Author's Note: I'd like to announce that Shinobi420 and Animephilosopher1 had published a side story to this fic focused on Hanabi, titled "Hanabi Gaiden". If you want to read it (and you totally should is a pretty neat story), the fic is on Shinobi420's profile.

Anyway, onto the newest chapter:

Chapter 110:

Akatsuki's Counterattack

or

When bad guys stop fooling around

Ninja Alliance HQ

A few days after the battle on the forests of the Land of Frost, another army of White Zetsu and Impure World Resurrection zombies was detected, this one cutting through the Land of Fire, in direct route to Konoha.

"It seems they alternate their targets between Konoha and Kumo each time. A pattern, perhaps?" Onoki suggested.

"Who knows. That's not important now," Jiraiya said, before he turned towards Ao. "Ao-san, which division is closest to the enemy position?"

Ao focused, as his sensing abilities expanded. In no time, he managed to detect all the nearby friendly ninja in the Land of Fire.

"The Raikage's First Division is the closest to it," Ao said. "There's also Kurotsuchi's Second Division and Tsunade's Medical Division as well."

"Good. Send a message to the Raikage to intercept the enemy. He'll be happy to have a chance to break some skulls," Jiraiya told Ao.

"Shouldn't we move the other two divisions as well? Or one of them at the very least?" Onoki suggested.

Jiraiya shook his head. "Akatsuki probably knows the position of our troops, and they may be baiting us to move all our forces into a single point to leave other areas unprotected. We'll keep those in standby as they're relatively close to the First Division's position."

Suddenly, a ninja –from Suna, given the uniform– burst into the room, holding a sealed folder.

"Supreme Commander, we just received the scouts' report of the details about the enemy forces!" the Suna scout said.

Jiraiya nodded, took the folder, opened it, and carefully read its contents. His expression darkened with each name of the reanimations that have been spotted. It seemed that Orochimaru wanted to reopen old wounds on top of creating new ones.

"Orochimaru... this is a low blow..." Jiraiya growled.

"Something you may want to share with us, Supreme Commander?" Onoki asked. "We're a bit in the dark here."

"Several of the reanimations spotted are Konoha ninjas who died during the Uchiha Insurrection," he then looked at Shikaku, as color left the Nara leader's face. "Including Clan Heads Hiashi Hyuga and Inoichi Yamanaka."

Shikaku's shock was replaced by anger as his expression hardened and his hands were clenched into fists. "My boy and his teammates are part of the First Division. Inoichi wasn't just Ino's father, he was like an uncle for Shikamaru and Choji. Seeing him defiled like that is going to break them."

"I don't want to sound insensitive, Shikaku-san, but if those kids are ninjas, they aren't kids anymore," Chiyo intervened. "They should be ready to face such a challenge."

"And they will face it... but not alone," Shikaku said, before turning at Jiraiya. "Supreme Commander, I know I'm part of the Intelligence Division, but this is a special circumstance. I hereby ask for permission to go into the battlefield."

There was a moment of silence as the Toad Sage locked eyes with the Nara Clan Nead. Even if Jiraiya was regrettably out of the village when the Insurection happened, he did hear some of the details. Among them, how Inoichi died, and how Shukaku watched him die. The man probably blamed himself for his friends' death.

"Maybe Shikaku can help Inoichi find closure, so we can get rid of a reanimation," Jiraiya thought, before making his decision. "Very well then. Permission granted."

"Good. Then I'll go immediately. Even at a good pace, I'll take some time to reach there."

"Leave that to me, Shikaku-san," Jiraiya said before biting his thumb and making five hand seals. "Summoning jutsu!"

Jiraiya slammed his palm into the ground, summoned a large orange toad with dark green markings and yellow eyes. Jiraiya then wrote something into a scroll, and gave it to the toad.

"Gama, please take Shikaku-san to this coordinates. Can you do that?"

Wordlessly, the toad shot his tonge at the surprised Shikaku, before pulling the Nara into his mouth and swallowing him whole, much to everybody else's horror. Then, the toad disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Jiraiya noticed the looks of bewilderment the others were shooting at him.

"What? None of you guys traveled by toad? Stop giving me those looks, he will be fine!" the Sannin said in an annoyed tone.

Forests of the Land of Fire

Fortunately, it took no time for the First Divison to intercept the marching Akatsuki army en route to Konoha, catching them still far away from the village.

The Raikage led from the vanguard. He had traded his usual white haori for the standard Kumo flak jacket, which he wore over his bare chest. He hadn't wore such flak jacked since the Third Ninja War, and couldn't help but admit, with a small hint of sadness, that it was fitting that another war would make him put it on again.

The enemy approached, heralded by a cloud of dust. The scouts from the Hyuga Clan already warned that two lines of Zetsu Brutes led the charge. The Raikage had read the reports from the other divisions on these creatures: made from several normal White Zetsu clones merging together, they were much stronger than the sum of their components, had near unlimited endurance, and only extremely powerful strikes or jutsu could put them down for good.

The Raikage smiled. He loved to hear somebody describing an enemy in such terms. When he heard about something being very hard, he couldn't help but test how much of his strength it would take to break it.

"Raikage-sama, they'll be here soon," an Iwa ninja asked. "Your orders?"

The answer came in the form of a burst of chakra, as an aura of blue light and crackling sparks flared around the leader of Kumo.

"They plan to break our formation with an onslaught," the Raikage said. "So we break their formation first!"

