บท 37: Chapter 34

The situation was hardly what he would have preferred, but Naruto was present, ready and prepared to fire on all cylinders.

A part of him could not contain the excitement for this battle.

He was basically tasked with moving a mountain, and he had many ideas on how to go about it, but there was no proof if any of it was going to work. Yet, he could not run. He could not turn away. The future of the Empire laid at risk with Madara's existence.

Perhaps if he got caught in the genjutsu, he would be at peace, thinking all as well. The Genjutsu made all dreams come true, given its power, you could never tell it was all just a dream.

It was pathetic just how the mind could be fooled.

The area was just lifeless. There was not a single tree. It was not hot, but the sun was out and glaring down. It had burnt all clouds away to avoid anything obstructing its view of what would become a battlefield. Large boulders stood tall in the thousands, creating small patches of shade.

Naruto was sitting within one of the shadows, his back leaning against the boulder, eyes closed as he tried to calm his shaking body from exploding with the abundant energy it carried. He knew the battle brewing this day was a battle he could lose.

He could release any jutsu and his opponent would take it and still stand. With the battles he has fought before, he could have accidentally killed some opponents by releasing Jutsu that were too destructive. But the opponent of the day was just another monster – a relic from the past.

"I have never come across a shinobi who could or rather would, completely hide his presence." Madara said, standing atop of the boulder Naruto leaned against.

Naruto didn't open his eyes as he responded. "It is the result of a pitiful dream of a shinobi to stop existing in a world where everyone hates him. Being a Jinchuriki, hosting the very same Bijuu that killed many people, you become the target of contempt and people just wish you would disappear."

"And you made the dream come true by learning to erase your existence." Madara said, looking around.

This was going to be a good place to battle.

It certainly had the perfect ingredients.

"Yes, but it was not simply for them, but for my sanity. There is a little much one is willing to take before you reach a boiling point." Naruto explained lightly.

"I must say, even Hashirama would be disappointed with what the Hidden Leaf and other villages have become."

Naruto was a former shinobi of the Hidden Leaf.

The very village that he had founded with Hashirama to stop the feuds between the Uchiha, the Senju, and ultimately all shinobi clans.

He had warned the Uchiha and now they had become extinct. None of them would experience the perfect world he was going to create. They were dead. And he had warned them that such would happen if they stayed in the Hidden Leaf.

"Jinchuriki are forced to live such painful lives because of hatred. But I still wonder why even at the prime of such events, you fought Obito, even when you knew what he wanted to accomplish. It could have made your dreams come true." Madara mused, looking down at Naruto.

Naruto shrugged. "I like the sense of pain. A world where everything is perfect is just wrong. I'm a rational, and I don't believe that humans can possibly live without confrontations. According to Obito, you hate the notion of winners and losers, but I don't hate it. That is part of life that is why we have right and wrong. Winning is not wrong, and so is losing. But being vengeful and hateful because you lost is wrong. The same can be said about winners who gloat in their victory.

"The important thing is to stay humble. But humans are complex creatures. Pride, lust, emotions, we can easily forget about humility. We easily cast aside humility in favor of other emotions that make us fight against the other. We are prone to violence. Perhaps things have always been that way. I didn't need Genjutsu to make my dream come true. You see, my dream has already come true. What is left is merely sustaining it and that is perfect. A life where you cannot feel pain is not life."

Madara had not come here to try to convince Naruto to join him or anything else.

But if there had been a little hope, it was now gone. He knew, the only thing left was to fight the blond to the death. Well, at least on Naruto's side.

"There are different kinds of people in this world. You fall into the category of people who have no regard for anyone and don't care about people, but only care about them when it is convenient." Madara stated calmly

Naruto just shrugged carelessly and slowly stoop up before jumping away from the boulder to give himself some room.

Madara darted towar

He was going to amuse himself before getting the locations of both the Sanbi and the Two-tails from the blond. He needed those two before he could even begin to seal the other Bijuu he had collected.

But for now, he could as well enjoy himself with a shinobi who has proved himself to be capable, much more capable than anyone else in this generation.

Naruto didn't wait for Madara to get to him, he too darted toward the infamous Uchiha. The two collided in midair, elbows clashing for raw physical dominance. They landed, crushing the ground under the immense power being released.

"Oh?" Madara grinned. "Your physical strength is impressive…"

"Nothing, yet." Naruto responded, pushing Madara away with Sage Mode. He then held out his right hand, pointing his index finger towards Madara's throat.

The Uchiha saw the movement with his Sharingan and twisted anti-clockwise, while lifting up his right leg. Naruto released a wind blade that would have pierced through the Uchiha's throat, but Madara was already twisting when the jutsu spread out.

Madara returned with a high kick, aimed at Naruto's left shoulder. The blond jumped back to avoid the high kick.

The second he touched the ground, Madara was already upon him, twisting in mid-air just above him. A right foot cleaved through the air, traveling at tremendous speed towards his forehead. Naruto held out both his hands, crossing them as he attempted to block the kick.

The kick connected with his defense, the raw strength behind it forced him to skid backwards slightly. When he stopped, Madara crash landed in front of him, thrusting his knee towards his gut. Naruto reacted to this by driving his left fist towards the knee.

There was a slight shockwave when his punch connected with the knee.

"Wind Blade!"

Madara saw the index finger pointed towards his chest. He did a 90 degree twist, in a flash, giving Naruto his back, while simultaneously, hurling his right fist back at Naruto's face.

Naruto caught the arm, holding it tightly before pulling the Uchiha. He spun around twice, tossing the Uchiha into the air. Madara was quick to regain his balance as he flipped several times and faced the blond, while still being carried by the momentum. He held a single hand seal, seeing that Naruto was rushing toward him.

