Chained Beast 2.0 (Naruto Quest)
- Thread starter Megacookie
- Start date
- Location
- Fifth Dimension
[X] Tell Neji that you are Hinata, and that Hiashi imprisoned you, and you're looking for answers.
Ando Owen
Yandere Illya is watching you.
- Location
- Montpellier
[X] Tell Neji that you are Hinata, and that Hiashi imprisoned you, and you're looking for answers.
Oh. There is serious potential for demonic mischief. Wear the mask of the departed even as we leak our chakra in the air. Lie to their faces about who we are to reveal the truth of their guilt with the face of the Hyuga's sin.
Seed chaos and confusion and reap the truth. A deed worthy of a surnatural.
It would be sad for Kurama to only be seen from the perspective of his godzilla-like power when foxes are supposed to be trickster spirits.
Oh. There is serious potential for demonic mischief. Wear the mask of the departed even as we leak our chakra in the air. Lie to their faces about who we are to reveal the truth of their guilt with the face of the Hyuga's sin.
Seed chaos and confusion and reap the truth. A deed worthy of a surnatural.
It would be sad for Kurama to only be seen from the perspective of his godzilla-like power when foxes are supposed to be trickster spirits.
Arc 1: Chapter 38
"Wait...Neji...?" you suddenly said, grasping your head in faked pain. This was a golden opportunity, a chance to trick some clearly emotional boy into doing your bidding.
"Lady Hinata..." Neji muttered, taking a few steps closer.
"Away with you! You could be under Hiashi's command!" you growled, both a combination of acting and an honest desire for him not to get close.
"Uncle? What do you mean?" Neji asked, genuinely confused.
"Of course he wouldn't tell you. He's a scoundrel who imprisoned me deep under the Leaf!" you quickly said, making sure your Byakugan was activated in case of a sneak attack.
"...He did? But why are you wearing a Sound ninja outfit?" Neji asked, pointing at your dark gray and black garb.
"Because he sold me to that damned Orochimaru!" you spat, lying smoothly to Neji. "Orochimaru has been experimenting on me for years and he thought it would be a sick joke to unleash me on the Leaf!"
"N-No way. Not even Uncle could do something like tha-" Neji began, but a sudden surge of emotion coursed through your stomach, up through your chest, and out your mouth.
"HIASHI IS A FUCKING SCUMBAG WHO SOLD ME OUT, HIS OWN DAUGHTER! I WANT ANSWERS, I WANT TO KNOW WHY HE WOULD DO THIS! EVEN IF I HAVE TO RIP THOSE ANSWERS FROM HIS BLOODY CORPSE!" you suddenly, and most involuntarily roared. Hinata, through her own extreme anger and hatred, managed to take over for a mere moment. On one hand, you absolutely hated that control of your vessel was given to Hinata for a bit. On the other, that amount of anger and hatred she displayed...it was rather exciting.
"You're willing to kill Uncle? But he's your father!" Neji cried out in shock.
"One who left me to rot under that snake's care! Neji, you have two options right now. You join me and help me get answers, or I kill you. I can't have you running back to Hiashi and telling him that his daughter wants to visit." you coldly and cruelly said, loving the way Neji was squirming under your words. After a long moment, Neji shook his head and activated his Byakugan.
"I have no doubts that Hiashi did this, and one day his sins will catch him. But for the sake of the Hyuga, and my pride as a Hyuga, I cannot let you reach the estate. You're no longer Hinata, you're only a monster who wants to lash out!" Neji bravely declared. You smirked in response, but right before you did anything, Hinata said one thing.
"Kill him. He's in the way."
You weren't one for orders, but if your goals managed to line up with someone's wishes? Oh well. You were about to rush in, but saw several kunai aimed right at your back flying at you! You jumped to the side to avoid them and then you saw an ugly boy in a green jumpsuit attempting to attack you, his bandaged fist aimed right at your head. You lifted up your hands and managed to block the strike, though it did make you stumble backwards.
"Lee, Tenten, what are you doing?" Neji exclaimed, looking at his teammates who took positions at Neji's sides.
"Neji, You're too injured to fight alone!" Tenten answered, never taking her eyes off you.
"We might also be injured and exhausted from our matches, but if we team up we can win!" Rock Lee shouted, you could almost see the flames of passion in his eyes. What Lee said was true, Tenten's arms and legs were trembling and bandaged up and Lee was already panting. No doubt fighting that odd weapons user and using the gates respectively put a strain on them.
"You two should have stayed out of this! I would have ignored you like the ants you are...!" you declared, releasing an intense bout of killing intent, which turned all three of their faces pale. However, despite that, they stood their ground. They were going to fight to the bitter end...
What will you do?
[] Use Wrathful Fire Stream in an attempt to kill them all at once!
[] Activate your Flaming Fists of Destruction and pelt them with a barrage of fire balls!
[] Use your Phoenix Sage Fire jutsu to make them split up and focus on one of them!
-[] Focus on Neji.
-[] Focus on Lee.
-[] Focus on Tenten.
[] You don't want to waste anymore time than you already have. Activate your Cursed Seal!
[] Write In.
"Lady Hinata..." Neji muttered, taking a few steps closer.
"Away with you! You could be under Hiashi's command!" you growled, both a combination of acting and an honest desire for him not to get close.
"Uncle? What do you mean?" Neji asked, genuinely confused.
"Of course he wouldn't tell you. He's a scoundrel who imprisoned me deep under the Leaf!" you quickly said, making sure your Byakugan was activated in case of a sneak attack.
"...He did? But why are you wearing a Sound ninja outfit?" Neji asked, pointing at your dark gray and black garb.
"Because he sold me to that damned Orochimaru!" you spat, lying smoothly to Neji. "Orochimaru has been experimenting on me for years and he thought it would be a sick joke to unleash me on the Leaf!"
"N-No way. Not even Uncle could do something like tha-" Neji began, but a sudden surge of emotion coursed through your stomach, up through your chest, and out your mouth.
"HIASHI IS A FUCKING SCUMBAG WHO SOLD ME OUT, HIS OWN DAUGHTER! I WANT ANSWERS, I WANT TO KNOW WHY HE WOULD DO THIS! EVEN IF I HAVE TO RIP THOSE ANSWERS FROM HIS BLOODY CORPSE!" you suddenly, and most involuntarily roared. Hinata, through her own extreme anger and hatred, managed to take over for a mere moment. On one hand, you absolutely hated that control of your vessel was given to Hinata for a bit. On the other, that amount of anger and hatred she displayed...it was rather exciting.
"You're willing to kill Uncle? But he's your father!" Neji cried out in shock.
"One who left me to rot under that snake's care! Neji, you have two options right now. You join me and help me get answers, or I kill you. I can't have you running back to Hiashi and telling him that his daughter wants to visit." you coldly and cruelly said, loving the way Neji was squirming under your words. After a long moment, Neji shook his head and activated his Byakugan.
"I have no doubts that Hiashi did this, and one day his sins will catch him. But for the sake of the Hyuga, and my pride as a Hyuga, I cannot let you reach the estate. You're no longer Hinata, you're only a monster who wants to lash out!" Neji bravely declared. You smirked in response, but right before you did anything, Hinata said one thing.
"Kill him. He's in the way."
You weren't one for orders, but if your goals managed to line up with someone's wishes? Oh well. You were about to rush in, but saw several kunai aimed right at your back flying at you! You jumped to the side to avoid them and then you saw an ugly boy in a green jumpsuit attempting to attack you, his bandaged fist aimed right at your head. You lifted up your hands and managed to block the strike, though it did make you stumble backwards.
"Lee, Tenten, what are you doing?" Neji exclaimed, looking at his teammates who took positions at Neji's sides.
"Neji, You're too injured to fight alone!" Tenten answered, never taking her eyes off you.
"We might also be injured and exhausted from our matches, but if we team up we can win!" Rock Lee shouted, you could almost see the flames of passion in his eyes. What Lee said was true, Tenten's arms and legs were trembling and bandaged up and Lee was already panting. No doubt fighting that odd weapons user and using the gates respectively put a strain on them.
"You two should have stayed out of this! I would have ignored you like the ants you are...!" you declared, releasing an intense bout of killing intent, which turned all three of their faces pale. However, despite that, they stood their ground. They were going to fight to the bitter end...
What will you do?
[] Use Wrathful Fire Stream in an attempt to kill them all at once!
[] Activate your Flaming Fists of Destruction and pelt them with a barrage of fire balls!
[] Use your Phoenix Sage Fire jutsu to make them split up and focus on one of them!
-[] Focus on Neji.
-[] Focus on Lee.
-[] Focus on Tenten.
[] You don't want to waste anymore time than you already have. Activate your Cursed Seal!
[] Write In.
- Location
- yorkshire
[X] Use Wrathful Fire Stream in an attempt to kill them all at once!
- Location
- Fifth Dimension
[X] Activate your Flaming Fists of Destruction and pelt them with a barrage of fire balls!
Arc 1: Chapter 39
They were still frozen from your burst of killing intent, so you used the brief moment to make hand seals to use your Flaming Fists of Destruction, your special brand of fire now coating your arms. You formed two fist sized fireballs and punched them at the Leaf genin, which they dodged, still keeping together. With a malicious smile, you punched out more fireballs rapidly and wildly, enough to create a large wall of flames that couldn't be dodged with pure speed alone. Neji stepped forward and made a stance, chakra pouring out of his body as he began to spin rapidly.
"Neji, you can't! You're still low on chakra!"" Tenten shouted worriedly. Unfortunately for her, her warning fell on deaf ears as a dome of chakra was created, spinning fast enough to cut your wall of flame in half and have the fire split harmlessly past Neji and his team. When Neji stopped his rotation jutsu, he fell to one knee, trembling from exhaustion.
"Get ready for round two, Neji!" you ominously said, but it was then you saw Tenten pull out a small scroll and flicked it open, sending a storm of shuriken, kunai, and senbon at you! Although you could easily survive such an attack with Jashin's Blessing, you'd rather not bother with the irritation of ripping out the tools from your body. You used the substitution jutsu on a nearby piece of rubble to avoid the weaponry, but it was then you noticed all of the tools had wires tied onto them! Tenten, who was grasping the wires, used a smoothly practiced motion to manipulate the wires to make the weapons bend and fly towards you once more!
With a concentrated grimace, you made more hand seals and spat out a stream of fire at the weaponry. The wire controlling the weapons was quickly burned away, making the tools clatter loudly on the ground. With your Byakugan sight, you saw Rock Lee unravel some of the bandages on his arms and race right at you! You knew he was going to try that technique he attempted on the Sand girl during the exams and you were going to have none of it. With the flames coating your arm, you pressed them together and shot out a large fireball at Lee, forcing him to side step and lose speed.
You attempted to follow up by unleashing a fireball at Lee, but then you felt a sharp pain in the back of your neck. Your body froze, both from surprise and the attack, your wide eyesight attempting to gather any information on what happened. You saw Tenten kneeling with Neji, both giving a confident grin. There was a single wire that Tenten held and it was lined up right at you, except for the part where it went behind you, near your neck...and...you couldn't see anything.
"I always felt like I wasn't seeing entirely around me with the Byakugan...tch! A blind spot! Neji must have told that girl!" you thought at Lee was now under you. All you could do was tense your body in preparation as Lee jutted his leg upwards, slamming the bottom of his foot under your chin. You were launched into the air and before you knew it, Lee was right under your, copying your body's position like he was your shadow.
"This is the end for you!" Lee declared as the bandages flew off his arms and wrapped tightly around your body. Then Lee firmly grasped you as you both started to fall and the two of you began spinning faster and faster...!
You had no idea what damage this move can do! You had to escape...but how?
[] Try to flow fire chakra into your arms and burn away the bandages! You haven't tried it without hand seals yet, but you're sure you can do it!
[] You need some help! Activate your Cursed Seal and break out of the technique!
[] Fuck this! Activate the second level of your Cursed Seal!
[] Don't do anything and take the move. You'll survive thanks to your immortality, and you'll savor the utter fear on their faces when their hard fought strategy doesn't work!
[] Write In.
"Neji, you can't! You're still low on chakra!"" Tenten shouted worriedly. Unfortunately for her, her warning fell on deaf ears as a dome of chakra was created, spinning fast enough to cut your wall of flame in half and have the fire split harmlessly past Neji and his team. When Neji stopped his rotation jutsu, he fell to one knee, trembling from exhaustion.
