Chapter 90: Second round and family time

A month. That’s the time Riku had needed to completely master Yang chakra. The fact that he could use shadow clones to speed up his training had been a god-send. The time spent mastering Yin chakra suddenly became a taller order. Yang chakra had come easily to him and yet, in total, he spent two hundred and forty days practicting it to reach mastery from the ground up if you cumulated his time and the time of his shadow clones spent training.

Combining Yin and Yan releases to create the Yin-Yang release had been a simple matter. A week at best to becoming a Sage of the Six Paths and another to properly master it.

He was surprised by this mode. Chakra covered him like a cloak. A forest green and blue one that looked very similar to Naruto’s own. His was orange and black however. The markings on his face and body reminded him of his mother using the Byakugo fully.

Depowering to get back to normal, he took a look at Naruto and Sasuke sparring with their latest power-ups. Of course, they weren’t going all out. They would have broken the walls and ended up killing everyone. They did however use their new techniques and jutsu against each other. To his surprise both were focused without animosity for the others beyond the desire to get one over.

Sakura was looking at them from the side. Approaching her, he asked her about it.

She shrugged. “We spent three years here as a team. We just… talked and fixed what never clicked between us. Especially those two. Kushina-san and Itachi-san have been really helpful in making them get along. They both matured a lot. Especially Sasuke. It had been difficult but he accepted that he couldn’t do everything alone and more importantly, he didn’t have to. That hatred wasn’t necessarily the best way to attain power.” She sounded dismissive of it when the small smile on her face told Riku how happy and proud she was about it.

“What about you?”

Sakura raised her hand and clenched it into a fist. “Sasuke learned the hard way that I wasn't a burden to carry anymore.”

“Good thing he’s undead, I gather?”

“Very. Busting his head like you did really drove home that while I wasn’t as strong as the two of them I could still handle my own part.”

“Well… It took years, but I’m glad to hear that your team finally became what the Sandaime envisioned.”

“The strongest heavy assault team?” She got curious.

“More like the next generation of the Sannin.” Riku shocked her with his answer and noticed. “Think about it. Naruto was trained by Jiraiya, while not planned, Sasuke by Orchimaru and you…”

“Were trained by you, who was trained by Tsunade.” Sakura finished, finally seeing it.

“It’s a bit far-fetched to say I trained you. More like instructed but yes. You’re one of the best medic of the village and have the strength to match. You’re only missing the Byakugo. Kami… Mom is going to tear me a new one for letting you go to the front line and breaking her 4th rule.”

That brought her to a stop. “The 4th rule? We technically broke the 2nd but I didn’t know there was a fourth?”

Riku quoted his mother verbatim. “Only those medic ninja who have mastered the Mitotic Regeneration: The Hundred Healings are permitted to discard the previous laws.”

“That… makes sense.”

“If she asks, just say I started teaching you the Iryoken.”

“It thought the Iryoken was supposed to make people explode. An application of the Jyuken’s effect in combination with the strength of a hundred seals?” That confused her.

Riku shook his head. “It looks like it but no. The Iryoken is simply…” He took a moment to define it well in his mind. “The ultimate goal of a medic. By having perfect chakra control and purifying your medical chakra to the highest degree, you force the part of the body you touch to heal at a very fast rate. The cells divide so fast it becomes a cancer. They accumulate, deforming the body until it can’t sustain the amount and explode.”

Sakura’s mouth opened making her look like a perfect copy of a goldfish.

“The higher your chakra control, the better your control on the speed of the cellular division. The purer you refine your chakra, the more you heal. That part is what my mom had the most trouble with.”

“How strong of a healing are we talking about, here?”

Riku shifted his gaze from her teammates fighting to her. “To the point of rejuvenating the cells to an earlier cycle.”

Sakura’s eyes widened so much they nearly popped out of their orbits. “That would imply that you could technically make everyone immortal. No one would die from old age anymore.”

“Yeah. You think mom is still using her genjutsu to appear younger?” Riku shook his head. “She looks like she’s in her mid to late twenties because she is in her mid to late twenties.” He didn’t say that while it was true, the reason Tsunade was able to achieve this was from her sage training and not the Iryoken. Regardless, she could use the Iryoken like this now.

