Let's Go, Gamabunta!

"You're wind nature, right? When I use Water Gun, use your strongest Wind Release Ninjutsu. We'll hit him with a combination technique," Gamabunta ordered.

"Got it, Gamabunta!" Naruto replied at once.

The enormous summoned beast leaped high into the air, but before he and Naruto could unleash their combination technique, the giant raccoon fired several air bullets in succession, sending the toad and Naruto on his back flying.

"You have to wake up his host! That damned raccoon attacks much faster than we do, but once that kid wakes up, Shukaku will disappear," Gamabunta told the blond boy on his back.

"Understood! Get me close to him, and I'll wake him up!" Naruto shouted back.

Gamabunta lunged forward again, only for Shukaku to knock him away with ease.

"Hahahaha! Mortal, you're no match for me! Die!" the tailed beast roared, raising a wave of sand and sending it crashing toward the toad. Gamabunta dodged it by a hair.

[With Sasuke and Sakura]

After defeating the blond kunoichi, Shikamaru arrived at the scene as well. His eyes widened in shock at the earth-shaking battle before him. Walking toward the other two Genin, he said, "Oh man, Naruto... This fight is way too much trouble. We need to get out of here fast, or it'll only get more dangerous."

Sakura nodded weakly. She didn't want to get in the way of the battle, much less get hurt or killed. Sasuke, however, kept his eyes fixed on the battlefield, refusing to move.

He screamed inwardly: How could this happen? Even with the Cursed Seal's power, I was no match for Gaara, but this dead last... What the hell is going on? Have I improved at all? To kill Itachi, I need more power. Damn it, I need more power!

Watching the two enormous beasts attack each other, he said through gritted teeth, "I'm not leaving. I want to see just how much stronger this dead last is than me."

"No, we have to go! Staying here will only get in Naruto's way. That's an order," said Pakkun, the little dog who had arrived just after Shikamaru.

"I'm an Uchiha. I won't take orders from a little dog... Leave me alone," Sasuke said coldly.

"But Sasuke-kun, Kakashi-sensei said Naruto and this dog were in charge! We have to listen to them, or we'll be punished for disobeying orders!" Sakura pleaded desperately with the boy she loved, wanting only to leave this dangerous place and reach safety.

"Hmph. Fine, let's go." Sasuke snorted, clearly resentful at having to take orders from an animal.

[With Orochimaru and the Hokage]

Hiruzen was cornered. He had no way to defeat his two mentors and his former student. The First and Second Hokage simply couldn't be killed; every time they suffered a fatal wound, they recovered instantly.

The forest Hashirama had created became the aging Hokage's prison, leaving him almost completely surrounded by attacks from every direction. He thought, Is there really no way to end all this...? No, there is one way, but it requires the caster to sacrifice his own soul.

"Orochimaru, it's time to end this. I'll put an end to this farce with a forbidden technique you've never seen before!" Hiruzen Sarutobi shouted. He immediately created several Shadow Clones, which seized the two former Hokage and his student. "Ninja Art: Reaper Death Seal!"

At his cry, the spectral form of the Shinigami appeared behind the old Hokage and began devouring the souls of the two former Hokage.

"I'm sorry, my old friends," Hiruzen called out, a tear slipping from the corner of his eye.

"It's all right, little monkey. You're protecting the village. We're proud of you," the Second Hokage replied, his voice full of pride.

"What is this? How did you break my Impure World Reincarnation?" Orochimaru demanded sharply. He hadn't yet seen that the Shinigami's hand had reached into his body and begun tearing at his soul.

"This is the Reaper Death Seal. I will seal their souls inside the Shinigami's belly forever, however much it pains me. And you'll be joining them," the old Hokage told his former student.

"What? No! I'll kill you before you can do it!" Orochimaru roared. Controlling the Kusanagi Sword, he drove it through his teacher's chest. "Why didn't you dodge?"

"Heh, because I'm already a dead man. The Reaper Death Seal takes the caster's life. Apart from me, only one person has used this technique: the Fourth Hokage. Back then, he used it together with the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style to seal the Nine-Tails, at the cost of his life," Hiruzen Sarutobi told the snake shinobi, who was now struggling frantically.

The two became locked in a tug-of-war over Orochimaru's soul. Yet the Hokage, with a sword buried in his chest, was clearly growing weaker by the moment. "It seems I can't kill you as I intended, Orochimaru. But I can still put an end to your delusion of learning every ninjutsu in the world-I'll take your arms! Seal!"

With a shout, Hiruzen completed the final sealing.

Orochimaru let out an agonized scream. His arms rapidly turned black, and he staggered backward in pain. The old Hokage collapsed heavily to the ground, and Orochimaru immediately ordered a retreat. Just then, the barrier that had kept outsiders from interfering suddenly vanished. The four Sound Ninja maintaining it leaped out, caught their master, and disappeared using the Body Flicker Technique.

[With Naruto and Gaara]

"Damn it, this isn't working! I don't have claws, so I can't hold on to him! You need to use the Transformation Technique to turn me into something with claws!" Gamabunta said wearily, panting for breath.

"Okay! I've got an idea! Let's go, Gamabunta!" Naruto said, his voice full of resolve.