Greetings, readers. Inspired by Legend of Dragoon, Kingdom Hearts (obviously) and the genre of anime/manga in general... I bring to you an alternate retelling of Kingdom Hearts in a new style.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything used in this story apart from the concept of the Shujinkō-no-Kishi and some original techniques that will come in later. Anything else is the sole property of its respective creator.
So, without further adieu, I hope you enjoy!
Kingdom Hearts: Shujinkō-no-Kishi
I: The First Blessing – Rising of the Kaze-no-Raibaru
Part One: The Kaze-no-Oni Awakens...
Otogakure: the Sound Village. A monument to a single shinobi's quest for vengeance, it was the home to one of the fiercest and most well-known nuke-nin to have ever come from the Hidden Leaf Village, Konoha, and his trainees. Tonight, however, it was to see its last day as a portal of shadow suddenly formed in the middle of the night-struck city; a single man, clad in a dark-brown cloak, stepping out.
Glancing around, a small smirk broke out under his hood as he held his hand out. "Great darkness... that is all that can be sensed here," he commented. "The lust for vengeance, the desires of death and destruction... so much darkness lingers here. Just waiting to be exploited..."
He then clicked his fingers, several jet-black creatures; short in appearance with bug-like yellow eyes; appearing. "...Feed on the hearts this village has to offer... we could use the practice before our battle with the Hikari-no-Eiyū begins..."
. . .
Clang! Clang!
The sound of metal clashing rang out across the dark chambers, two combatants fiercely fighting the other. Sparks flew from their blades as one of the combatants; an older-looking man with sickly-pale skin, waist-length ebony-black hair and reptilian gold eyes, a cold smirk on his face, clad in pale robes with a thick purple coil wrapped around his waist; suddenly leaped back, throwing his sword up before whipping a long tongue out from his mouth to coil around it like a snake, before he performed a series of hand-signs.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" the man hissed, his tone snake-like, before thrusting his hands out. A fierce gale rushed out towards his opponent, knocking the man down. His opponent; a teenage male, fourteen years of age, with raven-black hair, slightly spiked, and blazing scarlet eyes with three tomoe notable in each of the irises; groaned before staggering up, glaring as he began to concentrate on his own sword.
His chakra channelled through the blade before it suddenly sparked, electricity gathering around it before he ran forward and stabbed at the man. "Chidori Blade!" he snapped, the blade impaling clean through the other man's gut. Said man gasped, blood trickling from his wound, before smirking; exploding in a puff of smoke. "...Shadow Clone..." the teenager growled, recognizing the technique from another person he knew who used it.
"You're losing your touch, Sasuke-kun..."
He swiftly turned only to notice several white snakes gathering, coiling around his legs to bind him down, as the older man stepped out the shadows; pointing his blade at the teenager, Sasuke. "If you want the power, you need to analyse a situation fully," the man commented before moving his blade away, the snakes disappearing in a puff of smoke.
"...Hai, Orochimaru-sama," Sasuke sighed, his eyes flashing jet-black as his Sharingan died down.
Orochimaru, the treacherous Snake Sannin of the Hidden Leaf Village, chuckled a little. "You've shown improvement throughout the year I've been training you though, Sasuke-kun, no mistake about that," he commented. "We just need... to push you that extra mile. Make you exceed your limitations to achieve the power you desire..."
"OROCHIMARU-SAMA!"
Turning, the Sannin glared towards a pale-skinned man with silver locks of hair and a pair of glasses, clad in purple with a Sound-nin headband around his forehead, as he ran down the stairs into the training room. "We've got a problem..." he stated.
"What KIND of problem, Kabuto?" Sasuke asked with a sharp tone. Orochimaru smirked a little at this. The boy was already showing signs of being a leader... a clear sign that his training was yielding very good results indeed. Kabuto opened his mouth to speak before his eyes suddenly snapped wide, blood tricking from his mouth. Orochimaru arched an eyebrow at this before glancing more closely at the Sound-nin; eyes widening...