And in an instant, the Raikage was gone. In less than two seconds, he crossed the distance between them and the enemy lines, and sunk his fist into the gut of a Zetsu Brute. The force of the punch, coupled with the momentum of his charge added so much power to the hit, that the artificial monster burst into multiple chunks of goo. It happened so fast, his fellow Zetsu didn't notice what had happened.

Which proved to be a fatal mistake as the Raikage, who still kept some momentum from the initial charge, moved to the left and elbowed another Brute, blowing two of his arms and pushing it against another one.

Finally, the Zetsu stopped their charge, realizing that somebody was making a number on their ranks. A Brute charged the Raikage from behind, two of his arms morphing into blades, and tried to skewer him. However, the Raikage proved to be much faster than his enemy, and not only avoided the attack, but placed himself behind the giant creature. He wrapped his arms around the Brute's waist, and suplexed it into the ground with such force, it opened a crater while releasing lightning botls everywher, while pushing the enemies away from him.

The Raikage looked back, and saw that his troops didn't even move, watching in awe the spectacle that was his fighting. This brought an ugly snarl to his face.

"What the hell are you looking at!? ONWARDS!" he yelled.

After a couple seconds of silence, the Raikage's order was replied by a chorus of battle cries, and the First Division charged forward, their morale invigorated. Soon, it was the Akatsuki army who found itself at the mercy of an unstoppable enemy onslaught.

…

Despite the Raikage successfully breaking the enemy formation, the first lines at least, the Zetsu Brutes still proved to be very resilent enemies, being able to shake off low and mid power jutsu, while literally ripping in part the unfortunate ninjas who got to close for them.

"Let the Chakra Golems go first!" Shikamaru shouted, as the aforementioned metallic constructs stomped their way forward. Many of them raised their arms, releasing streams of fire from the flamethrowers mounted on their forearms. While they proved to be effective burning the smaller Zetsu, the larger ones were more resilent. "Okay, it's time for us to enter the fray! Ino, with me! Choji, stay behind us and guard our backs!"

"You got it!" the Akimichi replied.

"Alright, let's go!" Ino said, already seeing her first victim, a Zetsu brute struggling against a Chakra Golem, and made a hand seal. "You're mine! Mind Disturbance Jutsu!"

The Zetsu Brute lost control of his body, much to his confusion, and disengaged the Chakra Golem to attack a fellow Brute fighting some Kiri and Kumo ninjas. Another Brute and a couple of normal Zetsu quickly identified the source of the disruption, and charged towards the Yamanaka Clan head.

"Good work, Ino! Keep going forward. Now's my turn!" Shikamaru said, making his clan's signature hand seal as well. "Shadow Imitation Jutsu!"

Shikamaru's shadow darkened and enlogated, spreading forward, while also splitting into multiple threads, one for each Zetsu coming towards them. The moment the shadow threads connected with their shadows, the artificial creatures were stopped on the spot.

"Good. Now, stay still while I kill you," Shikamaru said with a smirk, as his hands formed the rat and the bird seal."Shadow Stitching Jutsu!"

Suddenly, several black needles materialized from the shadows, impaling the Zetsu, who screamed in pain as they were almost instantly killed. However, the Zetsu Brute, even if he was in obvious pain, managed to survive. He even shot Shikamaru a mocking smirk.

"You'll need... something stronger than a few pinpricks to kill me, Konoha scum," the Zetsu Brute said, as he tried to overpower Shikamaru's binding jutsu.

Shikamaru smirked back, as his hands started to do more hand seals. "How about this, then? Fire Release: Shadow Fire Thread!"

A stream of fire moved through Shikamaru's shadow towards the immobilized Zetsu Brute, as if the shadows were trails of oil. Soon, the Zetsu Brute was engulfed by a roaring inferno. The creature let out a scream of pain as the flames devoured his flesh. And that wasn't even the end of it.

"Here, have this as well!" Shikamaru said, as he tossed forward two kunai with explosive tags attached to them. The paper notes detonated the moment the fire touched them, putting the Zetsu Brute out of its mysery. "Whew. One down, dozens remain. Wonder if we can do something to-"

"Shikamaru, watch out!" the Nara heard Choji's voice warning him from behind.

Shikamaru pulled out a kunai just in time to see two normal Zetsu clones lunging at him from the flanks. While he could parry the attack of one of them, he'd be at the mercy of the other. Fortunately, Shikamaru didn't have to worry about anything as two giant hands caught one of the Zetsu each, before they slammed them into the ground, killing them.

"Good one, Choji!" Shikamaru praised.

Choji's arms shrunk to normal size, as he smiled at Shikamaru. "Hey, you told me to cover your backs, and I will do that no matter wha-"

"Vacuum Palm!"

Choji was suddenly hit by a vacuum shell on the side of his head, which sent him sprawling on the floor.

"Choji!" Shikamaru cried, and turned to the direction of the attack. There, an undead Hyuga, a man with shoulder length brown hair and delicate features. Main house, given his clean forehead. The man was in the clan's usual battle stance, stood there ready to attack. Shikamaru wasted no time. "Shadow Imitation Jutsu!"

From Shikamaru's shadow, multiple shadow threads rocketed towards the Hyuga reanimation, but the man expertly dodged them, carefully timing his steps.

"I'm sorry, Nara, I wish you no harm, but my actions aren't my own," the Hyuga apologized, as he dashed towards Shikamaru. "Eight Trigrams, Thirty two-"

"Human Tank Bullet Jutsu!"

Shikamaru jumped sideways just as Choji, transformed into a giant spinning meat sphere, rolled forward towards the Hyuga, carving a furrow on the ground as it moved. The Hyuga cancelled his combo, and went for the clan's defensive move.

