章 66: Chapter 65 - Clash of Gods
Kurama. That was the name the old man had given him. It was lost to time.
Kyuubi no Yoko, the nine-tailed demon fox, was the name the humans had called him for centuries.
He didn't blame the humans for calling him that. He suppose he earned the name in the end for what he had done. People of the old world had called him a natural disaster, appearing suddenly out of nowhere to attack areas that had been breading the darkest aspects of the human nature.
They were not wrong.
Kurama and his brothers had drifted away once Hagoromo and Ashura had passed away. He had chosen to honor his father's wishes and continue his work through his immortal life. He was a being of pure chakra, pure energy. He would not age, get sick and he could not be killed either. Trust me, many people had tried when he attacked.
The first few years after Hagoromo's passing he simply wandered the land. Ashura was taking care of everything. But then he passed away and his descents fell very short of their ancestor's wishes. They forgot their burden and tasks they should have carried on through their blood.
And so, for centuries, Kurama tried to keep humanity on the path his father had given them. Even when humans themselves forgot their very origins. Hagoromo had given them chakra so that humanity could understand each other with no words.
Kurama watched as humanity learned to harness their chakra. Each generation carrying on and improving until the gift of chakra was used for war. Humanity had learned to strengthen their bodies and bend the elements with peculiar ease that surprised even him. But even the best of them fell short of his father's abilities. That man could bend chakra to his will like feeble paper.
And so Kurama felt compelled to end it. He struck with unstoppable fury, carrying death in each step. He attacked the source of their power, destroying their villages and erasing their knowledge of chakra. But he couldn't do it alone. The world was far too vast for a single being to accomplish. Even for someone like him.
And so he asked his siblings to help. Pathetic, all of them. They declined and hid away from the world, claiming that hurting humans was against what father had whished for in the first place. Foolish siblings, all of them. And so Kurama kept doing his work along for centuries on end.
Centuries more passed and humanity still hadn't learned. He grew tired of humanity's lack of understanding and so he stopped. He found a mountain and carved himself a small den, so that he could rest for a few years and perhaps when he woke up once more, they had learned something.
How wrong he was.
He was woken, not by free will, but by humans themselves. Shinobi, ninja, they were calling themselves now. Armed with swords and other weapons they had the gall of charging head on against something like me. Foolish humans. I squashed them all like the bugs they were. How far they had fallen.
They carried some forehead protector on their heads. I noticed the symbol but discarded it nearly immediately. Only later on I would realize that was actually the symbol of their village. At least they had learned something, those shinobi. Now if they were all together in the same village like the old man's wishes then it was all over.
Of the attacking group only two shinobi survived. Ginkaku and Kinkaku had somehow managed to survive my powerful chakra and ended up with a watered version of my abilities. I spat them out and left them half alive on the ground. I left their fate to the gods and walked away to find another den.
And then came Uchiha Madara. Just from his chakra I could feel he was descended from that retched Indra. But my eternal surprise were his eyes. Some evolved version of the sharingan. And with that he managed to control me, no matter how much I resisted. He subdued me, manipulated me, the greatest of all bijuu, like some doll.
I was summoned to do battle against Ashura's descendant. Now that had been a surprise. I could feel their chakra. Ashura and Indra had been reincarnated and decided to go at it again. And this time, I was a tool in their arsenal. In the end I was sealed into a human vessel and found myself with my mental faculties returned.
I was relived.
Don't misunderstand me. I hated Hashirama and his wife, hated Konoha…but better a cage than a leash.
Mito and I didn't talk, and she didn't wish to use my chakra so I was contempt to simply wait. I was eternal and she was mortal. Even if I was switched to another vessel there would come a time when I would be free. Human years meant nothing to me as I had already lived centuries before any them.
The second vessel was some girl named Uzumaki Kushina. This one did try to talk some times. I kept silent as I had nothing to say to her. Then she decided to marry one of them. One who possessed those cursed eyes and I could feel his chakra. Madara had procreated into some blonde brat named Minato.
And then his vessel had dared to marry him of all people. Sometimes I just couldn't get away from those abominable eyes. The years passed and I watched the boy like a hawk, waiting for the moment he would make his move and use me. All Uchihas wanted, no, craved power. And I was an infinite source of it.
To my eternal surprise, Minato was a good and kind hearted man. For a moment I considered he might have been Ashura's reincarnation but his chakra showed no sign of it. I found myself liking that Uchiha as I slumbered within the seal. If it wasn't for these dreaded chains I would almost considered myself lucky.
Then another one came. Another Uchiha with their precious Mangekyou Sharingan and I found myself in their leash once again.
IT WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN
I made a choice. I voluntarily let myself be sealed into Minato's child, some brat named Naruto.
Better a cage than a leash.
But I was very surprised by the brat as I could feel something different in him. I could feel specks of the old man's chakra running through his system. Small drops of father's powerful chakra swimming in the ocean the brat possessed. Naruto was a mix of both parents. Kind and good hearted, but cold and ruthless if necessary.
I chose to become a friend instead of a prisoner.
I watched him grow until this very moment. The moment in which he stands facing the first man to ever bind me against my will, Madara Uchiha.
"You are missing one" Naruto commented, seeing only five edo tenseis. Madara only laughed before a predatory smile reached his lips.
"Shall we dance?"
That retched line. Kurama saw red and flared his power, flooding Naruto with his powerful chakra and ripping out of the seal. With a mighty roar that shook the building, Kurama appeared in the real world in an explosion of smoke and rock. The small room they stood in exploded outwards in a shower of debris with Kurama emerging from the cloud of dust, his nine tails waving wildly behind him.
Madara's eyes widened in a mix of shock and disbelief when he saw the large bijuu appear in front of him so suddenly. Even Naruto stumbled from Kurama jumping out of him with no warning and charged against the ancient Uchiha with fierce determination.
Naruto and Madara's paths remained behind while Kurama charged against the old Uchiha. He should have known that Kurama wouldn't just stick to watch the battle. He had a personal interest in being part of the battle. Naruto channeled chakra to his feet and landed on the side of one of the buildings, watching Kurama snatch the Uchiha with his claws and plummet downwards.
Naruto looked around to see the five paths looking cautiously at him. "I guess I will deal with them while Kurama is busy with Madara" Naruto thought to himself. And while he had faith on Kurama's power, he knew the bijuu would not come even close to defeating Madara. The Uchiha had too much power, knowledge and experience to be simply be defeated in a blast of energy.
Naruto pondered on how to dispatch of the paths quickly. Of the five paths, he had only known Yugito, and had met Yagura briefly before he killed himself back in Kiri. The first step would be figuring out which was which. Naruto crouched and made a very familiar t shaped hand seal. A hundred clones appeared in a cloud of smoke.
They split into groups and launched themselves into the enemies without a care in the world. Han took the clones head on, sprouting multiple arms and destroying the clones with a mix of chakra blasts and physical attacks. Han, the jinchuuriki of the five tails, was the Asura Path.
Utakata simply ran away from the clones to keep some distance. He placed both hands on the nearby surface and summoned a giant centipede who proceeded to slither around the clones and squash them. The clones managed to take out the centipede and the newly summoned ox before they were destroyed. Utakata, the jinchuuriki of the six tails, was the Animal Path.
