The sound of hundreds of bloody screams and cries of death tore through the air like a weak, hungry beast, clawing at the rotting corpse of another's kill. The coldness of death, and the rank smell of blood hung over the city like flies, it gripped it with an iron hold.
Naruto now walked among the streets of the city, his troops having torn past the unprepared defenders on the wall long ago, specks of blood were visible along his form, as well as his gauntlets, his two scimitars in their sheathes as he still did not need them. Behind him was a literal trail of bodies and body parts, red soaking into the cold stones of Kumo's streets, flowing like a river due to the cities downward slope.
"There he is!" The Jinchuriki heard a voice behind him, turning he found what he assumed were two Kumo jounins as well as four chuunins. They looked upon the trail of death left behind by him their reactions ranging from disgust, to horror, to outrage. With a cry of rage one of the Jounin took out a kunai, charging it with lightning chakra until it formed a sword of sorts he rushed the Kage of Konoha, the others following after him a moment later.
It was quick, unbelievably so. With a flutter of crimson and metal, claws tore flesh from bones, snapping limbs, tearing and slicing, until the only one that remained was a young chuunin, his throat gripped in the iron fist of the Konoha Jinchuriuki.
He was young, no older than sixteen, his fearful green eyes staring back at him, reflecting the cold look of apathy within his glowing red orbs, blood flowing down from a gash on his forehead, flowing down his eyes and lower to his cheeks. Naruto seemed to look the boy over once, his crimson pools never leaving this child's eyes.
Then he felt it...a presence, approaching him very fast, very...familiar.
"STOP!" The cry reached his ears, bringing his attention to the person it belonged to. His ruby red eyes gleaming as they traveled to the roof of the two story building at his side, his grip never leaving the gasping boy's neck.
He recognized her instantly, even after a decade that face was still burned into his memory. He watched her eyes glance down worriedly at the young man in his grasp, and he allowed his own eyes to turn to the boy's, who was now looking at the new arrival with hope and pleading.
Without a second thought, Naruto's fingers twitched and a sickening snap broke through the air and reached each of their ears and Naruto watched as the shock of the boys gaze, the disbelief, slowly faded, leaving nothing but sightless orbs that feebly grasped at life, until the faint light within them too, went out.
"NO!" The girls cry reached him. Naruto threw the lifeless form aside before he turned, catching the girls weapon in his clawed hand. He stared down at her then, her eyes turning from crystal blue to blood red in a second, red chakra beginning to form around her as she glared up at his taller form, the glow of his own red eyes visible clearly as he looked up to her.
"So...it is you."
The one eyed swordsman of Kiri tore past another squadron of Kumo's Anbu, sprays of crimson falling around him, his single hazel brown eye taking in the other battles going on. The Kumo ninja were loosing ground, and they were loosing ground fast. Almost...too fast.
Soon Kakashi appeared in a plume of smoke next to the man. "I've taken care of my side. Do you need any help with yours?"
Renewed cries caught both men's attention, turning their eyes they found more Kumo Anbu and Jounin making their way into the fight. One of the new arrivals in particular catching his eye.
Soft, shoulder length black hair, deep blue Kimono and a chakra scalpel in one hand. Oh yes, he recognized that one.
"No Hatake, I do not require your..." The man paused and soon both Jounin leapt back, a moment later the earth shattering beneath where they had previously been standing, a loud 'BOOM' making their ears ring as they landed on a rooftop of a now dangerously unstable building. As the dust finally settled they found the form of the legendary medic and granddaughter to the first Hokage standing amongst the rubble, her fist near the ground as she glared at them.
Kakashi's eyes narrowed as he removed his Hitai-ate from his eyes. "Tsunade-sama...so this is where you've been hiding all these years. Please, do not make this more difficult than what it must be."
The blond sannin's eyes narrowed. "Hatake...still so scrawny eh. Why don't you go back and take your men with you. I'm not someone you want to mess with."
