Kakashi knew the attack was coming before the name of his opponent had finished passing through his mind, a blade, sharp and poised reaching for his flesh to spill his blood.
He turned awkwardly, twisting his body at the waste almost completely with a minimal shift to the position of his leg, narrowly managing to grasp the kunai with his gloved hand.
The pain of metal slicing through his palm was unregistering. Adrenalin pumping through his veins like a euphoric super drug as the full ramifications of just who he was about to fight took hold of him.
Uchiha Itachi.
Hatake Kakashi was never one to back down, never one to flee because his opponent was stronger than he was. Indeed, should that have been the case, many times during the subjugation wars of the central marshlands would people have seen him fleeing from determined, and well organized rebels.
Even more recently, his battle with Yoshihiro Shimazu when the Tsuchikage stood as their enemy, if he were a lesser man Kakashi would have run when the elder nin had revealed his trump card technique. The enhanced killing intent that could nullify the Sharingan's Genjutsu breaking abilities.
He hadn't run then.
And even now as he realized he would be forced to fight Uchiha Itachi, the master of the Mangekyo Sharingan, Nuke nin that destroyed an entire clan of elite ninja in a single span of mere hours, and the one person that could boast a defeat of his current Kage in a fight, the notion to flee never even passed his thoughts.
And so it was no surprise that Kakashi's other hand lashed out, gripping the juncture of Itachi's elbow and forearm before twisting.
The Uchiha however rolled with the maneuver, cartwheeling fluidly with a firm jump, drawing another kunai while in mid air, a movement not lost on Kakashi even with the obscurity of that heavy, flapping cloak.
Itachi released the kunai Kakashi held, and the copy ninja twirled the weapon in his grip, bringing it to bear for his own use as Itachi's feet hit the ground, blocking the pointed thrust with the commandeered knife while his free hand caught Itachi's other wrist, stopping him from reaching for yet another of the obsidian colored blades.
At the same time Kakashi began his attack, Kankuro rushed forward, the engines on his suits calves revving the wheels at the bottom of his feet to life, pushing him forward with a torrent of snow thrown up behind him.
In front of him, Kisame reared back his weapon, the shark skinned Samaheda, so massive and moved so swiftly it made a momentary whirl in the air, catching the snow on the wind before he swung.
Kankuro plowed on, unfettered and uncaring to the masked ninja that had just leaped away from Kisame's side.
He raised his arm, allowing the Samaheda to smash into the reinforced wood full force, scraping and grinding against the armor. Faintly, he could feel the weapon draining his chakra. But the seals placed on the armor to block out outside interference along the suits chakra powered control systems stifled it, like a ball of paper towels would stifle a current of water from a leaky pipe.
The wheels of his suit skidded for a moment as they were pushed back, their forward momentum stopped before Kankuro added his suits increased strength to the equation.
The puppeteer shoved, hard, pushing the weapon back and driving his shoulder right into Kisame's solar plexus, digging the rounded edge deep into that blue chest and hearing the Nuke nin grunt as he was forcefully driven back on the ice before he forcefully shoved Kankuro away.
The Suna Jounin didn't miss a beat rolling from his back onto his feet, belying his sheer size and weight before he turned back to Kisame, whom was still on his feet, weapon at the ready. Kankuro shouted towards his Anbu as he held his fist forward, towards Kisame, compartments along the back of the suits hand opening before they released several kunai towards the blue skinned Kiri nin only for the massive width of Samaheda to intercept the weapons before they ever reached him "Go! All of you! Find Gaara. Yugito lead them on!"
No questions were asked, no hesitation, Yugito merely gave a single glance towards the spiral masked Tobi, who was now squaring off against Yoshihiro before she too left them, leading the Suna Anbu towards the looming Ice fortress. Leaving Kankuro, Kakashi, and Yoshihiro to their opponents.
The winds were so harsh both women felt as though it was razor wire being dragged across their cheeks, sharp stings pin pricking their pain receptors at every angle every few seconds
But despite this, Temari's focus was strong, a steely resolve settling in her mind as she pushed back her doubts and lingering hesitations, resurfaced in the face of her brother Kankuro.
The golden haired kunoichi felt a hand on her shoulder shortly before Akina shouted in her ear, trying to carry her voice over the howl of the gusts. " Right there, at the base of the tower." She yelled pointing at where the highest spike of Ice jutted out of the rest of the structure.
Temari went to nod, but then, years of ninja training came to the fore, a strange tingling in the back of her mind, a sixth sense that would not be muffled nor sputtered by the cold winds or deafening howls that beat against her senses.
She banked a hard left, grabbing the startled Akina until her fellow blond could recover her equilibrium.
Then of course she abandoned said task when an explosion forced her to try and recover her equilibrium.
The rapid shift in air currents, outward from the blast then inward to fill the vacuum left in the fires wake jostled the battle fan beneath her feet to the point where she nearly fell off entirely.
Akina for her part, stumbled and tripped, only redeeming the total loss of her footing with a desperate leap towards the ice fortress, using her chakra to scrape off a stop to her downward momentum as she reached it. Beginning a grueling climb upwards as she finally came to a complete stop and grew adjusted to the ice's slippery surface.
With the loss of weight, Temari jerked her fan to the side, using more of her wind affinity to angle the turn sharply, almost rounding a full one hundred and eighty degrees in the span of about three feet in the air.
She looked up, beyond the vanishing wisps of smoke caught in the wind to fin a lumbering brownish bird hovering above, the Nuke Nin she could recognize from the Bingo Books as Iwa's Deidara.
She pushed forward, under the bird, allowing the artificial winds to carry her before she banked upright Approaching from beneath the clay bird drawing two kunai as she did.
She circled around its side, wind extending from the obsidian blades now in her hands before she rose herself over the edge of the artificial creature.
Deidara wasted no time, chucking another of his bombs as he caught sight of her again, and the small glob of clay would have struck the blond woman had it not been for a quick swerve to wards the massive birds front side, throwing one of her wind empowered kunai as she did.
The explosive specialist fell onto his back, springing to his feet as the weapon passed over him. His eyes finding Temari once again as he reached his feet, as she headed straight for him.
He reached into his pouch, ready to grab another glob of clay before the Suna Kunoichi shoved her battle fan towards him with an angled jump, propelling her means of transportation at even greater speeds.
Deidara felt a momentary surprise at the maneuver before he leaped over the makeshift battering ram.
Temari twirled through the air, remaining wind empowered kunai in hand the previous momentum carrying her forward with ease towards the, still in mid air, Nuke Nin.
Deidara twisted his body, grunting as he narrowly avoided Temari's swing, landing rather awkwardly, with his left arm bent backwards and balancing himself on the ball of his left foot before he mannaged to shove himself on all fours watching as Temari's wind blade completely severed the head of his clay bird.
She landed in a roll, and Deidara saw his opportunity to strike. He grabbed more clay, throwing it to the spot where he knew she would be before he jumped off the falling marionette.