Jet-black claws, a dark energy oozing from them, were protruding from Kabuto's chest and gut. Kabuto began to glow with a dark aura as a bright light flew up from his chest, briefly taking the form of a heart-shape before it shattered. Orochimaru's right-hand man, before the Snake Sannin could make a move, suddenly sunk onto his knees; glowing with a jet-black aura as his skin began to break away into dark ash.
"W-what the hell?" Sasuke gasped. Orochimaru also stepped back, unsure what to make of the situation as Kabuto's body continued to shift into the dark substance and crumble away like nothing... finally, what little remained of him shattered; leaving in its stead a jet-black creature, its golden eyes bug-like in appearance, clad in dull-grey soldier's armor with a black-and-red crest shaped like a distorted heart on its chest. It suddenly spun wildly, lashing at Orochimaru...
Before the Snake Sannin drew the Blade of Kusanagi, the sword he had used against Sasuke, and slashed at it; the creature staggering back with a groan. It was at this moment that Sasuke and Orochimaru noticed that, from the shadows, several more dark-looking creatures emerged; some armor-clad and others not... but they all hungrily stared at the two shinobi as they entered ready stances.
"Show them no mercy," Orochimaru ordered. "But, do analyse the way they fight... I am intrigued on how they are able to infect another with their condition. It could very well link into my studies on immortality..." Sasuke glanced at Orochimaru, feeling the least bit surprised at what little remorse he was showing for Kabuto's 'death'. After all, all the Snake Sannin cared about was himself... hence Sasuke's lingering feelings of distrust. But, he needed to become stronger... and Orochimaru being dead would not make him stronger...
Sasuke was silent, merely lunging forward and performing hand-signs of his own. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" He moved his hand next to his mouth and breathed out, releasing a large fireball that steamrolled through several creatures; incinerating them with ease.
"Summoning Jutsu..." Orochimaru coldly hissed, performing a few hand movements before pressing his hand down on the ground, a tattoo on his arm glowing. An explosion of smoke burst from around him as a thundering hiss rang out. A large indigo-scaled snake, black rings running down certain intervals of its body, with blazing green eyes and four horns jutting from its head emerged; Orochimaru standing atop its mighty head as it tore through the training room with ease. "Manda, destroy these fools!"
"You waste your chakra summoning me against weaklings such as these?" Manda, the titanic snake, roared. "You'd best be willing to pay me the sacrifices necessary after this!" With a hiss, Manda's tail ripped through several creatures; however, the onslaught kept on coming.
Down below, Sasuke was fighting off creatures as well as he could, his Sharingan activated, before he leaped back to avoid a claw strike. Bouncing off Manda's tail, he pulled his hands back, lightning exploding from his right hand as a loud chirping rang out; like a thousand angry birds. Swiftly, he sprinted forward; closing the distance at an alarming rate; before slamming his hand into the being that was once Kabuto. "CHIDORI!" Instantly, the being was obliterated; the lightning tearing it apart as Sasuke smirked in triumph... before noticing the man in the brown cloak, watching the carnage. Or, to be more exact, watching as Orochimaru's snake summon ripped through attacker after attacker whilst the Snake Sannin himself fought off those that climbed up the snake.
"I've grown tired of you," Orochimaru commented as he clashed blades with an armoured attacker's fist. "I think it's about time I ended this..." He suddenly stabbed through its chest with the Kusanagi, the Heartless shattering into dark wisps immediately, a smirk on his face. He then turned to face others, holding his hand out and releasing another Wind Release: Great Breakthrough; tearing Heartless apart with ease.
'The man with the snake... he possesses so much darkness in his heart and yet he hasn't succumbed to the Heartless yet,' the cloaked man thought. 'And the power of his Wind attack... yes... I think, at last, I have found him.' He then heard the faint sound of a blade being drawn, swiftly turning to dodge a slash from Sasuke. "Impressive... truly, you are a shinobi."
"Save your prattling for later, old man," Sasuke spat as he entered a ready stance. "For when you're begging for your life to be spared in your last few seconds!"
"An arrogant one," the cloaked man mumbled. "Well... such arrogance will need to be disciplined, now, wouldn't it?" He began to glow with a dark aura before rushing forward at an alarming speed towards Sasuke...
