Eroninja

Cyan leapt back as the Zero Tails that she faced sprouted several arms that it tried to use to ensnare her. She managed to avoid them as many smashed into the ground where she had been standing. However, many managed to stop short as the hands at the end of the elongating arm angled up after her. Due to her still being in the air, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to maneuver to avoid them. But, just as they were about to wrap around her, Mila appeared several feet in front of her. The dark-skinned woman brought the broadsword that she wielded down on the arms severing them before they could snag her allowing her to land towards the back of the large courtyard where she, Mila and Emilou had dispatched several of the creatures already.

The Zero Tailed beast let out a scream of pain, as it used the arms that had missed Cyan earlier to attack the new threat. However, although Mila raised her blade to a guard position, they never reached her as Emilou landed near her and a small ball of energy formed near the tip of the horn that protrude from the white bone-like helmet that she wore into battle. Once the jutsu charged, she fired a beam of energy at the Zero Tails which blasted the closing arms into nothingness and carried on towards the main body. However, although her aim had been true, the creature shifted its masked face away so that the energy beam tore into its body leaving a deep groove.

The Zero Tail let out another roar of pain, before focusing its masked gaze on the three women. A large mouth formed just behind its mask which split as a ball of chakra began to form in its wide maw. The ball of chakra shot forth and hit just before all three kunoichi blowing them off their feet.

Cyan smashed into the wall of one of the buildings which surrounded the battleground and felt as if the world was wobbling as she tried to get back to her feet. Just managing to do so, despite the vertigo that she was feeling, she spotted her fellow Fracción on the opposite side of the courtyard from her. Her gaze shifted to the Zero-Tails which was closing on the two unconscious women. Cyan suspected the beast was ignoring her due to it salivating at the idea of draining the two women of their charka and planned to save her for desert. Hoping to distract it, she raised her right hand and began to gather charka before it. Once the ball was large enough, she raised her left to direct the blast, which although tempted to go for the mask, due to her world still spinning decided to aim for the body less she kill the women that she was hoping to distract the chakra beast from.

Firing the jutsu the beam hit the Zero tails in the side where it had coiled its body beneath it as it prepared to swallow Mila whole. The blast cut a hole through the beast’s body, although it quickly began to heal leaving behind scared tissue as it regenerated. It turned its masked gaze towards her, where the large mouth sneered at her. Yet, rather than coming towards her, it simply created a large number of the yellow mucus-like arms from its body which it sent across the courtyard to her. Yet, before they reached her, a man dressed in a red cloak dropped before her and began to spin. He was coated in yellow chakra which then shifted into a vortex as he pumped his wind natured chakra into it. The arms hit the shield of wind chakra and were shredded to pieces.

As the arms ground themselves into the barrier, Naruto landed beside Cyan and easily lifted her up into his arms before leaping away. The Zero Tails yelled in frustration, which Cyan attributed to the fact that another two Naruto had taken off with Mila and Emilou in a similar manner while it was distracted. The Naruto that had shielded her, ended its jutsu allowing several arms to ensnare him as he stopped spinning.

“Naruto,” Cyan said as the Zero Tails lifted him up to bring it towards its mouth. She was surprised the creature seemed so intent to swallow him as well as had attempted to with her and her fellow Fracción. But, she suspected that due to the vast amounts of chakra they contained, the beast felt it was the best way to suck them dry as thoroughly as possible.

“Relax Cyan,” the Naruto carrying her said while favoring her with a warm smile, letting her know she was in the arms of the original.

Directing her gaze back towards the Zero-Tails, she watched as the clone seemed to collapse in upon itself as a small singularity appeared which pulled the creature’s mask apart before pulling the rest of it in and anything nearby not bolted to the ground. When the jutsu finished a large ball made of tightly packed rubble crashed into the ground. Cyan studied it for any sign that the creature had survived, but soon lost sight of it as Naruto carried her into the city. Settling her gaze on his face, she did feel some warmth enter into her as memories of the time she had participated in an orgy of his lovers returned to her.

She quickly pushed down on them figuring a battlefield wasn’t the best place to get lost in lustful memories. But, she did allow herself a few moments to collect her thoughts about the blond man. Particularly since she still felt confused about her feelings in regard to him as when she had woken up the following morning and found him missing, she had been relieved. She would later learn it had been due to his sensing Tifa’s presence in the mansion, and with her proximity to Kiyomi as well as their history together, he had decided to investigate. Which Cyan couldn’t exactly fault him for, however she would admit to feeling rather put off that he ended up sleeping with them rather then returning.

She wasn’t exactly sure why his doing so had bothered her upon learning where he had gone, particularly in the face of the relief that she had felt at his not being there when she woke up. Yet, when she had tried to rationalize it, the best that she had come up with was because it had been her first sexual encounter with other partners, and so felt Naruto’s not being there when she woke up, not to mention having another sexual tryst so soon after, was in essence trivializing her own experience. Which although she admitted to herself that she shouldn’t have had any great expectations, as she had simply gotten caught up the sexual excitement of the moment, she guessed a part of her still wanted it to be special to the blond man.

Yet, just as she had begun to convince herself that Mila and Emilou were right about him. Naruto had sought her out and explained that one of the reasons he had disappeared that morning had been because he felt that without the sexual atmosphere of the previous night his presence would probably have made her uncomfortable. Forced to admit that he was right, she felt the negative feelings that she had begun building up towards him evaporate, particularly as he made it clear that he was aware the night had been rather, if not special, at the very least memorable for her. Although, he had attributed it primarily to Tier’s presence, which she mostly would have agreed with. Yet, his seeking her out to make sure to convey that he knew the previous night had meant something to her, served as a fresh reminder of the warm feeling that his presence had left her with that night. It also served to make her question if it was just Tier’s presence which had made it a night to remember for her.

Since that night, Cyan had found herself seeking to understand just what it was that she desired, and found that truthfully, her goals were almost nonexistent. After all, even her working for the Great Tree Shipping company was due to her following after Tier, rather than any actual desire on her part. Yet, reaching that understanding, did help her to understand something that she felt made Naruto unique, which was that he prioritized the well-being and happiness of his lovers even to the detriment of his ambitions at times. Which, as he had supported Mira’s choice to quit working to advance the Great Tree Shipping Company prestige, even before taking her as a lover, made Cyan believe that if she had wanted to leave to find herself as it were, he would support her in that decision as well.

She had considered doing just that, feeling such a trip might be beneficial to her. But, before she had made a decision on the matter, she had learned of the impending attack on Ame. To her surprise, upon understanding Naruto’s death would likely be one of the objectives for the enemy, she had felt a desire to take part in the battle. Which made it somewhat embarrassing that he had ended up needing to rescue her.

Turning her focus to why he had appeared, in order to refocus her thoughts away from being carried in his strong arms, she asked, “How did you know we were in trouble? I thought you were helping another squad with warding off the flying zetsu that were harassing them.”

Naruto’s gaze shifted down to meet her eyes causing her to flush as several different feelings began to mix together within her as he replied, “I was, but since it seemed my presence was attracting the Zero Tails. I was told to break off while the others pulled back to the center of the city.”

“I see,” Cyan said, “We’re acting as bait to keep the beasts occupied while the Ame’s forces try to establish a defensive line.”

Naruto nodded, before replying, “That seems to be the case. Seven has removed her seal, and she is advancing towards Kukaku’s position. While, Ino was the one that informed me that it appeared you three were in danger of being overrun.”

“We were doing just fine,” a disagreeable Emilou shouted as she began pushing against the clone holding her to escape its arms.

Naruto came to a stop on the roof of a building near a cross-walk that led deeper into Ame’s center. The clone’s joined him, but before the one holding Emilou could set her down, it received an elbow to the chest that caused it to dispel causing her to fall on her behind. Naruto turned towards the woman while still holding Cyan, who admonished her fellow Fracción by stating, “Yes, we were doing so well that you decided to let the beast we face force you to take a nap and allowed Naruto to carry you all the way here. Where rather than thanking him from being saved from being swallowed by the aforementioned creature, you decide to make yourself look foolish by declaring something that is obviously not the case.”

“Oh yeah,” Emilou shouted back, “If you are so amazing then why are you in his arms?”

“Because I like being in them,” Cyan retorted, but began to flush as she realized what she admitted.

Emilou seemed a little taken aback as well, but before she could comment Mila interjected, “Regardless, now does not seem to be time to argue over what has already happened. But, to focus on what we should be doing now.”

“Agreed,” Naruto stated as he set Cyan down.

Before he could come up with a plan of action, Ino’s voice cut in as she mentally said, “Hey Lover, if you’re done playing hero. Shikamaru says you are near a crosswalk that he wants you to defend. All of the Ame forces in the area have already crossed it, but they need time to establish a new defensive position.”

“Roger,” Naruto said before asking, “But, won’t the Zetsu and shinobi just bypass us?”

“The Zetsu probably will,” Ino answered, “But, it seems most of the shinobi that landed with these Zero Tails are just following in their wake due to how effective they were at breaking through our lines. Which, means those forces haven’t really been all that effective since most of the Zeroes are just chasing you and the other chakra dense people around. But, with most of Ame’s defenders gathering together, that might be enough to get them interested.”

“Is that some part of Shikamaru’s plan?” Naruto asked feeling some concern they seemed to be falling back along multiple fronts.

“Hard to say lover,” Ino replied while Naruto leapt from the roof to the ground below as he moved to about the midway point on the crosswalk. “To be honest, I think those Zero Tails weren’t really a factor in any of our calculations, and so we’re kind of at the wing it part of the plan. With your part of it being that you need to take as many of them out as you can.”

