’t tip him off that you have that ability. Not yet, not when it can’t be used to create a decisive advantage.

>>4728093
... as you place a Hiraishin marking on the flat of the gunbai.

Using that momentum you continue to swing your body, landing a powerful roundhouse kick against Madara’s arm and shoulder that knock him back and out through the side of his own Susanō’ō.

“Naruto!”

Naruto, who has been preparing to enter sage mode, replies to your call with a wind-release rasenshuriken that howls as it flies straight for where Madara is falling through the air, unable to dodge effectively. He raises his gunbai...

“Hiraishingiri!”

You teleport near him, sever his right hand with Umekiri’s edge, and teleport yourself back to Temari in the instant before the rasenshuriken strikes and erupts into a turning sphere made out of lacerating wind blades. But you realize what happened even before Temari opens her mouth.

“What’s happening?” she asks as the rasenshuriken disappears abruptly.

“Rinnegan,” you frown.

“Rinnegan?” Temari repeats, stunned. “So... that’s what it can do?”

“Among other things,” you confirm.

Madara stands completely unharmed as the dust settles around him – whatever was keeping him from starting with the Rinnegan active from the first moment you engaged seems to no longer be a problem. Many of the Allied forces are already taking advantage of the momentary lull to begin medical treatment of the wounded, those cut down by Madara despite your presence or those who were blown away as the two of you clashed at full-force.

You’re about to teleport back to the gunbai and try for another strike, but predictably Madara abandons it – unfortunately, that predicted result comes just a split second before your attack. He leaps backwards to rejoin the other reanimation. From here it seems as though they’re conversing about something.

“So that’s the Rinnegan,” Gaara muses. “Naruto, Naori-san, the two of you have fought against it. How do we do the same?”

“Its greatest weakness is knowing what its more exotic abilities can do,” you explain. “Yeah no, I’d hoped the fact that he’d implanted them into Nagato meant he wouldn’t have them as an Edo Tensei.”

“Do you have a plan for beating the Rinnegan?” Naruto presses.

You spare him a glance. “Do you?”
>1/2

>>4729671
“Kurama,” Naruto admits. “Same as last time, ya know?”

“Can you?” you ask.

He shakes his head. “Not yet. Messing up the tailed beast bomb earlier took it out of me.”

That basically means that this is up to you for the time being, which is annoying if unsurprising. Then, abruptly, Naruto falls to his knees and grasps his stomach – as if he’s about to throw up. Temari glances down, before returning her focus to Madara, though Gaara seems more concerned.

“What is it, Naruto?”

“It’s like my guts are on fire...”

“Madara’s staring right at us,” Temari declares.

It’s not untrue, of course. Madara has been staring intently at your little group for the last few seconds, and judging by how he placed his hand against the ground just a few moments ago you can guess what he’s done.

“Summoning,” you mutter. “Just checking to see.”

“Summoning?” Fū repeats, having rejoined you after shuttling some of the wounded around the battlefield to try getting as many as possible as close to medic-nin as possible. “Summoning what, Nakkun?”

“Kurama,” you clarify.

Fū glances up at Madara. “Really? Can he do that when a tailed beast’s inside a jinchūriki?”

“Yeah no, I don’t see a giant nine-tailed fox anywhere,” you observe.

“Fair point.”

“You said you had a plan?” the Tsuchikage tries to get you back on track as Madara reforms his Susanō’ō, forming two sets of hand seals with its four arms. “Now might be a good time...”

You glance up a moment later, even before the other shinobi start to notice the shadow being cast on the battlefield from high above. It’s very different to how Nagato used his abilities – this is larger for one thing, and it seems to have formed high above you without your immediately noticing. Quickly too, quickly enough that you’re not sure exactly how it happened without you noticing sooner.

“I did have a plan,” you muse. “This wasn’t part of it.”

“Can that even be ninjutsu?” Temari wonders aloud, staring at the enormous sphere of stone as it falls inexorably towards you. It’s not moving that fast, but at that size it doesn’t have to.

Gaara stares at it in similar shock. “Is this the power of a god?”

You smack both of them across the cheek, each in turn. “Get it together!” you snap.
>2/3

>>4729811
“We’re not dead yet,” you insist.

“Everyone, fall back!” the Tsuchikage orders. “I’ll do what I can!”

He takes off into the sky, intending to meet the giant mass on its way down. You figure he can probably lighten it, reducing its mass to the point where Gaara can catch it.

>Let them do that, help Temari and Fūō with the evacuations.
>It may be light enough to teleport it using hiraishin. Madara’s seen that already.
>Using the Shikonbenjin you could catch it long enough for the others to flee.
>Other?

>>4729824
>>Let them do that, help Temari and Fūō with the evacuations.

>>4729824
>It may be light enough to teleport it using hiraishin. Madara’s seen that already.
We can try that in about half a second. If that doesn't work,
>Using the Shikonbenjin you could catch it long enough for the others to flee.

>>4729824
>>Let them do that, help Temari and Fūō with the evacuations.

>>4729824
>It may be light enough to teleport it using hiraishin. Madara’s seen that already.

Is Madara still casting or is this just a giant rock falling?

>>4730232
It's purely gravity-driven at this stage.

Where did the rock come from for ninjutsu, or is it summoned or somesuch?

>>4730453
created via ninjutsu and then yeeted at us via gravity. Basically Madara used planetary devastation to make an orbital bombardment on our position.

And as an additional clarification,
>Fūō
is a kind of typo you may see for a while as I get used to chromebook. The word processing app I've been using doesn't quite work right for special characters.

Updates will be later today, Claymore is going to come first.

>>4729824
>It may be light enough to teleport it using hiraishin. Madara’s seen that already.

>>4729824
>>It may be light enough to teleport it using hiraishin. Madara’s seen that already.

>>4729824
>1d6, high roll
>taking the sum of the first three

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4731367

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4731367

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4731367

>>4731367
The best response is probably with something that your enemy has already seen, and as much as it feels strange to be writing it off so easily in that sense the hiraishin is a perfect candidate. Since you need to be in contact with something, either directly or through your chakra, to teleport it to an existing marking you have to resheath Umekiri and send four winding chains of your Kongō Fūsa to meet the apocalyptically-scaled projectile.

Then, weaving hand seals – snake, horse, rat, ram, then the seal of confrontation – with your right hand, you move the massive sphere.

After a moment of stunned silence, the earth gently shakes.

“... Naori?” Temari wonders aloud. “What did you do?”

Even the Tsuchikage is staring down at you in surprise.

“Yeah no,” you pant from the sudden exertion of massive amounts of senjutsu chakra. “All I did was move the problem.”

“... where?” Fū asks with a frown.