"Fire Style: Fire Dragon's Breath!"

He released an intense stream of flames from his mouth while still in mid-air. The flames poured out in a heap, rushing towards the incoming target. He could only blink when the blond snapped his fingers and the flames just dispersed into thin air.

His Sharingan spun overtime when he saw something. Within a second, he was right in front of Naruto, and then thrust a powerful punch on the blond's gut, sending him crashing down.

Boom!

Naruto crashed on the ground with his back but quickly stood up to avoid being hastily attacked while he laid down. There was no attack coming from the Uchiha. Madara was standing atop of a boulder, staring down at him.

"To completely dispel the oxygen in my flames…You are rather skilled in manipulating wind. To be able to manipulate your chakra to release that burst of chakra, it is impressive. And you have managed to do it without the help of a bloodline."

Naruto stood up, and looked up at the Uchiha. "Well, practice makes things perfect…"

Though not completely perfect in this regard. Jiraiya had warned him about being left exposed every time he used that ability.

But, it was a handy jutsu and not everyone was that fast.

"Speaking of practice, since you seem to be moving well, you do well for me to test my jutsu. I didn't get much chance to try out many Mokuton Jutsu in my last days." Madara said, while doing hand seals.

"It is rather unpleasant being used as a test subject." Naruto grinned. "But oh well, if you are going to test your jutsu, I can do so as well. There are some jutsu I have not used in front of an opponent."

"Then there is no reason to complain." Madara said as he held both his hands.

"Mokuton: Deep Forest Emergence."

Naruto felt the ground tremble as he sensed massive chakra from below the ground. A deep forest began to emerge from the ground, bursting up wildly moving towards him. It was indeed the emergence of a deep forest.

If he did not move, he would only get struck. The forest was dense and the trees were thick. Naruto sensed a tremendous amount of life force from within the forest.

He thought about it for a moment, wondering if he should use a Wind Jutsu or Katon. But seeing as he needed a distraction, he decided to go with Katon.

"Katon: Goka Messhitsu!"

He released a large stream of flames from his mouth. The intense flames rushed out, moving into the forest. when they were within it, they exploded into a huge column of intense flames that started burning the forest.

"Hmm?" Madara was on alert when Naruto appeared behind him, holding out a sword. The blond didn't get closer to him, but rather, swung his sword in a downward motion. The Sharingan caught the sight of a wind blade extending to an incredible length, moving towards him.

He quickly jumped, flashing to the side to avoid the strike. His eyes narrowed when the sword cut through the boulder, separating it in half.

"Aren't you taking this a little easy?" Naruto whispered, after suddenly appearing behind Madara while the Uchiha was still in mid-air.

When Madara spun around to face the blond, a brutal punch slammed his chest. Madara felt the air escape him for a moment, as he coughed up, flying backwards.

He crashed to the ground on one knee, and massaged his chest for a moment before standing as saw Naruto twisting in the air, his right hand held out while a massive Shuriken of chakra he held screeched loudly. It was an immense power the blond was holding.

What would he do with it?

The answer came when the blond hurled the jutsu towards him, and it cut through the air in a flash.

As he twisted around to face the jutsu, Madara activated the Rinnegan and held out both his hands. When the jutsu reached him, he started absorbing it. It was completely absorbed, leaving nothing of its existence but the huge amount of energy he felt within.

"Rinnegan, huh?"

Naruto looked up for a moment before he held up his right hand. "Wind Blade." He lazily waved his right hand towards Madara.

It was barely visible, but Madara saw it through the visual prowess of the Rinnegan. The invisible wind blade stretched from Naruto, almost in the blink of an eye and it was already upon him. It had moved so fast, that he only had the time to hold out his right hand to try to absorb it.

But he was slightly surprised–although it didn't show on his face–when he failed to absorb it. He shifted his body, slightly and watched as the blade grazed his right shoulder. It had managed to damage his shoulder plate, despite only touching it ever so slightly.

There was no time to dwell on the strength of the jutsu Naruto had just used. The blond crashed landed in front of him. The ground shattered under the weight of the power he carried. Madara could now completely feel the presence of the Emperor. He figured it almost impossible to keep at it while battling.

A portion of his Susano'o materialized as Naruto drove a right fist toward his chest. Madara felt the shock when the punch collided with his Susano'o. It didn't break through, but still managed to have him sliding backwards slightly.

The blond didn't stop there; he threw a left punch, slamming straight into the ribs of his jutsu. Before he threw a third punch, Naruto took a single step forward, channeling chakra through his muscles before striking.

It had been done so quickly that it would not be seen to the naked eye. The punch blasted through the ribcage of the Susano, forcing Madara to jump away.

Naruto didn't want to give the Uchiha a moment to rest.

"Shinra Tensei."

Naruto heard those words upon arriving just inches from Madara. The Jutsu slammed into him with great force, sending him flying away from the Uchiha. Naruto cursed slightly as he flipped several times before landing on one knee.

"That jutsu you used earlier, it was pure wind, wasn't it?" Madara asked, while slowly moving towards his blond opponent.

"Indeed." Naruto said. "The Rinnegan gives you the ability to absorb chakra, so if I throw any chakra based jutsu while you are expecting it, you'll only absorb it…And thus I decided to throw something that is pure."

"You're able to control wind to that level even without a Doujutsu? That is impressive," Madara complimented the blond.

"I don't think I have also come across a shinobi who has been able to achieve such a feet. I was a little disappointed since I did not see Sasuke. He is the last of my clan and has the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, I was hoping that perhaps the two of you would challenge me."

