Speedrunning Naruto to the Top

"The power of real, traditional Wood Release is actually this formidable?!"

Back in Amegakure, Nagato's real body received the live updates from his battle clone and silently thought, This isn't good. If this keeps up, things could get very bad. He decided he needed a backup plan.

So Nagato called over Black Zetsu and handed him a coded scroll. Black Zetsu opened it, took one look, then immediately nodded and sank into the ground, vanishing.

"Hm?"

No sooner had Black Zetsu departed than Nagato grew tense, staring out the window. So it's begun, has it? The question is, is he focused on that battlefield where my clone fights, or is he right overhead in Amegakure, watching for a chance to strike?

His official task is to collect the Gedo Statue from the ninja world. Despite having the Flying Thunder God Technique and that Heavenly Transfer Jutsu, he hasn't instantly appeared at the statue's side. It must mean his eye can't form a summoning contract with the statue. Even if he drags away the Gedo Statue, I can resummon it anytime with the Rinnegan.

Between us, one must die. And if I had to guess, he's probably out there on the same battlefield as my clone, however, he might also be waiting overhead somewhere, ready to ambush me…especially if he fears Obito's Kamui letting me escape.

No matter which scenario, it means the endgame is here.

After analyzing his options, Nagato clasped his hands together and thrust them to the ground: "Edo Tensei!"

…

Outside, in the main area of Amegakure, the sky above the village abruptly filled—like the Five Great Nations had experienced months earlier—with a horde of figures clad in matching white robes, their bodies riddled with black rods and iron spikes, numbering about two hundred in total.

Wooo-woo-woo…

Sirens blared immediately. In the past half-year, the villagers had performed evacuation drills twice every month. They now tossed aside their tasks and sprinted toward the shelters.

"Run, it's the enemy of our god!" some villagers shouted in warning to those travelers or ordinary folk who had come from afar to tour Amegakure, prompting them to flee as well.

"Once you're inside, keep running; there's a safe zone at the very end," a Ame-nin yelled as they opened an entrance to the underground tunnel leading to the shelter, guiding the villagers.

In battles against ultra high-level foes—essentially gods—only a Four Red Yang Formation had any hope of providing protection; almost any other barrier was like tissue paper.

Hence, over the past half-year, Amegakure's underground shelter had been expanded into a network of tunnels leading away from the village to safer territory.

"You all go, too. This sort of battle is beyond what you can handle."

Descending from above, Konan addressed the Ame-nin coordinating the evacuation.

"Yes, Angel-sama," the Ame-nin answered deferentially, then left via the tunnel as well.

By this time, war had ignited across Amegakure. Coffin after coffin burst out of the muddy ground or materialized atop steel structures. As lids crashed to the ground, one figure after another—bodies covered in cracks—stepped out.

"This is… the realm of the living?"

"Have I… been resurrected?"

These reanimated shinobi had barely voiced their confusion before their eyes turned blank. Then they all launched themselves at the puppet army that had descended from the sky.

Swoosh—

One of them, the fastest, moved like a flash of lightning across a human puppet, which seemed to be sliced in two by a divine blade before it could even react, as if severed instantaneously.

"So fast!"

The Wood Clone controlling the puppet army felt the pressure at once. He wasted no time dividing himself into twenty clones to share the burden of controlling the army.

At the same time, he relayed his observations to the main body, thinking: So his contingency plan is Edo Tensei—plus these resurrected warriors are close to their peak power in life.

So he used White Zetsu clones as sacrifices, letting the reanimated come back nearly as strong as they were alive. Clever. Since that's the case, let me also run a test: can I get an entry drop for defeating them?

With twenty Wood Clones to assist, the puppet army moved with far less sluggishness. That lightning-fast figure, streaking past another puppet to finish it like before, suddenly stopped.

