Chapter 603: The Great Edo Tensei Battle (Part 1)
"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"
With a mighty shout, dozens of Naruto clones hurled Rasenshuriken, each about a meter in diameter and spinning at high speed, toward the Iwa forces.
Back in Iwagakure, Natsuki, who was controlling the reanimations remotely, cursed. "Again! How does he have so many Shadow Clones?!"
"And every clone has so much chakra, they can all use an S-rank Wind Release!"
"Is he even human?! This Naruto Namikaze should be treated like a Sage. My brother and the others should be dealing with him!"
Kawakita, standing guard at the door, smiled.
Sakura and Yakumo, also controlling reanimations, were less flustered. Their teacher was Riori Uzumaki, and Riori fought like this all the time. Influenced by her, even Karin sometimes used similar tactics.
Next to the three girls was a small table with a board game on it. Black and white pieces were scattered across the board.
The white pieces bore the names of Iwa's twenty-eight reanimations. The black pieces bore the names of the Konoha-Kiri alliance's Kage and Elite Jonin.
Among them, there were an unusually large number of pieces labeled "Naruto Namikaze."
The ones moving the pieces to simulate the battlefield were not Sakura's group, but Squad 8: Aono Shinichi, Shizuka Minamoto, and Rion.
Ideally, Squad 8 would be controlling the reanimations, as their tactical minds were far superior to Natsuki's group. But they lacked the Yin Release mastery to control Edo Tensei remotely.
Only Sage-level Yin Release users like Natsuki, Sakura, and Yakumo could do it.
So, Squad 8's job was to advise the girls.
However, so far, they hadn't offered a single suggestion.
Natsuki cursed, but she still had to defend.
On the Land of Water battlefield, facing the barrage of Rasenshuriken...
Three burly figures from the Iwa side charged forward: the Third Raikage, the Fourth Raikage (A), and the Fifth Raikage (Darui).
All three mastered Lightning Release Armor and possessed incredible defense. Each one used their body to block an attack.
Besides the three Raikage, a wall of Gold Sand and Iron Sand quickly rose to block the remaining Rasenshuriken.
Through the gaps in the sand wall, swift ninjutsu attacks shot out to intercept the incoming projectiles.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Most of the Rasenshuriken were destroyed before impact. A few hit the dual sand barriers.
A massive explosion sent gold and iron sand flying. The Iwa reanimations behind the wall were damaged, but before the alliance could capitalize, they regenerated.
However, the Fourth and Fifth Raikage, who had blocked with their bodies, couldn't withstand the S-rank jutsu. Their bodies were heavily damaged.
Seeing this, the alliance seized the opportunity.
Water, Fire, and Wind Release jutsu rained down, along with Terumī Mei's dual Kekkei Genkai attacks.
The Jinchūriki lashed out with chakra tails.
Even Sasuke, who was fighting Fugaku, Itachi, and Shisui, risked taking hits from three Susanoo to fire an arrow at the two immobilized Raikage.
Just as the attacks were about to land, a wall of Gold Sand abruptly blocked them.
Boom!
The Gold Sand barrier didn't last long, shattering quickly.
But the delay was enough. Iwa's ninjutsu support arrived.
Iwa's attacks were more varied: Dust Release, Scorch Release, Earth, Lightning, Wind, Fire, and Water. All five elements were present.
Iwa's reanimations came from all over the world. Under Sakura's group's control, they executed combination ninjutsu.
Killer B, Yugito, the former Five-Tails, Four-Tails, Eight-Tails, and Two-Tails Jinchūriki, Nagi Minazuki, Kinkaku, and Ginkaku.
Iwa had nine Jinchūriki. Three were tied down, but the other six rushed to aid the two Raikage.
After the smoke cleared, the two Raikage burst out, clad in Lightning Armor, charging the alliance.
Iwa had successfully defended, buying time for them to regenerate.
Kakashi had also attacked with Lightning Release, but Iwa blocked it.
He wasn't focused on that, though. He was looking at a figure standing next to the reanimated Ryōsuke: the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa.
The Gold Sand that had bought time for the Jinchūriki came from him.
But this Rasa was different from the one who blocked Naruto earlier. That one was an Edo Tensei. This one was a Human Puppet.
This puppet had been mining gold for Iwa 24/7 for years. Ishiro wouldn't have released it if this weren't the final battle.
Rasa had only been one person in life, but in death, there were two of him, both as strong as the original.
Luckily, Rasa had no consciousness. Otherwise, seeing two of himself might have been confusing.
Iwa didn't just defend.
Sasuke's distraction gave his three Uchiha opponents an opening.
Fugaku and Shisui pounced with their Susanoo, while Itachi turned his Mangekyō toward the Kiri side.
His target was the reanimated First Mizukage.
Black flames ignited on the First Mizukage's body.
Seeing this, Mito Uzumaki and Yagura immediately intervened.
They didn't attack Itachi or try to extinguish the flames on the First Mizukage. Their chakra tails targeted Fugaku and Shisui.