Roshi engaged in taijutsu with the clones, using his lava release chakra mode to coat his body in lava. The clones were burned and destroyed and any ninjutsu attack coming against him was simply absorbed. Roshi, the jinchuuriki of the four tails, was the Preta Path.
Yagura launched a wave of water against the clones. They used kamui to bypass the water wall and charged head on against the enemy. Yagura kept to taijutsu and showed no sign of using any type of Rinnegan related abilities. A clone charged head on and simply phased through his body and appeared in the back. In the end Yagura was overwhelmed by the clones and blown to pieces with a point blank Rasengan.
The final path was Yugito who kept running away from the clones. As the remaining paths dispatched of the clones, they went to protect Yugito from being destroyed. In a matter of minutes all the clones had been dealt with and only Yagura seemed to be reforming slowly on the ground.
Yugito quickly approached the fallen path and summoned the king of hell to fix him in a far faster manner than the edo tensei regeneration itself.
"Yugito is the Naraka Path, Yagura for the Human Path, Roshi for Preta Path, Han for the Asura Path and Utakata for the Animal Path" Naruto concluded, narrowing his eyes at the five edo tenseis. He took a deep breath and his face was covered with red markings, symbolizing the use of senjutsu.
Naruto felt no chakra source nearby with the exception of the five paths and Madara. "How strange that Madara did not choose the Deva Path for any of them" Naruto thought in retrospect. The Deva Path was the best path for combat and yet, Madara had chosen to not use it. Naruto broke his train of thought and got ready.
"Nothing more than puppets" Naruto thought, his right hand forming a translucent cube. He flashed to the only path he had tagged with the Hiraishin seal. He appeared behind the Asura Path and placed his right hand on his shoulders. Before Han could even react, his body was shrouded in white light and completely vaporized.
Naruto triggered his kamui to slip past a stampeding bull. He twisted midair and channeled chakra into his wrists. Two shuriken popped from each arm. He imbued them with lightning chakra until they gained a blue hue and started sparkling. With a flick of his wrists, the shurikens were launched and struck the bull, killing the beast instantly and destroying the summoned animal.
But Naruto knew these beasts, these summons, these animals, were mere chakra constructs. They weren't truly alive.
Without a moment's qualm, Naruto stepped of the ledge of the building.
Like a silver armored specter, he plummeted a full five stories toward the stony, unyielding floor of the village. The death-defying fall certainly would have killed a civilian, or at the very least left him broken and bleeding upon the pavement, yet Naruto landed with the nimble elegance of a jaguar, so inhumanly smooth and graceful that he appeared to be striding briskly away before his black sandals even touched down upon the rain-swept cobblestone.
He stopped walking as an enemy quickly approached him from behind. Yagura, the human path, was running at full speed against him. He wasn't exactly being quiet, or even stealthy, with his loud steps hitting the water on the floor in loud splashing sounds.
The blonde felt Yagura charging but made no effort to turn around to face his opponent. The human path neared ever so slowly. Naruto's eyes glowed and Yagura froze as if he had struck a wall and yet, nothing visible stood in front of him barring his movements.
Naruto turned around to look at his captured enemy. Yagura's fingers twitched, showing that Naruto had yet to perfect whatever technique or ability he was employing. Naruto moved to the next step and Yagura's body started to be compressed ever so slowly, almost like a large snake had wrapped itself around his body and started twisting.
His arms bent to unnatural angles, bones cracked and the skin burst open, but no blood was spilt thanks to the immortal body of the edo tensei.
The other paths ran to his help. "Shinra Tensei" Naruto whispered from where he stood and watched with satisfaction as the charging paths were blown away with the exception of Yagura who never even moved. Small buildings around him were blasted into smithereens while the large building he had jumped from started collapsing.
Naruto raised his right arm towards the falling building, and just like Yagura, the falling heap of concrete and rock froze mid fall. The ten story building still tilted and threatening to crush both Naruto and Yagura had stopped as if it had hit the very same invisible wall. Naruto lowered his arm but the building remained to same, frozen in space and time, defying the very laws of gravity.
The blonde focused solely on Yagura and kept his technique going forward. Yagura no longer stood on the floor, but hovered in the air. His legs being squashed upwards, his head pushed downwards. His whole body being compressed, squashed like an old vehicle in a car crusher. Naruto's eyes glowed silvery one last time and Yagura was suddenly attacked from all sides and squeezed into the size of a tennis ball.
Naruto released his ability and the new ball fell to the ground with a loud thunk sound. He watched as the edo tensei started the healing procedure but Yagura left this realm in a blast of white light before that could happen.
Gravity Manipulation.
Why limit yourself to elemental manipulations such as simply pulling and pushing. All things had mass. Why not push and pull, twist and turn, squeeze and stretch.
Yagura had been his first victim. His body had been target of multiple gravity fields from all sides resulting in him being crushed into virtually nothingness.
"So much to improve…so much to learn" Naruto thought with a chuckle, looking at the frozen building, unaffected by gravity. Shinobi spent all their lives training to become strong, honing their abilities and yet they barely scrapped the bottom of what they could do.
The pinnacle of the fire release was to breathe fire, control the hotness and even range of the technique. How simple! Even a genin can spit a fireball, and we call masters to those who can manipulate this fire simply by changing their shape, power and range.
The pinnacle of water release is just that, spitting and controlling water. Hinata herself had spent her whole life focusing on her main element and, while she is already regarded as the best water elemental, there was still so much to learn. She pushed so many barriers but there was still so much to learn, to hone…to perfect.
Immortality.
That would give Naruto the time to hone every single of his abilities to their peak, their maximum power, their maximum efficiency. "Great!" Naruto thought with a chuckle. Now he sounded like Orochimaru and his eternal quest to understand everything. Naruto laughed at the absurdity of the comparison.
He was broken from his thoughts when the sky was lit ablaze by a tailed beast ball. Naruto twisted his wrist and used his new found skill to metaphorically grip the ten story building. The ground shook briefly has the building broken its foundations and rose into the air. Naruto effortlessly sent the colossal building towards the paths, like he was throwing a simple pebble stone.
Yugito and Roshi were squashed under the structure, unable to run away or protect their bodies against the colossal construct of rock. The village shook with the impact and Naruto turned to the last path to be defeated. Utakata, the animal path, was the remaining enemy in the field before he moved to the final boss.
"Kuchiy-"
"Kamui" Naruto whispered before Utakata finished his summoning. He focused on his chest and ripped a hole where is heart was supposed to be. Utakata gave a surprised gasp and fell to the ground unmoving. Naruto approached the downed enemy and quickly dispelled the edo tensei, allowing Utakata to be free once more.
Naruto felt a massive spike in chakra and watched as Madara summoned his perfect Susanoo in the distance. It was like Hinata had described it. Big. Imposing.
Naruto saw Kurama get knocked down and finally immobilized by several trees. The blonde ran towards the site. It was time for him to step in and face Madara once and for all.
## With Kurama ##
"MADARA" Kurama snarled, snatching the Uchiha midair and plummeting to the ground with his prey. Madara's Susanoo ribcage shielded him from Kurama's claws as both crashed into the ground of the rain village.
