---

“You’re no exception!!” An irritated Kabuto prepares to thrust the lightning sword into Itachi.

Isn’t that Tobirama’s--wait, no time to dwell on it. Jin readies his susanoo in a panic. “Sasuke!”

“Yeah, I know!”

Sasuke winds his arm back and quickly throws his sword like a javelin, it swiftly pierces through the air only to be caught in the mouth of Kabuto’s snake. Kabuto is forced to stop mid-thrust as due to Jin’s susanoo reaching for him, the snake quickly leaps onto the ceiling; the lightning sword’s light illuminates the cave. Jin’s susanoo slams against the ground, kicking up a dust cloud. Kabuto crouches down on the cave ceiling, waiting for his adversaries’ next move.

Jin immediately bursts out of the smokescreen with a flock of crows following close behind. The young man launches himself at Kabuto in an attempt to spear him with a black receiver; Kabuto evades by quickly pivoting to the side and kicks Jin back down to the floor, the crows quickly swarm and peck at the snake sage. The crows annoy Kabuto to the point that he drops Sasuke’s sword; appearing out of the crows, Itachi grabs his brother’s blade and swings it at Kabuto. The medic ninja quickly dodges the strike, but one of his horns is cut off, both ninja drop to the ground.

Itachi calmly stands up straight with his back turned. “Your fate was already in my hands. Thanks to the forbidden jutsu of the Uchiha…”

Grinning with bare fangs, Kabuto rushes to Itachi with the lightning sword; as he gets closer he prepares to swing. Itachi and Kabuto both swing at each other, forcing each other into a struggle.

“IZANAMI!!”

Kabuto easily breaks the struggle by kicking Itachi away, but the reanimated Uchiha quickly recovers in mid-air and lands on the cold, hard cave floor gracefully. Jin and Sasuke appear on either side, ready to engage in the next round.

“Sasuke, Jin, stay close to me.”

“Well, well. Déjà vu. I’m sick of it already.” Kabuto shouts as he dashes toward them.

Itachi runs at Kabuto while swinging his brother's sword. However, Kabuto sees an opening and stabs the elder brother with the lightning sword. Itachi explodes with numerous crows bursting out of him in every direction, forcing Kabuto to flinch. Itachi reappears and swipes at Kabuto, cutting off his horn.

“Your fate was already in my hands. Thanks to the forbidden jutsu of the Uchiha…” Itachi runs at Kabuto, clashing blades with him once again. “Izanami!!”

Kabuto kicks Itachi away, again, but the reanimated Uchiha quickly recovers in mid-air and lands on the cold, hard cave floor gracefully. Jin and Sasuke reappear on either side, ready to engage in the next round.

“Sasuke, Jin, stay close to me.”

What… What is this…? Sensing a most unusual pattern, Kabuto stops fighting.

“You’ve fallen prey to my Visual Jutsu.”

Impossible… I’m perfect! I could never--

Coming to an epiphany, Kabuto stands frozen in horror and disbelief. He is unable to accept that he, a perfect and ultimate being, could be put under any genjutsu even one from the Uchiha clan.

“Don’t you see…? You’re nowhere near perfect”

“…!” The snake sage is quickly overcome with outrage and grits his teeth, he clenches his fist to the point that blood drops from his knuckles. “ITACHI UCHIHA--!!”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

O-Okay, that was… that was certainly a new experience… Jin feels as if he’d just woken up from a dream.

The Onikage carefully examines his body, checking his arms, torso, head, and etcetera; nothing looks or feels out of the ordinary, but he feels he has to be sure. Relief washes over him as he realizes nothing wrong with him and that he’s in the real world.

Jin turns his attention to his fellow snake sage, Kabuto stands a few yards away from him; he is silent and stares blankly like a lifeless doll. Itachi stands right in front of the medic ninja, staring directly into his eyes. The sword Kabuto carried is lying on the floor; its electrical blade dissipates as no one holds it, leaving only a decorative hilt. Not long after, Kabuto slowly begins to weave the signs to undo the reanimation jutsu.

Sasuke starts conversing by softly asking, “Izanami, the eternal loop… When did you set it up…?”

“When Kabuto first attacked me with your blade.” Itachi answers. “Now that he’s trapped in the loop, Kabuto can’t move… And now that I’ve learned how to undo the Reanimation with Tsukuyomi… if we make Kabuto release the Reanimation, all the reincarnated dead will vanish, bringing the war’s end closer.”

As Sasuke returns to his normal form, his expression becomes a mournful one. “But then, Itachi…”

Already knowing what will happen, Jin tunes the two brothers’ conversation out while maintaining a respectful silence. The young Uzumaki’s eyes remain fixated on Kabuto as the two Uchiha speak. Kabuto weaves the final hand sign; as a bright light emanates from the dead brother who heavily walks to his brother little by little, Jin quietly and slowly creeps around to Kabuto.

Sage Art: Mind Eater Jutsu! Jin puts the comatose snake under his thrall. Give me the reanimation scroll.