"No doubt." Kakashi nodded. "But we have a job to do, and if we have to, we will go through you, isn't that right my one eye'd friend."
"Take care of her Hatake, I have other business to attend to." The swordsman spoke offhandedly, making his way towards where he could see Shizune fighting some Ame and Taki ninja under their command.
"Wait what?" Was Kakashi's startled query as his partner began to leave. While he was pretty certain that they could defeat the legendary medic together, alone he wasn't so sure. He's certainly not going to put it past the medic to still be in shape for a fight at her age, especially with that little incident with Yoshihiro. "Hey wait a second. You cant just leave me here..." The copy nin trailed off uneasily as his eyes turned back to the, now smirking, Tsunade.
"Well runt, you don't seem so confident now." She grinned, loving his slightly troubled expression. While she knew she was far from her prime, she was still confident in her chances of defeating the copy nin.
Kakashi let out a small curse, promising himself that if he survived this he was going to kill Guan. Settling himself in a straight stance, his hands held in a seal. "Alright then..." Before he began the rest of the seals.
Shizune, who was currently attending one of the wounded had just finished deflecting some Kunai aimed at her and her patient when she heard the sound of fluttering clothes behind her, approaching quickly. And so, thinking fast she rolled forward, in time to avoid the blade that tried to take her head clean off her shoulders. Spinning around on her heel she found a large, and very familiar form standing over her patient, the man's throat crushed under his boot, his dying gurgles sickening to Shizune's ears as she watched him writhe in pain before his gurgles finally ceased as did his movements.
"Impressive." Came Guan's voice, bringing her attention up to him. "You seem to have grown well girl." The man placed his blade to rest on his shoulders. "Allow me to see if this assumption is correct."
Shizune swallowed the lump of fear in her throat, she certainly remembered this man, and while she had grown in strength since those days, she was sure he had as well. She could only hope she would be up to the task.
Naruto's form exploded from the side of one of Kumo's various homes, wood and stone debris flying through the air in his wake, another form exploding out of the dust a moment later, revealing Akina, her three pieced staff already in mid swing.
Naruto landed on the adjacent rooftop, raising his hand and blocking the incoming swing with a loud sound of metal against metal. He saw the girl growl before she delivered another strike with the other end of her weapon, this one aimed at his knee. Naruto, in response did a swift spin jump, pivoting in mid air so that his form was parallel to the ground before he lashed out with a kick, connecting with the girls throat, causing her to stumble and choke.
Naruto landed once again with billowing crimson around him as he stared at his sisters choking form as she struggled to loosen her now sore throat.
Akina glared at him for all she was worth, her angry snarls and growls reaching his ears. His infuriating voice drawling slowly from his lips as he spoke. "Is this it? All that you have to offer, girl?"
Her anger rose, a lone bubbling tail of crimson chakra forming behind her as she summoned more of the foxes strength from within herself.
Naruto allowed his eyes to travel down to the golden bracers along his wrist, watching as they sizzled with smoke rising from them.. It appears his own demonic chakra was reacting to her presence. Interesting.
The eldest of the siblings was forced to tear his attention away from the wristbands as his sister released a roar, lashing out with a single claw of red chakra that rushed him.
Raising his own arms, he coated them with blue chakra as he crisscrossed them in front of himself, bracing against the impact which arrived a moment later. Channeling chakra to his feet he managed to stay attached to the floor, that did not mean the roof tiles did, shattering and cracking as he skidded down the length of the roof, coming to a stop at the very edge. Naruto's eyes pierced the veil of red, once again meeting his sisters as the claw of chakra attempted to overpower him, a flash of the foxes face, smiling with gleaming white fangs and eyes dancing with hellish amusement flashed before his minds eye.
Most interesting.
"Doton: Doryuudan no jutsu!" Was Kakashi's cry before a large earth dragon went charging straight at Tsunade, only for the beast to meet the woman's fist and be smashed into the rubble from whence it came. The woman's victory was short lived however, as Kakashi appeared from the ground behind her, kunai in hand as he thrust it to the back of her head.