"Heavenly Spin!"

The Hyuga started to spin, turning into a rotating chakra dome, which formed just in time to parry Choji's attack. Both attacks struggled and grinded against each other, but in the end, the Heavenly Spin proved to be more powerful, and Choji was pushed backwards. The Akimichi heir quickly returned to normal, as he landed on his back, letting out a grunt of pain.

"Choji!" Shikamaru shouted again. But he was unable to assist his fallen friend, since the Hyuga stopped spinning and charged towards Shikamaru. "Shit! Shadow-"

"Lightning Release: Lightning Flash!"

Suddenly, bright white light filled the area, making Shikamaru to instinctively shield his eyes in order to protect them. The Hyuga, however, wasn't so lucky, and thanks to his Byakugan, the damage to his sight was even greater.

"Lightning Release: Thunder Blade!"

As the bright light dimmed down, a dark skinned, red headed kunoichi wielding a katana crackling with electricity passed Shikamaru, rushing towards the blinded Hyuga. She delivered several quick swipes, cutting both the arms and the head of the reanimation, whose body fell on its back lifelessly.

"It seems we arrived just in time," the redhead kunoichi said.

"Karui!" Choji happily said, now back on his feet, and rushed towards her. "Thanks a lot! We owe you one!"

"You'll have plenty of chances to repay me," Karui said, as her teammates Omoi and T quickly went to the fallen reanimation, and started to apply chakra and movement suppresion sealing tags. "You guys are okay?"

"I've been better, but I could have been worse," Shikamaru admitted. "Nice timing."

"It was luck that we saw you here. By the way, why didn't you move since the battle began?" Karui asked. "You guys are sitting ducks if you stay in the open like that."

"We were protecting Asuma-sensei before he finished," Choji mentioned, and looked back.

Karui looked at where Choji was looking at, and saw the bearded Jonin sitting on the ground in the lotus position with his eyes closed.

"The hell? What is that guy doing?" Karui asked, half surprised, half outraged. "Finished doing what?"

"Gathering nature energy," Shikamaru said.

And just on cue, Asuma opened his eyes, which were yellow rather than dark brown, and had thin red lines around them.

"Gathering complete. My Sage Mode is ready!" Asuma said, as he pulled out his trench knives. Channeling chakra through them, the knives projected a long blade of blue light. "Whoa! It was never this big before!"

The earth started to rumble, and the Konoha and Kumo ninjas noticed a multitude of White Zetsu clones, lead by three Zetsu Brutes, charging towards them.

"Just like I said before, sitting ducks!" Karui said, before turning towards the Konoha ninjas. "Come on, we need to rejoin the main group!"

"Wait. I think I can take care of this group on my own," Asuma said, taking a step forward. Raising one of his chakra blades, he delivered an horizontal swing in his general direction.

With that move, Asuma released a crescent shaped chakra wave, which flew forward towards the incoming group if enemies. The moment Asuma's attack touched the incoming enemies, they were sliced in half, as if they were made of butter. The wave still carried enough power and momentum to continue flying forward, cutting more enemies until it dispelled.

"Wow..." Karui said in awe. "I really need to learn how to do that."

"I can talk with the guy that taught me senjutsu if you want," Asuma said. "But it will have to be another moment. Now we have a battle to win!"

His confidence reinvigorated by his new power, Asuma rushed forward. Shikamaru and Choji were going to follow him, when that moment a giant toad landed seemingly out of nowhere in front of them. And their surprise grew even further when the toad regurgiated a very disgusted Shikaku.

"Dad!?" Shikamaru asked, as he run towards his father. "What are you doing here? And... what were you doing inside a toad?"

"Hokage-sama said it was the fastest way to get me to the battlefield," Shikaku said, coughing, and wiping slime from his body. "Though I don't think I'll want to do that ever again."

"Yeah, Ino said the same thing when she had to get inside a toad," Choji said, as he and Shikamaru helped Shikaku on his feet.

"Why are you here, dad?"

"I had to come. Our scouts told us that one of the reanimations on this division is no other than Inoichi," Shikaku explained. Both Shikamaru and Choji's eyes grew wide as their mouths were left wide open, though Shikamaru quickly shook off the shock.

"Of course. It makes sense that Orochimaru would revive him," Shikamaru said, shaking his head in disgust. "It was only a matter of time until we had to fight somebody close to us."

"Then Ino..." Choji began.

No more words were needed, as they quickly went to look for their blonde teammate, hoping that they would get to her before she saw her defiled form of her deceased father.

…

"...sixteen strikes, thirty two strikes, sixty four strikes!"

Not far away from there, another Hyuga reanimation was in the middle of a fight. This one, though, was much stronger than the one Karui defeated. At his feet laid the bodies of the ninjas from multiple villages he had just defeated, some of them death, others just unconscious or paralized, fallen victim of the zombie's martial prowess.

More Allied ninjas appeared to replace the ones Hiashi had defeated. Two from Konoha, another from Kiri, another from Iwa and one from Ame. The former Hyuga Clan Head was still wrapping his head around seeing ninjas from so many villages fighting together. Despite the fact that other Konoha reanimations gave him an abridged version of what had happened after his death, there were some things that didn't sink in.

"If you wish to defeat me, I'd avoid engaging me in close combat," Hiashi adviced, seeing that his new opponents all were holding weapons of some sort, from kunai, to katanas to shotos. "The Hyuga Clan is unbeatable in hand to hand combat, and weapons will do you no good. Try ninjutsu instead."

