Disclaimer: This is strictly a work of fanfiction using character and elements from the Naruto world, created by Masashi Kishimoto. I do not claim to own them, and this story is merely a product of my own imagination, written not for monetary gain, but for my own enjoyment.

[REWRITE STATUS]: Almost no changes- changed quotation marks to double quotation marks to fit the format used later on.

A luminous full moon shone its light down onto Konohagakure, the Village hidden in the Leaves. Usually at this time, the massive ninja village would be slumbering, a marked difference from its daytime transformation into Fire Country's bustling hub of commerce and military matters. Despite the clandestine nature of many of the local shinobis' undertakings, the civilian residents of the massive city rarely let that distract them from enjoying what would pass as a normal life in any other, non-shinobi village.

But on this particular night, October the tenth, instead of the usual comfortable, secure silence that blanketed Konoha during most nights, a cacophony of screams and yells pierced the night sky. Sporadic flashes of fire and lightning lit up the surroundings in intermittent bursts of energy.

The source of the pandemonium was immediately clear to most: a giant red fox, easily dwarfing even the substantial siege walls of the village, rampaged in the middle of the unprepared village. Most noticeable about the monstrous demon was the nine gigantic tails that swung chaotically, creating great scythes of chakra wherever they swung.

Even children were aware of the identity of this nigh-unstoppable force of nature. The Kyuubi no Kitsune had stalked and terrorized the defenseless expanses of Fire Country for as long as anyone can remember. Showing up even in the oldest shinobi annals, the Kyuubi had forever been a fixture of the land, an ancient and terrible guardian had roamed free before man ever learned to stand on two feet. But thanks to the evolving arts and skills of shinobi, the Kyuubi had been kept at bay ever since the founding of Konoha, through the use of intricate fuuinjutsu- sealing techniques.

The Kyuubi had then evolved from a rampaging demon lord into a series of terrible legends and myths, used primarily to scare unruly children. But on this night, there were no questioning of its existence. It was undoubtedly real, and undoubtedly very pissed off.

There was no time, no warning, as the massive fox appeared inexplicably in the middle of the village. It gave no quarter as it mindlessly attacked the surrounding houses and businesses. The shinobi responded as fast as they could, but unluckily, the Kyuubi had appeared in the middle of the civilian sector, and the ninja clans, where most of the firepower of the hidden village lay, had to cross the entire breadth of the enormous village in order to try and repel the beast.

Already some ninja had joined the battle, but their efforts seemed to be doing little more than enraging the beast. The flying chakra scythes soared, thicker and more numerous than before. The wildly flicking tails seemed to be the only indicator of the Kyuubi's obviously mounting rage as it still stomped and swiped at the buildings as methodically as before.

Suddenly, it turned and roared, a wave of chakra bursting from its gaping maw. The wave slammed into the buildings, and with casual grace, tore them free from the ground and sent them flying. The Kyuubi turned around from the decimated, near-flat swathe of destroyed land and moved towards the wall, obviously intending to destroy the village in an orderly and efficient manner.

The demon moved slowly, ponderously, in contrast to everyone else in the massive village, who moved with urgent haste.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, gritted his teeth and poured on the speed, rushing towards the Kyuubi. He had been in the Hokage Tower when it had appeared, holding a last minute council with his former teammates. As soon as the reports had come in, he had gathered as many high-ranked ninja in the vicinity as possible, before rushing off with the contingent of shinobi to face the terrible beast.

Inwardly, he cursed the timing of the crisis. The current leader of the hidden village, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was currently out of the village, accompanying his wife, Kushina Uzumaki, who was due to give birth quite soon. This was an extremely serious blow the Leaf's battle capability, because the Hokage and his wife were two of the village's premier warriors. And as if to add insult to injury, two medic ninjas, including his own wife, Biwako (who despite being past her prime, was still an extremely proficient and accomplished shinobi) were assisting in the delivery. In an injury-intensive emergency like a bijuu's attack, the village could not even afford the loss of even two medic-nins.

