The story of the Ashen Haired Goddess and the Man of White Flame
"The Great War was in full swing after the defeat of the two Heavenly Brothers. Their sealing marked the start of the escalation of the age old conflict between Three Factions. Battles after battles shook the realms while the parts of the Strongest Pantheon clashed each other causing untold amounts of destruction, yet no other divinity dared to stand between their fight. Why? For if the Red and the White Dragon Emperor could be torn asunder for interfering with their war, what chance could they have? Especially now that God and the 4 Satans took to the battlefield.
Yet I do not write of the fields of blood created by Angels, Fallen and Devil. Yet I do not sing the tale of the clash of God, Azazel and Lucifer. You may wonder what would I write of then? What could possibly be important enough that these mighty beings are reduced to merely being the prelude for the focus of my tale? Is it not them who had both the mortal and immortal world shaking in their boots? Perhaps that would have been true in another world, but here it is false.
Let me tell you the tale how the battle between divine and mortal shattered the eternal tranquillity in the Seven Circles of Heaven, how their conflict bled the mortal realm 'till the rivers flown red and how they irrevocably scarred the Underworld forever. How the fight between the Ashen Haired Goddess and the Man of White Flame echoed across the realms."
Excerpt from the writing of Claudius Emilio Darion
XVII. Chronicler of the Templar Order
God himself went to battle the 4 Satans making this their third clash this year. Despite the war raging outside it, behind the pearly white gates Heaven never lost its peace and splendour.
Then a brilliant explosion tore a hole into the Fifth Heaven. The world stilled for what seemed like an eternity, yet probably for less than a fraction of a second. Another mighty clash announced the two beings that appeared near the heart of God's domain, blowing the smoke away and showing the combatants. The first one was a woman. Divinity rolled off of her like water at the Niagara Falls making it certain: this was a Goddess of the highest power. She had an incredibly pale skin with two equally pale eyes that at first glance one could have thought her blind.
She would have been the visage of beauty if not for the horns on her head and the third eye in the middle of her forehead, the blood red orb with three concentric rings and nine tomoe around the pupil casting an eerie glow on her. Sweeping white hair framed her face, long enough to reach the ground had she been standing on it instead of floating in the air and her visage was completed with a pristine white kimono. All in all she was the polar opposite of her opponent.
Facing her standing in the air as if on solid ground was a man. Power roared around him in defiance of his enemy's heavenly might, power that was undoubtedly mortal yet somehow comparable to his opposition. His appearance while no less striking was far more normal. He was 7 feet tall and built like the warriors of old, wearing a mesh shirt with black pants and a black combat boots. He wore an ankle length black haori over the clothes with the white writing: Godaime Hokage vertically on its back. His face had a blank yet intense expression on it and with his short black hair and coal black eyes he was in stark contrast of the Goddess.
They stared in that endless moment into each other's eyes. The face off ended with the move of the black haired warrior: he himself and the air around him igniting in white flames and despite the heat starting to melt the ground over 50 meters beneath him, he remained unharmed.
He appeared before the Goddess in a flash, the punch cracking against the hastily erected guard of her arms and for a millisecond it seemed she had stopped the strike. Lightening crackled at the impact and with an ear shattering boom she was thrown into the buildings at a speed easily breaking the sound barrier. The divinity's impact among the research institutes of Heaven carved a path of utter destruction at least 5 kilometres long. Not giving a moment respite to her, the man appeared in the air around 3 feet above her smoking form. As fast as his heel strike was the white haired women was faster and she was already gone in a rift of space by the time it hit.
The attack that was meant to at least shatter her ribcage crushed the earth creating a mighty shockwave, however the attack from the man clad in white flames didn't end with the winds from his leg's passing. The moment his heel impacted on the ground a blast swallowed the area around him. The fiery inferno rolled over the ground creating a dome like explosion that could be comparable to a nuclear warhead, the power of it utterly annihilating everything in sight. The heat and shock waves barely abated when the man's form shot out of it unharmed, looking for his foe. Barely half a second after his exit the Goddess obligated: she appeared above him with her hand clad in huge hand-like spectral structures.