Making another creature mid fall Deidara watched his previous creation explode with a deafening bang that shook his chest with the vibrations and heated the chilly air, but even before the smoke had cleared he saw that his opponent, gliding a fair distance away from the blast zone.
The Nuke nin cursed, no one survived his art yet and lived to tell about it. This little bitch would be no different.
Yugito and her troop rushed into the ice fortress. Their eyes scanned the hollowed shell, bridges and Ice walkways honeycombing the interior of it. Tunnels, openings and passage ways stood out everywhere in a hundred different directions. It would take forever to search them one by one.
She opened the scroll again, watching as the runes glowed brightly with Gaara's proximity, pointing slightly to the right. At least this would narrow down their options somewhat.
"We're splitting up, three teams. You two-" She gestured to two Anbu to her right. "With me. The rest of you fan out as you see fit. When you find Gaara call us on the radio. This mission is purely extraction, not taking this place. We get in grab him and get out. Move!" She barked harshly and the Anbu each nodded before their teams rushed through whatever tunnel entrance they deemed fit enough to start their search.
The seals around her body pulsed rhythmically, ripples of raw chakra spreading through the room, washing over everything before the boundary of the seal contained it once again. The red, fiery haze of the demon's chakra diminishing slowly with each pulse.
Konan's forehead was dabbed with sweat, thin trails of the sodium rich perspiration trailing down her face, dripping from her chin and nose with every shuddering breath.
The battle below raged, and she could hear explosions beyond the walls, as well as the ocasional shake of the room. Whomever was attacking apparently the others wanted to end it quickly by bringing out their more destructive abilities right off the bat...or they needed to use some of their more destructive abilities to defeat them at all...
She focused on the chakra, hoping to push it back even faster.
It felt fowl, almost painful to even touch with her own, like a sick gel that coated her awareness, making her feel sluggish and tired with every extended moment she continued to push it back down into the seal matrix.
The only distraction she allowed herself to focus on, however un-distracting it really was, was the seal matrix itself, the ebbing flow of the red chakra as it was channeled, focused, back into the conduits of the construct. Flowing and shifting like water through pipes. Harmless in comparison to the proverbial flood she knew it to be.
But there was more, she could feel it. There was...more than there was before, as if focusing and gathering the chakra in the seal simmered like boiling oil, agitated.
The blue haired kunoichi's eyes snapped wide open, craning her neck backwards, swiveling her eyes to view the far wall behind her, where she could see a hazel red glow beyond the sheet of three foot thick ice that made up the fortress wall.
Her gaze was disbelieving, mouth hung open and expression uncomprehending.
And it was only just before the wall exploded in chunks of ice and droplets of water that she managed to find her voice again Incredulous, and filled with a harried sense of panic.
'Two!?'
The nerve cluster along the center of his palm flared with bright flashes of pain, running up the entire length of his arm as the point of Itachi's elbow struck harshly
He shifted his stance, leg lashing out to trip up the Uchiha before he grabbed onto his upper arm, bodily throwing the nuke-nin over him.
Itachi landed on springboard knees shifting his stance to turn around perfectly poised to drive a kunai beneath Kakashi's rib cage.
Blade met flesh, blood escaping in rivulets of crimson before promptly vanishing in a cloud of smoke.
Dual Sharingan eyes shifted to the vibration in the air, trained senses discovering immediately the proximity of his attacker before he felt the blade dig sharply into the base of his neck, and drag itself downwards tearing through ropes of sinew and clusters of nerve, bone marrow and calcium deposits along the length of his spine.
Only for Itachi too to vanish in a cloud of smoke, leaving in his wake several explosive tags along the floor.
Kakashi's single sharingan widened in surprise, a gasp escaping his masked lips before it was drowned out by a massive fireball of an explosion
He escaped the smoke, clothes and hair singed but otherwise unharmed, landing with a harsh skif over snow and ice, he came to a halt, only to find Itachi's foot striking his chin in a neck snapping upward motion.
His teeth rattled inside his mouth, and he could feel the coppery taste of blood in his mouth as it seeped from his tongue from where he'd bit down on it.
He turned in the air, the natural pull of gravity shifting him to pull him down head first.
He groaned as he fell, eye opening and instantly bringing to his attention his position and vulnerability, as well as, his still attacking opponent who now approached with intent to drive his kunai knife into the copy nin's gut.
His right hand went to the ground, catching him mid fall before he twisted himself on the axis that was his wrist, using his free arm the Copy cat caught Itachi's wrist, averting the strike before he fell onto his knees and leapt back, multiple cartwheels increasing the distance between himself and the Uchiha. \
Itachi's hands rushed through seals, lungs expanding within his chest cavity , the air within becoming heated, molecular structure changing and molding itself into a flammable gas, oxygen and nitrogen exchanging themselves within the molecular structure before he expelled them from his lips in a fiery blast, orange flames rushing across the ice towards the Hatake.
Kakashi's eyes narrowed, mind flashing through techniques and counters he could use before he settled on which one would work.
He made his hand seals, the moisture droplets in the snow and ice beneath him vibrating at sub sonic speeds, friction heat melting down the ice into water
His hand shifted into the next seal, the melted particles of water gathering and condensing themselves into a pillar of shifting tides that rushed the fireball head on.
The two opposing forces struck in a cloud of superheated steam, the rush of flame pushing the heated fog back towards Kakashi.
The copy nin covered his face with his hands, eyes narrowing at the harsh sting over his face before he spun around, drawing two kunai into his hands before he struck out into the fog, the edge of his weapon clashing with another.
His sharingan eye spun wildly, peering through the veil of moisture where he found Itachi, weapon held firmly in hand.
The stalemate exploded in a flurry of clangs and metal weapons striking one another as Kakashi met Itachi blade upon blade.
They dodged and struck out, the chakra shadow caught by the red tomoed eyes giving them each the edge that they needed to stay ahead of one another.
There, a missed step. A slight micalculation.
Kakashi screamed as the blade cut through his protective vest, wrenching its way past the armor weave nylon fibers and cutting a bloody swathe from his right chest to his right clavicle.
He stumbled forward, before catching himself, eyes seeing Itachi's arm raised ready to deliver the killing blow. He shunshined away from the steam cloud, appearing a millisecond later outside of it, only for Itachi to soon follow him, appearing behind the staggering Konoha jounin, arm raised for the killing blow.
Kakashi's hand flared with lighting, swiveling on his heel Itachi's twin Sharingan found the full, ubridled fury of the legendary raikiri rushing towards his face.
He bent over backwards, spine arching like a bow until his hands touched the ground. He lashed out with both legs in a mule kick, striking Kakashi in the chest and shoving him away
The copy ninja staggered, hands moving through seals again. "Katon:Housenka!" He yelled before dozens of fireballs rushed across the barren landscape towards the genocidal Uchiha, only for his form to blur and shift in and out of focus with the speed at which he dodged each of the heated balls of flame.
Kakashi's sixth sense alerted him of the danger before it fully reached him, rolling forward the silver haired ninja narrowly avoided the blade of Itachi's clone, allowing it to dig itself hilt deep into the Ice.