“Oh,” you pant, “nowhere too important.”

Then you glance at Temari and Gaara. “But you people owe me a new hideout.”

“The Hot Water hideout?” Fū realizes. “You realize you just dropped a giant rock on your own house, right Nakkun?”

“Would you rather I teleport it back and let it finish dropping on us?”

“Not really.”

“Good, then it can just stay...”

Your massively heightened senses clue you into the second problem, and you can see from here that Madara is grinning at you from on high.

“There’s a second one!” you bark out. “Tsuchikage! Kazekage!”

>Let them handle this one – you used a LOT of chakra to move the first one.
>Use the Shikonbenjin – four shadow clones can gather natural energy four times as fast.
>Try it again once the Tsuchikage lightens the second giant boulder.
>Other?

>>4731608
>Use the Shikonbenjin – four shadow clones can gather natural energy four times as fast.
This battle devolved into throwing rocks real fast.

>>4731608
>>Let them handle this one – you used a LOT of chakra to move the first one.

>>4731608
>>Let them handle this one – you used a LOT of chakra to move the first one.

I really want to pace ourselves here

>>4731608
>Let them handle this one – you used a LOT of chakra to move the first one
As much as i'd love to show our ass, pacing is mighty important.

>>4731608
>>Let them handle this one – you used a LOT of chakra to move the first one.

>>4731608
>>Let them handle this one – you used a LOT of chakra to move the first one.

We need to rest a bit.

It just occurred to me that Noari forced Madara to jump to Rinnegan pretty quickly. It makes me think she'd be able to defeat him in his prime during the warlord era.

Now not so much but this will make her even more of a legend. Probably going to scare paranoid people seeing how she's a walking nuke.

>>4731608
>Let them handle this one – you used a LOT of chakra to move the first one.

>>4731608
>Let them handle this one – you used a LOT of chakra to move the first one.

>>4731608
You opt to let them deal with it this time – your chakra was significantly drained by teleporting such a massive object with the hiraishin, seemingly the first drawback you’ve ever found to the technique. Instead you concentrate on readying sage mode again, and recovering for a second effort.

Two massive pillars of sand rise up to support the falling sphere of compressed stone, and it slowly settles... at first.

Even as Gaara and the Tsuchikage start to breathe a little easier, you can see Madara weaving new hand seals.

“Everyone shelter!” you order loudly, your voice carrying across the battlefield as you prepare yourself for what you know is coming. With the single mass of the projectile having been halted, the answer Madara came to is the same one you would have in his position.

Instead of the single impact you’re subjected to an unavoidable hail of house-sized boulders. You can shatter a few of these, and you can create a few shadow clones to try and save as many people as possible, but it’s a monumental task. At very least you realize as well that Madara would have countered your hiraishin the same way – breaking up the projectile into many still-large boulders would have worked there too.

...

The aftermath is nothing short of apocalyptic.

More shinobi survived the event than would have done had the mass come down as one single impactor, but the casualties are going to be high. The dust settles heavily amid the field of boulders as survivors start to dig out. Around your nine shadow clones and yourself there are near-perfect circles left where your Kongō Fūsa barriers stood, and Gaara was similarly able to protect many of his subordinates.

Your own are all accounted for, since Fū raised a webby cocoon to protect them and give you a chance to protect a nearby group of shinobi at the same time. Kiri gets straight to work, though true ‘wounded’ are hard to find – most were either killed or escaped without serious injury, while some are quite clearly exhausted.

Of course, Madara has no such problems – he and the other reanimated shinobi simply string themselves back together.

“I... don’t think we can afford to do that again,” you admit to Gaara.

>tbc tomorrow

>>4733866
The dust continues to settle, and a newly-reformed Madara leaps down from his perch to face you and the other survivors standing near you.

“Honestly, I’m glad to see that you survived,” he muses with a slight grin. “You know as well as I do what a kunoichi such as yourself is – a flower that only blossoms when planted in adversity, and watered with blood.”

You can’t help feeling a little angry at that description. “Yeah no, it feels like you’re just messing with us at this point.”

“In a sense. I never had the opportunity to test these Rinnegan against a worthy opponent.”

You immediately sense a change...
>1d6, high roll
>taking the best three of the first four

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4735073

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4735073
i apologize

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4735073

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4735073
Might as well try for another six.

>>4735104
you just disgraced our ancestors

16 is pretty great

>>4735217
But is it great enough to possibly EVEN TOUCH Madara Uchiha? Let alone defeat him. And I'm not talking about Edo Tensei Uchiha Madara...

>>4735073
... and raise your left hand in the seal of confrontation.

The blast removes Madara’s head, not ‘cleanly’ by any means, but thoroughly – the exploding tag you placed there as his body reconstructed itself. But you were concerned about this before, and your concerns prove to have been well founded when Madara’s body begins to turn into a tree.

From nearby, the ‘real’ Madara emerges from the ground, and dusts off his shoulders. “Not bad. Even during all of that you had the presence of mind to lay a trap.”

“For what it was worth,” you grumble. “When did you use the wood clone technique?”

“Wood clones?” Gaara repeats, shocked at the revelation.

“I thought it was only captain Yamato who could use that?” Naruto glances at you nervously, “so how is it Madara can do it too?”

“It seems the jutsu-caster has made a few modifications,” Madara muses.

Just then, you’re joined by several newcomers – Unruly A, Terumi Mei, and Tsunade-han all arrive in short succession. The Raikage and Tsuna appear in a flash of lightning, while Mei-han arrives between three Konoha-nin who have formed a triangular formation around her.

“So...” you muse, “I see you wrapped things up then, Tsuna-han?”

...

You are Senju Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf village and inheritor of your grandfather’s and sensei’s Will of Fire. Out of the many duties you could have anticipated when you accepted the job, this was not one – unusually painful, on a deeply personal level.

“Jiraiya,” you greet the ghost of your former teammate and, perhaps, the only true friend you had left in the world up until his death. “I wish I could say I was happy to see you again.”

“Likewise,” he replies. “Thankfully Naori-kun dealt with my ability to use senjutsu, but I don’t expect that would ever have been the hardest thing for you now that it’s come to this.”

“If I didn’t think I could do this I wouldn’t have come here,” you admit.

“Your hand is shaking,” he observes. “I’ll take that to be a sign of your righteous indignation and not cause to worry about you.”

>You could leverage Katsuyu here, since you doubt the toads will work with Jiraiya under these conditions.
>With senjutsu not playing a role now your physical strength is clearly superior – so do what you do best.
>Jiraiya has always been faster than you. Oddly enough your clearest advantage is in genjutsu proficiency.
>Other?