"I dreamt of this hour" Kurama said gleefully, showing a row of sharp teeth and pinning the Uchiha under his massive claws. "The hour I could rip you to shreds" Kurama said, pushing the Uchiha farther into the earth, his ribcage shield cracking under the pressure.
Madara focused on the bijuu, his silver eyes glowing with power. The bijuu allowed an arrogant smirk to grace his lips. "You are foolish, Madara. Naruto and I are still bound together. I'm above your petty illusions now"
"Hn" Madara grunted before clasping both hands together inside his shield. The ground rumbled as trees burst forth, pushing Kurama backwards and entangling his limbs until he was trapped on the ground.
"Mokuton (Wood Style)" Kurama whispered in sheer disbelief from the ground. Madara said nothing and slowly climbed to his feet, his ethereal shield disappearing from view.
"Honestly" Madara scoffed and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "What did you expect to happen? You think you could charge against me and crush me that easily. Please! You are nothing but a filthy beast, a mere chakra conglomerate" Madara smirked when he saw the bijuu snarl and felt his power chakra twist in anger.
With a deafening roar the tree bindings were shattered and the great Kyuubi rose once more until he stood looking down at Madara from his imposing size. "You will lose, Madara. And I will take great pleasure in being part of your defeat" Kurama snarled before jumping forward, the ground cracking and shaking with each step he took.
Madara braced himself as he saw the Kyuubi get ready. The massive bijuu broke into a run. Madara stood still, waiting patiently for the beast get near him. Kurama raised a paw to the air and brought it down swiftly. A deafening shockwave rose from the impact, leveling the buildings around.
Moments before Kurama had struck, Madara had jumped to the side and high into the air. He had avoided the shockwave by landing on Kurama's nose. The bijuu roared in rage before furiously shaking his head to get rid of the parasite in his head.
Madara started running around Kurama's body, much to the bijuu's annoyance. Kurama threw himself to the ground and started rolling, trying hopelessly to squash Madara beneath his body. Madara simply ran around Kurama's body while he rolled on the flattened ground.
With a swing of his tails, Kurama struck himself on the torso and finally managed to get Madara to jump away from him. Seeing the Uchiha in the air and without proper ways to outmaneuver, Kurama began charging his ultimate technique. Red and blue chakra filled the air above his mouth as it began converging into a single, menacing dark sphere.
"BIJUUDAMA (Tailed Beast Ball)" Kurama swallowed the dark sphere just before a pure reddish energy ball exploded from his mouth, heading straight to the stationary Uchiha.
The Uchiha smirked before lazily rising a single hand towards the incoming energy ball. "Shinra Tensei" He whispered and the small pulse hit the energy ball and deflected it. He watched as the ball flew of and exploded in the horizon, filling the sky with a piercing red light and a mushroom cloud formed not far away.
Madara landed on the ground and watched as Kurama charged another attack. He launched another tailed beast ball, this one racing straight towards him and destroying everything in its path.
Madara clasped his hands together in a pray sign. "Mokuton - Mokujoheki (Doomed Wall)". A wooden dome rose in front of Madara moments before the tailed beast ball connected. The wood screeched under the assault but managed to hold on until the ball was deflected back into the air and once more exploding in the distance.
"I don't need my Rinnegan. I'm going to make you submit with my strength only" Madara said as he lowered the wooden barrier. His body was shrouded in a bubbling shell of blue chakra. "Only two people had the honor of facing this"
"Behold…my perfect Susanoo" Madara said and his chakra seemed to roar. With a blinding light, that forced even Kurama to look away, his Susanoo had taken the form of a massive warrior, easily standing above in height when compared to Kurama. "Foolish beast" Madara said before the warrior sprang forward and tackled the bijuu head on.
The Susanoo wrapped his massive arms around Kurama's neck and wrestled the bijuu into the ground. Kurama countered by gathering all his nine tails and smashing them against the warrior, forcing the Susanoo to stumble slightly. Kurama took the advantage and slipped out of his grasp and jumped backwards to gain some distance.
Kurama opened his mouth. More and more chakra seemed to be poured into the attack until the dark ball easily dwarfed the bijuu in question. "BIJUUDAMA (Tailed Beast Ball)" Kurama roared and pushed the titanic ball forward. The tailed beast ball charged head on against the massive warrior who held his ground.
The Susanoo bent his knees slightly and leaned forward as the ball approached quickly. Madara opened his large arms and gripped the large energy ball. The Susanoo's feet slid over the ground as the ball pushed backwards while the warrior struggled to push against it. Suddenly, the Susanoo managed to halt the balls progress and leaned backwards, finally directing the ball into the sky.
The sky lit in fire. A light so bright that washed over the entirety of the rain country and could even be seen by the neighboring countries. Madara regained his footing and turned the Susanoo back to Kurama who looked with a shocked face towards Madara. "Y-you….deflected my strongest attack with raw strength only" Kurama said, shock written in his face.
Madara sneered before jumping forward and sending his right arm forward. Kurama was still shocked, or perhaps he wasn't fast enough to react. Kurama caught a right cross to his jaw, making the bijuu stumble from the impact.
Kurama shook his head to avoid the dizziness. The Susanoo however, didn't stop, and continued his vicious assault on the bijuu. Another punch to the other side of the face, a sweep of his legs forced Kurama to the ground. The Susanoo rose his foot and slammed it against Kurama's throat, finally pinning the bijuu to the ground.
He dispelled his perfect Susanoo and summoned several trees to keep the Kyuubi trapped on the ground. The trees wrapped all his legs, his tails and even wrapped themselves around his snout to prevent Kurama from opening his mouth.
"You see Kyuubi. How weak you are compered to me" Madara shook his head in amusement, walking until he stopped and stared straight into the eyes of Kurama. He could see the hatred the Kyuubi bore for him, and the thought alone made him chuckle. "You, who have so much pride in your tails, were defeated by a mere human…pathetic"
"RASENSHURIKEN"
Madara's eyes widened when he saw the big spiraling chakra ball heading towards him. He quickly jumped backwards only to see that the intended target was not him, but the trees trapping the bijuu.
"Hn" Madara grunted in annoyance as he saw the bijuu free once more.
"No time to sleep" Madara's eyes opened instantly to see Naruto standing in next to him, red markings spread across his face and two more spiraling chakra balls in his hands. "RASENSHURIKEN" Naruto replied, unleashing the two attacks at point blank range.
Both Madara and Naruto exploded in a spiraling dome on wind chakra that tore everything in its path. Once the attack died down Madara stood in the middle of the blast zone, both hands raised signaling that he had been absorbing chakra from the blast. "Bastard…you almost killed me with that" Madara chuckled, looking at the original Naruto next to the Kyuubi.
"You did well, Kurama. But the rest is up to me" Naruto said softly, running a hand over Kurama's fur. The bijuu said nothing and simply disappeared in smoke, going back to the seal. Naruto turned back to Madara who stood there simply watching him.
"It's only the two of us now" Naruto said, walking until he stood a few feet from Madara.
"Perhaps" Madara commented and slowly raised his right arm. Naruto narrowed his eyes when he saw Madara do one half of a hand seal and simply stop as if waiting for something.
Naruto's eyes widened slightly when he realized what Madara was waiting for. A smile tugged his lips as Naruto brought his arm upwards and performed the same thing, mirroring Madara. The Tairitsu no In (Seal of Confrontation).
