Pushing Through the Limit Chapter 83: Limit Broken

Breathing easily as the blackened flames rapidly heated the surrounding area, Anko watched Zetsu like a hawk, waiting for the moment he slip

Breathing easily as the blackened flames rapidly heated the surrounding area, Anko watched Zetsu like a hawk, waiting for the moment he slipped up.

She’d hate to admit it, but having Sasuke and that Anbu member here really helped her out. Before they’d arrived, her fight had been more akin to that of a game of tag. The first person to hit the other was ultimately the winner… Well… The first to land a lethal blow.

Now, however, things had changed. Thanks to those nigh inextinguishable flames, Zetsu was only able to defend. It’d become a waiting game.

“Sasuke, circle around the side and cut him off,” The Anbu agent ordered. “Mitarashi, I need you to focus on the center field. I will fill in any gaps, should they appear.”

Turning her gaze to the battlefield, Anko blinked when she saw it… The tiniest gap that Zetsu could use to recuperate. Whoever was behind the mask was sharp, she’d give him that.

“Heh, not bad,” Anko muttered.

Seeing Zetsu move towards said spot, Anko smirked. Flashing through several Hand Seals, she exhaled a stream of white hot flames that crashed into the blackened flames that were already there, spreading them further across the forest, completely engulfing Zetsu’s frame, only to be suddenly shunted back by a wave of Chakra.

“Enough of this!” Zetsu roared. A large, light blue skeletal body that was slowly growing flesh suddenly manifested around him, blocking the blackened flames.

“Finally,” The Anbu agent exhaled.

Finally? What the hell did he mean by finally? He wasn’t actually expecting this to happen, was he? This was going to make killing Zetsu that much harder.

Watching as pitch black Shuriken formed in the skeletal constructs hands, before it flung them across the field. Anko’s instincts screamed at her and she disappeared in a blur of speed with the Anbu member following suit only a moment later.

It was a good thing to, as, upon hitting the ground, the Shuriken imploded, sucking the blackened flames, along with a good chunk of the landscape in.

“Sasuke!”

On the Anbu’s call, a large purple arrow slammed into the skeletal constructs back, knocking it off balance.

Turning her gaze towards said Uchiha, Anko let out a groan. “Oh, great, there’s two of them.” Although, that probably worked to their advantage, since Sasuke was on their side. That, however, didn’t make this any less dangerous.

Taking another shot with his Susanoo’s crossbow, Zetsu returned fire with his Shuriken, absorbing the arrows before they had a chance to reach him.

“I have a plan that will take Zetsu down, but it’ll be risky and require your help,” The Anbu agent murmured, slipping a lone Kunai into his hand.

“So long as you don’t think you’ll be able to take this bastard down with a Kunai of all things,” Anko said. “Sure, I’m game.”

“This Kunai is simply to get in the correct position. What I want you to do is to circle around his back,” The man instructed. “And hit him with your strongest attack the moment Sasuke makes his move.”

“Sounds easy enough,” Anko muttered. “What’ll you be doing?”

“Me? I’ll be the distraction,” He replied. “You should go now.” Turning his gaze towards the half formed Susanoo, black flames suddenly burst to life, coating the entirety of its front.

Taking this opportunity to sneak around the back, Anko hid herself in the ground, surrounding herself with Natural Energy so that she would be completely indistinguishable from her surroundings.

“Itachi,” Black Zetsu growled, shedding a portion of his Susanoo to get rid of the Amaterasu. “I’m surprised that you’re still alive. You made a mistake coming here today.”

“I have made many mistakes in my life,” Itachi answered, slowly walking up to Sasuke. “But this is not one of them… If anything, this will help make up for a few of my past misdeeds.”

“Making up for your past?” Zetsu let out a guttural laugh. “Nothing you do will ever wash the blood off your hands. Do you really think that killing me will make up for your past?”

“No… And it shouldn’t,” Itachi replied. “No action I take could ever fix what I’ve done, not even death. That’s why I need to live, so that I can put my life to use and ensure that something good comes from it. It’s something that I doubt you could ever understand, Zetsu.”

“As if I need to understand such weak excuses,” Zetsu snapped, launching one of his Kamui Shuriken.

Smiling, Itachi flicked his Kunai through the Kamui Shuriken, just moments before it was detonated by one of Sasuke’s arrows.