Tsunde ducked, spinning on her heel as she formed a chakra scalpel in her hand and thrust it towards the sharingan wielders ribs, only for Kakashi to grab hold of her wrist and plunge his kunai into the juncture of her neck and shoulder, his smirk died on his lips however as Tsunade formed another chakra scalpel in her free hand and this time, succeeded in cutting some tendons in his leg. He cursed before leaping back, falling onto one knee as he was unprepared for the weakness in the injured leg. Tsunade meanwhile pulled the kunai from her flesh and formed a healing technique, breathing heavily due to the pain as she looked at Kakashi with a smirk on her face. "Careful runt, I can afford to get injured...you cant."
Kakashi cursed, he should have guessed. Tsunade was renowned as both the strongest and fastest of the sannin, he had read some of her books, in which she advised all medics that, they, above all others in the team must not let themselves get injured made that obvious. He should have anticipated that she would allow an injury to come to her just to injure him. She could heal it, he could not. She had probably positioned her body so it wouldn't hit a vital area, He, meanwhile was crippled.
Oh he was definitely gonna kick Guan's green wearing ass when he saw him next.
Shizune meanwhile was in the exact opposite situation, while she was holding her ground valiantly against the swordsman of Kiri, his greater experience, chakra capacity, and sheer raw power was beginning to wear at her. The only edge that she held over him was in speed and in ranged techniques. That sword however, was proving to be a capable shield as well as its obvious use.
She was breathing heavy as she stood across from him, grime and sweat marring her normally porcelain skin. It was with a heave of determination that she found the strength to rush him again, pulling back her sleeve she revealed a small mechanism on her arm which shot several poisoned Senbon needles at the man, as well as several Senbon needles which she launched from her mouth.
Guan moved to place his blade in front of him again to block the incoming projectiles when he heard Shizune's voice. "Senbon kage bunshin no jutsu" Followed shortly after by "Kaiu"
There was a minor cyclone of wind that formed around him and Guan soon found himself surrounded by hundreds of Senbon needles caught in the spinning vortex.
Shizune's hands closed tightly together and it was with no small amount of satisfaction that she saw the needles and air currents come crashing down around the area Guan hand been standing. When the dust cleared however she couldn't stop the look of shock and the curse that escaped her lips.
Guan stood, in the exact same spot, completely unharmed, a spinning shield of water around him, holding the needles within it as if the water were made of jelly.
"Impressive." Guan said slowly before he dispelled his water shield, allowing the needles to fall around him with numerous little clatters.
Zhuge Liang walked slowly towards the edge of the roof of his tower watching as the Konoha nins came deeper and deeper into the city, their greater numbers cutting down all those who stood before them. He could see them charging up the main road, heading straight towards the tower.
"Someday, my fair city...I hope you can forgive me for what I must do." He spoke solemnly before he raised the white plumed fan high above his head releasing a great burst of lightning that shot up into the sky.
Seconds later dozens of massive explosions tore through different sections of the city, those on the main road were blown to bits, since the bombs were under the street, the orange glow of flames rapidly beginning to spread throughout the city as embers slowly rose towards the heavens.
Liang didn't turn away from the scene, but instead stared upon it with apathy before he too raised his eyes to the sky above. "For sacrifices are necessary...if we are to survive this war."
Naruto leaned back, avoiding another of Akina's swings with the three pieced staff, which was now charged with lightning, before he stepped forward, into her follow up swing and slashed her with his claws, tearing the flesh in great chunks from the left side of her abdomen down to her left hip. She released another cry of pain before she was silenced by a backhand delivered across her face, which threw her off the rooftop, falling to the ground bellow in a heap, the wound already healed as she moved to stand once again. Naruto stared at her with cold boredom. Her breathing heavy as sweat and blood matted her hair down onto her forehead and the back of her neck.
