AN: So, here we are once again! Sorry this one took so long, guys! A combination of life and what Volume 6 threw at us made me go back to the drawing board for a lot of my stories. With this update, however, I'm sure that things will progress smoothly from here, as I've rediscovered my love for this one in particular. Fair warning beforehand, things finally kick off this chapter and I hope this final product is up to snuff after writing and rewriting this chapter a dozen times over!

Chapter 16: It Has Begun…

He was invincible. He was omniscient. He was omnipresent. He could destroy a person's very soul and his very existence radiated a power that Ozpin had not felt since the golden age of humanity millennia ago, a power rivaling the Gods themselves. He had been outplayed by Specter and had been made a mockery of in front of the entire world. He was a pariah again, set right back to square one with only two loyal followers in Glynda and Summer. Taiyang was still an agent of his and he was sure Specter knew; admittedly, he was waiting any day now for Tai's name to show up in Vale's obituaries, or for him to disappear altogether.

Then there was Athena. He didn't want to contact her, but he had been driven into a corner and he HAD to fight back somehow. Sha's loyalty was questionable at best and James had all but declared for Specter while Beacon was still without a Headmaster, though by the looks of things, that damned traitorous blonde Naruto was going to be named Headmaster as appeasement to the Revolution… no matter, he had made sure the Relic of Choice was removed, along with Amber's pod in the dead of night and personally helped load her onto the Mistral transport that Athena had provided.

This was all merely three days ago. He had set himself back up at Haven with a plea of sanctuary that Athena had, of course, accepted under pretense of aiding an old friend. Three days and he was still clueless as to how to defeat him. As Ozpin stood before Haven's Vault, knowing the treasure that lay within, the thought of seeking its guidance did cross his mind and was very quickly dashed because no one knew where the Spring Maiden was.

'If only we did…' Ozpin silently mused to himself after a deep sigh.

And then, a thought occurred to him. The Vaults responded to the Magic of the Maidens, which was in turn originally his own Magic. He had never once before thought of opening the Vaults himself, yet this time was different.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, as they say…" He spoke aloud, pausing only to gather himself.

As he approached the Vault, the familiar ebb and flow of latent Mana streaming off of the Vault gave him at least something to draw off of, anything that would help him not totally deplete his own stock and as his fingers brushed over the cold surface, he took in one last breath before drawing in as much of the surrounding Mana as he could and began pushing it into the lock. One minute went by, then two and finally after five minutes of nothing, Ozpin sighed in defeat and removed his hand from the surface of the Vault. It was worth a try, he told himself as he turned on a heel and made for the elevator.

Behind him, however, the mechanisms of the Vault began clicking and moaning until the mighty doors slid open, revealing its contents to the stunned Professor. Within the shard of an alternate dimension sat his prize, a lone blue and golden lamp hovering above a platform, the Relic of Knowledge that he had charged Haven with protecting. Right now, he needed it more than they did, so he stepped into the desert which surrounded the lamp and carefully removed it from its stasis above the pedestal

This was it.

This was his final move to checkmate. This is what he needed.

As a soft breeze settled throughout the desert, scattering particles of sand as it did, Ozpin took in one final calming breath before gazing at the Relic he held in his grasp.

"Jinn."

Just that one word was all it took. The breeze halted, the blown sand froze midair, time itself ground to a halt with the utterance of this one word, this one name.

Then the lamp floated out of Ozpin's grasp and up a few feet into the air where a blue mist began leaking out of it and gradually formed the outline of a giant woman who, as her features settled in, was naked save for a solid gold chain wrapped around her waist, a matching gold headdress and hoop earrings, a golden choker and armlets matching the rest of her gaudy accoutrements. As she stretched out the weariness of her ethereal body, Jinn's equally blue eyes landed upon Ozpin.

"Good to see you again, old man." She smiled playfully. "More questions for me, I see?"

"Just one this time, Jinn." Ozpin couldn't help but smirk victoriously. Ignoring Jinn's raised eyebrow, he continued. "Jinn, I wish to know… who is Specter?"

(Atlas: Same time)

Jon Schnee, once one of the most respected and influential figures in Atlas, now reduced to a wreck hiding within his own estate. Outside his mansion, the lights and sirens of the Atlesian Military Police rang, nearly harmonizing with the hum of presumably a Dreadnought parked above his home with its escorts close at hand no doubt. Not ten minutes ago he had learned that the SDC Board of Directors had voted to oust him in favor of Weiss of all people, possibly at the behest of both James and the Revolution, seeing as he had made enemies of them both.