“You could heal everything with a simple touch. Even yourself.”

“Yes. Of course, the worse the wound, the more the chakra needed but with it you can be allowed to go to the front lines without mom’s creation rebirth which is vastly inferior and more dangerous as it wastes your life span.”

“I’ll be sure to learn it then, that is if-”

“I took you as my disciple, I’ll see your training through till the end. Not like you need me much beyond the basic theory and the principles.”

The spar between Naruto and Sasuke ended in a draw. Riku signaled them to come over and told them that after a bit of rest they would leave the Botib. It was time to act.

He left Team 7 alone and stepped out of the training room. He warned everyone else he came across and retired to the room he made for Karin, the one with the fake sea. It didn’t take long for her to join his side. Taking his hand in hers she leaned onto him.

“Are you sure we’re ready?” She inquired.

“I don’t know. I believe we are. We’ll just need to capitalize on the surprise of our power ups.” He released her hand to wrap his arm around her, taking a good handful of her ass in a firm grip, pulling her deeper into himself.

“Don’t start.” She said in a husky voice. What he was doing to her butt was something she loved very much. While she wanted him to go on and do more, they would spring into action in a few hours and they certainly didn’t have the time for anything frisky.

“I wasn’t.” He removed his hand. “I was just dealing with my stress.”

“Well, you can unwind all you want once everything is over.” She moved to stand in front of him and let her hand seductively massage his chest. “How about we try for another child then?”

“Are you sure? You’ve been away from our daughter for a while now. Don’t you want to spend some time with her first?”

“I do but I can do that while pregnant too. I mostly want Konoha’s conditions to be fulfilled so the Uzumaki are properly a clan of the village.” Karin explained herself further when she noticed Riku’s unimpressed expression. “Of course I want this child for them too. I’m done with research for a while and just want to enjoy being a mother. Hinata has a good thing going on with Hitomi and Toka and I’d like the same.”

“Fine by me.”

After exchanging a kiss they stayed there until it was time to leave.

Everyone was ready. Armed to the teeth. Well protected. The plan was studied from every angle and known from one end to the other.

“Let’s go.”

Riku grabbed everyone and flashed away back to the location he had fought Madara thanks to a few of his wood shurifuins still being there. From Karin’s estimate only ten minutes had passed. During this length of time the whole landscape where the Ten-tails was had been changed. Nothing but devastation. Hills where they weren’t before, flat ground where hills were. A forest was gone while some huge wood structures replaced it. The biggest change had been the absolutely massive tree reaching up to the sky and piercing the clouds. No one believed for a moment that the tree was one of the Shodai’s creations.

Without a word, Riku took the lead, the rest of the team separating to circle around Madara, Obito and the Ten-tails. Laying the ground for an ambush.

When Riku arrived on the battlefield he saw, his family fought everything they had against a being that he didn’t recognize at first. He identified them as male from the skeletal structure. Furthermore the horns, garb and staff reminded Riku of Hagoromo. The only noticeable difference was the absence of a third eye on the forehead.

It didn’t take long for Riku to understand from what he was seeing and from the reports he got that the man in front of him was his target. Uchiha Madara had become the jinchuriki of the ten-tails.

In a corner of a ruined area, he saw the body of Obito. A huge hole in his chest, reminding him of a Raikiri inflicted wound. It was in accordance with Kakashi’s retelling of his fight with Obito inside his dimension.

Hashirama was in sage mode and creating a storm of wood dragons filled with nature chakra. Tobirama was waiting for an opening to use his own version of the hiraishin and do Madara in. He was standing next to Mito who sat on the ground and maintained a powerful barrier cutting her husband and her opponent from the rest of the world. Finally, Tsunade was herself in sage mode and trying to take down the massive tree. From the distance he was in, it seemed as if her efforts were meaningless, the damage she did with her own punch was limited. It was an illusion however, the tree was just so big that it looked like nothing but he was sure that should he get closer there would be a wide ten feet radius crater at the very least.

For the scene alone, Riku understood two things clearly. One: the tree was important for the Infinite Tsukuyomi and needed to go down. Two: only nature chakra and perhaps Taijutsu could damage it or Madara.