"Get ready for round two, Neji!" you ominously said, but it was then you saw Tenten pull out a small scroll and flicked it open, sending a storm of shuriken, kunai, and senbon at you! Although you could easily survive such an attack with Jashin's Blessing, you'd rather not bother with the irritation of ripping out the tools from your body. You used the substitution jutsu on a nearby piece of rubble to avoid the weaponry, but it was then you noticed all of the tools had wires tied onto them! Tenten, who was grasping the wires, used a smoothly practiced motion to manipulate the wires to make the weapons bend and fly towards you once more!
With a concentrated grimace, you made more hand seals and spat out a stream of fire at the weaponry. The wire controlling the weapons was quickly burned away, making the tools clatter loudly on the ground. With your Byakugan sight, you saw Rock Lee unravel some of the bandages on his arms and race right at you! You knew he was going to try that technique he attempted on the Sand girl during the exams and you were going to have none of it. With the flames coating your arm, you pressed them together and shot out a large fireball at Lee, forcing him to side step and lose speed.
You attempted to follow up by unleashing a fireball at Lee, but then you felt a sharp pain in the back of your neck. Your body froze, both from surprise and the attack, your wide eyesight attempting to gather any information on what happened. You saw Tenten kneeling with Neji, both giving a confident grin. There was a single wire that Tenten held and it was lined up right at you, except for the part where it went behind you, near your neck...and...you couldn't see anything.
"I always felt like I wasn't seeing entirely around me with the Byakugan...tch! A blind spot! Neji must have told that girl!" you thought at Lee was now under you. All you could do was tense your body in preparation as Lee jutted his leg upwards, slamming the bottom of his foot under your chin. You were launched into the air and before you knew it, Lee was right under your, copying your body's position like he was your shadow.
"This is the end for you!" Lee declared as the bandages flew off his arms and wrapped tightly around your body. Then Lee firmly grasped you as you both started to fall and the two of you began spinning faster and faster...!
You had no idea what damage this move can do! You had to escape...but how?
[] Try to flow fire chakra into your arms and burn away the bandages! You haven't tried it without hand seals yet, but you're sure you can do it!
[] You need some help! Activate your Cursed Seal and break out of the technique!
[] Fuck this! Activate the second level of your Cursed Seal!
[] Don't do anything and take the move. You'll survive thanks to your immortality, and you'll savor the utter fear on their faces when their hard fought strategy doesn't work!
[] Write In.
- Location
- yorkshire
[X] Try to flow fire chakra into your arms and burn away the bandages! You haven't tried it without hand seals yet, but you're sure you can do it!
[X] Write In
[X] Don't do anything and take the move. You'll survive thanks to your immortality, and you'll move to cripple Lee before advancing on the other two
This okay @Megacookie ?
[X] Don't do anything and take the move. You'll survive thanks to your immortality, and you'll move to cripple Lee before advancing on the other two
This okay @Megacookie ?
Fine by me.
- Location
- Fifth Dimension
[X] Try to flow fire chakra into your arms and burn away the bandages! You haven't tried it without hand seals yet, but you're sure you can do it!
Side Story: Minato vs Edo Tensei Part 1
- Location
- USA
Normally, cool background fights involving background characters only tangentially related to the main character are completely delegated to be offscreen.
We're not normal.
Welcome to one of the reasons this quest went on hiatus a while back (the other one being a shiny new Empires iteration that finally stuck): How to tackle this monster of a fight? And the solution was that it's definitely not done alone. Mega and I's powers combined, dashed with some assistance from @Giga, led to this beast of a battle between Minato and the Edo Tensei.
This fight was over two months in the making, and it will be split up into various updates to not create a massive post. It was definitely a daunting and monumental task that got pretty tiresome at times, but it was worth it due to several of the things that organically arise while crafting a fight and its consequences.
But enough tooting of horns. Let's begin things, shall we? Starting with a repost of the events leading up to the battle...
It didn't take long for everyone within the skybox to escape, landing on a nearby rooftop. Leaf shinobi converged onto the scene, keeping still as the smoke cleared away, revealing Hiruzen being held at knifepoint with a kunai aimed right at his neck... and behind Orochimaru was Minato with his unique kunai set right next to Orochimaru's throat. Kobura was currently in a test of strength with Guy, keeping him from going any further, while Fumi was backing away from Asuma's bladed knuckle dusters before they both vanished from the area to continue their fight.
"Lord Nozuchi, what are you doing?" Minato icily asked, his eyes narrowed and focused.
"Oh my. Your speed truly lives up to its reputation, doesn't it, Minato? No wonder this old fool picked you over me." Orochimaru calmly said, uncaring about the kunai at his throat.
"Orochimaru!" Hiruzen exclaimed, both in shock and fury.
"Guess I can finally take off this mask..." Orochimaru muttered, using his free hand to grab his face and rip off the disguise, revealing his real form.
"After all these years, you've come back to destroy the village you once called home? You monster!" Minato furiously said, pressing the blade firmly against Orochimaru's neck. "But I suppose this is a good opportunity to end your evil!"
"Oh Minato, you won't have the chance! Besides, my focus is purely on the old man here." Orochimaru said with a confident smirk.
"What does that mean, snake?!" Minato asked, but his question was soon answered as a massive tree suddenly erupted from the ground, causing massive vibrations and destruction as it carelessly demolished any building it bulldozed through. Once it reached a proper height, three people were seen standing on the highest point. The first was a man with tanned skin and long black hair, wearing old red colored armor. The second was a pale skinned man with red eyes and stark white hair, wearing similar armor, but blue in color. Finally, contrasting from both of them, was a beautiful and busty woman with raven colored hair tied into spiky ponytail and her lips covered in ruby red lipstick. The one thing they all shared with each other was that their skin seemed to be covered in a coat of ash, cracks spider webbing all over their skin.
"Orochimaru, you didn't!" Hiruzen gasped.
"Oh I did, Sarutobi-sensei. I thought it was unfair for me to fight two Hokage at once, so I figured to even up the score!" Orochimaru ominously said, his face twisting into a disturbing grin. "The first and second Hokage, Hashirama and Tobirama Senju!"
"Who's that woman?!" Minato growled.
"You'll find out soon, dear Minato. Now be a good boy and go play with the friends I brought. Sarutobi-sensei and I have a debt to settle." Orochimaru coldly said, his killing intent spilling out.
"Minato, Orochimaru brought those three back from the dead to attack the Leaf. You have to defend the village! I will take care of my student like I should have done years ago!" Hiruzen ordered. Minato looked unwilling, but eventually nodded and vanished into thin air.
---
Minato landed on one of the large branches of the massive tree Hashirama had summoned, standing across from the three undead shinobi. Hashirama looked around, his face showing remorse. "The Leaf looks beautiful... and I'm being forced to destroy it."
"I didn't expect anyone to learn Edo Tensei after I died. Tch..." Tobirama grunted in annoyance.
"On my end, it feels great to be back!" the woman roughly said, rolling her head around, the bones in her neck loudly cracking. "It was boring as hell in the afterlife!"
"...Ibuki Uchiha!" Minato declared, finally recognizing the woman.
"Oh, finally figured out who I am, you dumbass?" Ibuki sneered. "We were only in the same generation of genin. But I guess becoming Hokage made you forget the little people, eh?"
"An Uchiha...?" Tobirama growled, looking at Ibuki.
"Yeah, what are you gonna do about it you albino bitch?" Ibuki crudely said, giving a smug grin to the second Hokage.
"You watch your mouth, you red-eyed rat!" Tobirama cursed, attempting to attack Ibuki, but his body seized up and was unable to move!
"Sorry, you may have been the leader of this village before, but right now I'm the one in control!" Ibuki declared, activating her Sharingan.
"Forgive me, Hashirama and Tobirama. I only have respect for what you have done for the village, but I must defeat you, for I am Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage!" Minato declared, cutting through Ibuki and Tobirama's argument.
"I understand, Minato. Good luck!" Hashirama sincerely said, giving Minato a large smile. Unwillingly, the two undead Hokage got prepared for battle while Ibuki cracked her knuckles, excited for a fight!
Hashirama's Battle Theme
Minato disappeared.
Hashirama and Tobirama, had they time to sit down and ponder what they had witnessed after the battle, would recall a humanoid blur, that the bark that was underneath Minato's feet slightly dented inwards. They would recall Ibuki raising her voice in what could have been a dire warning or excited battle cry-- perhaps it was a mixture of both. But the two former Kages did not have time to think: the Yellow Flash had begun.
The two brothers blurred through hand seals in practiced synchrony that only longtime allies could display. Enemies relying on blinding speed were a rare but incredibly lethal threat, and the two made an effective counter: Tobirama was known for quickly conjuring water, and he would open with an especially fast technique that would instantly conjure a sphere of water around them, dramatically slowing any movement. Hashirama would follow with a slightly slower technique that would conjure sharpened wooden spears, skewering anyone nearby. The simplicity of their two jutsu only made their technique faster. Over the many years of clan warfare, many had tried to rush Hashirama and Tobirama in open warfare or assassination. None had ever succeeded.
Minato's fist collided with Tobirama's face, the sudden impact throwing the bewildered Hokage through the air.
Hashirama and Ibuki both smiled. The former Hokage expressed relief and pride at the Fourth's capabilities, while the treacherous Uchiha expressed savage satisfaction and excitement at Minato slugging the Second. Her grip on her kunai tightened in anticipation.
Hashirama finished his hand seals, with no time to warn the living Hokage. Hundreds of spears erupted from the ground beneath them, each easily capable of skewering a large man.
Ibuki's Sharingan saw Minato suddenly rocketing towards her. She hoped to make eye contact, but the Kage intentionally avoided her gaze. With a grunt of annoyance, Ibuki leaped towards Minato. Minato accepted the opening out of the thicket of encroaching spears and slid underneath Ibuki, away from Hashirama to relative safety. Both knew the leap was a feint; Ibuki knew Minato wanted an easy way out of the spears, and Minato knew Ibuki feared being tagged by the Flying Thunder God seal. Both could have tried a confrontation, but it was too risky for either.
As Tobirama picked himself up, Hashirama considered his state with confusion. While Minato may be the fastest shinobi he has ever seen (and what a feeling of intense pride as a fellow Hokage!), he was certain his technique was sluggish in comparison to when he lived. Even compared to when Tobirama last summoned him during the Shinobi World War.
Ibuki, meanwhile, was moving down to a lower branch of the colossal tree the combatants were on. Minato noticed that, unlike the two Hokage, she still seemed to be in control of her actions. Ironically, this made her the most dangerous of his foes because of her unpredictability, despite the fact that she was the weakest among them. Minato pursued Ibuki down the tree, making sure not to meet Ibuki's eyes as he vanished with pure speed. Ibuki knew she was being pursued, and she couldn't dare keep up with Minato's speed as she turned around and raised her arms to defend herself. Minato slipped by her and slammed his palm into her back, but Ibuki was prepared and substituted with a log, appearing even lower down the tree. Minato was about to give chase, but Hashirama's voice called out from above.
"I'm going to shatter the branch and send wooden shrapnel at you! Get out of the way!"
Ibuki's face curled into a snarl as what Hashirama said came true. The branch Minato was standing on shattered into fist sized wooden stakes looking to impale him! Minato had already thrown a marked kunai long before Hashirama warned him as he teleported onto the roof of a nearby building.
"From above, Minato!" Tobirama's voice declared as a dragon made of water spawned from above. Without missing a beat, Minato moved across the rooftops of the Leaf faster than the eye could follow, the water dragon jutsu struggling to even be in the same direction as the Fourth Hokage until Hashirama jumped off the top of the tree and landed on a branch, making hand seals as a large wave of branches grew from the earth and easily tore through all the buildings in the immediate area, forcing Minato to stop for just a moment to regain his footing, enough time for Tobirama's water dragon to crash into Minato...
Who turned out to be a mere wind clone. Both Hashirama and Tobirama looked shocked, but Ibuki (who was taking the time to observe the battle) began to speak, "Minato is fast, but he also has the-"
"I'd rather not you reveal my secrets." Minato calmly said, the jutsu in his hand making an audible noise. Ibuki spun around as Minato thrust his arm forward, a ball of highly concentrated, spinning chakra being slammed into Ibuki's midsection. Ibuki screamed in agony as the jutsu rotated the flesh of her stomach right off, ripping through the muscles until her innards spilled out. She was rocketed away, spinning all the while until she crashed into the ground.