No more words were spoken as both shinobi jumped forward and their fists met with loud bang.
The real battle had begun.
## With the Allied Shinobi Forces ##
"Away from the village now" Hinata yelled to the remaining forces of the allied shinobi army. Suddenly the grumbled and the sky was lit ablaze, pushing the clouds away and vaporing the rain.
She heard yells and shrieks from several shinobi as everyone moved even faster away from the village. Everyone was running without looking back when the sky was filled with a light so bright that almost everyone stumbled, their eyelids unable to block the piercing light in the sky.
"Good luck…Naruto-kun" Hinata bit her lip and kept moving forward without looking back. There was nothing she could do.
## With Naruto and Madara ##
Their fists met with a deafening bang.
Madara threw a fast left jab only for Naruto to parry his strike to the side and counter with a jab of his own. Naruto aimed for his throat, attacking with crippling and deadly strikes right from the beginning. However, Madara simply tapped Naruto's arm away, making him miss the target and swing past Madara's head safely.
As they both countered each other like mirrors they found themselves in a stalemate. Both shinobi locked with each other, struggling to overpower their adversary. The ground rumbled and cracked, the water rippled as their chakra saturated the air, giving them a feeling of heavy pressure.
As if they were twins, or maybe it had been the sharingan's predictive abilities, both Naruto and Madara managed to free the same arm and went for a strike. Their palms stopped a few inches from each other. Their eyes met, silver clashed against silver as both shinobi bellowed "SHINRA TENSEI"
Both shinobi held their ground as the gravity pushed against each other. Madara and Naruto poured chakra into their technique as to lose would be a sign of weakness. There would be no finesse in a battle like this. When you reach this level only power matters.
Their fingers moved and twitched as if the slight movement increased their power and control. Their faces twisted into one of deep concentration as more chakra was poured into the push. The ground cracked as they started sinking to the earth, the ground no longer able to support their massive pressure.
With one final push they were both blasted backwards. They stumbled through the ground until they regained their footing and once more made a beeline towards their opponent. Moments before their fists met once more, Naruto vanished in a yellow flash.
Madara turned and quickly side stepped as Naruto appeared behind him with a blue sphere in his hands. Madara snatched Naruto's wrist, driving the Rasengan away from his body and retaliated with a right cross. Naruto tilted his head to the side, Madara's fist grazing his cheek.
Naruto's free hand sparkled with lightning as he went for the finisher. Madara had one hand busy and had overextended with his other. "Raikiri" He trust his arm only to be met with a silvery barrier around Madara.
"Gakido (Human Path)" Madara started absorbing Naruto's strike, neutralizing his attack. Naruto's smirk threw Madara off the loop until he saw a pitch black rod burst from Naruto's extended palm and head straight towards his heart.
Madara recoiled out of reflex and shielded his body with his arms. In a burst of chakra Naruto was pushed back as Madara's Susanoo rose to life. Naruto back flipped a few times to gain some distance and stared impassively at his opponent. "First blood" He said, looking at the bright red liquid dripping from Madara's arm. The wound seemed long gone but the blood was evidence that Naruto had at least wounded him.
Madara didn't seem to acknowledge Naruto and simply stared at his right arm. He channeled a small amount of chakra and a small seal appeared on his skin. "I hate Tobirama for inventing that blasted technique" Madara grumbled in thought and absorbed the seal's chakra, permanently destroying it.
His heart bat with elation. Hashirama had matched him so long ago, but that was before he had awakened the Rinnegan. Next was Hinata, but even she quickly exhausted herself to match his full power. Only Naruto was matching him fully and sometimes ever surpassing him. It was nice to see his long plans coming to fruition.
His hands flew to the horse hand seal. Naruto watched Madara take a deep breath but stood his ground. "Katon - Goka Mekkyaku (Great Fire Annihilation)" From Madara's mouth came a sea of fire. The flames charged against Naruto like a dragon.
Naruto's hands flew towards the same seal as he replied with the same technique and both flames met in the middle. The infernos clashed against one another and Madara quickly understood that there would be no winner in this. His eyes glowed and his hands moved to another seal. "Enton (Inferno Style)"
Madara's white hot flames quickly turned as black as night, engulfing everything in their path as they charged against Naruto. The black flames of Amaterasu, rumored to be hotter than the sun itself melted the rocks. Naruto dropped his attack and charged head on, running through the incoming flames with his Kamui ability.
Madara summoned his black flames and could feel Naruto getting pushed back. Suddenly, Naruto's flames disappeared and Madara's eyes widened in disbelief when Naruto appeared from the sea of fire with his right arm extended forward. Madara reacted quickly and deflected his punch only for Naruto to stare at him.
"Kamui" The blonde whispered and the next thing he saw was nothing other than darkness. Madara felt pressed from all sides. He could not breathe, he felt chains pressing around his chest, his eyeballs forced back into his head.
With the remaining time he had before he was fully absorbed, he made a clone that quickly bumped him to the side. Madara watched with fascination as his clone was torn to shreds and absorbed into Naruto's dimension. All of this in the blink of an eye.
Madara, however, knew very well how the Kamui worked. "Amaterasu" He whispered swiftly, taking advantage of Naruto's solid state for a few briefs moments after absorbing his clone. Naruto exploded in black flames and quickly fell to his knees crying in pain.
Naruto absorbed the trauma, swallowing the pain and burying it deep in his mind. His first conscious was rage. "Shinra…Tensei" He hissed, and everything around him was blasted to smithereens. The black flames burning him evaporated, the wind was forced back alongside Madara and every single building in a mile radius.
"You underestimated him" Kurama said and watched as Naruto coughed and got back to his feet. Half of his face had been burned but was quickly healing back up. Naruto had not felt physical pain in a long time. In fact, he had never felt much physical pain after his early years.
Naruto tore the remains of his upper sleeve and threw it on the floor. He took a calming breath, knowing the rage and anger would not give more power. He watched Madara digging himself out of the rubble from the previous blast.
"Rasenshuriken" Madara looked up to see a spiraling shuriken flying towards him. He jumped to the side as the attack landed safely away from him and exploded in a dome of destruction. Madara felt a chakra spike and could look in astonishment as several more Rasenshurikens flew towards him.
He jumped again, sliding through the ground as the shurikens missed him but destroyed anything that they hit. His chakra surged and his purple Susanoo enveloped him. Madara summoned his swords and proceeded to dismantle the incoming attacks with practiced ease.
"Enough of child's play" Madara growled, pushing more chakra into his ultimate weapon, the greatest ability of his sharingan, and summoned his perfect Susanoo. "SHOW ME YOUR TRUE POWER"
"As you wish" Naruto answered neutrally. Silver chakra surged around Naruto, shrouding his entire body in a bubbling storm of energy. And like a requiem of destruction and power, a figure burst into existence, pushing the air back.
It was completely silver in color, neither to dark nor light, with the exception of completely pitch black eyes, so dark that they could be mistaken by hollow sockets instead of actual eyes. Long, shaggy white hair that reached its waist with sharp, jagged teeth and two massive horns protruding from its forehead.
A samurai-like armor, forming robes, pointed shoes and body armor on its shoulders and waist. Over the armor, a large white garment and on his back, bony and featherless wings. Never forgetting the twin scythes strapped to his back.