He would not, however, be removed in favor of a stain on his family's great history. Weiss would not sit at the head of his company. And so, he ordered his estate, house and personal guards, plus a few extra hired mercenaries to keep the MPs out using whatever force necessary. Now two MPs lay dead or bleeding out and a perimeter around his estate had been set up, blockaded from both the ground and the sky thanks to the Dreadnought and its escorts.

As he sighed, he shot back a glass of his private reserve of whiskey, and then checked the heavy pistol laid upon his mahogany desk one last time as he glanced out of the window to see two familiar heads of white hair that he used to call his daughters as they stepped out of a Bullhead hat had just landed. Three more Bullheads flew overhead in a standard formation, these flying the colors and liveries of the Revolution. The lead Bullhead landed while the other two broke off and joined the rest of their Atlesian allies in a hovering position, guns trained on the mansion itself, and out of that Bullhead stepped that damnable blonde Naruto Uzumaki, followed closely by Athena's traitorous whore of a daughter Pyrrha and an entire squad of Revolutionary shock troops, armed and armored up as if they were expecting a war. As if sensing that he was being watched, Naruto looked right up at the Schnee patriarch and gave a victorious smirk to the man.

"Naruto Uzumaki." Winter stepped up to him, dutiful as ever. "I didn't expect the Revolution to show up here in force."

"We're here to help in whatever capacity is needed." Turning his attention to the woman in question, Naruto smiled. "Consider us your auxiliaries."

"Indeed." Winter hummed with a smirk of her own. "And this has nothing at all to do with your appearance at my sister's charity ball last week?"

"None at all, Winter." Weiss smiled coyly. "It seems the Board saw reason."

"And it seems Father is even more delusional that I first believed." She bitterly spat, eyeing the two body bags at the far end of the perimeter.

"U had heard the rumors…" Started the blonde as he gazed up at the Dreadnought. "But I didn't believe them. Atlas really has developed a monster of a ship."

"She just got back from shakedown yesterday." The elder Schnee explained. "The Phoenix-class Dreadnought, we're calling this one the Warden."

It was a gargantuan craft, dwarfing the other Atlesian Heavy Airships by at least a couple hundred meters. It was a slate gray wedge shape with a raised bridge flanked by two hard light Dust shield pylons and was bristling with heavy Dust cannons, point-defense cannons, an underbelly hangar and, most notably, an experimental axial mass accelerator cannon running along the center frame of the ship's superstructure.

"It's a magnificent sight, to be sure." Naruto briefly marveled at the craft before turning his attention back to the mansion. "So, how are we handling this?"

"Two MPs have already been killed." Likewise, Winter returned to the task at hand. "He's not the Father I once knew; we're staging for an assault to take him in, alive or dead."

"Then allow us to go in first." Pyrrha offered. "Our shock troops are equipped for heavy assaults; let us pave the way, then your units move in behind us and secure our rear as we advance."

"Sound strategy." Naruto agreed with his redhead companion, gaining a light blush from Pyrrha thanks to the praise. "Ultimately it's your call, however."

"… Do it." Winter nodded after sharing a look with Weiss.

With authorization now given, Naruto licked his lips as he withdrew his twin Dustsabers while Pyrrha likewise readied her shield and sword as they walked brazenly up to the front gates, followed by the fifteen revolutionary shock troops, who were cocking their guns and withdrawing their own melee weapons.

"Pyrrha, gate." Naruto spoke.

With a single waive of her hand, Pyrrha pushed the metal gate in and tore it off of its hinges, throwing the two objects at the two gate guards, killing one instantly and critically injuring the other.

"Snipers." He then spoke into his radio.

On that command, from the woods surrounding the mansion, a plethora of shots rang out, relieving Jon's own snipers, roof guards and a few mercenaries in the courtyard of their lives.

"Bullheads."

On cue, the heavy miniguns of the bullheads spun up and rained down hot death upon the stunned guards and mercenaries who were just now scrambling to defensive positions and those who weren't immediately mowed down were picked off by the surrounding snipers who continued to lay down their own suppressive fire. A hostile grenade had been thrown, but Pyrrha, alert as ever, merely swatted the thing back into the opposing lines with her Semblance and as it blew up, she shut herself off from the part of her that was dying inside having to do this. There was a mission that needed doing, so she'd do it.