The punch like all the previous ones easily exceeded the speed of sound yet the Man of White Flames still managed to get a block up. However it wasn't even a contest as the man was blasted through the floor of the 5th Heaven.
His fall came to an abrupt end as he created a mile wide crater in the 4th Heaven. The following attack of the women was swift and merciless. Appearing high above the ground three hand seals were made and Eden burned. The untouched utopia of mankind's origin, the land that never before knew destruction turned into a molten wasteland. Nothing escaped the attack, nothing but the black blur that shot for the horned woman.
The following 10 second saw to a furious hand to hand combat each attack of the Goddess creating shockwaves and every attack of the black haired warrior creating explosions of white flames lighting up the sky. The short stalemate was broken when the mortal faltered for a millisecond. The ashen haired women took the chance to appear above him and suddenly the world broke. An immeasurable force exploded from her downwards yet when the technique hit her opponent he simply vanished in a puff of smoke and the attack continued, smashing a hole into the boiling mass beneath them all the way to the 3rd Heaven.
While the wave of force took less than a moment to hit the ground the man was even faster. Before she could even react the woman was struck in perhaps her only blind spot from the back. The man roared, unleashing a punch that seemed to break the very space around them and launched her down. She fell like a burning comet coated in lighting with her scream of pain barely heard above the sound of the shockwaves of her passing. The attack was so strong she broke straight into the first floor of heaven landing near a great gate, however suddenly the battle no longer consisted of two opponents.
The part of the Heavenly Host still in God's domain appeared around the horned women. Led by Seraph Raziel countless angels hovered in the air, their halo shining so brightly that it would have boiled an average mortal's eyes in their sockets. They looked unmatched in their splendour, warriors that knew no defeat for God was with them! As one they surged forward to end the intruder that just stood up. Their weapons without equal and their prowess beyond measure. But reality is harsh.
With a speed that made the movement all but invisible the Goddess struck at the black blur falling on her and the as the two fists met the Guardians of the First Heaven were no more. The explosion wiped out everyone as far as one's eyes could see and it even cracked the supposedly unbreakable walls. Such was reality: even the side effects of the two mighty beings' attacks utterly decimated all who dared to stand in the way of their fight.
The clash may have had a stunning effect on the world yet to them this was but another strike in their battle so they continued barely even noticing the death of those around them. The man with a lightning quick grab snatched her hand mid punch and threw the Goddess through the pearly white gates burning her arm horribly from the direct contact. However it didn't come without a price as an invisible blade of air parted the armour made of flames leaving a foot long gash on his torso. The sharp pain was enough to delay the following strike long enough so the horned women could defend herself against the kick that would have caved in her head otherwise. Still the explosion of white that accompanied her nemesis' offense threw her towards the earth at a speed shattering the sound barrier at least 10 times over.
She found herself in a crater once more with her arm healing at a rapid pace and bracing for the inevitable, she stood ready expecting another clash. Instead she saw her opponent finishing a rapid sequence of hand seals, her rinne-sharingane reading the jutsu and her eyes widening in horror. It was understandable really, after all who wouldn't fear a sun born above their head but it was already too late to stop it. The miniature sun suddenly lost its stability and fire consumed the earth. The destruction simply didn't stop and the world screamed as what could have later become known as Italy was no more and only a burning cataclysm remained in its place.
As the black haired warrior surveyed the aftermath of one of his trump cards he lowered his guard down for a fraction of a second and in that moment the horribly burned Goddess appeared beside him from a rift of space. Like vengeance incarnate she used his distraction to the fullest, unleashing a wave of force and hurling him away at such a great speed that he would have undoubtedly ignited from air friction alone if he was not already clad in flames. He flew so far that only thanks to her supreme vision could she target the next technique which was best used from as far away as possible least she get caught in it herself.
