Madara's student.

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters are owned by Masashi Kishimoto nor do I own any other materials in this story aside from my own.

First, before we begin, I should mention that all future images for this fanfic and others will be found on another image hosting site now. will have more details on that later.

The Cries of Heaven

The forest was serene, quiet, tranquil in its own way. The green leaves swaying in the wind, the gentle chirping of the birds, the running streams of water all created a melodious tune that elated all who heard it. Including the dour Naruto as he sat on a rock, the reforged Tonbogiri stabbed in the ground. The palm of his hand, outstretched, facing upwards, bearing seed as he fed the birds, just as small rays of the sun were beginning to rise.

He sighed, despite how he abhorred this world, how broken it was. He had to admit that there was some beauty in it, when it wasn't destroyed by humans and their ilk, their greed ravaging the land. He flicked his hand, sending the seed across the ground, the birds eagerly following as they pecked at the morsels. As he watched his feathered friends gorge themselves on the meal, his mind wondered back to Konan, how he left her there in that cave, after pouring out their feelings for the other. Even the thought of her wracked his heart with guilt and pain as he clutched at with his sole hand.

He didn't know what was going to happen in the next hour, would he die? It was certainly a possibility, would he go and kill Obito? Same answer as before really, but for some reason, he never had the feeling that he was doing this for himself, for you see, Obito had delivered him an ultimatum, come and fight him, or watch Konan die before his eyes. The question was clear, the answer was certain, he would rather be cut by a thousand blades than let even one of them touch her. These new feelings were of course strange but slowly he had accepted them, filling his being with warmth once again.

He loved her. He laughed at the thought, he never believed that in all his years that he would find someone worthy of his heart. She treated him like no other, inspired him to be better, it was almost nauseating to think about the effect she's had on him. Making him feel all these things again, it was almost alien to him. All he had known was hatred and now in its place was a warmth like no other, and now, hatred and love was guiding his hand. As cheesy as that sounded.

He was snapped from his thoughts by the rustling of leaves, the sound alerting the birds as they quickly took to the sky. He wasted no time, he whipped out his kunai, hunched over, ready to attack, his Sharingan eyes blazing red. What emerged was a white wolf, almost ghost-like in the soft morning light. He blinked and slowly sheathed the kunai back in its rightful place, the wolf never growling or bearing its fangs, it only approached the lone shinobi, staring him in the eye and nipping at his remaining fingers.

"Lone wolf, I can relate, we are both warriors, shunned and exiled from our worlds. But through this we become strong, and soon enough we grow to care less about what others think of us." spoke Naruto as he stood up, sheathing his black blade, the wolf whining at him, pleading for him not to go. "Goodbye." he said, the great dog, lowering its head as the blonde walked away, slipping his oni mask over his face, preparing for the final battle ahead.

He burst through the tree line, softly, carefully, his every step feeling like it could set off earthquakes. It was a field of tall grass, reaching up to his waist, each blade tall and sharp, nothing else within except for the mountains to the north, and the tree line at every other point. He could feel it, the echoes, the cries, this was an old battlefield during the time of the Clan wars, the blood had coated the land, causing the grass to grow tall and proud, whatever bones and armour remained had been swallowed up by time or scavenged by the survivors.

He could feel the sun's light and warmth on his back, the soft rays banishing the cold from his bones. He breathed, waiting with bated breath for his rival, his enemy, the one that had truly set him on this path, the one that had taken everything from since the beginning of his life. And now here, if he was going to die, it would be the last thing that Obito would take from him.

Lo and behold, he was here, emerging from within a distorting circle, the first thing seen was his iconic white mask, a gunbai on his back and his purple robes flowing gently in the breeze. The younger shinobi said, nothing, did nothing, only watching from this position as the two stared at each other.

"Well, I'm glad you could make, it would have been lonely here otherwise, just me and the birds. After all that we have done to each other, we are here now at this convergence of fate. And of course, being a man of my word, Konan will be unharmed, she will have no trouble from me." spoke Obito as he gazed up at the sky, Naruto released a slight sigh of relief at this, but never allowed his guard to fall, this man was dangerous, no doubt, he was required to be more than just cautious to fight this being. "Beautiful, isn't it? In the morning or the dusk, there are so many colours, it's a shame that its not worth saving."

"Yeah, I'm sure it would be even prettier with it bathed in your blood." snarled Naruto his red eyes narrowing as Obito shrugged it off. Not intimidated in the slightest.

"Oh, so violent Naruto, there's no need for such things, can we just be civil, talk this over like men. Everything involving you has been a mistake, a terrible mistake, Danzō has gone too far, distancing you, hurting you, he's rather short-sighted, a fault that I too shared at some point." conveyed Obito, trying to reason with the younger man.

"I find your words to be unconvincing in the slightest, why should I trust anything you say." he hissed, seeing through this facade of the Uchiha's.

"Oh, this has nothing to do with me or my words and whether you trust them or not is besides the point. But what are you trying to accomplish? I asked this question so very long ago but you never gave me a straight answer." spoke Obito, taking cautious steps around his fellow Sharingan wielder.

"And I'm sure I would tell you, when you lay broken at my feet."

"Ahh, pity, if only our paths could have crossed as friends, mentors, brothers, I'm sure things would have been better, more cordial at the very least. You know I was once a student to your father. Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage."

"He's not my father."

"Your feelings for him don't matter, only the blood you two share in the days leading up to your birth he was shouting to the entire world of his excitement, I know this because I watched from the sidelines, he regarded you as his son no matter what, even if you were made a sacrifice in the eyes of his people. He knew that the people would hate you, scorn you, for something out of your control. But you were valuable to many, even me, then your life would be spared. I even staved off every assassination attempt on your life before you could wipe the spit from your lip. Of course he wouldn't have done it if he had known the truth of the attack."

"What magical truth could this be." spat Naruto not showing any small gratitude for the Uchiha's past actions, his current ones painting a rather nice picture.

"Would you believe me if I told you that Danzō was planning a coup d'etat against Konoha. To usurp your father's position and install himself as Hokage, bring the village under his shinobi way. Danzō came to me for help, told me everything of his plan, to make the Nine-tails look like a random disaster, let the Yondaime and Sandaime die protecting it and he would be the only one left to take the position. Orochimaru was too caustic, too untamed, Tsunade at that point was a wandering drunk and Jiraiya was no where to be seen. You really think those three could actually be a strong Hokage, ironic now that one of them is Hokage. Join me Naruto, and together we can cast down Danzō."

"Even with your words like honey and your tongue like silver, I would never join you. For like you, I'm a man of my word." said Naruto falling into an offensive taijutsu stance, Obito sighed at this, disheartened that he couldn't sway the blonde to his side like so many before him.

"Shame, but if this is what you want." said Obito sullenly as he removed his gunbai from his back, swinging it around, the force of said swings creating powerful gusts of wind that shook the blades of grass. Naruto only huffed at this small display, not deterred in any way from the show of force. His hand didn't reach for his blade, but the tickle, the feeling of the metal in his hand was undeniable, it was more like an urge, instead he fell into a battle-ready stance, his feet shuffling into the dirt.