The two titanic Susanoo stared at each other, each one bigger than mountains and more destructive than any bijuu. They both sprang forward, the ground quaking with step. The earth shattered and the rain village was now nothing more than rubble littering the floor. Nothing stood higher than ten feet of the ground.
Their fists met with a shockwave that rocked the ground. Madara threw a left jab only for Naruto's Susanoo to phase through him. "Impossible! He can use ninjutsu with his Susanoo?" Madara eye's widened in shock until he felt a powerful kick on his back. His armor dented ever so slowly as he twisted midair and regained his footing.
"Enton - Goka Mekkyaku (Inferno Style - Great Fire Annihilation)"
Madara's Susanoo instantly brought his massive arms forward and shielded his face and upper portion of his chest against the dangerous ocean of black flames. His Susanoo fell to one knee. Madara felt the ridiculous drain on his chakra to continuously regenerate his shield against the black flames, even with his Senju enhanced body.
He looked to the side and saw the collapsed buildings melting into a puddle. The ground beneath bubbled as the rock turned red in color and his Susanoo started to sink into the melted substance. Madara got a foothold and pushed forward, swinging his arms in a wide arc. The black flames receded slightly, giving enough time to punch Naruto, forcing his Susanoo to take a step backwards.
"If his Susanoo is superior to mine than I need to take that out of the field" Madara thought to himself with slight resentment. He had always prided himself on using his perfect Susanoo as his ultimate weapon. But now it was obsolete compared to an equal shield who could use ninjutsu freely.
Madara took the given opportunity and immediately performed three hand seals. "Tengai Shinsei (Shattered Heaven)" The clouds parted to show a massive meteorite plummeting towards both Madara and Naruto. It seemed Madara was willing to sacrifice his Susanoo if it meant he would take out Naruto's as well.
From inside his Susanoo, Madara rose his hand to the sky. "Banshō Ten'in (Universal Pull)" He closed his fists tightly as if metaphorically squashing a bug in his hands, and pulled down, drastically increasing the speed of the incoming meteorite.
The meteorite gained a white orange color as the air around it burned due to the added speed. Madara kept his gravity pull, ever increasing its speed until the meteorite looked like a cataclysmic ball of fire coming down from the sky. It was like the Armageddon, the end of all things.
Madara stopped his pull and was kicked backwards. Naruto drew his full attention towards the incoming threat. "Naruto" Kurama said with a very serious tone. "You need to stop that. A meteorite of that size and speed will annihilate the rain country in seconds. The fallout would most likely end all life on Earth" Kurama warned and Naruto nodded without hesitation.
Naruto's Susanoo looked at the red sky and stood his ground like an unmovable object. He slapped both hands together and slowly drew them apart, a silvery sword appearing as he did so. He flicked the newly formed blade towards Madara, pushing the man back as he turned to deal with the meteorite.
"Jinton (Dust Release)" The silver sword gained a vibrant white line over the cutting side. "Surasshu (Slash)" He brought his sword to the sky in a wide, sweeping stroke. A pure white, crescent like wave was unleashed towards the meteorite. The wave cleaved the meteorite cleanly in half as if it were the easiest thing in the world.
Before dispersing, the white wave exploded in a blast of white light, completely disintegrating the remaining halves of the meteorite. The sky was bathed in white light as the incoming doom was permanently halted.
"This is the end" Naruto said as Madara brought himself to his full height. Naruto quickly absorbed natural energy, boosting his already extremely powerful chakra. His Susanoo started glowing softly, gaining a red hue around his shell and the same red markings adorning its skeletal face. The sky sparkled as Naruto drew in natural lightning for his final attack.
Naruto's Susanoo coiled, almost like a snake, and sprang forward leaving a trail of destruction on his step. Naruto's Susanoo blitzed through the ground with unavoidable speed. Madara crossed his arms in front of him and braced himself for the attack. He channeled chakra to his arms and frontal chest plates.
The heavens roared with lighting and Kirin burst from the sky and wrapped itself around Naruto's Susanoo fist.
"RAIKEN (Lightning Fist)"
The moment it struck was like a powerful thunder in sky. The lightning and senjutsu empowered Susanoo punch instantly shattered Madara's x crossed arms and turned his chest into fine powder. Madara's perfect Susanoo exploded in a shower of light as if it had been made of simple fragile glass.
Once the light dimmed down there was no sign of Madara's Susanoo. However, Naruto's remaining senjutsu allowed him to find him, buried in the ground. Naruto dispelled his Susanoo and dropped to the ground, a wave of dizziness coming over him. "I hope you realize that the amount of chakra you used in that would have killed anyone else" Kurama chuckled, pushing small bits of chakra to quickly fix Naruto.
Naruto regained his breath and approached the fallen Madara. The man was broken, it was clear as day but he was still very much alive. "S-so much…p-power" Madara coughed a mouthful of blood as he pushed the rubble away and shakily stood up.
"I hope you enjoyed my sharingan's full power. Not even Nagato pushed me to use senjutsu" Naruto commented.
Madara suddenly drew his head back and started laughing madly. "THIS IS A DANCE. I CAN FEEL MY HEART HAMMERING IN MY CHEST, MY BLOOD SINGING IN MY VEINS" Madara yelled before calming down and licking the blood from his lips. "I suppose it's time for my trump card" Madara smirked and Naruto raised an eyebrow in interest but was immediately on edge.
A trump card of Madara's caliber was to be taken with caution.
## With the retreating allied shinobi army ##
"M-my…god" a random shinobi stuttered, feeling the overwhelming chakra washing over the rain country. He looked over his shoulder in fear and nearly stumbled as he ran from the rain village, or what remained of it at this point.
He could feel the intense pressure of their chakra even miles away, he could feel the ground shaking, the shock waves echoing and even had to shut his eyes due to the blinding explosions of energy in the sky. "They are not human" he said to himself and could only watch as a meteorite appeared in the sky.
"This is bad" Tobirama said, looking at his fellow dragons as they ran away as well. "We cannot outrun that. If it hits, it's over for all of us" Tobirama commented.
"Naruto will stop it" Hinata replied with conviction without looking back. In truth she had been watching the combat since the very beginning. Her byakugan had more than enough range for that. Tobirama worries were cut short when the meteorite exploded in white light. "Told you" She replied with small satisfaction.
Suddenly she stopped running and froze all together. Several shinobi stumbled and fell to the ground since she stopped so suddenly. "What's wrong?" Tobirama asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Tobirama was blasted back by some invisible force. All around the shinobi stopped running and made a wide circle around her. "What happened?" Jiraiya asked, hurrying to Hinata's side while Minato went for Tobirama.
"Don't touch her" Tobirama warned loudly and Jiraiya retracted his hand as if it had been burned.
"ARGH" Hinata brought her hands to her head and started screaming. Her chakra flared pushing everyone backwards. Her heir started flickering between white and dark blue and her eyes did the same pattern between her Tenseigan and some purplish color.
She spiked her chakra even further, enough to start manifesting a purple aura around her body. The shinobi army increased the distance even further and recoiled in a mix of fear and caution.
