While Jin and Ayanami were fiercely battling Menma all throughout the base and trunk of the divine tree, Rito and Echo were riding on top of Mecha-Kurama; the two reincarnations have to keep behind his head, clinging tightly to the mechanical fox’s neck as to not be blown away by the intense shockwaves. The robotic double wields a large, diamond broadsword as he charges straight for the tree roots.
“Just keep cutting down roots in the meantime while we wait.” Echo commands.
Mecha-Kurama delightedly replies, “WITH GUSTO!”
Six roots alter their trajectory and come rocketing toward Mecha-Kurama, the machine stops in his tracks and takes a stance, he waits for the roots to get closer. Once the radicles are deemed to be within range, Mecha takes one massive swing of its sword and cuts the roots down.
More and more divine roots keep coming, but Mecha keeps cutting with no signs of slowing down, the fox’s movements are swift and powerful; every time the sword grows dull or gets chipped, Rito uses his chakra to repair and sharpen the blade, keeping it perpetually maintained.
“Oi, don’t worry about the sword! I’ve got it covered, just keep cutting!” Rito asserts, still clinging on.
“THANK YOU, MEATBAG!”
Meatbag? Did Jin teach him that…? Bewildered, Rito is taken aback by the robot’s reply.
Even more roots stampede toward Mecha-Kurama, but the mechanized double just keeps swinging his sword. More and more roots descend upon them, forcing the machine to swing a flurry of sword strikes faster and faster; the ground where Mecha-Kurama stands begins to crumble away and sparks begin to fly off of his joints.
“Samurai, do not waver! Now go forth!!”
Mifune followed by a number of samurai leap past Mecha-Kurama and help cut down the overwhelming tree roots. To Mecha, they resemble a swarm of red-orange fireflies due to their nine-tails cloaks.
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“Alright! Let’s cut this giant tree down while he’s distracted by his battle!” Hashirama orders.
“““RRRAAAAAAGH!!!”””
Facing their collective fear, the Allied Shinobi Forces charge toward the divine tree in the hopes of cutting it down, some have regained their fighting spirit while others are deeply upset from Jin’s remarks. Among many shinobi combating the tree roots are Jin’s former teammates, Takeda Sarutobi and Yuno Tamaki.
“Damn that Jin! That traitor had the nerve to call the entire Ninja Alliance cowards! Unbelievable…” Irritated, Takeda quickly weaves several hand signs. “Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!”
A scowl forming, Yuno weaves several hand signs. “Takeda… keep bad mouthing Jin and I WILL hit you…!”
The young Sarutobi spews intense flames from his mouth, the fire rapidly travels forward in a straight direction. Upon making contact, a couple of roots are immediately engulfed in flames and are reduced into a pile of ash in less than a minute, the ashes scatter in the wind.
After kneading the chakra in her stomach and converting it into water, the kunoichi spits it out as a highly pressurized stream, it manages to slice through several of the oncoming roots.
“SERIOUSLY? Even after everything Jin’s done, you still love him?” Confused and upset, Takeda questions his friend and comrade.
The blue-haired shinobi pauses, she looks up and sees Jin battling fiercely along the trunk of the divine tree. Tamaki’s eyes follow Jin like a hawk as he and Ayanami chase after Menma. After a few seconds pass, she finally stops staring and turns to Takeda and gives him a warm smile, but something is off; even someone as slow as Naruto can tell that Yuno’s smile is fake.
“Don’t worry… I-It’s just that Jin has come back to us again. That fact makes me truly happy.”
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“You’re FINISHED, Menma!!” Jin declares.
The Onikage’s Susano’o brandishes its sword, it elongates into a segmented, bladed whip; with one swing of the arm, the ethereal avatar cracks its whip.
Menma roars, “Never! I’m just warming up!”
Both Jin and Ayanami sense a change occurring in the evil Naruto’s chakra; the double’s chakra begins to increase in temperature until it reaches a boiling point, generating large amounts of steam out of Black Kurama. Additionally, Menma envelopes his avatar’s entire body in a coating of lava.
Ayanami’s wooden reptile rushes Black Kurama, throwing a haymaker; the heat coming off the fox is so intense that it burns away the bark just from being too close. The ethereal fox is much faster than it was before, it evades by leaping back at blinding speeds and fires a Tailed Beast Bomb; Jin’s Susano’o immediately jumps in the way in an attempt to block the attack with its shield. However, the force of the explosion blasts Jin and Ayanami down to the base of the tree; the searing pain reminds Jin of when he and team Taka fought the Eight-Tails.
This guy… really is a damn abomination! Brooding, Jin picks himself up, he spits out some blood before speaking. “…A-Ayanami? As time passes, Menma grows more accustomed to the tailed beasts’ powers…”
“Th-Thanks for stating the--Ngh!--obvious, Jin…” Ayanami remarks sarcastically, wincing as she pops her left shoulder back into place. “What EXACTLY is your point?”