Coming to his feet, he was brought face to face with the real Itachi-
A raikiri crackling in his hand.
Kakashi's heart lurched in his chest, eyes wide as he reacted on pure instinct, Itachi's chakra shadow showing him just the trajectory of the Uchiha's arm.
He latched onto Itachi's forearm and elbow joint, fingers coiling around the Uchiha's arm like a vice, pushing all the strength available into straining muscles to hold him back the electric blade.
Arcs of electricity rolled over his arms, and only chakra coating managed to keep his muscles from erratic spasms and twitches.
His legs buckled beneath him, and Kakashi fell onto his back, the electric attack still held inches from his chest before he pressed his legs against Itachi's chest, shoving him end over end over Kakashi's own head until the Uchiha landed on his back above the Copy nin.
Fueled by adrenalin Kakashi scrambled to his feet, arms weak as noodles and legs protesting against his movement, but he paid it little mind, rushing to gain some distance between himself and his opponent. He needed to catch his breath, make a plan. So far he'd avoided Itachi's gaze and had managed to thus, avoid being ensnared by the Tsukiyomi but sooner or latter he'd slip up, and if he didn't this wound would be the one to do him in.
Itachi's attention however wasn't on his former Anbu captain instead it was above, where a sharp spike of fluctuating chakra, was proving to be very distracting.
'The Kyuubi's signature...its growing...could his subjugation have been a ruse?' Was the direction of the nuke nin's thoughts, sharingan eyes narrowed.
He glanced at the panting Kakashi. Though his defeat was innevitable it would take too long to defeat him. At this rate Naruto would escape the binding seals. And that...was not a prospect Itachi wished to entertain for long.
"Kisame." Itachi called to the struggling fish man, who was currently working on physically throwing the massive bulk of wood and steel armor over his shoulder. "I leave you to deal with Hatake."
The response the Uchiha received before he vanished in a plume of gray smoke was the Kiri nin gnashing his teeth and snarling with rage at his opponent before he finally threw him down, leg lashing out and kicking him harshly along the rounded side of his chest armor.
Yugito and her host rushed through the cavernous passageways, glittering sheets of white acompannying them the entire way, the runes of the scroll glowed brightly, making her choice of tunnel easier, though possibly just as unlikely to suceed.
She hoped some of the other squads were having better luck than hers.
She lurched to a halt, feet grinding their way to a stop abruptly before she fell onto her back, her Anbu compatriots doing the same as a rain of Senbon needles passed through the air above them.
Once the assault ended they sprang to their feet, avoiding yet another rain of projectiles on the ground, they leaped and weaved through the narrow passage way, keeping their focus entirely on dodging the thin, needle like projectiles
Finally, the onslaught ended, either because their opponent realised he wouldnt hit them or because he had run out of Senbon to throw they didnt know, instead they looked down the hallway, empty and glittering as it always had.
"Kai"
The space infront of them shimmered, distorting itself until a solid figure could be seen, slightly hunched, a long, scorpion like tail coiled behind him.
"Akasuna no Sasori." One of the Anbu hissed next to Yugito, an owl masked one, female. She took her fighting stance, hand poised on her blade, the other, a wolf mask, did the same.
"We have no time to waste here." The Jinchuuriki said as her chakra coiled around her, shifting from blue to blackish flame. She rushed the Nuke nin without pause.
Sasori's eyes narrowed, secret compartments with various weapons coming alive as they prepared to strike once the Nibi was in range.
Instead, to his surprise, she leapt into the air, reaching the roof of the tunnel before she rushed back down towards him.
In the narrow passage way there was no room to manuever, and so the S class Suna ninja was forced to take the hit full, with Yugito's shoulder slamming into his chest armor.
The Ice beneath their combined weight buckled and cracked, finally giving way and crashing them down into the next level of the fortress.
Sasori grunted, though unexpected it was not a crippling blow, barely even debilitating...for him anyway.
The back of his cloak was torn open as several additional limbs were revealed from hidden compartments, thin little protrusions with a various assortments of stabbing tools.
They wrapped over his shoulders and back, swiveling on axles and hinges before their bladed ends dug themselves into her back.
She didn't scream, only hissed between tightly clenched teeth, the black flames growing around her, threatening to consume the suit despite the protective seals he'd placed on it.
He shoved her off, pushing her with all the force in his artificial limbs till her back hit the already cracking ceiling and she fell to the floor on all fours, poised like an animal ready to pounce.
She removed something from her pouch, tossing it up to the hole above where he saw the two Anbu take it and continue down the hallway.
So they apparently had something that could help them find their Kage. No matter...there wasn't an ounce of earth or sand in this barren wasteland for several dozen miles. The Kazekage would be completely useless. The Nibi here was the true threat. Once his poisons ran through her system he'd deal with the Anbu, subdue Gaara once again and focus on keeping her alive until they extracted her bijuu.
He spread his legs, shifting his suits center of gravity, the coiled tail ready to lash out at the girl.
Yugito for her part, wasted no time, pulling the tainted chakra from the depths of her reserves, black flame swallowing her completely, until nothing but a single tailed specter of black fire stood in her place.
The Ice around her began to melt, perspiring droplets of water that gathered along the floor of the passageway.
Sasori braced himself, knowing already that he'd have to allow her to get close to him so that he could utilize the weapons that could pierce the layer of chakra around her, Senbon and perhaps even kunai would be shrugged off easily. And though close range fighting was not his forte, his suits enhanced strength gave him more than enough to make up for his lack of skill in the art.
Yugito's chakra output finally leveled out, dark fire simmering down until it coalessed tightly around her and her alone. Her breathing was haggard and heavy, panting like a salivating animal.
Sasori watched her carefully, knowing firsthand the wild, unpredictable nature of a Jinchuuriki when they delve into the use of their Bijuu.
Suddenly, in the time it took the legendary puppeteer to blink his eyes the Nibi was gone, vanishing with sheer speed and appearing again behind him.
She slashed with her claws, long blades of black fire tearing through steel and wood, the additional limbs that had protruded from hidden compartments, torn from their very sockets before she kicked him across the base of his spine, the force of the blow sending his five hundred pound bulk sailing down the ice tunnel
Sasori grunted in displeasure, knowing that those parts weren't cheap.
Yugito appeared above him flipping one, she smacked him across the face with the flaming tail, sending him slamming across the icy floor where he continued to slip and slide.
As they were approaching an opening in the tunnel, which led into one of the main cavities within the hollowed out structure Yugito reached down towards him, claws digging harshly into the carapace of his chest armor. Sasori took his chance, eight bladed "ribs" leaping from his chest armor and slicing open the side of Yugito's arms, a jowl of rage escaping the possessed kunoichi as they did.
He expected the shock of the injury to make her release him, but to his surprise she did not, she merely held him tighter and with a mighty heave raised him from his icy slip and slide and threw him upwards, across the hollowed out cavern they'd just entered.