That part was understood by the fact that the Niidaime was waiting patiently. As a ninjutsu specialist, he should be throwing jutsus after justus to at least distract Madara for Hashirama to finish the job or help Tsunade take down the tree.

Riku landed next to his grandmother and briefly observed his grandfather fight Madara. Learning about the man’s new abilities and way to fight.

“Tsunade was right.” Tobirama was surprised at seeing Riku back whole and in complete health.

Mito gave her grandson a happy and sad smile. “It’s good to see you alive, Ri-kun. Despite the circumstances.”

Without saying a word, chakra gathered in Riku’s hands. With each, he touched his family members. He was glad to have learned Ninshu from Naruto who had been quite a natural at it. Riku had practiced it enough to be able to share recent memories and emotions. Not the entirety of what was in his heart but it was enough to inform Mito and Tobirama of what had happened. The rıghtful source is novèlfire.net

“Hm. To think our clan had such a history.” The second Hokage was analyzing in detail the information he had just received.

Mito called him back to the moment. “It matters not, Tobirama-kun.”

“You’re right. We need to deal with Madara before Kaguya returns. Time is of the essence.”

“Link up with Naruto. He can transfer a bit of his sage chakra through Ninshu, then help mom take down the tree.”

“Not refusing the undeads’ help anymore?”

Riku shook his head at his uncle’s question. “I’m still refusing it. Madara is for us to deal with. The tree too but I believe it would be rude to ask you to stay on the sidelines when you picked up our slack while we were gone.”

“I do not mind.”

“Tobirama-kun?” Mito called out to the Niidaime in surprise.

The white haired man looked down at his sister-in-law. “My nephew is right. It is not our place to intervene in this fight. If we do act further then the victory would be meaningless. The world would be saved, yes but what kind of future could the new and future generations hope to have?”

“I’m glad you finally saw it. There always comes a time when parents need to let go of their children’s hands so they can walk on their own. Something Hashirama-kun still needs to learn.” She punctuated her sentence with a resigned sigh.

“Brother always had too big of a heart.” Tobirama turned to Riku. “I’ll grab my brother and let you, young ones, deal with Madara.”

“I’ll restrain him with my chains if I have to.” Mito replied. She stood up and stopped feeding chakra to the barrier which disappeared. Creating a shadow clone, she sent it to warn Tsunade.

Riku made a hiraishin marker on the ground by channeling chakra in one of his feet. The whole training in Yin released had completely perfected his chakra control and he was now able to write any basic seal with his chakra, much like Mito and Minato in a certain measure did, as long as it wasn’t too complex. In the case of the hiraishin it was because he practiced it a lot. Once done, he charged forward and did another dynamic entry right onto Madara’s face. It didn’t send the man flying but it did turn his head to the other side.

Before Hashirama could say anything, Tobirama popped in next to him and flashed them both away back to Mito who had taken some distance, standing on a small plateau to have a better view of the incoming fight.

Riku fell on his feet and began a series of strikes and kicks that Madara dodged easily.

“You again? I thought you died.”

“Funny, everyone thought the same thing about you. How does it feel to be on the other side for once?”

“Unconsequential,” Madara attacked lazily with his staff and Riku jumped back to avoid being decapitated. “You’d be dead for good soon enough.”

“You couldn’t do it, then. You won’t be able to do it now. Stolen power or not.”

Madara said nothing back and with a speed he knew Riku couldn’t follow, moved right in front of him to strike him down. Unfortunately for him, he received a punch to the gut that this time sent him flying back.

Reorienting himself mid-air, the Ghost of Uchiha put a stop to his movement and stood there levitating above the ground with a frown on his face.

“I don’t know what you did to get stronger but it doesn’t change a thing. I’m a god now. You have no hope to defeat me, the Sage of the six Paths.”

Riku channeled his chakra and used his own version of the Sage of the Six paths senjutsu. His forest green and blue cloak recovered his body. Madara was utterly shocked by this but not worried one bit. After all, the difference in chakra between the two of them was quite obvious. Madara had the ten-tails sealed inside of him and unlimited chakra. Riku did not.

“Does that make me a god too then? I guess I’m better than you since I achieved it on my own instead of stealing power everywhere like a starved cat steals food.”