. . .
Orochimaru breathed in heavily as he glanced around him, grinning in triumph as he noticed that the attackers were gone for now. Manda had long since left him, deciding that the sacrifice of their attackers would be satisfactory for now, and the Snake Sannin had struggled without the boss snake and Sasuke Uchiha to take down the remaining creatures... but, at last, he had done it. However, this also proved that they weren't the key to immortality as he had considered them to be. "They aren't the missing key as I thought," he commented, shaking his head with a slight hint of disappointment in his tone. "Nonetheless, the way they were able to infect so many of my Sound-nin so easily and transform them into their own kind... a remarkable feat."
"Indeed... the Heartless are remarkable creatures, are they not?" a deep and cold voice asked, a slight hint of arrogance in his tone.
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed as he reached for his sword. "Do not bother," the voice stated. "Your body wouldn't even get to hit the floor when I'd be finished with it... however, I do wonder how a heart as deep in darkness as yours was able to fight off and defeat the Heartless..."
The cloaked man stepped out of the shadows, dragging a limp Sasuke alongside him before throwing the boy to his master. "Do not worry yourself, he is not dead... what interest you would have in a mere child is quite intriguing though, I must concede..."
"Sasuke Uchiha is the last possible host left from a clan with a very powerful technique. I'm merely training the boy so I have a body to rely on when this one begins to expire," Orochimaru stated coldly as he stepped forward.
"How ironic..." the man stated as he slipped his cloak off. "It seems you and I... share a lot in common." The man was revealed to be a tall and muscular man, dark-skinned with long silver hair and blazing gold eyes; clad in a black coat and pants with his chest exposed, the same heart symbol that was on the so-called 'Heartless' on it. He held his hand out, summoning a large dual-bladed weapon, its blades shaped in a form that made them look like bat-like wings. "Both of us dabbled with what was believed to be beyond mortal comprehension..." He then held a hand out, a dark portal forming around Sasuke as the last Uchiha vanished into the inky shadows. "And we both came out, our bond to humanity no more..."
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed before he performed two hand-signs, running forward to punch at the man. "Hidden Shadow Snake Hands," he whispered, snakes suddenly flying out of his sleeve. The man's eyes narrowed as he swiftly ran forward, cleaving through the snakes with ease, before striking at Orochimaru; who dodged. The Snake Sannin growled before running forward with the Kusanagi, swiping at the man who blocked.
"The tales of your skill across this world are over exaggerated," the man coldly responded as he blocked several swift strikes. "Maybe I was wrong about you..."
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed before he smirked. "Oh, ho... underestimating me, however, was your biggest mistake," he stated as he performed more hand-signs. Snakes suddenly whipped out his sleeves and wrapped themselves around the man's arms, causing him to drop the blade before the Snake Sannin performed his hand-signs.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A burst of wind rushed from the Snake Sannin's hands, ripping across the village; destroying what little remained; and sending the attacker flying backwards. 'Such a powerful wind attack... it can't be a mistake,' the man thought, wincing in pain as he tumbled onto the ground with a grunt. '...The Kaze-no-Oni...'
Orochimaru then breathed in deeply, a manic look on his face, before releasing ten-thousand snakes from his mouth at the mysterious man. Swiftly, the attacker tried to break out of his bonds only for the snakes to swarm onto him; hissing as the man disappeared from view.
Triumphant, Orochimaru slunk forward. "...Of course, the matter of you stealing my student is a problem... but, I can very easily just take over your body and use your teleportation to track him down... either way, I win," he commented before noticing the snakes beginning to shudder. "Nani?" The snakes suddenly were thrown backwards by an explosion of dark energy, said burst also knocking Orochimaru back a few steps. Growling, he glared up only to stare in shock.
The strange man had not only survived his snake barrage, but he seemed to have had a summon of his own. A large shadowy being now loomed above him, similar to the other Heartless, which had formed a dark barrier around its master to protect him. "I'll concede, you fought better than I expected," he conceded. "However, this fight is as good as over."