Now it was their turn. As he smirked, he took the helmet that was strapped to his belt and slipped it on. It was the mask that was a mirror of Specter's, and as a sharp hiss of air signaled its sealing, he turned to face his squad.

"Showtime!" Naruto bellowed out, the synthesizer of his mask tuning down his voice a bit, and with the snap-hiss of his twin sabers, he, Pyrrha and their company charged in through the chaos and met the token defenders with ferocity.

Spinning his twin blades as he charged, he blocked a volley of rifle fire as he closed in on one of the few veteran defenders as she dropped her rifle, pulled out a kopis and charged. The quality of her sword, however, was lacking as a swing from his silver saber cut it in half and a second rising slash from his crimson saber burned through her armor, took a chunk out of her Aura and left her wide open for a final follow-up stab through the midsection with his silver blade. Behind him, he could hear the bark of Pyrrha's new bolt action rifle firing off after she had transformed her sword into its new configuration. Apparently she was taking pot shots into the open windows of the mansion because those inside were now firing out into the courtyard, evident when he felt a bullet impact against his own Aura.

"Suppressing fire on the mansion!" Naruto called into the radio of his mask and smirked beneath it when the heavy cannons of the Bullheads lit up the windows and those on the immediate other side of the walls. "Fire smoke; we're gonna breach!"

Following their command, the Bullhead pilots then fired off a couple of rockets into the courtyard itself which exploded into plumes of smoke to cover the advance of the shock troops.

"Holy shit…" Winter mumbled as she witnessed the ruthless efficiency before her, the tactical genius and the frightening professionalism that was the Revolution's army. "This… this is insane…"

"This is Delta Squad." Weiss smirked at the advancing form of her future husband as he carved a swathe through the battlefield and disappeared into the smoke. "This is Naruto's personal squad and the elite of the elite, drawn from the very best the Revolution has to offer. " Her gaze then drifted over to her sister. "Should the Conclave refuse, this is what Atlas has to fight against."

"That's why…" Winter's eyes went wide. "That's why Naruto's here. Should things spill over into war, the Revolution will target Atlas first… and Specter's sent his best to make sure we capitulate as quickly as possible."

"This is a show of force, Winter." Weiss nodded, smirk not faltering. "In a few short minutes, the Company will be mine and I'm going to reopen trade with not only the Kingdoms, but the Revolution at discounted prices. I'm going to ally myself with the Revolution… and I'm going to marry Naruto."

"What… have they done to you, Weiss?!" Winter rounded upon her younger sister. "You're hedging your bets on things turning into a war! You're placing your future into the hands of an organization, no matter who is leading them, that cannot take on the entire world and win! Naruto will not be Emperor of his fantasy land and you will not be his Empress!"

"We'll be dead, then? Is that your point?" Weiss narrowed her eyes at her sister. "Look at this force, and look well. Does the Atlesian Military have even half the professionalism the Revolution is displaying here?"

"When you're against the entire world, quality won't matter!" Winter defended. "Weiss, you're siding with losing prospects!"

"We'll see." Weiss scoffed as she withdrew Myrtenaster and followed the first wave of rear guard into the fray, flanked by three of Naruto's Delta Squad who had moved from their positions in the woods.

The fighting inside the mansion was brutal but relatively easier compared to what they faced in the courtyard. Apparently most of Jon's best were stationed outside or on the roof, leaving a sparse defense inside the mansion itself. While Pyrrha was leading a cleanup of the downstairs rooms and basement, Naruto took the other half of the squad upstairs in order to corner Jon himself, as well as clear the upstairs floors. Room by room, door by door they busted down and searched, killing or capturing any opposition they faced. Finally he and his three elites came upon a set of double doors; the doors they were looking for. Quickening his pace, Naruto unceremoniously kicked the doors in and was fast enough to deflect a bullet as he entered. Another shot and another of Jon's bullets was deflected as the three elites opened fire with their assault rifles, breaking Jon's Aura with the first volley and decommissioning him with the second.

As he coughed and labored for breath, he fell back into his chair, his heavy pistol now discarded on the floor. Blood poured from the corners of his mouth as his dull eyes watched Naruto deactivate his sabers in favor of pulling out Eclipse.

