Chapter 16: A Desperate Battle
The air in the arena was thick with killing intent, suffocating, oppressive. Dust still swirled from Lee's intervention, but Gaara's monstrous half-formed body loomed larger than life, his sand writhing as though eager for blood.
Lee stood at the front, chest heaving, his eyes sharp despite the exhaustion creeping into his limbs. Naruto and Sasuke flanked him, battered but unyielding.
"Are you okay, Sasuke?" Lee asked, concern breaking through his usual sternness as his gaze flickered to the boy's right arm. Blood streamed down from where the Chidori had been caught.
Sasuke clenched his teeth, flexing his fingers as sparks died out in his palm. "I'll be fine. But I can't use Chidori again. My limit's three in a day… and with my hand like this, it's not happening."
Naruto's grin cracked across his bruised face, loud as ever. "That technique was cool, but just wait! I'm gonna learn something way better, dattebayo!"
Lee's brow furrowed. "This isn't the time for bickering. We need focus. Listen carefully: I'll take point. Naruto, you'll use your clones, harass him, keep him distracted. Sasuke, conserve what's left of your chakra. If you can still use Fireball, we'll need it to blind him or create openings."
Sasuke gave a curt nod. "I can manage a few. But not many."
Lee's eyes burned with resolve. This enemy crushed me once before. But this time, I'm not the same, and I'm not alone.
He lowered his stance, fists tight. The memory of bandages, of helplessness, clawed at the edge of his mind, but he shoved it aside. With a roar that tore from the depths of his chest, he declared:
"Gate of Life… OPEN!"
Chakra surged, his hair standing on end, his skin flushing red as veins bulged across his temples. The familiar ache roared back, but beneath it was exhilaration, the feeling of shackles breaking.
"I don't have much time," he muttered through gritted teeth. "But it will be enough."
Lee launched forward, his feet cracking stone, his fists a storm. Strong Fist hammered into Gaara's sand-clad body, blows detonating like cannon fire. When Gaara's monstrous claw descended, Lee twisted, Tekkai stiffening his muscles to absorb the crushing strike. Pain lanced through him, but he held, countering with a spinning Konoha Whirlwind that shattered chunks of sand from the beast's arm.
Naruto's clones poured in, swarming Gaara from every angle. They hurled themselves recklessly at the beast, kunai flashing, fists pounding. Each claw swipe obliterated dozens, smoke filling the battlefield, but more clones kept appearing, relentless, impossible to ignore.
Sasuke stayed back, his Sharingan spinning. He formed quick seals, exhaling great balls of fire that exploded across Gaara's body, forcing him to shield his vision. Sand hissed and hardened under the heat, buying precious seconds.
For a moment—just a moment—it looked like the three of them could actually hold him.
Lee ducked beneath a claw, his fist snapping upward into Gaara's jaw. Naruto's clones tripped his legs, and Sasuke's fireball seared across his flank.
The monster staggered.
Naruto whooped. "We've got him on the ropes!"
Lee's chest heaved, hope flickering—
And then Gaara froze.
His hands formed a seal. His body trembled. His head lolled.
Confusion rippled through the three.
"Did… we win?" Naruto asked, blinking as his clones wavered uncertainly.
Then Gaara's mouth split in a deranged smile. His voice came, shrill and high, nothing like a boy's.
"I'm freeeeeeeeeee!"
The world convulsed with chakra.
Sand erupted in a storm, swirling and stretching, covering Gaara's body, reshaping it, growing larger and larger. The ground quaked beneath their feet as an immense figure clawed its way into existence.
A raccoon-like beast, grotesque and colossal, loomed over the arena. Its body was carved of living sand, its form jagged and shifting, a single massive tail whipping behind it. Its laughter rattled and the sky to shake.
"I…Shukaku…am finally FREE! AHAHAHAHAHA!"
Naruto's jaw dropped. "What the hell is that thing?!"
Sasuke's knees buckled from the pressure of the chakra, his Sharingan blazing just to stay conscious of the monster's movements. "This… this isn't human."
Lee's breath hitched. He'd known the One-Tail's form, but to see it… to feel the crushing pressure of its chakra pressing on every inch of his body, it was suffocating. And this wasn't supposed to happen here, in the arena. The butterfly effect… is this all because of me?
High above, violet flames crackled as Hiruzen Sarutobi faced his former student. The Sandaime's face was grim, his pipe long discarded.
"Orochimaru! You dare desecrate the honor of this village?! This is the home that raised you, nurtured you, and now you bring it to ruin?!"
Orochimaru's laugh slithered across the air, mocking and cruel. "Home? No, sensei. This village is a rotting husk, its roots decayed long ago. You cling to tradition, to dreams of leaves in the sunlight… but all I see is a tree already dead. And I… am the fire that will finally burn it down."
Hand seals blurred, and the ground cracked.
"Summoning: Edo Tensei!"
Coffins rose from the earth, the kanji etched on their lids glowing. The wood splintered, and from within stepped two figures: the First and Second Hokage, pale and incomplete, their movements sluggish.
Hiruzen's face tightened, grief warring with steel. "Hashirama… Tobirama…"
The brothers turned, eyes dull, bound by Orochimaru's jutsu. For a fleeting moment, their lips twitched into wry smiles, ghosts of the men they had been.
"Hiruzen," Tobirama's voice rasped. "You've grown old."
Hashirama sighed. "We're sorry, little brother. It seems we'll be your opponents."
Orochimaru's laughter echoed as the battle began, Enma the Monkey King materializing at Hiruzen's side in a burst of smoke.