Naruto smiled. This was his usual attitude when facing opponents he saw as weak. One was never enough to even entertain him. And here he was, at the receiving end of this justice from the infamous Uchiha.

He laughed after a few moments.

"I must admit, my pride as Emperor has been wounded a little by those words. Perhaps I should go crazy a little. My respect of your strength keeps me restrained." The blond said as he stood up.

"You should have done so earlier, but do it now if you can." Madara said before vanishing from sight.

Naruto twisted around as he sensed the Uchiha. The moment he did so, a brutal force slammed into his chest. He felt sharp pain run through him, oxygen escaping his lungs for a second before the force sent him flying like a bullet.

While still airborne, he was pummeled to the ground by another invisible force.

Boom!

Naruto was sent crashing to the ground. A large crater formed where he crashed. The Emperor was quick to get up, and had already summoned his wind sword. He held it with both hands and twisted from the crater.

"Emperor's Rotating Cutter!" an invisible wind blade extended from his blade, its length increased into a distance of more than 3 kilometers and as Naruto twisted around, it cut everything it touched in half.

When Naruto stopped, he released his sword and put it away before searching for his opponent. The Uchiha was standing some distance away from him, armor plating around his waist had been cut, along with his clothing a bit.

It was a clean cut.

"You replaced yourself with those things."

Naruto said of the shadow that had hit him.

"There hasn't been anything that I have not been able to cut through with that ability. I see you'd also have been bisected…It would have made for a great thing to see, but a disappointing end to you."

Madara only laughed. This was what he was talking about. He needed the blond to be able to use such to be able to make this exciting.

"If you were fighting against the Five Kages, who would win?" Madara asked Naruto.

Naruto didn't need to think about it: he had already examined the scenario a couple of times. The outcome remained the same unless by some miserable chance he was outwitted, or something unexpected occurred and someone decided to interfere.

"Do you need to ask?"

"Maybe not. I will create five clones with the kind of power each of the current Kage wields, according to the info Black Zetsu brought to my attention. If you win against them, then you will have earned my respect."

The Uchiha jumped onto a boulder to stand at a fair distance where he could observe Naruto dancing with his clones.

Naruto was silent for a couple of moments before laughing. It was a bit of a mad laugh. After a couple of moments, he stopped and stared into the sky.

"I shall dance to your tune, but only to heal my wounded pride."

Madara created the five clones before responding. "It isn't like you would have had any other option but to fight them anyway."

Naruto smiled. "Indeed. In this scenario, I cannot walk away as I did the last time around when I saw your clone. I now have to fight because unless my body cannot move or I face certain defeat, I cannot leave this battlefield."

"You're suggesting that you'd flee from this battle if you were losing…"

"Not flee, but make a tactical retreat. As long as I am alive, your dream cannot come true. You can destroy the Sound or Uzu but if I am alive, everything can be rebuilt. Of course, as long as I am able to defeat you...Then I can use the power of the Rinnegan to revive my fellow Uzumaki."

Madara folded his hands across his chest, staring at the blond blankly.

"Defeat them then."

Sage Mode was still active and it would be active for as long as there was a bit of life within this environment. There was little damage to his chakra reserves. He could afford to let loose on these clones. They were clones, so he didn't have to worry about anything. He could do whatever he wanted. He could even use this as a practice run for when the real Madara does decide to take him seriously.

Naruto did a couple of hand seals before slamming both hands to the ground.

"Earth Style: Emerging Splinters!"

He poured large amounts of chakra into the ground. Within seconds, the ground started to shake, and then hundreds of large, thin earth splinters started to sprout from the ground. This caused the five clones to jump around to avoid getting hit by the jutsu.

When the hundreds of splinters had formed, the battle ground had turned into a maize where Naruto's form was hidden.

Even he could now no longer see the clones who were hidden within the bundles of rocks.

"It would have looked nice if there were hundreds of shinobi standing before me." Naruto commented, imagining shinobi screaming and crying while being mowed by the rocks.

With Madara

From where he stood, Madara could see everything. The rocks only stood about 60ft high. His Rinnegan could see chakra in all of those rocks that Naruto had formed. It was obvious that he was going to use those rocks for some sort of attack.

Well, as long as it was clones, there was no need to be overly cautious and move away from here. He was also curious about what the blond was going to do to even consider directing his clones to move out of the area.

'What are you planning?'

Back with Naruto

Naruto's eyes narrowed when he sensed a sharp increase of chakra. The rocks behind him burst as they were being cut by a dark blue chakra sword of a Susano'o. The blade moved towards his back quickly forcing Naruto to jump up to avoid being hit by the sword.

While jumping up, Naruto felt a huge spike of chakra from his left. His eyes moved there and he saw another clone using a complete version of the Susano'o with four hands. The movement was far quicker than what Naruto expected as the complete Susano'o towered up before swinging a blade with its right hand.

Naruto could only fold both hands reinforcing it with wind chakra to try to block the power.

Boom!

A powerful shockwave tore through some of the rocks below Naruto when the blade connected with him. The force of the strike sent him flying away like a bullet. Naruto cursed silently when he crashed through a large boulder, bursting through it before hitting another one. He flipped several times before landing on the ground.

Without even resting, he took off in a blur.

He flashed atop one of the earth splinters he'd formed, surveying the area. Only two clones were using a complete Susano'o and the other three were hidden. But he could still detect their location; they were hiding by the rocks, waiting for something. The two stood out because the Susano'o towered above all boulders within the battlefield.

Naruto clasped his hands. "Mokuton: Hidden Massacre!"

