Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the Naruto franchise and this fanfiction has not been written for profit.
- - -A Duel Between Brothers: Part Two - - -
Sasuke's Totsuka blade was descending upon Naruto with the speed and ferocity of a lightning bolt. Worse yet, Sasuke had caught him completely off guard. The leaf ninja's defeat appeared to finally be at hand.
"Shit. Too fast!"
"Naruto!", Kurama screamed. "Quickly! Change back into your human form."
With no time to lose, Naruto, still in tailed beast mode, made a hinge sign with his paws. Sasuke's Totsuka blade was but millimeters away from touching the tailed beast Naruto when it suddenly vanished, only to be replaced by the humanoid Naruto. Sasuke's sword swept right through where the tailed beast construct had previously been located, hitting nothing but air.
"Clever", Sasuke thought. "But not enough."
The Susano'o followed up with another shield bash with its yata mirror, only this time colliding with Naruto's real body as opposed to his tailed beast form. The blond haired leaf ninja instinctively shielded himself by crossing his arms. Even so, the instant he was hit with the yata mirror, his body was sent flying down, submerged very deep into the water below.
"Never knew he could hit . . . that hard", Naruto thought, still descending into the depths beneath him at high speeds. The young jinchuriki maintained his best efforts not to lose consciousness due to the pain of the blow he had just taken as well as the accumulating pressure he was feeling as his body sunk lower and lower into the sea.
"Can't pass out", the young jinchuriki thought, barely regaining his composure. "Another blow like that and . . ."
Sasuke, still hovering in the air with his Susano'o, formed a hinge seal with his sands. Suddenly, eight additional duplicates of himself within eight additional duplicates of the Susano'o appeared. Each of them were equipped with chakra bows and arrows. The eight Susano'o clones quickly spread out amongst the battlefield, as if to surround the area of water Naruto had just been plunged into. The real Sasuke remained in the same location, glaring intently at the vicinity of water his opponent had been plunged into.
Moments passed and bubbles appeared to rise to the surface of the water in the immediate. Within no time, the blond haired leaf ninja came flying out of the water like a missile launched into the air.
"Lightning style: Yasakani Sacred Jewel!" In absolute unison, all eight of Sasuke's shadow clones fired lightning arrows at Naruto's location. The leaf ninja watched the incoming assault like a deer caught in the headlights, but was unable to avoid the multiple attacks coming in multiple directions. Almost instantly, however, the boy poofed into a cloud of smoke, proving to be nothing more than a shadow clone.
The real Naruto, now hovering in the air, appeared to have leaped out of the water while the fake Naruto was being attacked.
"Didn't I already tell you, Naruto?", Sasuke asked, not alarmed by Naruto's deception. "That jutsu is useless against me."
"Looked like it worked just fine to me", Naruto cheekily retorted.
"I wouldn't be too sure", the sharingan warrior coldly remarked.
The leaf ninja immediately detected eight lightning arrows approaching him in eight different directions. Two from above. Two from below. Two from the front. Two from the back.
Relying on the reflexes and enhanced senses, Naruto barely avoided all eight arrows at the last second. "That was close. I can tell just by looking at them . . . taking any of those head on is a bad idea."
As the young jinchuriki attempted to catch his breath, he noticed that the arrows he had just avoided were curving back towards him in mid-flight and were yet again headed towards him.
Naruto eyes bulged in surprise, "What the hell?"
"These arrows will follow their target for eternity", Sasuke said. "Avoiding them is pointless."
Naruto quickly jetted himself into the water, hoping that the lightning arrows would short out upon coming in contact with liquid. But to his dismay, the arrows were unaffected by the change in environment and were still hot on his trail.
The blond haired leaf ninja then flew high into the air, leaving a sonic boom in his wake and traveling at hypersonic speeds. He had hoped that Sasuke's jutsu only worked at a limited range. However, just as he reached the thermosphere in the earth's atmosphere, he realized that the eight lightning arrows remained close behind him and were still keeping track of his movements.
Naruto proceeded to fly back to the battlefield, this time headed right in the real Sasuke's direction. The Uchiha warrior, through his Susano'o, lifted its Totsuka blade into a striking position. Right before the leaf ninja could get into his adversary's range, he jolted into a different direction. The arrows that had been following Naruto, however, did not avert their trajectories in time and all collided with the Susano'o. Multiple small explosion ensued on impact with each arrow.
