Chapter Text
The fourth great shinobi war.
A catastrophic battle between the honourable shinobis of the hidden villages and the twisted rebellious Akatsuki organisation. People would agree that this war was the worst in history, since at that time civilization had shrunken to only two survivors.
Both people were famous shinobi's known for their incredible and miraculous powers. They were the strongest the world had ever seen and that was proven right every time they clashed continuously in the middle of the battlefield in their gigantic chakra manifestations, destroying everything surrounding them.
Both were the leaders of their respectable side.
On one hand, there was a youthful man with spiky blond hair looking as if it was blessed by the sun itself, and eyes in the bluest shade of blue resembling the sky reflected in the seas. Three whiskers on both cheeks stood out of his tanned skin. The young man wore torn orange pants and a fishnet t-shirt. He used to wear an orange jacket with black stripes, but it got destroyed in one of the clashes with the opposite leader.
The name of the young man was Naruto Uzumaki.
Power radiated from him in a golden shine like a second skin layer taking the form of a glowing fox with nine tails. When ever he used the full might of his power, a few changes appear in his appearance. Two identical fox ears stuck out of his golden hair and his usual blue eyes were now golden and red with a vertical slit and a horizontally rectangular slit as pupils. His clothes glew in the same golden light as everything on him and a shining cloak with nine ends split apart like fox tails made out of pure chakra was on his shoulders. If someone saw him like that, they would have thought of him as a solar deity.
Naruto Uzumaki was the unofficial leader of the Allied Shinobi Force, which were all shinobis from the hidden villages. Officially, the five kages were the leaders, but Naruto was the one uniting them and it was thanks to him that they survived that long. The five kages were the Mizukage Mei Terumi of the hidden mist village Kirigakure, the Tsuchikage Onoki of the hidden stone village Iwagakure, the Raikage Ay of the hidden cloud village Kumogakure, the Kazekage Gaara of the hidden sand village Sunagakure and the Hokage Tsunade Senju of the hidden leaf village Konohagakure, the village Naruto was from.
Akatsuki used to be an organisation made up of nine core members, all of them ss-ranked criminals. These were Zetsu, Kakuzu, Hidan, Sasori, Deidara, Kisame Hishigaki, Itachi Uchiha, Konan and Nagato who was the leader known as Pain. But over time, most were defeated and killed shrinking their numbers rapidly. Orochimaru and Yuhiko were former members, the first still living and supporting reluctantly the Allied Shinobi Force while the latter was the original founder, but was killed by order of Hanzo the Salamander. At the beginning of the war, only Zetsu, new recruit Kabuto Yakushi and the new leader and true mastermind Tobi were left, but they were strong enough to start the war and causing their enemies immensely troubles.
During the war, Kabuto and Zetsu were the ones manipulating the fronts with their armies of undead and mindless creatures. Zetsu was made out of two 'people' who differed as white Zetsu and black Zetsu. Black Zetsu was a mysterious creature whos said to be Madara Uchiha's will manifested. White Zetsu was just as mysterious as his other half, although his DNA was infused with Hashirama Senju's cells to strengthen him and created thousands and millions of mindless clones. These clones were send to the battlefield to fight for them.
Kabuto, former student of the Snake Sannin Orochimaru, used the forbidden reanimation jutsu to summon the dead to the world of living as his own army. The personalities, memories and feelings of the dead people were not sealed off by Kabuto causing extreme mental burdens upon the living, but also the dead people as they were forced to fight their loved ones.
The reanimation jutsu was one of the trickiest obstacles during the war, but fortunately the jutsu was cancelled by none other than the former Akatsuki member and Konoha's spy Itachi Uchiha who defeated Kabuto together with his younger brother Sasuke. Unfortunately, a legend was revived before the snake was killed.
That legend was the infamous Madara Uchiha.
Madara Uchiha used to live about a century ago and was known as the rival of the Shodai Hokage Hashirama Senju. He was also the true mastermind of the whole game of chess who moved certain characters into the right position. His appearance on the battlefield caused a lot of fear and panic.
