Naruto's Mission

41

Wow... chapter 41 already... can you believe it? This story was started in November 2016... it's been 9~10 months now, hasn't it? Btw... I enjoy my holidays wayyyyy too much. Which might explain why I haven't updated in so long. Even so I'm such an unreliable author it's unbelievable XD.

The sudden cessation of all of the reanimated shinobi caused a great stir over the entire battlefield. Konan and Nagato walked up to the other commanders who were gathering in the middle.
"It appears that our enemy is defeated." Hiashi said. Nagato shook his head.
"Not quite yet. The Gedo Mazo is still loose." He pointed at it. Everyone turned and looked at it. In the distance, it looked ridiculously small, but they all knew that it was massive.
"Then let's go, fool ya fool!" Bee said enigmatically before leading the way. The rest of the allied shinobi forces followed the eight tails jinchuriki, while Sakura and Sasuke headed over to join Hinata and her father as they ran towards the Gedo Mazo. Hiashi activating his byakugan and gasped.
"There are a whole bunch of people by the base of the statue! They have very strong chakra, be careful! I can't see any of them clearly yet, so be on guard!" Hiashi shouted, seeing every ninja nod or acknowledge that they heard him in some way.

"Naruto..." Kushina cried.
"Kaa-san... I can't breathe..." Naruto gasped out. Kushina immediately relinquished her tight hug and looked down in relief.
"N-Naruto..." she murmured again. The blond jinchuriki sat up slowly.
"What happened?" He asked as he looked at the faces of all the Ninja around him. Hashirama, Tobirama, Hiruzen, Minato, Kushina, Itachi and the five Kage were all looking at him with big smiles.
"The war is over." Tsunade said, leaning down and holding out her hand. Naruto grabbed it and Tsunade pulled him to his feet.
"Good job, Naruto. Or should I say, Fox Sage?" Tsunade said with a grin. Minato and Kushina's faces lit up.
"Has he met Jiraiya sensei?" Minato asked.
"Met and surpassed." Jiraiya interrupted as he and Orochimaru finally appeared. They'd been tasked with making sure that the ash pile that was once Madara was gone, never to be seen again.

"Jiraiya sensei... you're dead..." Minato noted sadly. Jiraiya nodded.
"I am. But at least, I got to help Naruto learn Sage Mode..." Jiraiya finished. He looked up at the sky, and then at Tsunade. Tsunade looked away. She couldn't face him at the moment.
"Tsunade... it's fine. I don't blame you." Jiraiya said. He saw Tsunade's shoulders relax slightly. He knew that she blamed herself for sending him off to get information that day. They all grew silent as they turned and watched Kushina fussing over Naruto, as a mother would normally do so, smothering him in motherly hugs and embraces and kissed and what not, causing a snicker to arise from a few of the onlookers.

-----

His own gloved hand clawed at his throat, his body screaming in protest. The lack of oxygen and loss of blood was getting to him. Any second now, he'd faint and die. With his vision rapidly diminishing, Obito glared at the blurry scene of joy and happiness in front of him. Eventually, his fingers finally found the slash in his throat, and he plugged it with what he had left of Hashirama's DNA in the form of cloned flesh. It was too late to save him, but it would prolong his death, long enough for him to get his revenge on the man who had ruined it all. Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage and his Jonin sensei. But he was already dead. So he would snuff the light out from his one and only joy, his son, Naruto. Gathering his chakra, he forced his kamui to activate and he disappeared in a swirl. He reappeared not a moment later, right behind the statue, where they would not see him. His haggard breathing was beginning to hurt him. He didn't have much time left.

Neji gasped. Everyone else looked at him. They were approaching the Gedo Mazo statue and Neji had his byakugan trained on it. He saw a sudden swirl of chakra as the formerly masked Akatsuki member appeared and collapsed behind the statue, out of sight of Naruto's group. It was his eyes that noticed it first.
"Naruto!" He shouted out. He was still too far away that they couldn't hear him. He watched in horror as the man lying by the statue with his throat slashed open channelled one final glare at the group of unsuspecting Ninja. He shakily raised his arms to form a hand seal. Neji's eyes widened. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion.
"Wood style... cutting sprigs jutsu..." the Uchiha barely managed to make out, through sheer hatred and willpower allowing him to speak, at the cost of forever destroying his throat, and any chance of survival. The Gedo Mazo raised an arm, moving the hand over and Neji saw the many sharpened wooden stakes forming. It was going to fire a concentrated attack directed at Naruto and the Kage, and the other shinobi that had arrived before him.