She roared again and her chakra lashed out once more. Bones burst from the ground and nearly skewered several shinobi. "Shit! Get back! Get back!" Minato cried as everyone scrambled away from her, leaving only Minato, Tobirama and Jiraiya standing the closest to her.
Hinata dropped to one knee and turned towards Tobirama. "Impossible!" Tobirama looked in disbelief at Hinata, who know bore the Tenseigan in her left eye and a Rinnegan in her right eye.
"ARGHH!" Hinata roared once more. The ground cracked as her charka saturated he air and she clutched to her head to try and fight whatever was happening to her. With one final shockwave, she stopped struggling and lowered her hands to her sides.
"Hinata?" Tobirama called out. The girl turned to him and now bore two Rinnegans, one in each eye.
Hinata rose a single hand and spoke with a very familiar voice. "Shinra Tensei" Tobirama, Minato and Jiraiya were blasted at point blank range and dropped into sweet unconsciousness. With one final smirk Hinata dashed towards the battle between Naruto and Madara.
## With Naruto and Madara ##
"Trump card?" Naruto asked with caution but Madara said nothing more. The small smirk gracing his lips was cause of worry as it was. "What-"
BOOOMMM
Naruto's question was interrupted when something smashed against the side of his face. He was sent flying, stumbling through the ground and walls until he finally came to a stop a few feet away. Naruto shook his head, pushing away the dangerous unconsciousness. "What hit me?" Naruto asked with confusion, his vision still blurry.
He felt a metallic taste in his mouth which was without doubt blood from the impact. But he also felt something extra. He spat it to the ground and found himself surprised to be looking at one of his molars, still bloodied and everything. "Damn" Naruto said, licking the bloody hole in his mouth. He got up only to come face to face with Hinata.
"What-" He forced to duck as Hinata engaged in a taijutsu battle against him. "What are you doing?" He asked in shock as he dodged another fast palm strike. It was then he noticed her eyes, a pair of Rinnegan eyes staring right into his own.
"But how?" Naruto asked in surprise as he tried his best to dodge Hinata's attacks until she fell backwards and stood next to Madara.
"May I present you my final path?" Madara rhetorically, gesturing towards Hinata with no small amount of pride. "Senju Hinata, jinchuuriki of the Nibi, the Deva Path"
"What have you done?" Naruto snarled and was about to charge forward until Madara made a stop sign.
"Easy now" Madara said, fondly tracing Hinata's jaw with a single finger. "You wouldn't want to harm your precious wife would you?" He asked with a smirk while Naruto raged inside.
"How?" Naruto snarled.
"How you ask?" Madara asked with amusement. "It's simple really. My kidnapping of Hinata served several purposes. One of them was placing a small black chakra receiver in her heart" Madara said and Naruto's eyes widened in shock.
"But how did she not notice?" Naruto asked out loud.
"Let's be honest" Madara grew serious once more, his outgoing attitude forgotten. "You, as a shinobi, have no weakness. However, as human being, you have one very easily identifiable weakness. And that is your love for her. Even a blind man could see the bond you two share. And this particular weakness is so very easy to exploit"
"A small medical procedure to implement a chakra receiver around her heart. She never noticed it because the soreness she felt after our battle" Madara commented, feeling it had been one of his greatest moments. "She has a very powerful chakra. But not enough to fight against mine. Maybe a few more years and I would have been unable to control her" Madara finished and Naruto was shaking with anger.
"I'm going to break you" Naruto roared.
"Come" Madara taunted as Naruto blitzed towards him only to be intercepted by Hinata.
Hinata easily caught Naruto's fist and replied with a fast punch. Naruto used his kamui, forcing Hinata to lose her grip on him. Naruto took a step back, avoiding a fast right hook and immediately ducked under another jab. Naruto dropped to the ground and rolled to the side as Hinata countered with a spinning kick.
"Did you reach Matatabi?" Naruto asked, hoping desperately that Kurama had managed to contact either Hinata or the Nibi.
"No. His chakra is suppressing the Nibi. I can't reach her" Kurama grumbled in reply, watching his host dodge every single of Hinata's fast swings and leg strikes. "You need to neutralizer her"
"You think?" Naruto bit back harshly.
"Don't snap at me! I'm trying to help" Kurama retorted back, not even offended by Naruto's rough answer.
"SHIT" Naruto cursed as Madara joined the taijutsu battle and Naruto found himself easily getting pushed back against two highly skilled hand to hand combatants.
Naruto grabbed Madara's wrist and used his arm for leverage, sidestepping Hinata's strike. He took a step back and gently deflected Hinata's chakra punch towards Madara who simply ducked under the swing.
"Shinra Tensei" Both users bellowed at the same time, catching Naruto in the middle of them. He used his kamui to split past the shockwaves.
"Katon - Goka Mekkyaku (Great Fire Annihilation)" Naruto took a deep breath and unleashed his traditional sea of flames, hoping to distract them momentarily.
"Suiton - Baku Suishouha (Great Exploding Water Wave)" A tornado of water roared into existence and crashed against the flames, snuffing them out in a moment's notice.
While fire and water clashed against one another, Madara had quickly moved around the jutsu and attacked the blonde from behind. Naruto was forced to drop his fire jutsu and engaged Madara in battle.
Meanwhile Hinata kneeled on the ground and started running through hand seals. "Hijutsu - Mugen no Ame (Secret Technique: Endless Rain)" Rain had come. The night sky, previously depleted of any clouds due to the constants blasts of energy, was now clouded as rain started pouring.
The still hot ground from the fire blasts sizzled when in contact with the cold rain.
"Hisojin no Jutsu (Flying Water God Technique)" Hinata whispered before vanishing into thin air.
"Oh shit" Naruto cried when Hinata appeared in front of him with bones protruding from both palms. Naruto ducked under a swing of Hinata's arm. She vanished and materialized herself behind him.
Naruto tilted his head to the side, allowing another strike to pass by harmlessly. Naruto, still ducked, swung around and swiped Hinata's legs. Hinata jumped in the air and instantly vanished from sight when Naruto rose for a strike. Without looking back, Naruto sidestepped a strike and grabbed Hinata's outstretched arm.
"Shinra Tensei" She replied, forcing Naruto to dodge with kamui and released his hold of her. She jumped backwards and sided with Madara once more.
"Something is wrong" Naruto thought, looking carefully at Hinata and taking in everything about her.
"What about it?" The fox raised the question.
"Madara isn't in full control. I noticed a small flicker in her eyes. A path is nothing but a puppet. Madara may control the puppet but never be able to use the puppet's unique skills. He couldn't know about her latest technique" Naruto mused in thought.
"Regardless. You need to end this. This has been going for too long and even you are getting low on chakra." Kurama advised. Naruto could spend all of his chakra even if he possessed large chakra reserves and had a bijuu inside. What the blonde didn't realize was that his supposed expendable techniques were a set jounin's chakra reserves each time.
"She won't be easy to pin down now that she has her version of the Hiraishin" Naruto thought grimly. Of all the times for her to develop her own space time technique, it had to be days before the enemy managed to control her.
"Rinbo – Hengoku (Limbo – Border Jail)" Madara's eyes glowed and he projected four shadows.
Naruto felt a shiver crawl up his spine when he saw five Madaras and one Hinata running towards him. He couldn't use high powered techniques without dealing with Hinata first. She was still in there, trapped inside and could feel everything.