“This bastard is too damn dangerous; we need to kill him before he fucks something up beyond repair.”
Suspended inside his chakra avatar, Menma coldly looks down on the two reincarnations with a sadistic grin. The Kurama avatar itself hovers menacingly in the air above them, poised to strike; side-by-side, Jin and Ayanami defiantly glare back at him.
“Your anger won’t save you. It’s only a matter of time before the Infinite Tsukuyomi activates... the world will end soon. You’re out of time.” Menma shrugs, confident in his victory.
Building up his chakra, Jin interjects. “Better than being Obito’s bitch. Even now--on some level, you’re STILL doing his bidding like a good, little minion.”
“No. Personally, I don’t give a damn about ‘Project Tsuki no Me’… Once this war is over, I'll kill Naruto and then move on to conquering my own world. It is my destiny! Heh heh heh…” Menma looks down on them with a pompous attitude.
Both shinobi look deep into Menma's eyes and peer into the depths of his soul. They see nothing, but an empty, pitch-black void that can never be filled, an abyss that does not know the radiance of life, a darkness that will not stop until it has consumed everything.
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Undeterred, Jin and Ayanami get back up. They stand strong in the face of this atrocity.
Molding her chakra, Ayanami tells her friend, “You hear that, Jin? Now we have two worlds to save.”
“Yep, that’s what I heard too.” Jin nods in agreement.
Standing side-by-side atop Ayanami’s wooden kaiju, the two ninjas surge with power; the kunoichi’s golem rapidly regrows its lost body parts while Jin simultaneously reforms his Susano’o over the wooden reptile as armor. Using Jin’s memories, they have copied a jutsu from Madara’s repertoire, the Majestic Attire Susano’o.
Jin and Ayanami’s Majestic Attire resembles the mutant clone, Space Godzilla, in many ways; it is larger than Ayanami’s Wood Kaiju golem in terms of height. It has two massive protrusions that resemble crystals erupting from its shoulders, and its tail is much longer, ending with several crystal-like spikes. The dorsal plates on the Majestic Attire’s back also resemble crystals, it has sharp teeth and tusks on both sides of its mouth and has a crest on its forehead.
However, unlike Space Godzilla, the reincarnations’ Majestic Attire’s body is better suited for combat; its build is leaner and more humanoid. The body is entirely golden-yellow while having cyan-green eyes.
“Not done yet…” Jin mutters.
The Onikage infuses both his six paths sage chakra and gelel energy into all ten of his Truth-Seeker Orbs and has them fly over to the titans’ right hand. The orbs merge, transforming into a massive, black sword shaped like a double helix.
The tension in the air erupts like a super volcano, both sides stare each other down, each poised to strike. Both sides know that this next fight is winner-take-all, they take up mirroring positions, two forces ready to collide.
In a flash, the Majestic Attire flies up while Black Kurama dives downward. They each throw a mighty punch; their clash creates a shockwave so powerful it creates a deep crater in the ground while blowing away all of the weaker shinobi in the distance. Both titans stagger back from their collision, but quickly recover and continue their battle.
Jin and Ayanami’s dark blade is a stark contrast to Menma’s lava-coated claws. As Black Kurama’s claws come crashing down, the golden kaiju swiftly counters, throwing the fox’s talons off. With a quick and precise movement, the ethereal kaiju thrusts its sword forward. Their battle is something of a thunderstorm inside a raging tornado, the combatants strike, block, and parry, victory is the only thing that matters.
With her visual prowess, Ayanami notices an opening, a tiny miscalculation on Menma’s part. A flaw in the doppelganger’s technique just big enough for her and Jin to exploit. As the Majestic Attire Susano’o is a collaboration, Jin and Ayanami’s chakras are connected, she is able to relay knowledge of the opening to him through her chakra.
In an imperceptible movement, the Majestic Attire speedily swings its sword in a wide arc at Black Kurama’s shoulder. With no room to counter or block, Black Kurama twists its body to avoid a fatal blow; in lieu of being cut down by the golden titan, the fox avatar loses its right arm while gaining a scar that runs across its torso.
Something in Menma finally snaps; his rage and hate continues to rise and rise until it finally reaches its boiling point.
“AAAAARGH! I WILL NOT LOSE! NOT TO SCUM LIKE YOU!!” An enraged Menma growls through gritted teeth.
Molding massive amounts of chakra, Black Kurama takes off and flies high into the clouds. It holds up its hand and forms a large, dense, black ball of chakra with a dark red hue surrounded by a series of white rings of chakra that orbit the main sphere. These rings then align into one disc-like shape around the orb. Menma pours more and more chakra into the jutsu that is double the size of his Black Kurama avatar, it is so large that it lights up the night sky.
“SIX PATHS: MASSIVE TAILED BEAST RASEN RING!!!”
“Golden Wheel Rebirth Explosion!” Ayanami desperately shouts.