"Very well then! Thanks for the tip" the Iwa ninja ninja said, as he started to make hand seals as fast as he could. "Earth Release: Crushing Avalanche!"

His companions did the same.

"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire!"

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!"

"Lightning Release: Thunderbolt!"

"Water Release: Water Shuriken!"

Large boulders, a stream of fire, smaller fireballs and shuriken made of water flew in perfect formation towards the former clan head. His expression unchanging, he started to spin as chakra was released from his body.

"Heavenly Spin!"

In less than a second, Hiashi turned into a spinning dome of chakra, rotating so fast and with so much momentum that not only he was able to repel the elemental barrage aimed towards him, but created a shockwave that send his enemies flying backwards.

"Unfortunately, you'll need something more powerful than that to make a dent in my defenses," Hiashi said in a somewhat regretful manner. He then dashed forward, his palms flaring with blue chakra. "Sorry. I won't enjoy this anymore than you will."

However, before Hiashi could strike his next victim, he was alerted by the whirring sound of multiple shuriken flying towards him. He broke his charge, deflected some with a few Gentle Fist strikes, and jumped backwards to dodge the rest. That moment, a nwecomer entered the battleground, another Konoha ninja, given the uniform.

Though it wasn't just any Konoha ninja, but one Hiashi knew so well.

"Hello, husband. I was praying that you'd be sent to fight a division other than mine. But alas, fate doesn't appear to be on my side."

"Hikari..." Hiashi said, his expression softening, as his heart whirled with a mixture of sorrow and joy. "It makes me so happy to see that you're still alive. Are our daughters okay? And the clan?"

"Both our daughters and the rest of the clan couldn't be better," Hikari said, before turning at the other ninja Hiashi just defeated, who were getting back on their feet. "I'll take care of my husband. I'm among the few who knows how to beat him."

"As you wish, Hyuga-san," one of the Konoha ninjas said, as both he and the rest of his companions left to look for another opponent.

"You were a strong kunoichi when I was alive, Hikari, but even then you were still weaker than me," Hiashi said, as his body slipped into the standard Hyuga fighting stance. "Did your strength and skill grow as much as to eclipse mine during these past years?"

"I'm not sure, but I like to think that they did," Hikari said, mimicking her husband's actions. "Guess that there's only one way to find out."

Without further ado, Hiashi launched himself at his wife, and delivered a flurry of palm strikes. Hikari was able to block or dodge all of them nimbly, as well as deliver a few good hits herself. Still, her hits were barely able to hurt her husband.

"You're indeed better than I remember," Hiashi admitted. "Though sadly the Gentle Fist won't work on reanimations like myself."

"Understood. Let me step up my game then," Hikari said, jumping backwards while making several hand seals, before clapping her hands together. "Water Release: Water Palm!"

Water droplets formed around Hikari, before they gathered on her hands, covering them in a cloak of liquid. Hiashi watched the process with utmost interest.

"Elemental ninjutsu combined with the Gentle Fist... that was the idea Hinata mentioned she wanted to develop..." Hiashi said in awe.

"I'm glad you still remember that. Needless to say, yeah, she suceeded with that. If anything, she took the Gentle Fist to heights you'd be unable to believe. Oh, if only she was here to show you..."

"As much as I'd like to see how my daughters are and how much they've grown, I prefer if they don't see me in such a wretched state," Hiashi sorrowfully said, before charging forward. "Now you'll have the opportunity to test how good that combination is, Hikari."

Hikari began her counterattack, delivering palm strikes that released short but power streams of water when she thrust her arms forward. She quickly reared both arms backwards.

"Water Release: Double Torrent Palm!"

Hikari pushed her hands forward, this time releasing a larger stream of water at her undead husband. Hiashi started to spin as chakra poured from his body.

"Heavenly Spin!"

Once again, the Hyuga Clan's greatest defensive jutsu proved to be enough to keep the former clan head safe.

"I must admit, seeing the Gentle Fist combined with elemental ninjutsu is truly a sight to behold," Hiashi praised.

"You should see what Neji or our daughters are able to do," Hikari replied.

"Unfortunately, it's still not enough to cause me any harm," Hiashi continued, as his body slipped into a fighting stance once again. "For your sake, I hope you have more techniques you can use than the ones you showed me."

"Heh, I knew beating you wouldn't be this easy. Anyway, fortunately, I do have a couple more tricks under my sleeve," Hikari said, smiling confidently as her hands flew through more hand seals. "Water Release: Walking Malestrom!"

Water burst around Hikari in large quantities, gathering around her in the shape of a spinning liquid column. Hiashi narrowed his eyes as he scanned the jutsu through the vision of the Byakugan.

"The water around her is laced with her chakra, hiding her body from the Byakugan," Hiashi concluded. He smirked as his Byakugan instantly deactivated. "Good one, Hikari. That way I won't be able to read your movements as long as I have the Byakugan active."

"Water Needle Palm!"

Hikari started to thrust her arms forward in quick sucession, releasing a barrage of water needles at her undead husband. In an amazing display of dexterity and speed, Hiashi managed to parry every single one of them with quick strikes of the Gentle Fist, with the Byakugan still deactivated. Hikari moved forward little by little as she continued her barrage, closing the distance between her and her husband.

Until Hiashi suddenly reactivated the Byakugan.

"Eight Trigrams: Mountain Crusher!"

Thursting both palms forward, Hiashi released a destruve wave of chakra from them. Hikari was too close to dodge, and took the attack in full, and was violently launched backwards, as the wave of chakra carved a wide furrow on the ground-. Fortunately, her watery cloak absorbed some of them impact, so the damage wasn't as severe as it could have been.