He decided to make the first move as Shuriken appeared from his hand and he flung them with such speed that it was lightning fast. To no surprise the shuriken phased through Obito as if he was a ghost, never once leaving a mark. Naruto then jumped in the air, unfurling more shuriken in hand and performing a jutsu with a quick flicker of his fingers.

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no jutsu." he roared the few shuriken becoming many, all falling on Obito like rain. The same result, the shuriken passed through him like a mirage, but that wasn't what peaked Naruto's interest, it was at the last minute, subtle, a small movement to the left, something which Naruto narrowed his red eyes at. He channeled chakra into his left eye, his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan blazing like the sun.

"Kamiyonanayo: Suteppo no Shinigami (Steps of the Death God)." Obito had no time to react as he felt the cold sting of a blade pierce his chest, causing him to cough up blood from within his mask. He craned his head over his shoulder, Naruto holding the Tonbogiri that speared his chest, the unique pattern in his eyes saying all that was needed to be said. The blonde pressed his foot against the Uchiha's back, pulling his sword from his chest and the survivor's body fell like a falling rock.

"That was disappointing, I expected more." said Naruto flicking the blood of his katana and sheathing it on his back. He turned on his heel and began walking away, never paying a mind to the corpse of his nemesis. It was over, all this conflict, all this pain, had been ended within a single second, he was finally free.

"I'm sorry the prologue wasn't to your liking." said a voice causing Naruto to raise his eyebrows as he was smacked in the face so hard that it sent him skidding across the ground, splitting the skin above his left eyebrow (under his mask) as he grunted in pain. His ears perked at the sounds of clinking chains and he looked up to see Obito, perfectly fine, dandy and not a scratch on him. "But the show has yet to begin, it would be rude to not see this through to the finale." Naruto only stared in shock, he was sure of it, he was dead, as dead as one could be, nothing but a corpse. He knew some other force was at play, this was no genjutsu, he could feel that none of their chakras were being tampered with, so what, perhaps this required another demonstration.

The blonde picked himself up, his eyes glaring at Obito like that of a snake. Obito slammed the tip of his gunbai into the ground, forming handseals for a fire jutsu.

"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Fire release: Phoenix Sage Flower jutsu)." yelled Obito as he breathed out multiple small fireballs that came flying at Naruto with almost frightening speed, the blonde didn't dodge, he only took out more shuriken and launched them at the flames. The metal impacted against the smalls balls of fire and were quickly enveloped by the burning streaks, creating flaming shuriken, turning Obito's attack against him. Seeing this Obito only grabbed his gunbai once more, and blocked the burning projectiles. He widened his eyes as Naruto came rushing forward, Tonbogiri in hand and stabbed it through the tough wood of the gunbai, an act that shocked even Obito. Before he even had a chance to react, both weapons were kicked away by the younger shinobi, cocking his only hand backward for a powerful palm strike. Obito decided that this would be his chance, with little effort he blocked Naruto's strike, gripping his hand in his own, chuckling to himself.

The Uchiha's right eye began swirling like that of a maelstrom, with Naruto quickly being sucked into the eye of the distortion. What his opponent didn't realise was this was all part of a sly plan, as he was being sucked in Naruto unsealed an explosive tag from his wrist seal and quickly detonated it. Obito's face was completely blown away and Naruto was sent flying back, skidding across the ground his only arm being slightly singed. When he looked up he saw that half of his nemesis' face had been blown off, all the way to the bone, a grizzly sight to behold. The Uchiha slumped to the ground once more, dead, again.

But the student of Madara breathed no sigh of relief, no gasp of freedom, he remained impassive as the body of Obito dissipated into nothing, as if he never existed in the first place. A few paces away was the very same man walking over to his gunbai picking it up and removing the Tonbogiri from its wooden frame.

"You are a sneaky one Naruto, a simple but ingenious plan could have turned deadly were it not for a single detail." muttered Obito throwing the sword to Naruto that landed by his side, just as he was picking himself up.

"Izanagi." Breathed the scion of the Uzumaki clan, Obito clapped in amazement at the realisation. "the technique that rewrites all things in this universe, even death."

"That's right, the forbidden jutsu of the Uchiha clan, one that led to decades of bloodshed among my clan. I must admit, Naruto, you are stronger than me, possibly smarter, our scuffle on that train, you were defeated because of many things hampering you, debilitating you. But this time, nothing is stopping us, whoever dies here will fall to the other's wit, not their power. But I will let you in on the secret. I have incorporated many Sharingan into my being, gifts from my clansmen to prolong and extend the use of the Izanagi. But unfortunately, it comes with a small cost."

"Your intangibility, it now lasts only for a minute, instead of the usual five. Managing all those Sharingan is taking a toll on your body, and I will only be able to truly kill you when all those eyes have lost their light." surmised Naruto sheathing his black and red blade once more, his own orbs never wavering as he watched his enemy.

"But you don't know how many there are, that's the tricky part." said Obito gripping his gunbai, smirking under his mask. The Uchiha said nothing else other than bringing his hands together to form the Snake seal before slamming them down into the very earth beneath his feet. "Mokuton: Jukai Kōtan (Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees)." Naruto widened his eyes in horror at what was transpiring, the very ground beneath his feet was beginning to quake as a sea of trees rose from the depths, sprouting like flowers. He gasped as he saw the roots barrelling towards him, forcing him to jump into the air to avoid them. This little action didn't deter the plants as they continued to chase after him, in response he gripped the handle of the Tonbogiri, unsheathing the blade and spinning rapidly like a spinning top, slicing through the wood as if it was butter.

Not allowing Obito to press his attack Naruto raced forward with such startling speed that he was akin to a blur, even Obito struggled to track him as the blonde circled around him, the trees following his every move. Said nemesis barely had enough time to react as the blonde attempted to cut him with his katana, the length of the blade cutting through nothing as the Uchiha used his intangibility, he saw an opening and took his chance as he slammed his gunbai into the blonde's gut with such strength that Naruto coughed up spit. When he regained he footing, Naruto sheathed his blade in a whirl and cycled through handseals for a jutsu.

"Garasuton: Banshi Hahen (Glass Release: Certain Death Shards)." spoke Naruto gliding his hand across empty space creating spikes of dagger-like glass that tore through the wood and surged towards Obito, who readied his gunbai and blocked the glass with ease, shattering them in a single swing. "Garasuton: Kakureru Shiryoku no jutsu (Glass Release: Hiding in Sight technique)." Naruto performed another jutsu and using the splintered pieces of glass created mirror images of himself that quickly surrounded Obito.