"This was the very gun I killed your brother with, Jon." Naruto spoke evenly, his synthesizer mixing his voice to sound akin to Specter's. "How fitting that it send you to Hell as well."

"F-Fuck you, F-F-Faunus scum…" Jon choked out as a rebellious fire of hatred lit within his eyes.

"Know that your company is in good hands… as is your daughter." As he leveled Eclipse at the man's head, Naruto continued. "Should things turn south and the unlikely event of my death occurs… I'll see you in Hell."

And with a pull of the trigger and a bark from Eclipse, Jon Schnee was no more.

(Atlas Academy: Same time)

James paled at what was being streamed to him direct from the situation unfolding at the Schnee Mansion. Never before had he seen such a fighting force so small take on a force nearly three times its size with such calculated, precise and terrifying efficiency of combined arms and brutal tactics; not even his Specialists could match the Revolution's Delta Squad blow for blow.

"Take this as an allegory for Atlas, James." The low, rumbling synthesized voice of Specter spoke as he stood before the desk of the Headmaster, arms linked behind his back. "You aided us in ousting Jon Schnee, and for that I thank you… but you must understand, I offer one hand and arm the other."

"So even this was part of your plan…" James swallowed hard as he shut the display off and took a generous sip from the glass of scotch he was nursing. "You're showing me what the Kingdoms will have to face if the Conclave decides to refuse, that much is painfully obvious." He took another sip. "But from what I'm seeing, Naruto's Delta Squad is one of your very few elite units. Surely the rest of your army is not of the same quality?"

"My other three elite units are, however." Specter's voice was now near a growl. "Vale was saved by both Delta and Omega Squads and you've just witnessed Delta in more in depth action personally. Need I activate my other two in Mistral and Vacuo?"

"Your knives are already at our throats…" James peered over the rim of his glass with narrowed eyes. "You've gotten impatient."

"The Conclave has stalled enough." Specter nodded. "I require an answer within the week or I shall assume your complacency is a refusal."

As a Kamui portal began opening around him, Specter gave his final warning.

"This is my ultimatum, James. One way or another, this has to end."

Seconds passed after Specter left. Those seconds turned into tense minutes for James as he downed the last of his scotch in one gulp.

"You underestimate my resolve here, Specter…" He muttered angrily to himself as he dialed into his computer one number in particular. "Captain of the Phoenix-class Dreadnought Warden, this is General James Ironwood. The auxiliary support from the Revolution is now flagged as hostile, I need a MAC round put directly into that mansion."

"I'm sorry, General, but that isn't an order I can follow." The Captain spoke over the line.

"You do as ordered, soldier!" James yelled as he slammed a hand down upon his desk.

"This craft was never yours to command; we were all bought off or joined the Revolution a long time ago." He could hear the smile on the Captain's face. "And you just tried to get us to fire on our comrades; in other words, the war has begun. Firing solution on these coordinates!" The line cut out just after the Captain gave his orders.

Quickly, and in a panic, James reopened the feed to the Schnee Mansion and went stark white at what he was seeing.

(Schnee Mansion: Same time)

The heavy Dust cannons of the Warden had opened up on a full broadside to both of the escorts flanking it, shredding one in half while hitting the other's Dust core, detonating it in a vibrant display of blues, reds and violets. It then maneuvered itself so it was pointing at the ground, not at the Mansion, but at the central command post that Winter had set up.

"Delta Squad…" Naruto called into the radio of his helmet. "The war is on. Massacre the Atlesians… and take no prisoners. The Kingdoms wish to test us? Let us remind them of whom they're fucking with!" With his last order given, Naruto's clone poofed out of existence just in time for the real Naruto to come out of his Kamui portal.

"Unexpected…" He hummed in his Specter voice before he sealed his Specter attire and instead unsealed his Revolutionary Officer's uniform so as to completely take the place of his clone. "This is your response, James? Very well…" He chuckled.

Outside, the Warden shot down Bullhead after Bullhead as they took off and once the order had been given, the Revolutionary Bullheads turned on their former allies, shredding them down as easily as the mercenaries they were just fighting against. The snipers in the trees, now having a shooting gallery before them, let loose once again with deadly efficiency and Winter, for her part, was now barreling through the courtyard in an effort to get to Delta's Captain and Specter's Right Hand.