>>4735288
>>Jiraiya has always been faster than you. Oddly enough your clearest advantage is in genjutsu proficiency.

>>4735288
>>You could leverage Katsuyu here, since you doubt the toads will work with Jiraiya under these conditions.

>>4735288
>>Jiraiya has always been faster than you. Oddly enough your clearest advantage is in genjutsu proficiency.

>>4735288
>>With senjutsu not playing a role now your physical strength is clearly superior – so do what you do best.

>>4735288
>Jiraiya has always been faster than you. Oddly enough your clearest advantage is in genjutsu proficiency.

>>4735288
>You could leverage Katsuyu here, since you doubt the toads will work with Jiraiya under these conditions.

>>4735288
You know that Jiraiya is physically faster than you are, though you’re certainly stronger, and while your ninjutsu are widely varied you’d be willing to bet that much of his arsenal is more powerful than yours is. You also know that in terms of your taijutsu your skills are a bit better developed – where Jiraiya is excellent, your skills are beyond excellent.

You... definitely aren’t the best Hokage ever when it comes to genjutsu. Even your grandfather was excellent at genjutsu despite it not being his strongest area, while Tobirama and Hiruzen-sensei were both phenomenal. Next to them you’d consider yourself average at best. But you know Jiraiya well too, and you know that his skills with genjutsu are basically no better than those of a decently-talented chūnin’s.

But that is honestly what it comes down to. You can either try to edge him out in taijutsu or with genjutsu, and right now based on what you know about the Edo Tensei that’s not really much of a choice. Unlike when he was alive punching him doesn’t really solve the problem.
>1d6, first three
>DC 9

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4736404

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4736404

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4736404

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4736404

>>4736418
>>4736431
>>4736434
Passed with more than flying colors. Quit underselling yourself, Tsuna-chan

>>4736404
You quickly raise your fists.

“I have to admit I’m a little interested to see how you approach this!” Jiraiya admits, striking a goofy – but not entirely ineffective – pre-fight pose. “The only thing missing would be Orochimaru.”

His first moves are to weave a few quick hand seals while you close with him.

“Summoning!”

“You really think...” you begin, moving to strike him in the shoulder with a body pathway-derangement technique. But in the next moment two things happen – first, he puffs up his hair for self-defense. Second, a wooden coffin emerges from the ground. Between these two developments you’re forced to take a jumping step backwards.

The lid of the coffin falls off.

“Well... this is unexpected.”

“And deeply unwanted,” Jiraiya frowns. “We were just talking about you, Orochimaru.”

“It’s a regular family reunion,” Orochimaru frowns, looking very much as he did back during the last war rather than as the decrepit man who you fought after he killed Sarutobi-sensei. “I take it Kabuto is up to no good in my place... this feels so undignified.”

“How can you be here?” you demand sharply. “Last I heard your chakra had been extracted from Sasuke-kun by Uchiha Itachi.”

“It must have been Anko,” Orochimaru glances over his shoulder, almost as if looking at the very people he’s talking about even now.

So... as it turns out, by sending Mitarashi Anko as the leader of the team tracking down Yakushi Kabuto you inadvertently allowed him to revive Orochimaru – thus creating a significant amount of trouble for yourself down the line.

“Fine,” you sigh. “I guess I’ll have to go all-out.”

You take a low stance, imitating a member of the Hyūga clan. It’s going to take an extra step because of these developments.

Jiraiya leads, favoring a style focused on kicking to get a slight edge in terms of his physical reach – knowing your raw power, that makes sense. Between his better speed and greater height, it may actually give him the ability to match you in taijutsu. After a brief exchange you’re forced to fall back as dozens of large snakes emerge from the ground where you had been standing, each one with a straight sword protruding from its mouth.

From one snake’s mouth Orochimaru’s upper body emerges and weaves one-handed seals, flanking you together with Jiraiya who does the same.

“Katon: Endan!”
“Fūton: Daitoppa!”
>1/2

>>4736916
What their combination ends up destroying is nothing more than a log of course – you managed to anticipate the flanking maneuver and substitute out in time. But neither one is fooled.

“You’re not fast enough to trick us with that, Tsuna,” Orochimaru points out. “Sorry.”

“Jeez,” Jiraiya sighs. “To think we’re finally working together again after all this time, but like this. What a pain.”

“It’s not bad,” Orochimaru admits. “This sense of nostalgia.”

You step out from behind a nearby tree, one which was barely outside the blast radius, and prepare to get back into the fight. You’re joined by two shadow clones – both intended to go on the offensive, while you weave the hand seals to place both your former teammates under a genjutsu.

Orochimaru quickly senses the genjutsu and dispels it, before impaling your shadow clone with several striking snakes with swords in their mouths, but Jiraiya is a little slower to react appropriately. While he’s stunned your clone strikes him twice in the chest, completely scrambling his nervous system... or at least you hope that worked.

Orochimaru takes out your other shadow clone from behind, seemingly trying to cover Jiraiya.

After a moment, he suddenly takes off into the forest.

>Chase down Orochimaru.
>Keep using shadow clones.
>Focus on sealing Jiraiya.
>Other?

>>4737004
>>Focus on sealing Jiraiya.

>>4737004
>>Keep using shadow clones.

>>4737004
>Focus on sealing Jiraiya.

>>4737004
>>Focus on sealing Jiraiya.

>>4737004
>>Focus on sealing Jiraiya.

>>4737004
>Focus on sealing Jiraiya.

>>4737004
>1d6, high roll
>sum of the first three

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4738006

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4738006

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4738006

>>4737004
You turn your attention to Jiraiya, intending to finish what you started.

“Too slow, sorry,” he apologizes as he evidently figures out how to adjust for your last attack left his nervous system scrambled. “Both Kabuto and I are familiar with that technique.”

“Then how about this technique, sensei?”

A series of explosions basically wipes the forest around you away, reducing trees to mulch and burning off grass and underbrush. The sheer volume of explosions and the feminine quality to the voice you heard leaves only two possible identities for the new attacker – a question resolved when Konan starts to pull her body back together from many floating paper butterflies that rapidly swarm the aftermath of the explosions.

“I came as soon as I heard,” she admits. “I won’t ask your forgiveness.”

“On the contrary,” you admit. “I think you’re the missing piece.”

“To be taken down by the two of you,” he muses thoughtfully as he forces his way out of the shadow of the pile of rocks he used as substitution material. “That’s not so bad, I think.”

“I’ll back you up,” Konan insists curtly, releasing a small cloud of sealing paper and forming a chakram from it. “You just focus on landing a blow against Jiraiya-sensei.”

“Right,” you nod in agreement. “Thank you.”