With Mito and Yagura's interference, Sasuke's Complete Body Susanoo broke free from the two lower-stage Susanoo.
He turned his Eternal Mangekyō toward the First Mizukage.
The inextinguishable Amaterasu flames were extinguished.
This scene had played out many times. Sasuke and Itachi repeatedly used Amaterasu on opposing forces, and they could extinguish each other's flames. So Amaterasu hadn't been decisive.
In this exchange, Iwa had the advantage because their troops were reanimations who didn't fear burning. The alliance had many living members who would be incapacitated if touched by the flames, even if extinguished quickly.
The First Mizukage's flames were out, but he needed time to regenerate.
After disrupting Fugaku and Shisui, Mito and Yagura stood guard beside him.
But Iwa's real target wasn't the First Mizukage. It was Mangetsu Hōzuki.
A and Darui had charged at Mangetsu.
Joining them was the Third Raikage, who had tanked a Rasenshuriken unscathed.
And Hanzō, who had been holding back, quietly approached Mangetsu.
Mangetsu's face darkened. He was being targeted. His Hydrification Technique was weak to Lightning Release, and three super-fast Raikage were the perfect counters.
He couldn't beat one Raikage, let alone three.
Fortunately, he had help.
The White Fang, a fellow close-combat specialist, intercepted the Third Raikage.
Danzō clapped his hands, and a massive Wood Release wall blocked the path of the three Raikage and Hanzō.
"Water Release: Water Shockwave!" Kisame acted too.
His Water Release was massive, flooding the entire battlefield.
The Raikage were fast, but the wood slowed them down significantly. By the time they broke through, Kisame's water was upon them.
When they finally reached Mangetsu through the resistance of the water, he had already activated his Hydrification Technique.
In a massive body of water, a liquefied Mangetsu was nearly unkillable.
After Mangetsu escaped, the alliance counter-attacked the four isolated Iwa ninja.
Naruto's clones took the front line, using their bodies as shields to slow the enemies down.
The reanimated Mizukage and former Kiri Jinchūriki used Kisame's water to launch Water Release attacks.
The four Iwa ninja were instantly in danger. Hanzō and Darui were already injured.
But Iwa's support arrived.
Tobirama Senju was the fastest. Kisame's watery environment suited him perfectly.
His hand seals were a blur; one seal often unleashed a high-level Water Release.
Other Iwa Jinchūriki and ninjutsu users also began attacking the alliance.
Iwa's Jinchūriki used the "besiege Wei to rescue Zhao" strategy, attacking the alliance directly to relieve pressure on the Raikage and Hanzō.
However, the rescue didn't go as planned.
Tobirama's Water Release, which Iwa had high hopes for, was completely blocked by Kisame.
Back in Iwa, Shizuka Minamoto heard Sakura's report and sighed. "I didn't expect the Mizukage to be stronger without Samehada."
Aono Shinichi nodded. "He must have completely changed his fighting style, pushing his single water affinity to the extreme."
"I wonder if this is his limit."
Indeed, Kisame hadn't given up after losing Samehada. He wasn't foolish enough to pursue Wood Release, which he had no talent for. He focused on Water Release, pushing it to the absolute peak of Kage level!
Tobirama's Water Release being blocked was unexpected, and the "besiege Wei" strategy was slow to take effect.
The four Iwa ninja deep in enemy lines were in trouble.
Seizing the opportunity, Kakashi and Minato Namikaze, the alliance's trump cards, made their move.
Each picked a target and closed in rapidly.
Kakashi targeted Hanzō. Hanzō was slow and easy to deal with.
Kakashi pierced Hanzō's already injured body with a Lightning Cutter, then immediately began sealing him.
Minato targeted A. He knew his old rival's abilities well.
He opened with a Super Odama Rasengan.
A, still regenerating, was blown apart.
Minato used the Flying Thunder God to dodge an attack from the Third Raikage (the only one of the four uninjured).
After the Third Raikage flashed past, Minato reappeared in front of A.
His previous attack had marked A with the Flying Thunder God seal.
The Third Raikage, having missed, was entangled by the White Fang again.
As Minato approached A to seal him, Kakashi shouted, "Minato-sensei, look out!"
Minato didn't hesitate. He teleported away instantly.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A chain of explosions erupted from A's body just after Minato left.
Hanzō exploded at the same time.
Kakashi, having also teleported away, stood next to Minato. "Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags."
Minato nodded.
A had used his one good hand to cast the jutsu out of sight. Without a Sharingan, Minato hadn't noticed immediately.
Of course, even without Kakashi's warning, Minato was confident he could escape the moment the tags detonated.
Kakashi and Minato waited for the explosions to end.
Although they failed to seal the targets, they weren't worried. The indiscriminate explosions would only damage A and Hanzō further.
While waiting, they used ninjutsu to help the White Fang block the Third Raikage and Darui from approaching the blast zones.
Elsewhere, a giant blue chakra dome appeared, blocking Iwa's barrage of "rescue" attacks.
It was Hinata. Her dōjutsu, Space Freeze, was perfect against space-time ninjutsu users, but she had been focusing on Obito Uchiha.