Waiting for a few moments, Itachi nodded his head towards Sasuke, before turning back to Zetsu. “If you do everything on your own, you are doomed to fail,” Itachi murmured. “I have my allies right here. Where are yours, Zetsu?”

“Allies?”

As if on cue, Sasuke launched himself forward, morphing his Susanoo’s bow into a long blade that he aimed to impale Zetsu with.

Creating a handful of Kamui Shuriken in order to rip Sasuke and his Susanoo apart with, Zetsu was suddenly thrown forward as something collided with his Susanoo’s back, taking him off guard.

“Don’t forget about me, you annoying bastard!” Anko roared, the ground beneath her cratered as she stabbed her Kusanagi blade into the Susanoo’s back.

With no time to evade, Zetsu’s Susanoo was shattered by the combined efforts of Anko and Sasuke. Allowing their blades to harmlessly slip through him, he turned to gloat, only to freeze when a large, ethereal blade that looked as if it was made from fire burst through his chest.

Looking down, he looked back up at Itachi who slowly made his way over.

“Clone,” Zetsu growled, his fluid-like body slowly being absorbed into Itachi’s Totsuka blade. “When?”

“When you threw that Shuriken at me,” Itachi answered simply. “I disguised my real body as a Kunai and managed to sneak it into the place where you were most vulnerable.”

“Then you will be trapped too,” Zetsu muttered.

“For a time, yes,” Itachi nodded. “But I have faith in my allies.”

“All this talk of allies is sickening,” Zetsu growled. “When all they’re good for is dying!”

Tearing in half, Zetsu launched himself towards Anko, only to collide with Itachi’s clone’s body, moments before it burst into blackened flames, dispersing it.

Sasuke, stepping forward, bent the flames to his will. Clenching his hand, the flames wrapped around Zetsu’s form, preventing him from touching the ground.

With a single pulse of Chakra, the flames suddenly took on a new form. Morphing into a set of spikes, they pierced through his body, burning him until he was nothing but ash and smoke.

“I would have liked to make it longer, but unfortunately, this is the best that I can do,” Sasuke muttered, glaring down at the flames as they licked the empty air.

“Looks like we’ve done our part… And just in time too,” Anko murmured, the Kyuubi’s Chakra cloak beginning to flicker as it slowly died out. “I guess the rest is up to him now.”

...PTL…

Blurring through the now frozen forest as I fought Madara, we passed one another, landing glancing blows that shook the ground we stood upon, before meeting up once more. Our fight raged on… Far enough away from Konoha that they wouldn’t be able to feel it, but still a little too close for my liking.

Clashing with Madara, the very air vibrated under the sheer force of the blow, causing several nearby frozen trees to simply crumble under the burst of pressure.

Madara was unrelenting. His speed… His Chakra… The sheer power behind his blows was unlike anything I’d ever encountered before. Nothing I had seemed to faze him. strikes that could kill Kage in a single hit were shrugged off. Fatal wounds healed in a matter of seconds.

Nothing we did ever really stuck. It felt like our fight would never end.

“This pain… This tension.” Madara grinned. “It’s been so long since I’ve had a real fight.”

Seeing him lash out with his Gunbai, I raised my Shakujō, blocking the blow, but not before a wave of sheer pressure rolled off it, washing over the frozen forest.

“Glad I could help you with your dry spell,” I muttered.

Focusing my Chakra through my Shakujō, Madara’s eyes zeroed in on it, catching sight of a small burst of steam.

Separating, he jumped back, holding his Gunbai at the ready when I made to follow him.

Watching as he brought his Gunbai up, ready to try and absorb the attack, I suddenly disappeared only to reappear at his side, teleporting to the Kunai I’d snuck on his body with a small Chakra arm.

Lashing out with my Shakujō, there was a loud sound of bones snapping as it collided with Madara’s back, sending him into the frozen ground.

Commanding several of my Truth Seeking Orbs, they shot off towards Madara’s downed body, extending into spears that would, at the very least, lock him in place.

Recovering far faster than I thought he would, a blue aura exploded off his body, pushing my Truth Seeking Orbs back as he slowly stood up. His body healed rapidly while the upper portion of his Susanoo encased him.