Sharp wooden spikes burst from the rocks he'd formed. There were hundreds of them that burst out simultaneously into all directions from all sides of the rocks. Two of the clones hiding by the rocks were unfortunate enough to get caught.

On one of the clones, the spikes pierced through the neck from behind, three more through the chest and another on the left knee. The other one was caught around its waist while the third jumped up. The two that were caught crumbled down to death.

There was no time to admire the work of his jutsu or even imagine blood gushing out of shinobi who would have been caught by his jutsu. He was forced to jump into the air once more when a Susano'o flashed its blade. Naruto felt the wind hit him when the sword went past him from below.

He didn't want to get one of those hits once more.

While still airborne, another clone of Madara lunged below him, while activating a portion of its Susano'o with just the upper body and only right hand formed. Simultaneously, another flashed above him, encased in an imperfect Susano'o, flashing a blade in a downward strike.

It was a punch from below, and a sword from above. There was no way he was going to escape without getting hurt if he got hit.

The two attacks collided, creating a powerful shockwave in midair but there was no sign of Naruto.

The blond landed a distance away, landing atop of a rock. Before he could even try to breathe, two large blue swords from the left and right crashed into him. There was a resounding boom that occurred when the swords collided. The rocks burst, turning into dust as debris flew into the air.

When the debris cleared, Naruto was in a crater, breathing heavily, mouth leaking blood. He was on one knee. After a moment, he stood up and looked around. There were still three complete Susano'o towering around him.

They were just huge humanoid things that were proving to be too tough for him.

He slapped his hands together, activating his wind cloak. Along with Sage Mode, it had to give him enough destructive physical force to do what he wanted.

Boom!

One of the Susano'o stumbled back after being hit with a thunderous punch in the forehead by Naruto. The Emperor launched another punch once more, with all his might, and this time, when it connected, the Susano'o crashed before falling flat on its back.

Naruto summoned his sword.

He held it with both his hands, and stretched it using wind before lunging down.

He crashed landed on the Susano'o's head, his sword piercing through the crashed area before piercing through the clone.

Seconds later, the Susano'o started dispersing.

Naruto ducked under a flashing swing of a Susano'o's sword. The swing picked up the debris around him as it blew just above him. It cut through the rocks on its way after missing its target. Naruto straightened up before twisting around.

A tornado started forming, raising high to even tower both the Susano'o. The tornado produced violent winds that pulled everything within its range into it. Even Madara was forced to jump away to avoid being sucked into the tornado.

Without warning, the tornado started sweeping through the ground quickly towards the Susano'o in front of it. The Susano'o tried to swing its swords towards the tornado but before it could do so, the violent winds were upon it. It became engulfed by the winds, and slowly started being rotated around in massive speeds.

After a couple of moments, it was flung on its side, towards the other Susano'o. They collided in a heap before falling over to the ground.

Naruto suddenly appeared above the two fallen opponents, while holding both his hands together. There was a pillar of chakra that surrounded him before electric currents started forming around his body.

"Kiss of the Thunder God."

It all occurred in an instant.

There was a loud explosion below him, encasing the opponents. There was a huge cloud of lightning that lingered for a couple of moments, it was so powerful that the atmosphere around became static.

When everything died down, there was nothing that remained.

A heavily breathing Naruto, paralyzed by the powerful jutsu he had released, crashed landed within the large crater his jutsu had created.

A second later, there was a sickening sound of bones breaking.

Naruto stopped breathing when he received two hits on the sides of both his rib cage. He felt immense pain shoot through his entire body, weakening him. His knees trembled, his hands felt dead for a moment as he coughed up large amounts of blood.

Everything seemed to be in slow motion as his hands involuntarily wrapped around his chest, trying to contain whatever they felt was endangered. Unable to balance himself, Naruto started falling on his face.

The attack had been sudden. He hadn't seen it. But it was still not Madara but rather his two shadows. Had it not been for Sage Mode, he would have been squashed. Manipulating chakra even at this stage took out everything in him.

It left him drained, without energy to do anything but the sole focus on trying not to let the chance slip.

Multiple chakra chains burst from the ground. The shadows tried jumping away but there were five going after each and they moved incredibly fast. Both shadows were caught as Naruto hit the ground with his face.

"Your help, my prisoner."

Kurama didn't waste time healing Naruto's severe injuries. His left lung had been punctured but because of the quick healing method, he was not able to fully heal the blond.

The shadows tried to flee from Naruto but the chains held firm.

"Sigh of the Thunder God…" He managed to stammer out. Electric currents shot through the chakra chains, hitting the clones dead on.

After a moment, Naruto retracted his chains and flipped around to lie on his back.

"I thought you'd give me a moment to compose myself…" He called out to Madara who he could sense walking up to him.

If he entered Kyubi Mode, he would be fine. But he no longer needed this to drag any further. He didn't want this to go to the point where Madara activated his perfect Susano'o. There were times to grow curious but this was not one of those times. This was starting to become dangerous for him.

"You succeeded in defeating the clones. Rather splendidly at that." Madara said with a shrug. "Besides, I was a little embarrassed that you took less time than what I had thought you would."

Naruto smiled.

"I guess that sounds like you." He said, working on healing himself as he could feel that Madara didn't intend on rushing toward him to inflict more damage.

"I was not aware that you used Mokuton. It seems your work was done without Hashirama's cells influencing your body." Madara stated.

He knew Naruto was healing but he didn't care for it.

It wasn't like it was going to make any difference.

