Disclaimer:
This fic uses characters, places, themes
from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these
franchises. Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto makes its debut in this
chapter.
Special Thanks to:
Charles Xavier,
author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime
and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Suikosource website: For providing
great information that made this fic possible.
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The Anime Margin: War of the Runes
By: RB3
Old Friends, part 3: Fertility and Barrenness
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Having captured another Rune, Sakura's group returned it to the safety of the vault in Crystal Valley. Thanks to the efforts of the Cardcaptors, the vault was beginning to fill up once again with orbs sealing its escaped prisoners. After Sakura left the palace, she chanced upon Yoshino Fujieda, talking to two other boys. The first was brown-haired with a fiery disposition and an orange baby dinosaur for a partner. The other was part Caucasian and had a blue-furred wolf partner.
"Hi Yoshino, who's that?" asked Sakura.
"Oh hi, this is Marcus Daimon, Agumon, Thomas Norstein, and Gaomon," listed Yoshino. "Everybody, meet Sakura."
"Hi," said Agumon.
"Nice to see you," said Marcus.
"Pleased to meet you too," said Thomas.
"Yep, nice to meet you," said Gaomon.
"Hello everybody," said Sakura.
"We're going to be working together, so please get to know each other," said Lalamon.
"Sure, we could always use more help," remarked Sakura.
"I'm all fired up now. I want to see some action," said Marcus.
"You and me both boss! It will be nice to fight something other than Digimon for once," remarked Agumon
"Well, you'll get your wish soon," said Kero. "We're going to see Master Reed about new Runes. If he has detected any, we'll be moving out."
As Sakura continued on her way, she happened to bump into Clow Reed on his way out of the artefacts tent. "Hi Sakura," said Reed. "You're just the one I've been looking for."
"Yeah, I was going to ask if you found any new Runes?" asked Sakura.
"Yep," replied Reed. "Do you remember those ninja who were helping us in the Omnipotence War?"
"Yeah, a little," replied Sakura.
"That should help. The next Rune is somewhere in their home world. See if you can get some help from the Hokage of the Leaf Village."
At the border of the Grass and Earth Countries was a mountain of grey granite. At the base of this mountain was a long, vast plain filled with verdant grass. The land was beautiful and calm and then it struck. A rumbling shook the land to its very foundation. Rocks tumbled from the mountain and crashed below. The rumbling became such furious shaking that it could be felt for miles around. A symbol, drawn in magical brown light, appeared. It resembled a mass of rocks.
However, several villages near the Grass-Earth Country border felt this unusual earthquake through the use of Chakra-based techniques. They could feel the raw, primal power of the Earth Rune emanating forth from the mountain. Seeking this power, all of the Ninja villages began dispatching ninja to that location to learn more about the situation. Being the closest to the Rune itself, the Grass Village's ninja reached it first.
Their ninja came across the great mountain with the mighty Earth Rune emblazoned on its side. In the Rune's presence, they could feel its primordial strength permeating the land and the air. After a cursory scouting, two of the four member Grass team left to bring back up. More Grass ninja entered the scene and secured the area. The country began construction of a small lookout station in order to keep watch over this unknown, mystical phenomenon.
Elsewhere, a bespectacled ninja travelled down the corridors of an underground safe house. The walls were earthen and lit only by the light of torches placed at key points throughout the compound. He entered a door to report to his master. Inside the room was a single man with pale white skin, almost like an albino. He had long unkempt hair and eyes which were slitted like that of a snake's. This master cast a sinister, intimidating aura, as though he was not human.
"Lord Orochimaru, there has been an incident in the Grass County," reported this messenger, Kabuto.
"Oh really? Do tell," said Orochimaru.
"The Grass Village's Jonin have discovered a strange emblem on one of the mountains by the Grass-Earth Country border. It gives off a great supernatural power. The Grass Village intends to harness this emblem's power to take its place among the Great Villages."
"I see, do the other villages know about this symbol?" asked Orochimaru.