The blond haired leaf ninja glared intently at the blast and its remains. He was fully anticipating that Sasuke was either badly damaged and/or that he would use his rinnegan's jutsu to launch a surprise attack again. Either way, Naruto was ready.
However, as the smoke cleared, Naruto was dumbfounded at what he saw. Sasuke and his Susano'o were in pristine condition; it was as if nothing had touched him whatsoever.
"That's . . . impossible!", the leaf ninja thought with his mouth agape. "Each of those arrows had enough concentrated chakra to fill the allied shinobi force."
The Uchiha warrior took note of the dumbfounded look on his rival's face. "What's wrong, Naruto? Starting to realize how pointless this battle really is?"
Naruto aggressively shook his head, determined not to let his convictions falter. "No, I came here to win and this battle isn't going to end until I'm dragging your ass back to the leaf village."
A sinister look enveloped in Sasuke's eyes. The sharingan wielder, through his Susano'o, sheathed his Totsuka blade into its gourd. Then, he and his Susano'o weaved three handseals simultaneously. "Heavenly Obstacle: Clustering Stars!
Naruto immediately sensed nine extraterrestrial spheroid objects in the sky descending down towards the earth. As the leaf ninja continued to observe these objects, he determined that none of them would hit the battlefield, much less even come close to doing so. For a moment, he looked relieved.
"Looks like you still don't have control over your rinnegan", the young jinchuriki smugly noted.
Sasuke dismissed his opponent's sudden confidence as unfounded. "Take a good look at where those meteorites are headed, Naruto."
The leaf ninja carefully examined the meteorites' trajectory, only to overwhelmed by feelings of dread and panic as he realized what his rival was attempting to do.
"Sasuke, this is between you and me! This has nothing to do with them!"
"No, it does not", Sasuke responded, his expression nothing short of being cold and calculated. "Which is why you're going to stop those meteorites from obliterating the hidden village in the leaf."
"I fought you here on the condition that you'd leave them out of this!"
"They will remain out of this so long as you do your job and protect the village"
Naruto growled in frustration, but quickly realized anger wouldn't solve the problem before him. The meteorites were large enough to be seen from dozens of miles away and were all headed towards Konoha. The young jinchuriki had little time to act.
"Ready partner?", the leaf ninja asked telepathically.
"Like you even need to ask", Kurama responded.
Naruto once again entered tailed beast mode, with the chakra shroud Kurama letting out a terrifying howl upon appearing. The gigantic fox leaped atop the Madara statue , opened its mouth wide and aimed in the direction of the meteorites descending upon Konoha. A swirling mass of chakra began forming inside its mouth. The boy knew he only had one shot at saving his village; he would have to destroy all nine meteorites in one blast. His aim would have to be nothing less than perfect to hit such objects far off into the horizon.
"You've left yourself open", Sasuke remarked, seeking to advantage of the new distraction. "Lightning style: Yasakani Sacred Jewel!"
Once again, the eight Sasuke shadow clones surrounding the battlefield used their Susanoos to fire lightning arrows at the young jinchuriki. Naruto couldn't afford to move out of the way though. He had no choice but to keep focusing on aiming and gathering enough chakra for the nine meteorites in his sights. The lightning arrows all collided into his back, causing the young leaf ninja reel in immense pain.
"Naruto, I'm doing everything I can to strengthen our chakra shroud, but we can't afford to take too many more hits like that."
"Just a little more time . . . just a little more", Naruto thought, remaining completely focused on his current objective.
Sasuke observed the sight of this, raising his hand much like a commander does before giving his soldiers permission to gun down a prison who has received a death sentence. "Lightning style: Yasakani Sacred Jewel"
Lightning arrows were yet again fired from multiple directions, each hitting Naruto with tremendous power and force. Naruto, in tailed beast form, simply clenched his claws against the Hashirama statue and braced himself for further damage, doing everything he could do to focus on his objective.
"JUST . . . A LITTLE . . . MORE!"
"So . . . you really aren't going to move, are you Naruto?", Sasuke asked, removing the Totsuka blade from its ethereal gourd. "Very well, then I will grant you a quick death."
Sasuke and his Susano'o flew towards its prey with its sword firmly held at a killing stroke.
[. . . . . . .]
