Everything had happened too fast.
The Kage Summit, Madara Uchiha's declaration of war against the Five Great Nations, Danzo's death at Sasuke Uchiha's hands, Tsunade trying to keep Naruto away from the battlefield under the excuse of helping him control Kurama's chakra... all of it had led to the beginning of the Fourth Shinobi War.
The Allied Shinobi Forces, led by the Kage, clashed against the White Zetsu army commanded by the masked man calling himself Madara Uchiha. From the very start, the war had turned ugly. Heroes from different villages were brought back by Kabuto and forced to fight the same people they had once died protecting. Madara took control of seven of the nine Bijuu, and with the White Zetsus' numbers and infiltration abilities, the alliance was pushed into a terrible position.
Then Damon entered the battlefield.
Using Kurama's chakra and thousands of shadow clones, he shattered the balance and evened the numbers. He helped seal many of the shinobi revived by Edo Tensei, but the most important part was still ahead.
The Bijuu.
With Kurama's help, Damon managed to rip away the black rods controlling them, though not before learning each beast's name and receiving part of their chakra so they could aid him in the war. Even so, he never realized the battlefield had already begun shifting once again. The moment he reunited with the Bijuu, the second Uchiha legend finally appeared.
Madara Uchiha had been revived.
And with his very first move, he took down a thousand shinobi by himself without even being touched.
And the worst part was that everything was only getting started.
"Alright... now things are getting complicated," Damon thought while staring at Obito in the distance. His identity had already been exposed when Damon landed a direct hit on his face and shattered the mask into pieces. "Kakashi-sensei, Gai-sensei, the Kage need more help than I do."
"W-What?" both men answered at the same time, still in shock from the fact that Obito was alive.
BOOOOM!
Something fell from the sky and kicked up a massive curtain of dust, hiding whatever had caused the impact.
"How nostalgic."
The wind swept the dust away and revealed Madara Uchiha, dressed in his usual red battle armor, standing there with his arms crossed while calmly looking at the people before him. It looked like he wanted to say something, but Damon cut in first.
"Kakashi, seriously. Either you go help the Kage, or they're going to die," Damon repeated, his tone much more serious now.
"I'm not leaving you alone against Madara and Obito, Naruto," Kakashi replied just as seriously, making it clear he had no intention of moving.
"I'm not alone."
The moment he said it, orange chakra tails burst from Damon's back and helped the Hachibi tear away the black rods pinning him down.
"We can't afford to lose the Kage, Kakashi. If they die, the entire alliance loses its spirit," Damon said, glancing at him from the corner of his eye. "The fact that Madara is here means the Kage already lost. Right now they're not enough. They can probably hold on for a bit... but they need help."
Kakashi hesitated. He did not want to leave Damon and Bee alone against Madara and Obito, but before he could say anything, a hand landed on his shoulder.
"Come on, Kakashi. Naruto isn't weak. He'll survive while we help the Kage and come back," Gai said.
That was enough to convince Kakashi. He looked at Damon one last time.
"Be careful, Naruto."
Damon did not answer. He only gave him a small smile before turning his full attention back to the two Uchihas standing ahead of him.
The faint sound of metal shifting made Damon glance toward Obito just in time to see him separate Madara's war fan chain and toss it toward him.
"You're too arrogant," Obito said coldly.
Damon only shrugged.
"Funny coming from you, when all you really use is Kamui... and from Madara, who can't even use his full power because of Edo Tensei," Damon replied. Then he raised one hand and pointed toward a growing tree in the distance. "Honestly, that's the only thing here that worries me."
Madara stayed silent, intrigued by the blond standing in front of him. He had just crushed the Five Kage alone and had felt their fear clearly... yet here stood a blond brat whose expression held nothing but annoyance.
"This puppet show is getting annoying," Damon muttered as he stretched his arms a little. Then he raised his voice. "Hachibi."
The Bijuu turned toward him.
"Try to stop that tree, or slow it down as much as you can."
Obito moved to speak, but froze the moment a fist appeared only inches from his face.
When did he move?
It was the exact same thought both Uchihas shared.
Damon's fist passed straight through Obito's skull as if it had gone through a ghost. Obito's eyes widened slightly. What unsettled him even more was the fact that Damon was smiling.
"One," the blond said out loud, never losing that smile.
The moment that single word reached Obito's ears, he jumped back fast, only to see Damon mirror the movement perfectly, sticking to him without falling even a centimeter behind, his arm still intangible inside Obito's head.
"Two."
For the first time, Obito was genuinely shaken.
He could not turn tangible now without impaling his own head on Damon's arm. That left only one option.
Kamui.
The instant the vortex started forming, he heard the faint hiss of a burning fuse right beside his head, almost as if it were inside his skull. Then he saw the paper bomb in Damon's hand, already stuck through his head as well.
Damon's grin widened.
"One arm for your life," he said, his smile fading for just a second as he watched the vortex begin swallowing Obito. Then it returned, even more unsettling than before. "Three."
"I wonder what'll happen when your Kamui runs out and you still have an arm inside your skull"
Danger!!!
Every instinct Damon had built over his entire life screamed at him to brace. From the corner of his eye, he caught Madara's famous gunbai swinging toward him at full force. He quickly raised both arms to block.
Madara's strike sent Damon flying. Even so, while still in the air, he twisted his body and landed cleanly on the ground, rubbing the arm that had taken the blow.
"That actually hurt," Damon complained out loud.
"I didn't think you were the type to throw yourself into other people's fights," Madara said, his voice calm enough to be heard clearly.
Madara understood it now.
Damon was a problem.
He had underestimated him until now, but at last he could clearly see the danger the blond represented to his plan. Two things had become obvious. First, Damon could kill Obito if he slipped even for a second, and that would ruin everything. Second, Madara in his current state was not strong enough to face him properly.
Still...
First he had to remove Damon from the equation.
Madara glanced toward Obito and understood immediately why things had gone this way. He had originally wanted to blame him for starting the war without first capturing the Hachibi and the Kyubi, but now he could see the difficulty for himself.
"Obito," Madara said after a few seconds of silence. "Go capture the Hachibi. I'll handle the Kyubi."
Obito nodded without saying a word and started channeling chakra into his eye so he could use Kamui and leave, but before the vortex could fully form, a red flash appeared right in front of him.
"Did you really think I'd let you leave?" Damon asked, a Rasengan already spinning in his hand as it drove straight toward Obito's chest.
That dangerous sensation hit him again.
This time Damon did not stop his attack or try to dodge.
Madara's gunbai entered his field of vision, coming straight for the hand holding the Rasengan, aiming to crush the spinning attack before it could land, but it never reached him.
Just before the fan could make contact, Madara felt a hostile presence and had to twist his whole body around to block an attack from a wolf so large it looked unreal, its fur white as pure snow.
With Kaia's help, Damon landed the Rasengan cleanly on Obito's chest.
Obito never stopped the Kamui vortex because he had expected Madara to block for him. Instead, the Rasengan blasted him away and slammed him hard into the ground several meters back.
Obito dropped to one knee, coughing blood and growling through the pain. The attack had hurt badly. He had not even prepared to take it. His whole focus had been on reappearing beside the sacred tree.
Where the hell is Madara?
He looked up and saw a white wolf attacking while Madara defended himself with the gunbai, the only thing keeping those huge blade-like fangs away.
Even that did not last long.
The moment the gunbai touched the wolf's jaws, it was cut apart as if a hot knife had gone through butter. Kaia's fangs tore through the fan and split it in half with frightening ease, making Madara grit his teeth.
Another problem had just entered the battlefield.
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