"Indeed," replied Kabuto. "Each village is making moves to take it for themselves; the Rock Village, the Sand Village... Even villages as far away as the Cloud are moving as well as your old village, the Leaf."
"What of the Rain Village?" asked Orochimaru.
"They are moving out as well," said Kabuto. "There have been a few altercations with the Rain Ninja in the Grass Country."
"So that organisation wants to get its hands on it too," remarked Orochimaru. "Well, we can't have that now, can we?"
So, the struggle for the Earth Rune began. As word of the Rune's existence spread, each village intensified efforts to acquire it. Being the country which held the mountain, the Grass Country became the battlefield on which it and the other countries would fight for the Rune. All throughout the Grass country, ninja from other villages started to infiltrate the area.
Eventually, such investigations led to the various ninja groups coming into conflict. A Sand Village squad bumped into a Rain Village squad near the Grass-Rain border. The ninja hurled shuriken and kunai at each other, each projectile colliding with the other midair or missing. A male Sand Ninja fired off hand signs and produced a whooshing tornado. The whirling winds scooped up loose dirt and grass, eventually doing the same to an enemy ninja and hurling him to the air.
A female Rain ninja fired off her own set of hand signs. The jutsu conjured a massive wall of water which washed over the enemy team and flattened them. A Sand Ninja pounced on her with kunai drawn. The kunoichi parried with one of her own, clanging the weapons together. Another Sand ninja hurled more shuriken, missing with several before grazing his Rain ninja target.
As the skirmishes took place, chaos descended into the wilderness of the Grass Country. Despite the heightened alert status, it was impossible for the Grass Village to keep all these foreign ninja out of their country. The Sound Village, Orochimaru's personal army, felled a trio of guards at the lookout station near the Rune's mountain. Orochimaru himself unleashed snakes from his mouth which bit and injected a lethal dose of poison into a Grass ninja.
"Here it is!" cried one of the Sound ninja.
Orochimaru followed the call to the Rune, which glowed with primordial strength on the mountain side. "What power!" he remarked, with a smile of smug satisfaction. "Not even I could fathom the kinds of jutsu I can create with this! Seal the Rune immediately!"
The Sound ninja opened a scroll before the Rune. On this piece of paper was a circular symbol, written in ink, with five wavy prongs. This symbol channelled the Chakra put into it, circling it around to form a seal. The ninja fired off a series of hand signs which caused the Rune to peel off and become drawn to the centre. However, the Rune started to resist, halting itself from being pulled in. The ninja grew concerned by this uncharacteristic resistance.
"Hurry up! What's taking so long?" asked Orochimaru.
"The Rune is resisting our sealing jutsu!" reported the ninja.
The Rune snapped back onto the mountain and rose higher along its side. The ground shook violently, as though the Rune was enraged by that sealing attempt. The mountain grew a set of stony arms and roared in fury. It shook the ground with enough for to make several ninja tumble to the floor. The mountain dropped a hammer fist on Orochimaru and Kabuto, who narrowly leapt away to escape.
The mountain turned to other ninja, who were unlucky enough to be flattened by the second hammer fist. The Earth Rune suddenly swung back at Orochimaru, blasting him into the air. "Lord..." attempted Kabuto, before receiving the same treatment.
The Earth Rune, infuriated by the attempt to imprison it, roared as though crying out for blood. It formed fists and smashed the ground as hard as it could. The earth shook from its eternal might and cracked open for miles ahead. Several unlucky Sound ninja fell in, while others struggled to avoid a similar fate. With their focus wholly on survival, they were unable to stop the Rune as it lumbered away.
The enraged Earth Rune stampeded across the country side, destroying everything in its path. By simply passing through, it flattened entire sections of a forest as though the trees were like blades of grass. With every step it took, the ground shuddered violently. It approached a nameless Grass country farming village, stirring panic from the denizens. As the Earth Rune entered its limits, it crushed a small home like a mere child's toy.
At the Grass Village, the situation did not escape the notice of its ruling council. "We have to stop that thing!" demanded one of the elder ninja in an emergency meeting. "If it gets to our village, there won't be anything left of it!"