She offers a single nod before turning her focus back to Jiraiya. “As much as we fell out towards the end of his life, I understand how you feel. I hate seeing him like this too.”

Konan’s support comes in the form of shuriken, each folded from two exploding tags before being shaped and hardened with her chakra. These restrict his movements, until he creates a pair of shadow clones to split Konan’s attention three ways. These you counter with a pair of shadow clones of your own, who trade blows with Jiraiya’s clones – only to use simple substitutions leaving behind some of Konan’s paper bombs in their place.

Each of them then attack Jiraiya himself, totally ignoring the risk of injury. He pulls his hair around like a cloak to defend himself and your clones disappear, but you know that technique leaves an opening.

“Right here!” you roar, planting your feet into the ground and your fist in his face. The blow knocks him back into a cloud of paper tags readied by Konan, which stick to his hair and body as he passes through.

Finally, it seems that Jiraiya is ready to be sealed.

“That was one hell of a punch, Tsuande,” he muses as his jaws start to reform. “And Konan, well done working as part of a team that well. You’ve truly grown over the years... it’s good to see, given what I understand happened after my death.”
>1/2

>>4738851
“How heartwarming,” Orochimaru muses, slithering up out of the ground.

You raise your fists, but Konan holds out one hand. “Wait. Something is different about him.”

“He regained use of his hands,” you offer. “Let me start by taking care of that!”

“No!” Konan insists. “Look carefully, Lady Fifth.”

When you take a moment, you see it too. “The cracks, and the darkened eyes...”

“That’s no reanimation,” Konan insists.

“You snake you,” Jiraiya chuckles to himself as Konan’s tags finish wrapping him up in a secure bundle. “How’d you pull that off?”

“It’s quite simple,” Orochimaru insists with a smirk. “Just because neither of you ever understood these sorts of techniques doesn’t make them difficult. But really all I needed was a body.”

“Judging by your chakra you used a white zetsu,” Konan guesses.

“It’s like she said,” Orochimaru shrugs before glancing at you. “What’s wrong, Tsuna-hime? Something got your tongue?”

“I’m not as glib as you are, snake,” you frown. “And I’m not thrilled that you’ve apparently cheated death... again.”

“Feel free to blame young Kabuto for that,” Orochimaru replies. “Although I thought I had trained him better than to reanimate someone who knew the Edo Tensei technique better than he did. So maybe blaming me for it wouldn’t be entirely unfair.”

>This won’t stand. You’re an enemy of Konoha, I’m the Hokage. That’s all there is to it.
>If you managed to swap bodies, then why bother coming back here? What are you thinking?
>Konan, Jiraiya. Thoughts?
>Other?

>>4738876
>>If you managed to swap bodies, then why bother coming back here? What are you thinking?

>>4738876
>If you managed to swap bodies, then why bother coming back here? What are you thinking?

>>4738876
>>This won’t stand. You’re an enemy of Konoha, I’m the Hokage. That’s all there is to it.

>>4738876
>>If you managed to swap bodies, then why bother coming back here? What are you thinking?

>>4738876
>If you managed to swap bodies, then why bother coming back here? What are you thinking?
Can we ask him to do the same for Jiraiya? I want that old lug back.

>>4738954
No, thats something only orochimaru is capable of

>>4738876
>If you managed to swap bodies, then why bother coming back here? What are you thinking?

>>4739742
Didn’t madras do that as well though?

>>4740196
>>4739742
Madara did the Edo Tensei Kai willy nilly because he could, whereas Orochimaru implied he used some other technique and succed up a White Zetsu, so I assumed it'd be possible for him to revive Jiraiya as well.

>>4738954
>>4739742
Yea, it has everything to do with the fact that Orochimaru's true form is essentially a complex parasite that plays by different rules for life and death. How he pulled that off is something probably only he knows let alone understands.

Sasuke was possessed prior to Orochimaru's apparent death but Sasuke had Uchiha hax and Itachi evicted him later.

>>4740196
>>4740247
Madara took control over his reanimation, basically overwriting Kabuto's control and straight-up refusing to be released after the technique ended.
>>4740476
It has a lot to do with the different concepts between chakra clones, biological clones, the nature of the spirit and the afterlife, and Orochimaru's freak immortality and chakra implantation techniques. He could only do it because Naori incidentally gave him his hands back.

>>4741078
And he had a live body he could steal--even if it was just a White Zetsu.

>>4738876
“If you managed to swap bodies and cheat death again,” you demand, “then why come back here?”

“It’s a fair question,” Jiraiya shrugs... or at least tries to. “I’d be interested in the answer to that myself.”

“Because I’m a self-indulgent sort of man,” Orochimaru admits. “And I suppose Kabuto has figured out by now the implications of my revival, so I may as well answer you truthfully – I know that my hands were released from the Shinigami, and that Kabuto was not the one who did it.”

“I am interested in the one whom I assume is responsible, among others. I want to see what sort of a world this new generation will create, what sort of answers they will find – purely for my own selfish reasons of course – and this alliance Kabuto has become a part of is a threat to that.”

“Well, I guess it would’ve been foolish to expect altruism out of you,” Jiraiya sighs. “But that’s the next closest thing, so I guess I’ll take it.”

“Orochimaru,” Tsunade frowns. “Can you...”

“No,” Orochimaru insists curtly. “My ability to self-revive is tied to my existence, which is no longer completely human. But the most I could do for Jiraiya would be to bring him back as an Edo Tensei, and I doubt you seriously want that.”

“Nope,” Jiraiya insists. “Can’t say I do.”

“Agreed,” you nod once... though you wish you weren’t agreeing with Orochimaru at all.

“Then may I ask what you intend to do now?” Orochimaru narrows his eyes at you.

>I’m going to put you to work.
>I never want to see you again.
>That depends. What do YOU intend to do?
>Other?

>>4741800
>>I’m going to put you to work.
As dumb as canon is, it's better to have him under Tsunade's thumb than letting him run off.

>>4741800
>I’m going to put you to work.

>>4741813
>>4741800
Yeah, at this point in time "The devil you know" is better than what we are fighting.

>>4741800
>>I’m going to put you to work.

>>4741800
>I’m going to put you to work.

You could go the route of getting someone with a rinnegan to bring him back, but odds are he's having a fun time in the pure land or whatever

>>4741800
>I’m going to put you to work.
>You are shockingly less evil than what we're currently trying to kill.

>>4741800
>I’m going to put you to work.

>>4741800
>I’m going to put you to work.
>What do YOU intend to do?

>>4741800
“I don’t trust you, Orochimaru,” you frown. “But I’m going to put you to work for two reasons. First, because stunningly enough you’re less evil than what we’re trying to fight right now. Second, because I think Jiraiya would at least give you a chance were our positions reversed.”