Kakashi and Sakura, meanwhile, stood firsthand in Konoha. Hours had passed since Naruto had left to face their former comrade. Since then, Sakura had been standing patiently at the village gates, still watching the horizon Naruto had walked into as he left the village. However, as she continued to wait at the village gates, a shadow began to envelope her location and eventually the entire village. Sakura looked into the sky and gazed upon the nine meteorites quickly descending upon the village.
"Sasuke's Rinnegan", Kakashi speculated while approaching Sakura. "I never dreamed it would make him this powerful."
"Kakashi!", Sakura exclaimed, realizing the seriousness of their situation. "We can't let any of those hit the village!"
"Even if I had still had my sharingan, I'd at best be able to remove two of them with the kamui", the copycat ninja sighed. "But as it stands, there's nothing we can do."
"We've got to do something!", the medical ninja shouted. "Even if we manage to escape the village, there's no guarantee that the villagers ensnared by the infinite Tsukiyomi will survive."
"Sakura, don't forget the reason you've been standing at that gate for the past few hours."
The pink haired kunouchi quickly recalled the conversation she had with Naruto the night before. Naruto was going to bring Sasuke back to her that day, she thought, and she'd be there to greet him when he returned. She knew that nothing, not even nine meteorites crashing towards the village, was going to stop him.
The worried look on Sakura's face was quickly replaced by a warm smile. Even the sight of death itself couldn't overcome her feelings. "You're right, Kakashi. He never gives up. Even with odds like this, he won't go back on his word."
[. . . . . . .]
Sasuke's Susano'o swung its Totsuka blade at the young jinchuriki from behind, but the fight was far from over. Before the blade could touch Naruto's back, it came to a screeching halt. Sasuke closely inspected the scene to determine what was stopping his sword from touching his mortal adversary. It was . . . all nine tails of the nine tailed fox. Naruto had wrapped 5 tails around the Susano's sword hand and 4 tails around its shield hand.
"Like hell I'm gonna let you do that", Naruto thought, preparing to fire his tailed beast bomb.
"Naruto, there's no time left, we've got to fire now!", Kurama urged, sensing how close the meteorites were to hitting the leaf village.
With that, the tailed beast Naruto open its mouth wide. "Super Tailed Beast Bomb!"
A colossal black spherical swirling mass of chakra jettisoned out of the leaf ninja's mouth like a canon ball. The chakra mass flew in Konoha's direction faster than any attack Naruto had used before. Finally, it hit the meteorite in the center of the nine descending upon the leaf village, instantly creating an explosion with a blast radius wide enough swallow each and every extra terrasterial body.
It was an impressive sight to behold, but not one Sasuke appeared to be particularly interested in. Rather, the rogue ninja took the advantage of the tails latched onto him and began spinning his Susanoo around like a powerful tornado. Like a spinning top, he went round and round with Naruto at his mercy. It was not until several dozen revolutions that the Uchiha warrior used his momentum to hurl the tailed beast Naruto into the face of the Hashimaru statue, crumbling its head to pieces.
The leaf ninja once again returned to his humanoid form, slowly regaining his footing. "Kurama, how much chakra do we have left?"
"Not much. That tailed beast bomb just now and the amount of chakra we used shrugging off Sasuke's attacks consumed a great deal of it."
"Damn", Naruto chuckled to himself, glaring at his unfazed opponent. "He doesn't even look like he's broken a sweat yet, but here I am doing everything I can to keep myself from doubling over."
"I told you Naruto. That Uchiha brat was already formidable with the rinnegan alone, but with the power of all the tailed beast, he's almost unstoppable."
Watching his rival before him, the leaf ninja immediately noticed something, almost as if a lightbulb clicked on in his head. "Kurama, can you disturb my chakra flow and gather chakra at the same time?"
The nine tailed fox scratched his head, uncertain what his partner was getting at. "No. Why?"
"No matter what happens for the remainder of the fight, keep disturbing my chakra flow at all times."
"But what about our strategy?"
"Sasuke's not giving me much of a choice at this point."
The leaf ninja formed a hinge seal with his hands. With that, 100,000 Naruto clones appeared all throughout the valley.
Sasuke appeared to be surprised at the sight of this. "Those clones . . . they weren't summoned just now", the sharingan wielder astutely observed.
Indeed, each of every clone had been lying in wait in the form of pebbles, beetles, spider webs. algae and even specs of dirt.
"No, he could not have done this while he was underwater or in the upper atmosphere. When did he . . ."