The former leader grimaced and brought his hand up to his mouth, biting his thumb and drawing blood. As the steadily expanding group of shinobi ranked jounin and higher crossed a rooftop, Hiruzen paused for a moment to press his palm to the tiled roof. A sealing matrix immediately spread out across the surface, and a pitch-black staff with gold-capped ends erupted from the ground. Hiruzen snatched the weapon out from the seal before it had even fully materialized and caught up with the group before they even realized he had stopped. The staff was the weaponised form of the Monkey King, Enma, one of his staunchest allies. Silently, the aged shinobi thanked his long-time partner for understanding his plight and acting accordingly.

The group of some of Konoha's finest sped steadily onwards, picking up more and more jounin and higher-ranked shinobi as they went on. The chuunin and genin that they passed were allocated to help evacuate civilians and protect key items in the village.

As they drew closer to the enormous, destructive beast, Hiruzen raised his arm, signaling the group to stop. He idly wondered why the beast was so ominously silent. Throughout his long life, he had witnessed quite a few bijuu/jinchuuriki attacks, and growls, snarls and roars had punctuated them all frequently. In this particular situation, apart from the sounds of destruction the Kyuubi caused as it crushed the defenseless village, and that one devastating roar, the demon had not made a single sound.

Deciding to ponder it later, if he survived, the old shinobi pointed to one of the ANBU standing silently nearby.

"You, Bear-san. We'll be needing reinforcements, so…" Hiruzen paused, "Hang on…"

The bear-masked ANBU sat back on his haunches patiently as he waited for his superior to finish. Meanwhile, the former Hokage clasped his hands together in a hand-sign, and with a near-unnoticeable flare of chakra, performed one of the most fiercely protected secret jutsus in Konoha.

"Splitting Shadows, Flying Leaves: Sensor Forme," breathed Hiruzen quietly.

He winced as felt a flood of information hit him, but ignored it, silently bemoaning the fact that after using his crystal ball as an aid for so long, using his sensory abilities in their undiluted, most powerful form took quite a toll on his aged body. He glanced at his hand, which now held a spiky, black, tattooed numeral- '6'.

"Right," he continued, after he had finished analyzing the information his jutsu had given him, "There are two main battle-ready groups in Konoha right now… we don't have time to gather every single shinobi, so we'll have to make do with them. Bear-san, please get to Hanazaki Market as quickly as possible- Hizashi and Hiashi Hyuuga have gathered a band of their clansmen and seem to be fortifying the place with fuuinjutsu. But we need them to launch an offensive on the Kyuubi, so tell them to get to Kikyo Tower as soon as possible- my orders. We'll make our stand against the beast there. Also… you, Inuzuka… Tozuki, was it? There is a group of Uchiha, under Fugaku, and they seem to be going to the Shinobi Archives. No idea why, but go get them and relay the same message as Bear-san. If you head straight for the Ninja Academy, you should meet up with them there. Now, go!"

The bear-masked shinobi nodded and disappeared, while the Inuzuka, looking a little dazed, snapped a hasty salute and leaped onto his wolf-like companion, riding on it through the trees.

Hiruzen took a deep breath as he ran his hand through his hair, psyching himself up for what lay ahead. When he dropped his hand back to his side, the '6' was no longer visible, and instead, a similar '3' was drawn above his left eyebrow. This new number was much smaller than the '6', but represented something much greater- the Third Hokage's War Forme. Tempered in all three of the Great Shinobi Wars, the War Forme had been used (much to its owner's despair) much more than he felt would be appropriate. It was this Forme, fully utilizing the potential of 'Splitting Shadows, Flying Leaves', which earned him the epithet, 'God of Shinobi'. It had devastated armies and crushed morale, broken bodies and shattered hope… to Hiruzen, his War Forme was a reminder of bloody things… things best left forgotten.

"Let's go," he barked, now fully into the iron-hard, merciless mindset that the War Forme afforded him.

And so, the assorted group of shinobi, varied in both appearance and personality, followed perhaps the greatest remnant of the Golden Age of Shinobi back into war.

In a certain clearing in the middle of a forest, two dueling streaks flickered around each other in a furious dance. They twisted and spun and ricocheted all over the clearing… two streaks- one golden, the other midnight black.

The golden streak moved in sporadic flashes, erratic bursts of impossible movement that darted and snapped across the space, while the dark streak slid around in untraceable flickers- a graceful breeze, moving unhurriedly, untouchably.