"This fight isn't over yet," Orochimaru stated with a cold tone, as he ran forward; the Kusanagi growing in length as he stabbed at his attacker. "Not so long as one of us still breathes!" The blade crashed into the dark barrier, sparks flying from it, as the man chuckled; his creature growling before it grabbed onto the blade.
"You're a fool to think such a gambit would work..." the man stated, his cold monotone breaking with a slight chuckle. "Now, I believe... it is time to dismiss you." His summon's fist began to glow vibrantly, dark energy cackling around it, before the man ran forward. Before Orochimaru had time to react, as quickly as he slashed at him with the Kusanagi, the being sent him crashing backwards with ease. Orochimaru hissed as he crashed down, the man rushing again before stabbing his blade through the Snake Sannin.
Orochimaru's eyes widened, the Kusanagi slipping from his grasp and falling to the floor, before narrowing, the man removing his blade and letting him drop. "You fought as fiercely as you could, Kaze-no-Oni," the man stated calmly, watching Orochimaru clutching his bleeding wound; his breaths heavy and strained. "But, in the end, you could not defeat me... after all, I am the one you are destined to serve, Orochimaru..."
"I... I serve nobody," Orochimaru sneered with a dark chuckle. "And, whoever this Kaze-no-Oni is, I'm afraid you've chosen the wrong target..." He suddenly began to twist and convulse, his jaw dislocating in a manner like a snake's. The man's eyes narrowed as he stepped back, clutching his weapon at all times. Climbing out from the Sannin was another Orochimaru, the stab wound gone and his body looking completely rejuvenated, with a manic smirk as he picked up the Kusanagi from the floor. His chakra levels had dropped unfortunately, the Snake Sannin knew that... but his attacker will have tired from the battle as well.
"Impressive," the man commented. "Able to shed the skin of your body to recover from a past injury... however, in the long-run, the ability will only help to a certain degree. No matter how deep in your studies you go, nothing on this forsaken world will help you achieve your ultimate goals of immortality. You'll only one day fall into the darkness... and be unable to get out."
Orochimaru arched an eyebrow, considering each word this man said carefully. 'World? Is he trying to imply that he is some type of otherworldly demon?' he thought. 'What does it matter? His barrier is down... one stab clean through the heart will be enough to finish him off...' He gripped onto his sword and slowly staggered forward.
"But... I believe that I can help you achieve the eternal life you desire, Kaze-no-Oni," the man continued, Orochimaru's eyes widening in surprise. "Yes... think about it like this: you will regain your precious 'Sasuke Uchiha', you will obtain a better chance of achieving eternal life... and, most importantly... the power to crush your enemies and destroy this forsaken world in a matter of hours. All I need from you... is your service.
'Hours? That's possible? ...But... this 'Kaze-no-Oni'... why would he call me a wind demon? Then again... he has my apprentice, he has destroyed my village and he's offering me the chance to destroy the Leaf Village AND the Akatsuki in mere hours,' Orochimaru thought. '...For now, I'll play his little game... but, if he thinks he'll have my undying loyalty, he is gravely mistaken...' After what felt like an eternity of considering his options, Orochimaru finally responded. "We have a deal," he calmly stated. "Now then... shouldn't I know the name of the man who is offering me all this power?"
"My name... is Ansem," the man concluded. "The Seeker of Darkness... and the Higure-no-Kōtei." The skies began to darken, as if Ansem's proclamation was enough to intimidate even the heavens, as several more Heartless began to form. "And welcome to the beginning of a new era, Orochimaru, my Kaze-no-Oni... the era of darkness."
Part Two: Rise of the Kaze-no-Kishi...
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Alone, surrounded by several of the Heartless that attacked Sasuke and Orochimaru earlier, a teenage boy of fourteen performed a single hand-sign frantically as four identical forms of him appeared. He was rather short for his age but still growing, his tan skin covered in bloody cuts and his sapphire eyes wide in fear. His sunshine-blonde hair had been stained crimson with blood and his bright-orange jumpsuit was torn. "Ero-Sennin... where are you?" he mumbled.