The original Madara stopped and clasped both hands together while the clones charged against Naruto. "Mokuton - Jukai Kotan (Deep Forest Creation)" The ground rumbled and a stamped of trees charged forward.
"Tomogoroshi no Haikotsu (All-Killing Ash Bone)" Hinata halted her progress and fired several hardened bones against the blonde who remained immobile.
Naruto closed his eyes in concentration, but even through the eye lids you could see an unusual glow in his Rinnegan. "Onmyoton (Yin-Yang Release)" Naruto began, putting the palms of his hands slightly apart. A small, whitish colored and translucent ball appearing between his hands.
"Bansho Kyomu (Nihility of all Creation)" He bellowed, clasping his hands together. The air around him rippled as the small ball was crushed between his hands.
By removing the physical composition, or the yang chakra, Naruto could reduce everything into nothing.
There was no epic blinding light, or even a loud bang of destruction and death. The ground did not shake or tremble, but the effect was clear nonetheless.
The flying bones vanished moments before coming in contact with Naruto. The sea of trees seemed to evaporate, as if they were never there in the first place. Even Madara had stopped his attacks completely befuddled to what he had seen. Things didn't disappear into thin air.
Naruto opened his eyes, his Rinnegan glowing as he disappeared from view only to appear a few meters away from the original position. His right arm extended with a black metallic rod protruding from his hand. To the naked eye, nothing had happened, but to Madara, it signaled the fall of his first shadow.
"Onmyoton (Yin-Yang Release)" Naruto repeated and plucked three hairs from his head. "Chi Bunshin no Jutsu (Blood Clone)" They floated and started glowing. Each hair formed a ball until it started expanding into a humanoid form. Their skin started bubbling as several details became apparent - Blonde hair, whisker marks on his cheeks and silver eyes to match.
"Eliminate the shadows" Naruto ordered and the blood clones nodded and disappeared. Blood clones were actually made of bone and flesh, and living in every sense of the word. However, they were nothing but empty shells, deprived of soul since Naruto's soul was still in the original vessel. These clones were weaker, but more durable and enough to deal with these shadows.
"I see" Madara acknowledge in thought. "So these are the abilities of a perfect Rinnegan. Time and Space Manipulation. Creation and Destruction"
Madara's chakra surged forward once more, and for the third and final time, his perfect Susanoo rose into existence. Next to him, the water started getting restless. It seemed that the entire water in the whole rain village was vibrating. The water started moving, as if it had a mind of its own and started congregating near Hinata.
The water linked with Hinata and started climbing its way through her body. It started at her feet and moved up over her legs until her whole body was covered in water from head to toe. More and more water rushed towards her. From deep underground, from the surface, from the air. Mere seconds into it and Hinata's body had been hidden behind a massive water sphere.
The sphere started shaping itself into a humanoid form. The main body of water seemed to remain afloat while two arms and legs were molded. This water elemental was big, as it stood side by side with Madara's perfect Susanoo, both equals in height. The elemental had two long, sweeping arms that reached ground level.
His head was flat, with no apparent nose nor mouth with the exception of two glowing white orbs, which Naruto figured to be its eyes. This water moved frantically like it was in constant motion.
"You are at a disadvantage" Madara commented from his Susanoo since Naruto had yet to summon his. He had been busy admiring Hinata's elemental. "It's two against one"
"You are wrong." Naruto replied with a small smile, making Madara raise an eyebrow in interest. "I have never been alone"
"It's been a while" Kurama said from his mind, watching his vessel approach him and raise his fist.
"Indeed" Naruto agreed with a grin, mirrored by the fox.
Their fists met.
His clothes flared briefly before his form was shrouded in a cloak of yellow flames. His whiskers had darkened and his whole body seemed to be surrounded by fire. "Susanoo/Susanoo" Both Naruto and Kurama called simultaneously.
Their combined chakra surged forward in an explosion of power. A golden warrior shimmered into existence, easily toppling Madara's Susanoo in size. It seemed a hybrid between Kurama and Naruto's Susanoo.
The hands had been replaced with razor sharp claws. The head had stretched and flattened little bit, giving it the form of a snout and a more feral look. And while the wings had remained, the perfect Susanoo now also supported nine glowing tails swaying wildly behind his back. Naruto's Susanoo got on all four as if ready to pounce. But even in all four, the sheer size was enough to match the two titans in front of him.
Madara was about to unsheathe his sword when Naruto roared and pounced on him, tackling his Susanoo by the waist and throwing both of them to the ground. Madara could see the sharp fangs up close as Naruto grinned darkly. Naruto's tails secured all of Madara's Susanoo to the ground as he began his relentless attack on Madara, sending punch after punch.
Anyone on the battlefield would be able to hear the resounding punches and the following cracking sound each time a fist connected.
Hinata jumped on top of Naruto, using her water body to weigh Naruto down and wrapped her long water arms around his form. Naruto's vicious attack had halted as he struggled to move his arm against the iron tight grip of Hinata's elemental. Naruto's chakra flared in a shockwave of power. Hinata's elemental exploded in a shower of water but it had provided enough time.
Madara managed to free his right leg and used it to kick Naruto from him. Naruto flipped midair and landed gracefully on all four. Madara rose up and charged forward, the earth shaking in protest with each step he took. Each punch he threw, Naruto blocked with precision and the aftermath was a powerful shockwave.
They continued their fierce battle, each unable to gain any advantage. Any damage they inflicted upon each other with simple punches would be restored almost immediately. Meanwhile, Hinata's elemental had reformed as she ran forward once more, pushing Naruto back while Madara recovered.
"I'm ending this" Naruto thought to himself. His chakra was running low. Even with Kurama, taking on Madara had been more taxing than he had ever imagined.
"Shinra Tensei" He bellowed, pushing the titans backwards. Hinata exploded once more while Madara stumbled backwards and fell to the ground.
Naruto dispelled his Susanoo and dropped to the ground, channeling all of his concentration and chakra into his next technique. Naruto flew high into the air until he stood further from both the Susanoo and the water elemental.
The ground did not vibrate of tremble. It didn't even shook. What came next could not be described with simple words. It was if the entire planet shuddered. The ground shook so much that not even Madara's Susanoo managed to stand.
Naruto rose his hand into the air and the entire rain village, or what remained of it, was ripped from the earth and rose into the air. Both Hinata and Madara slid of the flying chunk of rock and landed back on the crater while the titanic chunk of rock rose further into the sky.
Madara simply looked in shock at the display of power.
The rain village wasn't a great nation but it was by no means small. The village was at a few dozen miles wide, and to simply see it raised into the air as if it weighed nothing.
The chunk of rock stopped climbing and Madara looked at Naruto who still had his hand raised. Naruto dropped his hand and the previously stale airborne city started falling back to earth. "He plans to crush us both" Madara realized when he saw the plummeting rock.
But there was nothing he could do. Any attack he performed with his Susanoo would not even dent something of that size. And he wouldn't be able to outrun it either. Madara watched the rock approach and braced for impact.
BOOOMMMMM
The sound almost seemed muffled as the village hit the ground with a titanic explosion. First was the shockwave, vaporizing any water nearby and completely flattening the surface with the exception of the crater. Next came a cloud of dust that covered the entire area, leaving Naruto with zero visibility on what had happened.