He had Uchiha typical characteristics like coal black spiky hair resembling the mane of a lion and onyx black eyes which transformed occasionally into the blood red Sharingan. At least, that was what they used to be. His Sharingan were replaced with light purple eyes with multiple rings getting smaller in the middle, the Rinnegan. Underneath his red amor he wore a black loose shirt with high collar and typical shinobi pants with sandals.
With limited strength, he won against hundereds and thousands of shinobis in less than five minutes and sent two meteors to finish off the rest. People mistook his restricted power of that of a god and after obtaining the chakra of the ten tails and the full Rinnegan, his power became endless.
After absorbing the Juubi, his look changed to that of a great sage. His skin and hair turned a pale almost glowing white and his clothes changed into these usually worn by sages such as the Sage of the Six Paths. His Rinnegan became a shade deeper making them stand out. On his forehead appeared a third eye. It was red resembling the Sharingan, but it had rings just like the Rinnegan which carried each three tomoes. That was the so called Rinne-Sharingan.
With his new powers, Madara put everyone under a global genjutsu, the Infinite Tsukuyomi, which created an illusion of peace and a perfect life in the minds of every person. Only few managed to escape the Infinite Tsukuyomi and continued their fight with the god Madara had become.
The only fighters of the Allied Shinobi Force were the former Hokages revived by the Snake Sannin, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki. Both, Sasuke and Naruto, were given additional powers by the Sage of the Six Paths to defeat the Jinchuriki of the ten tails. Unknown to most, Naruto's body went through an evolution.
Naruto Uzumaki was the son of the Yondaime of the leaf, Minato Namikaze and his wife Kushina Uzumaki who was also the former Kyuubi no Kitsune Jinchuriki. Before Naruto was born, the demon fox leaked a lot of his chakra through the seal during his time with Kushina, and Naruto's growing body inside his mother's stomach absorbed every bit of it, thus absorbing also parts of Kyuubi's DNA. After his birth, the Kyuubi escaped Kushina's seal and ended up being sealed inside Naruto. Because of the constant influence of the pure chakra of that fox and the slight change in his human DNA, Naruto had a strong connection with nature chakra and was able to handle and tame the fox' chakra a lot easier than normal people would have. The DNA mutation was also the reason for the change in his whole persona like the whiskers or the energetic playfulness.
After teaming up and befriending the lazy kitsune, his chakra changed to that golden light, a proof for its pureness and richness of nature chakra. Then, he gained the chakra of the other tailed beasts and thus 'evolved' into a sage, just like the Sage of the Six Paths and Madara Uchiha. Although, their chakra was supposed to be limited, Naruto's strong affinity to nature chakra and the part of Kyuubi's DNA allowed him to cultivate their chakra and amplify it with the chakra around him. Or, to make it short, he now had an infinite supply of bijuu's chakra.
With the help of the Kyuubi, Naruto perfected his sage mode allowing him to absorbe the chakra around him at any moment, even during a fight. His mastery was essential for the battle against Madara as only senjutsus managed to weaken him. During their fights, Naruto came to the conclusion that mixing bijuu's, nature and his own chakra together would make his attacks even more powerful and would free him of the constant burden to keep all three chakra types seperated.
Because of that, another evolution was triggered. This time, even Naruto noticed the changes as they were not as subtle as the previous one. His durability, strenght, speed, effectiveness and regeneration greatly approved to the point that he rivaled Madara with his infinite chakra of the strongest being in the world.
But, that was not all.
Inside Naruto, something seemed to settle down and his demeanour changed. The kyuubi, whos name was Kurama, felt the difference immediately and got to witness it inside Naruto's mindscape. His prison used to be a dark dirty sewer filled with cracks and water leaks. It was the result of the constant isolation and violance Naruto had to suffer throughout his childhood. The hateful looks, the vicious beatings, the disgusting overpriced rotten food and the neglect... all that was mirrored in Naruto's mindscape. A reminder of the abuse and a scar which was suppose to never heal.