'Remove the head, and the body withers and dies…' She mentally repeated Specter's words at the last Conclave.

"Naruto, what's happening?!" Weiss had caught him on the stairs of the foyer.

"It seems James has decided to stab us in the back." He spoke as calmly as he could. "We had sleeper agents on board the Warden, namely the Captain, a few bridge staff and some gunners. An order came through from the General himself saying that we were now flagged as hostile and for them to fire a MAC shell into this mansion to kill us all."

"But why?!" She demanded, confused.

"I'll find out later…" He growled into his synthesizer. "For now, James has forced our hand… the war is on."

"NARUTO!" Winter bellowed as she shot through the open doors of the mansion she once called home and bee-lined right for the man in question, only to be intercepted by the blade of her own sister.

"No, Winter!" Weiss snarled. "You will NOT touch him!"

"Out of my way, Weiss!" She demanded with a growl, blue eyes shining with unbridled anger. "He's Specter's Right Hand, Sienna Khan's First Head of Cerberus! If we kill him, we cripple Specter!"

"You'll have to kill me to get to him!" Weiss pushed Winter back and spun Myrtenaster with a flourish, a Haste Glyph appearing below her feet. "We don't need to be enemies here, Winter! James tried to have us killed!"

"Then the General has finally seen reason! Something that you seem to have lost!" Winter split her saber into its second blade as she summoned two blue ethereal Beowolves to back her up.

"Winter… please…" Despite herself, a few tears made their way down Weiss's cheeks. She was torn. She loved her older sister, but her Kingdom had dealt the first blow. The Revolution was defending itself and Winter was out to kill the possible Emperor of Remnant, her future husband. "Please, don't do this…"

"Your forces are being massacred out there, Winter." Naruto spoke as he removed his helmet, whereupon black orbs met blue. "And I don't want to make an enemy out of my future sister-in-law. Leave with what remains of your soldiers and take a message to your General and your Council."

By this time, Pyrrha had made her way up and out of the basements with the other half of Delta, who surrounded Winter upon seeing her.

"…"

As Winter glanced around at all of the myriad weapons trained on her and the waning cries of her comrades outside as the Revolution was undoubtedly mopping up whoever survived first contact, her eyes finally fell upon Weiss one last time before she took in a breath.

"FOR ATLAS!" She screamed as she and her two summons charged.

For Weiss, time slowed to a crawl. He first few bullets fired from Delta Squad tore apart the two Beowolves and impacted against Winter's Aura. The next volley was when the heavies of Delta lit her up with their light machine guns, taking an even bigger chunk out of her Aura. Next was Pyrrha, who forced Winter's sabers out of her hand before taking aim with her rifle and shot the still charging woman center mass, breaking her aura.

As time zoned back in, the sound of Pyrrha pulling back on her bolt, loading another round and the bark of her rifle combined with that of Naruto's Eclipse beside her broke her out of her reverie. Both of them had aimed for her legs to stop her charge and both shots were aimed true. As winter screamed out in pain, she fell face first against the floor, disabled and now bleeding out. After holstering Eclipse, Naruto unhooked one of his blades and with a snap-hiss, the crimson blade sprang to life as he approached the fallen Specialist.

"K-Kill me, then…" Winter forced herself to speak through her grit teeth. "Prove to Weiss that you all are just a bunch of demons parading around in human shells."

"… You are now a captive of the Revolution." He spoke as he leveled his blade at her head. "You will be held as ransom against the Kingdom of Atlas for its actions against our Revolution.

"B-Better to die… than be captured…" With her last ounce of concentration, Winter summoned up the heads of a King Taijitu behind her captor.

As Naruto's eyes widened, he turned around to defend himself, but another round of fire from Delta killed the heads. This however, gave Winter the chance she needed. Drawing a hidden pistol, she took aim at the back of Naruto's exposed head.

BLAM!

The report of Pyrrha's rifle resounded throughout the foyer as Winter went limp on the floor, a hole in her head from where the champion had defended her commanding officer.

"Nice shot, Lieutenant." One of the shock troopers praised her aim."

"A shame…" Naruto shook his head as he deactivated his blade and hooked it upon his belt once again. "Thank you, Pyrrha." He smiled. "Looks like I owe you one."

"Just doing my job, Captain." Despite herself, Pyrrha once again blushed at the praise.