Unfortunately for Minato, the two Hokage didn't give any time for him regain his bearings, as Tobirama appeared from above and attempted to strike the blond haired man. Minato swiftly dodged and jumped into the air, planning on gaining some distance, but three Hashiramas met Minato midair, the one in the middle making hand seals.
"Sorry! Try to get out of the way!" Hashirama apologetically said as the two clones next to him turned into wood and tried to impale Minato by extending sharp branches at him! Minato smirked and teleported away toward the kunai he threw earlier. Tobirama's eyes narrowed as he looked at the mark on the kunai, but said nothing as he jumped next to Hashirama.
"Man, he's good, isn't he Tobirama?" Hashirama said with awe.
"Truly a worthy successor to us. Though I wonder how little Saru is doing against the man that summoned us." Tobirama stoically said, looking at Minato. The Fourth Hokage reached into a tool pouch and revealed over half a dozen of the marked kunai before jumping into the air and making hand seals, letting the kunai drop.
Minato exhaled a powerful gust of air that scattered the kunai across the battlefield. Tobirama chained together more hand seals and sent multiple blasts of water towards Minato, not at any hope of actually hitting him, but so Hashirama could follow up.
"Minato, get away from the tree!" Hashirama worriedly cried out as he focused his chakra into the massive tree he had made earlier. Minato evaded the blasts of water and he noticed the entire tree was beginning to vibrate! With cracks that opened with the force of an explosion, the entire tree shattered!
Human-sized wooden stakes erupted from the tree and scattered everywhere, an attempt at striking the speedy Hokage by hitting everywhere at once! The stakes easily destroyed any remaining buildings in the area, making them crumble into rubble and debris. Before the smoke had even cleared, Hashirama noticed a slight glow on his brother's face. Closer scrutiny would notice the glow having the same markings as those on the Fourth's kunai, but Hashirama only had a passing glance. His body automatically moved, a combination of experience and the jutsu bringing him back, forming a branch from his hands to push Tobirama away, but against Minato's teleportation it was simply too slow.
Minato slammed the orb of rotating chakra right on top of the Second Hokage's head, completely obliterating it and sending Tobirama's headless body to the ground. Minato landed gently on the ground as Hashirama's branch suddenly split off and managed to catch the Fourth Hokage, branches spiralling around Minato's limbs to keep him in place!
To both Hashirama and Minato's shock, Tobirama's body jumped back up, his head slowly reforming back to its normal shape as he formed a cone of water around his arm, his well trained body automatically completing the action as the cone began to spin rapidly, forming a vicious looking water drill.
"If you can vanish, do it now!" Hashirama roared. Minato smiled and vanished into thin air just before Tobirama made contact.
Minato reappeared at one of the kunai he had thrown earlier only to see Ibuki standing in front of it. The wound Minato had given her earlier was slowly healing. She looked down at the crouched Minato, hand seals already having been made. "Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
Ibuki spewed out a massive sea of flames that washed over the entire area, all the fragments of wood catching fire and spreading the flames even further! Minato had already teleported to a safe kunai by then, but even he noted that it was a bit too close for his comfort. He needed to end this soon!
The dismayed Hokages observed the flames spreading over the wreckage of the battlefield, while also being forced to keep an eye out for Minato.
"If only there was some way I could put out these flames..." Hashirama said through gritted teeth. He glanced over at Tobirama, whose head had finished regenerating from the damage that Minato's deadly jutsu had done to it. He looked a bit lost, observing the movement of his hands closely. "Is something the matter?" Hashirama asked, noting that Tobirama seemed to be confused that his hands were still functioning.
"This... this isn't right. That attack should have killed me, even in this reanimated state. Whoever brought us back has also improved upon Edo Tensei, which is a terrifying prospect. There were so many complications I had to work around just to bring you back against that damnable Tsuchikage..." Tobirama muttered with concern. "But, I think, the limitation of the human sacrifice's strength is still there. You've noticed it too, brother? We are not as nearly as powerful as in life."
"Indeed. That is just one more piece of information we can give Minato," Hashirama said with determination.
Elsewhere, Minato watched the fires from Ibuki's attack burn in the distance. He had faced only a select few foes that could have taken a Rasengan and kept going in the past, and it seemed this reanimation jutsu could keep bodies moving even when suffering grievous damage. Ibuki was becoming more and more dangerous as the fight went on: the only way she could have been waiting at the last kunai was picking up on its seal glowing with her Sharingan. He recalled during some of Jiraiya's rambling stories that Ibuki was the genin student of Tsunade, another of the Sannin, but that couldn't have been the reason she was brought back alongside two Hokage. It was fortunate she had not utilized it yet, but Ibuki had to have obtained a Mangekyo at some point before her death.
So now he had to switch gears to use less overwhelming force against his foes: it would be too chakra intensive for something that yielded no results. But could he even disable them significantly before their injuries regenerated? He shuddered at the image of Tobirama's shredded face that flashed across his eyes. And of course, there was the nagging knowledge of the Reaper Death Seal in the back of his mind... but things were not that dire. Yet; suggested a pessimistic thought. He'd just have to prove that thought wrong, then.
Minato took out one of his kunai and twirled it around his finger as he flowed his wind chakra into the blade, greatly extending its length. And sharpness, as an unfortunate Ibuki was about to find out. With a lone seal, he could briefly imagine a panicked Ibuki seeing the Flying Thunder God seal start to glow on her body: he had marked her shortly before hitting her with the Rasengan, after all. If only he could see the look on her face as he appeared right next to her, but that would be ill-advised with her doujutsu active.
"I've had enough of you slinking around," Minato said as he delivered a slash across her eyes. Ibuki screamed in pain-- an unsettling detail to know about these revenants-- as what would normally have just cut across her eyes was enhanced by the wind chakra to instead lop off the entire top of her skull. While this would not keep her down, he could at least observe an approximate passage of time before she came back to pester him.
With his assault against Ibuki made, he teleported away to another kunai, but still at a distance from the two Hokage. If Hashirama could react to noticing Tobirama's Flying Thunder God Seal activating, then it would be ill-advised to teleport directly to them in most instances now, especially with both of them knowing that he was capable of such a thing. He would need to approach from a distance and strike quickly. It was a risky move, but there were still plenty of tricks he had that the Hokages would not expect.
Minato formed a shadow clone and sent it to the billowing flames from Ibuki's fire jutsu. The clone would use fire ninjutsu to manipulate the flames, gathering them to a central point before diminishing them. This both protected the village and made a very noticeable change in the battlefield that any enemy on a lookout would notice. And, in that moment, he would make his move.
With several fast body flickers towards his true opponents, he moved in and deftly severed Hashirama's feet from his body, sending the First tumbling to the ground as blood spewed from his new stumps. He went to make another quick cut to behead Tobirama but... he missed?
"A commendable plan, Minato, but unfortunately I am able to sense chakra," the Second said. "And while your teleportation jutsu is fascinating, I have some space-time techniques of my own. They are nowhere near as developed as yours, but a taijutsu approach will likely not work."
"Damn! So you'll notice my approach whether I teleport or approach by foot..." Minato grumbled. He was about to jump back, but suddenly his body lurched forward, pulled by an unseen force. He could hear Hashirama about to warn him once more, but there was no need to listen: they were both on the same page. Minato once again teleported to safety from a distance. He could still feel his shadow clone active, and Ibuki had not harassed him yet, but his next move would need to turn the tide instead of test the waters.
We're not normal.
Welcome to one of the reasons this quest went on hiatus a while back (the other one being a shiny new Empires iteration that finally stuck): How to tackle this monster of a fight? And the solution was that it's definitely not done alone. Mega and I's powers combined, dashed with some assistance from @Giga, led to this beast of a battle between Minato and the Edo Tensei.
This fight was over two months in the making, and it will be split up into various updates to not create a massive post. It was definitely a daunting and monumental task that got pretty tiresome at times, but it was worth it due to several of the things that organically arise while crafting a fight and its consequences.
But enough tooting of horns. Let's begin things, shall we? Starting with a repost of the events leading up to the battle...
It didn't take long for everyone within the skybox to escape, landing on a nearby rooftop. Leaf shinobi converged onto the scene, keeping still as the smoke cleared away, revealing Hiruzen being held at knifepoint with a kunai aimed right at his neck... and behind Orochimaru was Minato with his unique kunai set right next to Orochimaru's throat. Kobura was currently in a test of strength with Guy, keeping him from going any further, while Fumi was backing away from Asuma's bladed knuckle dusters before they both vanished from the area to continue their fight.
"Lord Nozuchi, what are you doing?" Minato icily asked, his eyes narrowed and focused.
"Oh my. Your speed truly lives up to its reputation, doesn't it, Minato? No wonder this old fool picked you over me." Orochimaru calmly said, uncaring about the kunai at his throat.
"Orochimaru!" Hiruzen exclaimed, both in shock and fury.
"Guess I can finally take off this mask..." Orochimaru muttered, using his free hand to grab his face and rip off the disguise, revealing his real form.
"After all these years, you've come back to destroy the village you once called home? You monster!" Minato furiously said, pressing the blade firmly against Orochimaru's neck. "But I suppose this is a good opportunity to end your evil!"
"Oh Minato, you won't have the chance! Besides, my focus is purely on the old man here." Orochimaru said with a confident smirk.
"What does that mean, snake?!" Minato asked, but his question was soon answered as a massive tree suddenly erupted from the ground, causing massive vibrations and destruction as it carelessly demolished any building it bulldozed through. Once it reached a proper height, three people were seen standing on the highest point. The first was a man with tanned skin and long black hair, wearing old red colored armor. The second was a pale skinned man with red eyes and stark white hair, wearing similar armor, but blue in color. Finally, contrasting from both of them, was a beautiful and busty woman with raven colored hair tied into spiky ponytail and her lips covered in ruby red lipstick. The one thing they all shared with each other was that their skin seemed to be covered in a coat of ash, cracks spider webbing all over their skin.
"Orochimaru, you didn't!" Hiruzen gasped.
"Oh I did, Sarutobi-sensei. I thought it was unfair for me to fight two Hokage at once, so I figured to even up the score!" Orochimaru ominously said, his face twisting into a disturbing grin. "The first and second Hokage, Hashirama and Tobirama Senju!"
"Who's that woman?!" Minato growled.
"You'll find out soon, dear Minato. Now be a good boy and go play with the friends I brought. Sarutobi-sensei and I have a debt to settle." Orochimaru coldly said, his killing intent spilling out.
"Minato, Orochimaru brought those three back from the dead to attack the Leaf. You have to defend the village! I will take care of my student like I should have done years ago!" Hiruzen ordered. Minato looked unwilling, but eventually nodded and vanished into thin air.
---
Minato landed on one of the large branches of the massive tree Hashirama had summoned, standing across from the three undead shinobi. Hashirama looked around, his face showing remorse. "The Leaf looks beautiful... and I'm being forced to destroy it."
"I didn't expect anyone to learn Edo Tensei after I died. Tch..." Tobirama grunted in annoyance.
"On my end, it feels great to be back!" the woman roughly said, rolling her head around, the bones in her neck loudly cracking. "It was boring as hell in the afterlife!"
"...Ibuki Uchiha!" Minato declared, finally recognizing the woman.
"Oh, finally figured out who I am, you dumbass?" Ibuki sneered. "We were only in the same generation of genin. But I guess becoming Hokage made you forget the little people, eh?"
"An Uchiha...?" Tobirama growled, looking at Ibuki.
"Yeah, what are you gonna do about it you albino bitch?" Ibuki crudely said, giving a smug grin to the second Hokage.
"You watch your mouth, you red-eyed rat!" Tobirama cursed, attempting to attack Ibuki, but his body seized up and was unable to move!
"Sorry, you may have been the leader of this village before, but right now I'm the one in control!" Ibuki declared, activating her Sharingan.
"Forgive me, Hashirama and Tobirama. I only have respect for what you have done for the village, but I must defeat you, for I am Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage!" Minato declared, cutting through Ibuki and Tobirama's argument.
"I understand, Minato. Good luck!" Hashirama sincerely said, giving Minato a large smile. Unwillingly, the two undead Hokage got prepared for battle while Ibuki cracked her knuckles, excited for a fight!
Hashirama's Battle Theme
Minato disappeared.
