Pre-Chapter A/N: Here we go with another chapter, coming in right on time. Next three chapters on my patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)— same username as here and link in bio.
The door swung open, pushing out and revealing the way up. These stairs were different from the rest of the tower. There was a different feeling to them. And perhaps most importantly, I could not see beyond them even with the Byakugan. The seals that several buildings in Konoha had to ward off Byakugan spying had come from the Uzumaki clan, so it was not unreasonable that the village that had played the biggest role in stealing from my clan would have gotten something like that for their efforts. But to use it here but not the rest of the tower told me whatever was hidden here was most definitely special. More than a Kage's office for sure.
I went up the stairs, and when I arrived at the end, I was met with a large room that overlooked the village of Kiri. There was a chair that reminded me of a throne more than anything else. It was on one end of the room. At the other end, there was another chair that reminded me of mine in Konoha. A desk, a person-sized mound of paperwork, and all the makings of a budding mess.
The throne, on the other hand, had little around it of note. It sat apart from everything else, just existing there. It was made of wood. A very familiar wood. Only running my hand across it allowed me to feel what it truly was. It was Hashirama's wood. Wood created from my Grandfather's chakra and lifeforce. I could feel it anywhere. Whoever had done this had probably gone through a lot of effort. They first had to have a way of telling which trees were made by him and which ones were not in the vast bounty of the Konoha forest, and then they would have had to avoid our patrols while felling said tree before someone caught on to them.
It shouldn't have been possible. But the throne sitting before me said otherwise. Before I could decide whether or not to steal it—and that was not going to be a very hard decision—I felt a pull along my navel as one of my Flying Raijin seals was triggered. The one I had given to my team.
What trouble had they managed to get themselves into, I wondered. Rain was a warzone, but the boring kind. The kind filled with chunin and jounin that would kill you if they got the chance or if you stopped paying attention for a second, but no one truly interesting. Maybe Hakari or Gakuganji? Naaaa. Minato could probably beat the both of them on his own if push came to shove. Well, there's only one way to find out, I guess.
I placed a Flying Raijin seal on the underside of one of the throne's handholds, and then I was off.
XXXXXX- MINATO NAMIKAZE
Madara stared at the weapon, and while that shock faded, it was not replaced with dread like Minato had expected. Instead, there was a resolve there.
"This seal blocks access to chakra in all its forms. Prevents those who have it from using it. But that blade works still. An independent chakra source not from a human. This seal only blocks humans from using chakra then. And not all uses of chakra. Conscious use of chakra is what it blocks. If not, her chakra would not be subduing the beast within her still and we would all have died from the unleashing of the tailed beast," he said, pointing at Kushina.
Minato said nothing, pushing off the ground and rushing at him. Madara did something Minato would never have expected from the famed Ghost of the Uchiha. He turned and ran. Was he trying to reach the edge of the barrier? Minato had accounted for that possibility already. The barrier stretched to the ends of the street. Without chakra, Minato would catch up before he made it there.
And then what defence would he have to the sword of the thundergod then? Minato gave chase at full speed, but then Madara shifted his attention to the woman. The woman that he had brought with him.
"Konan," he barked, and she began running to him. An ambush. Without chakra, adding another body was just a formality. Minato was only a few paces away when they reached each other.
Madara shoved his hand inside the woman's cloak, pulling some black rod out from her chest, and then tossing her body at Minato while he turned in his direction. Minato hardened his resolve and swung the blade as the woman approached, cleaving her in two. But she had slowed him down for long enough that Madara had managed to point the black rod at his own heart. Minato did not for a second imagine that Madara was going to kill himself. He had no idea what the plan was, but he knew that he had to prevent it.
And so he continued to run at him.
But he was not fast enough to stop him from piercing his heart with the rod that slid through his armour like it was not there. Madara's black eyes were gone now, replaced by the purple-ringed orbs of the Rinnegan.
"I was right," he said with menace in his voice.
"Almighty Push," he said, hand pointed straight at Minato.
Minato woke up on the other end of the street. For the first time in his life, he had to wait a few seconds for his brain to catch up and figure out what had just happened. Madara had managed to use chakra while inside a barrier that should have made the use of chakra impossible. Minato understood it now, that thing Sensei said all the time.
'Forget about Madara and my Grandfather. They weren't men. They were gods. Pure bullshit in human form,' he had said when they'd asked if he thought he was as strong as they were. Minato could see it now. And the Rinnegan? Madara hadn't had it when he was alive either. Minato opened his eyes, looking up at the cloud-filled sky as it wept down at him. He tried not to think too much about his body. Everything hurt.
At least six broken ribs. One of them had punctured his lung even. His chakra was flowing within him, energising him and allowing him to bear that pain without screaming for dear life. That was one good thing at least. Madara had destroyed his barrier, then. Having to fight Madara without chakra while the Uchiha had access to his own was even more of a death sentence than just fighting him normally.