Just then, the beginning of the battle flashed through Sasuke's mind. With particularity, he recalled the instant a shadowclone attacked him in an effort to give the real Naruto a chance to attack him from behind with a rasengan. The Uchiha warrior had easily dispatched the shadow clone with a single kick, sending it falling into the depths below the Madara and Hashirama monuments.
"I see. The real diversion was not the shadow clone, but Naruto himself. He wanted me to knock the shadow clone off the cliff, so that it could amass all of those other clones while my attention was focused elsewhere. Even so . . ."
Sasuke smirked confidently. "Whether its 100,000 shadow clones or 1,000,000, that jutsu won't work on me. You should have tried catching me by surprise if you were going to go through all that effort."
"He has a point, Naruto", Kurama chided.
"Hey! Whose side are you on anyway?
"Hopefully the side that knows better than to get his ass kicked for the third time in a row."
The young jinchuriki momentarily rolled his eyes and once again formed a hinge sign. In direct response to his movements, all 100,000 shadow clones poofed into thin air.
Sasuke squinted his eyes, annoyed and uncertain at his opponent's actions. "What is he up to?"
At that very moment, Naruto looked very sure of himself. The blond haired leaf ninja lowered his body into a 4 point stance, much like a sprinter at a track race. "All right, Sasuke, round 2."
"What's he thinking taking me on without being in tailed beast form?", the sharingan wielder scoffed at his opponent, recalling that shield bash he had smashed him with earlier.
Naruto took a deep breath and calmly exhaled afterwards. "Omni Style: Yellow Flash!"
Sasuke watched the young jinchuriki closely, waiting for him to attack. However, before the rogue ninja had even realized it, his rival was gone, completely out of sight. Instead, all that remained was a small crater on the ground where he had been standing.
Sasuke looked around, left and right. "Where did he go?"
A few seconds had passed until the sharingan wielder noticed that one of his Susanoo clones had burst into a cloud of smoke much like all shadow clones when they are destroyed. The uchiha warrior was troubled by what he saw, not just because he didn't see anything, but that he didn't hear anything either. What's more, each of the Susanoo clones were individually fueled by an entire tailed beast's chakra reserves. Destroying them should not be this easy, no matter how powerful Naruto had become.
"Has he somehow figured out a way to replicate Madara's limbo?", the rogue ninja thought, desperately searching for his adversary. "No, I'd still be able to sense him with my rinnegan."
Another Susano'o clone was destroyed in the same undetectable fashion as the first.
"Dammnit, where is he?!"
The sequence repeated itself again and again until there was one Susano'o clone remaining. Sasuke, however, was determined to keep his composure.
"Calm down. I still have the advantage. Like always, assess the situation and adapt accordingly. It took him 35 seconds to destroy 7 clones. Therefore, he needs five seconds to destroy a single clone. If I concentrate all of the tailed beast chakra into my Susano's defenses, it'll take him 45 seconds to destroy it, giving me ample time to catch him."
Sasuke's last Susanoo' clone poofed into a smoke cloud and the leaf ninja's next target was more than clear. The Sharingan wielder immediately amplified his Susano'o with chakra from all nine tailed beast at his disposal. The chakra shroud surrounding the humanoid construct grew thicker and thicker.
"To go after my clones first, his experience with this jutsu is definitely limited. There's also the fact that he's only using this technique now, meaning there must be a reason he didn't use it from the start. There's gotta be a weakness I can exploit."
In addition to amplifying his Susanoo's, the Uchiha warrior had poured his spare chakra into his mangekyou sharingan in an effort to amplify his visual acuity. There was clearly a limit to the rate at which he could do this, however, as blood was pouring from the lower eyelid of his right eye. As he did this, it appeared to him as if he was looking at two different realities. One reality was the reality he was accustomed to and the other was a reality in which time appeared to stand still; birds remained stationary in the air and water was no longer falling in the water fall.
Despite his advanced vision however, to Sasuke, Naruto, although visible, appeared to be a yellow blur; his movements still remained highly difficult to perceive.
"That's fine, Naruto. Move as fast as you like. As long as I can see even a trace of you, you're mine."
Using his right eye, Sasuke observed the young jinchuriki to the best of his ability. The blurred Naruto was practically dancing around Sasuke's Susanoo, striking its body at different points thousands of times per second. The rogue ninja, of course, was slowly adapting and preparing to coordinate a counter-attack.
As Sasuke watched his rival's moments, he quickly began to succumb to an unusual sensation. He placed a hand on his forehead like someone running a fever. "What is this dizziness I'm feeling?"