Casually patting his body down, he removed my Kunai from his belt and smirked before tossing it at my feet. “Clever, managing to slip one of your Kunai on my body. That, however, will be the last time Tobirama’s trick works on me.”

And just like that, I felt the urge to use the Hiraishin once more. He was getting used to my movements, but I could probably catch him off guard with it one more time.

It was strange though. The longer we fought, the more destructive it became. At first, I thought it was just Madara adapting to how I fought and started using more Chakra to compensate, but, from what I was able to gather by sensing his Chakra, that didn’t appear to be the case here.

The truth was, Madara was growing stronger… And, oddly enough, so was I.

“There’s nothing odd if you take a moment to think about it,” Kurama commented. “Your Chakra is resonating with one another.”

‘Resonating?’

That did seem to make sense. We each embodied a portion of Hagoromo’s Chakra. Madara awakened the Rinnegan and I had Six Paths Senjutsu. The more we fought the more our Chakra merged and the more it became like that of Hagoromo’s..

The only thing that didn’t really make sense was why it was only affecting Madara and myself when, in another timeline, Sasuke would have awoken the Rinnegan and not have this same thing happen to him.

Unless…

“Madara possesses a portion of my Chakra,” Kurama noted. “It’s formed a bridge between the two of you… A feedback loop if you will, The more you interact with Madara, the stronger both you and he will become.”

That wasn’t exactly ideal, but at the very least, it meant that we were still equals in this. THere was also a small chance that he might figure out how to gain access to a joint mindscape. I’d need to be ready for that… Just in case.

“That is one possibility, but I doubt he would be capable of doing that on such short notice,” Kurama replied. “Ginkaku and Kinkaku both contained a portion of my Chakra and they never gained access to Mito’s mindscape.”

I suppose there was that too.

Feeling Madara’s Chakra pulse, I turned a cautious eye towards his Susanoo, expecting to see him attempting to pull another meteorite down. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case this time.

Standing with his palm raised to the sky, a black, baseball sized sphere of Chakra hovered above it.

“I think it’s about time we changed the field,” Madara said idly. “Wouldn’t you say?”

Raising his hand a little higher, the sphere broke apart, sending several smaller copies across the sky. For a moment, all was quiet, before the ground began to rumble ominously.

It started off small as a few loose leaves broke free from the surrounding trees, pulled into the sky by an invisible force, before larger things followed. Trees, rocks and even the ground we stood on were ripped from their spot and pulled into the sky.

“The Sage of Six Paths was said to have created the moon using this technique,” Madara commented. “I wonder what you will do to stop it.”

Keeping a calm head, I focused my senses on the nearby surroundings. Whether by Madara’s design or  sheer luck, it seemed that Konoha wasn’t within range of his Chibaku Tensei.

The distance between the forming satellites was pretty long, so I wouldn’t be able to use my Truth Seeking Orbs.

Instead, I formed half a dozen Rasenshuriken, each one held by its own Chakra arm, before they were flung into the air in the direction of the still forming satellites.

“It’s a powerful technique, I’ll give you that, but it does have a pretty glaring flaw,” I muttered, pausing when the various Rasenshuriken began to detonate. “If something powerful enough collides with it, it’ll be destroyed… I didn’t even need to aim in order to take them out. Your technique did all the work for me.”

Wiping out the majority of the satellites, leaving a few behind, I raised my Shakujō, blocking a blow from Madara’s Gunbai in the process.

“Don’t think I’ll let you take out the other ones quite so easily,” Madara grinned, his Gunbai shaking as he fought to gain the upper hand.

The ground beneath our feet began to tremble and shake, the forest in the distance almost appeared to drop down as the portion we were standing on was ripped free, slowly rising upwards.

Pushing back against him, the ground we stood on began to crack and crumble. Through sheer strength, we began to rip it apart.

Growling under my breath, I did something that Madara didn’t expect and pulled my Shakujō back, allowing it to slice deeply into my side, just below my ribs.

Stepping forward, I winced as Madara’s Gunbai slid against my ribcage, before lashing out with a punch, one that he avoided by tilting his head to the side.

The invisible strike consisting of concentrated Natural Energy, however, caught him completely off guard and struck him directly in his face, sending him reeling backwards

Lashing out with several more, Madara found himself completely unable to defend as he was bombarded with seemingly random, untraceable attacks.