Naruto Uzumaki had not expected any of this to happen. Merely a year into his training trip with his sensei, Jiraiya, he was not ready to face masses like these. Sure, using his Shadow Clones and his developing jutsu, he could take down groups... but not an invasion of this magnitude. His Shadow Clones rushed at the Heartless, kicking and punching them swiftly before they were destroyed; Naruto growling as he felt the memories of the clones surging back into him.
"Dammit!" he snapped, clutching his head. A cold feeling... a surge of darkness... it was all so much for him to bear. Snarling in pain, he felt a chill before swiftly turning to see a Heartless lunging at him. Swiftly, the young ninja leaped back to avoid the strike; skidding backwards as he held his open hand out, a small blue sphere of chakra slowly forming. With amazing speeds, the young Uzumaki sprinted forward; the sphere growing larger and larger as the chakra began to spiral before he slammed it into a Heartless.
"RASENGAN!"
The attack instantly vaporized his target, Naruto breathing heavily as he glanced around the vast clearing he had been training before the attack. His wounds were quickly healing over, only a few light scars remaining where bloody cuts had once been. 'For once, that damn fuzzball came to use,' Naruto thought. 'But the Kyuubi's chakra healing me alone won't cut it...'
"You think I'm just gonna sit down and let you bakas kill me?" Naruto asked as he performed a hand-sign, summoning six more Shadow Clones as they charged at the Heartless; delivering barrages with everything they had as Naruto himself ran forward. "Hey, could one of you get over here?"
"Hey! Stop being so pushy and maybe we will!" one of the Naruto clones snapped before noticing the deadly look on his original. "On second thoughts..." Quickly, he ran over beside Naruto as the two began to charge up another Rasengan. The spiralling chakra sphere continued to expand, growing much larger to cover both their palms, as several Heartless rushed straight at them. The young shinobi had been working on this for a while now, and this was its first practical use outside of sparring with Jiraiya. 'Here's hoping it works,' he thought with a frown.
"Big Ball Rasengan!" both Narutos yelled, smashing the large sphere into the Heartless; an explosion of chakra rippling and disintegrating most of the dark creatures present. Naruto's Shadow Clones, however, also got obliterated by mistake; Naruto staggering back a little as he breathed in heavily, the memories flooding into him.
"What are these things?" he growled as he turned to run, noticing the storm above worsening as the winds picked up. Bolts of black lightning shattered the clouds as a loud roar caught his attention. Naruto hastily stepped back as the ground began to quake, the earth below him tearing apart as a large shadow emerged from it with a growl. "...Kami help me..."
A loud roar thundered across the area as jet-black, razor-sharp claws lashed downward towards Naruto. The shinobi swiftly rolled out of the way before staring up in disbelief. It was another Heartless: this one towering above Naruto with ease, similar in size to the summon of Orochimaru, Manda, covered from head to toe in jet-black scales. Golden-yellow eyes gazed down at Naruto and the black-and-red heart crest, which he had seen on the armor-clad species of the monsters attacking him, was notable on its horned forehead. Naruto growled as he glared at the Heartless, noting how similarly it was built to a giant snake... reminding him of the Snake Sannin that had taken his friend away.
The Heartless roared loudly before streaking down towards Naruto, who quickly leaped out the way. However, as soon as the Heartless snake's head made impact, shock-waves rushed across the area; dirt and lumps of earth crashing into Naruto, knocking him down into the crater. Weakly, he staggered up before noticing the snake lashing its head down again. This time, Naruto leaped up; focusing his chakra into his feet; and landed on its face, swiftly running up towards its eye.
The snake roared before thrashing wildly, Naruto frantically screaming and waving his arms around before finding himself knocked flying off; crashing down many metres away from where he had once been. The snake Heartless roared as it slithered swiftly towards Naruto, coughing and gagging before spitting up several smaller snakes; all jet-black with glowing gold eyes. Naruto's eyes widened as he slowly stepped back, the snakes slithering after him. Naruto delivered fierce kicks onto the snakes, taking out a few kunai and throwing them to destroy the ones his attacks missed.