Indeed, the Grass Village recalled every ninja they could muster and assembled an army to confront the Rune. Even with hundreds and thousands of ninja, they were but flies to it. Kunai bounced off of the monstrosity, useless against the rock even with exploding tags going off. In combinations, Grass ninja blasted it with elemental attacks ranging from fire to lightning, but to no avail either.
The Rune slammed the ground knocking nearly all of them down. It raised stone spikes from the ground, skewering many more. When the destruction was over, the entire village had been flattened. This village, built up over generations, was destroyed in but a few minutes. Satisfied with the destruction it had wrought, the Rune continued on its way.
It continued on south-westward to the Rain Country, where it left more destruction in its wake. Although it never went to the Rain's Hidden Village, the Earth Rune veered towards another, the Sand Village. Ninja from the Sand and Fire Countries, as part of an alliance, banded together to stop the Rune before it razed the Sand Village to the ground.
The ninja of the Sand and Leaf villages waited tensely at the front line just outside of the Sand Village. Among these ninja were three Sand ninja known as the Sand Trio. The first was Gaara, a red-headed boy who carried a sandstone gourd on his back. The second, Kankuro, carried his puppet, Crow, wrapped in bandages on his back. The last, the female of their team, was Temari, who carried a giant folded fan on her back.
"So what is this thing we're going to fight?" asked Kankuro.
"Didn't you listen to the briefing? Baki told us that that thing is a mountain," scolded Temari.
"Duh, I heard that!" replied Kankuro. "What I mean is how can a mountain move all the way from the Grass Country to attack the Sand Village, let alone attack several villages on the way?"
"There's some kind of supernatural emblem on it that's animating it," replied Temari. "Whatever power it produces, it is NOT Chakra. It is something far older and more powerful."
The Sand and Leaf ninja line could feel the ground starting to tremble, heralding the arrival of the Earth Rune. The ninja perked up, ready to fight. The ground's shaking intensified, but the ninja kept their composure. The Earth Rune's mountain became visible as it crested a dune of sand. Once in range, several ninja began launching exploding kunai at the mountain. The small knives were but harmless pin pricks and the explosions more like firecrackers.
"Take this," said Gaara.
A mass of sand trailed out of Gaara's gourd like wisps of dust. As though with a mind of its own, it lashed out and grabbed the side of the mountain. Since the target was so abnormally huge, Gaara was only able to hold onto a small portion of it. He clenched his outstretched hand to crush the rock. The sand tore off and crushed a mass of stone, but it was a drop of water compared to an ocean.
Suddenly, the sand began moving in a way Gaara had not expected. It was drawn to the mountain, as though being pulled in. An invisible force started to pack the sand on the crushed area. "Gaara, pull back your sand!" cried Temari. "Hurry!"
Gaara heeded his sister's advice without hesitation, pulling his sand back to his gourd. However, a portion of it had been assimilated into the mountain, to reform the part which he had destroyed. "That thing is absorbing the sand and rocks to repair its body. If we use earth-style jutsu, we'd only be feeding it," observed Kankuro.
"If we can't use earth, then let's use wind!" said Temari.
She swung her fan, blowing a massive hurricane-force wind upon it. The winds formed nearly invisible blades of Chakra which slashed the side of the mountain, tearing off chunks of rock. However, the Earth Rune constantly retrieved sand and rocks from the area, reforming its mountain as quickly as it was lost. In a rage, the Earth Rune hurled boulders at the Sand Trio.
The trio scattered and avoided being flattened. Kakuro's puppet, Crow, stabbed away at the mountain tirelessly, but to no avail. Its poisoned needles and stabbing weapons were of little use against lifeless stone. "Crow's not going to work against it either," remarked Kankuro.
The Earth Rune slapped several Sand ninja away with a single massive swipe. "He's breaking through!" cried one Sand ninja before being swatted away.
Another had been punched away from a Sand commander. "It's going to reach the village!" he told a messenger.
