Chapter 62: Chapter 62
Getting back to Konoha, Ino was still stuck with no luck and she had resorted to violence before letting Shino handle the violence while she focused on helping Hinata.
Even though she had some of Naruto's chakra, Ino didn't want to use it up when he wasn't there to restore it. Kumo and Iwa were in danger, not her people. So she couldn't just take that risk and leave herself powerless.
Standing over Hinata, Ino decided to help her wake up as Tsunade confirmed that there was no biological problem.
However, it seems even that was impossible as she was pushed back. Confirming that someone had trapped Hinata inside her mind and that someone was definitely in line with the Uzumaki clan.
"This is just getting annoying.... How can I be so useless?" Ino brushed aside her long hair and cleared the sweat with her chakra before taking a long drink of a water to clear her mind. She was getting stressed out after working continuously for two days with no results.
"Is big sister okay?" Hanabi was taking care of Hinata personally and she was terribly worried as her beloved sister hadn't woken up for three days. Plus there was constant brain activity like she was in a state of combat.
"Yeah, she is fine. The enemy is just very persistent so it's taking a little bit longer."
"You know, it would have been better to respond with telepathy since any Hyuga can tell when someone is lying." Hanabi stated the obvious and demanded the real answer.
"I will keep that in mind, and I don't know. I am unable to enter her mind, nor able to get in contact with her mind. Someone extremely powerful and skilled has blocked her mind." Ino replied with her mind leaving out the worry she felt from her words.
Hanabi didn't know what to say, as those words increased her worries and it seemed so out of her league.
"Can you send her your power, would that help?" Hanabi asked after a moment of silence as she tried to help come up with a solution.
Ino stopped probing for an entry point.
"Equip her with my powers and tip the scale. Why just mine, we can send her more. Hanabi, you have helped me save your sister. Stop worrying and sit down, we are about to arm your sister with ultimate power." Ino was excited as she finally saw hope. She contacted Shino and the other comrades with high chakra level and strength.
Making a small pin point hole, Ino sent her skills into the mind while Shizune helped circulate the foreign inside of Hinata. Tsunade and Orochimaru were busy, so Shizune was the only one that could help with the task as Ino didn't want to cripple or kill Hinata by mistake.
------------------------------
Inside Hinata's mental world there was war going on, her own region of control and turned on her. Hotaru had invaded her mind and created a multi-dimensional maze, no matter what she did there was no way out.
She didn't how much time had passed as there was no day and night, only the constant gray walls around her.
It was driving her insane, and only her strong will to become a power of good allowed her to continue searching for a way or she would have given up.
She couldn't destroy the walls and flying didn't matter. It didn't matter that she had passed multiple mazes, only to enter into another maze.
Hinata had theorized for the safety of her sanity that the enemy had created multiple layers, so she just had to continue clearing them until the last one.
However, it still seemed impossible since there was no end to her path.
The constant gray walls worried her about the outside world, not for her personal safety. She was extremely terrified about what was happening in the real world. The only reason she was stuck was because of an enemy, since she offered the last real resistance for any strong threat.
Hinata continued pray for her sisters safety. Ino's safety, Naruto's and Ai's safety along with Konoha and the rest of the world. She wanted the world to stay safe, so that her beloved would come to what he had left.
Hinata hoped with all her heart and soul that the state of the world didn't devolve to the point where it would break Naruto's heart, and tragedies would become a norm.
"Oh Creator of the universe, please don't test us with such a reckoning so soon after we have only survived."
Hinata prayed as she lay against the wall after running continuously for an unknown time.
Just when everything seemed hopeless, Hinata felt it. There was new knowledge in her mind and her body felt stronger.
"Ino, can you hear me?" Hinata knew it was Ino and tried to get in contact but there was nothing. However, after looking at the memories she saw a message from Ino.
'We are trying from the outside, so you have to weaken the barrier from the inside. I am sorry, but your sister isn't strong do it alone.' Ino and Hinata were like sisters now because of their close relationship over the months.
Hearing those words brought light to the darkness of her mind, and Hinata let the knowledge become part of her. She needed to look through it and understand it bit before starting to work on the destruction of the maze.
She had been wrong, the maze was endless and the only way out was to destroy it. It was not physical manifestation, but a mental one. So, she had to use mental tactics for it or she would have been trapped forever.
----------------------------
Just like the people outside Konoha, people inside were also unhappy to just rely on Ino, Hinata and Shino.
Gai had left Lee take over the task of completing the gates while he went to Tsunade to talk about the Otsutsuki transformation.
But, he wasn't the only person there. Kiba, Sai, Choji, Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon, Tenten, Anko and Kurenai were also there inside the office before him.
Tsunade looked at all the intruders and knew that there was no convincing these fools. They were all dreamers that were willing to fight for their dreams, not idle puppets living in the world. There was a fire in their eyes, reminding her of the will of fire.
She had hoped to strengthen the transformation and make it safer by having Naruto around but the situation was definitely dire. It was unknown what was happening outside, but the fact that Hinata had been taken out meant that the Uzumaki clan or some unknown had enough power to annihilate the rest of humanity without any issue. There was also the issue of Ishiki hiding in the shadows. It was a big problem to get trapped in a cage.