"Dammit…" Weiss sobbed. "Why, Winter… why…?"

"She held true to her ideals and loyalties, Weiss." Naruto softly spoke as he approached her. "I didn't want her to die, either, but apparently she had other plans."

"I'm the only one left now…" Her gaze shifted downwards even as Naruto's arms encircled her. "I'm the last of the Schnee bloodline… DAMMIT!" She sobbed again.

"I'm so sorry, Weiss…" He whispered to her through his own grit teeth. "I'm so, so sorry…"

"Let's give her a proper burial." Pyrrha ordered as she motioned to two of Delta's soldiers. "You two, get on that. The rest of you, casualty reports, resume cleanup operations and someone get the Warden on the line, tell them we need additional hands down here gathering up the dead and wounded."

"No." Weiss shook her head as she removed herself from Naruto's grasp. With tears still falling, she stared the champion in her emerald green eyes. "We board the Warden and we put a MAC round into this place… there's nothing for me here anymore."

"We leave this place as a graveyard, then." Naruto nodded his head. "You heard her, to the Bullheads!"

The ride up to the Warden was a silent one, and even as Naruto took command of the ship from its Captain, the bridge fell silent upon seeing the teary, broken determination in Weiss's eyes.

"Coordinates punched in and we're at a safe altitude, sir." The Captain reported. "On your command."

"Not mine." Naruto shook his head while motioning to his fiancée.

"… On your word, Ma'am." The Captain bowed his head out of respect.

As her bloodshot, teary eyes stared at her home for one last time, taking its ruined sight in, she breathed in slowly. "Fire."

It wasn't a violent rock of the ship like she was expecting, no it was a rather gentle vibration. It wasn't as noisy as she expected either, probably thanks to the noise dampeners on the bridge. As the MAC went off, her childhood home was there one second and simply gone the next, replaced by a large crater, dust, debris and smoke. It wasn't at all like she expected, yet her heart was still shattered. It was a rather peaceful sendoff, as peaceful as her broken tears as they fell upon the floor of the bridge, as quick as her innocence to the savagery of war was taken away when she saw her sister killed in a last stand against insurmountable odds and as final as her now apparent loyalties and allegiances which cost her her entire family, leaving her the sole Schnee left on Remnant.

"What does this matter, though?" She choked out a laugh through her sobs. "I'm gonna be Empress…"

Silently, Naruto looked at her while gritting his teeth. Was all of this worth it?

"I'm Empress now…" She again said, mostly to herself as she sunk to her knees. "Empress…" She chanted once again, emotionlessly as broken tears stained her cheeks, her dress and the floor of the bridge.

The faint buzzing of his Scroll caught Naruto by surprise. As he turned and walked away, he answered the call.

"Blake? What's wrong?"

"N-Naruto…" She sniffled through the line. "It's Cinder, she…"

(Kuroyuri: Minutes ago)

"AAAHHHHHH!" Cinder screamed out in anguish, stopping only to breathe.

"Come on, Cinder! Push!" One of the nurses in the room encouraged her. "Almost there!"

Another scream as the half-Maiden gathered up what remained of her strength and pushed with all her might until the cries of a newborn baby filled the room.

"It's a girl!" The midwife declared happily.

"L-Let…" Exhausted, Cinder was struggling to speak. "Let me see her…"

The baby handed to her was a mop of black hair and had two whisker marks upon her little cheeks. As she wailed and wailed, Cinder merely smiled at her daughter.

"S-Shh… Mama's here, Akari… Mama's here." Tears of happiness spilled over as she held her daughter.

"We have to take her, Cinder." The midwife spoke. "We have to make sure she's healthy, and you have to get some rest."

"Right…" Though hesitantly, Cinder handed her daughter back to the midwife, who exited the room to take Akari to an examination room.

This was when gunfire was heard outside, followed by screams, more gunfire and calls for reinforcements… and it all was getting closer. The guards outside Cinder's door radioed in for more forces to surround the hospital, but by then the gunfire was inside the walls of the hospital itself.

"She's there!" One of the guards yelled as he opened fire.

A pair of final screams filled the hospital before the door to Cinder's room was opened, revealing a blood splattered Summer Rose brandishing her ninjato as she entered the room.

"Ozpin's whore…" Cinder worked up the energy to spit.

"when I get done with you, bitch, I'll kill your dear precious Specter as well." Summer smirked dangerously. "Or, should I say, I'll kill your dear Naruto."