Minato heard the footsteps before the man spoke.
"You robbed me of a tool. Same as your sensei. But unlike him, you have potential, Minato Namikaze. You have space in the world to come. My world. All you need to do is bow before me. Your sensei has trained you well but there are workings of chakra beyond the ken of even the great Butcher of Konoha. Things only I can teach you." Minato tried to laugh but was only able to wheeze. Did he seriously think there was a life where Minato would not just betray Konoha, but betray his Sensei, his teammates, everything they stood for?
"You will serve me regardless, boy. Your only choice is deciding whether you do it willingly or not," he said, walking forward. Minato tilted his neck upwards, looking at the man as another black rod seemed to grow out from his hand. The one in his chest just remained there, kept like a trophy. Whatever those black rods did, Minato knew he wanted nothing to do with them. Not with the way Madara was brandishing it as he walked forwards.
Minato buried the pain he felt and the way his body protested as he reached into his jacket and pulled out the kunai. Sensei's kunai.
"You are in no condition to fight, boy," Madara said with audible amusement. Minato just stabbed the kunai into the ground with all his strength and waited.
Madara watched the kunai, waiting for something to happen, and when nothing did, he chuckled and stepped forward again.
And then Sensei was there between them. The white of his jacket was all Minato saw.
"Uchiha Madara. Well, that answers a few questions I had," he said, none of the usual levity Minato was used to hearing there. He tried to feign it, but he failed. Sensei had been taken off guard. Minato just hoped that what he had thought when Sensei told him about Madara and Hashirama was true. That Sensei had allowed nostalgia and tales from the past to affect his reasoning. That he was actually stronger. He had to be. If he wasn't, they were finished.
"Senju Shorirama. How disappointing. None of Hashirama's sheer presence. Not even his looks. Just a name you wear like armour," the Uchiha spat.
"Straight to the insults. No idea why I expected something different," Sensei said with a chuckle that struck Minato as entirely performative. None of the mirth Minato had grown up hearing was in there. And it scared him more than anything had. He'd seen Sensei prepare to face Kage, prepare to lead invasions on entire foreign villages, prepared to face armies on his lonesome, and never had that mirth dropped. Sensei taking Madara this seriously put more fear in Minato for the man than facing him himself had.
"They call you the butcher. Not even his temperament did you manage to inherit. Lashing out at the world like a child with power that is a pittance compared to what he had. I will kill you tonight to bring an end to the disgrace to his name that you are."
"Trust me, he wouldn't mind me all that much. Really. You could always ask him."
"When you see him, you ask him," Madara said then. And that was that. Minato got a glimpse of him ripping the rod from his chest. There was no blood on it. He held one in either hand now, facing down a barehanded Sensei. At least Sensei had found the time to get armoured up before coming.
Sensei reached into his jacket, pulling out what Minato expected to be a weapon, only to be disappointed as it was a thick purple scroll that he tossed down on Minato's chest.
"Take that to Kushina. Tell her I need Uzume here. She'll understand once she sees it."
Minato never even got to object at being sent away like he was still a child as the ground turned to mud beneath him and swallowed him. He accepted its embrace like an old friend, more than used to being carried around by Sensei's jutsu. The mud held him, moving him about underneath the streets of Rain until he began to be pushed up again. When he could see the sky again, he could also hear Kushina's struggled breathing. He looked over at her, finding her in much the same position he had left her to chase Madara.
The mud around him lurched upwards, taking on Sensei's form before solidifying into a complete copy of the man. A mud clone.
"Where's Mikoto?" he asked first and then bent next to Minato. From his back grew another half of a body. Just the upper half as he healed both Minato and Kushina at the same time.
"Prisoner scroll," Minato managed to gasp out now that there was some much-needed relief for his lungs. He could breathe again.
Sensei's clone snatched the scroll that contained her from his pocket, and with a puff, there were three of them now. The clone's upper body split again once more, creating three copies connected to the same pair of legs.
"How are you even doing that?" Minato asked once he could speak without struggle.
"Secret," the head facing him said with a wink.
"The original will teach you later, but we need to focus on the here and now. He needs Uzume," the other heads said in unison. Minato flushed at the reminder before trying to hand over the scroll that had been given to him to Kushina.
Except that Kushina was staring listlessly into the sky.
"Kushina," he called, getting no response.
He looked over at the clone, seeing a frown on his face.
"Kushi-chan. Can you wake up for me, please? Pretty please?" the head close to her whispered.
"He did something to Gyuki," she said, looking to be on the verge of tears.
"He's fine. I can feel him just fine. He just lost a lot of chakra. After a day or two, he'll be right as rain, I promise," Sensei's clone said in a soft voice.
"Shori-nii?" she called.
"Just a clone, I fear. But I need you to do something for the original," he said. And almost as if it was on cue, there was an explosion from the distance. One of the towers that framed Ame's skyline began to fall. Minato swallowed his shock as the ground shook like the whole city had been hit with an earthquake from that one impact.
