Chapter 71
As all hell breaks loose on the battlefield, Jin quietly sits inside the safety of his Susano'o with his eyes shut and ears covered. The ground shakes violently like a 9.5 earthquake, but Jin is able to pay it no mind as he uses chakra to cling to the ground. Jin would normally find the pain he is in from using the Susano'o a great annoyance, but at this very moment is a comfort as the pain reminds him that he is still alive.
Jin finally opens his eyes and uncovers his ears when he notices that all of the shaking has stopped. He looks around and sees that the terrain is more damaged and scarred than it already was with jagged boulders sticking out of the ground. Everyone else is slowly rising to their feet, astonished that they are still alive; the chakra Naruto shared with the alliance kept them alive, but shrank and disappeared after protecting them from the Ten-Tails’ Cataclysm.
“Heh… HAHAHA…” All Jin can do at the moment is relieve the stress. “...HA HA HA HA HA HA!”
Jin feels an amazing sense of pleasure and relief as the dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins flood his veins. His laughter blankets the battlefield, relieving some of the tension everyone is feeling. Unbeknownst to Jin, his suppression of his own chakra eases some, his grip eases just enough for some to leak out.
Jin’s relief immediately dies when he feels he’s being watched. He looks up and his eyes meet the behemoth’s, the beast just stares intently at Jin and Ayanami with an expression that vaguely resembles agitation. It is as if the two ninja remind the Ten-Tails of someone it hates more than anything.
“Hey, Jin… You don’t think…?” Ayanami trails off before she can finish her query.
Jin answers with, “Unfortunately, I do.”
The Ten-Tails builds up its chakra and matures, gaining an even more muscular appearance and the horns on top of its head grew in size. It opens its grotesque maw wide, producing a flower-like structure covered in saliva, a bud to be precise.
The bud opens up only for a Tailed Beast Bomb to form within the flower. The dense sphere of chakra continues to grow larger and larger as the behemoth infuses more chakra into it. Dirt and smoke swirl around the beast while it continues to amass its chakra.
Okay, so either the alliance puts up a row of earth walls like in the anime and manga OR Minato just appears and saves everyone like in Storm 4… which is it? Jin questions internally, stroking his chin.
The behemoth fires its Massive Tailed Beast Bomb with great force. The enormous sphere of chakra rockets toward the Allied Shinobi forces, the air becomes warmer as the Tailed Beast Bomb gets closer and closer. The Tailed Beast Bomb barrels right for the alliance when it suddenly vanishes into thin air, with no trace whatsoever.
Well that answers my question! Jin wears an amused expression.
“I’m Minato Namikaze. Brace for an explosion.” The individual with features similar to Naruto introduces himself, instantly appearing within the crowd.
The explosion happens far off into the horizon, but it is so massive that it cascades a light over the battlefield. Shockwaves travel to the battlefield as well, carrying sea water with them; the alliance forces brace themselves. The explosion only lasts a few seconds and its subsequent shockwaves dissipate as well.
Jin watches with great amusement as everyone is confused by the appearance of the new arrival. Unable to conceal their surprise, all those who recognize him stare with saucer-like eyes; the reincarnations aren’t surprised due to Jin sharing his knowledge of the franchise and Naruto wasn’t surprised as he sensed his imminent arrival.
“So… talk, who are you?” Sakura makes her suspicion clear.
“It’s okay, I’m an ally.” Minato reassures the medical kunoichi. “So, uh… Are you Naruto’s girlfriend?”
“Huh? Hmm… Yeah, yeah, yeah--I guess you could say that!” Naruto nods rambunctiously.
With an expression of comedic rage, Sakura headbutts the hyperactive knucklehead from behind.
“YOU SHUT YOUR TRAP!!” The kunoichi screeches.
“Something’s coming!” Ino warns, interrupting the moment.
Moments after Ino’s warning, three more individuals arrive at Minato’s side. Like Minato, they all have blackened sclera and cracks all over their bodies.
“Lord Fourth?! It’s really Minato… but who reanimated you?” A leaf ninja speaks up.
With a gentle smile, Hiruzen replies, “Orochimaru’s the one who summoned us... We need to put a stop to this war quickly.”
“W-What? Orochimaru died didn’t he?” Sakura stammers.
“Oh no, Orochimaru’s alive! Sasuke and I brought him back!” Jin corrects from the boulder he’s standing on.