"The R-Relic of Knowledge…" Cinder's eyes widened in realization.

"And you'll take that knowledge to the grave." Sliding her ninjato into place at Cinder's throat, Summer became gravely serious. "And with this, the war begins."

All she did was slowly drag the blade against Cinder's throat and a splash of crimson poured out onto the woman's hospital gown. Ignoring the choking and gasping, Summer casually walked out of the room, intent on finding the progeny of the whore and the demon. Behind her, however, she heard fast approaching footsteps, followed by a rage-filled cry.

Turning and swiping, Summer smirked when she saw that she had bisected Blake at the waist, but was caught by surprise when the Blake she had killed faded from view, revealing the real Blake mid swing with Wilt. Wisely, Summer backpedaled away, only to catch three Dust rounds from Blush in succession to her face, which her Aura absorbed, but she was left blinded. For what came next.

'Kill her, Blake.' She heard the faintest whisper of Adam's voice inside her head. 'I'll aid you if you resolve to kill her for what she's done!'

Whether a part of Adam lived on within his weapon she wasn't sure or whether or it was an echo of his Semblance she was equally not sure. What she was, sure of, however was she felt a surge of power as she sheathed Wilt. Her entire form was then obscured in shadow and she was outlined in red.

'YES! Do it, Blake, KILL HER!"

When Summer opened her eyes, Blake was no longer in front of her. Figuring she was behind her, Summer turned and with a yell… would have swiped with her ninjato if she still had a right arm. The only thing that happened was that a bit of blood had spattered against Blake's back as she sheathed Wilt once again after somehow performing Adam's Moonslice. Now just noticing that her arm was on the ground and currently disintegrating, Summer's eyes widened and she let out a blood-curling scream as she shoulder-charged a nearby door with her good shoulder and dove out of the window.

Putting how she had done that to the side for now, with a shaky hand Blake withdrew her Scroll and dialed a number.

"Blake?" Naruto's voice came over the line. "What's wrong?"

"N-Naruto…" She sniffled as fresh tears began to fall. "It's Cinder, she…" She stopped for a sob." She's dead…"

In an instant, Naruto was standing right beside her, probably through the use of his Hiraishin, she figured. As he rushed off, she hung up the Scroll and silently followed him.

"N-No…" As he laid eyes upon the still warm body of the mother of his daughter, he sunk to his knees. "No, no, no..."

"Summer Rose attacked…" Blake informed him as she sunk to her knees as well and embraced him from behind. "As far as I know, Akari is safe, but…"

Blake's voice was slowly being tuned out as he stared up and into Cinder's dead eyes. A thousand different thoughts and emotions were running through him, the most prevalent being the memory of Sakura staring at him with that same expression, her neck also slit.

'They want to play it like this?'Zetsu spoke to him through his subconscious. 'Then let's play their little game, kid… kill them. Kill them all. Every single one of them. Purge them, massacre them, glass their cities…'

"I will show them… Naruto intoned monotonously as he rose, shrugging himself out of Blake's arms.

'We will show them…' Zetsu mirrored his host's words.

As his Rinnegan and Mangekyou sprung to life, his right eye's Mangekyou began to twist and deform until it was replaced by the familiar ripple pattern of the Rinnegan. With a complete set of Rinnegan eyes now, Naruto balled his hands into fists and roared to the heavens themselves.

"WE WILL SHOW THEM THE POWER OF A GOD!" Naruto and Zetsu's voices rang out together.

Ozpin didn't know it yet, but he had broken the final piece of humanity that Naruto had left.

Naruto was dead.

Now it was Specter's turn to guide the wheel of Fate…

AN: So, how was this for a return to one of my favorite stories? As said before, I rewrote this one way too many times, so I hope it's acceptable! With this update, the war has officially begun and the Revolution has been called to action. How will Cinder's death affect everything, now that Naruto's fully surrendered himself to his desire to utterly crush Ozpin? Will he take his wrath out on Remnant as a whole? Will Blake and the rest of his girls be there to pull him back, or encourage him? Theories are welcome, as always!

Now, pairings. I've seen some good reasons for Sienna, but I'm still not sold yet. Keep those suggestions coming in, especially now that the war's begun! They're always appreciated, just make 'em good!

This is ZeroDivisionRaijin, signing off!