“You’re not wrong about that,” Jiraiya admits.

“Idiots are easy to understand,” Orochimaru glances towards him.

“You’re not wrong about that either.”

“I’ve sent a message to Headquarters,” Konan informs you. “The Raikage and his assistant are on their way. If you have anything else to say to Jiraiya-sensei?”

“I have something to say to each of you,” Jiraiya offers quickly. “Orochimaru... you watch yourself. Step out of line again and Tsuna’s really going to kill you this time.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Orochimaru muses casually. “Coming back to life is such a pain, so I’d prefer to avoid dying again if I can.”

“Konan... I have no regrets about training the three of you,” he admits to his former student. “Only that we fell out the way we did. But I know a little of what happened from your student – judging by that you have a lot to be proud of.”

“Tsuna,” he finally turns to you. “The first bet you win in ages and it’s one you wanted to lose.”

“I’m used to losing,” you admit.

“So am I,” Jiraiya admits. “I never had any luck wherever you were concerned. It made me stronger, it made me who I am. So weirdly I feel like I should be thanking you.”

“I always gave you a hard time,” you admit, “and never really thought much about how you’d feel because of it. So I...”

“Don’t apologize,” Jiraiya insists. “I’m fine with the way my life was. It was worthwhile – even if only just.”

“Goodbye, Jiraiya,” you incline your head slightly.

“Goodbye, sensei,” Konan bows.

“Take care,” he replies, before Konan finishes sealing him.
>1/2

>>4744049
Once A and his secretary arrive on the scene you discuss your strategy – Mabui will send you and A to the battlefield where Madara’s presence has been reported, at which point Konan will escort her back to headquarters where she belongs before rejoining you on the field. Which only leaves...

“Orochimaru,” you frown.

“Yes, Tsuade?” he muses.

>I’ll escort you with a shadow clone. I want you assessing Madara’s fighting abilities.
>I want you to go after Sasuke-kun. Help him deal with your old protegee Kabuto.
>I want you to go to headquarters. Your knowledge will be most valuable there.
>Other?

>>4744052
>>I’ll escort you with a shadow clone. I want you assessing Madara’s fighting abilities.

>>4744052
I want you to go after Sasuke-kun

His knowledge will be useful, and Sasuke killed him once before, and is stronger/better still

>>4744052
>I’ll escort you with a shadow clone. I want you assessing Madara’s fighting abilities.

>>4744052
>>I’ll escort you with a shadow clone. I want you assessing Madara’s fighting abilities.

>>4744052
>>I’ll escort you with a shadow clone. I want you assessing Madara’s fighting abilities.

>>4744786
Did Sasuke even killed him here? I thought Naori was the one who killed him

>>4744052
“I’ll escort you there with a shadow clone,” you decide, your tone noticeably curt. “I want you assessing Madara’s abilities.”

“Are you sure about this?” A presses gruffly. “This is Orochimaru we’re talking to here. How can you be certain you can trust him?”

“I can’t,” you admit. “And I haven’t, ever since we were brats.”

“I’d almost say I’m hurt,” Orochimaru rolls his eyes.

“You were the one that nearly mercy-killed Jiraiya,” you frown. “That may not have founded my doubts about you, but it certainly cemented them.”

“I will send a paper clone,” Konan offers, splitting off a clone of herself made from the paper tags she uses as the basis of her techniques. “At very least that will give us some insurance.”

“You don’t trust him either?” A frowns.

Konan nods. “Orochimaru wanted to kill us all too once.”

“I remember that,” Orochimaru recalls, almost fondly. “Those were simpler times.”

...

You are Uzumaki Naori, and your battle has just been joined by the remaining Kages.

“So...” you muse, “I see you wrapped things up then, Tsuna-han?”

Senju Tsunade nods in confirmation. “With some help from your sensei. Jiraiya has been sealed... and Orochimaru is back for some reason, don’t ask me how.”

“You are a Senju,” Madara recognizes. “Hashirama’s granddaughter if I recall my ancient history. So you’re the current Hokage... the fundamental breakdown at the heart of Konohagakure still persists, even today.”

“What do you mean?” Tsunade demands.

“How many Hokages have been Senju now?” Madara presses with a frown. “Is it three? Because I think it’s three.”

“We’ll be taking over here,” A informs you.

>Nope. I’m backing you up and you’ll like it.
>That frees me to go after Yugito, Naruto, and B.
>I’m going to go do some cleanup then.
>Other?

>>4746593
>>Nope. I’m backing you up and you’ll like it.

>>4746593
>Nope. I’m backing you up and you’ll like it.

>>4746593
>That frees me to go after Yugito, Naruto, and B.

The Kage Job Squad must do their own thing. Meanwhile making sure that Naruto is safe and fine is quite important.

>>4746593
>Nope. I’m backing you up and you’ll like it.

>>4746593
>That frees me to go after Yugito, Naruto, and B.

>>4746994
supporting this. They got Orochimaru coming, they'll be fine.

>>4746593
>That frees me to go after Yugito, Naruto, and B.

Let's go spank Obito and keep the beasts out of his hands.

Madara isn't wrong, the homage system relies on nepotism.

>>4746593
>>That frees me to go after Yugito, Naruto, and B.

>>4746593
>That frees me to go after Yugito, Naruto, and B.
ngl i dont remember what naruto and b were doing at this point in canon

>>4746593
>That frees me to go after Yugito, Naruto, and B.
>>4747079
>homage position
Funny typo/autocorrect there.

>>4746593
>>That frees me to go after Yugito, Naruto, and B.

>>4746593
You answer with a curt nod. “So yeah, that leaves me free to help Yugito-han and Naruto-kun.”

“Fū, stick close to Guren,” you continue before turning to find Guren, still alive in spite of the catastrophe that unfolded here. “Guren, I want you to take over here. Have our unit work to minimize the collateral while the Kages fight, Understand?”

Guren immediately replies with a solemn nod, while Fū tells you to take care.

Meanwhile, Madara seems to disapprove of your attempt to leave.

“We’re not finished here yet, Uzumaki Naori-kun,” he growls, weaving signs and preparing to mold chakra that feels most closely similar to when Yamato-han uses his wood release. Only you anticipate that this is going to be on a different scale altogether.

“Explode,” you declare, forming the seal of confrontation and setting off the exploding seal you wove into Madara’s head during the chaos after he dropped the second meteor. Whatever it was Madara was trying to do he doesn’t get the chance to do it, and the Kages at least get a chance to engage him first.

Then you teleport to the Hiraishin kunai you left with Yugito.

...