Sasori's back slammed harshly against the ceiling, deafening cracks echoing throughout the cavern before he fell, slamming down on all fours on the bridge before Yugito's knees smashed along his hunched back, his arms and unaturally angled legs buckling beneath him as he was slammed against the ground.
He recovered quickly, neither having the pain receptors to be slowed down, or requiring the oxygen that would have been driven from his body if he would have had fully functional lungs. His arm twisted backwards , the wrist dislocating itself to reveal yet another blade that dug itself into the side of Yugito's stomach.
The Jinchuriki leaped off of him, and Sasori wasted no time in reaching his feet again, only for a massive black claw to suddenly reach out and grab him, the blackened flames eating away at his protective outer shell.
The Suna puppeteer grunted and struggled, squirming in the bone crushing grasp that did little more than slightly pressure his reinforced elbow axles
The wooden portions of his armor began to smoke and heat up, ready to catch flame from the ethereal heat source he needed to get out of this before-
He was suddenly yanked froward, a vertigo assaulting his ocular sensors before he felt Yugito's fist smash against his chest, the force of the blow sending a ripling crack throughout the front of his chest armor.
Sasori's eyes widened, the beginnings of panic beginning to set in, he hadn't realized the Jinchurikki would receive such a brute increase in physical strength. The Nibi, by Zetsu's reports had always been a long range fighter, and the weakest of the remaining three targets.
He increased the engine output to his arms, brutally pushing himself free of Yugito's horrid grasp and rushing backwards.
The one tailed death cat wasted no time, leaping up from her position she slingshot herself from the ceiling, approaching Sasori at blinding speeds and once again digging her claws harshly into his chest armor and slamming him onto his back, their combined weight digging a jagged trench into the slippery ice as the catwalk/bridge threatened to buckle beneath them.
She ground them to a halt before lifting him and throwing him across the ice cavern again, launching him to one of the lower, honeycombing catwalks and bridges that extended the length of this place.
Sasori flipped in the air, several wires with kunai at their tips launching themselves from a compartment along his forearm, digging themselves hilt deep along the cracked underside of the ice walkway.
As he landed, claws along his shins jutted out, piercing the ice and anchoring him to the freezing surface before he pulled with all of his considerable strength.
The ice gave way beneath Yugito's feet, hundreds of massive chunks plummeting to a sheer drop before she leapt onto the wall rushing up the side of it, circling around to reach Sasori.
The Puppeteers arm pulled back, in on itself, revealing the glowing barrel of a weapon hidden within its hollowed shell.
A tongue of red flame rushed forward towards the black cat, a howl of animalistic rage pried from her before she pushed straight through the flames, flammable liquid searing over the layer of chakra, reaching past it and finding skin beneath.
She slashed at the Nuke ninja once again, only for Sasori to leap over her, the clawed underside of his shoe digging itself into her upper back and shoulder blades smashing her into the cold floor before her tail lashed out smacking him across the face with enough force to break the neck of a lesser man. Sasori staggered releasing another grappling hook before he pulled himself to the ceiling, twisting himself upside down so his clawed legs could dig themselves into the upper surface, hanging precariously over the recovering Jinchuriki, whom he could now see the beginnings of the second tail emerging.
Sasori touched his face where he'd been struck, feeling through chakra sensors the cracks that rang along the prosthetic surface. He couldn't afford to receive more damage from the girl. It appeared he would need to end this now.
A compartment along his hip opened, revealing an assortment of scrolls. He removed two, unrolling them before two more plumes of smoke appeared at his side, vanishing in time to reveal the puppet versions of his mother and father.
He looked down to the black fire neko, just in time to see her begin to rush up the side of the wall, heading straight for him.
Ice scattered across the wooden dais in chunks, and a cold draft caught her cloak and stung her eyes. She shielded herself with her arm, the pin of her hair falling away allowing her blue bangs to fall loosely over her shoulders and back. Finally she peered past her arm, ignoring the cold rush of air that washed over her face a red eyed young woman standing at the lip of a steaming entryway..
Two...there were two...
Konan felt her eyes return to Naruto, already she could feel the ruinous energies of that demonic chakra returning to him, her work and the efforts of the others coming undone at the seams as it made its way out of the seal matrix.
She looked to the blond haired newcomer as she leapt down from her entry point onto the wooden dais, no way would she have enough time to focus on the seal and keep the Devil King from releasing himself once again.
How had he managed to keep this from Zetsu? Had the Kusa nin been bought off? Betrayed them somehow?
If they survived this she'd make sure to skin the man alive for his betrayal...or his incompetence either one was unforgivable.
She grit her teeth, various plans winding their way through her mind, each discarded just as quickly as she continually realized that she was facing another Jinchuriki, not some run of the mill Jounin or Anbu that was bound by the limitations and parameters of the human body.
Still, she had to beat her quick, beat her quick and have enough energy to stop Naruto from escaping the binding constru-
Wait...
She looked to Naruto again, feeling more of the chakra steadily escaping the seals. Already the red haze was beginning to reform itself around the room as it was drawn back into his body.
He was drawing in the chakra gradually, readjusting his body to the power of the demonic chakra.
But what if she didn't give him that luxury? What if she didn't let him adjust.
What if she gave him back all of the Kyuubi's chakra right now?
She contemplated the notion biting her lower lip in uncertainty. When she felt the Kyuubi's chakra resonate and ripple through the room with the approach of this second Jinchurikki her decision was immediate.
She made her handseals, hands slapping down onto the seal as her chakra drove its way through the ethereal matrix like a spear, tearing through the delicate and carefully constructed kanji with the grace of a butcher cleaver tearing through rice paper.
The effect was instantaneous and explosive. The seal...shattered, and red chakra exploded from it with enough force to drive Konan, into the wall, the back of her head smashing harshly against the ice wall, sending stars across her vision.
Akina for her part couldn't make heads or tails of the situation. One moment she was looking up towards Naruto, as he hung there, still and helpless, the presence of the woman almost gone from her mind.
In the next, the floor beneath her feet burned and quaked shuddering with dizzying force before the blast knocked her back; slamming her bodily against the floor and nearly sending her tumbling off the dais.
She clawed at the floor, her ribs harshly slamming against one of the railing posts before she grasped it, legs dangling over the edge before she slowly began to pull herself up eyes shut against the harsh winds brought on by the seething red.
His scream was a primal thing, it rose up from deep within him, filled with indiscernible emotions. Wrath, pain, frustration. Nothing was really clear, his vocal cords tightened and scratched within his throat and he choked on his own blood as the sheer intensity of his cry ripped at the inner walls of his voice box.
Everything returned to him in a rush, dulled senses sharpened to the point of disorientation and physical pain.
His head throbbed, his bones ached, muscles spasmodic, nerves and synapses firing at triple their normal intensity, colors were sharper, more defined, everything was too bright, too fast, too slow, he twisted himself within his restraints so much he broke his own bones only to have them healed and snapped back into place forcefully amidst the torrent of power.
The power...