Though there was still the problem of death, and it was the only issue that mattered. The matter of low life force wasn't serious as they could end fixing it over time.
The issue of death and insanity was the real problem.
These people in her office were the best of Konoha, so if they died than they would have lost a considerable portion of their strength.
"You guys are going to be the death of me. Sigh, fine, let's go." Tsunade finally stood up after losing to staring battle with these people.
With that, the team cheered as they had pushed the Hokage to accept their request. None of them worried about death, they were looking forward to their new powers and the battle ahead.
They all had their reasons to fight and loved ones to protect. None of them wished to feel the same again, didn't want a repeat of the forth war. They had always been relevant to what took place in the world, and they wished to once again have power to influence the world. They couldn't allow themselves to become observers. It was a terrifying feeling, knowing that their lives were in the hands of others.
Naruto's disappearance had made that emotion rise to the surface, and the barrier had only made it become constant reminder of their nightmares.
------------------------
The Uzumaki clan didn't hurry and allowed the ninja to squirm and despair. However, even then their pace wasn't like a snail and within three days they had reached close to the hidden villages.
The distance of 1000 kilometers separated them and according to their pace, it would end on the next day. This forced them to hurry up with the experiment.
They had already lost more than a 100 men to giving the researchers some experience, but even then they had been unable to give assurance of survival.
Nonetheless, the ninja didn't have time so they started on it.
The process was slow and it was consuming huge amounts of chakra that the villages had in their storage for chakra weapons and other functions. With the last experiments, both villages would run out of chakra except for the battery for their barriers.
"Isn't this too boring? Why don't we just end this already?" Nagare stood behind Daikaku and showed his displeasure at the pointless charade. He had enjoyed playing pranks with the resistance but after the thousandth time, it had gotten boring.
"Patience, this is not for you. This is for the clan, and the people that died to these monsters. A simple death would be too merciful, and our clan doesn't engage in torture so this is the best we can give."
"So, can I leave? You guys don't really need me here."
"Of course not, you have to stay to continue your duty. And, never underestimate your enemies as they can always bite back."
"That's what I mean, we should end them before they cook up something or Naruto gets back before we clean up."
"The worst that child can do is imprison us, and there is no prison that can hold an Uzumaki."
"I don't know why I even bother. Fine, I will stay but I am taking a nap until this is done." Just when Nagare was about to vanish, he turned to the enemy camp.
There was a huge aura of power building up, and it continued to increase that it was visible to the naked eyes like a huge storm.
"Finally, they really managed to cook up something. So, do I wait or should I move?"
"Move out and eliminate the threat." Daikaku commanded as Nagare vanished to get his squad. He wasn't willing to get hurt when it could be avoided.
----------------------
When Nagare flew upon Lightning Birds towards their target, the second in command of Mikoto also headed towards the enemy along with the Red Squad from the ground as they rode flaming horses, Tigers and lions.
The Uzumaki had many monstrous creatures at their disposal and it was easy for them to control them, train them and enhance them.
Regardless, before they could arrive at their destination they were greeted by Storm and Gaara. Mei had stayed in Iwa along with Kurotsuchi since they couldn't allow the leaders from that camp join up in Kumo where the procedure was taking place.
"Storm, occupy them in one place for long enough and we will end them."
"What do you mean, mom?" Storm was confused as to how that was possible.
"Your father always has trump cards hidden, so we are about to unleash it. For now, these mechanical puppets are all we can give for support." Mabui smiled proudly as they unleashed the proto-type giant mech that were produced by Douman, Kankuro, Merlin and Tenten along with the many researchers from the villages.
However, without a doubt the giant mech was a powerful step toward the future and it had surpassed all other weapons of humanity.
Looking at the enemies approaching them, Gaara hoped that they would come out of the experience alive as they were still very much halfway through their story. He wished to see what the future held, and if they could really spend a life filled with peace and harmony as Naruto had discussed with him.
'Brother, I will try my best to keep this world safe while you are gone.'
"Kankuro, don't overextend and keep yourself safe." Gaara warned his brother since the young man was extremely delighted and excited to see the fruition of his vision. Unlike his other puppets, he was riding inside the giant puppet with the humanoid shape and could feel everything from it as his mind was connected to its system.
"Brother, I would never endanger myself."
"Good, then start the offence."
They couldn't engage in close combat with the Uzumaki because of their seals, even a single touch could defeat them. It was especially true for the giant puppets.
Without hesitation, Kankuro along with Samui, Karui and Temari unleashed the power hidden inside the 20 meter giant.
The giant core of chakra acting as the heart roared to life along with the five other auxiliary chakra cores, making the puppets chakra levels equal to Kurama.
It was the combined effort of multiple Jinchuuriki and thousands of ninja over the months to create such a storage. Regardless, the battery was finite and none of the users could recharge after it was over.
They had only one chance.