And that place changed with the unity of the nature chakra. The nature chakra washed through Naruto healing every inperfection of his body as it settled inside him as if it belonged there. Naruto's former dark blue chakra flew out of his body into the destroyed surroundings and pure white chakra with hints of green and gold took its place. As that chakra reached the open seal of Kurama, it removed the prison created by the Shinigami and the fourth Hokage, and bound the demon fox to Naruto entire being. For Naruto, it was a weird ticklish feeling which he felt, but for Kurama it was like a trade. A trade with an alluring offer which he would gladly accept as it promised him freedom, something he had long forgotten.
The trade offered him true freedom which pathetic creatures like humans could never take from him, and a place next to his beloved father together with his eight siblings.
It offered him a permanent place in the pure lands.
In return, he would have to give up his memories, knowledge, chakra and body to Naruto. In other words, he would give his life for Naruto, but it would be impossible to return back to this world. Usually, when he or any other bijuu had died, they would have been reborn as they were creatures made out of chakra. But, if he was to accept, he would give his entire life chakra to Naruto making him pratically immortal while he would cease to exist.
Kurama was not suicidal per se. He did want to live as he liked the thrill of danger and the praises mortals sung to him in form of insuls and curses, but he was not stupid. You did not have to be a genius to know that his time had long ran out. Ever since the Shodai Hokage Hashirama Senju had sealed him in the red head Mito Uzumaki, he observed the ever evolving human population, and the fox knew that even if he was ever freed from the human vessels, he would no longer fit into the world. It simple did not have enough space for him or the other bijuus. The only way for them to continue a peaceful life, would be inside a human vessel, but that could not be called freedom.
The old demon fox conversed with his siblings for a short time and they all agreed to the trade. They knew their place in the world as well, or rather the lack of it. Although, there was still one thing to do before they let the incomplete evolution continue.
They had to speak to their Jinchuriki Naruto.
Stuck in a tight spot, Naruto was forced to take a small break and let the remaining dead Hokages fight Madara. His regeneration and stamina might have gotten better, but he was just a mere human. At some point, he had to pause. Weeks had passed since he last ate or drink. He gave his ration to Sasuke because he needed it far more. The Uchiha was not used to starvation or carried a chakra beast within him to give him more energy.
Five people were left to fight off the god like person Madara had become. And these five were not the kages of the respective hidden villages as they were known for being the strongest. Instead it were the three revived former Hokages who were supposed to be dead, a murderer and former member of the Akatsuki Sasuke Uchiha, and the unofficial leader Naruto Uzumaki. Everyone else was either dead or somewhere buried underneath the destroyed grounds while being kept inside the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
The battleground was completely destroyed. What used to be green hills and deep forests were now muddy yet scorched terrain with disfigured corpses littering all over the place. Heavy clouds covered the sky making everything look dark and grim. Puddles made out of water and blood were everywhere and Naruto himself was drenched in blood from both him and Madara. He was not even sure how far the devastation reached the outside lands and how bad the damage truly was.
At the core of destruction stood the god tree proudly as if mocking everyone and everything for their weakness and sensitivity. The top of the tree was hidden by the dark clouds, but if they were able to see the top, then they would see a bud resembling the red Rinne-Sharingan on top of Madara's forehead and the moon. Giant roots spread for miles around. No one knew anymore where they ended and with each passing second, the roots ventured farther and farther into the world until they reclaimed every single drop of chakra. Several branches had grown on the tree trunk, but these had been repeatedly destroyed by the ongoing fighting.
While the battlefield was already a depressing and desperate view for those conscious, it was incomparable to what Madara and Naruto could see. As they were both sages and thus had the ability to see the different types of chakra flowing around them, they saw all the various life energies from other people flowing through the wood veins of the god tree. They saw how the life force of now dead humans fed the tree. While Madara was indifferent, Naruto suffered under the crushing weight of failure, which reminded him why he needed to win as soon as possible.