There was so much...more than there had ever been before, more than he'd ever allowed himself to feel, to delve into and loose himself in its burning embrace. It crashed over him like a Tsunami, sweeping away all cohesiveness and rationale, leaving mere instinct in its place. Instinct and pain.
Konan staggered to her feet as the chakra began to die away, swaying over her own feet before she steadied herself against the wall.
She looked up towards the silhouetted figure of Naruto writhing as he hung from his bonds, then her eyes turned to the other Jinchuriki who was now reaching her feet as well.
She had to get them separated, neutralize one then she could return to face the other. Damn this limitation of not being able to kill these blasted Jinchuuriki. It would be so easy to have simply slit this man's throat as he hung their a hundred times over. End of problem.
She looked between each of them, no doubt the young woman was ready to fight and quite able to do so. Naruto however...
Her decision was made, and paper fluttered over her shoulder blades, coalescing together before forming her signature angel like wings.
The extensions stretched out, almost as if they were made of true muscle and sinew before she took to the air with a powerful flap, pushing her off the ground and propelling her through the air.
She banked right, circling around the room, angling her approach before she launched three papers, the tin white sheets folding themselves in the air, a simmering distortion of air around their forms as they sailed through the air.
They curved mid flight, their angle and trajectory shifting subtly as they approached, then, with the ease of a razor blade cutting through the thin skin of a human face, the three unorthodox projectiles cut the massive chains from the iron locks around his ankles and wrists, allowing Naruto to fall freely with the natural pull of gravity towards the wooden dais beneath him.
Akina watched with baited breath as the events took place, scrambling to her feet and beginning a sequence of hand seals to attack the winged woman with one of her Raiton jutsu, but before she could, she was forced to dodge, a different attack, this one coming from a new arrival.
She hit the floor with a roll, an explosion whipping her blond hair in front of her eyes before she looked up in time to see Konan catch Naruto mid fall and continue her flight right outside the opening she'd made earlier, and across from her on the other side of the room she found the intent gaze of one Uchiha Itachi.
There was only white in his gaze, the world blurred and his stomach lurched with vertigo, his throbbing head now a downright skull splitting migraine.
What was going on? What was happening?
His back slammed harshly against something, the breath driven from his lungs in a rush, his disorientation only increasing as the side of his face was hit by something, the whiplash knocking the other side of his face against something cold before his head lolled back into position, only for his other cheek to receive the same treatment before the back of his head smashed hard against an unyielding surface.
The onslaught didn't let up, he felt something digging into his back, various impacts against his stomach and ribs, the coppery taste of his own blood coating his lips as his vision was now dotted with shades of blue and black. An indistinguishable surface, but it was the only thing he could identify as his aggressor.
He lashed out blindly with a clawed hand, gauntlets missing, only for his strike to hit nothing but empty air and his body to lurch forward in a free fall.
Somewhere in his mind he recognized this danger, but could do little to stop it, and it was only a sharp, bone breaking kick to his solar plexus as he fell that snapped him to a complete and abrupt halt, pain blossomed and spread through his chest, the air once again abandoning him, leaving him to cough and wheeze attempting to clear his wind pipe before something grabbed him and he was slammed against the wall again, this time face first. Allowing him to claw jagged marks into the ice, anchoring him in place.
His vision slowly began to clear, lethargic senses flickering to life once again from the recent sensory overload.
Not soon enough however as he felt the edge of a kunai drive itself into his elbow joint, running his appendage through. He screamed once again, cartilage and bone splintering as the point drove itself home.
Hissing and snarling, saliva dripped from tightly clenched teeth down his chin as he growled, only one arm now holding him in place while the other was pinned directly into the ice.
There were several more sharp, agonizing slashes to his back, the familiar burns of blades searing through his pain receptors as they cut deeply past his skin.
With his cognition returning to him now, he realised the precarious position he found himself in, the danger his life currently faced if he did not get up and move
He viciously yanked his arm free, taking the entire kunai with it, a virtual fountain of blood cascading from the widened injury cascading down the side of the fortress in a crimson waterfall.
He blinked, details returning to his vision now, corners and edges becoming defined, depth being added to the white haze, allowing him to identify individual snow petals.
And of course, the black and red cloak of the Akatsuki Kunoichi that approached again for another strike.
He twisted himself, placing his back against the Ice, a ball of flame gathering in his hands before he released a long tongue of red flame, snaking its way through the air towards the woman.
Konan turned sharply to the right, discarding wisps of thin paper from the side of her wing as they caught alight.
She banked low, allowing the flames themselves to block her from his view as she approached from below, the cold of the ice drifting up towards her stomach and chest as she approached from below.
Naruto never saw her approach until it was too late, a palm heel to his chin rattling his teeth before Konan harshly slammed his head into the ice, carrying him higher and higher, chunks of destroyed ice falling to the pull of gravity as the impact of his head dislodged them.
She held no delusions of outright beating him, this was what had cost Itachi and the others their loss against him, believing that they could bring him down by normal means of outlasting their wounded opponent. She knew it was only a matter of time before he regained his strength, slowly but surely in order to overpower her as utterly as he had the others. She had to render him unconscious somehow.
And that somehow was the sheer height of the fortress itself. The greater altitudes would make the air thinner and thinner, which should slow him down at the very least and ultimately bring the juggernaut down due to lack of oxygen to the brain.
And in the end, if even that proved not to be enough, there was always the option of casting him off from the near mile high peak. Of course, she'd much rather try the safer approach before she resorted to such a potentially lethal extreme.
His single hand lashed out, claws tearing her arm completely away from the rest of her body.
Instead of dripping blood, snapping tendons and torn bone however he found nothing but paper torn away by his sharpened claws.
Konan pulled away, her hand reforming at her side before launching several paper shuriken, more wind chakra coating their surfaces.
Naruto growled, hauling himself up, over the shuriken's trajectories, four distinct slices burying themselves deep into the ice.
He reached to his useless arm, ripping the kunai free with a hiss before he channeled wind chakra into the blade.
He swiveled around and with a slash, the wind blade cut clear across the upper echelon of the ice fortress.
Konan's eyes widened for a moment, and she moved to stop him but before she could Naruto gave a second slash, this one at an angle, and soon, an ear splitting crack shook her heart in her chest, sending a shudder through her with the force of the shock wave before the spire began to topple over.
It teetered and heaved, chunks of ice falling away as spiderweb cracks raced up various sides of the structure.
Konan was forced to pull back from the debris, her wings propelling her away with powerful flaps that coiled her entire back muscles with the effort.
Naruto's back hugged the wall, the red cloak, though cut in several places protected him from the freezing cold of the surface as the rest of the upper spire finished toppling over in a storm of hail and powdered ice.
He rolled over the lip of the newly made plateau, his breathing harsh and ragged. The reprieve had allowed his adrenalin to die somewhat, the severity of his injuries becoming fully known to him., The Kyuubi's chakra was lethargic within him, sluggish. He felt as though he were trying to suck mud through a straw. His injuries bled freely, his healing was slow...too slow...if he received more injuries than those Konan had already inflicted he would not win this.