The Uchiha was one guard and when he swung his gunbai, smashing into the Naruto's they quickly devolved into glass only for more to be created from the fine splinters. They piled around him, their fists and kicks passing through him with ease and soon his the Uchiha's own sight was fading as he saw only his reflection in the clear slivers. He knew he was being pushed to his limit when one of the clones with a kunai in hand was able to slash his robe, he didn't even have time to comprehend this as the real Naruto came bursting from the glass, giving him a harsh uppercut followed with a brutal axe kick that broke apart Obito's mask. The older shinobi quickly rolled away, free from another attack and the two traded blows between their respective weapons. When it seemed that neither of them would gain the upper hand they vaulted away from the other, Obito's mask half broken from from Naruto's vicious assault.

The survivor of the fallen clan had to give respect where respect was due, Naruto was truly formidable, each attack, each move, even his breathing were all perfectly calculated and anticipated. Not a single thing was wasted. But this wasn't the time for admiration, Obito pressed his attack as he had his many trees and roots attack Naruto, with one lucky hit whipping him away and sent crashing into the wood, the blonde was able to recover and he swiftly traversed the trunks and branches of the trees, cutting apart the pursuing roots with the Tonbogiri. For Naruto he couldn't believe that Obito had mastered this particular Kekkei genkai to such a level, he even rivalled the Shodaime Hokage in some aspects, he knew to be on guard around this series of jutsu, to say it was incredibly versatile would be an understatement, he knew first hand the dangers of these trees and flowers, having learned from them from the many recounts of Madara.

He tried to escape, jumping higher, climber the branches but there was little use as the plants encircled their vice like grip around his ankle and slammed him to the ground and quickly pinned him to the again the soft dirt, almost forcing him to his knees, but like always he had a way out.

"Garasuton: Kowareta Hakuchō Tsubasa (Glass Release: Broken Swan's Wing)!" yelled Naruto as multiple glass spikes emerged from the ground, tearing through the bark and the trunks of the trees with ease, completely severing them into sliced and diced logs. Naruto then launched himself into the air, performing his signature jutsu. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" yelled Naruto as multiple versions of himself appeared from all around. Obito gritted his teeth at this, severely underestimating the young man's own artificial Kekkei Genkai. "Garasuton: Banshi Hahen (Glass Release: Certain Death Shards)!" screamed the real Naruto holding his hand out in the air creating a single shard of glass as long and sharp as a spear. Obito could practically see that avoiding that thing would probably be impossible so he readied his own jutsu to counter it.

"Mokuton: Sashiki no jutsu (Wood Release: Cutting technique)!" roared Obito sending forth a large sprig of wood that rocketed forth, sending similar spikes of wood hurtling into the clones of the Uzumaki. But the real Naruto threw the giant shard with such speed, that if you blinked you would miss it. It completely tore through the branch of hardened wood, small splinters flying from the impact and impaled itself into Obito before he even had time to defend himself. The impact caused a giant dust cloud to appear and the branches of the many trees surrounding them stopped, unmoving and still.

The Uzumaki landed on the ground, panting slightly as he observed his handiwork, the impaled Uchiha, turned into a human kebab, blood leaking through his lip as his entire chest was decimated by the technique. To no surprise, the image of his opponent faded away, leaving only the shard of glass where it stood. He flicked his head to the side, peering through the eye holes of his oni mask to see Obito, with only half his mask still remaining and revealing the right side of his scarred face. Naruto gritted his teeth under his mask and performed his signature jutsu once again, knowing that his fellow Sharingan users eyes were firmly on him.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu." and in plumes of smoke numerous Naruto's appeared from the fog, surrounding Obito as he prepared his gunbai once more for the battle to come. They all surged forth towards him, each with their Tonbogiri drawn and Obito responded in kind.

"Katon: Bakufū Ranbu (Fire release: Blast Wave Wild Dance)!" and he breathed a gigantic stream of flame that swirled like a cyclone, this had the intended effect of dispelling the clones but also causing the small forest that was created to be engulfed in the inferno, the heat rising with the size of the plumes.

"Enton: Kagutsuchi (Blaze Release: Added Tool Earth Lord)!" roared Naruto created a small stream of black flames that shot spiked-shaped projectiles made of the black flares. Obito quickly channeled chakra into his gunbai upon seeing the spikes and swatted them away, knowing that chakra was an essentially difficult subject to burn, this caused the Amaterasu to spread to the trees, burning the wood and even consuming the fires that Obito had summoned. The two found themselves locking their weapons together as the forest was now beginning to be devoured under the Amaterasu's might. The entire forest was quickly being burned to the ground from the heat but the two didn't notice as Obito smashed his gunbai into Naruto's gut once more, sending the young man skidding across the ground once more.

"Katon: Gōkyakyū no Jutsu (Fire release: Great Fireball Technique)!" roared Obito as he sent forth a giant ball of fire that would have incinerated the blonde had he not cut it apart with the Tonbogiri. Obito kept up his assault as he slammed his hand against the ground, using another fire jutsu at his disposal. "Katon: Sugoi Kaen Keisei (Fire Release: Great Flame Formation)!" as streams of fire erupted from the ground like a volcano, Naruto jumped out of the way from the flames but only to be cornered by Obito as he swung his gunbai downward unto Naruto's head, the resulting cracking of mask and bone becoming audible as Naruto's face hit the hard ground. The right portion of his mask over his eye breaking away but still retaining most of the design.

Naruto carefully picked himself up, his body shaking and his head ringing from that previous attack. He couldn't defend himself from the next strike from the gunbai that impacted against his chin and sent him crashing through the bark of the burning trees. He tumbled into a heap, still trying to regain some semblance of his surroundings, but it seemed that Obito had gained the upper hand in this small bout of theirs. He barely brought up his blade in time to block the next onslaught of attacks. He narrowed his eyes at the hole he made in the gunbai, focusing on the next stream of attacks. He was caught off guard by the next smack in the chest from the steel-like wood and sent crashing into the ground once more, barely able to pick himself up, feeling as if a thousand fists had pummelled him into submission.

He dropped the Tonbogiri in hand, preferring to steady himself on his remaining arm, coughing up blood that splayed across the ground. He gasped as the sight of Obito inching closer almost causing his heart stop.

"Now's not the time Naruto, to daze off into your thoughts. You've only used one of your Kaminanayo, the seven abilities that defy nature, it's really disappointing not to see the rest. Suteppo no Shinigami, the ability to alter time around you so to give yourself better advantage, a superbly powerful ability, except it comes with a drawback, you will remain like that, forever, never ageing, and time never flowing, unless you intend to inflict pain or death on another, then the spell breaks, a unique little trick, you must continuously control your own emotions so to perfectly master the technique, no doubt your time in ROOT helped you benefit from this experience." spoke Obito as Naruto narrowed his eyes, knowing that such logic was spot on. "Shintō (Way of the Gods) allows you to create portals around your limbs, enhancing the blows of your taijutsu, except these limbs only move in a linear fashion, you can't properly defend yourself while using it. There are others but those are the two I've seen. If you're going to defeat me you will need to rely on all your abilities, not just the limited tricks you have shown me." Naruto only openly glared at the Uchiha, he was taunting him, in his own unique way. He knew that he was forcing his hand when Obito raised his gunbai so to smack Naruto once again.