Then, there was that monstrousity they both can sense from the god tree. That monstrousity laid mostly within the bud of the tree where the life forces were gathered, but it was also spreading through the tree into the roots. As if attracted to it, a massive amount of nature chakra concentrated around the tree and the surrounding area. While it was quite worrying, Naruto used the opportunity to save as much of it inside his body, where it was currently changing things within him.
That monstrousity was like a deep abyss with non-existing eyes staring at everything that lived, as if assessing its worthiness of life. Their stares were mostly fixated on Naruto and Madara because they were the most powerful figures on the battlefield. The roots moved beneath the earth like lurkings arms ready to capture another fallen victim.
It was awfully clear to Naruto what purpose it had and what role it played. The god tree was as alive as them and its task was to collect all the chakra. For what, Naruto was unsure, but he was certain it would not mean anything good. The roots were an extension of the monstrousity gathering the chakras which were then sent to the bud of the tree. Inside the bud slumbered the beast that was creating something with the collected chakra.
Naruto briefly wondered if Madara knew more about it, but judging by the crazed yet troubled expression on his face, the Uchiha was preoccupied with entirely different matters like the wooden dragon the Shodai Hokage Hashirama sent at him or the lightnings from Sasuke Uchiha.
The glowing boy knew that he did not have much time to rest, so he readied himself to rejoin the battle again, only to get interrupted by his closest friend Kurama, the nine tailed demon fox known as Kyuubi no Kitsune. The fox forcefully pulled him inside his mindscape causing the young man to fall on his knees while his eyes became distant.
Inside his mindscape, Naruto quickly stood up and looked around, confronted with some massive changes he had not noticed until now.
His mindscape became a wide grassland with many hills and trees and it was practically glowing. It did not even looked remotely close to the sewer it used to be. Around him stood all nine bijuus proudly yet sad. Kurama took a step forward, his lips curled into a gentle smile, unlike his usual foxy gloating grin Naruto was used to.
"Naruto."
"Kurama, what's goin' on? Why did you pull me in here and what happened to this place?" Naruto asked confused as he stared at his fox partner worriedly.
"Changes are going to happen to you. Your body will undergo an inhuman evolution, an evolution which should -could- have never happen. Just like all the times before, you surpass everything we consider normal and make the impossible possible."
"What?... What are you talkin' about?!"
"You and we will merge into something entirely new, guided by life and nature. We will give you everything we have, our memories, our chakra and our bodies. In return, our souls will be set free."
"Merge?..." Naruto swallowed thickly. He did not know what Kurama meant or if he was going to like that.
"We will advance to the pure land and join our father. Everything that remains of us in this world shall belong to you. Call it a farewell gift." Gyuuki, the eight tailed octopus, said wanting to cut this short. Kurama glanced at him annoyed as he gently wrapped one of his tails around his only human friend to lift him up to his face.
Naruto's eyes widen after Gyuuki told him that and his mouth opened and closed repeatedly as he tried to think of something. All his previous worries about the world and Madara vanished instantly. Feeling the wet snout of Kurama pressed against his face, he finally asked quietly: "...You are going to leave me?"
"Look, Naruto-" Kurama tried to explain but got interrupted by Naruto's heartbreaking scream as the dam broke and tears streamed down the blond's face like a river. All the pent up sadness, desperation and anger he felt was being released. "Why? Why!? WHY!?!"
The giant fox nuzzled into blond hair while the young man clutched the fur of the tail holding him up. Knowing that the blond would not listen to him while he was in that state, Kurama simply comforted him silently. The other bijuu's stared at them observing their strong bond. They might know the blond for only a few months, yet they cared for the human as he was one of the few who accepted them as sentient beings.
In the real world, Naruto's dull blue eyes filled with tears while quiet sobs escape his mouth and his hands shook unconsciously. Having noticed an emotional spike in Naruto's chakra, Minato stretched out his senses to track down his son.
When Naruto's cries quieted down a bit, Kurama started again. "Naruto, please listen to me. This evolution is extremely important because it will help you to defeat that Uchiha bastard. You are going to need the boost."
"But, I- I don't wa- want to l-loose you!"
