Let It Burn: Death [Sasuke Uchiha]

Chapter 16

From their distance, Sai and Mai watched as the Juubi attempted to break through the cubed seal, filling the area and warping the structure. Yet it held firm to their surprise.

"That's some jutsu," the Be Fong muttered.

The Root Ninja could only nod in agreement. Pulling forth a scroll he summoned a painted bird, jumping onto its back.

"Get on," he said.

"Ground assaults are my forte. I'll catch up." He hesitated to take off. "Go!" There was no longer a choice in the matter as the strings catapulted her through the air.

With the Juubi left to re-concentrate his chakra from the blast it allowed the shinobi time to rush inside with Team 7 leading the assault. As the opening closed behind them creatures began to detach themselves from the main body not willing to go down without a fight. Sakura took the initiative, activating her Strength of a Hundred Seals and rushed ahead of the other two. The punch delivered to one of the clones sent it flying backwards before the Medical Ninja lunged high into the air, delivering the final blow to its chest and cratering the surface. Sections dislodged from each other, shooting into the air, upturning areas, and allowing some to crumble where they stood to such a degree it made both sides pause for a moment. It was in that moment that Naruto feared for his own life, vowing to never upset Sakura again. The sight made Sasuke smirk.

As Sai rejoined their efforts and watched from his perch as the sides clashed, his eyes caught sight of three figures moving from the fight. Orochimaru, Suigetsu, and Karin. The Root Ninja wondered if it would be wise to tell the others, seeing their path heading towards the once Fourth Division battlefield. Though there were bigger things to worry about as a creature shot him out of the sky. It made him wonder if Mai knew all along this might happen, as he landed atop one of the creature's shoulders before killing it. Where was she?

The ground shook as the pupils of the Sannin summoned their animals to their aid – the frog, Gamakichi, the snake, Aoda, and the slug, Katsuyu. They weren't close enough yet to the Tailed Beast and the clones it dispatched only seemed to grow larger as time passed. They were much more troublesome then the White Zetsus. As Sakura tended to those wounded by separating the slug into multiple parts in order to share her chakra, the snake hissed before shooting across the stretch of land, striking down anything in its path and maneuvering through the ranks.

The beast was so concerned by the advancing serpent that it failed to notice the frog coming in from above, having lunged high overhead. A Rasenshuriken formed in the blonde's hand as they made their dive towards the immobile beast, and Susanoo encased the Uchiha's form. Shooting a black arrow from its bow, the black flames collided with the Wind Release moments before Naruto let the assault fly.

The attack sliced clean through the beast's neck, causing it to go limp.

"They got it!" Kiba shouted from where he stood, making Sakura stare out across the space. Suddenly, the area beside them began to warp and contort as out of a vortex someone appeared.

"Kakashi!" Gai exclaimed. The Jounin was breathing heavily having finally managed to escape Kamui. "Are you alright?"

"What's happening?" the young man asked. He was at least pleased to see the war had not been lost.

"I'll try and fill you in as fast as I can."

Meanwhile, the Ten-Tail, as it lay dying began to separate itself into as many monstrous clones as it could produce. Dispersing the army in order to continue to live even if it would never be able to restore to its form.

"What a mess they have made of things..." Obito muttered.

The beast gave out a weak roar as they enemy began to perform a hand sign.

"No matter. My plan will just have to commence sooner than expected."

What was left of the Juubi suddenly began to fuse with Obito's body, causing his form to alter and contort. A strangled cry escaped his lips from the pain as Sasuke and Naruto stood back not knowing what to expect. The Akatsuki member's skin turned white taking on the appearance of rock from its semi-crack surfaces as black symbols painted his form.

"Release, Aoda," the Uchiha ordered. The snake disappeared in a puff of smoke. "That's..."

Even from Sakura's distance she could sense the overwhelming amount of chakra come to life, alarming her greatly.

"Hinata!" the pink-haired shouted down to her comrade. "Did you see that just now?"

"Yes!" she answered.

"Can you explain it all to me?"

"What remained of the Ten-Tails was completely absorbed by that person... judging from the chakra as well..."

"Then that means..." the Medical Ninja whispered in horror.

Obito had become the Jinchuuriki in a human form.

With a simple touch of his chakra against the Hokages seal that contained him it shredded to pieces.

"Well then," Minato mumbled from his end. "This one is going to be a handful."

With impressive speed, the enemy ripped through the First and Second Hokage's corpses, rendering them useless for the time being. The Edo Tensei was slowly working to regenerate such a powerful attack. If that touched anyone alive... they wouldn't stand a chance, watching as it also ripped into the Third.

"Move!" Minato shouted as the frog leapt a 'safe' distance away with the Genin and Uchiha until they managed to grasp ahold of the situation. But the Jinchuuriki was right on their heel. The Fourth threw himself in the way trying to protect Naruto and Sasuke, to buy them enough time to come up with a plan. The movement caused damage to the enemy's form, yet lost an arm in the process.

"Dad–!"

Obito was suddenly before them ripping both from the amphibian as a hand closed over each of their eyes and holding onto them tightly so there was no escape. They hadn't even seen his movements as the man realized what was before him had been a clone.

"No–!" Minato shouted.

It came from the space between the opposing sides, slamming into Obito's chest so hard it made the Jinchuuriki release his targets and go flying backwards. His spine cracked against a large boulder causing the surface to fracture in multiple places before giving way to his form and swallowing the abomination up before crashing to the ground. The Fourth Hokage blinked in surprise, wondering what could have done that. The beast's skin was tough, even if his opponent had only been a clone. It was even apparent when in its other form.

"You're late," Sasuke stated.

An amused smirk twitched at the corner of her lips. "Sorry, but I thought you could handle yourself."

"Nice to see you, Mai," Naruto stated.

The Be Fong stood to full height, fingers flexing in front of her teammates to face the threat. "Good to be back."