Hashirama and Tobirama, had they time to sit down and ponder what they had witnessed after the battle, would recall a humanoid blur, that the bark that was underneath Minato's feet slightly dented inwards. They would recall Ibuki raising her voice in what could have been a dire warning or excited battle cry-- perhaps it was a mixture of both. But the two former Kages did not have time to think: the Yellow Flash had begun.
The two brothers blurred through hand seals in practiced synchrony that only longtime allies could display. Enemies relying on blinding speed were a rare but incredibly lethal threat, and the two made an effective counter: Tobirama was known for quickly conjuring water, and he would open with an especially fast technique that would instantly conjure a sphere of water around them, dramatically slowing any movement. Hashirama would follow with a slightly slower technique that would conjure sharpened wooden spears, skewering anyone nearby. The simplicity of their two jutsu only made their technique faster. Over the many years of clan warfare, many had tried to rush Hashirama and Tobirama in open warfare or assassination. None had ever succeeded.
Minato's fist collided with Tobirama's face, the sudden impact throwing the bewildered Hokage through the air.
Hashirama and Ibuki both smiled. The former Hokage expressed relief and pride at the Fourth's capabilities, while the treacherous Uchiha expressed savage satisfaction and excitement at Minato slugging the Second. Her grip on her kunai tightened in anticipation.
Hashirama finished his hand seals, with no time to warn the living Hokage. Hundreds of spears erupted from the ground beneath them, each easily capable of skewering a large man.
Ibuki's Sharingan saw Minato suddenly rocketing towards her. She hoped to make eye contact, but the Kage intentionally avoided her gaze. With a grunt of annoyance, Ibuki leaped towards Minato. Minato accepted the opening out of the thicket of encroaching spears and slid underneath Ibuki, away from Hashirama to relative safety. Both knew the leap was a feint; Ibuki knew Minato wanted an easy way out of the spears, and Minato knew Ibuki feared being tagged by the Flying Thunder God seal. Both could have tried a confrontation, but it was too risky for either.
As Tobirama picked himself up, Hashirama considered his state with confusion. While Minato may be the fastest shinobi he has ever seen (and what a feeling of intense pride as a fellow Hokage!), he was certain his technique was sluggish in comparison to when he lived. Even compared to when Tobirama last summoned him during the Shinobi World War.
Ibuki, meanwhile, was moving down to a lower branch of the colossal tree the combatants were on. Minato noticed that, unlike the two Hokage, she still seemed to be in control of her actions. Ironically, this made her the most dangerous of his foes because of her unpredictability, despite the fact that she was the weakest among them. Minato pursued Ibuki down the tree, making sure not to meet Ibuki's eyes as he vanished with pure speed. Ibuki knew she was being pursued, and she couldn't dare keep up with Minato's speed as she turned around and raised her arms to defend herself. Minato slipped by her and slammed his palm into her back, but Ibuki was prepared and substituted with a log, appearing even lower down the tree. Minato was about to give chase, but Hashirama's voice called out from above.
"I'm going to shatter the branch and send wooden shrapnel at you! Get out of the way!"
Ibuki's face curled into a snarl as what Hashirama said came true. The branch Minato was standing on shattered into fist sized wooden stakes looking to impale him! Minato had already thrown a marked kunai long before Hashirama warned him as he teleported onto the roof of a nearby building.
"From above, Minato!" Tobirama's voice declared as a dragon made of water spawned from above. Without missing a beat, Minato moved across the rooftops of the Leaf faster than the eye could follow, the water dragon jutsu struggling to even be in the same direction as the Fourth Hokage until Hashirama jumped off the top of the tree and landed on a branch, making hand seals as a large wave of branches grew from the earth and easily tore through all the buildings in the immediate area, forcing Minato to stop for just a moment to regain his footing, enough time for Tobirama's water dragon to crash into Minato...
Who turned out to be a mere wind clone. Both Hashirama and Tobirama looked shocked, but Ibuki (who was taking the time to observe the battle) began to speak, "Minato is fast, but he also has the-"
"I'd rather not you reveal my secrets." Minato calmly said, the jutsu in his hand making an audible noise. Ibuki spun around as Minato thrust his arm forward, a ball of highly concentrated, spinning chakra being slammed into Ibuki's midsection. Ibuki screamed in agony as the jutsu rotated the flesh of her stomach right off, ripping through the muscles until her innards spilled out. She was rocketed away, spinning all the while until she crashed into the ground.
Unfortunately for Minato, the two Hokage didn't give any time for him regain his bearings, as Tobirama appeared from above and attempted to strike the blond haired man. Minato swiftly dodged and jumped into the air, planning on gaining some distance, but three Hashiramas met Minato midair, the one in the middle making hand seals.
"Sorry! Try to get out of the way!" Hashirama apologetically said as the two clones next to him turned into wood and tried to impale Minato by extending sharp branches at him! Minato smirked and teleported away toward the kunai he threw earlier. Tobirama's eyes narrowed as he looked at the mark on the kunai, but said nothing as he jumped next to Hashirama.
"Man, he's good, isn't he Tobirama?" Hashirama said with awe.
"Truly a worthy successor to us. Though I wonder how little Saru is doing against the man that summoned us." Tobirama stoically said, looking at Minato. The Fourth Hokage reached into a tool pouch and revealed over half a dozen of the marked kunai before jumping into the air and making hand seals, letting the kunai drop.
Minato exhaled a powerful gust of air that scattered the kunai across the battlefield. Tobirama chained together more hand seals and sent multiple blasts of water towards Minato, not at any hope of actually hitting him, but so Hashirama could follow up.
"Minato, get away from the tree!" Hashirama worriedly cried out as he focused his chakra into the massive tree he had made earlier. Minato evaded the blasts of water and he noticed the entire tree was beginning to vibrate! With cracks that opened with the force of an explosion, the entire tree shattered!
Human-sized wooden stakes erupted from the tree and scattered everywhere, an attempt at striking the speedy Hokage by hitting everywhere at once! The stakes easily destroyed any remaining buildings in the area, making them crumble into rubble and debris. Before the smoke had even cleared, Hashirama noticed a slight glow on his brother's face. Closer scrutiny would notice the glow having the same markings as those on the Fourth's kunai, but Hashirama only had a passing glance. His body automatically moved, a combination of experience and the jutsu bringing him back, forming a branch from his hands to push Tobirama away, but against Minato's teleportation it was simply too slow.
Minato slammed the orb of rotating chakra right on top of the Second Hokage's head, completely obliterating it and sending Tobirama's headless body to the ground. Minato landed gently on the ground as Hashirama's branch suddenly split off and managed to catch the Fourth Hokage, branches spiralling around Minato's limbs to keep him in place!
To both Hashirama and Minato's shock, Tobirama's body jumped back up, his head slowly reforming back to its normal shape as he formed a cone of water around his arm, his well trained body automatically completing the action as the cone began to spin rapidly, forming a vicious looking water drill.
"If you can vanish, do it now!" Hashirama roared. Minato smiled and vanished into thin air just before Tobirama made contact.
Minato reappeared at one of the kunai he had thrown earlier only to see Ibuki standing in front of it. The wound Minato had given her earlier was slowly healing. She looked down at the crouched Minato, hand seals already having been made. "Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
Ibuki spewed out a massive sea of flames that washed over the entire area, all the fragments of wood catching fire and spreading the flames even further! Minato had already teleported to a safe kunai by then, but even he noted that it was a bit too close for his comfort. He needed to end this soon!
The dismayed Hokages observed the flames spreading over the wreckage of the battlefield, while also being forced to keep an eye out for Minato.
"If only there was some way I could put out these flames..." Hashirama said through gritted teeth. He glanced over at Tobirama, whose head had finished regenerating from the damage that Minato's deadly jutsu had done to it. He looked a bit lost, observing the movement of his hands closely. "Is something the matter?" Hashirama asked, noting that Tobirama seemed to be confused that his hands were still functioning.
"This... this isn't right. That attack should have killed me, even in this reanimated state. Whoever brought us back has also improved upon Edo Tensei, which is a terrifying prospect. There were so many complications I had to work around just to bring you back against that damnable Tsuchikage..." Tobirama muttered with concern. "But, I think, the limitation of the human sacrifice's strength is still there. You've noticed it too, brother? We are not as nearly as powerful as in life."
"Indeed. That is just one more piece of information we can give Minato," Hashirama said with determination.
Elsewhere, Minato watched the fires from Ibuki's attack burn in the distance. He had faced only a select few foes that could have taken a Rasengan and kept going in the past, and it seemed this reanimation jutsu could keep bodies moving even when suffering grievous damage. Ibuki was becoming more and more dangerous as the fight went on: the only way she could have been waiting at the last kunai was picking up on its seal glowing with her Sharingan. He recalled during some of Jiraiya's rambling stories that Ibuki was the genin student of Tsunade, another of the Sannin, but that couldn't have been the reason she was brought back alongside two Hokage. It was fortunate she had not utilized it yet, but Ibuki had to have obtained a Mangekyo at some point before her death.
So now he had to switch gears to use less overwhelming force against his foes: it would be too chakra intensive for something that yielded no results. But could he even disable them significantly before their injuries regenerated? He shuddered at the image of Tobirama's shredded face that flashed across his eyes. And of course, there was the nagging knowledge of the Reaper Death Seal in the back of his mind... but things were not that dire. Yet; suggested a pessimistic thought. He'd just have to prove that thought wrong, then.
Minato took out one of his kunai and twirled it around his finger as he flowed his wind chakra into the blade, greatly extending its length. And sharpness, as an unfortunate Ibuki was about to find out. With a lone seal, he could briefly imagine a panicked Ibuki seeing the Flying Thunder God seal start to glow on her body: he had marked her shortly before hitting her with the Rasengan, after all. If only he could see the look on her face as he appeared right next to her, but that would be ill-advised with her doujutsu active.
"I've had enough of you slinking around," Minato said as he delivered a slash across her eyes. Ibuki screamed in pain-- an unsettling detail to know about these revenants-- as what would normally have just cut across her eyes was enhanced by the wind chakra to instead lop off the entire top of her skull. While this would not keep her down, he could at least observe an approximate passage of time before she came back to pester him.
With his assault against Ibuki made, he teleported away to another kunai, but still at a distance from the two Hokage. If Hashirama could react to noticing Tobirama's Flying Thunder God Seal activating, then it would be ill-advised to teleport directly to them in most instances now, especially with both of them knowing that he was capable of such a thing. He would need to approach from a distance and strike quickly. It was a risky move, but there were still plenty of tricks he had that the Hokages would not expect.
Minato formed a shadow clone and sent it to the billowing flames from Ibuki's fire jutsu. The clone would use fire ninjutsu to manipulate the flames, gathering them to a central point before diminishing them. This both protected the village and made a very noticeable change in the battlefield that any enemy on a lookout would notice. And, in that moment, he would make his move.
With several fast body flickers towards his true opponents, he moved in and deftly severed Hashirama's feet from his body, sending the First tumbling to the ground as blood spewed from his new stumps. He went to make another quick cut to behead Tobirama but... he missed?
"A commendable plan, Minato, but unfortunately I am able to sense chakra," the Second said. "And while your teleportation jutsu is fascinating, I have some space-time techniques of my own. They are nowhere near as developed as yours, but a taijutsu approach will likely not work."
"Damn! So you'll notice my approach whether I teleport or approach by foot..." Minato grumbled. He was about to jump back, but suddenly his body lurched forward, pulled by an unseen force. He could hear Hashirama about to warn him once more, but there was no need to listen: they were both on the same page. Minato once again teleported to safety from a distance. He could still feel his shadow clone active, and Ibuki had not harassed him yet, but his next move would need to turn the tide instead of test the waters.
These footnotes are mainly a crediting thing. Other than that, I forgot that Tobirama invented FTG in canon. That's not the case here because Minato needs something that's his own, and Tobirama doesn't benefit from having it narratively anyway.
I did the opening statement about the fight, general proofreading, and a few smaller tweaks throughout these segments.
Mega wrote everything after the opening statement up until the battle theme enters. It being already within this thread but copy pasted over here for fight context.
Giga wrote after that, actually starting the battle, his last paragraph being the one starting with "As Tobirama picked himself up..."
Mega then writes from "Ibuki, meanwhile,..." to "Ibuki spewed out a massive sea of flames..."