As the Hyuga kunoichi struggled to get back on her feet while rebuilding her water chakra cloak, her Byakugan picked her husband rushing towards her, ready to continue the beating.

"Heh, nice, an opportunity to show him another of Hinata's jutsu," Hikari thought, as she smirked. "Water Release: Heavenly Rainstorm!"

Hikari started to spin in place, as she generated more chakra from her body that she instantly turned into more water, encasing herself into a protective watery tornado, just as Hiashi was about to strike her. The former Hyuga clan head felt as if he was trying to fight a tsunami, and this time it was his turn to be pushed backwards.

"Amazing. Not just the Gentle Fist, but the Heavenly Spin too?" Hiashi asked.

"Like I said, you'd be amazed if you could see Hinata and Hanabi now," Hikari replied, after she stopped spinning. Then, her Byakugan picked up something. "Huh?"

That moment, another Hyuga near idential to her husband landed besides her.

"Hello, Hikari-san. I saw that you were having a little trouble dealing with my brother, so I'm here to offer my assitance," Hizashi said, and without waiting for an answer, he locked eyes with his brother. "Hello, Hiashi. It's been a while since your demise."

"Hizashi! What are you doing here!?" Hiashi asked, as panic crept through his back. "You need to leave immediately, before I seriously hurt you!"

Hizashi chuckled as if his brother just told him a joke. "Hurt me? Brother, you may have been the first born, but I was the stronger of the two. And I'd like to think that I gotten even stronger since then."

"That's not what I'm talking about! The Caged Bird Seal! I don't think-" Hiashi said, as his body tensed. "I'm sorry, brother."

Hiashi's hands formed the hand seal necessary to trigger the Caged Bird Seal. But much to the former Clan Head's shock, nothing happened. He tried a few more times, but the result was the same.

"What? Why it isn't working?" Hiashi asked, perplexed. "It's because I'm a reanimation now?"

"Perhaps this might shed some light on your doubts, brother," Hizashi said, before removing his forehead protector.

Hiashi gasped upon seeing that his brother's forehead was devoid of any seal.

"The seal... it's gone!" Hiashi said, shocked. "But how? Even if the Main House and the elders somehow agreed to do such a thing, the seal was made to be impossible to remove!"

"It happened after your eldest was appointed the new Clan Head," Hizashi began, as he put the forehead protector back. "As for why and how it happened... both questions have the same answer: the Tenseigan."

"The Tenseigan? What does that myth has to do with anything?" Hiashi asked.

"Hinata has the Tenseigan, Hiashi," Hikari interceded. "And so does Hanabi."

"And the Tenseigan granted Hinata the power to remove the Caged Bird Seal without harming the vicitm," Hizashi continued. "And yes, most of the Main House and the elders opposed her. But both Hinata and Hanabi have the Tenseigan, and the two of them were on the same page on this issue... who was going to oppose them?"

"Hinata brought the Hyuga to a new era, Hiashi," Hikari said. "The Main and Branch Houses are no more. Now there's only Hyuga. One clan, as it should always have been."

"You saw some of the new jutsu your daughters created. Now, let me show you something that my son did," Hizashi said, as he crossed his arms in front of his face. "Naturally, this is something my son is much better at, but I'm no slouch at either. Gate of Opening, open!"

…

"Mind Disturbance Jutsu!"

The Zetsu Brute was paralized on the spot, unable to understand why his body moved on his own and was forced to attack his fellow Zetsu clones. The caster of the jutsu, Ino Yamanaka, couldn't help but let out a chuckle of satisfaction.

"These creatures might be big and strong, but their minds are just as easily to control as the smaller ones," Ino said, mostly to herself. "The better for me! It's is true that saying about the bigger they are, the harder they fall."

Eventually, her mind controlled giant Zetsu was destroyed by a reanimation, one possessing a powerful Lava Release Bloodline Limit. She was about to mind control that reanimation when her sensing abilities noticed something: among the sea of many chakras around her, she noticed a particular spike of chakra, the kind of spike produced by using mental jutsu, just like the ones from the Yamanaka.

"Is there another Yamanka out there?" the blonde wondered.

"Get away from me! I can't control my body!" she heard some allied ninja scream.

"A Yamanaka is on the enemy side!?" she thought, shocked, as she moved towards the source of the disturbance. "Of course, it has to be a reanimation! They'll need me to counter them, whoever it is!"

As she ran, attacking or dodging Zetsu clones that got in her way, she finally saw several Allied ninjas fighting against each other. Yes, this was the work of a Yamanaka. Whoever he was, as the new Clan Head, she would put an end to it.

"Don't worry guys, I'm here! You won't have... to... fear..." Ino said, before her eyes finally saw the caster in question, and her enthusiasm vanished entirely. "D-daddy?"

Standing there, much to her horror, was the reanimated form of her father, Inoichi Yamanaka, just like how she remembered him, minus the cracked skin and black eyes. She felt as if somebody punched her in the gut, even if, in hindsight, she should have guessed that if Orochimaru wanted a Yamanaka for his army of zombies, Inoichi was the obvious choice. Maybe her subconscious didn't want to acknowledge the possibility and thus didn't bring it up.

"No... not you..." Ino sobbed, as tears started to gather around her teal eyes.

"Ino...?" Inoichi said, finally noticing her daughter. "Ino, is that you?"

"Y-Yes daddy, it's me..." she croaked.

"Dear Kami, you've grown so much," Inoichi said, as he appeared he was ready to cry as well. "Such a pretty young woman. And I'm sure you're an even better kunoichi. I'm sorry I wasn't there to see you grow up..."