"You think you're a big tough guy? I'll show you, snake-bastard!" Naruto snapped as he bit down on his finger, rapidly performing a few hand-signs, before smacking his hand on the ground. "Summoning Technique!" An explosion of smoke obscured Naruto from view, the snake hissing as it glanced around for its prey, before noticing a large shadow forming. As the smoke cleared, it was revealed that Naruto – a look of pure determination on his face – standing atop a gigantic rust-coloured toad, a scar running over its left eye, wearing a dark-blue vest with a large sword strapped to its waist and a pipe in its mouth.
"Alright, kid, what exactly are we taking on this-" the toad began before glancing towards the giant snake, eyes widening in shock. "M-Manda? What the hell happened to Manda?" Naruto stared in disbelief at the titanic demon-snake.
"Wait... MANDA? Orochimaru's snake?" Naruto gaped, his eye twitching. "Y-You're kidding, right? That can't be Manda, Gamabunta!"
Gamabunta, the Toad Boss, was silent before his eyes narrowed. "Whatever happened to Manda... it doesn't matter. He's still going down just like before!" he snapped before running forward, drawing his blade. "Toad Sword Decapitation!" Gamabunta bounded upwards, descending towards the snake, supposedly Manda, and slashed at him... only for the Heartless snake to catch the blade in its fangs. "What the-" Several hundreds of snakes were suddenly spat out from the giant one's jaws; flooding onto Gamabunta, all sinking their fangs into him. "GAAAHHHHH!"
"Hey, get off him!" Naruto snapped as he ran towards some of the snakes on his back. Charging his chakra up, he rammed a Rasengan full-force into one of them before kicking another away. "Gamabunta, shake these damn things off, will ya?" The Toad Boss grunted as he shook wildly, sending Naruto flying into the air with a scream. "NOT ME TOO!" Gamabunta leaped up and caught Naruto on his forehead swiftly, landing as he took several deep breaths.
"Don't whine so much, kid, at least I caught you," Gamabunta growled before performing a hand-seal and deeply inhaling. "Water Release... Gunshot!" The toad exhaled a large burst of water, cannonball like in shape and form, at the large snake; the blast smashing into its forehead. The snake roared in pain as it skidded back as Gamabunta exhaled a blast of sticky, dark-green oil. "Toad Oil Bullet!"
The oil stuck tightly onto 'Manda', the snake snarling as it tried to shake it off. "Now kid, get it!" he ordered. Naruto nodded as he ran forward and leaped off of Gamabunta, summoning another Shadow Clone, as they both charged up another Big Ball Rasengan. The so-called 'Manda' glared at the two before exhaling a thundering roar, a burst of black energy smashing into Naruto; knocking the original flying away and destroying the Clone instantly.
The snake then proceeded to coil tightly around Gamabunta, the Toad Boss snarling as he felt his lungs being compressed. "I've... gotta... I'm sorry, kid!" he snapped before disappearing in an explosion of smoke. The snake's coils tightening around thin air. Roaring, the snake noticed a large black hole forming in the skies; snarling as a fierce wind rushed over it and Naruto. With a howl, the snake began to fly up; embracing the darkness of the void like a lost lover; before disappearing from view.
"Gah!" Naruto winced as he felt himself being sucked up by the pull. "I can't... no... Ero-Sennin, where are you?" he screamed before he found himself flying up, the darkness swallowing him as all in his vision range faded to black...
"Do not fear... Kaze-no-Kishi... let your heart guide you through the black of nightfall and back towards the light of day... for the Hikari-no-Eiyū needs you once more..."
"The... the what?" Naruto blinked. His body began to glow vibrantly, Naruto's eyes widening in shock, before he felt himself being ripped away from the void... falling...
. . .
"So much to do... so little time..."
Naruto stirred as he slowly got up, glancing around and noticing nothing but a black void. "Where the hell did you take me...?" he asked before glancing down, eyes widening at the sight. "T-that's-!" Below him was a stain-glass platform, its background a vibrant sky-blue, with an image of himself on it. Around him were a series of smaller images: one of a pink-haired young girl with emerald-green eyes, another of a raven-haired boy with black eyes, one of a silver-haired man with a mask and headband-combo covering most of his face, including one eye, and a demonic orange-furred fox.