He spread out his senses, blue eyes, flickering with red before shifting pathetically back to blue like an overtaxed muscle scanned the skies, finding the blue haired Akatsuki witch rising high to approach in a dive.
He staggered to his feet, catching himself mid stumble before he brought his lone kunai up to defend himself, a wind blade emerging from the diamond shaped blade as he prepared for the coming assault.
Kankuro's stomach flipped within his body as a hard fist smashed against the T shaped visor of his armor, rending a vicious crack that sent splinters pelting his face and shoulders.
He couldn't take another one of those hits.
His suits leg motors revved to life and he backed away, only to have Kisame follow at insane speeds his eyes could barely even follow. He roared wordlessly, blade swinging and Kankuro felt the impact rattle his whole suit as the weapon smashed into the arm, nearly smashing the appendage enough to sever it, as it was, shards of torn metal and battered wood fell listlessly to the ice.
The puppeteer didn't let it stop him, raising his remaining arm forward kunai were forcibly expelled from the launcher in his palm, only for Kisame to circle around him in an instant, speed belying his size and weight before he backhanded him across the top of his suits armor, a blow, strong enough to smack Kankuro's head across the metal lining of the interior chassis.
This was getting ridiculous, not three minutes into this fight and the blue skinned freak was tearing him and his suit apart.
He had to think of something, so far, his usual assault of poison senbon had proven fruitless. His skin was too tough and too thick for the little pin pricks to pierce, no matter how straight they were thrown.
His kunai could do the job but he had a limited number of those. Usually, at the loss of these two long range, poisoned alternatives, he'd use his suits sheer brute strength and weight to overpower his opponent with pure power.
This was not so easy to do against an opponent with an apparently denser bone structure, skin toughened through, presumably, much time under the pressure of deep water, muscles that had developed to adapt to such conditions, enough weight to probably rival his suit on the scale and lastly, speed that could put most ninja to shame.
Obviously...this was a bad situation.
And the man hadn't even begun using his jutsu yet.
His suit stumbled from the blow, falling onto one knee before he attempted to stop himself from falling, instinctively, with his damaged arm. Motors and pulleys revved to life, powered by chakra strings before the straining metal gave way and Kankuro fell onto his side.
He cursed within the chassis of his suit, moving to roll onto its stomach and lift himself. But before he could complete the second half of that plan, there was a harsh impact against his back, smashing him to the ground repeatedly.
Kankuro grunted with each blow, the force, traveling through the wood and metal plates before rattling his chest with the vibrations
He rushed through his list of weapons. Truth was, the back of the suit was where the main networking points that linked his chakra supply to the suit directly. This was why, Puppet suits rather than remote puppets such as his former Karasu could be made using such denser materials. The chakra that he could bring to the limbs was much more than he would be able to accomplish with a simple chakra string and as such, he could lift more weight.
However, these additions were as delicate as a wet noodle, and as such much of the armor and material back there was used to ensure that none of those artificial chakra coils moved or were struck by anything even under the harshest conditions.
Kisame however appeared to be beyond "the harshest conditions"
Kankuro had to act fast, he forcefully twisted his remaining arm to aim behind him, the shoulder axle snapping in two under the strain but Kankuro merely emplyed more chakra to keep the limb steady before he launched another kunai from his palm launcher.
The reprieve was short, but enough for him to get to his feet. Rounding on Kisame a lower compartment along his wrist opened up, watching as the Kiri ninja moved to attack again, fanged teeth gleaming with the wide smile on his face.
Flames exploded as a stream of oil was launched from the pressurized tank along his arm, liquid fire searing across the rapidly diminishing distance between himself and the nuke ninja.
Kisame fell to a roll, and Kankuro attempted to follow his movement with the flames, Kisame coming to rest a mere foot away from him, Samaheda suddenly in the way and shielding the mist ninja from the flamable liquid that poured over it.
The Oil expended itself finally, dying with a sputtering spray of droplets and Kankuro allowed himself to scan the flaming remains infront of him, Samaheda still standing tall.
Then, like a wraith of the underworld Kisame rose, hand on the flaming hilt of his blade before he wrenched it free of the ground, spinning in a wide, powerful swing, fire dripping from his blade.
Kankuro backed away, the wheels of his suit kicking up snow into the smiling Kiri ninja's face as the Suna ninja narrowly escaped the now flaming Samaheda.
Kisame heaved the massive weapon over his head ready to continue the attack when five, massive dogs exploded from the ground around him; their fangs digging into his flesh, allowing dark blood to seep down his muscled form.
The screech of a thousand wailing birds reached his ears and he glanced up, finding Kakashi descending, Raikiri in hand.
Kisame grinned. "I was wondering when you'd make your move copy cat.
Kakashi's Sharingan eye saw a shift in the ground around them, a brief warning of the danger before it manifested itself into a corporeal form in the shape of seven, positively massive, water dragons, chunks of solid ice and snow within them.
Each of the beasts must have been as tall as the Hokage monument, a sheer mass of pure white that roared and growled with malice. One swooped down, placing itself between Kakashi and his prize, maw opened in a primeval thirst for the copy ninja's blood to drench his artificial fangs.
In mid air, the copy ninja had no choice, and so, thrust his entire Raikiri straight through the beast, his fist entering its eye before tearing its way down the creatures side, ripping itself out from its underbelly as Kakashi finally landed.
Only to be forced to duck under Samaheda's blade, with Kisame having escaped while Kakashi was distracted.
And though he saw it coming, there was little else the acclaimed Sharingan served him for at this moment other than to let him brace himself as a foot found its place right between Hatake's eyes.
The world blacked out, his neck whiplashing so violently for a moment, Kankuro thought it had dislodged the base of his neck from his spine.
The copy ninja was sent rolling from the impact, his body appearing as little more than a puppet with its strings cut and three of the remaining water dragons rushing to finish the job if he was indeed still alive.
Kankuro reacted without thinking, moving forward to rescue the Konoha ninja, without whom he would most definitely loose this fight.
Only to find the other three dragons had not remained idle and were certainly not content with allowing him enough time to reach the copy ninja.
To Kankuro's relief however, Kakashi did not slip into unconsciousness.
Reaching his feet, wobbly as they were, Kakashi began his numerous attempts at dodging, or dispelling the dragons chasing him, allowing Kankuro to focus on his own safety.
Yoshihiro believed he was a patient man. A man known for his knowledge of the world was bound to be patient. He was able to handle his nephew Toyohisa's numerous blunders, well meaning as they may have been, with dignity, and with calm. He handled the protests of his people to the new regime with the same calm dignity (admittedly though when that didn't work a 'light tap' from his hammer onto the side of the protesters head would definitely do the trick. Shut up all his buddies too.)
But he found that calm dignity of his, so carefully molded over years of fighting, reining as Tsuchikage, and just generally living, falling away as: This. Damn. Bastard. Just. Wouldn't. Hold. Still!
Oh he knew the rules. Knew that no ninja that didn't have a death wish didn't just stand still and let himself get hit by a thirty pound hammer. He knew that those expectations, especially of an S class criminal were quite delusional of him. But it was so damn frustrating.