"Chibaku Tensei" she declared using the justu that once upon a time sealed the body of Jubi by her son. Her opponent's flight was suddenly stopped as he became the centre of the technique that once created the moon in their dimension. While it may not have been as large in scale by the virtue of how rushed it was, it still tore against the earth with enormous power. In an instant she created a floating rock of 400 kilometres in diameter redrawing the upper part of the African continent.
She stood still on the air not making the same mistake and waited for the emergence of her foe. Slowly cracks started to appear on the massive structure but in response the Goddess simply raised her hand, swung it sideways and threw the sphere far away. It flew far beyond the horizon landing in the Pannonian Basin and shattering from the impact.
She didn't have to wait long because the man came speeding from the enormous dust cloud. He didn't escape unscathed, his form battered and bruised with clothes thorn making him looked ragged. Still he didn't lose an ounce of his ferocity as he flew towards her with unmatched force.
They once more engaged in an intense close range combat the horned women protecting herself with spectral structures from her opponent's white fire armour. The speed of the exchange was incredible but the white haired women held the advantage with her seemingly unbreakable defence. It seemed like she would gain the initiative once more however the black eyed man gave a mighty bellow and suddenly his armour gained an addition. White lightning bled over his form blending in with the white flames. The effect was immediate: the black clad mortal sped up and took control of the fight.
The surprise at the change of speed unbalanced the Goddess long enough so that the man could get a punch in blasting his foe away in a brilliant white explosion and a crackle of lightning. Before she could recover he landed another blow throwing her further away. Then before she could defend herself, strike after strike he kept blasting her away at unimaginable speeds. He threw her above plains, seas and through mighty peaks. The aftermath of each strike was so great that it could be comparable to a 100 megaton explosion.
In a mere minute they carved a path of death from above Mediterranean Sea to the Caspian Sea. It was a credit to the Goddess' incredible defence and healing that she was still alive by then but everything had a limit. She couldn't stop the onslaught so she did what she had already done multiple times before to survive the deadly assault. As her mangled body flew backwards a rift in space opened behind her however she was rushed by the short time between punches so she merely let the "gateway" snap to the nearest dimension. This was how the two combatants arrived to the Underworld.
Like a burning comet her body impacted in the middle of the battlefield between the Three Great Factions. While her entry may have gone unnoticed in the carnage, her opponent's entrance definitely gained the attention of the warriors of Heaven and Underworld alike. He shot out of the breach letting lose a fierce roar that shook the battlefield as he launched himself at the smoking form of his enemy. It was not that he didn't notice the war he happened upon, he simply decided to ignore them to swiftly end his weakened foe. He tore through the sky, shredding and burning away countless devils, angels and fallen with his passage. It was this act that snapped them out of their stupor.
Spell fire turned the sky into a rainbow coloured sea of death as all three sides instinctually attack him. The barrage was so vast that he abandoned his dash to dodge it, giving the Goddess time to regenerate. Lances of light and orbs of destruction followed his path in the sky and if he was fighting anyone else they could have just waited until he fell or killed his new enemies but luckily or perhaps unluckily his opponent was the Mother of Chakra. She cared nothing of those who aided or hindered her, for she was absolute. Perhaps it was arrogance to think that none but the black clad warrior mattered on the battlefield, yet was it arrogance when her next actions proved it to be true?
Her hands clasped and the world stilled. Everyone shuddered as the wave of power washed over them seemingly without effect. The first one to notice IT was a lowly 2 winged angel.
"L-Look! Above us!" he cried out in the suddenly silent airspace.
The shock gave way to panic as everyone noticed IT. The THING filled up the skyline. The meteor, if it could be called that fell towards them with frightening speed. The first to act was God his voice thundering through the air.