He was a tall, muscular, dark-skinned man, body coursing with a blue–white electric current, a "雷" tattoo on his right arm. It was the Third Raikage—the man who singlehandedly fought ten thousand Iwa-nin for three days and nights until he died of exhaustion, who could match a rampaging Eight-Tails in strength and emerge unscathed. A Kage-level powerhouse from the Third Great Ninja War.

His invincible chop halted mid-swing, blocked by a sword that crackled with Wind Release chakra—razor-sharp and exceptionally strong. By elemental logic, if the Raikage's Lightning Release was equal to the puppet's Wind Release, it should at least slash his palm or maybe sever the entire hand.

But the Third Raikage's chop remained unscathed. Even a Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, an S-rank technique, couldn't harm him.

Holding that blade, stopping the Raikage's hand chop, was Shimura Danzo, fully cloaked in Lightning Chakra Mode himself. Indeed, so were over two hundred other puppets. In an instant, arcs of electricity surged wildly through Amegakure, destroying buildings as they clashed with the resurrected dead. Body parts of the reanimated flew apart, dissolving into dust.

The pressure swung dramatically back onto Nagato's side.

"Wood Release: Multiple Wood Clone Technique!"

Nagato's Wood Clone wasted no time splitting its chakra into dozens of copies. All of them stayed in the Gedo Statue's underground base, controlling those mindless reanimated corpses in battle against the puppet army.

Black Zetsu had spent half a year robbing graves, so Nagato's Edo Tensei arsenal was huge. Not only was the resurrected Third Raikage present—one of the ultimate "Five Kage Summit-tier" ninjas—but also the Second Mizukage (Gengetsu Hozuki) and the Second Tsuchikage (Mū), both at the pinnacle of Kage-level, along with the Fourth Mizukage (Yagura) and the Fourth Kazekage (Rasa)—five high-level Kage in total.

He also had partial samples of the First Hokage's cells, or mediums from the Second, Third, and even Fourth Hokage. When Nagato first gained Edo Tensei, he'd tried summoning the First to glean more Wood Release jutsu through Human Path, but discovered he couldn't reanimate Hashirama. The same was true of Tobirama, Hiruzen, and Minato—the Reaper Death Seal had taken their souls.

So Nagato's "aces in the hole" were these five Kage plus many other renowned ninja from the Great Nations' history: Pakura of Sunagakure with her Scorch Release, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Karura of Iwa with Explosion Release, Kinkaku and Ginkaku of Kumo, and various powerful deceased from Konoha's major clans, etc.

Over three hundred in total, each wearing a flak jacket, from at least Chūnin rank upward.

And, on top of all that, Pain's Six Paths, Konan flying overhead, and the members of the Akatsuki who were en route. Combined, they had enough top-tier strength to destroy a major village in under an hour. No alliance smaller than all Five Great Nations could match them. The final battle had gone white-hot from the outset; in less than a few minutes, Amegakure was half in ruins.

Sure enough, not long after, a swirling vortex of space–time opened at the battlefield, and the black-robed Akatsuki finally arrived.

"The final war has at last begun," Deidara cheered—then his eyes widened at some scene. "What the heck?! Why do they all have Lightning Release Chakra Mode? That jerk's specifically targeting me!"

"Silly fool, stop gawking if you don't want your head chopped off," Sasori chided. "This is likely more intense than the average ninja war."

"Only puppets? With no blood, what can I offer to Jashin-sama?" Hidan whined.

"Hmph, I only agreed to fight. No way I'm giving up my life. If that damn wood manipulator or that boy personally show up, I'm gone," Kakuzu warned.

Kisame and the others similarly hung back, marveling at the puppet army and the resurrected army slamming each other in the rubble.

As S-rank missing-nin, most of them realized that only fools would dive into such a clash between two armies of the dead. If any living person got in the middle and died, they'd only have themselves to blame.

Even Deidara, who was initially ready to self-destruct, was talked down by Sasori and resorted to assisting.

Explosion after explosion echoed, five-element blasts lighting up the sky. Within half an hour, most of Amegakure lay in ruins.