With his grip on his Gunbai slipping, Madara summoned a portion of his Susanoo to help weather the blows while he figured out what was going on.

Seeing that I almost had him, I brought my leg up with a kick, creating a large crack that spread across Madara’s Susanoo, before placing my foot firmly against it.

Gripping his Gunbai tightly, I used the Susanoo as a springboard and launched myself backwards, ripping the weapon out of Madara’s hands just as the chunk of land broke apart between us.

“All that just to separate him from his weapon… Not that it wasn’t worth it,” Kurama commented. “He’s not going to stand idle for long.”

“I know,” I murmured.

I did a decent amount of damage to his body… More than enough to kill the average Shinobi. That should, at the very least, buy me a little time.

Gripping the edge of the Gunbai, I winced before tearing it free, allowing the wound in my side to regenerate. Palming it, I briefly considered using the Gunbai, before deciding against it. There was a good chance that Madara would get it back if I did decide to use it.

Feeling the ground began to crack as I grew closer to the satellite, I quickly had a clone take the Gunbai back to Konoha for me, while I dealt with Madara.

Standing on the edge of his own chunk of land, a partially formed Susanoo suddenly manifested around him, before hurtling its sword towards me.

So that’s how he was going to play it?

Stepping to the side, the sword smashed through the ground next to me, shattering the floating island I was standing on.

Not deterred, I jumped between the small chunks of land I had left, before launching myself upwards towards Madara’s island.

Watching as he exhaled a massive steam of fire that lit up the surrounding chunks of land, I kicked off of a nearby rock, managing to change my trajectory just enough to avoid his attack, only to end up directly in his Susanoo’s path.

Doing something that surprised Madara once more, I halted my momentum completely, hovering in the air in front of him. He’d made a mistake in dragging the fight up here.

“You never fail to entertain, do you, Naruto?” Madara smiled widely. “I wonder how much more you have hidden up your sleeve.”

More than a few things, that’s for sure.

Nearing the almost moon-like structure in the sky, Madara’s island began to break apart, feeding it. Materializing a full bodied Susanoo, he launched himself forward, intending on cutting me before landing on one of the other pieces of land.

There was just one problem. While he was agile, Madara didn’t have anywhere near the amount of mobility I had in the air.

Gliding under his blade as he passed me by, I grabbed onto him with a Chakra arm, snagging his Susanoo’s ankle, before pulling him back up.

Flying closer to the satellite, I flung him towards it, sending him crashing down into its surface right as another large piece of earth crashed into it, burying him in his own technique.

It wouldn’t stop him… Hell, it wouldn’t even slow him down, but having his technique backfire on him like this was oddly satisfying.

As expected, there was a massive burst of Chakra that exploded from the satellite, before a large blue hand tore through the top of it, dragging out a titanic Chakra construct. Another hand burst from the miniature moon as Madara’s Susanoo ripped itself free.

Using the satellite as a platform to stand on, Madara’s perfect Susanoo stood at its full height, blocking out the sun.

“To be driven this far,” Madara murmured, appearing almost pleased. “It’s becoming increasingly clear why Obito and Zetsu were unable to obtain the Biju.”

“It wasn’t all me, I just pointed everyone in the right direction,” I explained, flying upward until we were eye level. “Once everyone became aware of what Obito was planning, they all came together in order to stop it. Where Obito rejected the world and all that it stood for, I embraced it. Where he killed hundreds, I helped thousands.”

“And in doing so gained their allegiance,” Madara nodded. “There is strength in unity, but how many of those that you saved can stand beside you here at the top of the world? You’re alone, Naruto. Just as I am.”

“You’re wrong about me, Madara,” I shook my head. “I’m never alone… Even when I’m by myself. You, however... The only person you could call your ally is Black Zetsu and even then, it’s only until you’ve run out of use.”

“Oh,” Madara hummed curiously. “And what do you mean by that?”

“You know the story of Kaguya, right?” I asked. “The mother of the Sage of Six Paths and the woman who ate the Chakra fruit from the Juubi. One thing that you might not know about her is what happened to her after she had her sons.”

“Sons… Implying that the Sage had a brother,” Madara noted.

