"Magnet Release: Sand Platform!"
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, once again controlled his gold dust to form a sand platform. Orochimaru and several reanimated ninja stepped onto it. He had no intention of getting entangled here. Before Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame arrived, Orochimaru wanted to take his reanimated subordinates and leave while he waited for his vessel to arrive.
"Orochimaru, if you think you're leaving, you didn't ask for my permission."
A giant chakra hand burst from Naruto Uzumaki's body and grabbed for Orochimaru and the others, but they evaded it thanks to Rasa's swift control. Seeing the Fourth Kazekage guiding the sand platform up into the sky, Naruto finally couldn't hold back. He leaped high, but the rising platform kept pulling away from him.
"Ninja Art: Summoning Technique!"
With the last of his strength, Naruto scraped his fingertip across his palm. Through the blood contract, he summoned a massive orange toad.
"Brat, you summoned me—"
Before Gamabunta could finish speaking, Naruto pushed off the top of the toad's head, using the force to launch himself even higher. Having just been summoned, the toad didn't have time to react before a heavy foot landed on his head, tipping him headfirst into the ground.
Boom!
In a puff of smoke, the Mount Myoboku summoning beast vanished from the battlefield. From his arrival to his departure, he hadn't managed to finish a single sentence.
Back on Mount Myoboku, Gamabunta vanished and reappeared just as suddenly, surprising Fukasaku. "Little Naruto summoned you—did he run into a tough enemy?"
"That brat… used me as a springboard!" Gamabunta was still fuming. It was the first time he'd ever experienced such a thing. He didn't understand at first, but when it clicked, he knew he'd been used.
Back when the Great Toad Sage identified Naruto Uzumaki as the Child of Prophecy, Myoboku had decided to help him with all its strength. So, when Naruto performed the summoning, Fukasaku had sent one of their strongest—Gamabunta—to assist.
On the battlefield, Naruto finally closed the distance to Orochimaru. Nine golden tails transformed into giant chakra hands and grabbed upward, each one locking firmly onto the sand platform. Even though the reanimated Tobirama Senju and Hiruzen Sarutobi frantically tried to destroy the chakra hands, they couldn't stop them. The entire group was pulled back down to the ground.
Orochimaru fell to the earth in a cloud of dust, his expression ugly. "Naruto Uzumaki, do you really think I have no way to deal with you?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "If you did, you wouldn't be running."
As they faced off, Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame arrived. The three opposing sides had finally converged.
Among those present, Itachi's feelings were the most complicated. He was currently a spy for Naruto and knew a little of what the future held. Although Orochimaru wasn't a good person, he would prove useful later on.
Itachi judged that whether he was facing Orochimaru or Naruto, he had to hold back. With his body now recovered, it shouldn't be too difficult to control the situation on the field. The current goal was to weaken Orochimaru's power. Only an Orochimaru without his fangs would be controllable.
Unfortunately, neither his enemies nor his own partner could possibly understand his intentions. When they fought, each was more vicious than the last.
"Wood Release: Piercing Technique!"
Countless wooden spikes rained down from the sky. On the battlefield, only Naruto would unleash such large-scale attacks without hesitation. For him, it was a win no matter which enemy he killed.
Inside the sealing space, the Nine-Tails didn't look pleased. Right now, Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi were both essentially future allies for Naruto. The fox was honestly a little afraid the kid might carelessly kill one of them.
Even so, everyone present had their own skills. The Wood Release: Piercing technique clearly wasn't enough to stop them. The move once again blocked Orochimaru's escape and officially kicked off the grand melee.
Kisame was the second to move. After forming a firm hand sign, he spewed out a surging tidal wave. "Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
In an instant, a lake appeared in the mountain ravine. As a master of Water Style, Kisame loved creating a battlefield that suited his abilities.
Only, besides him, there was another Water Release user present.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
A water dragon swiftly formed by Tobirama's side and roared toward Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame. The shark-faced ninja drew his great blade, Samehada, and rushed head-on at the water dragon. Just as he intended to let Samehada devour the technique's chakra, the dragon's huge head lifted slightly and flew right over Kisame's head.
Kisame looked up in surprise. As expected of the strongest Water Release user—was this a new way to handle the Water Dragon Bullet?
Goat—Monkey—Rooster—Boar—Horse—Tiger!
Itachi's hands moved like fluttering flowers. In just a second, he completed the seals and raised his head to spit a fireball. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Even Naruto was a bit surprised. In both seal speed and the power of the technique, Itachi was far stronger than his little brother. The great fireball crashed into the water dragon, and the two attacks canceled each other out, shrouding the area in a thick blanket of mist.
"As expected of Itachi-kun…" Orochimaru looked at Itachi and gave a low chuckle. He directed the reanimated Hiruzen Sarutobi beside him to run across the lake's surface toward Itachi. A malicious smile crept back onto his face. "Then let me see which Konoha clan is better at Fire Release… Sarutobi or Uchiha?"
His serpentine eyes glinted with an innate evil. In just a few seconds, Orochimaru had formed a new plan. He could use his reanimated ninja to pin down Naruto, Itachi, and Kisame here. As long as Jiraiya and the other reinforcements arrived, Konoha and the Akatsuki would inevitably clash.
That way, the Akatsuki's plot would be exposed to Konoha, and he could use Konoha's strength to delay the Akatsuki's plan to hunt him down.
With that thought, Orochimaru moved his fingers and gave his puppets their assignments: Uzumaki Kushina would face Naruto, Tobirama Senju would charge at Hoshigaki Kisame, and Hiruzen Sarutobi would confront Uchiha Itachi.
The battlefield was split apart under Orochimaru's control.
"Everyone, stay here and enjoy yourselves!" Orochimaru swept his gaze over the field, smiling broadly as he stepped back onto the Fourth Kazekage's Magnet Release sand platform. Rasa lifted them skyward and flew away from the battlefield.
"That bastard…"
Naruto stared coldly at the departing Orochimaru, then slowly turned his gaze to the enemy he'd been left with… that head of flowing red hair.
His mother, the previous Nine-Tails jinchuriki, Uzumaki Kushina.
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Bonus:
Fukasaku: Naruto summoned a toad—go, quickly!
Gamakichi: I'm not going!
Gamahiro: I'm not going either!
Gamabunta: What for? To get kicked and used as a springboard again?
Fukasaku: Don't say that. He is the Child of Prophecy.
Gamabunta: He just uses us as a springboard. It's the same no matter who goes. How about you take a trip?
Fukasaku: With these old arms and legs, I'm afraid one kick and I'm dead…