Then it's me from "The dismayed Hokages..." to the end of this post.
I did the opening statement about the fight, general proofreading, and a few smaller tweaks throughout these segments.
Mega wrote everything after the opening statement up until the battle theme enters. It being already within this thread but copy pasted over here for fight context.
Giga wrote after that, actually starting the battle, his last paragraph being the one starting with "As Tobirama picked himself up..."
Mega then writes from "Ibuki, meanwhile,..." to "Ibuki spewed out a massive sea of flames..."
Then it's me from "The dismayed Hokages..." to the end of this post.
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I highly suggest reading the fight. Lots of effort went in!
Side Story: Minato vs Edo Tensei Part 2
- Location
- USA
Ibuki continued screaming in rage and agony as her skull reconstructed itself; even without the severe brain injury, it would be hopeless for her to focus on anything but the fiery humiliation and immense incompetence that seethed within her. She left her Kage minions to fight Minato, the legendary Yellow Flash, in a one on one battle. She knew he was well beyond her even in what she knew while alive, let alone what she knew while dead from the info Orochimaru gave her. But still she voluntarily made that flaming attack, even right after Minato had delivered a killing blow against her! She felt completely exposed and vulnerable, and completely useless so far in this conflict. Her impatience was painting a giant target on her back.
As her brain reformed, she couldn't help but associate her current rage and humiliation with her brother. That pathetic twerp Sozen had the fortune of being related to her and gaining the Mangekyo because she was strong enough. He didn't deserve those eyes; she pursued the power he inherited, the power that was rightfully hers.
She couldn't help but remember her last memory, laying on the ground dying from Sozen.
"Damn it!" she howled, blindly pounding her fist on what felt like broken dirt. At this rate, even with the information Orochimaru gave her, even with all the advantages she had, she's going to let this opportunity to take what she deserves slip away again!
As her eyes began to reform in her blinded mind, Minato spared a brief moment in his consideration of the Kages to casually flick a pair of kunai at Ibuki. She immediately felt the metal lodged in her eyes.
Her scream was pure rage.
As she screamed, she felt the gritty dirt beneath her instantly change to bark, and the nearby sound of a man chuckling at someone else's expense catching Ibuki's attention.
"As expected from someone of your breed, you lack critical thinking," Tobirama patronized. Ibuki's screaming settled into a harsh hiss, and if she could see, she would witness the incredible shit-eating grin the former leader of Konoha wore. With faux kindness, he grunted a shushing noise that could be delivered to a sobbing child. "There, there. Using my own spacetime jutsu, I saved you from your own helplessness your arrogance got you in." Tobirama's grin quickly faded as he realized the irony.
"...Even as I stand here helpless against the Edo Tensei I made in my own arrogance. Had I any choice at all, I wouldn't have bothered to rescue you. But as awful as it to admit, I believed a violent Uchiha like you could help me fulfill the orders given to me by this abomination of a jutsu," Tobirama said with an increasingly deep and dark scowl. "I am utterly forced to fulfill those orders despite my own feelings." Tobirama's voice goes uncharacteristically soft, almost to a whisper, as he sees the destruction around him. "Despite what I desperately wish."
Ibuki was quick to grab the kunai in her eyes and rip them out of her sockets, blood streaming down her face. Tobirama's words touched a powerful nerve in Ibuki, her raging mind suddenly going calm and serene. She had a plan, the only way she could defeat Minato was with her ultimate jutsu. With sadistic glee, she grasped a special kunai with a tag tied onto it, a tool Orochimaru gave to her before the invasion started, with clear instructions on how it's to be used. Her eyes began to regenerate to the point where she could see again and saw Tobirama watching the battle between Minato and Hashirama, waiting to jump in when needed.
"It's okay. I know exactly how to cure those pesky feelings..." Ibuki darkly said, now standing behind Tobirama, aiming the kunai right behind Tobirama's head. Before the Second Hokage could react, the kunai slipped into the back of his head and his ashen, cracked body now restored to what it looked like in his life. The only difference was his red eyes were now a blank white, in stark contrast to the black sclerae.
Tobirama's Battle Theme
"Bring your brother over here." Ibuki commanded, relishing in the control she had over the Hokage. Tobirama made hand seals and after a few seconds, Hashirama was now standing next to his brother. He looked around confused, unsure as to why Tobirama would use his spacetime jutsu like this, but his thoughts quickly melted away into nothingness as Ibuki planted the second kunai into Hashirama.
Minato was surprised when Hashirama had vanished, but honestly was a bit thankful for the breather. Keeping up with two Hokage level opponents (and one annoying Uchiha) was rather taxing, especially after using the shadow clone to divert the flames from earlier. He looked to where a small wooden dome was, and he knew that's where the three had to be.
"Minato! We're planning to do a combination attack that will no doubt ravage the village! The dome is weakest at the back, attack from there!" Hashirama declared.
"Thank you, Lord Hashirama." Minato muttered to himself as he prepared to follow the advice of the Hokage. However, his attention was drawn by the sudden shaking of the ground in front of him. He looked down, seeing that a single word had been etched into the dirt with chakra: "Trap!" Minato instantly recognized the meticulous handwriting of his wife, Rusumi. She was no doubt using her Byakugan to peer within the barrier, and there could be no other that could use earth jutsu at this range.
"What would I do without you, dear?" Minato thought with a smile as the shadow clone he made earlier teleported to him using one of the marked kunai. The plan was set, with his earlier skirmish with Hashirama, Minato now had all three opponents marked. He'd use the shadow clone as a decoy to trigger their plan, then destroy them all one by one until they couldn't regenerate anymore.
With a nod, the shadow clone swiftly moved behind the barrier, where the wood suddenly split apart and revealed all three foes, Ibuki staring directly at the clone. Confirming Minato's suspicions of Ibuki trying to use some sort of Mangekyo jutsu, he decided to take out Ibuki once and for all! He teleported next to Ibuki's seal, glowing on the side of her body, one more Rasengan in his hand.
Unbeknownst to Minato, Ibuki had ordered the now mindless Hokage to help her in whatever way possible in order to use her ultimate jutsu. Tobirama clapped his hands just as Minato thrust forward. To Minato's shock, instead of Ibuki, it was his shadow clone he was attacking! It vanished in a puff of smoke and in the sides of his vision, Minato saw Ibuki standing a few feet from where the clone was.
"Tobirama can control how fast his spacetime jutsu is!" Minato worriedly thought. Knowing Ibuki's Mangekyo had to be activated at this point, he forced his eyes downward, only to see the ground was now as smooth and reflective as a mirror! It was for only a brief moment, but Minato saw Ibuki also staring at the ground, her Sharingan had changed shape. No longer being the three tomoe, but a large blob of inky darkness that had three small spikes jutting out of it, the red of her eye almost covered up entirely.
"Unarabe!" Ibuki shouted and Minato felt fear claw into his chest. He tried to make the hand seal to teleport away, but his body felt extremely slow, as if he was suddenly swimming through a pool of thick honey. In such speed he couldn't even comprehend, Minato felt Ibuki's fist slam into his cheek and send him skidding across the smooth, reflective ground.
"I did it! I fucking did it!" Ibuki cheered, a malevolent smile spreading across her face. Minato tried to sit up, but Ibuki vanished in a blur and stomped on Minato's chest, forcing him back down. A wall of wood suddenly appeared behind Ibuki as the sounds of stone struck against it, no doubt Rusumi attempting to strike down Ibuki while she was distracted. She paid the attempted assault no mind.
"What did you do to me?!" Minato angrily demanded.
"I finally caught you with my ultimate jutsu, Unarabe! Whenever anyone looks into my eyes, I can steal any ability!" Ibuki explained, almost giggling from excitement. "This isn't just mere copying, I stole your famous speed, Minato! Now I'm as fast as you, Yellow Flash! As for you, I imagine even a bedridden old man can outpace you!"
"You-" Minato began, trying once more for a hand seal. Ibuki stomped on Minato's hands at speed she had never shown before. Minato grimaced, not only in pain, but in recognition that Ibuki was telling the truth. This wasn't a genjutsu or some weight-based jutsu, Ibuki well and truly had stolen his speed.
Tobirama and Hashirama now appeared next to Ibuki, despite now looking like they did in life, their black and white eyes and stiff demeanor told Minato that they were now fully under Ibuki's control. Ibuki's smile grew demented and she waved her hand at the two Hokage. "You two dogs sit. I got some payback for the Fourth Hokage here!"
Hashirama and Tobirama took a step backwards and Ibuki took her foot off of Minato, her eyes filled with malice and sadistic glee as she looked down at the helpless Hokage.
Minato had initially panicked with his speed being taken from him, but his analytical mind was starting to claw its way to the forefront. If this had been some skirmish fight out in the wilderness, then his time would be up. But this was the Leaf. The Sound and the Sand may currently be occupying many of its faithful shinobi, but there would be help coming. Rusumi, presumably, was monitoring the situation closely, too. She would figure out something is wrong soon enough. All he had to do was stall until someone came to rescue him.
...But this would probably be some painful stalling.
"Why are you doing this, Ibuki?" Minato asked the sadistic Uchiha woman. "You aren't being controlled like the Hokages... why willingly turn against your home?"
She claimed she stole his speed, but his mind was still moving as quickly as ever. Could it just specifically be his physical speed?
"For such a bright man, you're pretty fucking stupid," Ibuki snidely remarked. "You think I'd have a choice in the end? Let's assume I still loved this dear village that, for some gods-forsaken reason, refused my offer to hunt down my defecting brother! Then I'd be just another puppet like those two back there. May as well have some fun being dead."
She took out a kunai and thrust it downward. He saw it coming, but in trying to catch her arm he felt how truly burdened his body was by her Mangekyo technique. The air around his body felt like a thick syrup that he had to push against with all his might just to move a few inches. He gritted his teeth as the kunai pierced into his abdomen. But at least his reaction speed was not dulled in any way. Ibuki's lips parted in a vicious smile as she went to slowly twist the kunai inside of his body, but he could prevent her from doing that. Her eyes had been trained on his hands this entire time.
Using Flying Thunder God to teleport out of this situation would be nice, but there was no way he could move fast enough to pull it off. All that mattered is that she saw him attempt to teleport, and she would have to stop her torture to deal with preventing the teleport.
Minato yelled in pain as Ibuki pulled the kunai out of his stomach and instead stabbed it through his hand, pinning it into the scoured earth beneath it.
"You think you're tough shit with those one-handed seals, but they're not helping you this time," she said softly.
"Something tells me you've always been a bit jealous of my success," Minato said through pained breaths. Just keep her occupied...
"I just hate how someone can so easily coast into power. Even my pathetic brother somehow got Mangekyo before I did..."
"Sounds like a sore spot. Maybe as sore as this hand," Minato said, trying to keep his cool. Now was the time to apply the pressure... hopefully she would buy this hook, line, and sinker. "But it sounds to me like you've always been rotten. You claim you're going against the village because it was inevitable, but you're just making an excuse to use your Mangekyo, no matter who you're facing. Sozen may have been a traitor, but you never wanted to take him down for defecting, you just wanted his eyes to become more powerful yourself. No doubt if you were successful, you'd follow in his foot-"
Ibuki suddenly vanished from sight and a flash of white was all Minato saw as his senses became nothing but pain. He skid across the ground from the high-speed kick to his head, and there may have been more blows delivered that he couldn't feel. He eventually regained enough of his senses to enact his plan. The hand that had been stabbed by the kunai had been ripped out of the iron's grip, but he still had one good hand. And it would make perfect sense to try and teleport out of here in desperation. But she became so focused on him teleporting away that she forgot that was one jutsu he had that needed no hand seals at all.
He moved his uninjured hand as if to make a seal, and Ibuki took the bait. She went to stomp on it again, but this time her foot met the formation of a Rasengan.
Ibuki howled in pain as the whirling sphere of chakra ripped her foot apart and snapped her lower leg out of her knee. All the speed in the world won't do any good if your primary means of locomotion was cut off.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD!" Ibuki shrieked as she began forming hand seals, but she was cut off as a large sharpened spike of stone formed from the ground and impaled her through the mouth, muffling her screams of pain as blood started pouring down the length of the stalagmite.
Minato closed his eyes, some tears of relief (and pain) falling down his face, and silently thanked Rusumi for watching over him. If he lived through this, he would make sure to treat her to the finest date of her life.