It was then a golden glow behind him managed to catch his attention. Turning, he found several bright flashes of white lightning shooting skywards from the very top of the Raikage tower.
His eyes narrowed, but soon he felt Akina's presence begin to get farther and farther, turning he barely managed to see the faint trail of red chakra before it too vanished around the corner.
He only had a moment to wonder why she ran when the building beneath him began to shake and a moment later he was engulfed in a massive fireball, his roar drowned out by the explosions that followed.
Kakashi didn't know what had happened, one second he was dodging punches and kicks from the greatest medic to ever walk the earth, launching as many long ranged Jutsu as he knew in order to try and hold her off. The pain, and muscle weakness in his leg however was putting him at a severe disadvantage.
But the next thing he knew, a bright flash came from the top of the tower and Tsunade ran, just ran. He saw as she passed right by Guan and grabbed an injured Shizune before she bolted down the corner, several Kumo ninja hot on her heels, leaving a very confused coalition army behind them.
Then the explosions came.
Naruto's eyes slowly opened, pain burning through his abdomen as he tried to get back to his feet, observing the scene of carnage and destruction around him, hundreds of buildings blown to bits, charred corpses, some whole some missing several body parts depending on how close each one of them was to the explosion. He himself had barely had any time to use a Kawarimi, and if it had not been for the fact that he required no hand seals for it, he was certain he'd be dead. Alas it was only a few buildings and areas that remained mostly intact, no doubt where the Kumo ninja had hid.
He clutched his abdomen, which he now realized was bleeding horribly, chunks of burnt flesh and skin hanging from the gaping injury which was only now beginning to heal. He hissed as he finally managed to get to his feet stumbling slightly. He took his blood covered gauntlet and ran it over one of the seals on his wristbands, welcoming the familiar burn of Youki coursing through his system, the red wisps forming an outline around him. Soon however, he heard footsteps approaching him, and felt the familiarity of her presence. He turned slowly, finding his younger sibling, staring at his injured form with a look that was crossed somewhere between satisfaction and hatred. "I see that you're not invincible after all."
Naruto allowed his eyes to travel away from her back up to the sky, before he began circling her, his steps measured yet seemingly careless, as if he was strolling. "So." He drawled, his deep resonating voice reaching them both as he looked upon the sight of the devastation. "Is this what you desire child? You hate me this much? Such that you would destroy the city that took you in?"
Akina growled. "I would see a hundred cities destroyed if it meant seeing your corpse at my feet."
Naruto let loose a few dry chuckles, strange sounds which sent ice running up and down her spine. "Truly? Then tell me, dear sister...how does that make you any different from me?"
Akina growled. "Don't you dare ever call me your sister! Just because we share the same Bijuu does not mean I am related to some cruel monster like you in any way."
Naruto had looked at her as she spoke, finding no recognition in her eyes at his statement, just affronted anger and hatred. "You mean you truly don't know then?" He remarked lowly, almost to himself but Akina had heard it, her eyes narrowing in mild confusion before she shook it off, dismissing the strange statement as best she could.
Naruto chuckled again at that point, his hand traveling to the hilt of his sword. "If you want me dead, dear sister then...you had better come at me with your best."
"Gladly, she growled, red chakra exploding outwards, forming her second tail before she rushed him, the three pieced weapon flaring with lightning as she swung at a downward angle, aiming for the left junction of his neck, when he batted the piece away with his own blade, before he brought it down from left to right to block the second swing aimed for his right leg, and then another for his left side before he delivered a thrust aimed for the girls stomach, only for Akina to back pedal while spinning rapidly, twisting her weapon so it was folded up, the three sections behind her back. She continued spinning as she leapt up, Naruto rushing forward to get in range again when she stopped mid spin, launching her weapon in such a way so that the tip of one end was aimed to hit right between his eyes.
Naruto reacted quickly though as he raised his sword above his head and brought it straight down, the ringing loud in his ears as the two metals clashed together. As the impact ignited a small spark Naruto used it, launching a wind attack with his swing and empowering it with flames that exploded in his younger siblings face.