The young Hyuga begins infusing six path sage chakra into her own Truth-Seeker Orbs and sends them to the titan’s left hand, they merge and form a giant golden sword of pure chakra.
The Majestic Attire takes the two blades it carries and brings them together, they fused into a single new sword. It is an enormous, silver-white broadsword made of pure chakra.
““Six Paths: Spirit Sword!!””
“I’LL SEND ALL OF YOU TO HELL!!” Menma roars.
Not wasting any more time, Black Kurama launches the attack; to everyone watching in the distance, it looks as if a dark sun is descending. Brandishing its silver blade, Jin and Ayanami’s Majestic Attire takes flight and thrusts the sword forward. The two jutsu clash, creating a powerful shockwave that parts the clouds and knocks the divine tree over, sparks violently shoot out from the point of contact, neither side is willing to give up an inch.
“Give it… …all… …you… …got… …Jin!!” Ayanami says through gritted teeth.
“I am… …are you…?!” Jin struggles to snap back.
Both ninjas can feel all the veins in their faces bulging as they struggle to pierce Menma’s jutsu, their muscles grow tense and sore as they pour even more chakra into their attack.
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Down below, Rito, Echo, and Mecha-Kurama watch the clash of the century with shock and awe, the robot double stands atop a pile of severed tree roots. However, the young genius is restless, he knows there is something they can do to help.
Even if we can’t take that Menma bloke on ourselves, the three of us together can provide a bloody decent distraction… Rito racks his brain, trying to come up with a way to assist Jin and Ayanami. C’mon, think… think… think…!
Rito's eyes widen due to an epiphany, he snaps his fingers in excitement. “Oh. That’ll work.”
“What will work?” Echo asks, turning his attention to the boy.
“Just follow my lead! Mecha, make a Tailed Beast Bomb…” Rito begins issuing commands. “…and fire it at Menma when I give the word.”
“AS YOU WISH.” Mecha-Kurama replies.
The mechanical fox builds up chakra in his mouth and molds it into an incredibly dense sphere, maintaining the 8:2 ratio of positive black chakra and negative white chakra. The sphere grows larger as Mecha-Kurama continues to add more chakra, still maintaining the ratio.
“Echo! Add your senjutsu fire chakra to the Tailed Beast Bomb!” The genius orders.
Echo chuckles, “Heh. Just like old times.”
The time-traveler holds out his right hand and does as Rito ordered; a stream of sage chakra pours out of Echo’s hand and goes into Mecha’s Tailed Beast Bomb; the sphere of chakra gains a flaming coating.
“Good… Now I’ll add my crystal chakra to the mix.”
The young genius holds out both his hands and runs a stream of chakra into the sphere as well; the Tailed Beast Bomb’s core gains a red-pink hue.
Rito watches the jutsu grow in size; he waits, letting it continue to grow until it is roughly the size of a tailed beast.
“Now! Fire! FIRE!!” Rito yells at the top of his lungs.
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“Guwaa!” Menma growls with mixed feelings of outrage and disbelief. Th-This can’t be… I-I’ve become a god… why am *I* struggling against them?!
The evil double pours all of his chakra into his jutsu the same as Jin and Ayanami are. It is bad enough that he is tied with them, but their tenacity and unwillingness to give up and surrender only further fuels Menma’s frustration.
“I won’t accept this… I am a god; I am power incarnate…! Every last one of you… you’ll pay. I’m going to dest--AAACK!?”
Confused, Menma is hit by a powerful explosion; his Kurama avatar took most of the blast, but some was still able to pierce through and damage the doppelganger. Half of his face burns while crystal shards are embedded all over his body. Menma's attention turns away from the battle, he sees Rito, Echo, and Mecha-Kurama all staring daggers at him with the same defiant look as Jin and Ayanami.
“Grrr…!” Menma starts to seethe.
Menma’s anger is quickly replaced by horror as he comes to a sudden realization; they weren’t trying to hurt him, they just needed to distract him if only for a brief moment. His attention immediately returns to the fight.
““HRAAAAGH!!””
With one more push with all their might, Jin and Ayanami’s Majestic Attire Susano’o manages to pierce right through Menma’s Rasen Ring, cutting it right down the middle; the jutsu dissipates almost instantly.
The golden kaiju continues to fly up, rocketing toward Menma and his Black Kurama. The ethereal kaiju brandishes its silver blade and prepares for one final sword strike. The closer they get; the slower time seems to pass for Menma. They are close enough that Menma can clearly make out Jin and Ayanami’s obstinate expressions and movements from within their avatar's forehead.
“Gotchaaaa!!”
“It’s over!!”
I-Impossible… *I* lost to… th-these worms? Menma’s face contorts, showing a mixture of unbridled fury and absolute terror. “GWAAAAAAAAHHHH!!”
Jin and Ayanami fly right past Menma, their avatar’s sword goes right through both the evil double and his own avatar. Menma can feel himself going weaker the very instant the blade leaves his body.
“D-Dammit… D-Damn… you…!”