The sharingan wielder began to notice cracks forming all over the body of his Susanoo.
"How is he - no, focus on the task at hand. Regardless of how he's doing it, he's doing it predictably. Therefore, I know where he'll be at the precise instant 44.00009 seconds have passed."
And so it went, with Naruto about to pass over the Susanoo's right shoulder around the time Sasuke estimated. At that instant, Sasuke's eyes boldened with determination and his Susanoo thrusted its Totsuka in Naruto's direction. Right at the 44.00009 second mark, the blade intercepted the yellow blur, much like an expert dart thrower impaling a fly in mid-air. The rogue ninja's target was sucked into the Totsuka blade and then sealed in the gourd on the Susanoo's side.
At that moment, the cracks on the Susanoo grew even bigger, with Sasuke deeply puzzled at the cause of this phenomena, until the truth struck him harder than any blunt object ever could. A yellow blur once again appeared before the sharingan wielder, as if to continue the work of the former.
"A shadow clone? I see, then he must've-"
As 45 seconds had finally passed, Sasuke's Susanoo shattered into thousands of pieces much like glass china upon hitting the ground. No longer having something to propel him in the air, the young Uchiha was left free-falling down to the water beneath him. Naruto, of course, wasn't going to let an opportunity like this like this slip out of his fingers. He flew towards Sasuke preparing to end the battle in one fell swoop. Nine tailed beast or not, without the Susanoo or a chakra shroud protecting him, his real body was very much vulnerable to attacks.
Approaching the Uchiha warrior, Naruto noticed that Sasuke's hands were stretched out in a pose he had seen in a battle weeks ago. Cautious, the leaf ninja stopped in his tracks mid-flight.
"Nine Gates of Hell: Almighty Push!", Sasuke exclaimed.
A ball of black flames unlike any ever seen before instantly surrounded Sasuke, only to rapidly expand at speeds rivaling Naruto's. The leaf ninja responded by quickly jetting backwards at the blurring speeds he had used to destroy Sasukes Susanoo. It wasn't until he was over a thousand feet out of Sasuke's range that the black flames had vanished.
"I can't believe Sasuke's been hiding a jutsu like that.", Naruto thought, rubbing away the sweat that had accumulated on his face.
"It looks like he found a way to combine his Amaterasu with Nagato's almighty push. The air pressure appears to multiply the strength and speed of the flames", Kurama surmised.
"Sasuke always has something up his sleeve. Especially now, I can't underestimate him for even a second."
"By the way, how did you destroy all of Sasuke's Susanoo's?"
"For the first 20 minutes of the fight, I had all of my shadow clones study Sasuke's every move. Every time he used the Susano'o, whether he attacked or was attacked, the clones noticed a slight flicker in his eyes. When the observations of all 100,000 clones came back to me, I realized the Susanoo's weakness: Everything it does requires concentration; the more the Susannoo is doing, the more concentration it needs."
"I see. So you broke his concentration using your new technique to overwhelm him. That's also probably the reason he wasn't able to notice the shadow clone you created"
"Yeah, but that pain in my chest is back and it's a million times worse than last time and its getting harder to breathe."
"You can't let Sasuke notice anything. One mistake and the plan will fall apart."
"I know . . ."
Sasuke was now standing atop the water at the valley's depths. He looked up at Naruto with disdain in his eyes.
"Damn you, Naruto. I had hoped not to have to rely on the rinnegan too much during this fight. I still haven't had enough time to experiment with it and its limitations are too debilitating for my taste."
Naruto dropped down to the water Sasuke was standing on, but stood outside the range of Sasuke's technique. He once more took on the sprinting stance he was previously in before using his new technique. "Omni Style: Yellow Flash!"
The blond haired leaf ninja once again disappeared and the water beneath looked as if a large rock had been hurled into it. At the same time, Sasuke released his new jutsu, with black flames yet again pouring around him on all sides. Naruto jetted himself into the air precisely outside the range of the black flames, then instantly launched himself back down, heading towards the rogue ninja.
However, the young jinchuriki was startled as another sea of black flames came hurling towards him mid-flight. He once again jetted himself out of range, but barely.
"Not this time, Naruto", Sasuke thought, observing the yellow blur before him with his mangekyou sharigan. "You gave me far too much time to get used to your movement patterns while using that jutsu. And in feeling the need to use shadow clone to avoid getting hit by my Totsuka blade, you've confirmed that you don't have full control over yourself in that state. That'll be your undoing."