"I believed it would be useful in healing me. But that has proved to be not in an entirely satisfactory fashion. Either way, they do well to maintain my health." Naruto responded quietly. "What drove you to consider this plan of yours? This was certainly not what you had in mind when you founded Konoha with Hashirama. I want to believe that when you brokered peace with the Senju, you believed that you could find your peace and escape that sickening life you had to live."

Madara was silent for a couple of moments before speaking. "You have healed enough. We don't need to continue to have this t-"

He immediately formed the rib cage part of his Susanoo. The Emperor flashed in front of him, and then slammed a right punch straight into the Susano'o.

It didn't budge.

Madara reacted by forming two bone hands from his Susanoo and attempted to slam a fist from above the blond, but Naruto jumped away to avoid it.

While airborne, Naruto cloaked himself in Kurama's chakra and once more vanished in a blur. It was all too quick for even the eyes of Madara to follow. The Uchiha found himself flying backwards along with his heavily cracked Susano'o.

His eyes flashed above as he sensed something. Naruto flashed above him, holding a huge ball of chakra. He slammed the jutsu into him, sending him crash landing in a loud boom creating a crater upon landing.

The Susano'o was shattered by the impact and the jutsu but Madara was unharmed.

He dusted himself as he stood up. He found Naruto standing a short distance away. That was no doubt the power of the Kyubi. His beloved pet. It had assisted him greatly in his battle against Hashirama. Would it assist Naruto in this battle?

Madara thought not.

He did a couple of hand seals and then held both his hands around his mouth.

"Kat-"

Before he could finish talking, Naruto was upon him. The blond slammed a powerful punch forward with his left fist. And it shook him. He followed this with a Katon Rasengan, slamming it on his chest plate. The jutsu sent him flying backwards in a cloud of flames.

Naruto was fast.

Ridiculously fast.

It reminded him of a certain jutsu that Tobirama once used in those old days. But this was extremely quick. At first sight, it was difficult to track down. But, he was getting around it.

He flipped several times before landing on one knee. He checked his chest plate, it was broken and his upper clothing was burnt up a bit. He removed the plate along with the rest of his armor and stood while stretching his stiff muscles.

"Mini Tailed Beast Bomb!" Naruto was above the Uchiha, dropping the small yet powerful jutsu towards his temple.

"Shinra Tensei."

Boom!

Madara released a powerful force that slammed into Naruto, sending him flying away. The force disrupted his jutsu, causing it to set off. Naruto flashed away from the explosion to avoid getting hurt. He landed down on one knee, breathing heavily.

Naruto jumped into the air, looking around for his opponent. This was proving to be as difficult as he'd imagined. But he was honestly having a bit of fun. Madara was as strong as history had said–if perhaps not with a bit of an understatement.

His thoughts were cut short when Madara suddenly appeared in front of him while he was still floating in mid-air. He held up both his hands, folding them across his face when he sensed an incoming attack.

Madara's flying right foot crashed into his hands, creating a loud boom, as he was sent crashing into the ground. Naruto crashed down on both feet, in a kneeling position, while looking up at the Uchiha–who was flying down, right foot stuck out with an attempt to stomp on him.

Naruto did not move, he just placed his right hand on the ground and waited for the right moment. When Madara was certain to hit him, he channeled chakra into the ground and forced a large wooden spike to sprout from the ground.

The spike shot out and pierced through Madara from behind, but the Uchiha suddenly turned into a solid wooden clone.

Madara appeared behind Naruto, his right foot up in the air, cutting through the atmosphere as it sped toward the blond's back. As Naruto tried to twist around while standing, he was not able to move fast enough as Madara's kick connected with his left shoulder. The force sent him crashing into the spike he'd created. He burst through it, before flipping twice and then landed on the ground with a complete halt.

Seeing Madara dash toward him, Naruto closed his eyes and held out his right hand while holding a single hand seal with his left. He then suddenly swiped his right through the air.

"Wind Tornado!"

"Hmm?"

Madara narrowed his eyes as he felt the air became thick. He was suddenly surrounded by rotating winds. He hid his face by folding his arms across it. The winds had enough strength to force him into an uncontrolled spin. The twist was quick and did not take hurl him anywhere. When everything stopped, he was a little disoriented, failing to stand fully with his head spinning lightly.

"Wind Punch!"

Enhanced with wind chakra, Naruto thrust a powerful drive straight on Madara's chest. There was a crunch sound when the punch connected with the man's chest. Madara spat out some blood before sent rocketing backward. His body crashed into a boulder, hard, shattering it under the force but was able to land on both feet. He skidded backward slightly before coming to a halt.

He wiped the blood off his mouth and stared at it before grinning madly. He laughed.

"You are getting me excited." Madara said with a grin on his lips. "Blood…This is what it means to fight. It is a pity that it cannot be a battle to death since you are a precious Jinchuriki. Well no matter, it doesn't matter. I can't help but enjoy this."

Naruto breathed in for a moment and stared at Madara before speaking.

"Well, I cannot deny that this is starting to become fun."

But, he wanted to talk a bit with the Uchiha about his plans and what led him to conclude that humans had no hope but only to be subjected to a cruel fate that robs them of freedom. The living world basically comes to an end as people start to live in their dreams, gaining nothing but illusions that they cannot break away from or even recognize.

He looked up for a moment and then spoke.

"Shinobi are truly something else. They kill, destroy and rape. We are always taking from someone. Always making someone angry and hateful, simply because we want to achieve something. The moral compass is even twisted only to our narrow needs. We view the world only based on what we want to achieve and fault everyone who says we are wrong." Naruto said in a thoughtful tone. He then smiled. "Well, I am the same in that category. I have killed and earned enemies because I want to win."