Naruto waited for the cloud to dissipate and looked around. There were no sign of Madara…but neither Hinata. He was about to absorb natural energy to try and sense them when he heard a small bubbling sound. He saw water coming through several cracks on the ground until it reached the surface.
It was with a mix of relief and surprise that he saw Hinata reforming. But he shouldn't be that surprised. Since she developed her water body technique, physical attacks would rarely work against her. That and the bloody rain had returned. He felt a small flicker of chakra and saw Hinata disappear.
Hinata appeared behind him and thrust her arm forward. Her white bone piercing through his chest cleanly until her palm stood in contact with his back. Naruto felt himself crumbling into dust. "Perfect" He whispered and his Rinnegan glowed once more, mere moments before he completely turned to dust.
"Kuronosu (God of Time)"
Naruto's time ability went to work and everything started rolling backwards just like someone who had pressed the rewind button on those old movies. His body started reforming as Hinata pulled her arms backwards and vanished into her original position several feet away. Naruto's eyes pulsed and everything returned to normal. But this time, Naruto knew the future.
As expected, Hinata rose into existence behind the blonde with her arm coiled for an attack. However, this time a second Naruto appeared behind her and looped his arm beneath Hinata's and over her the back of her neck. "Chidori Nagashi" The clone forced lighting to course through Hinata's body to prevent her from escaping with her water body.
The original Naruto grimaced and thrust his dominant arm forward. "Raikiri" Naruto's hand sparkled with lightning as it went through Hinata's chest completely, taking out the clone holding her as well. The attack did its job and destroyed the chakra receiver in her heart.
Naruto collapsed to the ground with Hinata in his arms. Her eyes had returned to the traditional hollow look of the byakugan along with her hair to the dark blue color. He placed his hand over the hole in her chest. "Naraka Path" His hand glowed green and he watched her bones mending together, her flesh stitching itself until the wound was long gone.
She took a deep breath and blinked. "That hurt" Were her first words although the tone was much more playful. "Took you long enough"
Naruto laughed and got up with Hinata by his side. "Some say a Raikiri to the chest is the fastest way to a girl's heart" He said while Hinata just laughed softly. They quickly remembered the situation and turned their attention of the enemy in the field. Madara's Susanoo appeared to be digging his way out the ground.
"So not even that was enough to kill him" Naruto sighed, taking a long breath and running a hand through his long hair. "I guess I will have to resort to that"
"No!" Hinata said quickly, placing a hand on his chest in a stop motion. He could swear he saw a glimpse of fear in her face. "If you lose control it will be the end of everything"
"I won't lose control" Naruto said but Hinata remained adamant. "Trust me" Naruto said softly, taking her hand. "I would never risk this if I didn't know I could pull it off" Naruto explained and Hinata nodded slowly.
"Keep him busy" The blonde said and Hinata nodded, dashing towards Madara in order to keep him busy for a few minutes.
"Are you sure?" Kurama asked quietly.
"You as well?" Naruto asked in disbelief.
"Forgive me if the state of this planet and the surrounding universe is of small concern! You WILL destroy everything should you fail, but I guess either way Madara is going down" Kurama replied sarcastically.
"Give me the rest of your chakra" Naruto asked and the bijuu muttered a few profanities before giving the remnants of his chakra to the blonde. Kurama walked back towards his cage and curled together.
Naruto took a deep long breath, filling his lungs with oxygen and releasing it slowly. He closed his eyes and buried the sounds of Hinata's battle with Madara deep into his mind. He placed his arms slightly apart, his palms facing each other. He opened his eyes slowly and focused on the empty space between his hands.
"Juryoton (Gravity Release)" His pupils dilated and the space between his hands started turning, twisting, until a very small black sphere appeared. It was so very small, the size of a simple pea.
"Tokui-tem (Singularity)" He whispered. And as if the small sphere had understood his words, it gave of a small glow before vanishing from sight.
"Oh Kami here we go. Don't blow up! Don't blow up! Don't blow up!" Kurama chanted in his mind, covering his eyes with his paws.
To control gravity was to manipulate the very force that bound existence together. For it could mimic the gods of creation by forging moons, planets, stars, universes…or destroying them.
Naruto's previous techniques were child's play. The Shinra Tensei was weak, barely a few times stronger than Earth's gravity at surface level. Nothing more. Imbuing the gravity release with his Rasengan was destructive but even then the gravity pull was nothing special.
A gravitational singularity was different, and the pull…immeasurable.
"HINATA" Naruto shouted, breaking her fight with Madara. She quickly stopped whatever she was doing and rushed towards him. She looped a single arm around Naruto. This technique was a Kinjutsu (Forbidden Technique) for only Naruto could survive it. The singularity didn't pick targets, it would suck and destroy everything with mass, and only Naruto could use his Kamui to keep the jutsu stable without dying in the process.
Madara saw Hinata retreating and immediately gave chase only to suddenly stop as if he was being restrained. His Susanoo pushed forward but he made no advance. He looked backwards but no saw nothing. And yet, he could feel something pulling him backwards. "What is this?" Madara asked out loud, feeling his Susanoo being dragged through the ground.
He pulled two massive sword and quickly buried them in the ground for support. To his surprise, he saw the ground cracking and the very rock he held on for support breaking. The wind rustled furiously and swirled towards the center of the crater. "ARGH!" Madara cried when his Susanoo swords broke and he felt himself flying to the center of the crater as well.
He could only look his disbelief as his perfect Susanoo crumbled into pieces. It started on his arms and legs and made its way towards the main body where Madara stood. His perfect Susanoo was being broken piece by piece until only he remained. It was then he finally understood.
The pinnacle of gravity release. A singularity. A black hole. Gravity so powerful, that not even light escaped its boundaries.
Madara laughed as he flew towards his doom, knowing that there was no coming back from this, no forbidden technique that could save him. He did what any proud warrior would do, and smiled towards the Death God as he was sucked in, and finally defeated.
Meanwhile, Naruto was struggling to contain the immense power of his technique. The problem was not creating the singularity, the problem was containing it and after, disabling it.
"NARUTO" Hinata yelled with a small amount of panic in her voice. The gravity range was increasing and the singularity was swallowing everything in reach. The water surrounding the village was being sucked dry, the clouds were converging into the epicenter. "NARUTO" She yelled and turned towards him, only to see a small trail of blood running down his face.
Naruto's chakra network was rebelling against him. The sheer strain he was placing on his body was ridiculous. So much that even the latent genes to the Uzumaki clan were showing themselves, and his hair was losing his color, turning from blonde to pure white.
Space twisted.
And with one final push the singularity seemed to converge on itself and disappear with a pop. Naruto fell forward only to be caught by Hinata. "Naruto?" She asked in a voice filled with emotion. She knew very well the meaning of white hair in the Uzumaki Clan.
"D-don't worry" He coughed a mouthful of blood. "The f-fox…won't let me die of…chakra exhaustion" He chuckled weakly and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. "I…will be taking a nap now" He said before falling into deep sleep.
A sleep without worries as the final enemy had finally been defeated. Although he wondered…in the end…why had Madara smiled at him?
週次パワーステータス
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