Finally, after a particularly violent intense bout, the two streaks retreated to opposite sides of the clearing. There, with their movement stationary, the streaks revealed their true forms- two men, each resting on his haunches, glaring at each other across the clearing.

One of them had bright golden hair sticking out in spiky, undignified clumps all over his head, his pleasant face punctuated by a pair of intense, electric-blue eyes. He was wearing a white cloak with red flames adorning the edges, with typical jounin gear underneath that. Slowly, he stood up, flicking a kunai knife from his sleeve into his hand.

The other was as different from him as night was from day. Swathed in black, form-fitting cloth, and wearing an orange spiral shaped mask, the shinobi ran a black gloved hand through his raven hair, the distinctive clinking of chains being heard.

At some unseen signal, both warriors suddenly rushed towards each other, the dark one holding his now-revealed chains and the fair one brandishing his kunai and some sort of odd glowing ball.

Suddenly, with a rapid, instantaneous movement, the golden haired shinobi sent his kunai slicing through the air at his opponent, the blade moving so fast that it covered half the length of the large clearing in less than a second.

If we now take the time to examine the particular kunai that this shinobi threw, we would recognize that it was a particularly strange-shaped weapon. Instead of having the single, tapered blade that most ninjas favoured, this knife sported three tines, like a trident. The middle prong was perhaps a little longer than a normal blade, but the two flanking blades were slightly shorter, as well as having an outside curve to them. The last defining feature of this blade was that its hilt, which on normal weapons was wrapped in bandages to provide grip and reduce noise, was encased in a wooden block on which an intricate fuuinjutsu was inked. Taking all these factors into account, there could be no doubt to their wielder's identity, as these tri-pronged kunai were unique to one person only- the Fourth Hokage of Konoha, Minato Namikaze.

The newly identified Hokage, instead of watching his launched weapon embed itself in his enemy's head, continued to barge forward, his energy ball held forwards, ready to be thrust at his opponent at a moment's notice.

But despite the speed and force the kunai was thrown at, it did absolutely nothing to the black robed shinobi, slipping right through his head as if he were a mere ghost.

"Ha!" laughed the masked ninja as he felt the blade pass through his body, but didn't have any time to gloat before he felt an explosion of energy at his back and he was brutally slammed into the ground by a massive force.

Despite the sheer instantaneous speed at which the attack had been inflicted, the masked shinobi was a seasoned ninja with almost absurd amounts of valuable combat experience, and immediately used one of his unique techniques, spiraling away into nothingness and reappearing on one of the pillars of earth that had been created by the force at which he had been pushed into the ground.

He winced as he took stock of his injuries while trying to get a grasp of the current situation. The latter was obvious- the Fourth Hokage was standing where his opponent had been lying just a second ago, holding both the knife he had thrown and also the dissipating remains of the energy orb.

Pulsing chakra through his body to get a feel for the state of his body, the masked shinobi grimaced. His left arm was broken in several places as well as having deep lacerations- a result of landing on it when meeting the unforgiving earth at such pressure. He also had a crushed left lung, several broken ribs and internal bleeding. That Rasengan is quite something, he thought idly, as he shifted his stance to better protect his near-useless left side, if he managed to grind that into me for a few seconds more, I might even have died.

Shlurk! The masked shinobi's hidden eyes widened as he registered a stabbing pain in his stomach. Looking down, he saw the blond warrior thrusting one of his signature tri-pronged kunai into his belly. Shit! he thought, he must have placed a Hiraishin seal on me while he hit me with the Rasengan! How many steps ahead is he thinking?

Once again, the masked shinobi faded from reality, appearing a few metres away, on yet another upturned rock slab. He hissed as he coursed violent chakra through his coils and around his surroundings, purging both him and his clothes of any chakra-based seals that might have been affecting them.

As he did so, he realized with a sinking feeling that there was an awful sensation that something was missing. Something significant. Something larger than the biggest boss summons and possessing enough firepower to sink a continent several times over... the Kyuubi.

"You…" he hissed in rage, "You placed a contract seal on me? Did you deprive me of my control over the Kyuubi?"