"Kit, it's not avoidable. Besides, we won't be fully gone. We'll just become part of you, but we'd be always with you."
"Kurama is right, young child. We will be there with each step you are going to take. While you might not be able to speak to us, we will still be there." Matatabi, the two tailed cat, spoke calmly to comfort the crying boy.
"Also, you wanted to help us, correct? Well, that way we would be free and reunited with our father again. It's the best thing you could do for us!" Son Goku, the four tailed monkey, exclaimed excitedly wanting to cheer him up.
"D- death can't be called freedom!" The blond boy protested.
Shukaku laughed crazed as if he just told them the greatest joke in the century, causing Matatabi to hit her with one of her ghost like tails to stop her. After calming down, the giant racoon spoke again. "Child, we lived for a very long time incomparable to mortals like you. We saw and learned a lot in our immortal life, some parts we would gladly forget again as they were quite disturbing. And that's coming from me! But now, our time has come. Even without the war, our lifes would have come to an end. There is no place for us to take in this world. Well, if the war continues like that, then there won't be a place left for anyone anyways, but that's beside the point. What I wanted to tell you is that you would do us a great favour if we could die like this."
"Our definition of death and freedom differs from that of you humans. You might see it as a curse, we, on the other hand, see it as a blessing. We were cursed with a never ending life, but you could free us." Gyuuki added and the others agreed.
"But, w- what am I s- supposed to do wi- without you?" Naruto asked tearing up again.
"I'm sure you'll make it just like all the times before. You are the most unpredictable, annoying and stubborn ninja the world had ever seen!" Kurama said causing Naruto to smile a bit. With another tail of his, Kurama wiped the tears away. "Worry not, Kit, as we will be always there with you."
Their wholesome moment got interrupted by the three tailed beast, Isobu, whos body began to glow unnaturally. "I believe it is time."
Shocked, Naruto's eyes widen and more tears were swelling up threatening to fall. "W- what! Already!?! Please, not yet!" He begged.
"Now, listen here, Naruto, and listen well. That evolution you are about to undergo will cause massive changes within you. Not only are we going to merge with you, which would mean for you that you'd gain our memories, our experience, our chakra and our bodies, your body is going to adapt to all that. You would undergo physical and mental changes. Ideally, you should be unconscious for a short time so that your conscious and subconscious mind can process everything. In the worst-case scenario, only your conscious mind will work on processing the new information, while your instincts take over control of your body to protect you. Not only that, you wouldn't know how much time will pass." Kurama explained as he too began to glow and lowered his tail holding up the young blond.
"W- wait! Y- you can't go y- yet! I-I can't do this w- without you!"
Kurama pressed his snout against Naruto's face and Naruto hugged him closely knowing it was the last time he would be able to do that. Tears were running down his face like a river and even Kurama had to close his eyes to prevent his own tears to fall.
"Beat the brats ass for us!" Son Goku exclaimed before dissolving into light particles. The six-tailed slug Saiken, the deer-like, five-tailed Kokuo and the seven- tailed demon insect Chomei also dissappeared after agreeing with the four-tailed monkey.
"Naruto Uzumaki, I would like to thank you for showing us true friendship and I wish you the best of luck." Matatabi said bowing her head slightly showing her respect and she too left.
Shukaku cackled again like a mad bitch and dissolved without saying anything. Gyuuki spoke to the blond. "Follow your heart like you always have done and everything will work out for you." His light particles went up in the air.
"Thank you for letting me forget my hate and showing me kindness instead. I'll be forever grateful. Now, good luck, my friend." Kurama said as he slowly began to dissolve into light particles just like his siblings. Naruto's finger digged into his fur trying to hold onto him for as long as possible.
Not soon later, the fox was gone. Just like the others.
Gone forever.
All nine bijuus had died that day.
Something fundamental broke in the world and the power balance was disrupted. A new god will be born.
Naruto slowly sank to his knees, stunned that his closest friend, who had been by his side since birth -albeit involuntarily- was now gone forever. He still felt the the warm touch of Kurama on his face.