Blocking he could deal with, Genjutsu he could deal with. But the simple fact was that this guy, just kept dodging. He didn't even block. Though this may be accounted to the fact that he had no weapon to block with, his arms would hardly work as adequate shields if he valued their usage. Which the Tsuchikage imagined to be so.
"Hold still damn you!" He yelled in a rare display of frustration as he swung his hammer again, hitting nothing but air as Tobi rolled under the strike, lashing out with the bladed extensions at the tip of his gloved fingers, trying to drive the points between the link points of his armor.
Years of defending himself in this armor however had made the former Tsuchikage very adept at blocking such easy attempts.
"Tobi is a good boy-"
"Tobi is a dead man!" Yoshihiro yelled/interrupted, slamming his hammer into the ground before he formed his hand seals. Spitting out a glob of brownish, paste like mud towards the spiral masked ninja.
The Akatsuki vanished again, form dissipating in a smoky haze as the mud passed straight through him.
Yoshihiro spun on the ball of his foot, hammer lashing out only to again meet nothing but air as Tobi vanished just before the moment of impact, drawing a kunai he threw it, blindly, in the direction he could sense the Akatsuki nin had reappeared.
There was a wet squelch of metal piercing flesh, and dripping blood onto the slick surface before Tobi vanished in a cloud of smoke. Yoshihiro had just about reached the end of whatever patience he could scrounge up and was about ready to unleash one of his more devastating area effect Jutsu, damn the required chakra when Tobi finally struck.
The bladed extensions of the ninja's glove sailed overhead, and only a quick, awkward jerk from his massive shoulder pauldrons was able to shield Yoshihiro from having his head completely cut off, deep gouges carved into the inch thick steel.
The Tsuchikage retaliated with another swing from his hammer, watching as Tobi ducked under it before bringing both hands in an upwards slash, eight long blades threatening to rend the aged nin asunder, armor and all.
In a display that defied his massive body mass, age and sheer weight with his armor Yoshihiro leapt up, careening over the spiral masked ninja before swinging his hammer to strike at the mans head as he reached the apex of his leap.
Tobi ducked, craning his neck around to look behind him as Yoshihiro landed, his follow up attack at the ready.
Breathing out a stream of flames Tobi found himself introduced to three hundred degrees of heat.
Heat which was quickly dispelled as Tobi's clawed fingers flailed around him, chakra visibly simmering between each claw, creating massive fan like extensions that pushed the flames away from his singed extremities.
The wide motion required to create the force necessary to push these flames away however left the masked nin completely exposed, the spiral mask glaring at Yoshihiro like a bullseye to a marksman.
So it was no surprise that he tried to slam his hammer dirrectly over said head, only for Tobi's form to dissolve into a hazed smoke once again.
The head of his weapon smashed into the ice, the force behind the blow driving a massive upturning of Ice into the air in the form of a jagged spike, torn from the surface around them.
The Tsuchikage rolled forward as a fireball descended from the sky, the explosion of steam, shards of ice and flames pushed his bulk along, skidding him a little further along the ice before he got to his feet.
Tobi's claws extended even further, straight through the smoke, and he could soon feel the extensions come to an abrupt halt, striking something, a moment later when the smoke from his previous attack cleared he found the dark blades sunken deep into the spike of ice Yoshihiro had driven upwards, with the Tsuchikage himself springing himself from the height of said spike, hammer on his back, hands creating his seals.
Tobi was surprised when the Kage spit out more mud, but instead of aiming for him the mud was aimed behind him.
It formed a rough, conical shape behind the Akatsuki ninja, trapping him between it, and the descending Yoshihiro.
That hammer came down again, the bulk of the Tsuchikage now dirrectly infront of him, even with such little room to manuever Tobi was still able to coil his body into a dodge, allowing the hammer to pass him harmlessly before he attempted to drive the armored ninja back with another swipe of his claws.
Yoshihiro paid the danger little heed however. He did block the strike but made no move to back away, to gain distance that, by the laws of physics were required for such a heavy and large weapon to be effective against any opponent.
Instead he stayed close, making sure to keep Tobi between himself and the mud wall behind him.
They struck each other with blows that would have rent the flesh off the bones of a lesser man several times over, Yoshihiro's armor and protective seals doing much to absorb the damage caused by Tobi's claws, and even though Tobi was dodging Yoshihiro's retaliatory strikes up until now, the diminishing space and the mental focus required for such a task would not last, he did not even have the time to create hand seals for a single teleportation technique. More than once he lamented his current inability to use his signature space time techniques, both due to his depleted reserves, and also because he was uncertain if his body could physically handle the strain.
Space Time Jutsu were a tricky lot of Jutsu to specialize in. They required immense amounts of chakra, ungodly amounts of practice and concentration and if one used one often enough in the span of a few days they risked loosing their mind completely.
Space time techniques, or at least the ones that he used could slow time, perhaps even pause it altogether while he continued moving, in essence, removing his body temporarily from this plane of reality and relative time flow into a different plane, independent of this ones boundary but not entirely.
His body always needed to retain some anchor to this world, lest it be lost to its own designs on the time flow and planes of reality it put itself in. Almost like a beacon or lighthouse for a ship to return to.
However, because of this, the inner functions of his body were restricted to the relative time of this plane of existence, his mind however was almost entirely segregated from such which allowed him to think and "move" at a "normal" speed within the pocket reality his jutsu created.
This allowed him to maneuver his body with relative ease through this plane of existence and come up with a kill.
However, when one has a mind, moving at normal speed, and the inner networkings of a body, moving very very slowly, or Vice versa, then when finally his jutsu came undone, the messages his mind had been firing through his nervous system to the different parts of his body crashed into him, this was not really much in itself, and merely felt like a slight tingly sensation to the reinstated body.
Now, though your physical body is unaware of the damage that does not mean your subconscious mind is too. It is in charge of the "clean up" and "repairs" after everything is said and done. And that required at minimum one week to fully finish from cleaning up a single usage.
So using it so many times, or simply using it to achieve too much in a single go could lead that build up to be like a sealed dam in a flood, eventually the dam cracks under the pressure and everything comes tumbling out.
In his case the nerves that connect his brain to every function in his body would be completely "overloaded" and the brain would cease its functions instantly. Effectively leaving him brain dead. Or dead since someone would slit his throat a few seconds later most likely.
Tobi had been forced to use his space time abilities twice a mere three days ago. One of those times had required him to affect three others with his jutsu and bring them into his created "plane of reality" Something he'd never really done before and something he knew had done a lot of damage, even if he couldn't feel it.
So using one here, though it would assure him, and by proxy, Akatsuki the victory in this fight, would more than likely risk serious injury to himself. Something he would not do for a merry little band of fellow criminals who'd probably gut him themselves if it was to their benefit.
After all...Tobi was a good boy...not a stupid boy.
And, as the head of the hammer slammed against his ribs, smashing him against the mud wall behind him Tobi could admit that he'd be neither stupid, nor good but very very dead if he did not gain some breathing room.