The messenger vanished away to deliver the message. The Sand and Leaf ninja casualties piled up. Everywhere, Sand ninja and their Leaf allies were sprawled on the ground. Several were dead and many more were incapacitated by wounds. The medical ninja were swamped, trying to keep up with the injured and death toll. The massed army was no match for the might of a Rune's full power unleashed.
A ninja with a partially covered face appeared next to the Sand Trio. "I have a mission for you three," said the ninja. "You must go to the Leaf Village and warn them of what has happened here and help them defend their village should the monster go for them."
"...But Baki-sensei!" said Kankuro.
"We have to face it. Our last line of defence has fallen. The Earth Rune will reach our village and destroy it. The only thing we can do now is salvage what we can," admitted Baki.
"Very well," agreed Gaara.
"Don't die on us, sensei," said Temari.
"Heh, don't worry, I'm not easy to take down," said Baki. "Now, go warn the Leaf Village."
The Sand Trio departed from the battlefield for the Leaf Village. They made haste to the home of their allies, passing through the vast deserts of their home country. Some distance away, they looked back and saw a cloud of sand and dust rise from the direction of their village. Having no choice, they pressed onward to warn the Leaf Village about the fate of their Hidden Village.
In the meantime, Sakura and her friends approached the entrance to the Leaf Village. "So this is a ninja village?" asked Marcus.
"Yep," said Kero. "I've never been to the Leaf Village before, but the ninja who fought with us came from here."
The group walked down the main road which passed the front gate. From the sheer size of the Leaf Village, it was more like a city than a village. The buildings were wood and plaster, with roofs having shingled planks which hung over the sides. In the distance was a monument like Mount Rushmore. The faces of Hokage gone by were carved onto a mountain as tribute to their tenures. There were five faces in all, with the rightmost one being the newest Hokage and the only woman.
Sakura stopped a random ninja, a boy with a mop hair cut and bushy eyebrows. He wore an unusual green jumpsuit. "Hello, can you direct us to the leader of this village? This is an urgent matter."
"You must want to speak to the Hokage," said the ninja.
A second ninja, a pink-haired girl in a red Chinese dress, came across the group. The first ninja noticed her. "Hi Sakura!"
"Nice to see you too, Lee," said the girl, Sakura Haruno. Sakura the kunoichi noticed Sakura Avalon's group. "Hey, I remember you! Didn't we fight in the Omnipotence War?"
"Yeah, Sakura Haruno, right?" asked Hikaru.
"Uh huh," replied the pink-haired ninja. "What brings you here?"
"Trouble," remarked Kero.
Kero told Sakura Haruno about their adventure to retrieve the Runes. "You should talk to Lady Hokage. We have been hearing many stories about something like what you describe. I'm going to her office right now. It's just down this road. You can't miss it."
At that moment, the Sand Trio entered the scene. Gaara recognized Rock Lee and Sakura Haruno and gestured to his siblings. "The Sand ninja are here," remarked Sakura Haruno.
"We need to speak the Hokage immediately," announced Temari.
"Yes, she's just down this road," informed Sakura Haruno. "Everyone just follow us."
She led the Sand ninja and the other Sakura's group to the office of Leaf Village's Fifth Hokage, Tsunade. They met her assistant, Shizune, who directed the Sand ninja and Sakura Avalon to the Hokage's office. At the desk was a woman in a green overcoat . She had blonde hair tied back into a pony tail and was quite young for someone with such a senior position. Everyone tried to speak at once, but their combined voices made it impossible to understand what they were saying.
She slammed her fist on the desk. "One at a time!" She reclined in her chair and sighed. "Sand ninja, you start first."
"The mountain has broken through our lines," reported Kankuro. "By now, it has levelled the Sand Village. It is likely that the mountain will come to this village within a few days as retaliation against your ninja. We have been ordered to help in the defence."
"So, our village is next," remarked Tsunade pensively. "This isn't good. Thank you for the report and your assistance. If we get through this alive, please thank the Sand Village for their cooperation. Now for the rest of you..."
Sakura the Cardcaptor told Tsunade about the Runes. "We think one of these Runes might be responsible for that rampaging mountain," said Kero.