Naruto was disappointed however as he felt the girl replace herself with an item behind him. Spinning around he saw her swing the three pieced staff again, this time with her gripping the very end of the weapon, which would make it wrap around Naruto and hit him on the side she was swinging from, as well as his back and his other side.
He acted quickly, bringing the sword in his right hand to go along his left side, blocking the attack, he then felt the hard impact against his lower back, grunting in pain as he felt the shock from the electricity burn his back and run up and down his spine. His movements now a bit more stiff and sluggish he coated his left hand with chakra before bringing it to his right side and catching the weapon in his grip, thereby locking it in place around him.
His sword however remained free as he pulled it up, free of Akina's as he tried to swing at the girl. Only for her to lean to one side and then ducking under the follow up before she formed a chakra scalpel in her hand, this one too laced with lightning chakra before she thrust it towards his throat. Only for Naruto to vanish in a cloud of smoke when the attack connected.
Akina didn't have much time to react before a sword suddenly went through her, coming out of her stomach, right bellow her ribs. She stumbled as she coughed up copious amounts of blood. the third tail beginning to bubble to life as she growled and glanced behind her, glaring at the form that stared back.
"You can never compare to me..." He spoke coldly. "Dear sister." Before he savagely yanked the blade out of her and delivered a quick, brutal hit to the back of her head, knocking her completely unconscious, her weapon clattering noisily to the charred earth.
He walked to her side, nudging her roughly with his boot to roll her onto her side. He looked at her for a moment before he pressed the tip of his blade against her throat, his eyes gleaming with an unidentified emotion before he raised the blade above his head and brought it down to cut her throat.
Before he was able to complete the task however, a surge of chakra behind him had him leaping away, just before a lightning bolt flew past the area where he previously stood, above Akina, leaving her unharmed.
Landing a few yards away from his previous position, he turned slightly and found a man, dressed in white with trimmed mustache and goatee staring at him, a white feathered fan in his hand. "Naruto-sama." He greeted with a small bow. His eyes traveling a bit to the side where three Anbu landed.
Naruto ignored them however and focused his attention on the white clad man. "I assume that you would be the Raikage. Zhuge Liang...The sleeping dragon."
Liang nodded. "Yes, I am. And you would be Uzumaki Naruto, The so called Devil King."
Naruto was about to respond when he felt a tingle at the back of his mind. "Kai." He spoke, and for a moment the scene appeared hazy, when it cleared it revealed Akina, being carried away by two medics, the medics looked upon him in fear but didn't get far before several wind blades tore them apart. Naruto then allowed his eyes to travel back to Liang, who held a visibly troubled expression on his face apparently, the so called sleeping dragon's genjutsu were not as strong as fabled. He had barely noticed it true, but still, it fell like all before him.
Liang made a quick hand gesture, which Naruto caught and the blond was forced to raise his blade to block the assault from the three Anbu that had previously arrived.
Two of them appeared to be long ranged specialists, and the largest one obviously being a close range specialist.
Naruto dealt with the close range individual swiftly. Blocking his upwards swing with his blade before he formed a single Rasengan in hand and smashed it against the mans stomach, watching as blood exploded from his back as the swirling sphere tore right through him. Naruto grunted in pain as a Kunai soon found its way into his side, thrown from one of the long range specialists. He attacked him next, appearing in front of the visibly startled man in a second. He tried to turn and run, but a swift kick to the small of his back stopped him, in which Naruto could feel and hear the man's spine snap. Either he was dead, or paralyzed for the rest of his life.
Vanishing again he appeared next to the third, who only had a split second to react before his claws tore through the Anbu's stomach. He clutched the injury, hacking up what must have been blood as he crumpled down to the cold stone of Kumo's destroyed streets. Before he fell forward completely, face in the dirt.
Naruto then turned to Liang, but found something on the man's face he did not expect.
A smirk.