The infuriating blond man merely smirked. Crackling with anger, the masked ninja cursed as he felt his wounds begin to take his toll on him. Throwing a few parting words at his nemesis, he vanished with a pop and the violent shifting of space.

The Hokage, seeing that his enemy had left, immediately dropped his confident expression and disappeared in a flash of golden light.

Silence reigned for a few seconds, before the deafening howl of an enraged fox pierced the air.

Atop the intricately carved roof of Kikyo Tower, the Third Hokage glared at the colossal bijuu wreaking havoc all over his village, right in front of his nose. As he watched, his tight grip on Enma's staff tightened, until an ominous creaking could be heard. Abruptly, a humanoid monkey head burst from the golden caps adorning the two ends of the staff, wincing.

"Hey, hey, hey!" it yelped, "Hiruzen, stop squeezing so hard! I may be as hard as adamantine, but you'll break me if you keep crushing the staff like that!"

The war-ready Hokage merely glanced at his summon coldly before easing on the pressure silently. The Monkey King, sensing the gravity of the situation, retreated back into his staff, his expression grave.

Hiruzen sent a look back at the shinobi he had brought with him. They were still a few kilometers back, as he had easily outstripped them in speed, even when he wasn't particularly trying. He waited patiently, gathering his strength, all the while tracking the Kyuubi with his stone-cold eyes, searing every attack pattern, every violent idiosyncrasy of the beast into his memory. The mind that had been called 'Professor' analysed the bijuu, dissecting its secrets, seeing through the façade of its rage.

"Sir! What are your orders?" asked one of the recently arrived Hyuuga, his eyes darting nervously at the tailed beast, as it rampaged dangerously close to the Hyuuga Compound.

Hiruzen lifted his staff and exploded into the air before anyone noticed, his emotionless words drifting back to them as if in a dream.

"Keep up the pressure."

Confused, the group of some of Konoha's foremost warriors stared in confusion as they tried to figure out where their leader had gone. It was not until the two Hyuuga clan leaders, searching with their Byakugan, managed to divine his location.

Floating in front of the massive fox's house-sized nose was the wizened ninja, his staff held behind him with one hand, the other balancing his weight as he fell forward.

"Holy!" gasped one of the Uchiha, "Did Hokage-sama jump all the way up there?"

Closing his eyes, Hiruzen swung the staff downwards with all his might, the black steel of his staff nothing more than a blur.

"Monkey Style: Variable Staff," he muttered.

With a colossal boom, the fox that had been previously terrorizing the civilian area near Konoha's vast siege walls was blasted back, straight through the war-tested barriers and into Fire Country's mass of dense forests.

The Third Hokage rolled his shoulder in annoyance, as he glared at the now mountain-sized Adamantine Staff that hung in the air, still slightly smoking from the speed at which it had hit the Kyuubi's burning red chakra.

"Why didn't you warn me you were going to get that big?" he asked shortly.

The giant steel pillar quickly shrank back to its original size before Enma's head emerged again.

"Well," he said with a shrug of his half-submerged shoulders, "I figured you would need all the firepower you can get. It's a shame that I could only get that big, though. It was only about the size of Kyuubi's leg… Father could probably get as big as the damned thing itself when in Staff Form."

Hiruzen reclaimed his weapon before replying, "Yes, but Son Goku is both a bijuu and a Boss Summon, so it's probably a given that he can reach bijuu-size, no matter what form he's in."

Enma gave a weary chuckle.

"Shame he got sealed… you could really use his help against Kyuubi, especially with Minato gone and all. Maybe I should go full size, to take him out?" he asked.

Hiruzen considered this for a second before shaking his head, explaining, "The Kyuubi was thrown back a lot more than it was supposed to. Added to the fact that its not attacking in any of the recorded ways of the past means that it's not as strong as it normally is. Maybe it's being controlled, or something? Anyway, even in its weakened state, you wouldn't stand a chance against it, full size or no. You're not a Boss Summon yet, Enma."

Enma silently nodded, accepting these points, and the two turned to watch how the shinobi of Konoha were handling the Kyuubi.