"Everybody wants to win. Nobody is pleased with losing. It is the losers that suffer the most." Madara responded.

"But, because there are winners and losers, there can never be peace in this world. But within Infinite Tsukoyomi, everyone will have their dreams come true. Everyone will be happy."

"But it ends this world…A world where everything is perfect is not realistic. Even you cannot enjoy a world where everyone is completely fine and no one fights you."

"You have no regard for life or anything that is around you, why would you wish to stop this? If you were within the Genjutsu, you would live the life that you were not able to live."

Naruto smiled a bitter smile. "I must admit. My life is truly sad. My childhood has left me emotionally scarred that I cannot even try to bring out the emotions within me. But I do wonder when this will end. I cannot think that my life will end in misery. Maybe a part of me wishes to enjoy life. Maybe I just want to see my clan great again. But as I deny your dream, I ask myself, what for?

"If I don't reject your dream, I lose experience… my pain. My suffering and loneliness. I don't want to part with that. I want to be able to confront my past and deal with it. I want to live for the real future because I am realistic. I am not without hope. Perhaps I had been doing things the wrong way, but I am here because of the way I have done things. And I shall not see what I have built turn into dust only to be replaced by illusions. Besides, for your dream to come true, I must die. I cannot possibly die without seeing out my life, in such a miserable state. What do I say to the mother who gave her life so that I may live? What do I say to her? Her parting words were for my life to be happy, even with the challenges ahead."

When the Sandaime had told him about his mother, Naruto had loved her even though he'd never met her. Even though he'd never spoken to her. His love for his clan had been by extension the love for his mother.

"Talking won't change anything. As you seem to be unwilling to change." Madara said in a flat tone. "Well, I would not have allowed you to do anything before you dance for me."

"I will indulge you!" Naruto said before dashing toward the Uchiha.

Madara saw the blond coming and released his Susano'o–just the ribcage and skeletal hands. When the blond neared him, he formed a fist with the skeletal hand and drove it towards the blond. Naruto continued moving toward the punch before suddenly disappearing.

He appeared behind Madara, holding his lightning sword. He lunged toward the Uchiha's back, stabbing the sword forward. The sword collided with the Susanoo and came to a complete stop, failing to pierce through but it did leave a slight crack. Naruto was forced to jump into the air when Madara started to twist around.

The Uchiha's Susano'o took a larger form and while Naruto was within the air, it created a huge sword before flashing it. Naruto had chains form in front of him, before the sword collided with him. The large sword hit his defense but still sent him flying backwards in a heap. He was still able to land gracefully on the ground.

"Well, this is going to be a little difficult, but I like the challenge." He said while cloaking himself in Kurama's chakra. He held out his right hand, gathering raw chakra. He created a small bijuuduma, and grabbed it before disappearing in a flash of yellow.

Madara was surprised at the speed the blond showed. He was still fast but that fast was on another level. It had almost looked as if he had teleported. He was reminded of Tobirama's jutsu for a moment but he did not dwell on it when he felt a huge shock on his Susano'o.

His eyes widened slightly but with a bit of excitement when he saw the blond in front of him.

Naruto had flashed in front of Madara's large complete Susano'o.

He landed a resounding punch on the Susano'o's chest, causing a huge shockwave to rock through the area. The Susanoo's chest cracked as it stumbled backwards, falling over. Naruto was not done: he released the chakra he held as a beam. The blast burst through the Susano'o, further causing it to fall over.

Naruto jumped away, to create some distance. The blast spread toward Madara before engulfing him as the Susano'o hit the ground on its back. A huge explosion followed shortly, raising a huge column of debris into the air.

The debris did not settle before Madara launched another attack. Huge stones covered in intense flames shot out of the debris, flying over to Naruto.

He twisted around, engulfing himself in a huge tornado. The winds deflected up to ten balls of flames to the sides before small explosions occurred as the flames hit the ground. When the tornado stopped, Naruto was in mid-air.

"Guh!"

Madara's shadow suddenly landed a brutal punch to his gut, causing him to spit liquids from his mouth as veins popped up around his neck. The pain shot through his body within seconds, making him tense. The blow sent him flying and as he did, he was forced to try bring both hands across his gut, trying to stop anything bad from happening.

Bam!

He was suddenly hit from above, and sent crashing into the ground like a bullet. Naruto hit the ground in a loud boom, causing debris to fly along with dust.

"Shit…" He cursed silently.

It looked like Madara was trying to kill him!

He was forced to roll over to the side when he sensed something. The giant fist of a Susano'o crashed into where he had been standing, burying itself into the ground. When he sensed another, he held out both his hands, creating four more chakra hands.

Boom!

Another huge fist crashed into him, burying him into the ground.

Madara was floating within his Susano'o. His entire upper clothing had been torn apart by the jutsu Naruto released. But there was no harm done. He watched as dust settled and came to see something wrong. Naruto was buried but he had still managed to block his punch and not just block it, but also hold onto it with his chakra hands.

He raised an eye brow as the bleeding blond stood up, while holding onto his fist. He tried pulling back but the blond held firmly.

'It must be because he is using Senjutsu and the Kyubi's power.'

But what was he going to do?

His answer came when Naruto suddenly yanked him. It was ridiculously amazing. In all his years, no one had ever effortlessly lifted his complete Susano'o from the ground. He was most impressed than worried when the Susano'o flew into the air before being hurled to the side.

Madara canceled his Susano'o to better balance himself but the second he did, a invisible wind blade pierced through his arm, leaving a wound, and blood gashing out.

Naruto flashed in front of the Uchiha while he was still in mid-air. He drove a right punch towards the Uchiha's temple, hitting him hard. The punch sent the Uchiha crashing to the ground. Naruto flashed to the ground.