"Yes, I'm a good kunoichi, or that's what I like to think," Ino said, forcing the tear backs, her lip quivering, as he held a kunai. "And I'm going to show you how good I am by stopping you!"

"Ino!" a new voice said.

That moment, Shikamaru, Choji and Shikaku all landed besides her, making Inoichi to tense up.

"Guys...!" Ino began.

"We knew that the moment you saw your father, you'd want to face him," Shikamaru began. "But that doesn't mean you have to do it alone."

"Yeah, Inoichi-san was like family for us too!" Choji added.

"It's good to see that you're alive as well," Inoichi said, his face looking relieved. "But where is Choza? Please don't tell me that he-"

"Choza is fine," Shikaku was quick to answer. "He's not with us, as he was chosen to be part of a group for a special mission."

Inoichi sighed again. "Thank goodness I was the only casuality among our families that day." He said. Then, his expression went from relieved to panicked, as his body tensed up. "Guys, watch out, I'm going to attack! Mind Evisceration Jutsu!"

The three teens and one adult opposing Inoichi all fell to their knees while cluthcing their heads in pain when their brains felt like they were being cut with a burning knife. Their enemies incapacitated, Inoichi pulled a kunai and rushed forward.

"You'll need... something better than that to... put me down, old friend..." Shikaku said, as he struggled against the searing pain coursing through his head, and formed a single hand seal. "Shadow Imitation Jutsu!"

Shikaku's shadow darkened before it stretched and rocketed towards the incoming Inoichi, who gracefully sidestepped it without stoping his charge forward. The shadow split into smaller threads, forcing Inoichi to jump back a bit, but he made evident he wasn't going to stop.

Struggling against the mental pain, Ino reached for her ninja tool pouch, and grabbed a smoke bomb –after her battle with Sai, she decided to carry at least a dozen with her before a mission– and tossed it at her father's feet, filling the area in a dense cloud of purple smoke. Inoichi's body decided it was for the best not to attack blind.

"Good, that bought us some time," Ino thought, as she started making hand seals. "Guys, let me enter your minds you I can connect them to mine! Mind Fragmentation Jutsu!"

Fragments of Ino's mind left her and entered her teammates and Shikaku. She could now see and hear what they saw and heard, and their minds were now linked together, allowing them to share their thoughts without the enemy knowing.

"Good job, Ino," Shikamaru said. "I know that Yamanakas can create mental shields to protect yourselves from enemy psychic attacks. Can you do that with us?"

"I can, but since you only have a tiny piece of my mind inside your head, it won't be as effective as a full shield," Ino replied.

"It will be better than nothing, Ino," Shikaku said. "Shikamaru, you and I will focus on immobilizing him. Ino, make sure to counter his psychic jutsu with yours. Choji, you will be the one to squash him once we incapacitate him. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" the Ino-Shika-Cho team chorused in unison.

"Come on Shikamaru!" the Nara patriarch said, as he and Shikamaru made the same hand seal. "Shadow Imitation Jutsu!"

This time, two shadowy tendrils rocketed out of their shadows towards Inoichi. The undead Yamanaka had no choice but to fall back, lest him be trapped. Ino saw the perfect chance to strike.

"Alright then, my turn!" Ino said, as her hands made four hand seals as quickly as she could. "Mind Clone Switch Jutsu!"

Cloning her mind several times, she transferred them towards several White Zetsu clones near them, and immediately directed them towards her father. The two Naras noticed what Ino was doing, and they directed their shadows in order to force Inoichi into Ino's trap, and indeed, the possessed White Zetsu tackled the reanimation into the ground.

"Great work, guys!" Shikaku said. "Choji, now!"

"Partial Multi Size Jutsu!" Choji made a hand seal as his arms grew in size. He brought both arms up, ready for a downwards smash. "I'm sorry Inoichi-san!"

However, before Choji could smash the former Yamanaka Clan head, several chakra threads shot from seemingly nowhere, attached themselves to the White Zetsu, and pulled them from Inoichi. The undead Yamanaka rolled to the side just before Choji smashed his enlarged fists into the ground, opening a crater.

"What?" Shikamaru asked.

Inoichi made a hand seal, and thurst his hands towards the defenseless Choji. "Mind Disturbance Jutsu!"

"AAAGH!" Choji yelped, as his body started to twitch. "My body...! I can't control it!"

That moment, a redhead garbed in Akatsuki cloak landed near them, chakra threads attached to his fingers. After dispelling the threads, he pulled out a scroll from under his robe, and unsealed two ordinary looking human shaped puppets from it.

"That was a nice tactic you were doing there. Pity I had to crash it," the puppeteer said. Given his blackened eyes and cracked skin, was a reanimation as well.

"Wait, who the hell is this guy?" Ino asked.

"He's wearing an Akatsuki cloak, and he's using puppets. He must be Sasori. We got word that Orochimaru revived Kakuzu, no wonder he also did the same with other Akatsuki members," Shikamaru said, grtting his teeth in anger.

"Ah, so you know of me," Sasori said, his tone being clam. "Too bad I don't have my best works of art here to show you. Instead, all I have are these pitiful outdated contraptions."

"I couldn't give a crap about your 'art'. You nearly murdered my girlfriend, and you're going to pay for it!" Shikamaru said.

"I murdered many people, yet you're angry for one of the few I failed to kill," Sasori said, and chuckled as if somehow that twist of logic amused him. "And you will join them soon enough."

"I'm sorry, Choji," Inoichi said, as he commanded Choji to attack Shikamaru.

"Shadow Imitation Jutsu!" However, before Choji could get close to Shikamaru, his father intervened, using the clan's signature ability to root him in place. "Ino, try to relieve Choji from the mind control!"

"I'm on it!" Ino replied.

"No, you won't," Sasori calmly said, as he directed his puppets towards her.

One of the puppets grew several baldes around its arms and body, while the other opened up multiple slots across its body that fired kunai and shuriken –more than likely posioned– towards the blonde Yamanaka.

"Ino, don't let those weapons touch you! They're coated in a deadly poison! Remember Kankuro and Temari!" Shikamaru urgently reminded her, as he moved to assist her.

"Ah, the Fourth Kazekage's other two kids, which somehow managed to survive my poison," Sasori said, sounding a little ashamed. "I guess the girl was the girlfriend you talked about? Oh well, it's irrelevant. Given that you didn't expect to see me, I deduce you won't have an antidote for my poison. All the better then."

While Sasori kept Shikamaru and Ino busy, Inoichi took his chance and... ran away from the fight, much to Shikaku's surprise. Knowing that Inoichi could keep Choji under control while he ran away, the Nara Clan Head tentatively released his jutsu, freeing Choji, who felt that his body was under his control once again.

"Choji, are you okay?" Shikaku asked.

"Yeah. My body is my own again, and I don't think he left anything in my mind either," Choji replied.

"Though, why did Inoichi leave? With me busy keeping you immobilized, it was the perfect chance to strike me down," Shikaku said, worried. "What did-"

"Fire Release: Great Fireball jutsu!"

Suddenly, Shikaku and Choji found themselves about to be engulfed by a massive fireball coming from above. Shikaku was able to push Choji away while jumping to the side, allowing the two of them to dodge the initial explosion. Still, they were close enough to it to be caught in the shockwave, which send the two of them flying in opposite directions, before landing on the ground with a painful thud.

"Dad! Choji!" Shikamaru screamed after noticing what just happened.

"You don't have time to worry about others, brat," Sasori said, as he made one of the puppets to shower him with poisoned kunai and senbon.

"Don't worry, son, I'm okay," Shikaku said, coughing as he dust and ashes raised by the explosion got into his lungs. "Hold on, I'm going to-ACK!"

"DAD!"

Shikaku looked down, and saw the blade of a katana coming out of his chest, red with his own blood. He only had a few moments of consciousness before his eyes rolled into the back of his head, as life left his body. The wielder of the katana pulled by kicking Shikaku's lifeless body forward, revealing the identity of the killer.

It was Fugaku Uchiha.

…

"Lateral Bolt of Pain!"

A delivered a brutal horizontal chop to the nearest enemy who had the misfortune of facing him, this time, a Moon Puppet. The chop carried so much force that not only was the puppet instantly split in two, but said halves burst into many pieces of metal and plastic, which were spread across the grassy ground, joining the many, many pieces of White Zetsu flesh and more puppet remains that fought the Raikage.

A had separated himself a little from the thick of the battle, since he needed a lot of space to move and his attacks caused widespread destruction and didn't want any of his ninjas under his command to end as collateral damage.

Several reanimations tried their luck against him, with the same results. Despite being strong ninjas –though the Raikage didn't recognze most of them– with powerful Bloodline Limits, A's combination of unbeatable speed and sheer strength proved to be too much for them, and found themselves overwhelmed.

Though, the Raikage was about fo face an enemy that would prove to be more than a match for him.

"Shinra Tensei!"

One moment, A was dispatching a White Zetsu brute, and the next one he found himself flying and crashing against a tree, which was snapped in two due the sheer force of the impact. Still, the First Division Commander appeared to be completely unharmed.

"What the hell was that!?" the Raikage roared, his nostrils flaring and teeth gritting with anger of being caught off guard like that. "Show yourself, coward!"

The answer came in the form of several whistles. Looking up, A saw multiple missiles flying towards him. The Raikage snorted dimissively, and with his phenomenal speed, dodging them was child's play. And by following the direction the missiles came from, A finally found his ambusher: a redheaded man with an Akatsuki cloak. Though what stood out from that man were his eyes, purple with concentrical rings. That washed away every doubt about his identity.

"So, you're the one called 'Pain', right? Akatsuki's former leader," A said, locking eyes with the reanimation. "Of course Orochimaru would bring you back to life."

"That's a name I used to wear, but not anymore. I prefer if you referred to me with my actual name, Nagato," Nagato said, before tilting his head. "Though if you know about me, then you should fall back and come back with reinforcements. I saw you fight and you have power and skill, but not enough to overcome the power of the Rinnegan."

In less than a second, the Raikage was behind him, ready to split him in two with a vertical chop with a hand coated in lightning.

"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME!"

"Shinra Tensei!"

Before the Raikage could touch the reanimation, he was violently thrown back. This time, though, he was able to land on his feet, break his momentum, and dash towards Nagato again.

"I know how the Rinnegan works! That jutsu is powerful, but he needs to wait five seconds to use it again!" the Raikage thought, as he blitzed towards the undead Akatsuki. "And with my speed, I can kill you ten times in a row!"

Indeed, Nagato was unable to dodge or even block the Raikage's brutal fist aimed towards his face. However, the redhead merely disappeared in a burst of smoke, leaving a log behind, which was instantly shattered to splinters.

"A replacement!?" the Raikage snarled, as he looked around. "A man of your power needs to use such a jutsu to beat me!?"

The earth started to rumble, as nearby trees were toppled down as something big rushed through the forest. Said something turned out to be a gigantic ox and an equally large rhino, both of them with Rinnegan eyes and black rods on their bodies.

"Impressive monsters," the Raikage calmly said, as he prepared for the assault.

The rhino managed to reach first, and lowered its head in order to gore the Raikage with its massive horn. However, A managed to catch the beast's horn expertly, and while he was pushed backwards, he managed to root himself in place by digging his feet into the ground, stopping the giant animal on its tracks.

"You're going to need something more than big dumb animals to put me down!" The Raikage roared, his chakra cloak flaring bright, as he lift the rhino and used it to bludgeon the giant ox. The strike wasn't hard enough to cancel the summon in one go, but A was sure it would be enough to leave them out of comission for a while.

"Bansho Ten'in!"

The Raikage was once again send flying backwards, though this time he felt as if he was being pulled towards something rather than being pushed away. He braced for the impact, but much to his surprise, his flight was stopped not when he crashed into something, but when a giant lobster claw caught him, pinning his arms to his body.

"How many of this animals do you-" the Raikage was about to ask, when he felt a hand placed on his head.

"Psychic Mind Transmission!"

The Raikage felt how a foreign presence tried to pierce his mind. He tried to expel it, but despite his mental fortitude and unbreakable willpower, the intruder was far too skilled in the arts of psychic ninjutsu, and entered his mind. Suddenly, the Raikage was forced to relieve several memories as the enemy scanned his mind, until he found what he was looking for.

A memory where the Raikage was talking with his brother, Darui, Mabui and other high ranked Kumo ninjas about the decision to send B and the other two jinchuriki to Genbu the Turtle Island for protection and training. His blood freeze upon realizing that such information was now in the hands of the enemy.

"NO!"

Fueled by both anger at his enemies and fear for his brother's life, his Lightning Chakra Cloak exploded with power, pushing the Yamanaka away and forcing the giant crustacean's claw open. When the sea creature lowered its claw again, the Raikage grabbed each end of the claw, lifted it above his head, and using his rage to fuel his strength, tossed it against the edge of the forest, toppling several trees in the process.

"I'm sorry," voice said behind him.

The Raikage turned around, and saw a blond man with blond hair styled in a ponytail, wearing the standard Konoha uniform. His blackened eyes and cracked skin betrayed his identity as a reanimation.

"You," the Raikage seethed. "Just what did you do!?"

"Orochimaru forced me to scan your mind. He was linked to me as I did it," the man replied. "He now knows where the jinchuriki are hiding. I'm sorry, I have no control over my-"

In less than a second, the Raikage crossed the distance separating them, and with a powerful punch, A disintegrated the man's head. A second later, his lifeless body fell on his back. Still, the Raikage knew that he would be back in a few minutes.

…

Mountain Graveyard

"Kukuku... I know where the jinchuriki are hidden," Orochimaru said out loud in a taunting manner.

Obito, who was lazily resting against a rock wall with his eyes closed upon that moment, snapped his eyes opened, and almost jumped upon hearing those words.

"What? Where are they!?" Obito demanded, as he stomped towards where Orochimaru was sitting. "Speak!"

"Calm down, Obito-kun. I don't know the exact location, but I obtained a pretty good hint," Orochimaru said. "Apparently, Kumogakure has a base built on a island that's not an island, but a giant turtle. That's where the jinchuriki are being hidden."

"Clever. Very clever," Obito admitted. "Kami knows how long it would have taken us to find such a place."

"Said turtle moves to a different location every day, meaning that even if you find it, it will be on a different spot the next time," Orochimaru warned him.

"I can take care of that," Obito said, snapping his fingers. Zetsu –the original– emerged from under the ground.

"You called, boss?" the white half asked.

"According to new intel, the jinchuriki are hidden on a mobile island. Said island has to be somewhere in the seas to the east and west of the Land of Lightning," Obito explained. "Tell the Flying Zetsu to explore that area."

"It will be done, boss," the black half replied, as it sunk back into the ground.

"Good work, Orochimaru," Obito said, albeit begrundingly. "Regardless of the outcome of this battle, you provided Akatsuki with a decisive victory."

Orochimaru smirked sadistically. "Oh, I can make our victory even greater. Now watch."

Author's Note: Welp, there you go. Say goodbye to Shikaku Nara. While he's somebody who died in canon as well, other people that made it alive to the end of the series will join him soon.

Like I said before, this is where the villains decide to up their game. Not only did they send stronger reanimations, but thanks to Orochimaru cleverly using their non-combat abilities, he managed to find the location of the three jinchuriki. As for why Orochimaru used Inoichi instead of the Human Path, Orochimaru simply isn't aware of all of the Rinnegan's abilities, just the most obvious ones like the gravity manipulation or the chakra absorption. Though, don't expect an attack on the Turtle Island anytime soon, since there are still a couple battles to happen (including the assault on the Moon) before we get to that point.

And while Akatsuki making this discovery is already a victory, some of the reanimations, namely Fugaku and Nagato, haven't shown their worst abilities, but will in the next chapter, and this will get very, very messy.

Onto another fights, there's Hiashi. I know some people are going to be a little disappointed that neither Hinata nor Hanabi was part of the fight, but come on, if those two were involved, they would simply oneshot him with the Truth Seeking Balls and be done with it. Meanwhile, the whole confrontation with Hizashi and the reveal of him not carrying the Caged Bird Seal anymore has been in my mind for literally years.

Thanks to Ookamki88 for betareading this chapter.

So, what are your thoughts on this chapter? Share them in a review! It doesn't have to be a long one, you know, long or short, reviews make me really, really, really happy!