“How?” The tone couldn’t be mistaken as something else than ‘tell me now or you die’.

“Oh, you know… I trained roughly three decades with the original Sage of the Six Paths then a whole year to master it ten minutes ago.”

To Madara it sounded like a jap at his expense when it was in fact the truth. Flying forward he attacked Riku to make him spill the beans. While he had the advantage chakra wise, he didn’t like being denied.

Riku dodged flawlessly but not without difficulty every blow coming his way. Finding a good rhythm, he counter-attacked with a diagonal slash and aimed a punch to Madara’s face. The Uchiha instinctively dodged the hit and didn’t relent his assault. Unfortunately for him, he was brought to a stop when he felt the side of his face, Riku had aimed at, explode.

“Wha-”

Madara didn’t have the time to understand what had happened as Riku seized the opportunity to attack again, pushing him on the defensive.

“What did you do?” He asked with gritted teeth.

“You should have stayed undead. Now I can use my most powerful jutsu.”

Chakra permeated Riku’s hands and in consequence he didn’t need to physically touch Madara’s body for the Iryoken to have an effect. As long as his chakra touched the man it would work, albeit in a more restrained manner. It was just a graze after all. A graze that was enough to inflict some damage. Unfortunately, Madara’s regenerative ability he received with his new forms made it useless. At least in the jinchuriki’s eyes. At best it was an annoyance.

One that Madara got quickly tired of. Jumping back to put some distance between them, he began waving handseals. Riku didn’t recognize the sequence but noticed it was about to be something involving either lightning or water. Reacting fast, he left a marker on the ground and teleported right back to where he had left the previous one. It proved to be the smart choice, as a surge of lightning hit the spot he was previously. Not missing a beat, Riku started his assault again.

Part of the trunk of the tree bursted in an explosion of chakra that Riku recognized as belonging to Naruto’s. Madara was distracted for a split second, his eyes shifting from Riku to the tree. An opportunity that the young Hokage didn’t miss.

Right as he was about to deliver an axe kick, Riku’s senses detected something from his left. A lethal danger he was in a difficult position to defend against. Before he could use the hiraishin to teleport away, he found himself next to Sakura and Sasuke.

“Thanks for the save.” He said to the Uchiha.

Sakura was confused. “What happened?”

“I use one of the skills I got from the Rinnegan. Amenotejikara allows me to swap the position of two objects or people. Riku was about to have his head pierced so I swapped him with a pebble.” Replied Sasuke.

The explanation was simple and Riku focused on the latter part. “So there was something. I felt it suddenly come to existence.”

“There are four shadows, looking exactly like Madara.”

From Sasuke’s information, who he no doubt got by seeing the shadow with his Rinnegan, Riku switched strategy. “Change of plan.” He moved toward the tree where Madara went to stop Naruto from destroying it. His teammates followed suit. “Sakura, you’re on tree duty with Kakashi and Gai. That thing must fall no matter what. It’s even more important than dealing with Madara.”

“Got it.”

“I’m not sure about Kakashi’s ability to damage it but it seems that only senjutsu and Taijutsu work. You’re perfect for the job. Sasuke, Naruto and I will deal with those shadows and Madara.”

“The seals are in place.” Sasuke shared. “Karin and Kushina-san are just waiting for your signal.”

“The old monkey?” Riku inquired, getting a frown from Sakura for the disrespect towards the Sandaime.

Her answer came swiftly however. “Sandaime-sama is limited in what he can do since he’s a ninjutsu specialist. I think he will wait on the sidelines for an opportunity to act. Perhaps if Naruto can transfer a bit of his sage chakra...”

“We’ll see if we can. If anyone knows devastating jutsu it’s him.”

They caught up with Madara who was clashing with Naruto. Riku and Sasuke immediately sprung into action. The latter used his new jutsu to teleport himself right into the fray, using his sword to parry an invisible hit from one of the invisible shadows. Riku flared his chakra in a specific rhythm. Immediately he felt the whole area being turned into his territory.

One of the reasons the group had split up in the beginning was to put down special hiraishin seals. Combined with the strongest barrier Karin and Kushina could create, Riku could now teleport wherever he wanted inside the secluded space. A net advantage compared to the dependance of his shurifuins or chakra markers. It also countered Madara’s ability to break the hiraishin seals that Riku put on his body. After the very first punch, sending the man flying, Riku had felt the marker disappear on the spot.