'He is indeed a legendary shinobi…' Naruto thought, forming a Rasengan.

"I didn't think he would dodge that at its speed."

Madara slowly got up, smiling. He glanced at the blood on his right arm.

"He is indeed quite capable. This is the second time he is making me ble…" he trailed off when the blond materialized in front of him once more.

Madara held out his right hand and blasted the blond away from him. But he was left to put on a look of surprise when a chain suddenly wrapped around his outstretched hand and then pulled him along with the blond. He was forced to fold his hands in a defensive manner when another Naruto suddenly flashed between, twisting around with a raised right foot. The high kick collided with his hands, as the chain dispersed. The kick sent him down but Madara still managed to land on both his feet, harmlessly.

"When Zetsu said you were strong, I didn't think you'd be this capable."

"I will take the compliment from you." Naruto said with a smile.

"But you are still just a brat." Madara said in a serious tone, hands folded across his chest. "You seem to be capable of handling my complete Susano'o but I wonder how you can handle the other one."

Naruto knew that this would be much more difficult. He already received blows that would otherwise be fatal had he not been a Jinchuriki but there was no lasting damage to the Uchiha. Sure, the two blows he landed would damage a normal shinobi but he was dealing with the infamous Uchiha here–such blows could be shook off.

"Where is Zetsu? I'd honestly be afraid he was close by…A moment of weakness and he would pounce…" Naruto said in a serious tone.

"You need not concern yourself with that." Madara said. "You are going to die anyway. Oh well, I can say since it matters not. I sent him to look after the Nibi when he found that it was not within the Whirlpools but in an island close to the Water country. It is my suspicion that the Sanbi could be around there as well. If so, then after here, I can go there and collect those two."

"You are moving a bit quickly."

"Things are already not going according to plan. Well, no matter, I have come back to life and will handle this quickly." Madara said holding out his right hand. "Those who have seen this have never lived to tell the tale…"

Naruto watched as Madara released a tremendous amount of chakra, rising high. Slowly, but surely, the perfect Susano'o formed in its all Majesty. Standing before it, he was nothing but an insect. Naruto was amazed.

It was so much more than what he had expected. And to think that Hashirama had gone against this thing. He could not do it on his own. He needed the power of the Bijuu within him to do something. It was pathetic. But still necessary. He had to use all he had to make his dreams come true.

Madara grabbed one of his swords and wondered for a moment before slashing it across the blond.

Boom!

The swing cut through all boulders standing, leveling everything to the ground. Naruto remained rooted to the ground, with a raised brow at the swing that just cut above his head.

So it was true, the swing of a Susano'o could cut down a mountain. But then again, the full power of the Kyubi was rumored to be able to level a mountain by just swinging its tails.

He clapped his hands together and summoned Kurama's chakra. The dark orange nine-tailed chakra form of the Bijuu came to life.

'Just know that there is a time limit to this transformation.'

'How much?'

'I don't know…We still don't get along, so your link is a little forced. It might not last that long.'

Naruto frowned. 'And you failed to tell me this because?'

'When have you ever been interested in hearing from me? You've always been about giving instructions and did not listen to what I had to say when it came to your use of my chakra.'

'I honestly never trusted you–that is why I chose to go along with what I knew. It was safer that way.' Naruto answered with a slight shake of his head. 'Well, no matter. I have a plan. It doesn't matter, things should move well.' He said before letting out a huge roar.

"Come!" Madara invited.

"With pleasure!" Naruto shouted as he charged toward the perfect Susano'o.

As he lunged forward, Madara took out his other sword, arming two hands, leaving two others attached. He swung the sword on his right, charging it toward him. He could feel the wind being brushed to the side by the swing.

Naruto came to a halt, holding out both arms and then moved towards the sword. He moved quickly in allowing it to slip between his hands before slamming onto it with so much force that the ground he stood on shattered.

The sword came to a complete halt after being caught.

Before Naruto could even let loose of a breath of relief, Madara swung his other sword in a downward slash. All nine tails became surrounded by chakra chains as he moved them above him. The sword hit the tails in a loud boom, that forced him to hit the ground and three tails were cut off.

After composing himself, Naruto pushed back, pushing both swords away. This left the Susano'o slightly off-balance. Naruto lunged, before landing a right hook on the Susano'os face. It stumbled back, as Naruto jumped into the air.

Madara brought himself to balance and straightened up when Naruto started descending. He held a sword firmly and slashed it towards the blond, the sword picking up dust as it moved from the ground, up toward the blond.

Before the sword could hit him, Naruto's form disappeared, returning to just being clothed in Kurama's chakra. He was able to dodge the sword because of this. Upon landing atop of the sword, he transformed back into Kurama once more before slamming a hard punch on the Susano'o's head.

But before it hit the ground, one of its sword cut through Naruto's form, nearly halving it. Naruto was forced to jump back. Upon landing on the ground, his form patched up quickly.

While Madara rose, Naruto began to charge a Bijuudama. By the time the Uchiha's Susano'o was back on its feet, he had already completed charging a massive ball of chakra that floated above his head, almost as big as him.

The jutsu tore through the ground, creating debris as it rushed toward Madara. The Uchiha took a stance, standing steadfast before swinging his sword toward the jutsu. His sword collided with the jutsu and it pushed him backwards.

He dropped one sword to the ground and held one with both hands and then deflected the jutsu away from him.

Boom!

A massive explosion shook the ground after the Bijuudama exploded.

"Hmm?"

