The turning point!

The situation was turning dire at the roof over the arena. Jiraiya was writing the seal as quickly as he could, but it was a complicated one. And he needed it twice. The Third was a formidable opponent, but his age and his three opponents were now merciless. Still, every moment he could give his student was precious. "Sarutobi-sensei, can you hold them off for a minute or so? I know it's a lot to ask, but I need just a minute here...", Jiraiya asked of his teacher.

Fending off his teachers for a moment, Sarutobi landed next to Jiraiya, panting heavily. This odds were heavily stacked against them, but he had not given up just yet. Not by a long shot. "I can buy you some more time, Jiraiya. Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu)!", his voice called out as he bit his thumb and put his palm to the ground.

What he had summoned was a big ape, towering over his master. However, it was still smaller than the likes of Gamabunta. But this was Enma, the King of the Apes. "Sarutobi... your old teachers are fighting you, I see. I will aid you with all my power, my friend.", the ape said in a solemn voice as he looked at the opponents. Nodding, Sarutobi again turned to the attackers and the heated battle began anew.

A flurry of attacks devastated the roof, but Jiraiya focused on his task. And finally, the scroll was done. "Done! Now we need to hold them still for a moment so I can place those seals, Sarutobi-sensei!", he yelled as, even though their combined might was great, Sarutobi and Enma were being pushed back.

But now, there was hope and once more, they stood their ground. "I'm on it! Let's do it, Enma!", Sarutobi called out to his summon, who nodded. "Understood! Henge: Kongo-Nyoi (Diamond Strength Stick)!", the ape said and disappeared in a poof of smoke. As the smoke cleared, the monkey was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Sarutobi now wielded a massive, black staff.

Not letting his opponents a moment to react, he hurled the staff at the two Hokage and then clapped his hands together to form a seal. "Kongo-Roheki (Adamantine Prison Wall)!", he exclaimed and the staff split in mid-air. In the blink of an eye, the multitude of the black staffs had surrounded the Hokage and formed a prison around them. Despite their best efforts, it was impossible for them to break out of it now. "I got them! Jiraiya, do it now!", Sarutobi yelled as he had given this student this opportunity.

"Alright then! Kokoro Houshutsu (Heart Release)!", Jiraiya yelled and hurled the scroll at the captured Hokage. The paper seemed to lengthen as it flew around the cage and wrapped itself around it, until it was completely enveloped by the seal.

"I won't let you!", Orochimaru yelled and rushed towards his caged pawns. He still desired their power, he would not let them be destroyed. Opening his mouth, a snake burst out of it and opened its mouth in turn. Out of the snake came a slim, evil-looking sword, Orochimarus own Kusanagi. He knew, only the Kusanagi could penetrate the Kongo-Roheki, any other jutsu or weapon would be nigh-useless...

But he was too late. The jutsu had already taken affect, and unseen to them, the jutsu began working. The bodies of the Hokage eroded and finally fell down to the ground, dissolving into the ash they were formed of."Thank you, Sarutobi, Jiraiya...", a whisper of the First Hokage sounded over the battlefield as he was finally put to rest permanently.

"No! I won't let you leave!", Orochimaru yelled, enraged. His hand grabbed the scroll that completely covered the prison of the Hokages, but in the moment he touched his, his arm went limp and he stumbled back from it, as if it was something poisonous.

Then, the admantine prison disappeared and Jiraiya retracted his scroll. What remained was a pile of ash and two bodies that were laying inside them. Sarutobi recognized them. They were the teammates of the Sound kunoichi that was currently in custody of the ANBU. "Your own subordinates... I guess you're really not the same man I once knew, Orochimaru...", Sarutobi said sadly as he looked over to his former student.

Orochimaru merely groaned as his arm shook violently. Willing it to move again, it slowly started to heed its master again. Sarutobi and Jiraiya watched as Orochimaru reacted this trangely to the sealing on the scroll. "It's a seal for undoing a possession-kinjutsu of this level... if it affected Orochimaru like this, then that means...", Jiraiya began before trailing off as he realized just what that meant.

"Orochimaru... I cannot believe this! This is not your own body!", Sarutobi gasped as he stared at him. This was no longer a living human being anymore, he knew that now... it was a body and a soul, but they were forcibly connected.

Orochimaru chuckled. Finally they had seen through his facade. "You're right, you old fool... I left that rotting shell behind a long time ago. And do you want to know why?", he asked them, but went on to explain it himself. "What is an ultimate being? I tell you what is: It is stronger than anyone else. And what is strength? Jutsu, of course... so my goal is of course to learn every single jutsu that exist.", he said with utmost hate in his voice as he looked at the two defenders.

Lifting his still shaking arm upwards, Orochimaru grinned to himself. The feeling was returning to it, there was no harm done that could not be fixed with a bit of concentration. "But I was confined to my body. I knew, before long, I would've died and never reach my goal. I was limited, restrained. So, I found a way around that...", he explained with a smug smile.

"And for that goal, you use your subordinates like that?", Jiraiya yelled, shocked that Orochimaru had grown to care so little for those that willingly followed him.

"Of course. Just like you use your ninja right now, aren't you? Letting them fight even though you know they are bound to die in battle!", Orochimaru asked Sarutobi with a dark glint of hate in his eyes.

"Orochimaru! Every single Leaf-nin fights because he chose to! I do not **** them into battle, like you do with your ninja!", Sarutobi raised his voice as he said so. "Everyone of them fights for the same reason I'm fighting you now! To protect this village! To protect its people! To protect what it stands for! To protect what they love! And who they love!", he told his former student, a passionate speech to one that was without passion. "And that is why you were never a true Leaf-nin, Orochimaru!", the Third ended.

But Orochimaru was completely unfazed. "I see... well, it can't be helped, can it? It still doesn't change the fact that you will die here, Sarutobi-sensei! And that will be the end of Konoha!", he said, his words dripping with malice. Indeed, a few places in Konoha were already burning, but still, the Konoha-nin fought on.

And Sarutobi knew that. "No! The fire of Konoha will never be extinguished as long as the Will of Fire lives on in every single ninja that fights to defend it right now.", he snapped back. How could his own student have strayed from his path so much?

"Is that so? Then I suppose that I'll need to kill every last one of them, won't I?", Orochimaru asked, the Kusanagi sword in his hand, the weapon ready to rend the flesh of his enemies.

But he would not have that luck today. "Just try it, Orochimaru!", Jiraiya challenged him, a plan formulating in his head already... they could win this now.

As Naruto lured Gaara out of the city, he turned his head around once and saw the smoke clouds that rose up into the sky from Konoha. He knew that his beloved hometown was burning now. But there was nothing he could do, except... 'Gotta believe in them. Gotta believe in Kurenai-sensei and the old man as well...', he thought to himself as he dodged Gaaras sand for the umpteenth time now.

Aside from the hunt tiring him, he knew he could not run much further. He had already used a lot of feints and his Kage Bunshin on the way here, but Gaara was still catching up. "Here is good, I guess...", he mumbled to himself. They were a fair distance away from Konoha now... they could fight here without Naruto having to hold back.

Landing on the branch below him, Naruto turned around and faced Gaara. The Kazekage's son, surprised that Naruto had stopped moving, also landed on a tree branch and looked at his favored opponent with glee. "So, you're finally ready to die, Uzumaki Naruto?", he asked with a cackle.

Naruto gulped his fear down. In order to help everyone, he needed to defeat this guy. He just had to. For Temaris sake, too. "We'll see about that... Gaara!", he growled and clenched his fist. He hadn't lost a fight so far... and he wouldn't start today!