“Nothing like giving me the easy jobs,” Naruto quipped as he pulled his chakra blades.

To which Cyan quickly added, “I believe our assistance will make the task somewhat more manageable,” as she produced her blade which resembled an oversized sai.

She flushed red though as Ino teasingly said, “Oh, I think she likes you lover. Does that mean she’ll be showing up at the celebration later? I hope so, I think Tier wants another bite of her juicy peach.”

Cyan went stiff and noticed Naruto had as well, which she contributed to their both expecting Mila and Emilou to react to Ino’s telepathically projected words, but the blond playfully stated for their benefit, “Don’t worry. I didn’t broadcast that last part. Take care lover!”

Cyan turned her gaze towards Naruto and shared a brief smile with him, which caused Emilou to role her eyes as she stated, “What are you two smiling at so stupidly? Don’t tell me you’re actually sweet on him Cyan.”

“Well, if I was, I would be in good company,” Cyan replied dismissively. “Perhaps, should we survive this I’ll join Lady Tier in celebrating the victory.”

“The key word being survive,” Naruto stated as he felt both Mila and Emilou’s eyes begin to burn into him at the reminder that from their perspective, he was some parasite that had latched himself to the perfect being that they viewed Tier as.

But, he soon felt several new gazes settle on him, although this time with the feeling of a deep-seated hunger tied to them. Directing his gaze towards in the direction that he had traveled from. he witnessed several Zero Tails slithering towards them so put his mind to the task of showing the creatures that Uzumaki was definitely not on the menu.

******

“Naruto and the others have engaged several zero tails,” Ino reported, with a note of concern entering into the professionalism that she had thus far displayed.

Shikamaru nodded, and hoped the blond proved up to the task, especially as one of the Ame-nin monitoring the chakra signatures of the enemy forces that had been following in the creatures’ wake stated, “The shinobi that had been tailing them seem to be taking up holding positions.”

“Good,” Shikamaru stated in reply.

But, before he could move onto some other crisis Karin asked, “Why is that a good thing? It’s bad enough you are leaving him on an island to give everyone else a chance to regroup, but…”

Shikamaru noticed that Ino was about to come to his defense, but he had expected Karin’s outburst so explained, “He’s hardly the only one. I’ve stationed most of our S-ranked shinobi at various points of the city to prevent the Zero Tails from just smashing through everything. It appears that the mercenaries that were at these landing zones are more than willing to let the Zero Tails do all the work. I would be more concerned if the mercenaries were taking up a position to take advantage of Naruto’s and the others preoccupation with the Zero Tails. But, that doesn’t seem to be the case. So, provided Naruto and the others can take the creatures out. I suspect with a concentrated push from our forces the majority of the enemies’ forces will break.”

Karin seem mollified by his response, and he noticed that even though Ino hadn’t questioned his orders when he had suggested using Naruto and the other S-class shinobi hold various choke points, it had mainly been due to her trust in him. He also noticed that Fuyou seemed to be regarding both women with a hint of curiosity, which he suspected was because she had picked up on how their anxiety had grown since a majority of the creatures were targeting Naruto and the women of the Great Tree Shipping Company.

However, he focused on another section of the map and asked the Ame-nin monitoring it, “How are things holding up at Landing Zone Five?”

“Surprisingly well,” the kunoichi replied, “There didn’t appear to be any of these creatures among the enemies’ forces that landed there.”

Shikamaru nodded, although he found it rather strange since at best count there had been about four dozen of the creatures, and so he couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t have included some among the forces that had landed to the south end of the village. Trying to puzzle out the strategy, he turned away from the Three Dimensional map showing everyone’s positions thanks in part to the Sensor-nin surrounding it, to focus his attention to a map which showed an overview of the city. One of the Ame-nin was currently pinning various identifiers to it, which denoted the positions of both theirs and the enemies’ forces. He frowned as it also showed how the mercenaries had been moving erratically as they followed after the Zero Tails, primarily as the creatures had been busy trying to get close to some of the more powerful defenders of the Ame. It didn’t exactly make sense to him, since he felt although smaller in individual chakra, the more numerous number of the regular defenders would be the more tantalizing meal, particularly since most predators didn’t exactly relish fighting difficult prey. Unless, he reasoned the hunger of the creatures wasn’t entirely natural but served some greater purpose that he couldn’t see due to some information that he didn’t possess. Although, he surmised that if the creatures purpose was to steal and store as much chakra as possible their actions made more sense in that regard. As it would be prudent to dine on the stronger fighters before they used up most of their chakra, before then focusing on the weaker shinobi.

Looking at the overview of the city, he could see the Ame forces were holding the first landing zone, and what they had designated Battlefield Five. He had been forced to pull back the shinobi that had moved to protect Battlefields Two, Three, and Four due to the appearance of the Zero Tails there. However, he knew the enemy forces that had appeared at those locations along with them had most likely been mercenaries. He had surmised this due to how those forces seemed inclined to let the Zero Tails due all the work, rather than strategically moving forward to capture defensive positions that the retreating Ame-nin had abandoned.

A fact that he found worrisome since he felt Sasuke should have embedded some of his forces among them to make sure the mercenaries behaved in a strategic manner. Instead, they had moved about all over the place assuming the Zero Tails would batter their way through the Ame-nin like they had at the landing zones.

“Fuyou,” Shikamaru said turning away from the map, “Have the commanders at BZ Five confirm the nature of the forces they are engaged with. Are they acting in an organized manner or wearing identifying uniforms or headbands?”

The kunoichi nodded before heading towards the Ame-nin manning the communication equipment for that area of the battle, where she relayed his request. After a moment she approached him stating, “The commanders say the enemy shinobi they are facing do appear to be fighting as cohesive units and are all wearing markers with the same symbol. Am I to take it that is where Sasuke landed the bulk of the forces loyal to him?”

“That would be my guess,” Shikamaru answered with a frown as it caused several questions to arise for him.

One of which, Fuyou gave voice to as she asked, “I don’t understand, why not use those creatures to help his own forces to advance into the city. They’d probably take better advantage of us needing to pull back.”

The Nara was about to reply that he didn’t understand it either until it dawned on him, “It’s because he isn’t all that concerned with them advancing. He’s using the engagement there as a proving ground for his forces.”

“I don’t understand,” Fuyou stated.

But the Nara ignored her in favor of addressing the shinobi using their sensor abilities to generate the enemies’ positions, “Pay attention to any new chakra signatures that seem to begin building upon themselves.” He received a chorus of acknowledgments, so began to formulate a counter-strategy. Thanks to Karin, he was aware that there was at least one more wave of enemy forces circling the city just outside of the range that the Ame-nin sensors could detect. However, with the information of where Sasuke had landed the forces that would be loyal to him, he was extremely confident he knew where it would land at.

However, first he wanted to test his theory, so returning his focus to Fuyou, he moved to the chakra map where he pointed to an area as he ordered, “Have the commanders at Battlefield Five begin to order a controlled retreat. I want them to pull back to establish a new defensive line at these coordinates.”

He could see that the Ame-nin wanted to question him, since their forces were rather evenly matched. However, she nodded and returned to the shinobi that were in communication with the squads in the field. After she completed her task, she asked in a hushed whisper, “Do you mind explaining why?”

“I believe I have some semblance of what Sasuke’s endgame is,” the Nara replied. “If his forces don’t immediately advance, then he is merely testing them, and these mercenary forces are merely to prevent us from mounting a real counteroffensive to crush his untried shinobi. This would likely make the Third Wave flying around out there Sasuke’s elite troops, who will help cover their escape as the battle draws to a close.”

Fuyou frowned, which Shikamaru understood since the kunoichi could probably tell there was information she lacked as to why he was thinking along such lines. Which was true as he had not informed the Ame-nin of his mother’s concerns that Sasuke may have gotten his hands on the Forbidden Technique: Fury. Primarily since it had been an unsubstantiated rumor which if he started spreading such rumors could cause trouble for the clan that had created it, and also because if it powered up enough, even killing the user wouldn’t do anything but cause it to go off to devastating effect. As such, by informing Naruto of the possibility, he felt he had taken the only step truly available to him to remove the jutsu from play, so hadn’t made it a part of his briefing to the Ame-nin outside of telling them to keep a look out for unexplained chakras building upon themselves.

Shifting his focus to the chakra map, he watched the enemy’s forces at Battlefield Five hesitate in pursuing the retreating Ame forces. As they came to a stop, Shikamaru imagined that the squad leaders were communicating up the command chain as they likely had standing orders not to advance too far. Confident that he now knew where the last wave would come in at, and that it wouldn’t do so until the end of the battle. He set his mind to making sure the battle was as costly for Sasuke’s forces as possible, even as Ino mentally told him, “Shikamaru, Seven has dispatched two more Zeroes on her way to Battlezone Four. Also, it appears Nel slipped out of the bunker where Mito, Momo, and Kiyomi have holed up.”

Shikamaru felt a surge of annoyance, but it was more directed towards the fact that he had wanted to have Seven move to where Sasuke had landed the bulk of his forces, before she had activated herself. However, he could understand why the seven-tailed Bijuu would feel concern for her sister since despite only facing one Zero-Tails and a single warrior, Kukaku appeared to be unable to put either down for the count. Still, he supposed having Seven cut a path towards her sister would at the very least allow him to bleed resources from the area so that he could redirect them to crushing Sasuke’s main force. Thinking along those lines, he mentally replied to his former teammate, “That’s good, but see to it that Seven’s path takes her through the more densely packed section of the enemy’s formation.” Receiving a brisk nod, he waited to see how the enemy reacted so he could move his pieces accordingly.