"His time lag is nothing like Nagato's; it's much smaller", Naruto thought, continuing the dance, moving at all times while barely slipping out of Sasuke's radius with each blast.
"I can keep this up for hours if I want. Can you, Naruto?" Sasuke thought, continuing to fan his flames at a rapid pace, showing no sign of exhaustion.
After five minutes of this routine, the yellow blur slowly began to ease itself closer while avoiding each passing flame. It hopped in an out of the rogue's range at every passing nanosecond.
"The time lag may be almost unnoticeable, but I'm gotten the hang of it. Just a little closer."
Finally, Naruto was but one hop away from striking Sasuke before his almighty push could activate. As the yellow blur was about to pounce, a sea of Amaterasu flames burst out from Sasuke's vicinity much faster than any of the previous bursts.
"Just by pouring more chakra into my fingertips, the speed and power of my Nine Gates of Hell can reach even greater heights at the cost of a longer recharge time. You were a fool to think you could get this close without me allowing it to happen."
The omnidirectional flames hastily approached the yellow blur. "Damnit. No choice!"
Suddenly, the intensity of the yellow blur in Sasuke's sights magnified and it quickly zipped outside of Sasuke's range at speeds faster than any it had previously shown. It then instantly fired itself at the Uchiha warrior, smashing into him head on and sending his body flying like a ragdoll far up into the air and right into the face of the Madara monument.
Naruto's body immediately came to a halt. The leaf ninja stood firmly on the water surrounding him, breathing heavily while clutching his chest with an excruciating expression on his face.
Sasuke found himself a bit dazed and quickly realized that he was laying in the remains of the partially crumbled Madara statue; like the Hashirama head, the Madara head crumbled into pieces upon impact. Fortunately for him, he had managed to cushion himself from Naruto's attack with pieces of the Susanoo shielding his body, much like he had done in his battle against the Raikage.
"This doesn't make sense!", Sasuke snarled. "If he could increase his speed like that at will, why did he use a shadow clone to avoid being impaled by my Susanoo earlier? Was he just toying with me? Maybe I could just bait him with meteorites again. No. That last attack of his was too close. I can't afford to keep making assumptions about his ability. I've got no choice but to rely on my last resort."
Still reeling in pain, Naruto glared up at the remains of the Madara statue's head.. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised he'd be able make me resort to that. This is Sasuke after all."
"Naruto!", Kurama growled. "Stand up straight and keep your composure. If Sasuke sees you as you are, then everything leading up to this moment was for nothing."
Naruto nodded his head and stood perfectly still with hands at his side, doing his best to ignore the tremendous pain he was feeling in his chest.
Just then, Sasuke's Susanoo appeared at the top of the partially destroyed Madara statue. The humanoid chakra construct then spread out its wings and flew high up into the air. Naruto observed his adversary carefully, making sure not to reveal his current physical condition.
"I have to give you credit, Naruto. When I planned out the details of this battle yesterday, I didn't think there was remotely any real chance that you would end up pushing me this far" the rogue ninja bluntly remarked from up-high.
"Really? Then you're gonna be in for the shock of your life when I'm dragging your ass back to the hidden leaf village!"
"All jokes aside, I welcome you to dodge this next attack . . . if you can. But even if I miss you, everything in the land of fire, including the hidden leaf village, will be vaporized right down to the bedrock on which it stands."
"You said you wanted to protect everybody.", Naruto snarled. "What you're doing is just mass-murder."
"I told you, didn't I? To truly protect the leaf village and the world, you must be willing to destroy them. If I have to destroy a country to destroy the one obstacle standing in the way of world peace, I will not hesitate to do so. This land's departure will mark the beginning of new generation free from the never-ending shackles of the accursed shinobi system."
With that, a longbow and arrow composed of pure chakra materialized in the Susanoo's hands and it aimed its' weapon squarely at the young jinchuriki. The arrow itself became enveloped in lightning, red in color. Meanwhile, streams of chakra from all nine tailed beast could physically been seen violently pouring into the Susanoo's arrow.
Naruto held out the palm of his right hand and glared attentively at it, only for his rasengan to manifest itself.
"You must've lost more chakra than I thought if an ordinary rasengan is all you've got to threaten me with", the sharingan wielder noted.
"Let's just see about that", Naruto retorted.