“Excuse me--WHAT?!” An outraged Rito shouts.
The boy proceeds to pace back and forth, seething from the information Jin just provided. His glare is intense and cold yet patient, Jin is put off by Rito’s fury that he doesn’t pay any attention to the previous Hokage trapping the Ten-Tails in the Four Crimson Ray Formation, Hashirama even pinned the Ten-Tails with several of his Gracious Deity Gates; even Ayanami is startled by the boy’s outburst.
“Okay.. I’m sensing I made a mistake of some kind. Could you kindly explain what I did wrong?”
“I-I… LOOK, I understand he’s still necessary for events that won’t happen for another 15 years. Just know that I will always despise that scaly wanker for the shit he put me through.” Rito sighs, massaging his temple in an attempt to calm down.
Judging from his chakra, Sasuke’ll be here any second… Jin takes a deep breath. “I see that you still hold a grudge and rightfully so... I’m sor–”
“You have no allegiance to him, right? You just wanted to be part of the moment?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s all I need to know.” Rito sighs, finally calming down.
From behind them, a surprised Sakura shouts, “Sasuke?!”
Like the wind, the rogue ninja along with Jugo appears just a few feet in front of Naruto and Sakura, he wears his stoic and distant expression as usual. He finds himself surrounded by peers and former classmates; most of them show nothing but suspicion and animosity, ready for a fight.
“Still annoying as ever, I see.” Sasuke dismisses them all after a quick glance.
“Why the hell are YOU here, ya bastard!” Kiba antagonizes the new arrival. “It’s bad enough that we need Jin’s–”
“THAT’S ‘LORD’ JIN TO YOU! YOU WILL RESPECT YOUR BETTERS, RUNT!!” Mileena snaps, snarling at the beast specialist.
While Kiba is paralyzed out of fear by the sudden and intense bloodlust the symbiote aims at him, the rest of Jin’s peers and former classmates stare at him with shock mixed with confusion.
“Jin, what does that thing mean when she calls you ‘lord’?” Shikamaru asks.
“Oh, you don’t know? Jin garnered favor with the feudal lord of the Land of Ogres…” Mileena eagerly explains, her chest puffs out with pride. “...He’s going to be a Kage of his own village after this war is over.”
This revelation shocks the Konoha 11 to the point their eyes turn into white circles. They are all dumbfounded and speechless. Jin lowers his head and facepalms with embarrassment while Rito and Ayanami do their best to hide their snickering.
“Jin, is this true?” Naruto asks.
“Yeah, we can talk about it later…” Jin turns his gaze back to the Ten-Tails. ”...Right now we need to end this war.”
Not wanting to waste anymore time, Sasuke jumps onto a rocky platform next to Jin and his team with Naruto following close behind; both ninja look dead ahead at the behemoth. Sakura leaps onto the very same platform beside Naruto, a fire lights up in her eyes.
With his morale boosted, Naruto bumps his fist together. “Alright! Team 7 is finally back in action once again!”
The reincarnations stand side by side with Team 7, each proud to do their part.
“Rito! Ayanami! We’ll push through.” Jin pops his fingers. Where the hell did Menma slink off to?
From within the Hokage's’ Crimson Formation, there is a sudden explosion of smoke. The smokescreen is so large and thick that it completely prevents everyone from seeing inside, it’s as if someone detonated thousands of smoke bombs. As the smoke begins to clear, the Ninja Alliance is put on edge as there are countless silhouettes in the Crimson Ray Formation with the Ten-Tails. The veil of smoke fully disperses, revealing several thousand terracotta warriors and mugonhei each brandishing their weapons. In the center of the army are the two remaining genryu, the earth dragon and fire dragon; each dragon has one of Moryo’s last remaining generals standing atop their heads.
To make matters worse, what appears to be numerous boils and cysts grow all over the Ten-Tails’ hide. From these grotesque cysts sprout heads, then torsos, and finally legs; these fission clones all have either blades or hammers for hands. They fall, landing on their feet the instant they touch the ground and charge the mugonhei and terracotta warriors.
“Quick, go now!!” One of Hashirama’s clones shouts.
The clone creates an entry point in the Ray Formation barrier and the Allied Shinobi Forces rush through the opening in droves, storming the two opposing armies in a brutal assault.