You grab her by the shoulder and throw another marked kunai as quickly as you unsealed it, forcing Obito in his new mask to use his Kamui to avoid it before you teleport Yugito back to Fū before Obito can switch modes. Then, even as Fū is in the process of cocking her head at the two of you in curiosity you teleport back to the kunai that you threw through Obito to snag it out of the air.

“Thanks,” Yugito mutters. “But I could’ve handled that.”

“I know,” you shrug. “But yeah no, I can’t help it and you know it.”

“True.”

“So you finally appear before me,” Obito muses. “You, curator of all the most powerful and infuriating techniques to fight against that I know of. Your Hiraishin is more mature than it was.”

“That’s what most people do,” you counter, rolling your eyes before glancing at Yugito. “So what’s the situation right now?”

“Not good,” she admits. “B is fighting Gyūki’s previous junchūriki, Sasuke-kun and Itachi-san have gone ahead to find Kabuto.”

“Reinforcements?”

“Kakashi-san and Guy-san are on their way.

“And I take it these familiar faces are working for Obito now?” you guess, counting up the reanimated jinchūriki you recognize. “Are you sure I should be here, knowing I had a hand in some of their deaths?”
>1/2

>>4748670
Among them you recognize Han and Utakata, or at least their faces and their bodies – their souls seem to have been completely suppressed based on their blank expressions. But two others here are men you know at least a little about – the previous Mizukage and Roshi from Iwagakure. The fifth appears to be a simple shinobi monk, from the Land of Wind you realize from his appearance. He must be one of the previous jinchūriki of Shukaku the Sand Demon, though you know nothing else about him.

“You killed Han as a teenager,” Yugito admits. “Defeating him here would be what any of us would want in their place, and you’ve shown already you can do it. So if he were still conscious I doubt he’d turn down your assistance.”

You nod. “Okay.”

“Well, if this is happening we’ll have to step things up a little,” Obito muses. As he does, each of the former jinchūriki enter a tailed beast mode of their own.

“They can use that on top of having a sharingan and a rinnegan?” Naruto asks in shock. “How is that even fair, ya know!?”

>Focus on binding the jinchūōriki and stripping their tailed beast cloaks.
>Focus on cutting down their numbers by destroying then sealing them.
>Focus on Obito. He’s still the biggest threat present right now.
>Other

>>4748876
>>Focus on Obito. He’s still the biggest threat present right now.

>>4748876
>>Focus on Obito. He’s still the biggest threat present right now.

>>4748876
>>Focus on Obito. He’s still the biggest threat present right now.

>>4748876
>>Focus on Obito. He’s still the biggest threat present right now.

We gotta geek Obito or at least force him to retreat

>>4748876
>>Focus on Obito. He’s still the biggest threat present right now.

>>4748876
>Focus on Obito. He’s still the biggest threat present right now.

>>4748876
>1d6, high roll
>taking the first three

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4750807

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4750807

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4750807

>>4750823
way to shit a well-made bed, anon

>>4750807
Apologies, it has to be tomorrow morning. I spent most of the day lying down resting, but it doesn't seem to have made up for the last two nights.

Tomorrow should feel a little more normal.

>>4751241
Its alright, hope you get better soon queen.

>>4751241
Take care queen and get better <3

>>4751241
You decide that the key here is to focus on Obito, whose abilities come closest to being able to instantly win this battle, and draw your sword. As things stand you know you’ll have a hard time finishing him off, since he’ll be coming into it wary of you out of a keen awareness that your multiplying explosive tags are a nasty counter to a lot of his Kamui-based tactics and that your Hiraishin can cover the rest. But above all else it’s imperative that you keep him away from Naruto and Yugito at all costs... at least until Kakashi arrives so you can put together a team effort.

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLsKHcBujvo

With that strategy in mind you opt to rely on hiraishin-marked paper shuriken instead of exploding ones, intending to remain evasive.

“Your chains have changed appearance,” you muse after closing distance by teleporting to a hiraishin shuriken. “I think I already know what you’re hiding under that mask.”

“Is that so?” he replies, confidently blocking your attacks with the chain or sidestepping with impeccable timing each time. “Enlighten me!”

“These are chains made from adapted black rods,” you smirk, blocking an incoming punch with your elbow. “So yeah, that confirms that one of Nagato’s rinnegan is under the left side of that mask.”

“I thought you knew better than to call those Nagato’s?”

“Yeah no, I know better than to call them Madara’s,” you retort, unsealing and throwing a handful of single-explosive shuriken. “Seeing as you had to reanimate Nagato to get hold of them, I’ll be calling them ‘Nagato’s’ eyes and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

The shuriken explode behind Obito, who managed to evade your attack. “I see you’ve done your homework... unfortunately I’ve prepared as well!”

Then, very suddenly, a number of oversized shuriken appear in front of his body with a slight warping effect, like looking through a wavy glass window. You knock down the only two that had a chance of hitting you by using Umekiri, before parrying the black rod chain with Kongō Fūsa. But unfortunately for you he throws a punch at your right wrist to keep you from attacking with Umekiri to follow up.

“Damn,” he grumbles as he ejects his black chain and produces a black rod from his right wrist.

“So there’s a limit to that ability,” you realize aloud as you parry his black rod. “You can only remain in contact with a certain number at any point.”

“Because I did not stab your wrist with one when I had the chance?” he asks you as you exchange blows. “You aren’t entirely off base.”

The force of one of your swings sends him sliding back on his toes while weaving hand seals for another longer-range attack. “Katon: Bakufū Ranbu!”
>1/?

>>4752301
The spiralling flames are further enhanced as Obito uses Kamui to eject mass from his summoning dimension to which his eyes are linked – adding to the flames and to the rotational power of the attack as it’s unleashed.

“Ranton: Rekuyemu!”

Your answer is immediate, and from what you can tell based on what happens next, anticipated. A sharp wooden spear flies through the confluence of the attack, before splintering mid-flight – constituting Obito’s rebuttal. Your immediate response is to raise a number of Kongūō Fūōsa chains to create a barrier.

It was a good thing you did, because glancing over your shoulder reveals that the individual needle-like splinters have rapidly sprouted, cracking the ground and loosening the soil as numerous roots expanded.

“Wood release,” you realize with a frown. “To think you were holding such an ability in reserve.”

You’re forced to dodge again as the roots erupt from the ground around you, very nearly weaving you into a trap that you simply avoid by making a short jump with hiraishin.

“So yeah,” you muse, “I thought you’d know better than to try trapping me like that.”

Nearby, you can see that Naruto and Yugito-han are struggling to keep up. Naruto may have that new chakra cloak of his from finally subduing Kurama, but Yugito is being pushed to use more of her tails which you know takes a cumulative toll on the body. And even at that, they’re severely outnumbered by an enemy that never tires and never hesitates.