"I see," remarked Tsunade. "If you've been capturing Runes, you must be properly equipped to do so."
"Yeah," replied Madison. "We have special capsules that can trap the Rune, but only myself, Sakura, and Kero can use them. We need to weaken it first."
"Of course," said Tsunade. "In that case, we the Leaf Ninja will delay the Rune as long as possible so you can trap it."
A ninja messenger appeared in a puff of smoke. "Lady Tsunade, our scouts have spotted the mountain entering the neutral lands between the Wind Country and the Fire Country. At its current speed, it will reach our country's southwest border tomorrow morning."
"Very well, mobilize our forces to form two lines; one outside the Leaf Village and the other near the border. Have all the villages in the mountain's path evacuated immediately."
With Tsunade's orders, the Leaf Village mobilized to prepare for the juggernaut that was the Earth Rune. In villages along the border and beyond, people packed up their belongings and filed out to safety. The Earth Rune's mountain loomed in the distance. Its arrival in the Fire Country was inevitable. Sakura Avalon and her team rushed to the border to launch a first strike, hoping to end the battle before it even started.
As they approached, the mountain towered over them like a massive monolith to the power of earth. The Rune God Terrasque rammed into it mountain like a stampeding elephant. His initial strike put a massive crack into the mountain side. Rayearth, Selece, and Windam bombarded the mountain with spells of flame, ice, and wind. The attacks widened the crack further, until the stone stopped cracking and began to reseal.
"He's recovering!" observed Fuu.
"Kero, go for the Rune. We'll keep him busy," said Yoshino.
Lilamon, Yoshino, and Madison combined powers to conjure the largest and longest vines they could muster through the Powers of Nature and the Clow. These massive vines wrapped around the mountain's base and squeezed tightly with the audible crunching of tension. They slowed down the mountain noticeably. Rise Greymon and Sakura pelted the mountain with cannon fire and the Boom Card, blowing off chunks from it.
Using these distractions, Kero snuck into place and activated the capsule. The Earth Rune became visible on the mountain side, as though being sucked in by a vacuum cleaner. However, the Rune held on for dear life, despite part of it having been peeled off. A stream of rocks lashed at Kero, knocking him out of place. He dropped the capsule, which Marcus caught just before it hit the ground.
Sakura caught Kero, saving him from a crash landing onto the ground. "Are you okay Kero?" asked Sakura as she slinked into a portal opened with the Through card.
"Yeah, I'll be alright," he replied upon reappearing in a safer location.
Madison popped up nearby just seconds later. "That was no good. The moment I went for the Rune, it came after me," said Kero.
"Yeah, and you only made it angrier," remarked Madison.
A Leaf scout watched as the Rune slapped Rise Greymon into the ground. With the Cardcaptors' team down, the Rune continued for the Leaf Village. "Our allies have failed. Get ready," he told his superior on returning.
"Very well," said the Leaf commander. "Prepare our army."
When the Earth Rune reached the abandoned villages, it flattened the houses like cardboard. These homes, which housed generations of farmers, were destroyed in seconds with an uncaring ease. The Earth Rune approached the Leaf's first line. The Leaf ninja opened the fight by hurling exploding kunai and long range jutsu at it. Blasts of exhaled fire and explosions charred the rocky face of the mountain.
The Earth Rune hurled boulders at the ninja, forcing them to flee or be crushed. One of the ninja, a man with spiky grey hair, removed his headband to unveil a red eye with circling commas. The ninja held down his arm and brought Chakra to bear, forming it into a powerful mass of dancing electricity. The ninja watched as other ninja unsuccessfully scaled the mountain and attack it.
His buddy, an older version of Rock Lee, was somewhat perturbed by this development. "You're going to use that already?" asked the ninja, Gai.
"We don't have any choice," said the first ninja, Kakashi. "We have to pull out all the stops."
"I'll cover for you," said Gai, flashing a smile and a flashing thumbs-up as a guarantee.