****

Kukaku leapt away a moment before the patch of earth that she was standing on erupted into a geyser of dust and cement due to the round spiked mace that had appeared from the empty sleeve of the one-armed woman. As she landed, she wasn’t given a moments respite as the woman appeared through the dust she had kicked up forcing her to raise her blade to block the sword of the woman dressed as a Samurai-Ko. She was forced to fall back again as her pink-haired opponent ducked down, and the mace she had previously launched swung around through the space she had just been occupying before it was retracted back into the empty sleeve.

Kukaku spared a moment to verify where the scarred Zero tails that had appeared with the woman was at, since while it seemed inclined to let her and the woman it had appeared with to duke it out. It had made several attempts to wrap her up when it thought her attention was slipping. Which while it was perhaps aiding the woman, Kukaku had to admit it wasn’t the primary reason that she was having such a hard time dispatching her opponent. The woman was just that extremely skilled, but moreover, she was fighting with a recklessness which told Kukaku that even should she die in the attempt, she would be happy so long as it was after she had separated her head from her shoulders.

The Four Tailed Bijuu wondered what she could have done to inspire such hatred in the woman, especially considering how she had spent the better part of a century locked away in a variety of hosts. Moreover, she was under no such illusions that it was the actions of a former host that had set the woman on her path, especially as her opponent asked, “Tell me! Is the creature inside you shivering in fear at facing its day of retribution?”

“Well assuming you are correct and I host the four tails. Would it matter if I said it was?” she replied playing along hoping to get some idea of what the woman was referring to. Her opponent sneered at her, so she added, “In truth, I’m wondering why you’re taking that glorified leeches word on the matter.”

“Because it was there the night that thing killed everything that mattered to me,” the woman shouted.

Kukaku lost her focus for a moment, prompting the woman to launch herself at her while launching another fury of attacks. She managed to meet the woman’s blade each time but was forced to leap back as her opponent lead with what appeared to be a missed swing. However, in actuality it was to bring her right side to bear on her as a large metal claw connected to a chain appeared from the empty sleeve. Kukaku’s leap took her out of its range, but before she could move to attack as it retracted into her opponent’s sleeve, she was forced to roll away as the Zero Tails took that moment to attack. Dozens of arms that seemed to be composed of a mucus that the creature secreted from its pores smashed into the ground where she had been seconds prior. Coming to a stop in a crouched position, she raised her left hand and gathered energy before firing a blast which she had aimed at the Kanji that read ‘one’ on the creature’s mask. It seemed as if her attack would strike true, but it shifted its head at the last instant causing it to cut another groove in its scarred body.

She fired off a curse as she was forced to bring her sword up to parry the pink-haired woman’s as she leapt at her. Their blades scrapped against one another as the woman flew past her to land several feet to her rear. Kukaku got back to her feet and adjusted her position so that she could keep both the woman and creature in her view. Neither seemed inclined to attack for the moment, so Kukaku allowed herself to recall the mission where she had first encountered the masked Zero Tails that she now faced. It had been during a mission in which her host at the time, Roshi, had been tasked with locating and eliminating the traitor that had caused Iwa’s alliance with Kirigakure to fall apart due to his actions in the event that would be known as the Tragedy of Yosuga Pass. It had taken several years, but eventually Iwa’s Anbu had determined that Bison had set up shop in a small mountain village located in the Land of Iron. Which was why the Tsuchikage had sent Roshi in to confirm the information, and if an opportunity presented itself to eliminate the traitor.

However, during the course of the investigation, Roshi had not been able to confirm Bison’s presence. But, unfortunately his inquiries had alerted the town’s people that he was not the simple traveler that he had claimed to be. Primarily, as the entire town had served as a cover for a Shadaloo Research Facility, which had been in the midst of creating the Zero Tails. Naturally, the men and women of the town had primarily been researchers rather than warriors, so finding themselves facing a jinchuriki they had found themselves woefully incapable of matching him in skill. In their desperation to stop him, they had set loose the creatures that they had created. This had proved to be a fatal mistake, since their creations had quickly begun feeding on them. But, eventually they had soon turned their focus onto Roshi. He had managed to slay several of the creatures by discovering their weaknesses, but eventually had found himself overwhelmed to the point where Kukaku had seen an opportunity to take over.

Assuming her Bijuu form, she had erupted from the base that rested beneath the town. Naturally, all the Zero-Tails that had been contained within had swarmed her as she had become an even bigger meal in their eyes. While most of them have proved to be easy to dispatch, she had noticed that one had seemed to grow more strategic in its attacks often waiting for her focus to be on one of its brethren before engaging to siphon off some chakra before slinking away to wait for the next opportunity. Eventually, as she dealt with the others those moments had come less and less, until it was just the two of them. But, it had proved rather sturdier then its fellows which she attributed being due to the chakra it had siphoned due to the Kanji for Zero that had been on its mask at the start of the battle shifting to a one. Eventually, she had felt Roshi beginning to reassert himself due to how much chakra the numerous creatures had siphoned off. As such, she had been forced to withdraw lest she be consumed along with her host should he fail to be a match for the creature that seemed to grow stronger while she grew weaker. In many aspects, it reminded her of her hosts confrontation with Kisame and Itachi.

Confident that she was facing the surviving Zero-Tails from that day, she let her attention settle on the human standing beside it. Unaware of any time where she or her host would have crossed the woman’s path to earn her enmity directly. Particularly since Kukaku felt the woman was too young to have been one of the survivors that had worked for Shadaloo, and so felt that it was likely that the woman had been a child of one of researchers who had lived in the village to keep up appearances. If so, she was unsure why the woman was aiding the creature, since she felt they had contributed as much to the town’s destruction as her so said, “Listen here, I’m not sure why you bear a grudge against the Four Tails. But, since it appears to have been point where you and that thing would have crossed paths with the Bijuu. I have a hard time believing that thing didn’t do just as much to earn your ire.”

The woman frowned as she replied, “You’re right of course. It’s entirely likely my family met their end by one of the very creatures they had created. It very well may turn on me as soon as we’ve finished you off.”

“Then why…”

“Why side with it now,” she replied cutting Kukaku off as a crazed smile appeared on her lips, “Because it’s of use to me in this moment.” Her opponent launched herself at her again as she shouted, “I’ll gladly allow it to devour me, especially if it consumes the beast within you first.” Kukaku prepared to receive her opponent’s attack, but she was forced to dodge instead as from the sleeve of her missing arm a large Kanabo appeared. The large spikey club swung through the space where she had been standing before disappearing back into the sleeve it had appeared from.

The woman stepped into the space Kukaku had vacated as she completed her spin and brought her sword around which the Bijuu parried with her own. They kept their blades locked together as they each tried to push the other one back. While they did so, Kukaku asked, “If you feel that creature was just as responsible, then why does it get a pass.”

The woman’s lone eye met hers, and within it she saw a burning hatred which she imagined was her sole reason for existing. Which matched the anger of her response as she explained, “That thing will gladly devour us both. But, it does so solely because that is its nature. It very well may have been the thing that killed my family. But, it didn’t enjoy the misery it created. Yet, that wasn’t the case for the creature whose chakra you stink of. Because, it wasn’t an errant blast that a Zero Tails let loose with which hit my home and stole my arm or eye. I didn’t find the crushed remains of people I grew up with huddling together in fear within tracks left by the creatures that Bijuu was busy destroying. Can you hear the creature within you? Can you have it tell me, why after being set loose would it even bother completing the mission of its host? Or, was it even trying to, and just was basking in a rare moment of freedom where it could slaughter to its hearts content. The Zero Tails even now is watching us like a cobra, and if it moves to attack me, I can at least say that I was aware of the hunger that drives it. But what except malice drives the beast within you.”

Kukaku found herself shaken by the woman’s recollection of her actions that day, particularly as there was more than a little truth to her accusations. Granted, she felt that she had primarily been defending herself from the Zero Tails attacking her. But, she couldn’t deny that some part of her had perhaps enjoyed the fact that she had been doing so in a populated area since she had made no move to change the location. Still, she didn’t necessarily know if she would attribute the malice to her actions that her opponent would. But, then the woman’s lone peach colored eye shifted to a clear blue one as she recalled the time Naruto had angrily called her out when she had nearly fatally injured an Aburame during Furofuki’s assault on Konoha. It made her wonder if he saw her in the same light, in that her disdain for humans which she considered to be lesser beings, could easily be considered malice by said beings when her actions harmed them.

As a result, Kukaku began to feel that she understood why Naruto had been angry with her. It wasn’t solely because she had injured that man, but because she had done so with the mentality of someone that had been told they had stepped on an ant that they hadn’t seen and then wondered why another ant would take offense. Yet, it was rather hard for her to continue to claim ignorance as another of those ants now stood before her bearing the scars of her actions. Actions that she couldn’t say she took for a greater good, or because she believed it had been right to do so. But, because she had been attacked, and truthfully hadn’t cared if the battle took place on the equivalent of an anthill. Which she supposed looked an awful lot like malice to the people caught up in her rampage.

Finding an unfamiliar feeling welling up within her, she tried to quantify it. But, wasn’t allowed to as her opponent sensed her sudden loss of focus so pushed her back. Kukaku tried to recover her footing, but the woman didn’t give her a chance as she quickly pressed her advantage by slicing through her right arm above her elbow. Kukaku screamed in pain as she stumbled back while she clutched at her bleeding stump. She was somewhat surprised that the woman hadn’t followed up with another attack, but focusing on her, she could see her opponent was drinking in her cries of pain.