"Kamiyonanayo: Chikyū Tentouno Ibuki (Earth Reducing Breath of Heaven)" Naruto whispered a a massive plume of grey ash appeared from the nothingness, effectively blocking Obito's attack. Said Uchiha smirked and then jumped away as Naruto gripped the Tonbogiri and summarily sheathed it away. "Haiton: Fūjin (Ash release: God of Wind)." within a flash the ash began swirling around Naruto before exploding outward like a cyclone, eviscerating the burning forest around them, quickly leaving the battle-field as a scarred landscape. Obito only smirked at this as the ash did little to harm him, only passing threw him like all the other instances.

"Very dangerous, and clever and I do think its time for a change of scenery." continued Obito as he surged through handseals while the wounded Naruto watched. "Doton: No Haaku Dai Kyojin (Earth Release: Grasp of the Earth Giant)!" yelled Obito slamming his hands together in the Snake seal as Naruto widened his eyes at the immediate effect. The very ground beneath began to shake and quake, Naruto even lost his footing as he felt an enormous pressure wash over him, the very air itself became thin as he suddenly realised that the both of them were being hefted into the air, by the land itself, his ears rung with the sound of thunder as he turned on his side to see mountains itself rising from the earth. Obito had created an entire array of floating rocks the size of small towns, Naruto could only gasp at the shear scale as he scanned his head to stare at each individual platform. "Much better and now, for you, the fall would be deadly." said Obito as Naruto raised his left arm and had the ash rocket forward towards Obito who allowed to pass through his form without worry.

"You understand now, Obito, you can't touch me nor get close, not without sustaining fatal damage to yourself. I have a shield of ten thousand blades protecting me now." spoke naruto regaining some semblance of authority as he stood to his full height, his wounds becoming meaningless as he glared at Obito who quietly chuckled to himself.

"How wrong you are." spoke Obito, causing Naruto to raise his eyebrow in response. "You may look around and see floating rocks, but that's not what this jutsu's true power is, its the power of domination, control, observe." spoke Obito raising his hand towards Naruto who only stared at it with cautious curiosity. He widened his eyes as he felt a small prick on the tip of his index finger and look down to see that his only index finger was bleeding on its tip. "All things material, belong to me now. Your blades can't touch me." Naruto widened his eyes once more as the image of Obito's gunbai struck him in the chin, sending him hurtling across the surface of the floating rock, surprised that his ash didn't come to his defence. "You must never lose control over your emotions, they may end up betraying you." warned Obito as Naruto picked himself up, glaring hatefully at the Uchiha. "the blades of ash, even under your control, is still a material you create to exist in this world, thus while in this barrier created by these rocks, they are under my control, even your own Tonbogiri is willing to betray you now... all these things in this world are subject to control. But that control is robbed from you and now even your own senses are belong to me while inside this sphere of influence"

"Do you ever shut up." spat Naruto, carefully watching each blade of ash carefully with his Sharingan. "Under your control? I hardly think so, all things created by my hand, all exist to serve me. So you made stones float, spectacular, it won't make a difference." warned Naruto as he stood to his full height, boldly standing against Obito as he smirked at the blonde. In a flash Obito appeared in front of Naruto swinging his gunbai which was blocked by the ash, something that astonished Obito as he should have full control of the technique. It was a jutsu he learned specifically to kill Naruto, he struck again, only meeting the same result as the ash came to his defence. "perhaps you lack the power to subjugate my power? If so, than this grand technique of yours is useless." Obito was only surprised by this little trick of Naruto's, he could see, with his Sharingan it was clear. Naruto was pouring a massive amount of his chakra into the ash, gaining back control of the multitude of blades.

"All things are in my control. Even you." spoke Obito raising his hand once again causing Naruto to freeze in his spot, his entire body becoming paralysed by the Doton technique, even his ash came to a halt also as Obito put an end to this cunning little machination. "I wonder what it's like, to be cut by ten thousand blades." said Obito as he allowed Naruto the luxury of looking up just as the ash came falling on top of him, consuming his entire being. Blood sprayed out like a sprinkler as the blonde was shredded by his own technique, he wasn't even allowed to scream as he endured the kisses from the swords. It came to an end as the ash fell to the ground in a heap, Naruto standing their, components of his armour torn and frayed, deep wounds cutting into his entire body, his blood leaking like a tap, his left arm having suffered the brunt of the attack, a little gift from Obito. "Without your only arm you won't be able to use ninjutsu, all you can do now is kick me in the shin." spoke Obito as he approached. "But I see you were able to survive that assault, likely because you commanded those blades not to cut you by pouring even more chakra into that jutsu, it definitely saved you from being nothing but meat at this point." Naruto only breathed hoarsely, his own mask now being similar to Obito's with only half of it remaining on his face now. The younger shinobi inched forward with what little strength he had, managing to raise his only arm, shakily, with all the strength he had in his body. "Cute but you should know that-" the Uchiha was silenced from speaking further as he coughed up blood, his hand covering his mouth as blood poured through the gaps of his fingers, almost vomiting it up as he fell to his knees clutching at his throat.

"Even if all things are in your control, the space in your lungs seems to exempt from this." spoke Naruto as he dropped his arm as Obito fell to the ground, blood pooling from his mouth, his corpse fading away into nothingness as Naruto released a gasp as Obito's grip on him broke. He couldn't enjoy this for long as his opponent reappeared again, unharmed, standing atop another rock that was above the Uzumaki. "the blades of the Kamiyonanayo are so minute that you wouldn't even notice breathing them in, you breathed in too much and all those compacted blades did the trick, tearing apart your body from the inside out, I just had to put on a show to buy some time as you continued to breathe them in and even you can't avoid the damage from inside." said the blonde as he dropped to one knee.

"Even still, that trick won't work a second time. You can't perform jutsu, your blades work against you, and now you are out of options." said Obito raising his hand, not seeming so smug as he was previously. Feeling the pulse of his enemy's chakra, Naruto forced more chakra into his eyes, using another one of his techniques, one that could save his life or end it in an instant.

"Kamiyonanayo: Mojiretsu Sono Kankei Unmei (String that ties Fate)!" said Naruto as an ethereal thread sprouted from his wrist, the other end situated in the beak of a small bird just as the ash of the Kamiyonanayo collapsed on top of him. Obito believed this to be the end, imagine his shock when the ash dispersed only to find Naruto completely unharmed but in the same state as he was previously. To be sure Obito had the ash circle around the blonde, supposedly tearing him apart. He grew even more frustrated for he received the same result, he then launched one of the massive rocks at him crushing his opponent under the weight of the stone, again, nothing happened only that bird with the string continued to flutter about the man without a care in the world, this irked the Uchiha to no end as he then jumped down, forgoing the danger of the ash and instead ruthlessly began to beat the blonde with his fists, kicking him unto his back. Not able to use any jutsu to defend himself, Naruto only took the punishment without complaint.

