I jumped in the air as did Obito getting away from everyone else. He formed a sword which I instantly saw and drew my own. I tilted the sword to the left putting my palm on the smooth edge of the blade to block his attack. His force made me slide a couple feet. Easily I saw Obito about to come from behind attempting to stab me. I spun on my heel blocking his attack staring at his emotionless face.

"He isn't in control, he fights as if he doesn't know about my abilities." I thought as I swung at him, but he disappeared. I quickly put my sword away ready for his next attack.

He was about to appear to my left, so I wove some hand signs. I disappeared into the ground going to where he was about to appear to pull him under with me only for him to jump out of the way. I re-appeared in front of him aiming for a punch but he dodged it. I could see him about to stab me and unfortunately, in this proximity, I could barely dodge.

Pain erupted from my right side when I dashed to the left then I fell to the ground but managed to catch myself weaving more signs as he walked towards me.

"Fire style: Dragon flame bomb jutsu!" I shouted then blew fire from my mouth creating the dragon.

Thanks to Naruto's chakra, it was much larger than I could ever produce on my own. He countered with his own jutsu making them collide creating an explosion of fire. I saw him appear close behind me throwing a kunai, so I drew my sword again deflecting it. Obito lunged towards me ready to kill so I jumped out of the way as he tried to stab my heart. Before I could get ready, he appeared behind me kicking my right shoulder making me skid across the rocky terrain.

"He's getting smarter," I thought as I got to my knees. "He knows he can't hit me so he's teleporting making sure I don't have enough time to dodge or create a jutsu."

My heart jumped when I saw him behind me giving me no time to dodge; his sword went through my abdomen. Blood shot up my throat forcing me to open my mouth as it spewed onto the ground. Obito quickly removed the sword and appeared in front of me kicking my stomach. More blood rose up as I tried to take a breath making me choke. I gasped for air when I fell to the ground, but it seemed impossible.

When I tried to get up pain shot through my body causing me to fall back down. My eyes darted to the real battle seeing Father had finally appeared making my heart drop.

"He is alive," I thought, then received another kick making me cry out in pain. "But he's looking only at Sasuke." My blood started to boil. "He isn't even looking to see where I am. I know he can sense me."

"Hm how boring, I thought you'd at least give me a challenge." He commented but I was too focused on Father to care.

Anger was starting to take over as I stared at him but then focused my attention towards Obito. He disappeared again giving me time to get back to my feet and create two clones who hid from site. Naruto's chakra soon disappeared but thankfully sealed my wounds. Obito was about to appear to my right so I wove signs and turned on my heel.

"Wind style, barrage tornado!" I shouted as the wind started to pick up.

Mini tornados came onto the field and headed towards Obito who had just appeared. He reacted quickly by jumping over them but I wasn't done yet.

"Earth style, earth spikes!"

The ground started to shake followed by huge spikes sprouting from the ground heading towards Obito who effortlessly kicked the spikes away. I summoned chakra to my sword making it glow blue. He made some hand signs and made a fireball but that wasn't going to help him.

"Wind style: Slicing blade!" I shouted as I slashed down creating a sharp wind which he dodged and disappeared only to reappear in front of me.

He grabbed my neck squeezing until I started to choke. He used his other arm to stab me once more.

"Ninja Art: Hidden Shadow Snake!" My clone shouted as she ran from behind him.

The clone held her arms out as a barrage of snakes came out from her sleeves but Obito instantly killed them then killed her in the process while still clutching my throat. My body started to shake as he started to punch my body.

"No, it can't end like this. I can't lose to him! He's not even the real one! I need to win!" I thought as my curse mark started to move and spread across my body. I released my clone that was still hidden activating Sage Mode.

Obito saw the sudden change dropping me and creating a distance between us. I could feel my body changing into my sage form which wasn't my favorite, but it would have to do. My nose turned into a snout of a dragon as black scales started to cover my skin along with horns sprouting from my head. My hands and feet turned into claws and a tail started to grow as well.

"Now remember," the elder snake's voice echoed through my mind. "You are just beginning the art of Sage mode. You won't be able to stay in that form for long so be careful."

Once the transformation was complete, I turned to Obito only seeing his body heat. I blinked a few times since I wasn't use to this new snake like eyesight. My Subete Miru was still working since I was able to see most of the battle ground but not as much as I usually can see.

I went to attack him but I wasn't use to my new speed yet making me appear a few feet behind him. He turned in my direction but was unable to dodge my tail which swept under his feet making him fall. He disappeared once more appearing away from me holding out his arms. Wooden spikes flew from his palms so I ran towards them. With my new speed, I was able to dodge them effortlessly, but he rushed towards me making spikes appear from the ground.