Kukaku watched as the Zero Tails seemed to grow agitated as if it feared the woman would kill her and thus deprive it of the meal it sought. A very real fear she realized, especially if she didn’t do something to stop her bleeding. Channeling chakra to her hand, lava began to appear in the palm of it. She then applied the magma to the stump causing her to scream in pain as she cauterized the wound. Her opponent seemed to delight in it as she said, “Can the beast within you feel your pain? Should I take the eye next?”

Kukaku continued to press her hand against her stump as she kept applying lava to the wound. Focusing on her opponent which was difficult to do through the pain, and she imagined blood loss she said, “If only your parents could see you now. I imagine they would have a hard time recognizing which of us was just some murderous beast.”

The taunt struck home as almost immediately the good cheer her opponent had been exhibiting from the pain she had inflicted disappeared. In its place a murderous rage appeared which caused even the Zero-Tails to pull back and which she acted on as she launched herself towards the Humanized Bijuu. However, before she could bring her sword down to cut her from shoulder to hip, Kukaku managed to catch it with her hand just above the hilt, which was now coated in a layer of volcanic glass, she then snapped the blade off before jamming the stump of her arm into the woman’s chest where the make shift knife that she had fastened out of the cooled magma protruded. The blade pierced her opponent’s heart as she said weakly, “I know that I’ve wronged you, and it’s not the revenge that you desire. But I’ll bear the scars of this battle for the rest of my days.”

Kukaku wondered if the surprise that was etched on her opponent’s face was from the realization that she had faced the Bijuu that she despised directly. Or, if it was a result of the sudden reversal of her fortunes. But, the Four Tails felt that in all likelihood her vow, was just words since in her weakened state she likely would be following the woman into the afterlife as soon as the Zero Tails moved in. However, before the light completely faded from the woman’s remaining eye, her face twisted once more into a mask of pure hatred before she mustered the last of her strength and stabbed Kukaku in the side with her broken blade trying to drive it into her heart. Giving a wicked looking and satisfied smile she said, “I’ll be seeing you in hell.”

She then toppled backwards falling off of Kukaku’s make shift weapon. The Bijuu began to follow suit, but several arms wrapped around her as the Zero Tails lifted her up. She couldn’t find the strength to resist as she felt her life and chakra slipping free of her physical body. Yet, she almost welcomed the embrace of the Zero Tails as she felt it could be considered a blessing in disguise since death would mean not needing to bear the feelings that the battle had caused to arise within her.

****

Yugito moved her head to the side just enough that the Raikage’s lightning chakra coated fist missed her head by the thinnest margin possible. She felt tingles pass across the right side of her face as small arcs of electricity passed between them. She then quickly spun behind him where she made to deliver a punch to the small of his back. However just before she contacted Ay’s lightning shroud, she gathered some of the blue flames coating her body to her fist and discharged it. The resulting explosion blew the Raikage off his feet as he was sent flying away. He hit the ground hard and rolled to his feet without missing a beat before giving her an angry glare.

Yugito replied with a dismissive smile as she asked mockingly, “Is the reason you led me on that merry chase, because you were expecting some reinforcements to be waiting for you here? Did Aizen and Tosen betray you too? You’ve certainly fallen on hard times Lord Raikage.”

Ay got back to his feet, as he said, “Get over yourself. It is the nature of this world that the strong use the weak and the useful. Do you think you’re the only one to have a reason to complain about how they’ve been treated by this world?”

Yugito to his surprise didn’t respond with anger, but calmly replied, “Is that why you think I find your current predicament amusing? I hardly think I’m the only person that you’ve screwed over. No, I simply find it fitting that a man of your character currently finds himself alone and abandoned. Consider it a precursor to the day when all your sins have been laid bare for all to see.”

Ay narrowed his eyes as he said, “Really, do you think if the truth comes out that I stole you from your family it will matter one iota to the people of Kumo. You’re trash as far as they’re concerned. An ungrateful bitch who was handed power and spat in the face of the people that gave it to her. For they know that no matter how dirty I get my hands, that I’m doing it for them.”

Yugito felt a spike of anger as she said heatedly, “And you think that makes it alright. You wrap yourself in this cloak of nobility, claiming that so long as you say that it’s all for Kumo, you’ve done nothing wrong. But who is the one sitting at the top of Kumo and thus benefits the most from your actions. You aren’t serving anyone but yourself.”

“And what of you,” The Raikage asked dismissively of her little speech, “Who were you serving with your defection?”

“We both know the answer to that,” the blonde kunoichi replied calmly as the anger bled from her system, “The difference between us is that I’m willing to admit my actions are for my benefit.”

“Really, then what of all that nonsense about wanting to serve Akatsuki for the benefit of all,” Raikage shouted while gesturing angrily as he prepared to attack.

Preparing to meet the charge that she knew was coming she replied, “I meant what I said, and I believe in Akatsuki’s mission. However, when you denied me the privilege of joining them. That’s when it became about me, because it was what I wanted. I spent my entire life doing your dirty work. All the while telling myself the same thing you did, it’s for Kumo, so its fine. But, the truth was that I was just spreading misery and pain so Kumo could profit from it… so you could.”

“The things you did, were for the benefit of Kumo’s people,” Ay shouted before charging at the rebellious jinchuriki.

“Then why lie to them,” Yugito countered as she took off to meet the Raikage’s charge intending to end their battle, “surely they’d appreciate all the awful things that you’ve done for their benefit.”

However, before the two of fighters clashed, a large tentacle appeared from the water to smash down between them. Both combatants turned to watch as the bull head of the eight-tails rose from the water behind it. The Bijuu placed a giant hand on the concrete divider that kept people from falling into the water. The Bijuu then seemed to get pulled into its fist before taking the form of Killer Bee, who stood where its hand had been.

“Yo, it’s been a while Yugito Ni,” the host of eight tails stated before leaping from the barrier. “Usually, the shoe would be on the other foot, and you’d be the one bringing me back for my Bro.”

“I guess I finally got bit by the same rebellious bug you did,” Yugito replied jovially if somewhat tensely as she kept her guard up. Her tone changed to be more serious, although still contained a hint of playfulness as she said, “I know it is hypocritical of me to ask considering the number of times that I dragged you back to Kumo. But, would you be willing to walk away.”

Bee’s tone took on a somber quality as he pulled his blades, “Sorry, Yugito. But, there’s a difference between a little mischief and outright betrayal.” He tossed his swords into the air as he prepared to catch them while adding, “So how about you come back before I have to get serious.”

However, before the blades had begun to get pulled back down to the ground by gravity, a streak of lightning passed through them causing the blades to disappear. Upon hitting the ground, the flash reversed course heading straight towards Bee. However, just before slamming into him, the chakra shroud faded revealing Yoruichi. She came to a stop holding one of his blades, having tossed the rest into the ocean, which she pressed into the side of Bee’s neck as she said, “I hope you don’t mind if I join in on the fun.” Giving Yugito a playful smile she added, “Unless of course you don’t mind being in a handicap match. You looked like you were handling things just fine when it was just you and the oaf.”

Yugito returned the smile before stating, “Actually, I would prefer it if you just keep Bee from interfering. My issues with Kumo lie solely with the person at its head.”

Yoruichi nodded before saying, “You heard the lady. So how about you be a good boy and keep yourself on the sidelines.” She felt the Bijuu inside him beginning to stir, so added, “That goes double for you, Gyuki.” Yoruichi quickly realized her slip up as she could sense a wave of confusion emanate from the Eight-Tailed Bijuu.

However, before she could think of a means to correct her mistake, a new voice cut in, “Now what do we have here.” The eyes of all those present shifted to the new arrival, as Kisame Hoshigaki approached while holding his bandaged wrapped sword over his shoulder. Giving everyone a shark tooth grin, he said, “Here I was hoping to offer my assistance to a fellow missing-nin in dealing with the Octopus problem that was incoming. But, it seems you already had an ally.”

Yugito scowled at Kisame as she asked, “Are you going to pretend that I’m not one of your targets as well?”

“Not at all,” Kisame replied amused, “But, you’re way down the list. The truth is my orders were to capture either you or the seven tails. But, going after her with another S-class shinobi backing her up would be a tough job even for me. So, I was going to focus on you, but then Shark Skin felt an old meal incoming. I figured that considering how you don’t have any ties to Kumo anymore, that you wouldn’t mind if I took the Octopus off your plate.”

“You figured wrong. I’m not willing to align myself with scum like you in order to secure my freedom,” Yugito stated as she shifted her stance to attack the Kirigakure missing-nin.

However, she was hit from the side as the Raikage connected with a lariat as he took advantage of her shifting her focus. The force of the blow sent her spinning about in the air, but before she could recover, he grabbed her by the ankle and smashed her into the ground, “Don’t forget that I’m your opponent.” He then lifted her up by the throat before delivering a vicious shot to her midsection, which sent her sailing through the large window of a store front before leaping away in pursuit.

“Yugito,” Yoruichi shouted worriedly, and grunted in pain as Bee took advantage of her loss of focus by grabbing his sword by the blade, and spinning, delivered a powerful shot to her jaw.

Yoruichi stumbled away as Bee pulled his blade free of her grip, which he used to block Kisame’s as the missing-nin charged him. Giving an amused smile, the former member of the Seven Swordsmen said, “Looks like we have our own version of a three-way showdown. Considering what happened the last time we crossed paths, you sure you don’t want to just surrender.”

Bee gave a cool smile as he countered, “You mean how I made you and that punk Uchiha look like chumps by carting off a tail, while I got to spend a little time out of my bro’s jail.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of how you scampered off knowing you were beaten,” Kisame countered with a sense of amusement. However, it faded as he was forced to push off from Killer Bee, just as a powerful wind scythe passed through the spot where he had been standing.