"It doesn't matter what you've got planned, Naruto. You've lost well over 90% of your chakra throughout this fight and I'm certain you've realized why it'd be foolish to try and have your tailed beast gather more chakra for you. Meanwhile, I have the power of all nine tailed beast at my disposal. My chakra reserves are far beyond yours. And now, I'll use every ounce of them to crush you and everyone in this country. But you could've won. Or rather, you might've been able to change the outcome of this battle. If it were Itachi I were facing, he would've respected the hopelessness of this situation and used your new-found speed to escape the land of fire and then return after I've decimated it. At that point, I'll have very little chakra left, much less enough to continue siphoning chakra from the tailed beasts; I would have no way to contend with him. But you won't do that. No. Like you, he loved the world too, but was prepared to make sacrifices when necessary for the greater good. You're nothing like Itachi; you're weak. You'd rather die trying than live on with even one failure. You did well to get this far, but this is the end for you."
Five chakra shrouded arms then emerged from the young jinchuriki's back. Each of the hands appeared to be enveloped with a different element: Fire, Water, Wind, Lightning and Earth. All five arms latched themselves around Naruto's right hand, forming an air tight barrier. The blond haired leaf ninja gritted his teeth in response to some apparent discomfort, but disregarded the sensation he was experiencing.
The chakra arms released themselves from Naruto's right hand and dissipated afterwards. The leaf ninja's hand was soaked with blood. What remained of the rasengan itself was not the rasengan, but rather a sphere of blue chakra at least ten times larger. It also had throwing star like-blades, much like the rasen-shuriken. However, unlike any other technique the young jinchuriki had showcased, this technique appeared to have two layers on the energy. On the outside layer and on the shuriken like spikes, there was a clear blue mass of chakra. However, on the inner layer there was a separate unsettling swirling black mass of chakra.
Sasuke looked down at his adversary as he prepared to fire at him. "It's as if time and space itself are fluctuating around him."
"Alright, I'm only going to get one shot at this.", Naruto thought, preparing to engage his rival yet again.
Sasuke's Susanoo drew its red lightning arrow as far back as its chakra longbow would allow, only to release it completely. "INDRA'S ARROW!"
Naruto hurled the orb of chakra in his hand with all of his might. "OMNI STYLE: RASENSHURIKEN!"
Both attacks were fiercely sent flying at each other, only to violently clash within the blink of an eye. The instant the two techniques slammed into each other, sparks flew throughout the valley, the ground had begun shaking. Then, without pause, a thick blinding bright light enveloped everything in the valley.
. . .
End of Chapter
Author's Note:
(1) I included more techniques not seen in the manga. This is to illustrate techniques Sasuke and Naruto may have been able to create with more time to study their new powers. The "omni release" is something I made up entirely, but has a specific function storywise, so don't think I'm just throwing things in here, hahaha. Also, during Naruto's earliest appearances during the war, he had the ability to move even faster than the raikage. However, as the war progressed, he somehow forgot he had the ability to move this fast. I've decided to address this by providing a reason he stopped using this new speed. Alas, you'll have to wait for a full explanation!
(2) Sasuke is fairly powerful. As one reviewer noted, this is a fight Naruto logically doesn't stand the chance. Nonetheless, he can win and that's all I'll say for now!
(3) Lots of constructive criticisms. Appreciate those. I'd like to keep this story as close to the canon as possible. I've addressed some of them by posting in the review section, but I will cease doing that from this point out.
Regarding the Infinite Tsukiyomi (IT): I reread all the chapters from Kaguya's debut appearance up to chapter 700 and there is no indication whatsoever that everyone in the IT is in immediate peril, just that they would eventually be siphoned of their chakra. You'll notice that no one objects to Naruto and Sasuke running off to who knows where to fight in light of the possibility that people inside the IT will be immediately turned into white zetsus. I have difficulty believing it was of concern. You'll notice that Sasuke and Naruto do not break the seal until after they are healed by Sakura, which is on the following day. If they have the time and convenience to wait for Kakashi and Sakura to not only come find them, but heal them as well, then I'd say Kishi didn't think time was of the essence.