I managed to jump back but he made it so I couldn't escape. One appeared behind me impaling my side. I gasped from the pain but lunged to the left dodging his hand that was about to grab me.

"If his clone is this strong, I can't image how Naruto and Sasuke are doing." I thought as I attempted to heal my wound but Obito shot more wooden spikes towards me. "I hope this works," I thought as I held out my hands towards them.

"Sage art: inorganic animation," I said as I made only a few spikes drop to the ground while the others were still heading towards me. "Crap, I haven't had enough practice."

I went to dodge the next wave, but it was only a distraction. Obito went to stab me again so I held up my arm making my bones emerge from my skin blocking the blade. I quickly spun around hitting him with my tail; as he flew back, I started to feel weaker.

"Times almost out," I thought as I readied myself for the next attack.

Obito disappeared then came from behind stabbing me through the stomach with another spike.

"You let your guard down," he said when he brought me closer. "I remember your clan." He sneered then threw me to the right pulling the sword from me. "I thought you'd put up more of a fight; how boring."

I hunched forward seeing the spike protruding through my abdomen. The spikes retreated as did my sage power making me feel drained. Obito went in for a few kicks knocking me around the area until he finally disappeared to join the real one. I was left alone gasping in pain that was felt all through her my, blood dripping from my wounds. As I managed to sit up somewhat, I could see there were wounds that I didn't even know I had gotten. I don't remember when my Subete Miru deactivated but when I did activate it, I gasped. All I could see was a giant tree with branches sticking out with everyone surrounding it.

When I finally got to my feet, I started to walk towards the battlefield. I looked to see Kitty with Temari while Hikaru was mixed in with the rest of the shinobi mostly with the Mist I believe. The tree started to move its branches.

The branches reached out grabbing every shinobi in sight draining their chakra completely leaving a shriveled up carcass. I had to keep pushing myself if I wanted to make it over there in time. I could see everyone running from the tree but it was no use. There lifeforce drained completely to zero.

I reached for my necklace replenishing some of my chakra but it wasn't much since I started out with almost all of it and I wanted to save Naruto's chakra for when I desperately need it. Everyone was scattered so I searched for Kitty seeing those branches chasing him making my heart drop. Panic took over so I ignored my pain running as fast as I could towards him. It was harder than I thought, since I attempted to avoid the scattered bodies, but there were too many. Over and over again I'd trip landing on another body. As I got closer, I could see more following him soon surrounding him.

"No!" I shouted. Despite the pain, I ran towards Kitty. "I can't lose him, no!" Before the branches could grab him, I pushed him out of the way taking his place. They squeezed around me starting to absorb my chakra.

"Ack!" I gasped as the branches pressed on my wounds. I looked down at Kitty seeing his bewildered expression.

"Why?!" He shouted as his expression turned into anger.

"Because I-I can't lose another l-loved one," I struggled to say as I felt my life force starting to fade.

I felt my chakra being drained and my eyesight started to get blurry. "Is this how I die?" I thought just as a blurry figure came to my rescue slicing the branch that held me. I fell to the ground but was caught by someone. I was drifting in and out of consciousness unable to hear what the person was saying, I could hear more voices but they were muffled.

"Just let me die," I only thought but couldn't say. "Don't waste energy or chakra on someone like me."

I could see pink hovering over me and I already could tell it was Sakura. I could feel my strength returning slowly.

"Move child," I heard a familiar voice order. "Karin, heal her now!" His voice sounded desperate.

I could see Karin's red hair approach me and held out her arm. I opened my mouth biting down on her flesh instantly feeling the effects of her chakra. She suddenly pulled away but I was still being healed. I only blinked and saw Naruto's chakra surrounding me again. Finally, I could fully see and saw Karin, Sakura, Suigetsu, Kitty, Hikaru and finally Father standing above me.

"Ko you're okay!" Kitty exclaimed pulling me into a hug. I felt comforted in his arms feeling the stress of my fight wash away.

"I told you she was going to live. Her life force changed." Hikaru interjected as he looked between Kitty and I.

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"When I first joined the war, you had less than a day left. Now you have years."

I was about to question how many, but I'd rather not know. "How is that possible?"

"It's not set in stone Ko, every decision you or someone else makes affects your lifespan. You weren't supposed to be saved; that tree was suppose to kill you." He explained as Kitty finally let me go.

"Why did you save me? You didn't have to you idiot." Kitty scolded me.

"Your life is more important. You have a future." I reasoned which made him frown. The way his brow furrowed only made me think he looked cute when mad.

"Don't say that, you do have a future."

"Whatever makes you sleep at night. Oh and were you the one who saved me?"

"Uh no actually, it was your Dad." He answered making my eyes dart towards him. He saved me... he saved me.

Edited: 2/26/2021