Kisame focused on the person who had attacked him and found a woman with purple hair approaching along the same trail he had used. She was dressed in a black formfitting dress, which hugged her figure, with the skirt portion stopping at her upper thighs. Beneath which peeked the tight brown shorts which she wore underneath and was similarly colored as the thick brown belt that she wore around her hips. Wrapped around her shoulders was a gray cloak which blew about behind her as she slowly approached. To complete the outfit, she wore black boots which extend up well past her knees.

Watching the woman approach he said, “While I’m not normally one to rebuff a lady when she’s showing interest in me. I’m a firm believer in business before pleasure, so why don’t you come back after I finish with the octopus.”

However, before the woman responded to him, Bee was sent flying and landed in the sea when Yoruichi while coated in chakra, delivered a superspeed punch to his jaw while she shouted, “Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to sucker punch a woman?” She then took off across the water to make sure the Eight-Tails didn’t interfere further as she was confident that Yugito would come out ahead in her clash with the Raikage.

Miya allowed a small smile to appear on her lips as she stated to Kisame, “It looks as if an opening has appeared on your dance card.”

Kisame smirked as he said, “Hell, why not. I suppose it wouldn’t do for me to have my main course without a small appetizer first.”

*****

“Get away from her you freak,” Seven shouted as she arrived to find a Zero Tails lifting her sister and a pink haired woman into the air above its head while a large mouth began to appear beneath its mask. Barely able to feel Kukaku’s chakra, she feared that she was too late, and the creature was in essence trying to suck the last nutrients from her sister, similar to sucking marrow from a bone. Which it did to the pink haired woman as it dropped her into its wide maw to be swallowed whole.

Channeling her chakra to the ground beneath her, a giant Stone Dragon erupted from the concrete along the same trajectory that she was running so that it carried her to the beast. The Zero Tail’s angled its mask towards her as it registered the threat that she and her jutsu posed just before she leapt from its head while the stone dragon smashed into its mask. The force of the blow from the dragon hitting and carrying the Zero tail’s off into a nearby building caused the creature’s hold around Kukaku to slacken, allowing Seven to snatch her sibling out of the air before she hit the ground.

Landing gracefully, Seven breathed a sigh of relief as she saw that her sister’s chest was still moving despite the sword sticking out of her side. She was about to set her sister down but was forced to leap away as several arms tried to wrap around her. Landing, and still cradling her unconscious sister, Seven directed her gaze to the hole her jutsu had made and from which the arms had appeared. To her shock, despite taking the blow directly to its mask, the Zero Tail’s appeared unharmed as it slithered out of the building. However, as she noticed that the kanji on its mask read four, she suspected that the fact it had survived being hit by one of her stronger jutsu with its mask only sustaining a few cracks was due to the amount of chakra it had managed to siphon from Kukaku.

Seven set her sister down and held a hand above her while keeping her focus on the Zero Tails, she created a stone beetle that encased Kukaku. However, before she could direct the stone construct to carry her sister away, the Zero Tails suddenly thought better of engaging her as the cracks within its mask deepened. She considered giving chase as the creature quickly slinked back into the darkness of the building, but she thought better of it since she feared it might be a ruse to separate her and her sister. Leaping onto the beetle as it spread its stone wings to take to the sky, she mentally contacted Ino as well as her sisters as she reported, “Ino, Kukaku is down. She needs immediate medical assistance. I’m taking her to the field hospital.”

“Roger,” Ino responded, “I’ll pass it on to Shikamaru.”

“Good,” Seven said feeling a surge of anger as she added, “Also tell him that as soon as I do, I want him to direct me to a battlefield where I can really cut loose.”

She could feel an understanding of her feelings in Ino’s voice as the Yamanaka replied, “I don’t think that will prove to be a problem.”

*****

“Tell her to head to Battlefield Five as soon as she can,” Shikamaru replied to Seven’s request while almost feeling sorry for the enemy that would be on the receiving end. Although he knew it was rather callous of him, he felt Kukaku’s near defeat was a blessing as he noticed the dots representing the enemy that were surrounding the other Bijuu seemed to be winking out of existence at an even greater rate. He smirked as even Nel seemed to be a boon as her chakra signature would appear and then disappear at random indicating that she was switching her seal off and on to move around without attracting her sisters’ attention. However, the mercenary squads that she appeared near were another matter entirely, which she would wipe out before switching her seal back on to appear among another group. Her actions also seemed to throw the Zero-Tails in disarray as the nearest ones would backtrack along their paths as they tried to hunt down the powerful signatures to the rear. Moreover, as she appeared to be making her way towards Naruto, it had the added bonus of funneling the Zero Tails into the jinchuriki, who along with the three followers of Tier had dispatched almost a dozen of them.

Shikamaru felt they were turning a corner in the battle since technically he still had several assets that he hadn’t committed. He considered ordering Kushina and Mikoto to join Seven, since he had been debating activating them to head to that battlefield earlier. However, before he could decide on the matter one of the Ame-nin generating the dots on the chakra map shouted, “Sir, new contacts have appeared behind our lines.”

“What?” Shikamaru shouted surprised, “Where?”

“Grid Zero,” the man replied, “They are engaging Lady Konan.”

Shikamaru calmed somewhat at the news since Konan was being supported by Naruko and Sage. Furthermore, he felt that the manner in which the enemy appeared indicated who the threat was so stated, “Keep calm everyone.”

“Ino…” he thought towards his teammate, who he imagined was already in the midst of getting a report from one of the women currently engaging the new arrivals.

“It’s Tobi,” Ino reported confirming the suspicions that Shikamaru had in regards to who one of the new arrivals was. “He teleported himself and a bunch of White Zetsu in right on top of them. Hold on, it also appears the Black Zetsu is with them as well.”

“Understood,” he replied silently to his former teammate. He then directed his attention to the man that had reported the arrival as he ordered, “Confirm the number of new contacts and report it to Ino.” Directing his next order to the shinobi in charge of communicating with the squads guarding the VIPs, he said, “Confirm the VIPs are still secure. If so, tell them to break a few squads off to assemble near the bunker entrance to provide support should Lady Konan need reinforcements.”

Receiving a chorus of acknowledgements, he noticed that Seven had left the field hospital and seemed to be floating into the air rather than making straight for the battle field that he had directed her too. He was about to order Ino to contact her to find out what the Bijuu was up to, but his attention was pulled to another matter as he said, “Sir! The remaining Zero-Tails are withdrawing.”

Surprised by the news, he watched as the handful of remaining creatures began reversing course. However, their paths took them right through the mercenary squads that had been following in their wake. As the creatures passed among their allies, the dots representing the mercenaries began disappearing indicating the creatures were now feeding on them.

Fuyou stepped near him as she asked sounding more than a little confused, “What do you think is going on?”

“I believe we are witnessing the dissolution of the Alliance between Tobi and Sasuke,” Shikamaru proposed seeing it as the most likely scenario. He could see from the Ame Kunoichi’s face that she wasn’t quite tracking him so he explained, “I believe these Zero-Tails were something that Tobi brought to their alliance. But, I don’t think he was quite expecting us to be able to destroy them so readily. With only about a half-dozen or so remaining, he is calling them back.”

“Why?” Fuyou asked with a frown as she felt something was off, especially as Tobi had just joined the battle.

“I believe the reason he agreed to let them be used, or more likely proposed doing so was because he wanted them to collect and store as much chakra as possible. For what purpose, I’m not sure. But, likely for the same reason he convinced Pain to collect the Bijuu. Whatever he has planned requires massive amounts of chakra.” Shikamaru closed his eyes as he began running scenarios through his mind since he didn’t understand why Tobi would enter the fray personally if he was in the midst of betraying Sasuke. But, it quickly dawned on him that could only mean their wiping out most of the Zero-Tail’s meant they had likely forced Tobi’s hand, and his appearance meant they needed to achieve one other objective and were in the midst of doing so. With that idea in mind he ordered, “Have those reserve squads join the fray now. Also, Ino contact Kushina and Mikoto, have them move to aid Lady Konan as well.”

“Are you sure?” Ino asked rather surprised at the number of resources her teammate was willing to commit.

Shikamaru nodded, giving an air of being upset at having her question his orders. But mentally he replied in a more detached manner, “I am. I imagine that Tobi is moving earlier than Sasuke wanted. He was likely meant to be activated when Sasuke began retreating his own forces from the city. A sudden surprise attack on the leader would normally be enough to send our forces into disarray. Yet, I imagine that would have been with a full contingent of those Zero-Tails still in play, not to mention the mercenaries as well. With the board currently arrayed as it is, it makes no sense for Tobi to step onto the battlefield personally unless he needs something.”

“I understand,” Ino said interrupting his silent explanation, “It only makes sense if Tobi’s plan wasn’t as disrupted as we believed from his losing access to the Bijuu.”

“That or he needs something from Konan in order to pick up the pieces,” Shikamaru replied through the mental connection the Yamanaka had created. “We already have an idea of what that is and have taken steps should he locate it. However, I would rather not reach a point where our safeguard is tested.”

“Right,” Ino mentally replied before adding, “Sorry for questioning you.”

Shikamaru gave her a reassuring smile, but it didn’t last as he directed his gaze back to the chakra map as he began to wonder how Sasuke would react to the betrayal that was unfolding. Yet, before he could begin, Ino mentally said, “Um… Shikamaru… I think you’re going to want to pull our forces out of battlefield five in a hurry. Seven plans to make quite the entrance.”