Of course, there's also something else to consider. Kaguya had already been sealed anyway. She was needed as a catalyst for the jutsu to work in the first place. Who is to say that it is still siphoning chakra without her being present? I doubt it, especially given the points above. As such, I think my liberties here are excusable. Truth is, this wasn't something Kishi fleshed out enough to be rigorously discussed in the first place, but that's just my two cents! :P
Regarding alleged OOC interactions and plot holes:
Sasuke is too evil: No more than 80 chapters ago, Kishi had Sasuke planning to kill the entire leaf village. The only difference now and then is that he wants to murder the five kages. Perhaps one considered him sadistic and ludicrous for hundreds of chapters of now, but I'm writing him in accordance to canon. I'm not overlooking past developments in the character, whether I agree with them or not. Sasuke's goals may have changed, but his willingness to murder and otherwise resort to acts of sadism has not. He will do whatever it takes to get results. At one point, he was even willing to let Orochimaru take his body in order to secure his revenge against Itachi. This is simply who he is and the reason he had to be "pardoned" from his crimes in the original.
Naruto eating ramen at a time like this: I think one might've taken issue with Naruto throughout the entirety of the manga if they are frustrated about this. This is a guy who has always eaten soup with his friends while the world is in danger. During the Zabuza arc, he was acting like a knucklehead even though the group was being pursued by a dangerous assassin. During the Chuunin exam arc, he was behaving like a knucklehead even while in the forest of the death. While on the battlefield during the 4th Great Shinobi War, he was making knucklehead comments around Sasuke and Sakura like the "good old days." Naruto has the capacity to recognize the seriousness of a situation, but even in times of peril, unless he's in the middle of a fight or he's just been given terrible news, he is still Naruto. This is simply who the character is and I'm committed to keeping him in character. Besides, I even went on to provide a reason for him "eating soup with his buds"; he doesn't know whether he's going to win the fight with Sasuke, so he's enjoying his final moments with his friends just in case he fails. I think that's perfectly reasonable on the character's part.
Sakura's "identity crisis": Sakura has had personal issues throughout the entire manga and has even contended with them while on the battlefield. In the actual manga, you have Sakura worrying about Sasuke's rude comments while they're in the middle of fighting Madara. That's part of her character. Perhaps one would take issue with the character entirely. I can't say. What I will say is that people don't just magically reach a point where they no longer have personal problems. I don't ever envision there being a point like that for Naruto or Sakura, which is why they can simply turn to the other for support when they've stumbled. Heaven and earth, people! ;)
What the heck was Sasuke doing the last 24 hours: I had the kyuubi answer this exact question in the first chapter. He was gaining better control over his abilities, hence the new techniques he has access to. Even during the actual fight in the original manga, lack of control was a reason posited for why he couldn't get the better of Naruto (recall the end when he absords Naruto's chakra).
Why the heck is Sasuke talking about Neji/Lee/etc: I covered this in the chapter and will go into additional detail about it in a later chapter, but it's a matter of him and Naruto having opposing beliefs and will play a role in getting him to change his beliefs. Simultaneously, it's an effort to bring things full circle. Don't worry. I've got it covered! ;)
Why are Naruto and Sasuke so powerful? I thought you wanted to make this a fight between two ninjas rather than a fight between Goku and Vegeta: I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on the nature of the fight. It's a fight between two ninja, but I can't ignore the new powers Kishi has given the two characters. Sorry. Besides, I'd like to think the layer of strategy I've offered here makes up for the lack of strategy in the original version of this bout.
Naruto holding back against Sasuke? That's weird! And Naruto ain't gonna listen to anyone trying to talk him out of saving Sasuke: I don't think Naruto holding back against Sasuke is weird. Naruto was trying to bring Sasuke back to the village; Sasuke was trying to kill him. And yeah, Naruto won't listen, which is why he left the room in the chapter.
Wasn't Sasuke going to murder the kage while they were trapped in the dream: Same thing preventing Sasuke from attacking Konoha rather than "killing Naruto first" as he promised during the Team 7 reunion. Nothing. That said, Sasuke sees Naruto as the only threat to his plans. Taking him out takes first priority, which is why he doesn't mind using 24 hours to prepare for him as opposed to doubling back and killing the kages. Once Naruto's dead, there's nothing stopping him from doing anything, much less killing the kages At the end of the day, he'd have to face Naruto or later. May as well get it out of the way as opposed to an inopportune time (i.e ambush).
(4) I had addressed a couple of reviews in an edit of chapter 3 and made one small tweak to the chapter itself last week!
(5) Thanks for all the kind comments! They mean a lot and motivate me to get these chapters out faster!
As always, thanks for the reviews and tune in next time!