Gai charged at the mountain and unleashed a barrage of kicks and punches. They seemed to have some effect because the Earth Rune started lashing rocks at him. Gai leapt over the first and the second of the rocks as they came. With a mighty kick, Gai shattered a third to rubble before a tendril of rocks grabbed his foot and whipped him in circles like a rag doll.
The Earth Rune released him like an Olympic athlete doing a hammer throw. "Now Kakashi!" cried Gai, sailing through the air and hitting the dirt some distance away.
Kakashi dashed up the mountain's exposed side and plunged that jutsu, the Chidori, into the surface. The sheer power of this attack bored a deep hole right through the mountain, dealing significant damage. Kakashi used every drop of power he could to drive the jutsu in as deep as he could. Eventually, the Earth Rune retaliated, lashing at him like with Gai and knocking him off of its side. Fortunately, Gai recovered in time to catch him and land both of them to safety.
The Earth Rune proved too much for even the Leaf ninja to handle. It broke through their line, flattening hundreds of ninja in its wake. Too disorganized and scattered to follow, the Leaf's line had to retreat to regroup and recover casualties. The Earth Rune continued on its way, tearing up everything in its path. It soon came within visual range of the second Leaf line.
One ninja was shocked to see the true identity of his enemy. "Whoa! Is that what we're up against? What a drag!" remarked the ninja, Shikamaru. "If the other villages couldn't stop it, how can we?"
"Yes, our enemy is a powerful one, but we must persevere," said Rock Lee.
"Can we even beat something like that?" asked a shy kunoichi named Hinata. "Like Shikamaru said, how can be we beast something that took down two other ninja villages so easily?"
"Ah, but we will succeed where the others have failed," said Rock Lee. "We have the power of youth on our side!"
"Well, whatever power you have, I hope it's enough to take on that thing," remarked Neji, yet another ninja. Veins popped up around Neji's eyes as he activated his clan's eye jutsu, the Byakugan. With these unique eyes active, he was able to see the mountain from such a far distance and even inside the mountain itself. "I can see the Rune inside the mountain, but I can't see any Chakra animating the mountain."
"I have heard that the Rune does not use Chakra like we do," informed Lee. "That is probably why you can't see any."
The Leaf's line clashed with the mountain. As the Leaf ninja fought, survivors from the first line closed in from behind, trapping the Earth Rune in a pincers formation. Trapped between two enemy groups, the Earth Rune was attacked from the back and the front. It lashed out with rocks and earthen fury wherever its enemies were. Rock Lee leapt up the side and began throwing kicks and punches at it.
As Sakura Avalon's team approached the battlefield, kunai and elemental jutsu were flying through the air. "They got the Rune surrounded. Let's try again," suggested Kero.
"Right!" said Yoshino.
Lilamon set Yoshino on the ground and continued on to confront the Earth Rune. She unleashed a shower of energy bolts which tore off sections of the mountain. Rise Greymon lobbed shots to support, blasting more rock off of the mountain. The Leaf ninja followed by sending elemental blasts at the Earth Rune. Of the three attackers, the Earth Rune decided to focus on the ninja, whipping a mass of rocks which floored them.
In the midst of these distractions, Kero used the capsule on the Rune. Like before, the capsule began dragging the Earth Rune out of the rock and peeling it off of the surface. "That little guy's trying to trap the Rune," shouted Neji. "Cover him until he's done!"
A Chinese kunoichi hopped onto the branches of a nearby tree. She hurled dozens and dozens of kunai, all of which had exploding tags. They exploded and ripped off massive chunks of rock. Neji and Rock Lee rushed in after the smoke cleared and pounded the mountain with punches and kicks. They climbed higher and struck higher points on the enemy's body.
The Earth Rune lashed out with stony spikes. Lee leapt away from one while Neji sidestepped another meant for him. The Rune shook its body, trying to throw them off. When that failed, it then dropped an avalanche on them. Despite their bad position, the two ninja managed to leap over the rocks. As they landed from a jump, more rocks fell down at them, but were intercepted and blasted by exploding kunai.
"Nice save, Tenten!" cried Rock Lee, batting a thumbs up. When they landed, the Earth Rune shook its body, successfully knocking both him and Neji off. They righted themselves in the air and landed on their feet. "Whoa, that was a close one!"