Nothing happened, his fists impacted against his face but he suffered no wound, his mask didn't break, he didn't even bleed now. He kicked the young man in the teeth, instead there was no chip, no knocked out incisor, he didn't even scream in pain. Easily annoyed by his enemy's antics, Naruto kicked him off not strong enough to hurt him, being too weak to pose even a threat now.

Obito only gritted his teeth at this until his sight settled on the small blue bird flying around with the red string in its beak. It had something to do with this phenomenon, it had to, thus Obito smacked it with his gunbai, feathers dropping from its form as it tumbled to the ground in a small heap, dead, the string being dropped from its mouth. The Uchiha then cast his eyes back on Naruto, who miraculously had completely healed from all his wounds, no longer bearing deep cuts, no longer suffering from any trauma. Obito's vision then went black a he slumped over, dead. His body fading just like before. He appeared right in front of Naruto, perplexed at what just happened, not being able to wrap his head around it.

"Never, sever the thread." warned Naruto, his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan brimming like embers. "The thread was the thing that tied us together, the bird, the representation of our life." this Kamiyonanayo was probably the most perplexing jutsu in Naruto's arsenal, it only works when both parties had suffered extensive damage to the other, Naruto's beaten state and Obito's many deaths, it never would have worked on the train for Obito had suffered little to no damage at all. And whoever severs the thread pays the price for such a sin, both shinobi suffer no damage between the other and all suffering they endured would be reciprocated upon the sinful party, the one that would sever the thread or kill the bird, killing the bird resulted in death, severing the strings would mean they would only suffer the injuries the other sustained. It was a handy little trick, with the innocent party being healed for their wounds because of their lack of sin. But it only occurs once a week, a very picky jutsu. if neither sever the thread or kill the bird, the small creature would join the strings together and the one who first inflicts damage on the other would suffer the consequences.

Naruto then unsealed the Tonbogiri, a portion of his strength having returned to him, Obito, having regained his body, readied his gunbai, and the two met in a clash of sparks once more, unbound by the limitations of their respective jutsu. They slashed and stabbed, swung and cleaved and neither of their attacks left any opening. The embers freely flew from their strikes and Obito's gunbai was suffering the most, each block, each attack chipped away at the wood, splintering it. They met in a final clash, their faces inches away from the other.

"You are truly worthy of your power, I've never met anyone as strong and cunning as you. I'm quite jealous actually. But, only one can triumph here today. Katon: Gōkakyū no jutsu (fire release: grat Fireball technique)!" Obito spewed forth a gigantic ball of flame that was three times his own size right at Naruto.

"Raiton: Raikōhō (Lightning Release: Thudner Roar Sear)!" yelled Naruto, holding out his only hand as a powerful lightning bolt pierced through the flames and struck Obito's gunbai which he had brought up to defend himself. It was like this for several minutes, the two were trading jutsu after jutsu, never able to lay a scratch on the other, even the ash came to Naruto's defence on several occasions. But something was wrong, Obito could sense it, somehow, the two traded blow after blow with perfect accuracy, never gaining, never faltering, he realised too late that this was a ploy from the start, he was trapped in a genjutsu and he had no time to break from as he was stabbed multiple times by the Tonbogiri, the illusion never letting him realise that he had been killed once again. Like before the Izanagi activated and it swept away the events and returned him to normal.

"You must think me a fool." spoke Obito when he came back into being, something which Naruto smirked at under his mask. "You think your clever little tricks will have any effect on me."

"They are having an effect on you." stated Naruto, his eyes conveying the smug emotions he was feeling. Irritated, Obito then charged at Naruto, the Uzumaki remaining nonchalant about it as he threw the Tonbogiri right past Obito's head, missing him entirely. The Uchiha scoffed at this and continued charging at Naruto bearing down the gunbai upon the blonde's head. Just as the wood was about to make contact the younger shinobi uttered a single chant. "Ūrnā (Fine White Hair)." spoke Naruto simply forming a seal in his hand as the Tonbogiri suddenly pierced Obito from behind. A special space-time jutsu that allowed Naruto to recall objects or people to him. Obito faded way once more, the Tonbogiri cluttering to the ground to which Naruto simply picked it up, even the blood on the blade dissipated.

Naruto blocked another attack from the gunbai, Obito's swings and offence becoming more manic and wild, sloppy even as Naruto was able to anticipate every single blow without effort. They engaged in their power struggle once more with greater force and effort that with each swing it caused a dust cloud to grow with each swing and block.

"Garasuton: Hashira Shizuka Reijin (Glass release: Pillars of Silent Beauty)!" roared Naruto as he summoned forth glass pillars that stood high and proud as towers upon the floating rock, even Obito was forced to absorb some of the pillars with his Kamui to avoid getting skewered by them. In the commotion and having to dodge the pillars, the Uchiha had lost sight of his prey and was skidding across the glass trying to locate him. He didn't have to look far as he received his answer when he blocked a strike of the Tonbogiri from above, even smashing through one of the horizontal pillars as he stared into the blood red eyes of Naruto. He had no time to react as the Tonbogiri itself was coated with black flames that engulfed its entire length. "Enton: Kagutsuchi!" yelled Naruto as the flames exploded and outward even ascending into the sky above, the pillars were destroyed with ease, their glass fragments being scattered about and breaking upon contact with the stone ground. Obito was unlucky as a small plume latched itself unto his cloak and was quickly spreading through his form.

He was quickly swallowed by the ebony fire and like before faded from existence entirely. Naruto was swiftly becoming exasperated by how many Izanagi Obito had at his disposal, but judging by his level of chakra now, he surmised he had about four more left, four more chances to get it right. From the splinters of glass his opponent came roaring, forgoing his intangibility in favour of cutting down the blonde.

"Kamiyonanayo: Shintō (Way of the Gods)." Naruto only outstretched his hand which was devoured by a brimming orange portal, another, larger portal appeared at his opponent's side, grabbing Obito by the arm as three more appeared from the empty space and tore the Uchiha apart, ending his life once again. He could see it, he was becoming desperate, like a starved animal, casually throwing his life away just for a single attack now. When his body disintegrated Naruto ushered forth all the flames of the Ameterasu into the sky, the fires soaring threw the clouds and darkening the sky. Almost, he just needed time now. He received his wish, slightly as Obito appeared once again, his gunbai hanging limply in his hand. "Obito, enough, you can't win." such words struck a cord in Obito as he swung his warfan at Naruto's head, the blonde effortlessly blocking it with the Tonbogiri.

Gritting his teeth the Uchiha only slammed his fist into the ground, again and again, expressing his pure frustration at not being able to overcome the blonde. He even shattered the rest of his mask as he pummelled his head into the stone of the floating mountains, Naruto looking on in pity. Naruto then casually threw the rest of the black flames upwards into the sky, something quickly forming over head.