>Continue with Obito. Naruto and Yugito will have to manage on their own.
>Try to split your attention by using shadow clones, fight two battles at once.
>Use the Shikonbenjin to isolate Obito while you help Naruto and Yugito.
>Other?

>>4752499
>>Use the Shikonbenjin to isolate Obito while you help Naruto and Yugito.
for those that don't remember the name, its a senjutsu technique, 4 golden petal formation

>>4752499
>>Try to split your attention by using shadow clones, fight two battles at once.

>>4752499
>Try to split your attention by using shadow clones, fight two battles at once
Naori's shadow clones are no fucking joke

>>4752499
>>Try to split your attention by using shadow clones, fight two battles at once

>>4752499
>>Try to split your attention by using shadow clones, fight two battles at once.

>>4752499
>Use the Shikonbenjin to isolate Obito while you help Naruto and Yugito.

>>4752499
>Try to split your attention by using shadow clones, fight two battles at once.
Just finished catching up, loving the quest so far

>>4752499
You quickly create two shadow clones, which may not be much but should do the job. One appears at Naruto’s side, while the other appears at Yugito’s, providing them both with some backup. Meanwhile, you continue to face down Obito.

>1d6, high roll
>taking the first three

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4754375

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4754375

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4754375

>>4754375
Things continue at a frantic pace, with Obito using all sorts of tricks to keep you on your back foot without having to rely on his Kamui and the undead jinchūriki attacking Naruto and Yugito relentlessly. Your shadow clones do the best they can to help, but their ability to gather natural energy while fighting isn’t as developed as yours is thanks to the real Umekiri in your hands. Instead they can only steal a few precious moments here and there for that purpose in-between numerous attacks.

For some of them your clones can call out warnings – Utakata’s acidic slime and Roshi’s scalding steam for one. You can also warn about Yagura’s coral-based attacks after having fought against Isobu.

As for Obito, you have to keep your eyes open for shuriken, fireballs, and most importantly his wood release techniques – both roots lashing out from underground and spears that splinter into lethal, toothpick-sized projectiles. But after a few minutes more you’re forced to take desperate action as the reanimated jinchūriki all launch tailed beast balls at you in unison. Evidently the last several minutes of fighting have been for the sole purpose of trapping you with the intent of making sure at least one of the attacks connects.

This takes some quick thinking on your part to get out of.

You swiftly unseal a single wood-handled hiraishin kunai and toss it in the direction of one of the tailed beast balls, then extend three Kongō Fūsa chains towards a second. Then, in a fraction of an instant, you teleport the tailed beast ball that hits your chains directly into the ball you threw the kunai at.

The shadow clone fighting alongside Yugito raises a Taiyōmon threaded through with Kongō Fūsa chains and deflects a third blast towards the one heading for Naruto. The one Shukaku launched becomes irrelevant, since that was the ‘trap’ that would catch you were you to take any of the more obvious avenues for escape.

And in practically the next instant, it all comes together. Multiple tailed beast balls slam into each other and deflect off barriers, each heading towards a different location before exploding.

“Impressive!” Obito admits in a booming voice, now standing atop the Gedo statue, which he clearly summoned using the tailed beast balls as a pure diversion. “It pleases me to see my kōhai doing so well for herself, but I think it also means I’m going to have to escalate things a little.”

“By controlling multiple tailed beasts using the rinnegan?” you call back, teleporting Naruto and Yugito to join you in facing Obito down. “Yeah, so I don’t know why you’d think that would help, but if it makes you feel better?”

“Naori,” Yugito mutters to you. “What are you doing?”

>Stalling for time until Kakashi gets here.
>I bother him. I’m using that to draw his attention off you.
>I think we can take him, with Matatabi and Kurama’s help.
>Other?

>>4755547
>>Stalling for time until Kakashi gets here.
So we can leave Obito a parting gift.

>>4755547
>I bother him. I’m using that to draw his attention off you.

>>4755547
>Stalling for time until Kakashi gets here.

>>4755547
>>Stalling for time until Kakashi gets here.

>>4755547
>I bother him. I’m using that to draw his attention off you.
>I think we can take him, with Matatabi and Kurama’s help.

Dangerous situation, but Obito is concerned about our skills. I think we have a good chance to drive him off or cause damage to him if we can get an opening for Naruto and Yugito to attack.

>>4755547
>I bother him. I’m using that to draw his attention off you.
>I think we can take him, with Matatabi and Kurama’s help.

>>4755547
>Stalling for time until Kakashi gets here.
>I bother him. I’m using that to draw his attention off you.

>>4755547
“I bother him,” you insist quietly. “I figure the more I bother him the less he’s focusing on either of you.”

“That might work,” Naruto admits. “He’s only one guy, trying to control multiple tailed beasts and fight Naori-kun at the same time.”

Obito in the mean time has lost what little patience he started with, and takes action. Spectral chains emerge from the Gedo statue and wrap around the necks of each of the jinchūriki before dragging them back in through the statue’s mouth.

“Shouldn’t we...” Naruto begins, only for Yugito to interrupt.

“No. I want to see his techniques in action.”

“So I see you learned a new trick with the Gedo statue,” you muse, raising your voice so that Obito can hear. “Yeah no, if you were trying to impress me with that you should know something – it’s not working.”

“I think that three on three should be a fair way to start,” Obito replies, totally ignoring your taunts.

Three tailed beasts emerge from the statue’s mouth – Shukaku the sand tanuki, Kokuō the five-tailed, dolphin-headed horse, and Saiken, the six-tailed slug creature. Three tailed beasts, you note, with whom you have a history.

Yugito’s mouth opens, though it’s Matatabi-tono’s voice that comes out. “Naori-san, Naruto-kun, Yugito-san and I are swapping out now.”

The change is immediate and dramatic, with Yugito leaning far forward and her hair coming un-fastened from its usual tight ponytail. Chakra begins to swirl around her, blue with dark, almost black streaks running through it, like some sort of strange blue flames.

“Naori-san, please step back.”

“Yeah,” you reply, kicking off your toes. “Right.”

The transformation is complete when Matatabi finishes appearing, somewhat small for a tailed beast but still gargantuan in scale.

>Summon Nyoka – birds may not be able to gather natural energy, but maybe she can use it with you.
>Your Kongō Fūsa is an all-star technique when used against tailed beasts. Continue to rely on that.
>Back up Naruto as best you can – the two of you are similarly out-sized by the tailed beasts and statue.
>Other?