Again, Kero took advantage of the distractions to trap the Earth Rune. Again, it lashed out at him, hoping to end his attack. Fuu erected a barrier of wind around him, warding off rocks from him. The Earth Rune whipped out more rocks, which Rayearth blocked with its own body. "Arrgh... Don't worry about me. Keep going, Kero!" cried Hikaru as Rayearth crashed to the ground.
The Earth Rune lashed out at Kero, successfully slapping rocks into him which the broke spell. "No!" cried Sakura, catching her Kero. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay," said Kero.
However, the battle was not going well for the Leaf ninja. "The mountain is breaking through our line!" cried a random ninja. "It's going to reach the village!"
Alarmed by the desperation of their situation, the ninja stepped up the intensity of their attacks. Try as they might, the Earth Rune was unhindered in its advance. Neji spun in place, releasing bluish wisps of Chakra from his body. They pummelled the enemy's stony body, but didn't even faze it. A different group of ninja spewed roaring flames directly into the enemy's front, but it continued moving forward, despite the massive fireball.
The Earth Rune finally reached the Leaf Village's outer wall and smashed it as though it was cardboard. "It's reached the village! We have to stop it!" cried a random ninja.
The Earth Rune wasted no time in preying upon the Leaf Village. It triggered a mighty earthquake, violently rocking the buildings. Furniture and lamps tumbled onto the ground of vacant homes. The Rune hurled rocks at others, crushing them as flat as a pancake. More of the Rune's power rippled through the Leaf Village and the buildings shuddered at the wake of that force of nature.
"I'm going to try again," said Kero. "This time, you have to protect me, no matter what it takes!"
"Okay, we've got your back," said Marcus.
Rise Greymon flew to the mountain's top and blasted off chunks from the summit. Its attention diverted, the Rune retaliated with a shower of rocks. Rise Greymon shot them out of the air while dodging those he couldn't destroy in time. He fired again from a better position, igniting an explosion along the mountainside. The Rune hurled more rocks, yet was still unable to hit such an agile Digimon.
Kero used the capsule again, pulling the Rune to the surface of the rock. In retaliation, the Rune started to aim rocks at him. Sakura remained beside him and raised the Shield Card's protective barrier to defend him. It warded off the rocks, but strained the Cardcaptor heavily to maintain. Madison summoned the Earthy and used it to deflect rocks and take pressure off of her friend.
Terrasque charged into the mountain with tremendous force. It shuddered, becoming stunned momentarily. Kero's capsule began pulling in portions of the Rune, yet still it clung on for dear life. Yoshino and Lalamon grew vines from the ground and caught the mountain within them. Fuu conjured a whirlwind which further stalled the Rune's advance.
"It's weakening! I can feel it! Just a little more!" said Kero seeing the Rune peel off millimetre by millimetre. The Rune lobbed several rocks at Kero, but Mach Gaogamon appeared in front and deflected them. Then, the Rune finally snapped out of the mountain. The capsule swallowed it whole. "YEAH!"
Without the Rune to support it, the mountain crumbled under the stress it had been placed under. Rocks crumbled from up high and rolled down its side like an avalanche. The ninja jumped around frantically to avoid being flattened. The avalanche buried the ruined buildings of Leaf Village and but only light damage in areas beyond. Kero held the Rune up high for everyone to see. The ninja cheered upon realizing they had won.
When the situation calmed down, the Cardcaptors and allies met with Tsunade for a debriefing. "The sacrifices we made were great, but the Leaf's shinobi pulled through in the end. Well done. However, this attack by the Earth Rune has left our village, the Sand Village, and others in a perilous situation. The other countries will try to take advantage of our weakened state."
"I feel awful," said Sakura. "If we had known about this sooner, we could have prevented all of this."
"Maybe we can ask the Digital Nations for some relief efforts?" asked Madison.
"Yeah, I'm sure they would be glad to help," said Yoshino.