Upon opening his eyes he saw... a toad in the sky? With a thunderous quake, the beast fell right on top of the motionless Hokages. Jiraiya was on top of the toad.
"Hey, Minato! Sorry about being so late; I had to deal with a Kazekage. Good thing he definitely wasn't his father's son when it comes to battle," Jiraiya said with a grin. The toad he was on top of vanished in a large puff of smoke, and Jiraiya was suddenly at his side, his hands hovering over Minato's injuries.
"I'm fairly rubbish at medical ninjutsu, but this should at least stop the bleeding. Somewhat," Jiraiya said lowly. "If Rusumi's theory was correct, you need to get out of here and get medical treatment. I have it from here."
"Jiraiya-sensei..." Minato said with gratitude.
"Please, now is not the time to argue. Unless Rusumi's wrong, your speed was stolen from you. There isn't much you can do here, even with Flying Thunder God. Get to safety while you can," Jiraiya said sternly as he formed the seals for a summoning jutsu. He slammed his hands on the ground, and two puffs of smoke appeared on his shoulders, revealing the Two Great Sage Toads, Fukasaku and Shima.
"What's going on here, boy?" Fukasaku asked with confusion.
"Sorry for summoning you with no notice, but the Leaf's in a bit of a situation..." Jiraiya said lowly. "Think you can get me into Sage Mode as fast as you can? I'm facing foes brought back from the dead: an Uchiha with the Mangekyo Sharingan and two Hokages."
"You're... w-what!?" Shima exclaimed incredulously.
"I'm going to need less talking and more focusing!" Jiraiya urged the toads, who capitulated and started to meditate. Ibuki had managed to rip her head off of the stone spike.
"Don't just fucking stand there, you fucks! GET HIM!" Ibuki shrieked as she stared at the reforming Hokages and pointed at Jiraiya.
Minato was able to form the seal to the Flying Thunder God, and he just saw Jiraiya give him a thumbs up as he teleported to safety. But both of them knew that he wouldn't be gone for long...
Sporting a savage grin, the ground dented beneath her and Ibuki exploded with enormous velocity towards Jiraiya, ready to replicate the Fourth's earlier blitz against Tobirama. Her fist rocketed towards his smug face, and managed to collide... with long, white hair that is strangely durable and strangely protecting his face. Before Ibuki could even grunt in surprise, with no warning the hair extended into spines! Ibuki's Sharingan and speed made her hand jerk back violently, the woman leaping backwards with only small drops of blood flowing down her fist.
"You stole his speed, but you didn't steal his experience," Jiraiya mocked with laughter. "You practically shouted your intention to punch me with that earlier grin!"
Ibuki glared for a moment, her Sharingan boring holes at the Sage, until her lips suddenly curled into a smaller grin.
"Thanks for the tip."
Not having wasted time listening, Hashirama completed his hand seals, his expressionless eyes staring at his commanded target. Jiraiya's hair quickly placed itself between him and the vibrating ground as sharpened sap-ladden trees erupted from the earth, the force of deadly wooden life easily throwing the Sannin far into the air. As Jiraiya is tossed airborne, Tobirama finished his water jutsu seals in robotic anticipation of his brother's jutsu. The watery sap on the trees rocketed upwards at the prone Jiraiya, many thousands of sap bullets threatening to immobilize the revenants' prey.
A large puff of smoke beneath Jiraiya obscured the sap bullets, but quickly dispersed to reveal a hefty warted toad's back covered in hardening sap. Jiraiya formed hand seals as he clings to the bottom of the toad's feet using chakra, and with a loud croak the surly toad kicked Jiraiya towards the ground, accelerating Jiraiya straight towards the Kages! Not even halfway to the ground the Toad Sage completed his seals, opening his mouth to reveal half a dozen flaming toad tongues squirming out at high speed toward the Kages. Hashirama and Tobirama showed no emotion as they dodged, the tongues missing the Kages and sticking tightly to the ground.
Left unattended by Jiraiya, Ibuki finished the last of her hand seals-- and with her Sharingan, trivially accounted for Jiraiya's falling trajectory, aiming her elephant-sized fireball perfectly. Without leverage, Jiraiya could not move to dodge midair, and the searing heat rapidly approached him.
Jiraiya's eyes widened at incoming surprise attack, but while it was a surprise it was not unexpected. His flaming tongues still attached to the ground, Jiraiya used their leverage to yank himself sideways, narrowly dodging the fireball and sending him plummeting even faster towards the relative safety of ground in a new arc.
The instant Jiraiya touched the ground, he felt Ibuki's knee smashing into the side of his face, cutting the Sannin off from his flaming tongue jutsu and sending him skidding across the ground. Decades of experience had honed Jiraiya's instincts and he slammed his hands on the ground, using chakra to suddenly stop his moment. A quick look behind him showed a large wooden wall with large, deadly spikes that would have impaled him easily!
"Perhaps giving advice to my enemy wasn't the smartest move..." Jiraiya muttered as he formed hand seals, creating a thick dome of earth around himself as countless needles of water suddenly rained from above. Then a massive wooden spire erupted from the bottom of the dome, destroying it completely, but revealing that Jiraiya had vanished!
"Where is he?!" Ibuki shouted aloud to nobody in particular. Not like the Hokage could answer her anyway. She scanned the area for the Sannin and suddenly found him emerging from the ground near Tobirama! The Second Hokage was quick to strike at Jiraiya with a powerful punch, but on contact Jiraiya exploded into oil! Tobirama tried to use a water jutsu wash the oil off, but it was so sticky that he had trouble even getting his hands into position! Hashirama automatically turned to his brother and started to use a basic water jutsu to wash off the oil, but it was a lot more resistant than it first appeared. It was then the ground underneath the two Hokage turned into a large muddy swamp, forcing the two Hokage to rapidly sink underneath the surface.
It was then Ibuki heard an all too familiar sound by now. That damned swirling sphere of chakra that Minato used to mutilate her time and time again. This time, it was behind her! With all of her stolen speed, she turned around to see Jiraiya behind her, his arm outstretched and the Rasengan only inches away from her torso.
"Not again!" Ibuki roared, throwing a punch at Jiraiya's forearm faster than the Sannin could react to. His aim veered off course, the Rasengan completely missing Ibuki's body. Jiraiya tried to back away, but against Ibuki's speed it was useless. Jiraiya felt tens, if not dozens of multiple punches connecting with his body! Individually they didn't hurt much, but all together at the insane rate Ibuki was throwing them? It felt like it could match one of Tsunade's punches!
Ibuki finished off the punch rush with a spinning kick, planting the flat of her foot into Jiraiya's face and sending him flying backwards, although he managed to orient himself in the air and land on his feet. Jiraiya could feel hot blood running from his now broken nose and with a violent cough spat out even more blood. From Jiraiya's swamp suddenly emerged a spire of wood, growing from its deep depths, revealing Hashirama and a unhindered Tobirama.
"Took you bastards long enough!" Ibuki shouted. Jiraiya eyed the two Toad Sages who were hard at work trying to gather the energy needed for Sage Mode. With his past experiences in using it, Jiraiya knew he only needed to hold out a little longer...
Getting the needed blood for a summoning from his broken nose, Jiraiya chained together hand seals and slammed his hands onto the ground, now standing atop an absolutely massive, scarred toad that had a pipe hanging from its mouth and an enormous blade at its side.
"It's been awhile, punk! Who are you fighti..." the massive toad began to speak, but the words died in his mouth when he saw the resurrected Hokage.
"Gamabunta, Orochimaru managed to bring back the First and Second Hokage, along with an Uchiha woman who managed to steal Minato's speed. He's out of the fight, but I have the Toad Sages with me. I can only win if I enter Sage Mode!" Jiraiya rapidly explained.
"Got it!" Gamabunta said as he jumped high into the air to avoid a large wave of wooden roots trying to entangle and trap the giant toad. Tobirama followed the attack by forming multiple water dragons in an attempt to snipe Gamabunta from the air, but the toad made hand seals of his own and spat out multiple water bullets that collided with the dragons and began showering the battlefield as if it were raining.
Gamabunta landed on the pulverized ground and Ibuki was already attempting to climb the summon, no doubt aiming for Jiraiya! The Toad Sage was waiting for this and summoned another toad, a bit larger than himself, and commanded the toad to distract Ibuki. Of course, the smaller toad wasn't able to do much against Ibuki's speed, instantly being stabbed in the chest and vanishing in a puff of smoke. But it was just enough time for Jiraiya to slip into Gamabunta's mouth, much to Ibuki's rage.
"Stop running away you fucking COWARD!" Ibuki roared. Gamabunta didn't take lightly to Ibuki being on his head and tried to use his long tongue to sweep her away, but she easily dodged and landed back onto the ground, looking furiously at Gamabunta. Now that Ibuki wasn't in their range of attack, Tobirama and Hashirama both made hand seals.
Below Gamabunta, the ground began to crack as more wooden spires attempted to impale the toad. From above was a gigantic pool of water floating in the air! With two simultaneous hand seals, the spires erupted from the earth and the giant pool of water fell! With no other choice, Gamabunta dodged to the side, but Ibuki had already made hand seals, spitting out a concentrated bolt of fire that exploded and engulfed Gamabunta with searing flame!
Gamabunta was quick to rip off his burning clothes, removing most of the danger, although he had a very large burn mark on his torso from Ibuki's jutsu. He pulled out his giant knife and attempted to crush Ibuki with it, but the Uchiha easily dodged. It was at that very moment a large orb of water manifested in front of Gamabunta and burst, the force of the jutsu sending Gamabunta flying!
Then more roots pushed through the ground, catching Gamabunta. The wooden tendrils twisted powerfully around his limbs. Gamabunta tried to use his strength and girth to force his way out, but Hashirama merely made more wood to contain him! Ibuki smugly looked at the trapped toad and began to make hand seals. However, Gamabunta opened his mouth and a red and white blur shot out, heading right for Ibuki! Ibuki dodged the initial blow, but then an invisible force struck at her, sending her bouncing painfully off the ground as she was thrown backwards.
"Thank you, Gamabunta. Please rest." Fukasaku said, looking at the giant toad from Jiraiya's shoulder.
"You did me a real favor. I'll make sure to pay you back!" Jiraiya gratefully said, giving Gamabunta a thumbs up. Ibuki got to her feet and saw that Jiraiya had changed. His already long hair was now much more wild and thicker, both of his cheeks covered in red paint. His eyes were now horizontal slits and his nose was much larger with warts on it.
"What the fuck?!" Ibuki cursed, getting to her feet.
"It's called Sage Mode. There's a reason I'm known as the Toad Sage!" Jiraiya proudly boasted.
"Now now, let's take care of these undead monsters before we start patting ourselves on the back!" Shima commanded, giving Jiraiya a fierce look.
"Apologies. Let's get to work!" Jiraiya declared.
It was right at that moment, when Tobirama saw that Jiraiya had entered Sage Mode, an order sprang up from his subconscious, Orochimaru's voice telling him to perform a certain jutsu. Tobirama quickly made hand seals that would have been familiar to him if he was conscious and slapped his hand on the ground.
Right behind Ibuki, a coffin rose from the earth. Jiraiya's eyes widened. "Orochimaru, did you have an Edo Tensei ready for my Sage Mode?!"
The door to the coffin fell off, revealing a young man with long, pale blue hair, wearing a flak jacket that was common to Leaf shinobi decades ago. He had his Leaf headband worn over his forehead and as he stepped out of the coffin, he held a kunai with a tag tied to the end of it. Ibuki looked back with an arrogant grin. "I didn't know we'd be getting more reinforcements! You're-"
To Ibuki's utter shock, the ninja went forward and shoved the tagged kunai into Ibuki's head. Ibuki's body was suddenly restored, no longer looking ashy and having cracks all over her skin. She could pass for a living person now! Jiraiya shuddered as he finally got a good look at the new undead shinobi entering the fight.
"Dan?!"
As her brain reformed, she couldn't help but associate her current rage and humiliation with her brother. That pathetic twerp Sozen had the fortune of being related to her and gaining the Mangekyo because she was strong enough. He didn't deserve those eyes; she pursued the power he inherited, the power that was rightfully hers.
She couldn't help but remember her last memory, laying on the ground dying from Sozen.
"Damn it!" she howled, blindly pounding her fist on what felt like broken dirt. At this rate, even with the information Orochimaru gave her, even with all the advantages she had, she's going to let this opportunity to take what she deserves slip away again!