"Quickly, please," he said, more urgently a second later. Minato took that to mean that Sensei was losing. He turned around, not caring that he had moved away from the healing. He spread out the scroll in front of him. It was an unfamiliar seal.
"Guide me, please," he said to the clone. If Sensei felt that Uzume-san was the only person that could help him in this fight, then they had a duty to get her here as quickly as possible.
"Kushina, the original needs you," the clone said, ignoring Minato. That somehow managed to get through to her. She shot up and bodied Minato out of the way from in front of the scroll. Minato yielded the space easily. She pushed at the core of the scroll, revealing a vial of blood. She bit on her hand to smear some of her blood on the seal before taking the blood from the vial and pouring it over the seal.
Mikoto woke up coughing, shooting up, alert.
Kushina weaved the seals for the summoning jutsu as quickly as she could before slamming her hand into the scroll.
A puff of smoke revealed a white bunny rabbit. What?
"Haru-san. My brother wants your summoner. He needs her," Kushina said.
"Oh?" the rabbit asked, looking like it could care less.
"That sounds urgent. But then there is the matter of my payment," the rabbit said. Once again, what? What was going on here? Kushina flushed red but leaned in and planted a heavy kiss on the rabbit's cheek.
"Now that's what we're talking about," the rabbit said, visibly vibrating with excitement. It weaved seals with stubby fingers before clapping said hand against the ground to reveal a puff of smoke. From within came Uzume Uchiha. Dressed in an ornamental kimono and wearing makeup of all things. What exactly was going on here?
"I swear, Haru, if you summoned me to get a kiss again, I will—" she began, rounding on the rabbit, rage sharp before she noticed the rest of them.
"Shori's brats?" she asked in shock.
"Sensei needs you," Minato said, even if part of him was unsure just how much she could contribute dressed like this.
"Aunt Uzume?" Mikoto called in shock, now managing to lift her head. The mud clone rose now. Its body had returned to normal.
"What is going on here?" she asked, eyes spanning from person to person. There was another explosion in the distance. The clone winced at that. Mud clones were more connected to their makers than shadow clones.
"Is he losing?" Minato asked.
"Not winning, that's for sure," the mud clone responded with another wince as there was the sound of another explosion.
"Can someone just explain something to me?" She screamed the words now, bringing them all to a still.
"Madara. He's back somehow. Or maybe he never even died. But he's back. He's fighting Sensei now," Minato said, trying to explain as quickly as possible. His words were punctuated by another explosion matched with the sound of a falling building.
"Correction: beating his arse," the mud clone said with a chuckle, the mirth absent here as well.
"It's that bad?" He turned to the clone now.
"Don't answer that," Uzume said to the clone, taking charge of the situation.
"Give me everything Shori has managed to find out. And you, weapons and armour now," she said, turning to Mikoto. Uzume was already stripping her kimono. Minato turned around, heat rising to his cheeks at the sight of the pale flesh.
There was the sound of rustling of clothes behind him that he tried to ignore and focus only on the clone's voice.
"The Rinnegan has several abilities that he's shown off so far. Chakra absorption that makes long-range jutsu near useless, the ability to create extra limbs and mechanise them into missiles or chakra cannons. He can make them out of whatever part of his body he wants, including his back. Summoning several creatures that do not belong to the same family, but possess the rinnegan and can share vision with him. The ability to rip a target's soul out of their body if given enough time and contact. The ability to create black rods that disturb all sorts of chakra flow. Then there is the man himself. Quicker than us, stronger than us, better reflexes, and the ability to use all five elements. Plus he hits like a hammer. He knows both the gentle fist and the whirlpool fist well. Same can be assumed for the interceptor fist. In summary, he's better than us. He needs you there to take a bit of the edge off. He thinks you can win if you go together," the clone said, and there was a clapping sound.
The rustling had ended. Minato turned around to find Uzume now dressed in the jounin uniform, flak jacket inclusive.
"I'll head to him now. Mikoto, if I fall, you are the head of the clan. Blondie, you're in charge. Marshal whatever remains of our people and get them out of this village," she said, turning and jumping away. She said nothing else to them.
"Minato, when you find Toad, tell her the Hokage says Apocalypse. She will understand. When you return to Konoha, in my private lab, you will find a scroll that only you can open. There you will find what instructions and advice I can offer. If I die, you will be the Fifth Hokage of Konoha. Good luck," the clone said, turning to mud.
"He's joking. Tell me he's joking," Kushina whispered, frantic..
"They're just being dramatic. You know how Sensei and Uzume can be. They'll win. They always win," Mikoto said. Minato did not look at her. Because he could hear the lie in her voice clear as day.
A/N: That's the final bit of setup before we get to business! Next chapter, Shori (and Uzume) v Madara Next chapter comes on here by Sunday night/Monday morning most likely. Next three chapters up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) (same username as here and link in bio), support me there and read them early.