****

Yamame was rather pleased at having not been placed into any of the squads currently fighting within Ame. In fact, she was currently far away from the battlefield on the bank of the western beach of the sea that surrounded the

Rain Village. The transport that she had been in, as well as several others had landed there to setup a command center where their sensor-nin could monitor the village and relay the information to the members of the high command that were aboard one of the transports floating with the Third Wave. She was rather surprised that the command center was erupting into chaos due to the reports coming in from the mercenaries that the Zero-Tails were now targeting them as they fled the city, or how Tobi and his white Zetsu had suddenly appeared in the village.

However, she attributed the air of calm being a result of the three Root Anbu standing before the three-dimension model of Ame that the sensor-nin were projecting the various chakra signatures that they could detect onto. She believed that due to the calmness Udon as well as the masked man and woman flanking him were projecting at the current turn of events was causing the rest of the Darkness Shinobi present to believe everything was going according to plan. Her gaze then shifted from him, to the unconscious form of Fu Yamanaka who was laying on a mat before the chakra map and who was chiefly the one responsible for their being able to create one so far from the battlefield as he had created several shadow clones that were acting as relays for the sensors currently in the field, along with the body of a sensor-nin that he had taken over who was aboard one of the transports among the Third Wave and which he was using to send all the data back to the shinobi generating the map.

She watched it begin to fade, before reasserting itself, which made her suspect that the strain of the endeavor was a massive one for all those involved. However, she knew it was worth it as one disadvantage that many attacking forces had was being unable to generate such a command hub. Thus, denying the forces on the offensive the same level of real time information that defending villages often enjoyed.

Although tasked with monitoring the communication of the mercenary squads that had landed in the first wave, she only did so with half an ear as in truth she knew they were expendable, and no further aid was coming for them. In truth though, it wouldn’t have much mattered to her if the forces where from Yamigakure since she didn’t really feel any more of a connection to them then she did the mercenaries. Instead, she strained to pay attention to Udon in order to gauge just how well or poorly they were doing. Which while she hadn’t been made aware of all the phases of the plan, she was still rather surprised as it appeared the aura of calm the Root Anbu was projecting wasn’t just for show as he said aloud, “How predictable.” Touching a button which activate the microphone setup before him, he reported, “It appears Tobi is making a play for the Rinnegan earlier than we agreed to. It would seem that our alliance is over.”

Sasuke’s voice replied with a hint of amusement, “That was to be expected. I suppose its time to put an end to the charade then. What of Kisame? Chances are,that our trump card won’t make a clean sweep of the board. But, I would like to deprive him of that piece in particular.”

“It seems that he has run into a little trouble of his own,” Udon reported, “He’s currently engaged in battle with an unknown enemy, although they are likely aligned with the other individuals that have been popping up throughout the battle.”

“Hopefully they’ll keep him engaged long enough then,” Sasuke responded with a hint of amusement. “Alright, time for me to put the package in place.”

“One more thing,” Udon said before the Uchiha could cut the connection, “We detected a boat heading towards where the Raikage lured the two-tails. I believe it is how Kumo plans to escape. Should we move to destroy it?”

After a moment of silence, Sasuke responded, “No, let the Raikage leave unmolested. If he survives this, he’ll make it all the easier to ignite the flames of war across the continent. We’ll be proceeding to the final phase. This means we’ll be breaking the link so prepare for the return to Crow.”

“Understood,” Udon said before the connection went dead.

Yamane focused her attention to where the Third Wave was floating around the city. However, before reaching the point at which it would turn towards where the Yami-nin were currently engaging the Ame-nin forces, hundreds of chakra signatures began flying away from it. To Yamame, she imagined to anyone looking at it from the ground, it would almost look like an arrow that was streaking directly towards Amegakure. An arrow which was meant to pierce its heart or more likely brain, with Sasuke Uchiha at the tip of it.

Udon turned away from the map as it began to fizzle out as the now mostly empty Third Wave moved to the battlefield that had served as the fire meant to forge the Yami-nin that took part into a more capable force. However, before he could order for the camp to be dismantled, one of the guards posted outside shouted, “Lord Udon, you need to see this.”

Responding to the urgency in the man’s voice, Udon rushed out of the tent. Yamame followed suit and stopped cold as she had no problem spotting what had alarmed the guard as a streak of fire was falling from the sky. Looking like a shooting star at first, it began to morph into the shape of a dragon. A dragon whose head looked to be made of flame due to the speed at which it was traveling, and was followed by a stone tail, which to Yamame made it apparent that someone had managed to levitate a massive piece of stone high enough into the sky that it had reached its peak velocity.

Directing her gaze to Ame, she had a good idea of where it was heading, and despite her earlier feelings that she would feel nothing for the shinobi of Yami. She couldn’t help pitying them as it was clear that their actions that day had provoked something powerful. Which while for the Yami-nin at the center of where the jutsu was going to hit would undoubtedly appear to be an omen of death, for Yamame it was one of hope, if for no other reason that she now believed someone out their shared her desire for vengeance and had the ability to make it a reality.

*****

Gaara watched from atop his floating platform of sand as Seven’s descending Earth Dragon caused the Ame-nin to flee into the city from the beach where they had been engaging Sasuke’s primary force. For him, it was a rather sobering sight, and one which made him feel as if he had been too naïve when he had first agreed to Naruto’s ambition. While he would admit that he was still sore about Naruto’s choice to risk all they had built for Yugito’s benefit. It had only crystalized a feeling which had been building within him for months. Which was that Naruto would not be willing to make the hard choices that would be required to make the goal of a peaceful world possible. His confidence in his friend though had kept those concerns quiet for quite some time, especially when Naruto’s personality had won over his mother. He had felt that with Naruto’s cult of personality, and his own more pragmatic personality there would be no challenge they couldn’t overcome.

However, Naruto’s success with his mother had proven to be a double edge sword as it had soon given birth to a new cancer like growth of concern within him that hadn’t truly metastasized until Yugito had been willing to abandon Kumo. Namely, how with each new conquest Naruto seemed to secure more and more power for himself, making Gaara begin to question the loyalty of the Suna women bound to him. He hadn’t questioned them directly about their feelings over Yugito’s defection outside of Temari, but he felt most of the women would feel similar to his sister. Who had explained that while she agreed with him that it was dangerous and reckless to support Yugito’s defection. She ultimately would choose to back her lover.

Gaara had pressed his sister on why, since logically she knew it was not the smart thing to do. It was the smile his sister had worn as she answered which had bothered him most, since it conveyed a faith in her lover which was instrumental in commanding loyalty. In that moment, Gaara understood that if it ever came to a choice between Suna or Naruto, her home would come out the loser. Recalling her reason why, he could still hear the smile in her voice as she explained, “I know what he is planning is dangerous. I even agree that it would be better for everyone if he told her to stay. But, he made a promise, and while the stakes are monstrously higher now then when he made it. He feels he can’t break it, because then his word would mean nothing.”

Gaara hadn’t exactly been pleased by the response as he countered, “That is ridiculous. All he would be acknowledging is that the situation he is in has changed.”

Temari had nodded in understanding, but her smile had grown larger as she replied, “Naruto doesn’t see it that way. He proclaimed that he had a set of principles. Principles that he espoused to us, such as never going back on his word. You may see it as his coming to a compromise with the reality of his current station, but he sees it as him becoming twisted because he lacks the courage to do what he feels is right.”

“A leader has to know when he can’t get everything he wants,” Gaara had countered.

Only for his sister to reply rather dismissively, “Does he? Or, is that just what a leader tells himself when he fears pushing back against the world trying to twist his beliefs would cause him to lose more then he gains?”

Gaara had tried to convince Temari, but while she would acknowledge the facts of the situation. It quickly became apparent that she would not be swayed in helping him to convince Naruto about the folly of his decision. But, while Yugito’s defection may have cemented his fears that backing Naruto had been the wrong move, it had been a concern for some time. Which was why he had been taking steps to modulate Naruto’s influence in Suna. One such step being in trying to maintain the balance between the Hardliners and those more open to improving the relations between villages on the council. His primary reason for doing so, had been similar to what he had told Karin when she had pitched opening a Great Tree Shipping Company Branch in Suna, which was that she had to convince the council it was the best course for the village. He felt the best way to ensure that was the case was for there to be a balance between both points of view.

Granted, that rarely seemed to be the case since most Hardliners staked out their ideological positions and would rarely budge from them unless demonstrably proven wrong, and sometimes wouldn’t shift stances even then. But, to him, Temari was falling into a similar trap. He imagined that she wouldn’t see it that way, instead likely arguing that he was the one asking his friend to sell his principles for his and others political convenience. But, he had the well-being of Suna to think about so aware that an impasse now existed between Naruto and him. He needed to take steps to ensure that should it ever come to a point where only one faction could carry the day, it would be Suna.

He was pulled from his thoughts as Guren having been directed to the area by Shikamaru landed before him and slamming both her hands to the ground created a massive wall of crystal that cut the beach off from the city. She then leapt to the top of it as he followed suit by raising his hands causing the sand nearest the wall to surge up it to create a buffer, which Guren trapped in place by creating another wall of crystal which was even taller then the first, the top of which crested towards the beach as if to trap the energy and redirect it towards the Yami-nin.

She leapt down, just as the Earth Dragon smashed into the beach causing the entire city to shake. Although for the most part the damage had been contained by the wall, almost every window within eyesight appeared to have been blown out, making him suspect the results on the other side were far more devastating. Directing his platform skyward, he watched as the dust began to settle down to reveal the massive crater at whose center Seven now stood. While tossed all about it were the bodies and ruined equipment of Sasuke’s forces. However, like ants buried in the sand, many of the survivors who had managed to protect themselves or others using jutsu began to appear.