As her eyes began to reform in her blinded mind, Minato spared a brief moment in his consideration of the Kages to casually flick a pair of kunai at Ibuki. She immediately felt the metal lodged in her eyes.
Her scream was pure rage.
As she screamed, she felt the gritty dirt beneath her instantly change to bark, and the nearby sound of a man chuckling at someone else's expense catching Ibuki's attention.
"As expected from someone of your breed, you lack critical thinking," Tobirama patronized. Ibuki's screaming settled into a harsh hiss, and if she could see, she would witness the incredible shit-eating grin the former leader of Konoha wore. With faux kindness, he grunted a shushing noise that could be delivered to a sobbing child. "There, there. Using my own spacetime jutsu, I saved you from your own helplessness your arrogance got you in." Tobirama's grin quickly faded as he realized the irony.
"...Even as I stand here helpless against the Edo Tensei I made in my own arrogance. Had I any choice at all, I wouldn't have bothered to rescue you. But as awful as it to admit, I believed a violent Uchiha like you could help me fulfill the orders given to me by this abomination of a jutsu," Tobirama said with an increasingly deep and dark scowl. "I am utterly forced to fulfill those orders despite my own feelings." Tobirama's voice goes uncharacteristically soft, almost to a whisper, as he sees the destruction around him. "Despite what I desperately wish."
Ibuki was quick to grab the kunai in her eyes and rip them out of her sockets, blood streaming down her face. Tobirama's words touched a powerful nerve in Ibuki, her raging mind suddenly going calm and serene. She had a plan, the only way she could defeat Minato was with her ultimate jutsu. With sadistic glee, she grasped a special kunai with a tag tied onto it, a tool Orochimaru gave to her before the invasion started, with clear instructions on how it's to be used. Her eyes began to regenerate to the point where she could see again and saw Tobirama watching the battle between Minato and Hashirama, waiting to jump in when needed.
"It's okay. I know exactly how to cure those pesky feelings..." Ibuki darkly said, now standing behind Tobirama, aiming the kunai right behind Tobirama's head. Before the Second Hokage could react, the kunai slipped into the back of his head and his ashen, cracked body now restored to what it looked like in his life. The only difference was his red eyes were now a blank white, in stark contrast to the black sclerae.
Tobirama's Battle Theme
"Bring your brother over here." Ibuki commanded, relishing in the control she had over the Hokage. Tobirama made hand seals and after a few seconds, Hashirama was now standing next to his brother. He looked around confused, unsure as to why Tobirama would use his spacetime jutsu like this, but his thoughts quickly melted away into nothingness as Ibuki planted the second kunai into Hashirama.
Minato was surprised when Hashirama had vanished, but honestly was a bit thankful for the breather. Keeping up with two Hokage level opponents (and one annoying Uchiha) was rather taxing, especially after using the shadow clone to divert the flames from earlier. He looked to where a small wooden dome was, and he knew that's where the three had to be.
"Minato! We're planning to do a combination attack that will no doubt ravage the village! The dome is weakest at the back, attack from there!" Hashirama declared.
"Thank you, Lord Hashirama." Minato muttered to himself as he prepared to follow the advice of the Hokage. However, his attention was drawn by the sudden shaking of the ground in front of him. He looked down, seeing that a single word had been etched into the dirt with chakra: "Trap!" Minato instantly recognized the meticulous handwriting of his wife, Rusumi. She was no doubt using her Byakugan to peer within the barrier, and there could be no other that could use earth jutsu at this range.
"What would I do without you, dear?" Minato thought with a smile as the shadow clone he made earlier teleported to him using one of the marked kunai. The plan was set, with his earlier skirmish with Hashirama, Minato now had all three opponents marked. He'd use the shadow clone as a decoy to trigger their plan, then destroy them all one by one until they couldn't regenerate anymore.
With a nod, the shadow clone swiftly moved behind the barrier, where the wood suddenly split apart and revealed all three foes, Ibuki staring directly at the clone. Confirming Minato's suspicions of Ibuki trying to use some sort of Mangekyo jutsu, he decided to take out Ibuki once and for all! He teleported next to Ibuki's seal, glowing on the side of her body, one more Rasengan in his hand.
Unbeknownst to Minato, Ibuki had ordered the now mindless Hokage to help her in whatever way possible in order to use her ultimate jutsu. Tobirama clapped his hands just as Minato thrust forward. To Minato's shock, instead of Ibuki, it was his shadow clone he was attacking! It vanished in a puff of smoke and in the sides of his vision, Minato saw Ibuki standing a few feet from where the clone was.
"Tobirama can control how fast his spacetime jutsu is!" Minato worriedly thought. Knowing Ibuki's Mangekyo had to be activated at this point, he forced his eyes downward, only to see the ground was now as smooth and reflective as a mirror! It was for only a brief moment, but Minato saw Ibuki also staring at the ground, her Sharingan had changed shape. No longer being the three tomoe, but a large blob of inky darkness that had three small spikes jutting out of it, the red of her eye almost covered up entirely.
"Unarabe!" Ibuki shouted and Minato felt fear claw into his chest. He tried to make the hand seal to teleport away, but his body felt extremely slow, as if he was suddenly swimming through a pool of thick honey. In such speed he couldn't even comprehend, Minato felt Ibuki's fist slam into his cheek and send him skidding across the smooth, reflective ground.
"I did it! I fucking did it!" Ibuki cheered, a malevolent smile spreading across her face. Minato tried to sit up, but Ibuki vanished in a blur and stomped on Minato's chest, forcing him back down. A wall of wood suddenly appeared behind Ibuki as the sounds of stone struck against it, no doubt Rusumi attempting to strike down Ibuki while she was distracted. She paid the attempted assault no mind.
"What did you do to me?!" Minato angrily demanded.
"I finally caught you with my ultimate jutsu, Unarabe! Whenever anyone looks into my eyes, I can steal any ability!" Ibuki explained, almost giggling from excitement. "This isn't just mere copying, I stole your famous speed, Minato! Now I'm as fast as you, Yellow Flash! As for you, I imagine even a bedridden old man can outpace you!"
"You-" Minato began, trying once more for a hand seal. Ibuki stomped on Minato's hands at speed she had never shown before. Minato grimaced, not only in pain, but in recognition that Ibuki was telling the truth. This wasn't a genjutsu or some weight-based jutsu, Ibuki well and truly had stolen his speed.
Tobirama and Hashirama now appeared next to Ibuki, despite now looking like they did in life, their black and white eyes and stiff demeanor told Minato that they were now fully under Ibuki's control. Ibuki's smile grew demented and she waved her hand at the two Hokage. "You two dogs sit. I got some payback for the Fourth Hokage here!"
Hashirama and Tobirama took a step backwards and Ibuki took her foot off of Minato, her eyes filled with malice and sadistic glee as she looked down at the helpless Hokage.
Minato had initially panicked with his speed being taken from him, but his analytical mind was starting to claw its way to the forefront. If this had been some skirmish fight out in the wilderness, then his time would be up. But this was the Leaf. The Sound and the Sand may currently be occupying many of its faithful shinobi, but there would be help coming. Rusumi, presumably, was monitoring the situation closely, too. She would figure out something is wrong soon enough. All he had to do was stall until someone came to rescue him.
...But this would probably be some painful stalling.
"Why are you doing this, Ibuki?" Minato asked the sadistic Uchiha woman. "You aren't being controlled like the Hokages... why willingly turn against your home?"
She claimed she stole his speed, but his mind was still moving as quickly as ever. Could it just specifically be his physical speed?
"For such a bright man, you're pretty fucking stupid," Ibuki snidely remarked. "You think I'd have a choice in the end? Let's assume I still loved this dear village that, for some gods-forsaken reason, refused my offer to hunt down my defecting brother! Then I'd be just another puppet like those two back there. May as well have some fun being dead."
She took out a kunai and thrust it downward. He saw it coming, but in trying to catch her arm he felt how truly burdened his body was by her Mangekyo technique. The air around his body felt like a thick syrup that he had to push against with all his might just to move a few inches. He gritted his teeth as the kunai pierced into his abdomen. But at least his reaction speed was not dulled in any way. Ibuki's lips parted in a vicious smile as she went to slowly twist the kunai inside of his body, but he could prevent her from doing that. Her eyes had been trained on his hands this entire time.
Using Flying Thunder God to teleport out of this situation would be nice, but there was no way he could move fast enough to pull it off. All that mattered is that she saw him attempt to teleport, and she would have to stop her torture to deal with preventing the teleport.
Minato yelled in pain as Ibuki pulled the kunai out of his stomach and instead stabbed it through his hand, pinning it into the scoured earth beneath it.
"You think you're tough shit with those one-handed seals, but they're not helping you this time," she said softly.
"Something tells me you've always been a bit jealous of my success," Minato said through pained breaths. Just keep her occupied...
"I just hate how someone can so easily coast into power. Even my pathetic brother somehow got Mangekyo before I did..."
"Sounds like a sore spot. Maybe as sore as this hand," Minato said, trying to keep his cool. Now was the time to apply the pressure... hopefully she would buy this hook, line, and sinker. "But it sounds to me like you've always been rotten. You claim you're going against the village because it was inevitable, but you're just making an excuse to use your Mangekyo, no matter who you're facing. Sozen may have been a traitor, but you never wanted to take him down for defecting, you just wanted his eyes to become more powerful yourself. No doubt if you were successful, you'd follow in his foot-"
Ibuki suddenly vanished from sight and a flash of white was all Minato saw as his senses became nothing but pain. He skid across the ground from the high-speed kick to his head, and there may have been more blows delivered that he couldn't feel. He eventually regained enough of his senses to enact his plan. The hand that had been stabbed by the kunai had been ripped out of the iron's grip, but he still had one good hand. And it would make perfect sense to try and teleport out of here in desperation. But she became so focused on him teleporting away that she forgot that was one jutsu he had that needed no hand seals at all.
He moved his uninjured hand as if to make a seal, and Ibuki took the bait. She went to stomp on it again, but this time her foot met the formation of a Rasengan.
Ibuki howled in pain as the whirling sphere of chakra ripped her foot apart and snapped her lower leg out of her knee. All the speed in the world won't do any good if your primary means of locomotion was cut off.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD!" Ibuki shrieked as she began forming hand seals, but she was cut off as a large sharpened spike of stone formed from the ground and impaled her through the mouth, muffling her screams of pain as blood started pouring down the length of the stalagmite.
Minato closed his eyes, some tears of relief (and pain) falling down his face, and silently thanked Rusumi for watching over him. If he lived through this, he would make sure to treat her to the finest date of her life.
Upon opening his eyes he saw... a toad in the sky? With a thunderous quake, the beast fell right on top of the motionless Hokages. Jiraiya was on top of the toad.
"Hey, Minato! Sorry about being so late; I had to deal with a Kazekage. Good thing he definitely wasn't his father's son when it comes to battle," Jiraiya said with a grin. The toad he was on top of vanished in a large puff of smoke, and Jiraiya was suddenly at his side, his hands hovering over Minato's injuries.
"I'm fairly rubbish at medical ninjutsu, but this should at least stop the bleeding. Somewhat," Jiraiya said lowly. "If Rusumi's theory was correct, you need to get out of here and get medical treatment. I have it from here."
"Jiraiya-sensei..." Minato said with gratitude.
"Please, now is not the time to argue. Unless Rusumi's wrong, your speed was stolen from you. There isn't much you can do here, even with Flying Thunder God. Get to safety while you can," Jiraiya said sternly as he formed the seals for a summoning jutsu. He slammed his hands on the ground, and two puffs of smoke appeared on his shoulders, revealing the Two Great Sage Toads, Fukasaku and Shima.
"What's going on here, boy?" Fukasaku asked with confusion.
"Sorry for summoning you with no notice, but the Leaf's in a bit of a situation..." Jiraiya said lowly. "Think you can get me into Sage Mode as fast as you can? I'm facing foes brought back from the dead: an Uchiha with the Mangekyo Sharingan and two Hokages."
"You're... w-what!?" Shima exclaimed incredulously.
"I'm going to need less talking and more focusing!" Jiraiya urged the toads, who capitulated and started to meditate. Ibuki had managed to rip her head off of the stone spike.
"Don't just fucking stand there, you fucks! GET HIM!" Ibuki shrieked as she stared at the reforming Hokages and pointed at Jiraiya.