Madara narrowed his eyes as Naruto was in front of him, standing on the nose of his Susano'o. Naruto threw out four kunai to the side, and did a couple of hand seals. Several marks formed before what appeared to be another Bijuudama started to peer out from the space, right on his face.

Boom!

The explosion pummeled Naruto away while engulfing the Susano'o in a blaze of intense flames. Within the flames, a blue sword cut through. Naruto had his body surrounded by chakra chains before the massive sword swatted him a distance away.

He coughed up blood before crashing a distance away from the flame engulfed Madara. He crashed landed on the ground and quickly tried to stand up but then fell on one knee, breathing heavily. His ribs had been shattered. Right lung punctured. Breathing was hard. Kurama was working overtime to heal him.

He was put on alert when something crash landed in front of him but before he could do anything, another shadow grabbed his right hand. The shadow that had landed in front of him, chopped downwards while the other pulled.

This resulted in his right hand being separated from his shoulder.

Naruto did not make a sound. Even so when blood gushed out of his shoulder and the shadow kneed him before brutally headbutting him. He fell backwards before a heavily bruised Madara crashed landed on the side and then tried to stab him on his left shoulder with a chakra rod but Naruto rolled to the side.

"Bastard brat." Madara hissed lightly. He was not angry. "You planted a unique explosive tag that caused my own chakra to explode before the Bijuudama was set-off."

Naruto smiled despite the pain.

"I…I t-thought it might…Work…" He managed to say between the heavy breaths accompanied by massive blood leaks.

"But it seems to be the end of you."

"I could not set off the mark I put on your Susano'o without direct contact." Naruto said weakly.

"You are quickly healing yourself…" Madara noticed.

Madara took a step toward Naruto but before his foot could touch the ground, something appeared in a flash of yellow just below him. His eyes narrowed down as he stabbed the chakra rod he held down towards the person.

It was Minato who had appeared but he was not alone. He had flashed along with Naori. The chakra rod pierced through his shoulder.

"Edo Tensei?" Madara realized. "Hmm?"

While he stabbed Minato, Naori had released his chakra chains, wrapped around the Uchiha's leg. When Madara tried to move away, the chains held firm. He found himself shackled by the chakra chains.

"This is the unique ability that you Uzumaki possess. I hear these chains are strong enough to contain a Bijuu… even the Kyubi…" Madara said without concern. "But how did you get below me? It could not have been pure speed. I did not even sense you until you appeared."

"Teleportation…My son marked you when you first fought. When he caught your foot earlier." Minato responded calmly as he got up with Naori still on the ground.

"Son?" Madara did not dwell on this.

His shadows had returned. It was something that was forced. "This was your ace then…But I wonder if these chains will be able to hold onto the Susano'o…it is embarrassing that I have to bring it out again but it cannot be helped."

Chakra started to rise, as the Susano'o began to form but the chains still held him. Suddenly, the chakra dispersed.

Madara blinked before frowning deeply. There was something very wrong. He lost the vision of the Rinnegan and could not use chakra. The chains were blocking his usage of chakra.

This could not be the end, could it?

No, he could not end this way. He could not end this way. Naruto was just a brat. This kind of ending could not be his undoing. He would not go in a similar way as Obito did. He struggled but the chains just tightened.

And two more pierced through his shoulders.

No, the years of planning could not end just like this.

Naruto was now holding his torn off arm with his left. He was still sitting on the ground, smiling with amusement.

"I should not taunt you, but I can't help but be amused seeing the legendary Uchiha struggling so haplessly." he said with amusement. "I'm going to cut off your head and take those eyes. Those eyes are the sole reason I chose to do away with the Kage and your fellow clansman, Sasuke, from interfering with the battle. It would have been impossible to claim the eyes without having to step on their throats."

Madara laughed.

What would Hashirama say about this? Naruto could not beat him. But he had been brought to this state by allies.

Hashirama would probably lecture him about his lessons of never being able to do all things by himself. Surely, if he was not alone, he would have been able to navigate through this. But he could not because he was alone.

What could Zetsu even do in this situation?

Well, no matter, if Zetsu was still around, he would think of something.

Madara closed his eyes.

The battle had not been disappointing.

Haku found Naruto sitting on his throne, his right arm missing. The Emperor had a complicated look on his face. Haku wondered what it was all about, but he didn't ask, at least not immediately. He wondered if the Emperor would say something because he seemed to be far away from this world.

After a couple of moments, Haku finally said something.

"Is it over?"

There was no telling with Naruto.

He could have fled from battle. He had never hidden the fact that he would run if he saw he was not going to win.

It took a couple of seconds but Naruto finally faced Haku.

"Yes."

He fell silent for a minute.

"It is indeed over. We can continue with the great expansion of our influence…Well, you can continue with it. My role is now done, I can enjoy the comfort of my throne."

"You are not going to do anything?"

"You are not as weak that you'd need me to hold your hand. Haku, you are also very powerful…Without Nagato, I depend on you to protect what I have built…"

He then paused, and smiled–a flat smile.

"Of course, given your attitude, I sometimes did think if you would not stab me in the back just because you think my ways are wrong. But I've learned to trust you. Perhaps it is safe to say that you are the only friend I have…The rest are subordinates, tools needed to make my dreams come true…"

"I wish you'd not look at people that way." Haku said. "But I am glad you consider me your friend… But what about your hand?"

"I'll go to Karin for her to patch it up…If she can… If she cannot, Kabuto will do it…It does seem that I am becoming a little dependent on him a little too much…And I don't really like it." Naruto said in thought. "But it is no matter. For now, leave me alone…I want to rest, and think about the future without wars and see if I belong to such a world and how I can navigate about it."