"Kamui!"
A rippling distortion appeared over the 2nd large tailed beast bomb behind the first, Kakashi pushing more chakra into it and enveloping the whole thing, sending it to the Kamui dimension.
*Ding
Kakashi sucked in a breath, not out of chakra, but pulling in something that large for the first time took more than chakra than it should have; he'd have to practice on it when he got the chance.
'I won't be able to send the other one away and still confidently have enough chakra to fight a tailed beast.'
Kakashi was ready to risk it anyway when Isobu leaped into the air and into the clearing, crushing the knocked-out Kiri ninja into bloody paste.
"So much for keeping the Kiri ninja alive."
Kakashi grimaced as Isobu had to have crushed hundreds under his large shell and feet.
'Alright, big guy, time to wake up.'
Kakashi locked eyes with Isobu and activated Kotoamatsukami.
"Wake up, Yagura."
- Inside Yagura's mindscape -
"Where-"
Looking out at the horizon, Yagura observed the ocean all around him; wherever the eye could see was more ocean.
"We're inside your mind."
Yagura spun around and got into a defensive stance.
"Who the hell are you?"
"That would take too long to explain, but the simple explanation is that I'm the one who freed you from that masked man's control. Now I need your help. The three tails need to be freed as well, but with your chakra free now, it should be easy."
Yagura gripped his head; flashes of moments he had spent under the control of that masked man came back to him.
"You, you're a leaf ninja, and that man is an Uchiha."
Yagura gritted his teeth, the water under him bubbling in response to his emotions.
"I remember his eyes, they were Sharingan with a different pattern. What are you really here for?"
Kakashi calmly observed the hostility and suspicion in his eyes; the years of being under complete control had made him wary, and rightfully so.
"Allow me to show you."
Kakashi raised his fist for a fist bump, keeping it there for a full 5 minutes before Yagura gave in and hesitantly fist bumped.
Images flashed in Yagura's mind from the moment Kakashi arrived to the image of Kakashi's eyes and being freed.
"Do you see now? I deactivated my eyes once I broke my way in. I'm not here to control you, I'm only here to free you and that big guy down there."
Kakashi gestured under them, Isobu staring up at them blankly from under the water, looking rather scary with the eyes glowing under the water.
Yagura shivered slightly, having not even noticed Isobu until Kakashi pointed him out.
"How do we free him?"
"This is your mind, you're now free. What does one do when a teammate gets caught in genjutsu?"
Kakashi chuckled and stopped channeling chakra into his feet, sinking into the water, followed by Yagura a moment later.
Yagura and Kakashi swam to the top of Isobu's head and placed their hands on him, channeling their chakra into his system at the same time.
With the help of Kakashi and Yagura, Isobu's consciousness flickered back, no longer the chakra battery he was when under control, joining Kakashi and Yagura in curcualting his chakra as well, breaking the remnants of Obito's control.
Now free, Isobu swam up at rapid speed, Yagura and Kakashi holding on as Isobu darted up until he was floating on his shell.
"Yagura."
"I'm here, Isobu."
Yagura and Kakashi jumped down, landing in front of him.
"So, we're free."
Isobu murmured softly, glad to finally be free, before his eyes shifted to Kakashi, and he simply stared like he was trying to figure out why the silver-haired man felt familiar to him.
"I'm sure we haven't met."
"I'm Kakashi Hatake, nice to meet you, Isobu."
Isobu blinked in surprise, not expecting a human to be so polite to him.
"I'm Isobu, it's nice to meet you."
Isobu squirmed a bit, seeming to remember something.
"Sorry about the trouble I gave you."
Kakashi waved it off.
"You were under control."
"No, that's not what I meant."
Isobu shook his giant head, the water rippling out in soft waves.
"I remember you now. You were that young boy who tried to protect Rin, the girl forced into becoming a jinchuruki. I was…. angry, angrier than I had ever been…. If I had been calmer, she might not have rushed to do what she did."
Kakashi took in his words, sighing sadly, reaching out a hand to press against Isobu's protective shell over his face.
"Maybe, but I can't judge you for wanting to be free. Had I been in your situation, I'd have likely acted the same way. And we're not even sure if the one who hypnotized you and Yagura didn't also influence the situation leading to Rin's death."
Kakashi held up his fist for a fist bump.
Isobu was confused, but he went along with it, raising his right turtle fist and fist-bumping Kakashi.
"Akatsuki. And they're after my siblings and me?"