The Kyuubi snarled in frustration as it rolled up and regained it feet, no visible damage apparent from the cannon-like blast from the Third Hokage's attack. It shook itself, tails flailing wildly, before bounding forward again, straight towards the broken wall and the tiny forms (in comparison) of Konoha's defenders.

Swiping with a forepaw, the Kyuubi succeeded demolishing another section of siege-wall into dust, before a flare of chakra caught its attention. Flicking an ear in irritation, it turned to stare with blank eyes at where the flare had come from- Kikyo Tower and the bastion of ninjas clustered there.

Blinking in mild surprise, it watched as an enormous fireball descended towards it, looking as big and menacing as a falling second moon. Opening its jaws, the Kyuubi unleashed a sweeping chakra roar, unfazed by the immense, deadly nature of the attack.

But instead of dispersing the flames as intended, the wave missed completely, as the fireball seemed to warp around the sheet of dense chakra, dodging the effect of the technique.

Meanwhile, on the wall, every single Uchiha simultaneously changed from the Tiger handsign they had been holding to the Bird handsign.

Speaking as one, they intoned in unison, "Uchiha Secret Technique- Fire Style: Descent of the Heavenly Phoenixes!"

Immediately, the great flaming ball that had been bearing towards the Kyuubi's head rippled and exploded. Hundreds of vaguely bird-shaped objects split from the flaming mass, large burning airborne missiles that pelted the great fox mercilessly. Every single 'phoenix' was about the size of a large human, and though this was tiny compared to the sheer bulk of the bijuu, the countless number of attacking chakra constructs more than made up for it, as they harassed and bombarded the Kyuubi. They exploded against its demon-chakra shrouded skin, exploding into viciously burning cinders and embers, before rising out again from the flames, burning even more brightly and passionately than before.

The Kyuubi thrashed and roared, stomping around mindlessly as it strove to rid itself of the multitude of burning gnats that beleaguered and worried at it.

But the rest of the Konoha shinobi had not been sitting idle while the Uchiha spent their chakra trying to impede the Kyuubi's progress. The remaining large faction in the group, the Hyuuga, had been forming into a line along Konoha's crumbling, yet still impressive battlements.

Together, they raised their arms as they gathered their chakra, the concentration of such intense, pure white energy forming into an opaque orb above their heads. Then, as the Kyuubi stumbled closer and closer towards Konoha, they started to mold the condensed chakra, flattening and shaping it much like how a blacksmith hammers iron to form a blade.

Then, as the great fox took a particularly sharp turn to try and shake away some of the flaming birds, the combined Hyuuga let loose the white chakra blade, sending it flying towards the Kyuubi's head, releasing a primal battle roar as they did so.

"Hyuuga Secret Technique- Eight Trigrams: God Slayer!" came the cry, signaling the technique's name.

The crescent of pure chakra slammed into the Kyuubi's neck like the blade of a guillotine, forcing it into the air. It almost turned a full backward somersault, landing onto its head, before inertia forced it to continue its journey, skidding across the land and destroying even more acres of forest.

When the chakra blade finally dissipated, the Kyuubi lay prone on its back, head buried in the canopy of the forest and its tails entrenched in the ground, deep gouges and rents in the earth a testimony to both the attack's force and the Kyuubi's mass.

But the battle was far from won, as the giant fox merely rolled over and scrambled onto its feet, still looking none the worse despite the combined efforts of some of the shinobi world's strongest powers. Roaring in defiance, it opened its gaping maw, allowing monochromatic spheres of ominous chakra to gather in front of it.

The Third Hokage, who had by now made his way to where the rest of the shinobi were standing, stopped and stared in horror.

"Yin and yang chakra. This is… a Tailed Beast Ball," he murmured in shock.

He started to gather his own chakra, despite knowing that he couldn't possibly accumulate enough chakra to power a technique capable of stopping the destructive attack in time.

But just as the Kyuubi released the bolt of destruction from its mouth, he saw a small object (a twig or something?) fly towards the beast, like a moth drawn towards the sun. Putting it from his mind, the aged Hokage instead braced himself, his pitifully inadequate gathered chakra flaring out from him like an umbrella. He knew it probably wouldn't help him survive at all, but he at least wanted to go out fighting, displaying the Will of Fire like a true Hokage would.