“He did… Otsutsuki Hamura. The ancestor of the Hyuga clan, but that’s beside the point,” I waved him off. “When it became apparent that her sons had Chakra, she attempted to take it back. When they resisted, she took matters into her own hand and merged with the Shinju, becoming the Juubi.”

“Which the Sage went on to seal in himself, becoming the first Jinchuriki,” Madara nodded. “It’s curious how you know all of this, Naruto. One thing I’m failing to see is how Black Zetsu fits in to all of this”

“Black Zetsu is not your creation… He’s Kaguya’s. He was created in order to resurrect his mother,” I replied. “Hagoromo split the Juubi’s Chakra to create the Biju, what he was left with was the Gedo Mazo… Kaguya’s body… The very thing that you summoned here when you awakened the Rinnegan.”

Pausing for a moment, Madara’s Susanoo stilled as he quietly thought it over. “You’re saying that I brought him here… I will admit that it is possible.”

“No, I’m saying that he was here from the start. Kaguya created him before she was sealed,” I said. “You thought that you were the one pulling the strings when, in truth, he was the one pulling yours. He’s been fooling you this entire time… Using you for his ultimate end goal… To use the Infinite Tsukuyomi in order to resurrect Otsutsuki Kaguya.”

“If that is the truth, then I will have to alter it to fit my needs,” Madara announced. “I can’t say that I believe everything you’ve just said, but you’ve certainly left me with a lot to think about. You have my thanks for that, Uzumaki Naruto.”

Yeah… I thought he’d say as much. Madara was a lot like Nagato in that regard. If his plans truly were flawed, then he would simply adjust them. I suppose I was the same way as well, but the one thing I had over them was the benefit of hindsight.

Looking over the clouds far below us, I found my gaze settling on Konoha. It appeared tiny from way up here, but tens of thousands of people lived there… People that I was currently trying to protect.

‘Kurama, I’m going to need your help with this one.’

If I was going to kill Madara, I would need to use everything.

“Do you even need to ask?” Kurama murmured. “I’m with you until the end, Naruto.”

I smiled at that. ‘Until the end, Kurama.’

Pulling on Kurama’s Chakra his avatar manifested around me, slowly growing to be equal in size to Madara’s perfect Susanoo. Whether Madara knew it or not, he’d done me a favor by dragging the fight way up here.

On the ground, I would have been worried about the fallout from our fight, but way up here, things were a little more flexible. There was far less of a chance of Konoha getting caught up in what happened next.

Turning my gaze towards Madara, I found him waiting for me, his Susanoo’s hand resting on its blade. From the looks of it, he wanted me to make the next move.

“It’s your turn now.”

With Kurama’s avatar fully formed, I was almost ready to make my move. There was just one thing I needed to do first. Unlike the Susanoo, the avatar didn’t come with any inherent weapons. I, however, had something that would more than make up for that.

Holding my Shakujō horizontal, I release my hold on it, allowing it to levitate in place. Pulling on my Truth Seeking Orbs, they shot forward and merged with the black rod. Growing in size, it split in two and twisted around itself with small branches connecting the two ends, resembling a long strand of DNA.

Allowing the sword to float forward, I willed Kurama’s avatar to grab a hold of it. The sword of Nunoboko… Once wielded by Hagoromo himself who was said to have created, or more likely, shaped the world with it.

This was currently the strongest weapon I had.

“This sword is my resolve,” I said, locking eyes with Madara. “It may buckle and bend, but it will never break. That much I promise you, Madara.”

“Then I will put it to the test,” Madara replied. Shifting its stance, the Susanoo gripped both of the swords it possessed.

 All was quiet for a moment, before I launched myself forwards. Moving as a golden blur across the blue sky, I reached Madara and brought my sword down, intending on ending this once and for all.

Madara, responding, rapidly unsheathed both swords, creating a wave of pressure that almost seemed to split the sky.

Our weapons met in an explosion that rattled both of our respective constructs. The Sword of Nunoboko ground against Madara’s blades, unleashing a horrible shriek that seemed to ignite the air surrounding us.

Gritting my teeth as we each fought for dominance, sparks of lighting shot off our weapons with loud cracks, streaking across the sky, before fading to nothing.

For a moment, everything calmed down as the massive amount of force we were generating fell in on itself, concentrating to a single point of incredibly potent Chakra that was rapidly growing in strength.