"Lady Tsunade, is it possible you can spare some ninja to help us against the other Runes?" asked Thomas. "If the other Runes are as tough as this one, we'll need all the help we can get."
"I thought it might come to this, so I prepared for this eventuality," admitted Tsunade. She turned to call someone among the scattered groups of ninja. "Shikamaru, come here." A lackadaisical ninja with black hair tied behind his head approached Tsunade. "This is Shikamaru Nara. He'll lead a squad of ninja to support your group. I'll let him introduce you to his team."
"Thank you, Lady Tsunade," said Madison.
Tsunade left to attend to some relief efforts for the citizens of Leaf Village. In the meantime, Shikamaru led the team to a set of three ninja he had chosen to join his squad. Since the Leaf Village had lost a lot of ninja to death and injury, the pickings were slim. He ultimately settled on an "all-star" team of ninja from each of the major genin squads of his age group. The first was Naruto Uzumaki, a familiar face.
"Whoa, it's you guys! It's great to see you!" said Naruto to Sakura, Madison, and Kero.
"So you're coming with us Naruto?" asked Madison.
"Yeah, believe it!" he replied. "I've been training hard with the Pervy Sage. I'm so ready for this."
"Welcome, great to have you on board," said Kero.
The second ninja was a shy girl with dark blue hair and white eyes. She was quite modestly dressed compared to other kunoichi in her parka-like jacket. When she saw that Naruto was part of her team, her jaw dropped. "That's Hinata Hyuga," introduced Naruto. "She's a bit weird and all, but she's a good ninja, believe it."
Hinata turned beat red. "Hmm, I think she took that as a compliment," remarked Yoshino.
Shikamaru led his group to the last member of his ninja team, the boy with the bowl haircut, green jumpsuit, and leg warmers. "This is Rock Lee, a taijutsu specialist."
"Hello everybody, it is nice to see you again. Whatever it is we're up against, we'll defeat it with the power of youth!" said Lee.
"I'm sure," said Sakura. "Now that everyone's been gathered, let's go back to Crystal Valley."
END OF CHAPTER
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SPOTLIGHT: Ninja Nations (Naruto)
Politics/Demographics:
The Ninja Nations are a group of states much like those from
Feudal Japan. Each state is run by a feudal lord, making the Ninja
Nations government a group of regional monarchies. The Ninja Nations
are mostly concerned with each other rather than foreign worlds. The
only people known to have had contact with the outside worlds are the
ninja of Leaf Village during the Omnipotence War.
Characters/VIPs:
The most important ninja from the Leaf Village is Tsunade. She is
one of the Sannin, three of the best ninja ever produced by the Leaf
Village. She is noted for her skill and knowledge of medical jutsu.
She was named the Fifth Hokage after the previous Hokage fell during
an invasion by the Sound and Sand Villages.
Powers:
The
Ninja Nations use a variant of ki known as "Chakra." Like
other forms of ki, this special power flows through special channels
in the body. Through hand signs, the ninja can mould Chakra to
produce a variety of useful effects. The ninja arts are comprised of
the fields of genjutsu, taijutsu, and ninjutsu. Genjutsu is the
creation of illusions. Taijutsu is martial arts and the optimization
of the ninja's body. Ninjutsu is a catch-all category of techniques
which include elemental manipulations.
Technology-wise, the Ninja Nations have very limited mass production and industrialization, most of it destroyed by countless wars between the various states. They are a post-industrial society with things such as television and radios, but interestingly, lack firearms.
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SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Earth Rune
Domain: Earth,
stability, fertility, fortitude
Duality: Fertility vs. Barrenness
Appearance: Brown, rock-like crystals jutting from the ground
Powers: Controls earth & stone
Description:
This
True Rune represents the fertility of the earth and its ability to
support those who live on it. Despite its benefits, the earth can be
one of the most destructive things imaginable. It wracks the world
with earthquakes, fissures, and avalanches, leaving nothing behind
but a barren wasteland. Various ninja attempted to enslave the Earth
Rune so in response, it lashed out at them, animating a mountain and
destroying everything in its path.