And it was with that smirk that the man's voice reached him. "Congratulations Naruto-sama. You've just won me this war."
"What?" Was the blonds confused reply. His confusion left him however as Liang waved his fan.
"Kai." Came the Kage's bored voice. The entire scenery became hazy for a moment before it fell away, revealing the three Anbu, to have never been Anbu at all. The close range fighter was not even human, but several broken pieces of wood resembling splinters more than any real form. If he had to guess, it would be a puppet. But there were no known puppet users in Kumo, only Suna held them...so what was one doing here?
He then allowed his eyes to travel to his second opponent, this one garbed in black, with purple face paint, used by Suna's puppet users. Then he looked to the third. This one, he recognized instantly as the girl he had fought back at Sakai. But this time, around her arm, he recognized the Suna headband.
Then another presence became known to him. This one he too recognized.
The vessel of Shukaku...the Kazekage.
He looked to Liang then, the man's slight smirk still on his lips as he began circling Naruto speaking with his familiar, bland tone. "You underestimated me Naruto-sama...the illusion you dispelled was a weaker one, and so you never bothered to look deeper, to look...underneath the underneath..."
"You sent a message to Suna?" The legendary medic questioned with a raised eyebrow as she continued to walk up the stairs. "Do you think that they'll cooperate once you speak with them."
Liang didn't answer for a moment before he took a breath and spoke. "Weather they cooperate or not does not matter, they will soon attack Konoha regardless of their Kazekage's initial decision."
"I don't think I follow." Tsunade said as she raised an eyebrow. Liang merely closed his eyes for a brief moment. "You will soon enough." He clarified in his own way before he came across the door of his office, opening the wooden obstacle before he entered. He found the three currently sitting forms of the Kazekage and his siblings.
"Kazekage-dono, welcome."
Liang continued to speak as he circled the young Kage from Konoha. "I called the Kazekage here, to discuss an alliance with him, in order to defeat you...as per tradition, he responded and came to the village. However, his council from Suna, had finally settled on a decision, the decision to surrender to you. Thus, leaving Kumo to be the only one left that could challenge you." He straightened and took a deep breath.
Zhuge Liang sat in one of the many rooms of the tower, currently attending the foreign delegates that were currently in Kumo when one of the Chuunin practically tore down the door. Breathing heavily, eyes filled with fear. "K-Ko-"
The man never needed to finish his sentence before an explosion was seen out the balcony, along the southern wall. Liang's eyes narrowed minutely as he stood up from his chair. "So...they have finally come then." Liang turned, facing the Kazekage of Suna and his siblings, forming an unseen hand seal. "I would ask your assistance in this fight, Kazekage-dono."
Gaara sighed.
"You see, when it was clear they would not assist me, I was forced to take some...measures to ensure their cooperation. I placed all three of them into An illusion."
"Forgive me, Raikage-dono. But suna must not become involved in this fight." Gaara spoke solemnly. It was Temari who startled him however.
"Gaara, I think we should help them, even though Suna has agreed to a surrender, we should not allow innocent people to die here."
"Very well Raikage-dono. We shall assist you in this fight." Came Gaara's statement surprising Temari and Kankuro. His eldest sibling voicing her objections.
"Bu-But Gaara, Suna cant become involved in this."
Gaara nodded. "Temari, I wont just stand by and watch this destruction if I can prevent it, assist me or don't."
Caught off guard by her brothers authoritive tone Temari couldn't bring herself to object further on the subject and merely nodded.
"And so it is that...Suna has aided us in this battle, and I separated them during it, luring Gaara away from his siblings and his siblings closer here. So that they would fight you. To ensure that they would, I formed another Genjutsu to make it seem as if you were about to strike down Gaara, their brother. And one, obviously, over you to make them seem like my own men." He seemed to sigh before he looked at Naruto's silent form. "And you, being who you are, I knew would not hesitate to cut them down. Now, because of your cruelty, all of Suna will rise up in arms against you, and the Kazekage's rage will know, no bounds..."