"No! I won't lose!" screamed Obito as he slammed the tip of his war fan into the hard stone, fires spewing forth from the point of impact. "Uchiha Kaenjin!" he yelled, Naruto taken by surprise as a pillar of blood red flames shaped into a wall surrounded Obito, before an explosion went off in an mad attempt to kill Naruto. It was so powerful that the many rock formations floating in the sky were swept away by it and Naruto survived only by taking cover behind one of the large fragments, he only remarked at how this jutsu was beginning to augment and further what he had already created, as he saw the winds gather and swirl just above his head, the trees being torn apart on the edges of their battlefield, the many animals and birds fleeing from the site. When it was over, whatever remained of Obito's Doton jutsu quickly fell to the ground, Naruto emerging from some of the rubble as he stared up at the sky, an enormous hurricane beginning to form over head. He still needed more time, just a few more minutes now. Naruto scoured his red eyes amongst the rubble, careful not to trip over loose stones and uneven ground. He found Obito in the exact same spot, his robes torn and breathing hoarsely as he stared up at the hurricane forming above. They were in the eye of the storm, away from the dangers of the winds as Naruto quietly approached. "why won't you die? Why can't you just roll over and accept your fate?!" screamed Obito as Naruto stared in sympathy.

"Because, I have someone worth fighting for."

"Love? You think something like that exists in this world?! This world that has taken everything from me! Taken the one thing I cherished! The one thing you have now! Love, I loved someone, as you do now. But instead of having her with me, she was snatched away! Never to return! How can you stand there and proclaim that I am in the wrong?! How dare you stand there pitying me as you are now! You don't even deserve the luxury!" roared Obito charging forth the two trading blows once more although Naruto seemed as if he was effortlessly dancing around the Uchiha, like water flowing by a stone. "You have someone who loves you! And I don't! She would stand with you! Shield you from your pain! While the love of my life cared for someone else! And she was nowhere afterwards! Can you say the things you say now after experiencing what I did?!" the Uchiha brought the warfan over his head, swinging downward, intent on cleaving Naruto's skull but the Uzumaki with one powerful stroke completely obliterated the gunbai, splintering it into many hard, sharp wooden pieces that tore through Obito's skin and left him with deep gashes, he even attempted to jab what remained of the handle into the blonde's flesh only receiving a slash across the stomach that spilled his blood all over the stone.

He impacted against the hard ground, dead once gain. Naruto watching as he faded from view, he offered a short glance at the sky, seeing the lightning arcing in the winds of the hurricane, feeling its sheer power and majesty. It tore the land apart, ripping out trees from its roots and the mountains shook and crumbled beneath its majesty. He felt Obito's presence once again, the Uchiha's back facing him, and only then did he see it, rows of Sharingan peering through unnatural eye lids, exposed through the ripped fabric of Obito's robes. That was his secret, there's where he put them all. Naruto couldn't help the swell of pity that rose up, what was once a fight to the death had evolved into something more. It had become clear through the blows that were traded, the wounds they suffered, Obito wanted to die. But yet, his fervour to see his loved one gain drove him forth, willingly ready to defy the laws of nature. And as he watched the shaky survivor, all he could think about how they were similar and yet so different at the same time.

"How can you have these things? Why can't I?" he questioned but Naruto had heard enough, his jutsu was ready. And now, as he thought about it, this next attack was more out of mercy than anything else. he released a breath sheathing the Tonbogiri and stared up at the hurricane above, raising his left hand as his Sharingan eyes stared at the natural disaster. this jutsu, this thing that formed overhead, if was able to be quantified, he would say it was SS-rank jutsu, if such a thing existed, no it was probably an SSS-rank jutsu if he were being perfectly honest.

"This technique has the power to destroy Konoha three times over. It is the most powerful jutsu in my entire arsenal, probably the most powerful in the world, the power of a god at my finger tips. Ryūjin (Dragon God)!" said Naruto as he released a burst of his chakra into the hurricane. Soon enough the hurricane, twisted, contorted and changed its very shape as it came descending down to the earth, it tail whipping about as strong gusts of wind were blown about the place. Naruto himself was raised up by the strong winds, almost like a prophet as his sole hand swirled with wind. The hurricane soon took on the shape of an asian dragon, its body completely composed of of cloud and breeze with glowing red eyes like rubies and roar akin to thunder. "the preparations for this technique are acute, I can only use it once for the conditions to use it will be depleted but it will destroy everything you see, for as far as you can see. So, Obito... disappear with the cry of heaven." spoke Naruto as he lowered his hand, ushering Ryūjin forth and with a mighty roar, the great dragon impacted against the ground, right on top of Obito, the Uchiha remembering only its jaws encircling him.

The effect wasn't immediate, there was a tense wait as the accumulated energy began to disperse, but when it came, it carried the such power that it could make the world tremble in fear. With a violent burst of wind, with speed that rivalled even lightning, did the winds tear apart everything in sight, like an atomic bomb being set off, shaving off everything even remotely close to the impact as a great dome of sharp gales and gusts ripped everything in it wake. Nothing survived it's onslaught, not trees, or birds, not even the small creatures living underground, the winds like powerful blades swept through the land, tearing through anything in its path, swallowing all within its maw. Even the pressure was enough to break bone as a large portion of the Land of Fire's map was erased from existence becoming nothing more than a destroyed grey basin that seemed as if the land itself was carved with a butter knife. Was it overkill? Some could say that, but in Naruto's mind, to protect the one he loved, he would do anything within his power to ensure such a thing.

And just as it appeared, it swiftly disappeared, leaving a crater three times the size of Konoha, Naruto landed on the ground, having been protected from the winds, the touch of the hard ground sending shivers through his toes. He peered into the sky, seeing the soft blue of the day. He couldn't sense Obito, he surmised that his technique was so powerful that even Izanagi was unable to overcome it. he satred up at the sky, squinting his eyes as the sun shone, alone, not a single cloud in sight. It was almost peaceful, even, despite the devastation around him, the world was cruel but it was indeed beautiful. This thought was dashed when the Uchiha faded into existence right in front of him, sweat pouring down his brow and every limb of his was trembling. Naruto couldn't believe, he was sure that his opponent's own stubbornness was the only thing keeping him alive. To survive such an apocalypse, it was almost madness.

"No! I'm not letting it end like this! I will see her again!" Yelled Obito slamming his hands together to form the Snake seal and channelling an enormous amount of chakra. Naruto gasped and tumbled as the ground began to shake once more, he managed to push himself into a kneeling position as the earth cracked beneath his knees and a large ominous shadow blotted out the sun, making everything go dark within its shadow. The Uzumaki craned his head over his shoulder before turning his entire body to face the monstrosity before his eyes, it was easily the size of a small mountain and even intimidated Naruto with its vast size. "Mokuton: Shin Sūhyakuju (Wood Release: True Several Hundred Hands)!" roared Obito as the behemoth like construct gazed down at Naruto, like a predator staring down their prey. While it was nowhere as large as the variant Madara had told him about, the one he faced during his days fighting Hashirama, it was still gigantic and could easily wipe out an entire army if given the opportunity. "Now I will take her from you! Just as she was taken from me!" Naruto widened his eyes in horror, knowing the meaning behind it all.