Now in control of the whole space, Riku teleported right onto Madara to explode his head with the Iryoken. A partial success as the jaw burst into pieces of flesh and blood. By landing a hit he got hurt himself. His lung got pierced by an invisible weapon. Teleporting away he let his natural healing ability take over while defending against another blow that came from behind.

Back up the small plateau, Hiruzen joined his fellow Kage and Mito to observe the fight. He still had it in him to battle, all thanks to Karin’s healing during Suna’s invasion all those years ago but he chose to stand back feeling he wouldn’t help much.

“Saru, good of you for joining us.” Tobirama greeted his student.

“Feeling old, sensei?” Tsunade teased.

“Seeing you like this… Yes, I feel old.” Hiruzen gave his own student a sad smile. “But it’s mainly the new generation’s business now. I was supposed to help with ninjutsu but the tree absorbs it and Madara far outclasses me. There is little I can do but cheer. Except in experience they are far above what I am.”

“Sometimes it’s all we need to do and it’s enough.” Mito said while giving a knowing smile to her husband who was still a bit peeve to not be part of the fight.

The Shodaime got curious and changed the subject a bit. “What’s their plan?”

“Originally it was to capture Madara and have Karin literally send him to the Shinigami’s belly with a seal of her own creation. Then do the same with Obito after transferring the bijus into herself.”

Hashirama’s jaw dropped when he heard the Shinigami part. Not that he didn’t believe Madara wasn’t deserving of the experience, but that someone so young would tread with the God of Death was a bit terrifying. Even his wife never did. The Shiki Fujin was a gift from her father, Ashina, when he married her and had never been used. Not until Minato twenty years ago.

“That young lady is scary.” He commented.

Tobirama, however, re-focus on the matter at hand. “Making herself the jinchuriki of all the bijus aside, what now?”

Hiruzen uncharacteristically shrugged. “I suppose taking down the tree and doing to Madara what was planned for Obito. I’m not sure. What I’m sure of is that if they fail then no one can stop that man.”

He pulled out his book of seals from his back pouch and summoned a tea table. Both Hashirama and Tobirama looked at him as if he had bloomed a second head, while Mito and Tsunade sat down.

“Have your senses left you, Saru?” Asked the second Hokage when he saw Hiruzen pull out from another page a steaming pot of tea and multiple tea cups.

“Not at all, sensei.” The Sandaime served the ladies some tea, not knowing if as undead they could drink it or not. It was simply the polite thing to do. “I just have faith in those youngsters to pull through.” He added, serving his sensei then himself.

Tsunade chuckled. “You should have seen Sensei when the Kyubi reformed outside the village. Riku appeared on Katsuyu and he did the same. Everyone thought he had turned senile.”

“I’ll have you know my mind is still quite sharp.” Hiruzen retorted before taking a sip from his own cup.

Shrugging his shoulders, Hashirama sat down next to Mito and enjoyed the beverage. Undead as he might be, he could still enjoy the flavor apparently. “Come on Tobirama, don’t stay standing like a stick.”

Sighing in surrender, Tobirama sat down between Tsunade and Hiruzen. “You sure changed your mind quickly, brother.”

“There is not much I can do. They do not want our help and Tsuna-chan and Saru-kun’s faith in those young shinobis make me realize that perhaps I did not believe enough. Besides, it’s been a while since I had a nice cup of tea and it’s very refreshing. What blend is it?” He asked Hiruzen.

“My own. When I practiced the Mokuton and tried to create different types of plants. Those ones were grown with nature chakra on top of it.” Tsunade replied.

Hiruzen praised his student. “The best blend you made so far, Tsunade. You can be proud of it.”

“Now if only you could apply the manners for drinking tea that I taught you...” Mito chidded her granddaughter.

Tsunade simply huffed in protest. “We’re not in a tea house baa-ch-”

Sounds of people landing echoed from behind the group. Turning their heads, they saw Mei leading a group of shinobi but alive and reincarnated. Among them was one particular ninja which made Tsunade freeze on the spot before moving at her fastest speed to hug him, tears in her eyes.