The white snake that sticks out of Kabuto’s abdomen, lifts its head up to Jin and opens its mouth. Jin sees what he’s looking for in the back of the reptile's throat and reaches for it, he pulls the scroll out and opens it.

If this part is where the DNA is smeared on, then the caster’s contract must be… Jin unrolls the scroll even more. Ah, there we are!

Jin bites his right thumb and writes his name down in blood; after that he taps his thumb against his other fingers and stamps his prints under his name. Jin can’t help but awkwardly smile at the sight of his bluish-green blood as he is reminded that he’s possibly no longer human.

Since I don’t have DNA or sacrifices, I can’t actually use this yet--hell, random reanimations won’t be of any use for what’s about to happen next. Hmm…? Jin comes back to reality after noticing that it’s getting darker.

Jin turns around and sees Itachi’s soul floating away; Jin can’t see his face, but he knows the elder brother is smiling at Sasuke. Jin has seen this moment many times and yet his eyes still become watery; a tear runs down his face, but Jin wipes it away.

“I hope the others are doing okay…” Jin silently whispers to himself.

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Meanwhile, on another battlefield, Ayanami who has nearly exhausted her sage mode takes the time to wipe the blood trickling from her mouth and compose herself. The battle has paused as the reanimated jinchuriki all emit light. Like ghosts, their souls leave their bodies and ascend to the sky, leaving piles of dust and the corpses that were their sacrifices. Before they transcend to the great beyond, the deceased jinchuriki look down at Naruto and company with bright, warm smiles.

“Itachi… Jin… you guys did it, thank you.” A reinvigorated Ayanami mutters. “I’ll do my part too!”

The Gedo Statue lets out a booming roar, debris and rubble begin to fly into the air, and Tobi weaves a sign. The statue continues to roar as it sways back and forth, surging with chakra.

“...Watch closely and surrender yourself completely.” Tobi ominously declares. “The return of Ten-Tails and the beginning of the end of the world!”

Ayanami’s attention is drawn towards Mecha-Kurama’s battle with the Three-Heads; neither side has gained any ground, they’re stalemating each other. The two beasts claw and tear at each other with all their might, it’s as if nothing else matters except for their own fight.

Due to the reanimation jutsu being released, the young Hyuga’s morale is boosted and is overflowing with newfound energy. She performs the snake hand sign and gathers more nature energy to recharge her sage mode.

I think I can do this… I know I can do this… I CAN do this! Ayanami recalls her time in Jin’s mindscape.

♦♦♦♦♦

After being caught up with all of Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, and the last Boruto chapter Jin read before dying, Jin was introducing Rito to the Mass Effect trilogy while Ayanami was combing through the seemingly endless list of combined memories of all the movies the three have watched.

She sees numerous sci-fi movies, horror movies, superhero, action, adventure, sports, and many more. However, what catches her eye is a trilogy that came out after her death; this trilogy belongs to one of her favorite franchises. Her mouth grows into a big smile and her eyes sparkle like a child’s.

“So I just turned all life in the galaxy into organic-machine hybrids?” Rito asks after just finishing the games.

Jin bluntly responds with, “Yes, yes you did.”

“What ending do you usually go with?”

“Destroy. I want Shepard to live.”

“What about EDI and the geth? They die if you go with the destroy ending.”

Jin shrugs. “I like to think the geth somehow managed to survive and EDI can be repaired--she may have lost some memories, but she’s still alive… I also want Shepard to come back and marry Tali.”

“Wha--eww!! I see Tali as a sister, Miranda’s a better choice.” Rito argues.

“Miranda’s my side pi–”

Ayanami taps Jin’s shoulder. “They made new movies about him?”

“About who?” Jin asks.

Ayanami gleefully holds up memories of a trilogy of movies, they’re about a certain giant, radioactive reptile. Jin and Rito find her childish delight and excitement cute.

“C’mon lets watch them!”

“”Okay.”” Jin and Rito answer simultaneously.

♦♦♦♦♦

Okay, here goes…! Ayanami braces herself as she molds her sage chakra. “Sage Art: Wood Style: Wooden Kaiju Jutsu!”

The ground trembles and a tree erupts from under Ayanami; the commotion catches Naruto and Tobi’s attention. Even Kakashi, Bee, Guy, Mecha-Kurama and the Three-Heads stop fighting to look in awe.

The tree grows and changes shape, taking the appearance of a large, bipedal reptile. Its size is comparable to a tailed beast, its face is squared with a broad neck. Its eyes are small and its teeth are also relatively small. The head and neck tend to lean forward more and the nostrils are more separate, being located on opposite sides of the snout; jagged trees line its back, serving as dorsal plates.

“Ayanami, what the heck is that?!” Naruto shouts from his position near the Eight-Tails.

The wooden reptile statue takes a single step, taking a deep breath. It leans forward and releases a blood curdling roar that can be heard for miles. All who hear it are instilled with fear on an instinctual level, including its caster.

Wait, I could’ve made it look like Mothra… Next time! Ayanami cracks a smile as she stands atop her derivative of the Wood Golem jutsu. “CHARGE!”