"Keep her out of this! You gave me your word that she wouldn't be harmed!" reminded Naruto but his nemesis didn't care, it was clear now, he had driven Obito over the edge and her life was in danger because of it all. He, who had come here to protect her and funnily enough, going to protect her some more. But he couldn't help but feel the overwhelming rage at Obito's words, breaking his promise, threatening her. He wouldn't let this stand.

'with the chakra I have left, I'll only be able to maintain it for five minutes, even then I wasn't able to keep it up for long. But I have just enough time.' he thought to himself, and he channelled as much chakra as he could into his eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, activating his own personal guardian, his soldier, the perfect extension of his being. "Susanoo!" he yelled screaming as white flames overcame him, creating a gigantic pillar of pale light that blinded Obito, causing him to shield his eyes at this new development. What stood in its place was a titanic construct of similar size to the wooden deity, it wore samurai armour over a robe, its helmet had a long, straight, pointed nose, holes on the sides of its cheeks, sharp teeth and a spiked chin. In the centre of its forehead was a pentagon with Naruto situated in the middle, right below said pentagon was four curved spikes, like a crown, jutting upward with two locks of long, flaming hair falling on each side of its face with a high ponytail, on its back were two gigantic arms holding a pair of nodachi swords in their hands. Overall it had a distinctly demonic appearance that even inspired fear in Obito just from looking at it.

The massive Susanoo brought up one of its extra arms, taking a blade within its regular hand and unsheathing it with such force that it could cut down a mountain. Obito sent the arms of his own guardian surging forward, locking the colossal warrior in place as it groaned in defiance. With its free hand it tore apart the wooden arms with ease and sliced through the rest with its nodachi, only to find even larger hands sprouting forth from the ground. It swung its sword around in an arc, bisecting all the hands with ease and creating a strong gust that would have swept lesser men off their feet. Obito's own Buddha construct began to inch forward and the Uchiha had to swing its multitudes of arms towards Naruto's own Susanoo ready to pummel that armour into submission, instead it ducked under the swing and cut off a large portion of the wooden figure, its wooden arms falling to the ground with a quake causing large dust clouds to rise from the impacts. The warrior was then swatted away, forcing it to its knees as it held its massive sword in both its hands.

'I have to end this, quickly.' Naruto thought to himself, he couldn't keep up the Susanoo for long, even five minutes was his maximum time even with all his chakra. He had no jutsu that could bring down that monstrosity aside from the Susanoo and that jutsu. And he couldn't believe it for a second, he would use this jutsu, for the first time, in many long years, easily one of the strongest in history. The warrior raised its free hand, its nodachi still in the other as it gathered up a tremendous amount of chakra. Obito only observed intrigued at what Naruto was going to do but somehow this feeling seemed familiar as he saw the chakra becoming visible before his very own eyes. In its hand, about a third of its size was a monumental Rasengan the jutsu of Naruto's father, Minato. The Uchiha knew, that if that certain jutsu made contact, even his greatest weapon would fall befall it, he couldn't let that happen, if he did he would be giving up at this very moment. The Buddha raised one of its hands and sent forth a barrage of sharp wooden springs that the Susanoo sliced through with ease. "Kamiyonanayo: Suteppo no Shinigami!" roared Naruto as the spectral warrior disappeared from Obito's view and apperaed right behind the Uchiha and his wooden monster, ready to slice the idol apart with its sword, only it never got the chance as the figure bashed the Susanoo away with a mighty swing, sending it skidding across the ground, quickly reverting back to its skeletal phase before disappearing entirely. Obito thought he had won, but he failed to notice that the mega Rasengan was no where in sight, only did he shift his head gorward did he see Naruto flying towards him, the giant orb of spiralling energy in hand smashing it into the titan before it could act.

"RASENGAN!" screamed Naruto as the statue was completely demolished under the Rasengan's power. The hardened chakra grinding into the wood, breaking and splintering into literally a million pieces, possibly even a billion. Even Obito was swept up in the power as he was shredded into nothing but blood and paste, becoming nothing more than a smear as the Rasengan launched forward, punching a gigantic hole through the state and shattering through the outer edges of the great basin before exploding into a massive shining of light.

It was over, Naruto landed on the ground harshly, from that height and with his durability he would survive, of course the impact created spider-web cracks in the every direction in the ground and every cell in his body was aching and screaming at him. The shear pain of using almost all his chakra coupled with the Susanoo had left him nearly unable to walk. But fighting through the pain, he managed to push himself to his feet with his sole arm providing some level of stability. He scanned his eyes across the landscape, that beautiful green field of tall grass was replaced with a continental basin of flat grey. Nothing remained of its original beauty, he had even devastated the surroundings forests and mountains. But he breathed a sigh of relief as he stared up, allowing the sun's light to kiss his face, he had won, it was over, as he turned on his heel to leave, his ears perked up at the shuffling of dirt and he sharply turned around, only for a kunai to bury itself deep into his right eye, blood exploding from the wound.

It took a few moments for the pain to register but none the less it was excruciating as he screamed out in agony, clutching at his profusely bleeding socket. Through his remaining left eye, he saw Obito holding the bloody kunai, sweat all but cascading down his form and his legs were trembling, breahting heavily as the Uchiha stared down his opponent with half-lidded eyes, the Uzumaki quickly surmised it must have been an incredibly difficult task to even stand let alone walk. The Uchiha moved forward, with all the speed he could muster and Naruto kicked him away with what strength he had left, this sent Obito tumbling to the ground, coughing from the attack.

Naruto breathed, pursing his lips together, steeling himself as he plunged his fingers into the remains of his right eye, discarding the bits and other flesh from its socket. pulling the flesh from its strings as hints of black and red leaked out through the remains of the orb.

"It seems I am in need of a right eye, Obito." uttered Naruto opening his right eye lid revealing the black and red space within and speaking as if he was a ghost. Obito gritted his teeth and shook like a leaf as white flames blazed to life around Naruto himself, his Susanoo coming to life once more. But this wasn't the complete warrior we had seen before, this was only the skeletal version made of bones and nothing else. The master and his guardian took tentative steps forth, the pain racking Naruto as he reached forward with his remaining arm, each step bringing him closer to his nemesis. Seeing this Obito took out a string of explosive tags and threw it at the warrior, which had little to no effect as it comfortably protected Naruto within the safety of its ribs. The older shinobi then jumped into the air and jammed the kunai into the ghostly apparition only for it to break upon contact and he was swatted away with back of the skeleton's hand as punishment.