The four mechs unleashed a volley of missiles that flew towards the Uzumaki army. Each missile held the power to destroy a city, it held compressed chakra that was extremely combustible on point of impact. The chakra inside would react to the nature energy outside and cause a multiplier effect, this would further get enhanced by the multiple explosions in the same region.
However, the Uzumaki army easily blocked the attack. The Green and Red army's symbol of power floated above them, filled with the power of the respective followers.
Utilzing the symbol which was the combined power of 100's of experts that were beyond Kage level, Nagare blew away the missiles with his tornado that was filled with lightning. The wind consumed the explosives and grew in size as it travelled towards.
However, just behind the missiles Gaara and Storm had condensed their attacks. Both fighters had entered sage mode after combining with their respective partners.
Gaara had turned into an earth elemental type creature while Storm had turned into a mutant ninja turtle.
Without holding back, Gaara had created his strongest attack. It was the giant trident filled with condensed minerals and chakra. It packed such power that he was afraid that the world might split.
His power as Kage was already great enough to allow him title of city destroyer and with Shukaku's combination he had gone to become a small country destroyer. With Sage mode enhancing by ten, he was confortably a continental threat.
But, he went beyond it by utilizing the advantage granted by Shukaku's physique. Yes, he was an earth elemental and it meant that he could enhance his power by just absorbing more minerals. Though it required conscious effort and used up energy, it still gave him a temporary boost.
With that in mind, Gaara had collected sand to the point where he could make a second moon. As such his trident carried the weight of multiple mountains in pure physical weight, and with chakra boosting the attack it had allowed him to become a real threat.
Tearing through the air with such speed that the planet itself would follow its trail, the sand trident spun towards its target. All the energy was focused and none was lost to the environment that Nagare was forced to take serious measures.
But, Gaara wasn't alone. Storm was similar in level to him but with the fusion with the three tail, Isobu, she had reached the level of a country destroyer and with Sage mode she had reached moon level.
Storm focused lightning into a spear and charged so much into it that she was afraid that the heat would turn the world to dust. There was enough power in the attack to tear through the planet itself.
With both these charged attacks going towards the Uzumaki clan, normally it should have won them the battle even it was Kaguya or Madara. However, these were people with exceptional warfare Fuinjutsu skills that became powerful for each member in the formation.
With Nagare at the helm, just the Green Squad managed to easily strip the attack to nothing. The attacks collided with multiple layers of barriers that stopped the attack and stripped away its chakra. Thousands of seals flew into the spear and trident that further weakened them before Nagare launched lightning balls to consume the remaining part of the attack. Continuing from the defence, Nagare unleashed a most horrendous move. He hadn't teleported the attacks, he had absorbed the energy from it and so he unleashed it back.
With two beyond moon level attacks combined, Nagare shaped it into lightning beam that appeared from beneath his targets with a flick of his finger.
The powerful beam tore through the sky and left the earth, everything within its range of 20 meters was erased by the powerful heat.
The attack was too fast for them to react, so Gaara and Storm could only put up their defenses to avoid getting killed.
Gaara used his sand dome to cover his comrades, and the dome was covered by powerful seals that stripped away the power of anything that touched it and even became stronger from absorbing the energy. It had also seals for resistance effect.
Storm used a move called Mega Gain Guard, which raised her defense with a roar and a white aura along with her comrades.
She followed it along with Invincible Shell which caused blue hexagonal dome to form around the sand done.
The duo continued to resist as the attack continued and Storm's defence was destroyed. Fortunately, it was extremely weakened by the end that the team received minor damage from the attack.
But, things were not over as the Uzumaki army unleashed hundreds of adamantine chains to take them down while they disoriented.
However, the giant puppets had been protected comfortably and managed to unleash a powerful energy shock wave that pushed back the chains. Continuing from the shock wave, they launched a powerful beam attack from their canon that consumed 20 percent of their energy.
The energy of thousands of shinobi over a month, compressed and utilized in the most ideal fashion brought out humanities potential for destruction to its peak.
With power to overturn the world, the four large beams crashed into the Green Team and forced Nagare to utilize his portals.
Just when everything seemed to be going well, the red team struck from the side as Green had taken all their attention.
Anna was the leader filling in for Mikoto, but her power was not far behind him. As such, just like him she commanded the flames of total annihilation.
Flame rained down on the ninja from the sky, forcing the puppets to build a large barrier from their energy reserves.
However, they didn't let go of their offence on the Green Team as it would make the situation even worse.
But, Nagare never needed Anna;s help and he proved it by finally attacking with something significant. Green Lightning crackled in the region and the green aura felt heavier before it converged into thousands of lightning balls.
Each holding enough power to level a city.
"Go!" Nagare commanded and the bombs vanished before appearing directly inside the barrier.
Just like that, the ninja were covered in a world of lightning and flames with no sense of survival as they had never fought against the Uzumaki. The ignorance led to the Uzumaki army to easily spread their Fuinjutsu seals around them, causing the enemies serious debuff to their physical stats and resistance.
"Hey, the party has just started." A joyous sound was heard as the ultimate weapon of Iwa and Kumo arrived on the battlefield with an overwhelming presence, and a humongous fist that covered the skies above them.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone