18 Chapter 18: Overcoming Insurmountable Odds!

The figure swung it's arm down onto Kakashi. Kakashi didn't have any time to react to it as he gazed at the incoming blow. Suddenly the arm flew up into the air as Zabuza had swung his Kubikiribocho upwards, severing the figure's arm. Kakashi quickly acted by stabbing a kunai into the figures chest, freeing his hand while he and Zabuza quickly retreated.

"We're getting nowhere with this Kakashi, is that thing immortal? None of our attacks are working!" Zabuza said in frustration.

Kakashi could only breath heavily as he silently agreed with Zabuza. Nothing they tried work, and the only reason they were still alive was due to the figures lack of battle experience. It was as if it was a puppet that only acted on basic instincts, there was no will or intent with the figure's lifeless expression.

Kakashi still didn't know what to do since taijutsu and ninjutsu seemed to be useless on it. Which only left him with genjutsu. But even then, he had no certainty that it would work. He glanced over at Naruto and saw that he wasn't breathing. Damnit! Kakashi cursed his inability to help his student. Naruto's condition was worsening and he couldn't do anyrhing about because of the figure.

"Any ideas Kakashi?" Zabuza asked, he was beginning to feel the hopelessness of the situation they were in.

"Just one, ninjutsu and taijutsu seem to be useless, so all that's left is genjutsu." Kakashi replied.

"We might be able to trap it within a genjutsu and escape, but I don't have any certainty on it."

"So it either works or we die fighting huh?" Zabuza summarized.

"Yeah." Kakashi acknowledged.

"Then I'll stall it while you prepare the genjutsu, with any luck, we'll succeed." Zabuza said as he raised his Kubikiribocho.

Zabuza rushed the figure as he swung his Kubikiribocho at it, and sliced it's torso in half. However, the figure's upper half moved and swung it's arm down. Zabuza jumped backwards as he placed the blade in front of him to shield him. The figure's arm pierced through the Kubikiribocho but it had given Zabuza enough time to get away without receiving an injury. He grit his teeth in frustration, if the genjutsu didn't work, then there was no way for them to win.

"Zabuza, get back!" Kakashi yelled.

Zabuza nodded as he fell back behind Kakashi. Kakashi appeared in front of the figure and made eye contact as he formed the hand seals.

Snake → Rat

<Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Jutsu>

Kakashi then vanished in a swirl of leaves as the figure remained motionless. Kakashi appeared beside Zabuza as his nerves were on edge. This was the moment to find out if genjutsu worked or not.

"Kakashi! Move!" Zabuza yelled suddenly.

Kakashi turned around to see the figure right above him, it swung it's arm down. Kakashi couldn't move, because if he did, the blow would land on Naruto who was defenseless and was already in critical condition. Kakashi braced himself for the blow but then a figure jumped up from behind him and caught the blow. Kakashi's eyes widened when he saw Naruto's figure standing in front of him.

"So this is what the world feels like?" Naruto said.

He twisted his wrist and rotated the figure, then he took a step forward and threw a punch that sent the figure flying. Zabuza, Haku, Kakashi, and Sasuke stared wide eyed at Naruto. Naruto turned to face Kakashi and smiled.

"Everything will be fine now, you can relax now." Naruto said grinning.

Kakashi stared at Naruto but when he saw Naruto's eyes, he saw that they were pitch black instead of his usual blue eyes. What's happened to Naruto? Kakashi thought. Naruto turned to face the figure that got up, but when it did, everyone was shocked to see an expression of anger and fear on the figure's face. All this time, it didn't show any emotion facing us? But now it's reacting to Naruto? Kakashi thought.

Naruto took a step forward as the figure vanished from his spot. It appeared right behind Naruto and stabbed at him. Naruto ducked, avoiding the blow, then he crossed his fingers and created two clones. The clones jumped up and punched the figure upwards. Then the clones reached down and threw Naruto up into the air above the figure where he rotated and spun, then he kicked the figure, launching it straight into the ground.

Kakashi and Zabuza couldn't keep up with the speed of the battle that was taking place, let alone Sasuke and Haku. Naruto grinned as he looked at the figure below him.

"This is pretty fun! Why don't we enjoy ourselves some more eh? I don't get this chance all that often!" Naruto laughed. Then he created two more clones and grabbed onto them so that they could launched him to the ground onto the figure.

Naruto threw a punch onto the figure but found nothing below his fist when it landed. Then he raised his hand and caught the fist of the figure that had appeared behind him.

"Come on, you can do better than that!" Naruto smiled.

However, right at that moment, Naruto frowned as blood started spurting out of his arm.

"Hmm, looks like this body can't handle the strain so well, looks like he needs to train more. But I guess I can't have any more fun, have to end everything now." Naruto said with a frown.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the figure in front of him.

-Flashback-

"But, I might be able to help you out." Hateshi smiled.

Naruto stared at Hateshi as he spoke.

"How can you do that?" Naruto asked.

"Well, do you remember how you let Kurama take over your body during the Fourth Ninja World War?" Hateshi asked.

"Yeah, what about it?" Naruto asked.

"It'll be the same thing, but this time, you'll let me take over for a bit." Hateshi explained.

"Oh!.... How do we do that?" Naruto tilted his head in question.

"It's simple, you just need to match my chakra signature and it will create a link between us, I will then be able to leave some of my chakra within you to act as a guide for me to tap into your world." Hateshi answered.

Naruto tilted his head as he listened.

"Think of it like the Mind Body Switch Jutsu." Hateshi sighed.

"I get it now!" Naruto exclaimed as he placed his fist in the palm of his hand.

"Well, we should hurry, I can't keep your world's time frozen for much longer anymore." Hateshi said.

"Got it, so what do I need to do?" Naruto asked.

Hateshi stuck his fist out in front of Naruto surprising Naruto.

"I'm sure you're familiar with this." Hateshi smiled.

Naruto grinned back as he stuck his fist out and placed it against Hateshi's. Then Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated to feel out Hateshi's chakra signature. Once he felt it, he opened his eyes.

"I got it." Naruto said.

"Good, now just match your chakra to mine and I'll establish the link." Hateshi replied.

Naruto focused his chakra as he matched it to Hateshi's chakra signature. Hateshi began to make hand seals.

Tiger → Snake → Rat → Ox → Dog → Ram → Hare → Snake → Horse → Ram → Bird → Tiger → Hare → Snake → Dog → Ram → Bird → Tiger → Hare → Snake → Ox → Ram → Bird → Dog → Rat → Tiger →Rat → Ox → Dog → Boar

Hateshi then clapped his hands together and chakra formed around his index and middle fingers, he brought his hands away and then touched Naruto's forehead with his index and middle fingers.

<Sealing Technique: Phantasmal Time Link Seal>

Naruto felt a burning sensation on his forehead as a seal was placed on his forehead. Hateshi removed his hand after placing the seal and soon it slowly vanished. Naruto felt his consciousness slipping but struggled to head Hateshi's words.

"When you wake up, I'll take care of the situation, make sure you pay attention to how I handle the construct, because I won't be able to help you like this every time. After this, I'll have used up the chakra I stored within you, so the only way to replenish it would be to come back here, and I doubt that will happen very often."

Naruto's mind then went blank as he drifted off. When he came to, he saw Kakashi about to be attacked by the construct, but before he could think, his body had already moved.

-End of Flashback-

Everyone was watching Naruto face of against the figure, despite being able to agitate it, Naruto's attacks still didn't seem to have any affect on it.

Naruto looked down and saw that the hole in his chest had almost closed up completely. So after everything is finished, Naruto won't be in any life threatening danger, Hateshi thought. He glanced up at the construct, time to end things I guess.

Naruto's figure vanished from his standing position and appeared behind the construct, then he raised his hand and started gathering chakra within the palm of his hand.

<Rasengan>

Naruto slammed the Rasengan down onto the construct, launching it straight into the ground. Naruto landed on top of the construct and placed his hands together and gathered his chakra into his finger tips. A seal formed on each finger and he slammed his palms onto the construct.

<Eight Cardinal Direction Sealing Release>

The seals began crawling all over the construct's body, covering it until it's body couldn't be seen anymore. Then the body began to turn into a black sphere before rising back into the sky. After it had gone back into the sky, the clouds slowly dissipated. The sun shone down on the battlefield as Naruto looked up into the sky.

Naruto smiled as he gazed off into the distant, then the black in his eyes receded revealing his blue eyes behind it. Then he closed his eyes as he fell backwards unconscious. Kakashi rushed over and caught Naruto and checked his condition. After a few minutes, he breathed out in relief when he discovered that Naruto's condition had stabilized. He then sat down with Naruto in his lap as Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna rushed over. Zabuza and Haku stood off to the side as they looked over.

"Looks like it's over." Kakashi breathed out.

Kakashi looked over at Zabuza and sighed as he stood up. "Looks like our truce is over."

Zabuza nodded his head as he raised his Kubikiribocho. But before the two could engage each other, they heard a shout.

"Oi, oi, oi, what's this Zabuza?! They aren't dead?!" Gatou shouted.

Zabuza and Kakashi looked over at Gatou.

"Well, no matter, you guys seem to have beaten each other close to death, so I'll relieve you of the burden now." Gatou laughed.

"Gatou..." Zabuza mumbled as he glared at the man.

"THE BURDEN OF LIVING THAT IS!!" Gatou sneered.

"MEN, KILL THEM ALL!!"

The dozens of men behind Gatou all yelled as they charged forward at Zabuza and Kakashi. Zabuza had veins popping out of his arms and head as he glared at Gatou.

"Looks like we don't have to fight Kakashi!" Zabuza said as he changed direction.

Haku jumped next to Zabuza and readied himself. The two then rushed against Gatou's men who didn't stand a chance against the two trained killers. Soon, Gatou found himself facing off against Zabuza himself.

"Hey....Zabuza....it was just a joke....we can change our deal!" Gatou begged.

"Too late." Zabuza said quietly before severing Gatou's head.

Gatou's remaining men screamed and ran away in fear after seeing Gatou die. Zabuza turned around and faced Kakashi again with Haku right next to him.

"Looks like we no longer have a reason to fight." Zabuza said.

"Looks like that." Kakashi agreed.

Zabuza gazed at Naruto's figure before looking back at Kakashi.

"Tell the kid thanks whenever he wakes up, I owe him for saving our skin." Zabuza said.

"I'll be sure to return the favor some other time."

Then Zabuza turned away and left with Haku. Kakashi looked up and breathed out. Today's been a long day, he thought as he covered his sharingan. He then picked up Naruto and looked at Tazuna.

"Looks like you won't have any more problems with the bridge." Kakashi said.

"Hahaha, that's great." Tazuna laughed.

"HEEEYY!!, EVERYONE!"

The group turned to see who was shouting at them. Then they saw Inari with all the villagers running towards them. Tazuna began to tear up as he saw everyone running towards them. The villagers gathered around the group and asked about what had happened. Leaving out a few details, Kakashi explained that Gatou would no longer be a problem anymore. The villagers cried happily at the news as they helped the group head back to their village.

Kakashi turned back to look at the aftermath of the battle, the bridge was mostly intact, but there were a few damaged areas. But it didn't seem like anything beyond fixing. He sighed as he thought about the report he would have to turn in now, as well as trying to understand what had happened to Naruto. Too many unexpected things happened one right after the other.

...

...

...

Once the group returned, Kakashi and the rest of team 7 stayed at Tazuna's place while they waited for Naruto to recover. In the meantime, Tazuna and the villagers worked to finish the bridge. After two days, Naruto woke up. Kakashi filled him in on what had happened while he was unconscious. After listening to the situation, Naruto nodded his head, he had wanted to leave as soon as he woke up, but due to his body's condition, he was forced into bed rest until he was fully recovered. Inari would visit Naruto often and the two would talk about the day and many other things.

After another two days, Naruto was fully recovered and the team was ready to set off again. By the time they were ready, the bridge had finished.

So long Inari, make sure you live without regrets!" Naruto said as he grinned down at Inari.

Inari was crying as he grinned back at Naruto. "I will Naruto!"

Naruto's smile broadened at Inari's words and he turned to leave with Kakashi and the others.

Tazuna stared at the groups figures walked into the distant. Then he looked down at the bridge.

"I've decided on what the name of this bridge will be!" Tazuna announced.

The other villagers looked over at Tazuna.

"This bridge will be a symbol of hope and miracles, it will be called The Great Naruto Bridge!"