"No! No! Stay back." screamed Obito in dread as Naruto inched closer with every step, blood leaking through his socket and staining the ground beneath his feet. For Obito, he didn't just see a man, or a boy anymore, he was staring at the shell of a beast, hell-bent on taking what was his. His breath hitched as he felt the tips of Naruto's fingers around his socket, he fell to his knees, unable to breath as he stared into the face of hatred itself. Naruto, didn't smirk, didn't chuckle or sneer, he said nothing as he listened to Obito's screams of agony as he felt his very eye being ripped from its sockets, the blood spilling like paint being flicked about. He clutched at his empty socket as Naruto plunged the orb into his own socket, the sensation like acid being burned in his socket. The eye quickly turned blue, then the characteristic red of the standard copy wheel eye, before shifting to three stretched triangles evenly spaced around the pupil that curved at the top to form a pinwheel (Obito's pattern). Except something else occurred, the Sharingan was taking on an entirely new pattern, three circles spiralled around the pupil each with two spikes jutting from the sides slightly forming a three-pointed shuriken that surrounded the pupil. The combination of Naruto's Mangekyō with Obito's. "thank you, and your reward, a reunion with your loved one." said Naruto as he unsheathed the Tonbogiri, while Obito stared at him with his left eye, his breath hitching as he slumped to the ground.

In a final act of desperation, Obito latched unto Naruto's leg something that surprised the blonde but otherwise he was not fazed by this new development.

"I will see you burn, before I die." was all he said as his left arm began to crack and split like molten armour, red veins lined his arms as Obito channelled an insurmountable amount of chakra into to it, if he couldn't kill Naruto, then he was happy with taking him to the same place he was going. "Katon: Ittō Kasō (Fire release: Single Blade Cremation)." uttered Obito with Naruto screaming in denial as a surge of blood red fire reached for the sky, forming the shape of a katana, the fire was so hot it could be felt many miles away as even the air around the flames burned with an unholy fervour, it scorched parts of the basin the two were standing in and the sky went blood red and black as the flames burned. It lasted for a few minutes and the body Obito was no where to be seen only ash and dust where he remained, but Naruto was also out of sight.

In Konoha, the village was still reeling from the destructive force of that sudden hurricane, it came without warning, it appeared and disappeared as if it never existed in the first place and what followed were strong winds that could uproot trees and the shaking of the earth akin to an earthquake. Tsunade, the godaime hokage was sitting in her office, watching her villagers run around trying to quickly clean up the mess. Her ear perked when she heard a knock at the door, the individual entered without permission, but Tsunade knew who it was, the distinctive tapping of a cane and the temperature in the room suddenly decreasing all pointed to one person.

"My Lady Hokage, you-" he started only to be interrupted by his Hokage as she turned to face him.

"I know, the hurricane, the earth shaking, the heat rising, these are no natural disasters."

"My agents have found the centre of this catastrophe and with your permission I would like to leave the village and ascertain the source of these problems." Tsunade instinctively narrowed her eyes at this, it was odd that Danzō would ever be personally interested in a subject such as this. All she gave was a nod and Danzō.

It took about an hour to reach their destination but none the less they made it anyway. Despite their emotionless states even the ROOT agents were taken back by the sheer level of destruction they saw, claiming that this destruction exceeded the battle with Hashirama and Madara. Danzō knew this to be false, the battles between those two gods left an entire country scarred and broken, the Valley of the End was just a small scar compared to that level of devastation. Still even the old War-hawk knew the that the great basin they were standing in was intimidating, unnerving, it filled him with dread just thinking about how this power would be turned on the village.

"We should go Danzō-sama." said one of the agents, turning to leave, even the old veteran was turning on his heel when something came flying from the sky and pierced the very ground in front of him, a black and red blade, undamaged, not even a scratch, standing there like a mountain weathering the great winds. The Shinobi no Yami narrowed his solely visible eye at this and watched as a hand grabbed the sword and yanked it out of the ground. he could literally feel the glare crawl across his skin as the frequent thorn in his side stood there, emotionless.

"Shame, I was hoping Obito would have finished you off. But he sealed his fate when he challenged you. Is it too much to ask that you just roll over and die?" queried Danzō as the Sharingan eyes of Naruto hatefully glared at him. But, he didn't carry the same strength as he did an hour ago. For one, the armour on his chest had been completely burned away and several armour components on his arm were now missing, scratches, bleeds, bruises, burns and deep wounds all coated his body, the blood still freely pooling at this very moment. "I don't know how you survived Ittō Kasō (Single Blade Cremation) but knowing you, the Susanoo would have shielded you, but, it looks like it only protected against the brunt of the damage. But even without the Sharingan, I can see that you can barely stand, your chakra is at such a low point, even performing the most basic of ninjutsu would be a miracle. Do you really intend to finish me off in the state your in?" Naruto said nothing, just listening to the old man talk, it was grating on his nerves as his hand shook and his blade trembled.

"Just, shut up, I've already had an earful of Obito, I doubt I would want to listen to you!" yelled Naruto as he swung the Tonbogiri, black flames dancing off the length and its tip. He then charged at Danzō, swinging his sword in an arc. What caught him off guard however was the fact that old man grabbed him by the hand, dispersing the flames and pinning Naruto to the ground, the force of which caused it to crack and break. The blonde would hate to admit, his enemy was right, he was far too weak, too low on chakra, his body was screaming at him in abject pain and even standing before him was a task. Mustering all the chakra he could, the Sharingan faded from his eyes as he channeled a Rasengan into his hand, aiming for Danzō's face, instead the older shinobi swatted it away and stabbed a kunai into Naruto's neck. Blood exploding from the wound.

"I must thank you Naruto, your cells." muttered the warhawk unfurling his hidden right arm and tightening his fist. "they are wondrous, so much strength. Power. Fortitude. Ultimately you were too weak to face me at this time, perhaps when you were to your full strength you may have proved more than a match for me. But as it stands. You must die here, forgotten, never to see the light again. And let this show how far beneath me you are." continued Danzō as Naruto clawed at the kunai, chocking on his own blood. "I always intended to kill one of you, it just remained to see who would be the last one standing, I knew it would always be you who would stand triumphant, I would expect no less. Goodbye." said the old man, walking away, escorted by his ROOT as Naruto died, slowly, painfully, clutching at the last few threads of his life. his body still, his hand flopped to the side of his body, the light in his eyes disappeared as his muscles relaxed. Except, there are some things in the world that never should be.

The hours passed and Naruto's lifeless body remained where it lay, the kunai still in his neck. Except, his body like Obito's before, faded away into nothingness, there wasn't any inkling that he was ever there now, the kunai in his neck falling to the ground, not even a speck of blood on it. A pair of legs stood over the kunai, their shadow enveloping it, a pair of blue eyes staring at it before tentatively leaving this scarred battle-field. The basin, his grave, that Kunai his gravestone, he picked up the Tonbogiri, holding it in his hand as he departed for parts unknown, now with a singular goal in mind.

WOW that was the longest fight scene I have ever written. that's more than ten thousand words. now I do hope it was to everyone's standards, of course, I can't please everyone, but I do hope you enjoyed it. Now Naruto has faked his own death (if you didn't gather) and we will learn what comes next in the next chapter which will have a time-skip and for good reason. Obito is out of the picture and now Naruto embarks on a new journey. what will happen as we enter a brand new story arc. for now

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