He channeled chakra into his claws, watching as sparkling arcs of electricity raced up and down the obsidian surface of his gloves, leaping from digit to digit before he placed the ten weapons infront of himself, halting Yoshihiro's hammer as the old man forcibly stopped himself from striking the electric barrier, choosing to back away as the lightning jumped onto his metal suit, spasming his muscles painfully within his iron encasement before he managed to get out of range with a quick backpedal.
Only to find the thin, tendril blades of Tobi's gloves piercing him through the waist, sliding between the thin opening of the curia and leggings.
Yoshihiro's hand latched onto Tobi's wrist before the spiral masked ninja could do more damage by twisting his appendage or yanking it out, his other hand swinging out to attack behind him, smashing the spiked end of his hammer into Tobi's temple, shattering the mask and piercing his skull with a wet squelch before the copy vanished into water the bladed extensions within him doing the same without the slicing or tearing additional movement would have caused.
He pushed the pain to the back of his mind, reaching into one of his few pouches he threw about five shuriken at the nuke ninja.
His brows knit themselves together in concentration, his skin becoming red, a faint steam rising from his body, disturbing the air around him into a hazy wave.
If Hatake would have seen this technique again he would have probably cringed.
Unsurprisingly, Tobi vanished as the kunai struck him, passing harmlessly before nailing themselves hilt deep into the mud wall behind him.
Again the Tsuchikage spun on the ball of his foot, hammer in a swing, only to see the nuke nin duck under it again.
Tobi looked up, expecting to find the aged ninja wide open for another strike due to the heavy swing, only to find himself face to face with a fireball in the former Kage's hand...
Ready to explode point blank in his face.
Suddenly the earth rumbled beneath their feet, and Yoshihiro stumbled, Tobi wasted no time, even as his mind reeled, watching the massive spire of ice beginning to topple over and fall from the sky over Yoshihiro's shoulder.
He rushed, pushing his opponents hand away, allowing the flames to wash over the ice next to them rather than directly on top of him, and then, with his free hand he shoved four long, bony blades into the Tsuchikage's chin, piercing skin, muscle, the bony roof of his mouth and finally skewering his brain before the pointy ends pushed themselves through his skull, blood and white chunks of bone seeping between his fingers and through the Tsuchikage's white hair.
Tobi took a breath, watching as the life faded from the man's eyes his heavy form slackening.
That breath died however when Yoshihiro melted into mud, the slick, brown substance seeping down onto his fingers and arms before he reeled back, shocked.
"Where-" His sentence was cut off with a crack of breaking bone, vision swimming as earth met sky before he finally landed, face down, his cheek shielded from the cold of the ice by his mask as blood seeped from the back of his head.
An Iron clad foot came into his view, and he struggled to look through the single eye hole of his mask up towards the Kage, finding that he could barely see him through the thick chest armor. Armor that bore five puncture marks.
'Where did-'
-claws extended even further, straight through the smoke, and he could soon feel the extensions come to an abrupt halt, striking something, a moment later when the smoke from his previous attack cleared he found the dark blades sunken deep into the spike of ice Yoshihiro had driven upwards-
'He...genjutsu...that ice had been him all along!'
Yoshihiro smiled down, a fanged, toothy grin that would make people wonder if he was related to Anko somehow. He seemed to ignore the deep punctures in his armor that weeped thin trails of blood from his chest as he looked down on the Nuke-ninja. "Tobi is a dead man." He sang happily before raising his hammer over his head and letting it fall.
"Who ever would have guessed...the most powerful Jinchuuriki in the world...and he only had half the power of his bijuu."
His tone was simple, posture relaxed, hers was not.
She stood tense, poised and ready for an attack she knew would be coming the second he saw an opening.
He stepped forward slowly. His steps were light and soundless, dangerous. "You...may contain the remainder of that bijuu...but I see...you are not him...you are still...human."
Apparently, that opening came all too soon as she blinked, and the Uchiha vanished from her sight.
She turned, lashing out with her weapon and was rewarded with a glimpse of the Uchiha before he vanished once again before her weapon could make contact.
She caught herself, grip on her weapon shifting before she lashed out behind her, without even turning and was this time was rewarded with the sound of a Kawarimi.
Looking straight up, senses locking on the chakra signature, subtle as he kept it, her hands rushed through seals, lightning gathering in her palm before she threw it straight at him, the electricity racing along the wet, Icy roof before dissipating.
She turned eyes once again finding his bored gaze as he stood behind her.
"No...you are not him."
The howl of wind jutsu meeting wind jutsu was a silent thing, a contrast to the deafening clang of metal striking metal, each vicious output of chakra into the immaterial blades sending other, smaller cast offs slicing deeply into tendons, flesh, cloth and paper.
Naruto attacked with the familiar precision and experience that had carried him through a lifetime of war. But he was slow. His movements were sluggish and his reflexes dull.
The haze over his senses was taxing, mind swimming in a sensation he would only associate to a description of a hangover.
He attempted to keep up as best he could, to ignore his current limitation as he met the paper witch at close range striking and feinting. But she was faster, and though he could tell that her chakra was depleted, due to the perspiration, slightly paler pallor of her fingertips and heavier breathing than what should be attributed to a missing ninja of her class this early in the fight it wasn't nearly as crippling as his own, predisposed disadvantage.
Thin strands of paper hid amongst the falling snow, wind chakra coating their forms and keeping them airborne. As a single blow managed to stagger the kunoichi back, providing him with an opening, these same tiny papers rushed forward, slashing and cutting in angry little razor cuts that seared along his skin, making him stagger back.
He fell onto one knee, vission swimming with vertigo. Disoriented and confused, he shook it off as he saw Konan on the attack again. Blade rising to his defense, he blocked her strike, shifting it over his head before he got to his feet, with her behind him. He slashed blindly behind him. But Konan's wings took her to the air again, blue hair whipping at her face before more paper flew from her 'feathers' folding themselves as Shuriken before they descended towards him.
Naruto made his handseals, his chakra, lethargic and slow to his call. He grit his teeth, and forced the power to flow through him, grinding it through his taxed coils before he breathed out a great billow of flames that blanketed the sky, searing the papers and dispelling the wind chakra through the destruction of their mediums.
A kunai fell behind him, an explosive note sizling on its hilt. Naruto leaped into the air as the tag went off, chunks of ice pelting him as the heat of both his own attack and Konan's asailed him from both sides.
His hearing found something onto the edges of his awareness, and he turned, just in time to block yet another strike from the paper witch.
The force of her blow propelled him to the air, and right into the trajectory of another, two kunai suddenly found their place into his shoulders.
Naruto grit his teeth, blood rising in his throat before he hit the ground in a roll, hissing and snarling as he ripped the kunai out of his shoulders with a vicious yank.
He pushed himself to his feet before falling forward onto a knee, his leg giving out beneath him before he affirmed himself, sheer determination making him rise once again as he glared up at the blue haired witch; his blade flickering to life once again.