With neither one of us backing down, Madara and I forced more strength and even more Chakra into our attack.

“NARUTO!” Madara roared, his Susanoo’s extra arms morphing into wings, giving him more force to push back with.

Straining, I pulled on everything that I had and gave one final heave. “MADARA!”

Bearing down with the Sword of Nunoboko, there was a sudden cracking sound as Madara’s blue Chakra blades began to crumble.

Pushing far beyond my limits, my sword cleaved through Madara’s own, shattering them, before continuing onwards where it shattered a significant portion of his Susanoo’s chest.

However, before I was able to celebrate my victory, the air began to spark. With Madara’s swords shattered, there was nothing to act as the opposing force that helped contain the immense amount of force we’d been generating.

The sky sparked, before suddenly igniting in a massive wave of pressure and force that tore into both Madara and myself, shattering what remained of Madara’s Susanoo while tearing apart Kurama’s avatar.

Finding myself unable to control where I was going, I reached out and grabbed a hold of Madara, determined to bring him with me, regardless of wherever that was.

Spinning through the air, I was only just able to make out the ground, before smashing into it, shattering it on impact.

Feeling dazed and more than a little light headed, I stared up at the sky as my Truth Seeking Orbs slowly descended, circling sluggishly while the shockwave from the explosion seemed to stretch across the entire horizon.

Looking over into the distance, I could see Konoha, but it wasn’t exactly right. The walls were partially there, but contained in its center seemed to be… Katsuyu. The outer layer of her body had been burnt with various parts of it crushed under debris, but she was still alive. More than that, she was rapidly regenerating as a black outline surrounded her form.

Breaking down, she separated into her smaller forms, flooding out of the village, leaving the interior almost completely untouched. I see now, Tsunade was able to summon a much larger portion of Katsuyu’s body to shield the village. That must have taken quite a bit of Chakra.

‘Kurama?’

There was no response. He must have exhausted himself shielding me from that explosion.

Rolling over, I forced myself to my feet and turned towards where I was certain Madara fell, only to find a small pool of blood along with the arm I’d been clutching.

Closing my eyes to sense Madara's Chakra, I felt it right behind me. Diving to the side, it seemed I wasn’t quick enough as a blue Chakra blade pierced through my back, hoisting me up in the air.

Breathing heavily and healing far slower than before, Madara pulled himself free from the ground. Manifesting only a small portion of his Susanoo.

“This is the end, Naruto,” Madara said, wiping the grime from his face with his remaining arm. “You were truly a worthy adversary… An equal. You can rest easy knowing that I will do what is right for this world. It is my gift to you.”

Feeling numbness set in, a brief spark of panic flooded through my body, before I snuffed it out. This wasn’t the end. After everything I’ve done… And everything I still wanted to do.

I REFUSE TO DIE HERE!

Summoning up what meager amount of strength I had left, I glanced over my shoulder and exhaled a small stream of incredibly sharp Wind Chakra, cutting through the weakened Susanoo’s blade.

Hitting the ground, I pivoted on the spot and launched myself towards Madara who was all set to defend himself with one arm.

It didn’t matter.

Rushing forward, Madara’s fist slammed into my face, but that didn’t matter. Tackling him, my body slammed into his own, impaling him on his own Susanoo’s blade which stuck out of my chest.

He fought to break free, so that his regeneration could take care of his wound, but I held onto him, refusing to let go. Gripping his remaining arm, I gave one harsh tug, dragging him even further onto his own blade.

“There was a Shinobi once,” I muttered, blood leaking from my mouth. “He was from Kiri… They called him a demon because he butchered an entire class as his graduation exam. He did terrible things in his life and even enjoyed it. Momochi Zabuza, that was his name.”

Taking a breath, I spat out a mouthful of blood.

“He embodied the evil that Shinobi can become, but… He was still human. He started to take care of a child… Haku… To raise him as a weapon, but in time, he grew to love him as his own son,” I murmured. “He even went so far as to kill those that killed him and die by his side. If someone like that could learn to love and give their own life for those they care about, then… Then I think there is still hope for this world.”

Stopping his struggle, Madara stilled. If it wasn’t for the rise and fall of his chest, I would have said that he’d already died.