Seven seemed rather pleased by this as she conjured another stone dragon which raised from the ground beneath her to lift her into the air. Standing atop of its head while it buried its claws into the edge of the crater it was pulling itself out of she shouted, “If you wish to survive this day, surrender immediately. Otherwise, your lives are forfeit.”

Gaara couldn’t blame the shinobi as many looked to be on the verge of doing just that. However, before anyone took Seven up on her offer, several shinobi began pointing to the horizon while calling out how they were saved. Gaara frowned as he focused on the horizon to find more of the airborne transports were inbound. However, it proved to be just the sight that Sasuke’s forces needed as they began firing jutsu at the woman. Seven appeared to be taken aback by the response, but quickly recovered as stone rose from the stone dragon’s head to begin covering her like armor. Once completely coated she leapt from her jutsu into a concentration of the enemy, which she easily tore through while her jutsu also rampaged among them.

A moment later, two crystal dragons flew into the fray as well, as Guren made her presence known. Watching the women, showed Gaara just how badly he had failed in his duty as Kazekage. Not so much for wanting to aid Naruto in his ambition, but for not putting the necessary contingency plans in place to contain the threat he could become. While he was taking steps to do just that, considering the power that Naruto had already accumulated and possessed, he wasn’t entirely sure what he could do to match force with force if necessary. Which from watching the two women and their jutsu tear through the admittedly now disorganized enemy, he recognized would mean finding something that could rival a Bijuu in power. Not an easy task to be sure, but the Shinobi World still had plenty of unexplored mysteries. He just hoped one of them would allow him to level the playing field should Naruto’s refusal to bow to reality ever force him to act against his friend directly.

*******

Kiyomi’s eyes snapped open as she was shaken out of the dream that she had been enjoying, to discover that the earthquake that had suddenly rocked it appeared to be real. Sitting forward in the chair that she found herself in, she was stopped from standing as Mito placed a hand on her shoulder stating, “Easy there. Even for you, teleporting an entire village has to be quite tiring.”

Kiyomi nodded, as the tremors began to abate so asked, “What was that?”

Mito looked unsure how to respond, making the Bijuu worry it signified that she had lost someone close to her. But, after a moment, the Uzumaki appeared to realize that her silence was causing more harm then not so explained, “That was Seven introducing herself to Sasuke’s forces.” A smirk appeared on Kiyomi’s lips as she was about to comment about how Seven really needed to learn moderation, but she didn’t get the chance as Mito continued, “It appears Kukaku was gravely injured, and she was the one that found her.”

“I see,” Kiyomi said certainly understanding where her sister was coming from as she felt a spike of anger and a surge of her chakra as a result. However, she tapped down on the emotion since she knew attacking Sasuke’s forces as a result of that anger would just be her giving into her worst character traits. Plus, she felt on the verge of chakra exhaustion, so doubted that she would be anything more than a hindrance. However, afraid her sister might be doing so, she asked, “Did Seven give a reason for her actions? I would hope she would ask for permission first.”

Mito smiled as she said, “I would say that her asking is a bit of a stretch. But, she did clear it with Shikamaru first. The idea was that by hitting them so hard, and so quickly, the enemy would lose the will to fight.”

“Did it succeed?”

“I’m afraid not,” Ino’s voice interjected within Kiyomi’s mind.

“Monitoring our private conversation now Yamanaka” Kiyomi asked with a hint of amusement.

Ino seemed to share the tone since she replied in a light tone, “Hey, I just figured you’d want the information directly from the source rather than relayed to you through Mito.”

“Appreciated,” Kiyomi said while noticing Momo for the first time, since the small woman seemed to be almost hiding in Mito’s shadow. “Do you have any word yet on Kukaku?”

“Lady Tsunade has disengaged from battle and is currently attending to her,” Ino replied as she switched to a serious tone. “I haven’t heard anything from her directly yet, but that is because she is still in surgery.” Kiyomi frowned since she figured Kukaku should be able to heal almost any injury that she had suffered. But suspected there were some details she hadn’t been made privy to yet. Ino didn’t linger on it as she continued, “As to the overall battle, I believe we are nearing the end. It appears Tobi has betrayed Sasuke as he is making a move against Konan, and currently… Shit!!!”

“Ino,” Kiyomi shouted aloud as the connection suddenly ended, and she felt a surge of panic and fear emanating from the woman via her foxmark. The Bijuu leapt to her feet, but upon trying to teleport realized her chakra had been sealed to help hide her presence.

Yet, before she could remove it, Mito said, “Don’t do anything rash. You’re in no condition to fight. Have faith in their abilities. Besides, don’t forget that you might have to interjected yourself into the discussion between old teammates should their encounter go poorly. Particularly if Naruto is going to keep his promise.”

Kiyomi wanted to argue but sighed as she recognized her fellow red-head was right. So, sitting back down in her chair, she tried to focus on something else so asked, “Momo, is the reason you’re hiding back there in any way related to why Nel isn’t here?”

“I’m sorry,” Momo said surging forward, “I just took my eyes off of her for a second. She was rather upset at being told she couldn’t help Naruto so is probably heading towards him. I’ll go search for her immediately. I would have already but Mito…”

“It’s fine,” Kiyomi said with a reassuring smile, “She undoubtedly would have managed to slip out even if we had tied her up and locked her away somewhere. So, I will do as Mito suggested and have faith.” While she tried to project an aura of calm, it was only skin deep as inside she felt herself being turned into knots as her family was at risk all around her and she was currently helpless to do anything about it.

*******

Ino watched the smoke settle from where the wall had suddenly erupted as she cut the connection to Kiyomi. They only had a few seconds of warning from Karin, who had shouted out, “Incoming!” Ino had shifted her focus to the chakra map to see what the red-head had been referring to just in time to see a red dot heading right to their location just before the explosion had knocked her off her feet. Getting back to them, she noticed their chakra map fading due to the Ame-nin turning their attention to the perceived threat, but before it did, she noticed that the one red dot that had hit them had been followed by numerous others.

Ino felt a sense of fear overtake her as she could make out a monstrous form inside the dust cloud, with large hand like wings protruding out of its back. However, what truly chilled her was when she noticed its eyes flash red and recognized them as the Sharingan. The figure then stepped forward causing the fear to turn to anger as despite the grey skin, and wild looking hair of his transformed state, she had no trouble recognizing the creature as being Sasuke. He took another step forward, revealing that he was holding an unconscious Ame Shinobi under his left arm, while he held a sword in his right and although he looked like he was about to move forward again, he suddenly froze. An amused smile appeared on his face as he said, “Something told me that you were here among the defenders, Shikamaru.”

Ino found her teammate near the Chakra map, while Fuyou helped some of the nearby Ame-nin to their feet. From years of working with him, she knew they were in trouble as despite having only bound Sasuke in his shadow for a few seconds, she could see the toll was already showing. Moreover, as he hadn’t left his stance, she knew he was struggling to establish control. Something, she also picked up on in his voice as he replied, “Sasuke, its nice to see your outsides finally match what was lurking inside.”

“Is that so,” Sasuke replied sounding almost hurt, but with a mocking air to it, “I can’t imagine why you would feel that way. Unless, you were secretly jealous of me for all the attention that I used to receive in the academy.” His face twisted into a cruel mask as he said, “Or was it how I ordered that glorified propagandist Iruka beheaded. To be honest, I do regret that order. I should have done it myself. Udon claims that it was quite a fulfilling feeling for him. Let’s see if I can feel something similar by taking yours.”

“What!” Shikamaru said in shock as despite his best efforts to suppress it, Sasuke overpowering chakra allowed him to raise his sword arm. Pointing it directly at his forehead, the Nara tried to will it aside, but while he could see it wavering he knew it would be enough as the Uchiha charged it with his Lightning Chakra and the blade lengthened to pierce him. However, just before it reached him, Fuyou leapt before him in a crouch as she opened her umbrella. The blade easily pierced the would be shield passing over her head, but Fuyou having anticipated that it would quickly spun the handle so that one of the metal ribs hit the lightning blade allowing her to turn it away.

Sasuke nodded his head in acknowledgement of the kunoichi’s actions as the blade passed harmlessly next to Shikamaru’s neck, as he said, “Not bad.” But tensing to swing his blade to behead the Nara whose jutsu began to pull away from him as he broke the connection, he said, “But not good enough.”

Fuyou leapt backwards as she abandoned her grip on her umbrellas so that she would slam into Shikamaru in order to carry them out of the swords path. However, Sasuke just enlarged it further so that they wouldn’t escape its reach. Yet, he was forced to abandon the attempt as he was forced to lean his left side forward to raise his wing in order to block several kunai that had been aimed to hit along his left arm. He frowned as the reflective action forced him to abandon his attack allowing Fuyou and Shikamaru to land unharmed, while the attack bounced harmlessly off his wing.

Shikamaru rolled to his feet and frowned as well when he noticed that as Sasuke brought the wing down it revealed that he had also covered the shinobi tucked under his arm. Yet, focusing on more immediate concerns he shouted, “Everyone, pull back. We aren’t equipped to deal with him.”

Many of the Ame-nin didn’t need to be told twice, as Sasuke smirked at the woman that had attacked him stating, “Long time no see, Karin. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that you are here considering how it appeared that Ame was anticipating our actions before we would have appeared in their detection barrier.”

The glare that Karin was sending his way hardened as she retorted, “Neither am I at the depths to which you will sink. Your chakra… it’s not wholly yours anymore. You’ve consumed Juugo using Orochimaru’s technique in order to repair the damage you sustained.”