"Yes, it's best if you and Yagura hide or fake your death. The ones coming after you are all S-Rank missing nin, and they have a few troublesome members, including the one who hypnotized you both. Disappear, go to the other side of the planet if you have to. Because if the Akatsuki gather all of the tailed beasts, then it could mean the end of the world as we know it. If you want to be truly involved in the coming war, because, yes, that's what it's coming to, I suggest you help Yagura train in isolation. If you want to be safe, you need to get strong enough to wipe the floor with the you of right now."
"We'll do it."
Isobu spoke up before Yagura could.
"Isobu?"
"Face it, Yagura, we're not prepared for what he revealed. We need to be smart about this, and if vanishing gives us and anyone else preparing more time, then we should do it. This plan to gather my siblings and me together makes me anxious, Yagura. I'm not cowardly, but I can't think of anything good coming from that, not for the world, or us tailed beasts."
Kakashi gave them a moment before speaking up.
"So, what will it be?"
"We will fake our death."
Yagura spoke up after sharing a look with Isobu.
For what felt like hours, but was only a few seconds in the outside world, Isobu worked with Yagura to create a realistic water clone with Isobu's chakra wrapped around it. Yagura was getting more and more detailed with the clone until it was as close to a real body as one could get. Internal organs and blood made of highly compressed warm water to give the 'corpse' realism. Isobu even offered to add some of his corals to the death.
"Tell Terumi Mei-"
- Outside the mindscape -
Quickly putting the plan into action, Yagura created the realistic clone, making sure to get everything right before leaving hurriedly, Jiraiya having gone into Sage mode and met the tailed beast bomb in a clash with a giant Rasengan, Naruto supplying him even more chakra by passing it directly to Jiraiya's hand and into the Rasengan.
By the time they sent both attacks up into the air to explode, Yagura was already gone, and in his place was a hyper-realistic corpse of a clone with Kakashi's blade through its heart.
The rebels took a moment to realize what they were seeing before erupting into cheers, sure now that Yagura was in fact dead.
Terumi Mei, along with the Leaf ninja, quickly made their way to Kakashi, letting the troops celebrate the victory.
"You really did it."
Mei murmured as she gazed down at the corpse of Yagura, feeling a trace of pity ever since she came to know that he was controlled by someone.
"He confirmed to me before he died that he was under control. He said it was a man claiming to be Madara Uchiha."
Kakashi let the shock settle in before he continued.
"He also asked me to tell you to become the Mizukage and lead the village to a brighter path."
Kakashi relayed the message Yagura had asked him before stepping back as he gently removed his sword from the corpse and wiped the blood off.
"Thank you."
Mei said simply, feeling a twinge of pain as she looked at the red paste ground.
"He caught me off guard when he shot the attacks at you all."
"There are still plenty alive, but the most important thing is that we won."
Mei replied, glancing back at Kakashi and seeing a sight much more pleasing than the battlefield.
'If this were a more appropriate time, I'd have hit on him.'
Kakashi either ignored or didn't recognize the brief glance Mei gave him, but Jiraiya did, taking out his notebook and silently taking notes as he didn't want to let the idea slip from him.
"Might I suggest something?"
Kakashi asked after a moment, looking back at the corpse.
"I'm willing to listen."
Mei smirked softly, only occasionally stealing glances at Kakashi as he had his attention elsewhere.
"You might want to burn the body. As you might have heard, we were invaded recently. Orochimaru, a former member of the same group that the masked man, you, and lord third discussed, raised the dead using a forbidden jutsu. Orochimaru might not be the only one in that group who knows about the jutsu. The way the Fourth Mizukage was manipulated implies someone with a grudge against your village. And I think it's the same one that caused the death of our Fourth Hokage, the same masked man."
Kakashi spoke about a possible connection that sounded like educated guesses, with too many coincidences to ignore.
Mei frowned, thinking it over before she burned the corpse of Yagura with Lava release, even if what Kakashi said was guesswork. Mei didn't want to leave things to chance, so she watched every bit of Yagura burn to ash before she looked away, wanting to ensure no part of him remained.
"Now that that's over, you all are invited to our celebration. I have something to discuss about our alliance, too."
Mei left before any of them could refuse, informing her team of the details and what she wanted to do to celebrate.
Jiraiya clapped Kakashi on the back, confusing him greatly.
"What? Why are you smirking like a cat?"
Kakashi looked to Naruto and Sasuke, but they both pretended to be interested in the ground for some reason.
- Chapter End -
Hope you enjoyed the chapter