Those events were quickly reported back to the outside world through various spies who'd fled Amegakure or ninja who'd been monitoring from outside. Summoned creatures relayed the war news:

"The second round is here, after all."

"After half a year of quiet, the 'Sage Eye war' ignites anew."

"Edo Tensei? The Akatsuki mastered the Second Hokage's forbidden technique—did they acquire it from Orochimaru?"

"A puppet army versus an undead army. All these 'troops' are corpses!"

"Either side alone could attack and conquer a Great Nation. If they settle a winner in this second round, it might turn everything against us. Let's hope it's another stalemate."

"If the Akatsuki's leader wins, who knows what ambitions he might harbor with no one left to oppose him?"

"If that so-called Toneri merely came to collect the Gedo Statue and then returns to the moon, we might prefer he be the victor."

"This is a battle that decides the future of the ninja world."

…

Gazing at the reports, each of the Five Kage sighed, then swiftly dispatched sensor-type ninja to the Land of Rain to monitor the fighting and send back real-time updates.

Because Izayoi was out on a mission and hadn't made a contract with Shikkotsu Forest, Tsunade decided to deploy Hinata and Karin. One had the Byakugan, the other Mind's Eye of the Kagura; both could gather intel safely.

Just then a new, grim tidbit arrived: "Lord Hokage, Izayoi-sama is fighting the Akatsuki leader!"

"Nani?!" Tsunade shot to her feet in alarm. "When did that brat sneak off to Amegakure?"

"Not Amegakure," the messenger panted. "It's in the forests of the Land of Fire. Moments ago, two massive chakra sources collided in the eastern woods. Our returning squad recognized them as Izayoi-sama and the Akatsuki leader."

"Summon Hinata and Karin—never mind, I'll go myself. You notify the elders and the jōnin in the village for an emergency meeting," Tsunade barked, her face grim. An ultra-powerful leader fixating on Konoha's future was a possibility Tsunade had to prevent at all costs.

So she made a Shadow Clone, leaving it behind to preside over the meeting, and left the village in person. Hinata and Karin, who had been applying for leave to exit the village, were brought along.

"Huh? The Akatsuki leader is after Izayoi-kun?" Karin's face paled. "Is he okay?"

"I don't know. We'll see when we get there," Tsunade replied with a scowl. "And I fear Toneri might be eyeing that battlefield, too."

Hinata's face looked slightly awkward. She said softly, "Hokage-sama, you might as well head back. Izayoi-kun will be fine."

"What do you mean?" Tsunade asked in bewilderment.

"Izayoi-kun…he knows the Flying Thunder God," Hinata explained. "He mastered it long ago; he just never revealed it to keep it secret."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. That was hush-hush," Karin recalled the moment last year when Izayoi teleported Hinata away.

"That little brat!" Tsunade was torn between surprise and delight. Ultimately she ground her teeth. "When he's back, I'll strangle him!"

She turned to Hinata and Karin: "You two continue as planned. Head to Izayoi's battlefield and feed back intel in real time. If he leaves, go to the Land of Rain. But be careful—do not let your real bodies get near that Mokuton clash. It's no place for you."

"Understood!"

They gave respectful bows. Tsunade watched them leave, then flickered back to the village to convene the meeting.

Though Izayoi's safety was no longer her concern, she couldn't let down her guard. This final war had begun, Izayoi was apparently the spark, and with Nagato away from Amegakure, Toneri had attacked.

If Nagato didn't hurry back, that meant he was determined to eliminate Izayoi. If Izayoi fled, Nagato might chase him to Konoha—and Toneri could be lying in wait.

If their second round ended up fought in Konoha, it would be catastrophic. She had to prepare for an evacuation, set up the ninja corps to fight or retreat.

"Jiraiya's damned student is really ambitious and devious," Tsunade swore internally. Then she prayed silently, Izayoi, you're Konoha's Sixth Hokage—please stay safe!

~~~

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