The world around him broke apart and he suddenly found himself kneeing behind some rocks in the bloody mud. His face was wet because of his tears. Silently he stared at his shaking hands which had held the fox's snout just mere moments ago. Seconds quickly turned into minutes that passed.
He was still trying to process what had happened. The persistent emptiness in his head pressed heavily on his heart. There was no snaky comment about him needing to focus on the fight. There was no conforting presence inside his mindscape.
A loneliness, worse than anything he had ever felt before, spread through him.
Suddenly he felt a familiar presence coming near.
"Naruto!" The blond Yondaime jumped towards him. With empty eyes Naruto stared at his father. "Are you alright? What happened?" His father started to question, but Naruto ignored him.
"He's... gone." He whispered softly.
"Naruto?"
"He's gone."
"What's going on?" His father asked concerned.
"He is gone." The young Uzumaki repeated a bit louder.
"Who is gone?"
Tears fell from his face. More and more followed. He raised his hand to wipe them away but stopped mid-motion. A sniff escaped him.
Confused and worried, Minato stepped closer to his son wanting to comfort him, but then the younger blond let out a loud wail. Startled, Minato recoiled.
"N- Naruto?" He asked again carefully. His eyes widened as he watched Naruto crying harder.
"He's gone! He's gone! Gone! I-... I'm a- alone. All alone now... He, he left me. Alone. Abandoned..." Naruto grabbed his hair in panic and pulled on it. His gaze became more distant.
"Yondaime, Brat, what is going on?" Another voice joined in.
The second Hokage Tobirama Senju went to check on the blonds as they were gone for quite some time. When he arrived at their location, he saw a worried Minato who was frozen in place and his panicking son.
Another scream echoed through the battlefield, loud enough for Hashirama, Sasuke and Madara to hear. Alarmed, they looked in the direction of the scream. Madara wanted to use that opportunity to for an attack, but the intense pain felt by someone loosing something extremely important and the following sadness in the scream, made him pause.
Suddenly, something snake-like shot out of a shadow and gently wrapped itself around the crying Naruto with the tip of it floated infront of him. Then, the god tree began to shake uncontrollably and the ones fighting looked surprised at the giant tree, although only Madara noticed the strange monstrosity moving from the top of the tree to the bottom. It moved through the tree down towards the ground. At first it went into the tree trunk, then into the connected root system, following one special root and lastly into the long slim root wrapped around Naruto.
The tip of the root slightly glew greenish yellow before a blood red flower bloomed on top of it. The flower had big fluffy-looking red petals with black lines and in the middle was a bud illuminating a soft yellowish shine. A tear from Naruto dropped on the flower and it shook its head.
Then, the flower moved closer to the blonds face. The Nidaime and the Yondaime watched cautiously and fascinated the beautiful flower, while Naruto ignored the existence of everyone around him, still drowning in his sorrow and sadness. When the flower touched the forehead of the blond, the yellow glow intensified embracing the blond whos eyes closed as a wave of euphoria went through his body and soul. But then, the euphoria was replaced by hot pain and Naruto's eyes opened widely.
His mouth opened but nothing came out. His eyes rolled back and his head sunk forwards. If it were not for the roots holding him in place, his unconscious body would have hit the ground. The flower moved towards the slightly opened mouth and climped inside.
Seeing that, Minato and Tobirama were snapped out of their trance and were about to attack the root, but the light enveloped Naruto, forming a protective barrier around him.
"Naruto!!" His father yelled and reached out. His fingers hit the light barrier and ignited in flames. He recoiled in shock. "Naruto!"
"Wait, Yondaime. You can't act too rashly. Who knows what that is and what it does to the brat. We can't risk anything."
"What are we suppose to do?" Minato asked desperately. "I can't loose my son."
"Calm down. We won't loose him as we can't effort it. His strength is still needed."
"But what should we do now?"
"I don't know. This light acts as a kind of protective barrier. Could you please show me your hand? Maybe it left some sort of mark there."