Naruto remained silent for a very long time after that. When he spoke, his voice was somehow different, but still as ruthless and hollow as ever. "Suna would have surrendered...tell me Zhuge Liang, why is it that you, would seek to now perpetuate the Chaos?"
Liang was visibly startled by the question but he cleared his throat and spoke none the less. "Naruto-sama...to me, there is no doubt in, at least my mind, that you are the man necessary to bring about peace...you are not however, the man...that can lead peace."
"So, you would lead the world in place of me then?" Naruto drawled with a roll of his eyes.
Liang shook his head. "No Naruto-sama. You see, the reason you are not the man to lead peace is simply because, you are a Shinobi. It is that simple. I however, am not the one to lead it either, for I am not the kind of man the people will follow. No...I am afraid that under both of us, a lasting peace is not possible to achieve..." The Raikage shook his head for a moment. "But still, it is necesary to at the very least, remove you, in order to have a hope of peace succeeding in this war-torn land."
Naruto was again silent after that, he could feel the various chakra signatures approaching him now, The Kazekage, Kakashi, Guan, as well as one he faintly recognized as Tsunade. He looked down to Temari and Kankuro. They did indeed seem dead. When he looked back to Liang, he was about to speak when his ears caught something in the wind. Something faint...a heartbeat.
He looked to the source, and found it was from Temari. Her heartbeat, steady but faint.
The cogs slowly worked in Naruto's mind and the blond soon found himself smirking faintly beneath his mask.
"I'm afraid...Zhuge Liang, sleeping dragon. That your plan will fail." He remarked as he began making his way to Temari.
Liang didn't say anything, but he visibly tensed as he watched the Jinchuriki approach the girl.
"You underestimated..." He leaned down and picked Temari up, tossing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "This one...she is still alive..."
Liang's eyes widened. If Naruto captured one of them alive then...then he could use her as a bargaining chip with Gaara. He would trade her safe return for Suna's surrender. Even in his brilliance, the sleeping dragon had arrogantly removed one element from his calculations, an element most scientists tended to leave out as well.
The human element.
Liang raised his fan to deliver an attack, when Naruto spun around and launched his own, releasing a wave of fire towards the Raikage.
The older man was forced to switch onto the defensive as he released a great cyclone of wind, diverting the flames and spreading them so they would miss him, as well as Akina. Who seemed to be coming to.
"Naruto-sama!" Came the cry of Hatake Kakashi as the man leapt over some debris, Guan and several dozen Anbu, Chuunin and Jounin behind him, all of them injured. "Naruto-sama, we have to retreat, our front line has been wiped out and we cant hold off the Kumo nins much longer. He breathed heavily as he favored one leg, a large splinter of wood digging into his side.
Naruto nodded, and he allowed his eyes to travel towards Zhuge, who stood on the other side of the wall of flames a glare visible in his hazel brown eyes. "I will see you fail, Zhuge Liang."
The blond then allowed his eyes to travel to Akina, who finally seemed to be regaining consciousness, before they finally came to stop, on their most recent arrival, the Kazekage himself, who stared upon his sisters form over his shoulder with a look of fear, one which soon morphed into rage as his turquoise green eyes turned onto him. "Uzumaki!" He roared. "You will release her now."
"If you wish for her Kazekage, then I will contact you soon, and we shall form a trade." Naruto responded before he turned to Kakashi and Guan. "Sound the retreat, we've been bested today." He said before he began fleeing from the charred remains of Kumo, the Kazekage's sister in hand.
Liang watched as Naruto left, the Kazekage soon hot on his heels. Turning to the nearest captain he spoke. "Gather your men, pursue them." The captain nodded before he vanished in a puff of smoke. The Raikage then turned to the medic attending Akina. "Once she's coherent, tell her to join the pursuit. I will go on ahead." He continued, not allowing the medic to speak before he leapt over the flames, soon catching up to the Kazekage as they pursued the remains of the Konoha invasion force.