Minato was able to form the seal to the Flying Thunder God, and he just saw Jiraiya give him a thumbs up as he teleported to safety. But both of them knew that he wouldn't be gone for long...
Sporting a savage grin, the ground dented beneath her and Ibuki exploded with enormous velocity towards Jiraiya, ready to replicate the Fourth's earlier blitz against Tobirama. Her fist rocketed towards his smug face, and managed to collide... with long, white hair that is strangely durable and strangely protecting his face. Before Ibuki could even grunt in surprise, with no warning the hair extended into spines! Ibuki's Sharingan and speed made her hand jerk back violently, the woman leaping backwards with only small drops of blood flowing down her fist.
"You stole his speed, but you didn't steal his experience," Jiraiya mocked with laughter. "You practically shouted your intention to punch me with that earlier grin!"
Ibuki glared for a moment, her Sharingan boring holes at the Sage, until her lips suddenly curled into a smaller grin.
"Thanks for the tip."
Not having wasted time listening, Hashirama completed his hand seals, his expressionless eyes staring at his commanded target. Jiraiya's hair quickly placed itself between him and the vibrating ground as sharpened sap-ladden trees erupted from the earth, the force of deadly wooden life easily throwing the Sannin far into the air. As Jiraiya is tossed airborne, Tobirama finished his water jutsu seals in robotic anticipation of his brother's jutsu. The watery sap on the trees rocketed upwards at the prone Jiraiya, many thousands of sap bullets threatening to immobilize the revenants' prey.
A large puff of smoke beneath Jiraiya obscured the sap bullets, but quickly dispersed to reveal a hefty warted toad's back covered in hardening sap. Jiraiya formed hand seals as he clings to the bottom of the toad's feet using chakra, and with a loud croak the surly toad kicked Jiraiya towards the ground, accelerating Jiraiya straight towards the Kages! Not even halfway to the ground the Toad Sage completed his seals, opening his mouth to reveal half a dozen flaming toad tongues squirming out at high speed toward the Kages. Hashirama and Tobirama showed no emotion as they dodged, the tongues missing the Kages and sticking tightly to the ground.
Left unattended by Jiraiya, Ibuki finished the last of her hand seals-- and with her Sharingan, trivially accounted for Jiraiya's falling trajectory, aiming her elephant-sized fireball perfectly. Without leverage, Jiraiya could not move to dodge midair, and the searing heat rapidly approached him.
Jiraiya's eyes widened at incoming surprise attack, but while it was a surprise it was not unexpected. His flaming tongues still attached to the ground, Jiraiya used their leverage to yank himself sideways, narrowly dodging the fireball and sending him plummeting even faster towards the relative safety of ground in a new arc.
The instant Jiraiya touched the ground, he felt Ibuki's knee smashing into the side of his face, cutting the Sannin off from his flaming tongue jutsu and sending him skidding across the ground. Decades of experience had honed Jiraiya's instincts and he slammed his hands on the ground, using chakra to suddenly stop his moment. A quick look behind him showed a large wooden wall with large, deadly spikes that would have impaled him easily!
"Perhaps giving advice to my enemy wasn't the smartest move..." Jiraiya muttered as he formed hand seals, creating a thick dome of earth around himself as countless needles of water suddenly rained from above. Then a massive wooden spire erupted from the bottom of the dome, destroying it completely, but revealing that Jiraiya had vanished!
"Where is he?!" Ibuki shouted aloud to nobody in particular. Not like the Hokage could answer her anyway. She scanned the area for the Sannin and suddenly found him emerging from the ground near Tobirama! The Second Hokage was quick to strike at Jiraiya with a powerful punch, but on contact Jiraiya exploded into oil! Tobirama tried to use a water jutsu wash the oil off, but it was so sticky that he had trouble even getting his hands into position! Hashirama automatically turned to his brother and started to use a basic water jutsu to wash off the oil, but it was a lot more resistant than it first appeared. It was then the ground underneath the two Hokage turned into a large muddy swamp, forcing the two Hokage to rapidly sink underneath the surface.
It was then Ibuki heard an all too familiar sound by now. That damned swirling sphere of chakra that Minato used to mutilate her time and time again. This time, it was behind her! With all of her stolen speed, she turned around to see Jiraiya behind her, his arm outstretched and the Rasengan only inches away from her torso.
"Not again!" Ibuki roared, throwing a punch at Jiraiya's forearm faster than the Sannin could react to. His aim veered off course, the Rasengan completely missing Ibuki's body. Jiraiya tried to back away, but against Ibuki's speed it was useless. Jiraiya felt tens, if not dozens of multiple punches connecting with his body! Individually they didn't hurt much, but all together at the insane rate Ibuki was throwing them? It felt like it could match one of Tsunade's punches!
Ibuki finished off the punch rush with a spinning kick, planting the flat of her foot into Jiraiya's face and sending him flying backwards, although he managed to orient himself in the air and land on his feet. Jiraiya could feel hot blood running from his now broken nose and with a violent cough spat out even more blood. From Jiraiya's swamp suddenly emerged a spire of wood, growing from its deep depths, revealing Hashirama and a unhindered Tobirama.
"Took you bastards long enough!" Ibuki shouted. Jiraiya eyed the two Toad Sages who were hard at work trying to gather the energy needed for Sage Mode. With his past experiences in using it, Jiraiya knew he only needed to hold out a little longer...
Getting the needed blood for a summoning from his broken nose, Jiraiya chained together hand seals and slammed his hands onto the ground, now standing atop an absolutely massive, scarred toad that had a pipe hanging from its mouth and an enormous blade at its side.
"It's been awhile, punk! Who are you fighti..." the massive toad began to speak, but the words died in his mouth when he saw the resurrected Hokage.
"Gamabunta, Orochimaru managed to bring back the First and Second Hokage, along with an Uchiha woman who managed to steal Minato's speed. He's out of the fight, but I have the Toad Sages with me. I can only win if I enter Sage Mode!" Jiraiya rapidly explained.
"Got it!" Gamabunta said as he jumped high into the air to avoid a large wave of wooden roots trying to entangle and trap the giant toad. Tobirama followed the attack by forming multiple water dragons in an attempt to snipe Gamabunta from the air, but the toad made hand seals of his own and spat out multiple water bullets that collided with the dragons and began showering the battlefield as if it were raining.
Gamabunta landed on the pulverized ground and Ibuki was already attempting to climb the summon, no doubt aiming for Jiraiya! The Toad Sage was waiting for this and summoned another toad, a bit larger than himself, and commanded the toad to distract Ibuki. Of course, the smaller toad wasn't able to do much against Ibuki's speed, instantly being stabbed in the chest and vanishing in a puff of smoke. But it was just enough time for Jiraiya to slip into Gamabunta's mouth, much to Ibuki's rage.
"Stop running away you fucking COWARD!" Ibuki roared. Gamabunta didn't take lightly to Ibuki being on his head and tried to use his long tongue to sweep her away, but she easily dodged and landed back onto the ground, looking furiously at Gamabunta. Now that Ibuki wasn't in their range of attack, Tobirama and Hashirama both made hand seals.
Below Gamabunta, the ground began to crack as more wooden spires attempted to impale the toad. From above was a gigantic pool of water floating in the air! With two simultaneous hand seals, the spires erupted from the earth and the giant pool of water fell! With no other choice, Gamabunta dodged to the side, but Ibuki had already made hand seals, spitting out a concentrated bolt of fire that exploded and engulfed Gamabunta with searing flame!
Gamabunta was quick to rip off his burning clothes, removing most of the danger, although he had a very large burn mark on his torso from Ibuki's jutsu. He pulled out his giant knife and attempted to crush Ibuki with it, but the Uchiha easily dodged. It was at that very moment a large orb of water manifested in front of Gamabunta and burst, the force of the jutsu sending Gamabunta flying!
Then more roots pushed through the ground, catching Gamabunta. The wooden tendrils twisted powerfully around his limbs. Gamabunta tried to use his strength and girth to force his way out, but Hashirama merely made more wood to contain him! Ibuki smugly looked at the trapped toad and began to make hand seals. However, Gamabunta opened his mouth and a red and white blur shot out, heading right for Ibuki! Ibuki dodged the initial blow, but then an invisible force struck at her, sending her bouncing painfully off the ground as she was thrown backwards.
"Thank you, Gamabunta. Please rest." Fukasaku said, looking at the giant toad from Jiraiya's shoulder.
"You did me a real favor. I'll make sure to pay you back!" Jiraiya gratefully said, giving Gamabunta a thumbs up. Ibuki got to her feet and saw that Jiraiya had changed. His already long hair was now much more wild and thicker, both of his cheeks covered in red paint. His eyes were now horizontal slits and his nose was much larger with warts on it.
"What the fuck?!" Ibuki cursed, getting to her feet.
"It's called Sage Mode. There's a reason I'm known as the Toad Sage!" Jiraiya proudly boasted.
"Now now, let's take care of these undead monsters before we start patting ourselves on the back!" Shima commanded, giving Jiraiya a fierce look.
"Apologies. Let's get to work!" Jiraiya declared.
It was right at that moment, when Tobirama saw that Jiraiya had entered Sage Mode, an order sprang up from his subconscious, Orochimaru's voice telling him to perform a certain jutsu. Tobirama quickly made hand seals that would have been familiar to him if he was conscious and slapped his hand on the ground.
Right behind Ibuki, a coffin rose from the earth. Jiraiya's eyes widened. "Orochimaru, did you have an Edo Tensei ready for my Sage Mode?!"
The door to the coffin fell off, revealing a young man with long, pale blue hair, wearing a flak jacket that was common to Leaf shinobi decades ago. He had his Leaf headband worn over his forehead and as he stepped out of the coffin, he held a kunai with a tag tied to the end of it. Ibuki looked back with an arrogant grin. "I didn't know we'd be getting more reinforcements! You're-"
To Ibuki's utter shock, the ninja went forward and shoved the tagged kunai into Ibuki's head. Ibuki's body was suddenly restored, no longer looking ashy and having cracks all over her skin. She could pass for a living person now! Jiraiya shuddered as he finally got a good look at the new undead shinobi entering the fight.
"Dan?!"
Giga's section starts off this post.
Mega takes over starting from the paragraph beginning with "Ibuki was quick to grab..." and ending with the paragraph beginning with "Hashirama and Tobirama took..."
My segment is from "Minato had initially panicked..." to "Minato was able to form..."
Giga takes over from "Sporting a savage grin..." to "Jiraiya's eyes widened...", and then taps out of the fight. If only we could have been so lucky.
Back to Mega from "The instant Jiraiya touched the ground..." to the end of this post.
And we have a bit of commentary besides writing credits:
-Tobirama's not doing a lot of battling here for his theme to take over, but its tone fits the shift in the fight. And Ibuki's death metal themes would probably take things a bit too far.
-Rusumi is an OC and will be explained more in the next part. She's Minato's wife in this universe because Kushina was Kurama's previous host and so there was never any girl in his class to fall in love with. Any other options for wives were already taken, much younger, or lamer OCs. Or Tsume, but we don't respect the Inuzuka.
-Ibuki's Mangekyo design is exactly the same as Shin's. Because that Sharingan wank's never showing up in any Pyroverse writings.
Mega takes over starting from the paragraph beginning with "Ibuki was quick to grab..." and ending with the paragraph beginning with "Hashirama and Tobirama took..."
My segment is from "Minato had initially panicked..." to "Minato was able to form..."
Giga takes over from "Sporting a savage grin..." to "Jiraiya's eyes widened...", and then taps out of the fight. If only we could have been so lucky.
Back to Mega from "The instant Jiraiya touched the ground..." to the end of this post.
And we have a bit of commentary besides writing credits:
-Tobirama's not doing a lot of battling here for his theme to take over, but its tone fits the shift in the fight. And Ibuki's death metal themes would probably take things a bit too far.
-Rusumi is an OC and will be explained more in the next part. She's Minato's wife in this universe because Kushina was Kurama's previous host and so there was never any girl in his class to fall in love with. Any other options for wives were already taken, much younger, or lamer OCs. Or Tsume, but we don't respect the Inuzuka.
-Ibuki's Mangekyo design is exactly the same as Shin's. Because that Sharingan wank's never showing up in any Pyroverse writings.
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Feels weird seeing this fight in full parts rather than chunks lol.