He saw the blindingly bright meteor hurtle towards him… closer… closer… and then it was gone.

Blinking in disbelief, Hiruzen cast around to see if there was any clue to why the Tailed Beast Ball had disappeared. And it was not until the patch of forest several hundred kilometers away erupted into a devastating firestorm that he understood.

"Shinobi!" he yelled out to the equally confused ninjas under his command, "It was Yondaime-sama! He teleported the blast! We need to back him up, now!"

As soon as he uttered those words, he saw the previously scared and worried men and women straighten their backs and square their shoulders. They set their jaws and went around preparing themselves for another assault. Even the Hyuuga and the Uchiha, who had been just seconds ago collapsed on the ground from their Herculean effort to try and stop the Kyuubi were wearily picking themselves off the ground. It really is amazing how Minato manages to inspire such confidence in his troops. These young fellows are getting more and more impressive as time goes on, thought Hiruzen fleetingly, the War Forme not allowing him to dwell very long on such idle thoughts.

The Kyuubi, who had been until now looking around, also searching for the effect of its attack, reared up and started gathering the dreaded yin-yang chakra again, forming another Tailed Beast Ball.

Well, shit, thought Hiruzen ruefully. His grip on Enma slackened for a second, before he tightened it with renewed determination.

"Hey, Enma, let's go with a Monkey Cannon," murmured Hiruzen to his ever-present companion.

"You sure?" asked Enma, his head sticking out of the staff, "That thing is a huge chakra drain, and the damage isn't really worth it."

Hiruzen was already hefting the staff to his shoulder but took the time to reply.

"Yes, but it's the fastest thing in our arsenal that has enoughpower to destabilize a Tailed Beast Ball," he said shortly.

Enma said nothing but merely opened his mouth, a golden glow started to emanate between his sharp fangs. Hiruzen turned to focus his undivided attention to the orb of menacing energy between the Kyuubi's jaws, having obtained cooperation from his weapon.

Shutting one eye, he slowly adjusted the staff until Enma's head was lined up with the Tailed Beast Ball, automatically reorienting to compensate for the Kyuubi's slight head movements in response to the immense pressure of the charging Tailed Beast Ball.

Just as he began to pour his chakra into the Monkey Cannon, Hiruzen was shocked as the Tailed Beast Ball he had been so diligently monitoring disappeared completely from his vision. Furthermore, even the Kyuubi's enormous head had gone! Moving back and dropping his staff, Hiruzen quickly scanned the battlefield for his colossal foe, ready for any tricks or deceptions.

It was soon evident why the Kyuubi had seemingly disappeared. It was now pinned under the undisputable bulk of a genuine Boss Summon- Gamabunta, the Toad Boss. The Yakuza-like chakra construct pressed down on his tanto, teeth clenched around his signature pipe, expression a very picture of seriousness and determination, a stark contrast to his normal jovial mood.

The tanto was being held back by two of the Kyuubi's giant tails, shaking violently from the strain, and the seven remaining appendages were wrapped tightly around the giant amphibian, holding it immobile. Despite the pressure that it was under, the Kyuubi continued to maintain the growing Tailed Beast Ball in its mouth, this time aiming at Gamabunta.

Focusing chakra into his eyes, the Third Hokage could only barely see the small figure that he knew to be on top of his distinctive summon and immediately bent forward, ready to rush to his aid. But it was soon revealed to be futile, as the massive bijuu, the almost-completed Tailed Beast Ball and the Toad Boss all disappeared in a flash of blinding golden light.

The Third Hokage slumped to the ground in exhaustion. The constant vigilance that the War Forme forced on him was really taking a toll. He wanted nothing more than to roll over and go to sleep- even the rough tiles of Kikyo Tower seemed like an ideal resting spot. With a sigh, he raised his hands and released the technique.

"Splitting Shadows, Flying Leaves: Normal Forme," he affirmed.

He hissed as he felt his senses dull and his muscles involuntarily relaxed. While Normal Forme did not place any discernable strain or pressure on his body or mind, the process of changing Formes was a distressing and uncomfortable sensation in a crisis situation, especially for a veteran warrior like Hiruzen, who appreciated and even welcomed the alertness afforded by War Forme.