>>4756982
>>Your Kongō Fūsa is an all-star technique when used against tailed beasts. Continue to rely on that.
>Other?
SHARINGAN

>>4756982
>>Your Kongō Fūsa is an all-star technique when used against tailed beasts. Continue to rely on that.

Yes Sharingan! We gonna Pokemon those big beasts gotta catch em all!

>>4756982
>Your Kongō Fūsa is an all-star technique when used against tailed beasts. Continue to rely on that.
This does seem like a pretty good moment to try some SHARINGAN

>>4756982
>>Your Kongō Fūsa is an all-star technique when used against tailed beasts. Continue to rely on that.
bullshit eyepowers? bullshit eyepowers

>>4756982
>>Your Kongō Fūsa is an all-star technique when used against tailed beasts. Continue to rely on that.

Sharingan as well.

>>4756982
>>Summon Nyoka – birds may not be able to gather natural energy, but maybe she can use it with you.

>>4756982
>>Your Kongō Fūsa is an all-star technique when used against tailed beasts. Continue to rely on that.
>Use the sharingan to interfere with obito's control

>>4756982
>Your Kongō Fūsa is an all-star technique when used against tailed beasts. Continue to rely on that.

>>4756982
1d6, high roll, tallying the first three.

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4759092

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4759092

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4759092
LEEEET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

>>4759092
These three tailed beasts are going to be dangerous, and you gather quickly that it wasn’t just random choice driving Obito’s selection of your opponents.

Shukaku starts by unleashing three massive air bullets, which Matatabi counters by hitting the first one with an equally massive fire bullet – instead of avoiding the conflagration you take advantage of it.

“Senpō: Rekuyemu Ranbu!” you shout, unleashing a series of ranton-flow slashes that consume the fireball and push it back in the direction of Shukaku. “Matatabi, Saiken!”

“Right!” she confirms that she understands your intention, using the distraction to close in with Saiken – you know that the slug has corrosive properties, probably along the lines of the vapor release’s capacities, and so you intend to have Matatabi try burning off as much of the vapors as possible.

That leaves Naruto to engage with Shukaku, which he’s already done before in the past, carefully using his chakra cloak to keep Shukaku from enveloping him as he pummels against the tanuki’s massive form with rasengan and rasengshuriken.

As for Kokuō, you try something different by wrapping your Kongō Fūsa around its neck and forcing it to make prolonged eye contact with you.

...

“What are you doing here?” Kokuō presses you aggressively as you appear within its internal psychic plane. “And how did you reach this place for that matter?”

“Same way an Uchiha would,” you clarify, gently cradling the left side of your face. “Sorry, give me one second... I had to have major reconstructive surgery on this sharingan a while ago, and I haven’t really used it too much since then.”

“That is only a half-answer,” Kokuō observes. “Why are you here?”

“She is here because I am here,” Obito’s voice replies as he appears within the same space, at least the image of him. “To think that she can use the Mangekyō to subdue a tailed beast. Full of nasty surprises, this one.”

“Shut your mouth,” you growl as Kongō Fūsa bursts from your shoulders to wrap around his neck. “I’m not here to bandy empty words with an empty man, I’m here to talk to Kokuō. Leave, now.”

With that, you snap the image of Obito’s neck by wrenching it with the Kongō Fūsa.

“Now,” you sigh, “where were we before that delusional weasel interrupted us?”

“You were about to explain why you are here.”

“Ah, so I was,” you agree. “Matatabi and I need your help, Kokuō-tono.”

“You are aware that I am being used at present?” it asks you.
>1/2

>>4759695
“Yeah no, I am,” you nod. “For sure. And I’m aware that I’m largely the reason why that is possible, having been the one who killed Han.”

“So you understand that I am not particularly inclined to trust you.”

“I may be a bit more of a mercenary,” you admit freely, “especially compared to Naruto. And I may not have purely your own best interests at heart. But you could use my help right now, and I could use yours, and that’s enough for me to start with.”

“How about you?”

Kokuō watches you carefully for a few seconds, before eventually bowing its head. “What would you suggest?”

>Let me take control for a little while. I swear that I’ll release you when this is all over.
>I can keep Obito’s control at bay, for a time, if you’ll cooperate with me for that time.
>I need you to help me figure out how Obito is controlling you and your ‘siblings’.
>Other?

>>4759948
>>I can keep Obito’s control at bay, for a time, if you’ll cooperate with me for that time.

>>4759948
>>I need you to help me figure out how Obito is controlling you and your ‘siblings’.

>>4759948
>>I need you to help me figure out how Obito is controlling you and your ‘siblings’.

>>4759948
>I need you to help me figure out how Obito is controlling you and your ‘siblings’.

>>4759948
>I need you to help me figure out how Obito is controlling you and your ‘siblings’.

>>4759948
>>I need you to help me figure out how Obito is controlling you and your ‘siblings’.

>>4759948
“Obito is controlling you and your siblings,” you explain with a frown. “I need to know how he’s doing that so that I can find a way to stop it, and I could use your help.”

“Then listen closely,” Kokuō insists. “Each of us has a rod stuck into the back of our necks, the exact spot differs from one to the other but it is always in that area. That is what the binding chains from the Gedo statue connect to when we are summoned through the Rinnegan.”

“So yeah, that means it’s an extension of the Rinnegan’s specialized summoning?”

“That would be correct.”

You have to admit to yourself – you’re not entirely sure what that tells you about the situation or how to resolve it. If it is in fact a process linked to the Rinnegan’s summoning path, then you suppose that the logical conclusion is that the Rinnegan’s summoning dimension is somehow tied to the Gedo statue. But is that, in fact, logical?

You already know that the Kamui works by accessing the summoning dimension keyed to Uchiha Obito regardless of who possesses either specific eye, so it’s entirely possible that the Rinnegan are keyed to Uchiha Madara’s summoning dimension. But if that’s the case, then where does the Gedo statue fit in? It’s just not clear to you yet how exactly this series of techniques actually intertwine.

And you probably won’t until you try to follow Kokuō’s guidance.

...

In the real world mere moments have passed, and you’re confronted with an attack. Kokuō tries to stomp you beneath its hooves, which forces you to weave between those hooves to survive. You know that your senjutsu is going to be key in accomplishing this, but how?

>You’re probably going to have to find the black rod and knock it out from inside.
>The Kongō Fūsa is pretty much always useful in situations like this one.
>You could try to mark it with your Hiraishin seal then teleport it elsewhere.
>Other?

>>4761924
>You’re probably going to have to find the black rod and knock it out from inside.

>>4761924
>>You’re probably going to have to find the black rod and knock it out from inside.

>>4761924
>You could try to mark it with your Hiraishin seal then teleport it elsewhere.