Seeing her side unprepared for Iwa's assault, she used Rotation to block it.
Thanks to Hinata, the alliance switched from defense to offense, targeting the four encircled enemies.
When the Rotation ended, the explosions stopped.
Kakashi and Minato teleported to Hanzō and A simultaneously.
Before the targets could regenerate, they sealed them.
After sealing, Kakashi took the two sealed reanimations and teleported away with Hiraishin.
Kakashi's movements were incredibly fast, completing the round trip in the blink of an eye.
But just as Kakashi returned, Tobirama Senju, who had been fighting Kisame, vanished.
Kakashi didn't notice. Minato had just sealed A and was now being targeted by the Third Raikage, looking for an opening.
Unnoticed, Tobirama went to where A and Hanzō were being held. He quickly undid their seals.
Then he slapped a special paper tag on each of them.
The Hiraishin markers left by Kakashi and Minato vanished.
Tobirama then teleported them back to the battlefield.
Alerted by Hinata, Kakashi and Minato realized Tobirama had rescued the two they had worked so hard to seal.
Minato broke away from the Third Raikage and sensed for his markers. Frowning, he said, "The Hiraishin marker is gone."
Kakashi checked. His marker on Hanzō was gone too.
"Minato-sensei, do you know any way to remove a Hiraishin marker?"
Minato shook his head. "No. Theoretically, once marked, it can never be removed."
In Iwagakure, Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close. Good thing we had Akino-senpai's tags. Otherwise, even if the Second Hokage got them back, the next part would have been hard."
The tags weren't Tobirama's invention; they were Akino Atsumi's.
Akino's space-time research focused on weird applications, not combat.
Knowing Kakashi had the Flying Thunder God, Ishiro had asked Akino to create a tag that could remove the markers.
However, the tag required a user skilled in space-time ninjutsu.
Tobirama fit the bill perfectly, so he was given the task.
Kakashi's heart sank. Iwa could remove Hiraishin markers, but Konoha couldn't. This was bad.
It meant Tobirama had likely marked everyone on his side. Even if the alliance sealed them, he could rescue them instantly!
Iwa's reanimations were truly invincible.
"We have to take out the Second Hokage first," Kakashi said.
Minato nodded, equally stumped.
But now wasn't the time to plan.
After the close call, Aono Shinichi signaled Natsuki, Sakura, and Yakumo to launch the all-out attack.
The three girls exchanged looks. Then, fifteen reanimations—including the Third Raikage and Darui, who were still inside the alliance's encirclement—charged recklessly at the nearest enemies.
As they charged, they all formed the same hand seal.
Seeing it, Kakashi was horrified. "Look out! Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags!"
Iwa's "ultimate move" was mutual destruction!
The alliance had living members; Iwa had only reanimations. In a suicide exchange, Iwa won.
Hearing Kakashi, the alliance immediately went on the defensive.
Sasuke abandoned his opponent and retreated.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
After a series of violent explosions, the remaining Iwa ninja rushed the alliance reanimations damaged by the blasts.
The alliance's living members were protected and unharmed.
But many reanimations were damaged.
Shisui, Hanzō, and A rushed their targets.
Minato reacted fastest, flashing to Hanzō's target and whisking them away right under Hanzō's nose.
But Minato only had one chance.
When he tried again with the First Mizukage, A was already there.
It didn't matter if A was there; Tobirama, who had marked A, was there too.
Tobirama appeared almost simultaneously with Minato. He slapped a tag on the First Mizukage with his left hand.
The tag flashed, and Minato's Hiraishin marker vanished.
Minato was busy dodging a punch from A.
By the time he reached for the regenerating First Mizukage, Tobirama had already taken him away.
Minato abandoned A and teleported back to Kakashi.
Kakashi had just saved the Third Mizukage from Shisui.
Iwa didn't stop after one success. Shisui, seeing his target gone, turned to the nearby Ao, the Three-Tails Jinchūriki.
Ao, protected by Bijuu chakra, hadn't been hurt by the explosions.
But the chaos had unsettled him.
Still new to Kage-level combat, he panicked seeing the First Mizukage captured.
Then he met Shisui's eyes.
"Not good! Genjutsu!" Ao reacted fast, closing his eyes immediately.
He tried to use the Three-Tails's chakra to break the genjutsu.
But the Three-Tails, which had been responsive before, suddenly stopped listening.
At the same time Shisui acted, another pair of Mangekyō Sharingan had targeted Ao.
But this person targeted the Three-Tails inside him.
Shisui and Itachi coordinated perfectly, trapping both the Jinchūriki and the Bijuu in genjutsu simultaneously.
Ao couldn't break free on his own.
Minato and Kakashi saw this and moved to help.
But the Third Raikage and Darui suddenly charged at their position.
They weren't afraid of the two brutes, but they had two regenerating reanimations behind them to protect.
They knew if they left, Tobirama would appear and snatch them.
Without hesitation, they made a choice. Kakashi took the two reanimations and retreated. Minato teleported to Ao.
(End of Chapter)