While the Hokage struggled against ghosts of the past, chaos tore through the streets of Konoha…
Kakashi and Gai carved through waves of Oto-nin and Suna-nin, their movements precise and merciless. ANBU squads joined them, kunai flashing, jutsu erupting in fire and lightning.
"Kakashi!" Gai barked as his foot shattered the ribs of an Oto jōnin. "We can't hold them all here!"
"I know!" Kakashi's Sharingan spun, his Raikiri crackling as he tore through another enemy. "Push forward! Drive them back toward the gates!"
The remaining Konoha 12 fought at their side, gritting their teeth against the flood. Kiba and Akamaru spun through enemies like whirlwinds, Hinata's strikes dropped foes in silent precision, Choji bulldozed through groups at once, Shikamaru's shadows bound squads into immobility, and Ino cut through with sharp kunai and sharper words.
Still, even with their strength combined, they felt the weight of their weakness. Every glance at Kakashi's lightning blade or Gai's blazing fists reminded them how far they had to go.
And then the ground shook.
The triple-headed serpent, Manda's kin, burst into the village, its colossal form tearing through buildings, its three heads hissing venom.
Kakashi's eye narrowed. "This isn't good."
Gai dropped into stance, veins bulging. "Gate of Limit… OPEN!"
They launched forward, Kakashi's Raikiri blazed, Gai's fist shattered air itself, yet the snake kept coming, heads snapping, tails crushing everything in its path.
And then the ground exploded.
A colossal toad slammed down, red skin glistening, a massive sasumata trapping one serpent's head. With a grunt, it raised its shield, smashing the other two heads aside before the summon vanished in smoke.
The Konoha 12 stared in awe.
On the toad's head stood a figure, tall, broad-shouldered, white hair flowing, his red cloak billowing in the wind. His face was set in uncharacteristic seriousness.
"Jiraiya-sama…" Kakashi murmured.
The Toad Sage dropped lightly to the ground, his presence alone enough to shift the air. "Kakashi. Status report. Quickly."
Kakashi started, but a thunderous explosion ripped through the village, followed by a shrill, monstrous voice.
Even as Jiraiya landed, a roar split the sky from the arena…
"I—SHUKAKU—AM FINALLY FREEEEEEEEEEE!"
And then—
Another puff of smoke rose within the arena, low and heavy. As it cleared, the ground shook under the immense bulk of a giant red toad. A massive pipe jutted from its mouth, smoke curling lazily into the air, while its sharp eyes glared up at the One-Tail with simmering irritation.
"W-What the hell is that thing?!" Kiba yelped, eyes wide as the ground trembled beneath them.
On the village rooftops, Jiraiya's eyes went wide. He knew that silhouette anywhere.
"Gamabunta…" he muttered, his voice low but urgent. His jaw tightened as he leapt forward, racing toward the arena. "Damn it, kid…what have you done?!"
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed, his jaw tightening. He didn't wait for Kakashi's explanation. He mounted the toad in a single leap, cloak snapping in the wind. "I'll handle this. That's a jinchūriki on the loose."
Gamaken leapt, the ground trembling beneath his landing as the great toad and its master bounded toward the arena.
"J-Jiraiya-sama, why'd you drag me into this mess?!" Gamaken stammered, already swinging at a wave of invading shinobi.
"Quit whining and keep the pest off me!" Jiraiya barked, never taking his eyes from the arena. "That's a jinchūriki on the loose. And Gamabunta can't hold Shukaku without backup."
Back inside the ruined stadium, Naruto, Sasuke, and Lee stood side by side, staring up at the gargantuan Shukaku now fully freed.
Sand whirled like a storm. The beast's single tail lashed, leveling stone and wall alike. Its laughter shook the bones of every soul in Konoha.
Lee clenched his fists, blood trickling down his arm from the strain of the Gate. "This… this is beyond what we planned for."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed, his Sharingan blazing as he steadied his breath. "If we don't stop it, the village is finished."
Naruto's clones swarmed at his back, his eyes fierce despite the fear. "Then we don't stop. We fight. Together."
And then…deep inside his mind, a snarl ripped through the darkness.
"Shukaku? That pathetic raccoon?! " Kyūbi's voice thundered, shaking the walls of Naruto's consciousness. "I refuse to allow anything that involves me losing to him! Ever!"
A surge of red chakra burst through Naruto's body, searing hot and wild. His veins hummed with power, his whisker marks darkening, his eyes glowing with a feral slit. He staggered, gasping, but grinned through the haze.
"Fine, fox… then lend me that strength!"
Naruto slammed his hands together, his mind flashing back to the scrolls, the training, Jiraiya's lessons on summoning. The chakra poured out of him like a torrent, far greater than anything he had called upon before.
Summoning Jutsu!
The ground cracked. Smoke exploded outward in a massive billow, choking the arena. Stone shattered beneath the weight of something colossal.
When the haze cleared, every shinobi in Konoha froze.
A giant red toad crouched within the arena, pipe clamped between his jaws, eyes sharp and narrow with irritation. Gamabunta's presence was suffocating, his bulk filling the battlefield, his glare fixed squarely on the sand demon towering above.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Lee staggered, only to realize they were standing on Gamabunta's broad head.
"W-What the hell?!" Sasuke snapped, clutching his arm as he steadied himself.
Lee's eyes widened in awe. "Incredible… this is the power of a true summon!"
Gamabunta's gravelly voice rumbled beneath their feet, irritated and commanding. "Oi… brats. You'd better have a damn good reason for dragging me into this mess."
Shukaku threw back his head, roaring with manic laughter. "A TOAD?! AHAHAHA! I'LL CRUSH YOU ALL!"
The stage was set, two titans facing off, with three genin clinging to the head of one of them.
The real battle had only just begun.
To be continued…