"TO ME MY CHILDREN!" and the angels obeyed as one. Above their fathers head a white magic seal appeared creating a sleek cone above them. Azazel the Sly was the next to act, his command rang loud and clear.
"Get below them," the Grigori obeyed his will without delay as the enormous rock neared. Finally the devils acted too. In a rare show of unity they gathered around the Satans who were already creating a gigantic disk of abyss above them.
The impact was tremendous. The three armies may have survived by shearing two holes into the gigantic rock, but the land below them was in no way so lucky. Flames. Flames as far as the horizon for air and a molten sea of magma for earth. Nothing survived below them. Or rather: nothing SHOULD have. Yet among the flames, among the liquid fire the two forms who were the cause of this, continued their battle. Their furious melee mesmerized those watching it, a view comparable to seeing a blood red rose in the middle of a field of unbroken snow. Attacks that could have uprooted mountains strained against stalwart defences that seemed unbreakable, painting a terrifying yet awe inspiring dance of death upon the flesh of the Underworld.
It seemed as if it would go forever, tearing up the already destroyed land but after who knows how long the man faltered, after all he was but a mortal. The punch tore straight through his stomach and the world seemed to hold its breath in anticipation. Finally the Goddess' expression changed as a triumphant smile worked its way on her face.
"You were a worthy adversary. I applaud your power however as all things, you too are defeated just like those mockeries of my grandchildren," she declared proudly as she started to pull out her hand from the man's torso. Yet before it could move more than an inch his hand snapped up and grabbed it in a vice grip.
"You don't have to tell me you are stronger than me," said the man while coughing red, wearing a bloody smile. "However in battle it's not always strength that prevails," and in a mockery of their savage fight he suddenly pulled her in a tight hug.
"Shimon: Kai," he said almost silently. The incredible power coming off him in waves suddenly increased thousand fold and the Goddess started struggling in panic. But it was all for naught as her seemingly monstrous strength failed her.
"No Hokage has ever died a peaceful death, as the Godaime I know this better than anyone. So as all my predecessors have, I shall do my duty with a smile on my face. Hear my words for they signal your end: Shiki Fūjin," he declared with quiet determination.
"No you can't! You don't have the power!" screamed the struggling ashen haired women in panic as a spectral apparition showed itself behind the man and plunged its hand through his back into her.
"Normally, perhaps. However with the last of the eight gates open just for these few moments, for these precious few seconds I have the power!" and with a roar of determination all his power that was leaking out of him together with his flames disappeared while he focused every last bit of it into this one last task.
For a moment there was a terrific equilibrium as two immeasurable forces strained against each other. Then with a mighty bellow the man's body exploded in a shower of blood as his body strained further with his final push, yet the balance was tipped. Something tore from both mortal and Goddess and it was over and the spectral entity disappeared leaving the two standing in the air. Their gazes locked together as a show of their battle of wills and their faces contorted with the effort, yet now their eyes were empty. There was no soul remaining in either of them.
As if the world suddenly realised that it needed to continue, time resumed and they fell as one below into the flames. Their descent was slow and now in death they looked almost peaceful in their embrace. Finally they reached the ground and the molten sea swallowed them. It was fitting in a way. They appeared suddenly in this dimension, tearing it apart in their quest for victory and in the end the destruction they caused became their tomb.
This is where their tale ends. Was it short? Perhaps. But it will be remembered. The destruction they caused will serve as a remainder for many millennia that there is always someone stronger out there. This is their legacy. They gave this lesson and took a mighty price for it. So you who read this know that you can never get powerful enough, that there is always a greater height for you to strive for. And if you ever feel like you reached top? Just read this story again and feel your insignificance.
Just read The Story of the Ashen Haired Goddess and the Men of White Flame again.
Author note:
So this was a rather random brainfart on my part. It was partly inspired by watching a Naruto episode and partly by Parcasious's (check him out, he is awesome) style of epicness. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I had fun while writing it!