The feeling of vulnerability and weakness pervaded Hiruzen's mind, even though he knew that even his Normal Forme was more than a match for all shinobi Sannin-level and above. But thinking upon the terrible powers and strength of the foe Konoha now faced, the Third Hokage could not help but think that even if he could keep his War Forme perpetually activated, it would not make the slightest bit of difference.

"Umm… Sandaime-sama?" asked a female jounin tentatively.

"Yes?" responded Hiruzen kindly.

"Why aren't we helping out Yondaime-sama? He probably needs our help, right now!" she exclaimed with worried passion.

"Well, Azuki-chan, the thing is, we don't actually know where Minato is at the moment. That's the trouble with his Hiraishin."

"Oh," she said, crestfallen.

But she soon perked up and waved her arm, pointing at the curly '4' inscribed on her bicep.

"Sandaime-sama, don't you have a Sensor Forme? Can't you use that to find Yondaime-sama?" she implored.

Hiruzen winced, with a regretful expression on his face.

"Well," he explained sadly, "I developed the Sensor Forme after I became Hokage. As such, it was created more in the interests of village security than being an actual sensor ability. I have unrivaled monitoring of anything inside the actual village walls, but other than that, its useless."

The jounin sighed dejectedly and sat down next to Hiruzen… only to start as he leaped up, no signs of fatigue showing.

He pointed over to the west, where, in the far distance, an explosive blast detonated. It was extremely far away, almost on the horizon, but the sheer intensity of the explosion was like a miniature sun forming. It expanded in a perfect dome, and even at this distance, the heat and energy given off whipped across the watching shinobi's faces and bodies in an uncomfortably hot breeze.

The shinobi all reflexively covered their eyes as the blinding white light threatened to render them temporarily blind. One or two Hyuuga and Uchiha were a tad too late in deactivating their kekkei genkai, and writhed on the ground in pain, clutching their eyes.

Even as the assembled ninja started to recover from the shock of watching such as powerful phenomenon, the Third Hokage was already in the air, his hands already locked in a familiar handsign.

"Azuki-chan!" he yelled, "get the other ninja and follow me! I'm going to back up Minato! Splitting Leaves, Flying Shadows: Speed Forme!"

The jounin didn't even have enough time to shout an affirmative, as the Third Hokage had already disappeared, not a trace of remaining. She scratched her head in puzzlement. Did Sandaime-sama just teleport?

She then processed her superior's request and looked back at the disorganized rabble of shinobi, who were currently abuzz with chatter and speculation. Arms waved and fingers pointed as they tried to pinpoint the cause of the devastating eruption to the west.

Azuki sighed, before violently flaring her chakra, a turbulent outpouring of energy, packed full of killing intent and steel-like determination.

"Shut up and listen to me!" she roared.

Instantly, every shinobi present fell silent, mouths and fingers frozen in space. Azuki made a half-mortified expression at having the attention of so many high-ranking and respected ninjas (including quite a few Clan Heads and Clan Heirs) but ploughed on, mindful of the Third Hokage's wishes and the rapidly dwindling time.

With a sweet smile on her face (a stark contrast to her earlier demonic visage), she started to explain hurriedly.

"Um… Sandaime-sama asked me to marshal all field-ready shinobi to confront the Kyuubi. As you might have guessed, the… uh… explosion, I guess… was the Tailed Beast Ball that the Kyuubi was charging. Yondaime-sama must have teleported it with his Hiraishin, so that none of us could get hurt. Sandaime-sama has already left to assist Yondaime-sama, to confront the beast and finish it, away from Konoha and the civilians. I will give you all thirty seconds to get ready and then we'll be leaving. Time is running out, and we cannot leave everything to the Hokages," she said meekly.

Immediately, the shinobi all sped into a flurry of movement, checking and restocking weapons and scrolls, seeking makeshift medical attention from the few medic-nins around and warming up their tired muscles.

Azuki glanced worriedly at the west, where numerous forest fires had sprung up, making an unmistakable beacon for the shinobi to head for. Please, she thought, hang in there, Yondaime-sama. Please make it in time, Sandaime-sama.