“The... Infinite Tsukuyomi was my dream… My gift to this war torn world… But it wasn’t my first dream,” Madara muttered, his eyes diming. “Hashirama and I… We grew up during the warring clan era. We had this dream… To create a place where children no longer had to die needlessly. Konoha was that dream realized, but… It didn’t last. With the creation of the village system, wars became larger… More devastating.”

“It became an era of wars with only a brief resting period of peace,” I said.

“Yes,” Madara nodded. “Seeing you go to such lengths to protect the village reminds me a little of Hashirama. It seems that our resolve was equal to one another. I wonder how things would have gone if I’d chosen to stay and support our original dream. Now I’m dying once more… Having failed at my task.”

“If it helps, you did kind of give the world a single enemy to unite against.”

“Heh, I suppose… That does… Somewhat… Take the sting out of it,” Madara murmured. Closing his eyes, he took a few more breaths, before finally stilling.

With his death, the Chakra blade finally faded away, dropping his body to the floor. Falling backwards, I clutched the hole in my chest as blood began to pour out. My wound was healing, albeit very slowly.

‘Kurama, you there, buddy?’ I thought. ‘I might be dying over here.’

Still nothing.

‘All of your favorite movies are in my head. If I go, they go.’

Starting to grow worried, a small sliver of his Chakra hummed through my body, kick starting my regeneration once more. Letting out a relieved breath, I took a moment to rest, before pushing myself up.

Looking down at Madara’s body, I turned back towards Konoha and let out a sigh. May as well get started.

Lifting Madara’s body over my shoulder, I briefly stopped to grab his arm, before heading back to Konoha. My Truth Seeking Orbs following lazily behind.

…PTL…

Feeling the exhaustion begin to set in, I focused on the single act of putting one foot in front of the other. My vision blurred, almost begging me to close my eyes, but I refused. The moment I stopped, I would pass out. I needed to keep moving… To get to Tsunade.

“Damn. You look like crap.”

Blinking, I looked up to see Anko standing in front of me, smirking. Looking down at the state of my tattered clothes, I mustered the energy for a shrug. “It’s been a long day.”

“I’ll say,” Anko hummed. “Do you need a hand?”

Raising my hand, I lifted Madara’s disembodied arm. “Already got one.”

“Idiot,” Anko snorted. “I’ll let that one slide since you’re obviously delirious.” Sidling up to me, she swung one of my arms over her shoulder. “Let’s get you back to Konoha. You can lean on me.”

“Thank you… Anko,” I murmured, feeling my burden halve.

“What are friends for?” She grinned.

Giving her a tired smirk, my pace increased substantially with her help. Making it back to Konoha’s main gates, I raised an eyebrow when I found a crowd of Shinobi and civilians alike blocking the way.

“What…”

“Everyone saw your fight in the sky… Those that didn’t, felt your Chakra,” Anko explained. “I hate to break it to you, but you’re probably going to see a spike in your popularity from now on,” She said cheekily.

Right.

Raising my Truth Seeking Orbs so that they were out of reach, Anko and I stepped through the crumbling remains of Konoha’s gate, greeting the combined group calmly as more than a few of the kids rushed out to ask me questions, ignoring the fact that I had a dead guy slung over my shoulder.

Answering them as best as I could, Anko and I slowly made our way through the crowd, only to have them suddenly part in front of us, allowing Tsunade to pass through unhindered, her henge shattered, revealing her Sage markings beneath.

“Naruto,” Tsunade murmured, her eyes briefly darting towards Madara’s body. “I see that you managed just fine on your own.”

“It was close,” I hummed. Locking eyes with Anko, she nodded and I moved forward without her. “Madara was… A lot stronger than I expected.” Placing his body on the floor, I stepped over it.

“I figured he would be. I had a backup plan that would have provided you with more than enough help, but I was forced to use it to keep the village safe from the fallout of your fight,” She explained. “I never…”

Wrapping my arms around her, I pulled her into a tight hug. Feeling the tension fade from my body, my vision began to dim. “I’m just… Happy to see that you’re safe.”

Leaning back, I stared into her eyes, before leaning forward, pressing her lips against mine. I was far too tired to care about what everyone thought. So long as those that I loved were alive, I was happy.

Pulling away, I gave Tsunade one last smile, before slumping forward. Joining Kurama in the world of unconsciousness.