Minato showed his hand and Tobirama examined it closely. The hand was burnt black. The skin like texture was peeling off, but it was not regenerating as it was suppose to. The fabric of his sleeves was disintegrated.
"Can you still use that hand?" The Nidaime asked.
Minato's fingers stirred slightly causing some of the burnt skin to fall off. "Yes, barely. What's strange is that I don't feel any pain."
"No pain? Hm, that's indeed strange."
Someone landed with a quiet thud next to the second Hokage. "What's going on here? Where is Naruto? What is that?" Sasuke demanded arrogantly. His clothes were damaged und his sword was broken. Both powerful dojutsus, the Mangekyou Sharingan and the Rinne-Sharingan, were intensely focused on the second and fourth Hokage before glancing at the light barrier.
As if feeling personally insulted by his mere presence, Tobirama scoffed and focused back on the scenery before them leaving an agitated Minato to explain the situation.
"Naruto is inside this dome. To be honest, we don't know what happened to him, but something had triggered him. When we had found him, he was crying and screaming, though we don't know why. I- We tried to reach him, but then something weird had happened. One of these roots wrapped around him and- and just crawled into his mouth. Nothing makes sense!"
Sasuke glared harshly at the worried father. "Why didn't you do anything?"
"I-I-!"
"Idiots, stop talking. Brat, can you see anything peculiar?"
The Uchiha shifted his glare at the Second before complying. He scowled. "That strange light is blocking my view. We need to get rid of it."
"We know. It's acting as some sort of barrier. We can't touch it without harming ourselves."
"Amaterasu!" He suddenly exclaimed and glared even more at the light dome. Black flames manifested oneself and licked along the light. Taken by surprise, the Hokages took a few steps back to protect themselves from the all-eating flames. Burn marks appeared on the ground, but otherwise nothing changed. Seeing no changes, Sasuke stopped and narrowed his eyes.
"We need to find a way to break through the barrier. As much as I hate to admit, without Dope it would be a lot harder to defeat Madara."
"Easier said than done." Second grumbled.
"But, what can we even do?"
The Senju chewed on his lower lip while thinking of a possible solution. The light dome made it impossible to reach the blond. Neither Ninjutsu nor physical touch was effecting the barrier. Wait, perhabs...
Tobirama took a kunai out and threw it at the barrier. The kunai struck the light and stayed there pinned against it. Cautiously he went closer to where his kunai was stuck and examined it. It was as if it was actually pinned against a wall. The tool was about three or four centimetres deep as the tip was swallowed by the light. When he tried to touch it, he quickly retreated his hand back.
Hot.
Suddenly, the kunai began to glow as if heated by some extreme temperature. The handle caught fire and the metal moved slowly downward as it was melting.
Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.
With wide eyes they stared at the melting kunai.
Nope, any sort of physical contact is ineffective against the barrier, Tobirama concluded. But, what else could they try? Could he cool the barrier with his water? Probably not. Genjutsu would be useless, there was no other technique he knew of which might help.
That wannabe Madara, Obito or whatever his name was, could have helped with that evil Mangekyou of his, but he was dead. Great, Tobirama thought sarcastically, when you actually need an Uchiha they weren't there.
"Lord Second?" Minato asked hesistantly. "Do you have an idea?"
"No, it's impossible for outsiders to get through the light barrier. All we can do is hope that Naruto will survive. Otherwise, we should just submit to Madara." The second Hokage replied darkly.
"What's with fuinjutsu?"
"Don't even bother. It would not work."
"So, we are going to leave Dope just like that?"
"... No, I'm leaving a shadow clone to supervise him." Tobirama said after a short pause. "But we have to go back. Hashirama won't be able to hold out any longer." Then, he made the hand seal for tiger and an identical clone of the second Hokage appeared next to him.
Minato clenched his hand, angry at his inability to protect his own son once again. Reluctantly, Sasuke activated his partial Susanoo and left them.
"Watch over this barrier and inform me if anything happens to the brat." He orders his shadow clone before leaving.
"Naruto... Please be alright." Minato muttered to himself and went back to the battlefield.