Naruto shuddered a little as he slowly stepped back. "O-okay, this is OFFICIALLY the weirdest experience of my life..." he mumbled. He felt a gentle breeze brush past his face, winds dancing around him for a few moments before flying directly in front of him and taking a new form. Slowly, a dazzling ninjato, a short sword, appeared before the shinobi: its blade as blue as the sky, the winds spiralling around it, and its hilt a cloudy-grey with the kanji for 'wind' running across it.
"Take it... the weapon is yours by right, Kaze-no-Kishi..."
Naruto blinked in confusion before he took the blade into his hand, feeling the chill of the wind brush down his arm. "Mine by right?" he asked. 'Wow... I didn't think I ever had a bloodline... but, to have a sword specifically for me... and that title. The 'Knight of Wind'? What does that even MEAN?' he thought before noticing a black inky substance bubbling beneath his feet. "GAH!" he gaped as he found himself sinking deeper into it, the shadows crawling up his leg. "Get off!" he snapped as he tried to channel his chakra to unleash a Rasengan... only to find it didn't work. "NO! My chakra-!"
"Your chakra can only be used by your body... not by your heart. You must unlock the power of your heart if you wish not to succumb..."
"My... heart?" Naruto asked, gripping onto the sword tightly. Swiftly, he tried to slash at the shadows with his full force. However, his rather-sloppy slash, the result of a lack of training with a sword, failed to so much as halt the onslaught temporarily as he continued to sink deeper into the darkness. "Hey, strange voice-thing, mind explaining to me what exactly you mean?"
"What do you fight for, Naruto Uzumaki?" Naruto's eyes widened in shock. How did this voice know his name? "What is it that drives your passion and determination? Tell me... why is it that you continue to fight in a world that fears and hates you... for the beast within?"
'The Kyuubi,' Naruto thought, his eyes narrowed.
"Naruto Uzumaki... tell me... why is it that you have not given in to the rage of your tenant? Why is it that you have not become the demon that you contain? Why is it... that you keep fighting?"
'Did that voice SERIOUSLY just compare me to the Fox?' Naruto thought in rage, clenching his grip on the sword before glaring upwards. "Because I am NOT the Fox! And I plan to prove it! I don't know who you are, strange voice, and I don't really care either! But I do know this... no way am I going to fall and give up now! I've got precious people I need to protect and I did not go through all that to fall now! You hear me?"
The winds began to fiercely pick up, Naruto and his sword glowing a bright sky-blue. "I am NOT the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox..." he mumbled, his sword vibrating wildly as he hoisted it up. "I am Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato! Dattebayo!" With a roar, he slammed his blade down into the darkness again. This time, wind exploded from his slash; Naruto flying upwards from the black substance as it ripped away from the force, a bright burst of energy rippling across the stain-glass platform as he continued to fly up.
Naruto's sword suddenly began to dull, fading away into wisps of wind, as his vision began to black out. The last thing Naruto Uzumaki heard before succumbing to unconsciousness was the mysterious voice... their voice in a faint whisper, but still lingering as the only other form of life, aside from Naruto himself, in the strange dark void he was drifting through...
"You truly are the chosen one... find the other four. And together, you will unite with the Hikari-no-Eiyū to usher in a new age... Kaze-no-Kishi..."
And, so, the first Kishi, Naruto Uzumaki the Kaze-no-Kishi, awakens! However, 'Ansem' has also obtained a new ally of his own... but what exactly IS a Kishi or an Oni? Well, all will be explained in due time. Hopefully, you all found this chapter enjoyable.
Now, for those curious, some translations:
Kaze-no-Oni: Japanese for 'Demon of Wind'
Kaze-no-Kishi: Japanese for 'Knight of Wind'
Hikari-no-Eiyū: Japanese for 'Hero of Light'
Shujinkō-no-Kishi: Japanese for 'Knights of the Hero'
With the Knight of Wind revealed, four more knights remain. And next time, it is the Knight of Wind (the Mizu-no-Kishi) who will awaken! Who will the identity of this hero be and who will be recruited by the dark side in opposition?
Stay tuned to find out!