“Not bad,” Sasuke replied, “But, that was always going to be his fate. He was always destined to be Orochimaru’s final body.”

Karin didn’t respond at first since she knew the Uchiha was correct as Juugo’s natural ability to absorb natural energy also had a restorative effect making it the one body that wouldn’t degrade after the transfer. However, after several heartbeats she replied, “He deserved better. Not just to be used and discarded by you.”

“Discarded?” Sasuke stated sounding hurt. “Nothing could be further from the truth. Juugo desired freedom from the uncontrollable rages that would consume him and I gave him exactly what he desired. In fact, I recall you once desiring nothing more then to be pierced by me. Let me grant that wish to you now.”

Leaping at her faster than she could react as he was propelled by his wings, Sasuke pulled back his sword intending to bury it in her heart. Yet, he was forced to turn in the air to batter away a kunai that flew at him which he battered away easily. He searched for signs of the person that had thrown it, his eyes scanning about the room wildly looking for the culprit, of which there was no sign. He spun in the air though, as he sensed an attack coming from above and behind him as the attacker that had thrown the kunai had run across the ceiling to get into a blind spot. Bringing his sword around, he blocked the kunai that Ino held as she descended towards him. She used the point of contact as he tired to push her blade aside to let her spin into a downward axe kick. The blow knocked Sasuke to the ground, but Ino frowned as it felt like her leg had hit a brick wall. Moreover, he had landed on his feet leaving her to believe only the force of the blow had caused him to descend to the ground.

As a result, as she landed before him, he was waiting and stabbed her through the chest. Sasuke delighted in the pained expression that appeared on her face as he lifted her off her feet while impaled on his blade. He was about to comment how Ino had also once professed a desire to be pierced by him, and how it appeared to still be the case since she hadn’t been able to wait her turn. However, before he could, Ino’s pained visage turned into a smirk, at which point she burst into smoke to be replaced by a seat cushion from one of the abandoned chairs surrounding the model of Ame the chakra map had been projected over.

Getting over his surprise as he sensed her standing on the chair behind him, Sasuke stated, “Not bad. Looks like someone has been picked up some moves since we last saw each other.”

“Or maybe you’re not as good as you think you are,” Ino retorted. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask. From the way you keep enlarging your sword, are you perhaps overcompensating for something.”

“Bitch,” Sasuke snarled as he lost his cool from the Yamanaka’s mocking tone as he spun, enlarging his blade, so that it would cleave the blonde in half.

An action that Ino was expecting as she was already flipping away causing his attack to swing harmless through the spot she had been standing so that she landed on the opposite side of the model. She was joined by Karin, who stated, “Now that got a reaction. You must have hit pretty close to the mark there.”

“So, it would seem,” Ino said with a knowing smirk while showing the Uchiha an almost pitying expression.

Sasuke had to fight down his anger as he refused to be baited, and noticing that the Ame-nin had escaped the room with only Shikamaru remaining near the door asked, “So are you three planning to fight me to avenge poor little Iruka or perhaps its Sakura’s pitiful father?”

Ino’s gaze turned ice cold as she said, “You truly are just a little boy mad at the world. One just hoping to inflict as much harm as possible.”

“Don’t you dare look down on me,” Sasuke said finding his vision turning red. “Or perhaps your family should be the one that I touch next.”

“I think you’ll find that my Family is more than ready to take you on,” Ino fired back pulling a tri-prong kunai from her pouch, “However, while this has been nice and all. I think its time you get the ass kicking that you’ve been asking for.”

“Then by all means,” Sasuke said mockingly, “Come and get me.”

Tossing her kunai, Ino smirked as she stated, “Oh, no, no, no. I wouldn’t dream of getting in his way. I just needed to buy a little time to let him finish things up on his end.”

Sasuke just began to register Ino’s words as he brought his sword up to block the kunai, however he was blinded as a red flashed appeared before with as it was suddenly replaced by Naruto. The Uzumaki raised the chakra blade he held in his left hand which he used to parry Sasuke’s sword as he shouted, “Rasengan,” and jammed said jutsu into the Uchiha’s stomach with the other.

The Uchiha roared in pain as the jutsu tried to burrow into his flesh causing him to lose his grip on the masked shinobi tucked under his arm as it sent him flying. Naruto landed as he watched Sasuke sail through the opening in the wall that he had original appeared from. He paused for a moment to look over his shoulder towards his two lovers, who both gave him a quick nod, before hurrying after the Uchiha before he could recover.

Ino whispered to herself, “Good luck Lover,” and was about to move to check on the shinobi that Sasuke had been carrying, but Karin grabbed her by her wrist to stop her. She could see Shikamaru grow concerned as a result of the female Uzumaki’s actions.

Yet before she could question either as to why, Fuyou returning to check on them as well as to give them a warning shouted, “What are you standing around for? We need to get out of here.”

“Don’t worry,” Ino said believing in her lover, “Naruto has things well in hand.”

“Yeah,” Fuyou replied unimpressed as she pointed out the hole in the room “Then what is he going to do about that?”

Ino’s eyes grew wide as she saw the sky outside the hole was almost blotted out by the number of purple Zetsu approaching them. The closest of which landed inside the room, and immediately began let loose with a volley of fireballs at them. Quickly making her way for the door as she dodged the jutsu, she let fly a kunai that caught one Zetsu in the throat. But as it clutched at the kunai now buried there, it was quickly battered aside by another as more and more of the creatures that resembled Sasuke flooded into the room so the Yamanaka replied, “Those would seem to be our problem. One which I don’t currently have a solution for.”

Shikamaru narrowly avoided having his head turned into a candle as he noticed the Purple Zetsu still outside the room were also shooting fireballs into the buildings surrounding the area. He frowned since they seemed to be doing so randomly as opposed to targeting the defenders surrounding the building. However, he pushed that matter aside in favor of pulling a kunai and drawing a bead on the shinobi Sasuke had been carrying like luggage. Ducking and rolling to avoid another jutsu, he threw his kunai and as he expected from Karin’s reaction when Ino had moved to check on the Uchiha’s supposed victim, the masked shinobi rolled out of the way.

He cursed as he contemplated making a dash towards who he suspected was the missing woman his mother had warned him of. But, Fuyou firing Senbon from a umbrella she had procured before returning shouted, “Come on! We need to pull back!”

Recognizing the wisdom of a tactical retreat, he followed after the Ame-nin once Karin and Ino had cleared the doorway. Many of the Purple Zetsu gave chase, but due to the hall being short with multiple turns giving it an almost maze-like feel, they were unable to draw a bead on the retreating shinobi. At least until Fuyou came to a stop, to face their pursuers. The Purple Zetsu in the lead raised its hand to its mouth to release a Great Fireball Jutsu. But didn’t get the chance as Fuyou made a handsign, causing the multiple tags she had covered the walls with as she had returned to the command center to explode.

She turned back towards them with a smile as she said, “Let’s head to the secondary command center before more come this way. I already have everyone getting it up and running” However, Shikamaru quickly darted back the way they had come causing the Ame-nin to ask, “Where are you going?”

Shikamaru ignored her and although he suspected that annoyed her somewhat, as more Zetsu didn’t appear in the hall she began to realize something was off as well. Which, he confirmed as they found the main door to the control room sealed off by a barrier. “I don’t get it,” Ino stated with a note of confusion in her voice, “Why seal the room off. They can’t suspect that would really cripple us considering how we all pretty much escaped.”

Shikamaru shook his head as he stated, “That’s because it is only meant to buy time for those inside.” Turning to his former teammate he explained, “Sasuke intends to wipe the entire city off the map and all his enemies along with it. He tried to get cute and sneak it in under our noses, but the kunoichi he was holding was only playing at being unconscious. That’s why Karin stopped you from checking on her.”

Karin nodded as she added, “That’s also why I threw my kunai at his arm. I tried to give the person an opening to break free.”

“That’s why you wanted the sensors to monitor for unknown surges in chakra,” Fuyou stated in understanding. “But, why attack the command center?”

Shikamaru focused on her as he explained, “Because, while an explosion at ground level would still be devastating. If you really want to level the place, you have to have it go off with some elevation. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that this is the tallest building in the city and pretty close to the center of it.”

“How long?” Fuyou asked going white as she pictured the only course of action for the defenders would be to try and evacuate with the barrier already in place. A difficult endeavor considering the battle raging outside.

“Maybe thirty to forty minutes,” Shikamaru stated before giving a pointed look to Ino.

Nodding the Yamanaka reached out with her mind and connecting to the one she sought stated, “Mito, we have a situation that could really use your expertise…”

Author’s note: Hello everyone! I’m sorry for the long wait between chapters and ending it on another cliffhanger. But, life hasn’t been very cooperative lately when it has come to me and providing adequate writing time. Anyhow, I hope the chapter proves worth the wait, although it still is a lot of setups without the payoffs. But, as I imagine I could go another 15,000 words or more to wrap everything up, I figured this would be the best place to split the chapter. This does change my plans some, as I had planned to finish the battle in this chapter with the next being kind of dedicated to the fallout. But, now it seems like it will be two chapters instead. But we’ll see as the other one comes together. With that being the case, my update schedule looks like Finish the current arc in Eroninja, release the Antithesis chapter (already 95%finished), then the Mabui limelight, then finish the Nation Building Arc in the Pride, a chapter or two of the Promise, and then back to Eroninja.

I do hope the chapter was worth the wait. Thank you to all those that take the time to review as they are what keep me going. I hope to have the next one out by the end of the month, but we’ll have to play that by ear at the moment. Again, thank you all for your support. Sincerely, The Lemon Sage.

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