(Chapter 9: Of Apes and Iron)
At the current moment in time the one word Naruto only had one word to describe his current situation right now that would be excitement considering that one thing was in mind in that he was fighting against the 4 tailed great ape. Since unlike the Sharingan controlled Yagura this would be a true test of skill and too see how far he's come since all those years ago when he first went against Roshi all those years ago as this was a now or never moment for the bounty hunter and this time he wouldn't fail like he did before.
(Rock Country, 9:45 Pm, November 28th 996 S.E)
At the current moment the night sky was lit with absinthe light from the massive torrent of flame the 4 tailed great ape breathed out at Naruto who quickly had to activate his Preta Path as he and his summon were soon engulfed in the searing flames that he began to absorb.
"Well this fight is gonna be all or nothing so now its time to bring on my damn A-game." Naruto said under his breath as the flames were soon absorbed
"Oh shit." Naruto thought as throughout the torrent of flame his summon had been dispersed from the heat
With that Naruto quickly had to use Bansho Tenin to pull himself away from Son Goku's monstrously sized fist that impacted where he once was like a meteor strike causing the solidified magma to shatter apart like a fragile windowpane as Naruto had to teleport quickly to avoid the debris. As despite Son Goku's incredible bulk he soon came after him punching in his general vicinity, as the result was a small amount of the treeline being decimated in the process with the 4 tailed great ape letting out a roar of excitement.
Naruto soon had to counter another Monkey Flame Arson with a high powered water jutsu that clashed briefly until it exploded as Naruto made a summon to get him out of there as the steam was so intense that he had to take a deep inhale from how borderline suffocating it was. As he soon saw through the steam cloud a trio of small house sized orbs magma flying towards him; with that he had to use a Shinra Tensei to deflect them back to the ground to avoid being melted as the collided back down towards towards the earth in a cascade of molten rock that set the ground ablaze.
For Naruto had soon jumped off his summon and did a multi shadow clone jutsu and had them all launch a barrage of Oodama Rasengans than while a good deal were dispersed and swatted away it was still a large plethora that managed to hit their mark. With them looking like cobalt colored dots upon his fur that were soon dispersed when Son Goku clapped his hands so hard that not only did the clones implode into smoke, but also Naruto was sent flying through a dozen trees accumulating multiple scrapes and bruises before landing with him spitting out a few teeth.
"Well let's see that's 4 of my teeth that's now missing and also my everything is definitely going to hurt after this." Naruto said as he stood back up forcing chakra to permeate his system as both shoulders went back into place
"But at least when I'm done here I'll be able to say I single handedly took down the 4 tails by myself, something that if I see Itachi again I can so rub it in his face." Naruto added to himself as he went up the trees to see Son Goku looking down upon him
"So I see that you haven't gone down yet." Son Goku spoke as he saw his opponent wipe the blood of his mouth
"It'll take a lot more than that to keep me down since I've faired worse than that." Naruto responded considering that he's taken his fair share of hits before and rarely has one kept him down and out
"Great to here as it would be shame if you died so quickly." Son Goku spoke as he raised his fist and soon punched out at Naruto
It took all of Naruto's strength to catch the fist and stop it dead in its tracks, as it made a crater so deep that it came up to the 4 tailed ape's forearm as Naruto struggled as the opposing limb tried to pound him into the dirt and with a great heave he tossed Son Goku like a shot put causing the tailed beast to sail overhead. With that Son Goku tumbled a ways away before landing on all fours and rushing towards him with Naruto jumping with a powered up Lightning Blade in hand, as he dragged it down his forehead to the tip of his nose leaving wide gash across it before blasting him with a Shinra Tensei that violently snapped his head backwards from the concussive force.
However, Son Goku immediately snapped his back and proceeded to headbutt Naruto back into the ground as luckily he managed to teleport out of the way although not with his vision seeing triple from the blow; as he retaliated with a high powered water jutsu at the 4 tailed ape that managed to stagger it back a bit. Before using a Shinra Tensei to propel himself towards Son Goku with great force and clocked him with an immense amount of strength across the face; in doing so managed to give him a bloody nose in the process yet Naruto wasn't in the clear just yet.
For Son Goku soon caught him and tossed him into upwards before bitch slapping him away as he crashed through nearly an entire treeline; with him thanking his immense durability as he was covered in scrapes with blood dripping down from his semi crumpled form. With him shaking the stars out of his head and having to retaliate with a Shinra Tensei to counter a flamethrower stream of green flames, the result was the area being set ablaze in the spectral looking flames as Son Goku grinned down at his comparatively tiny challenger.
"Amazing! As I'll be impressed to say that you are shaping up to be one great fight." Son Goku barked out in just having a generally good time
"Thanks but your furry ass is still mine." Naruto retorted as he morphed his right arm into a Asura cannon
"That's the spirit of what I like to here, but you still have yet to best me." Son Goku spoke as he picked up a large chunk of earth that began to rapidly heat up
"Bring it." Naruto responded as his canon pulsed and arced with electricity
Soon enough the mansion sized chunk of magma and superheated earth was flung towards him as he fired out a blast of lightning that slowed it down a considerable amount; before soon enough shattering it causing it to rain down across the area as large pillars of steam burst forth as what remnants of water left over from the prior fight were now dried up. For the two soon stared each other down as Naruto made a multitude of shadow clones that soon raced after the 4 tailed ape who breathed out conflagration after conflagration of bright flame; with the clones doing everything in their power to evade it as they all began to use their connected vision to get in formation.
Until soon enough they formed into a ladder like formation and soon wrapped themselves around Son Goku's neck with them trying and holding onto each other for dear life as they yanked as hard as they could to bring down the great ape; who grasped at his throat in the struggle to pry and pull them off with the ground cracking and buckling from the struggle. For soon enough the struggle between them was beginning to show as the clones had to quickly make more of themselves as they began popping faster and faster from the strain, until soon enough they were popping faster than they could be made as Son Goku gradually gain the upper hand and broke free from the clones attempt to act as a massive garrote.
With clones dispersing one by one as they fell as Son Goku coughed and bellowed out from having his windpipe nearly crushed, for Naruto and his clones that had all switched to Deva Paths soon concentrated for one more Shinra Tensei and sent Naruto flying after it as he switched to his Asura Path missiles and this time sent earth chakra into them. And when they impacted exploded into hailstorms of metallic shrapnel near twice the size of a grown man's fist with Son Goku roaring as they dug into his flesh, for it only got worse as Naruto came flying into his nose and began pounding into him intent on flattening his face as he wailed on him with one fisted haymakers with everything he could.
"Stay down you damned dirty ape!" Naruto bellowed as he continued to punch with all he could as blood splattered into the ground as multiple cracks of bone were heard as Son Goku was trying to shake him off
"As what does it take for you to go the hell down already?!" Naruto questioned having switched to the extra arms of his Asura Path to better hold on and to rain down more blows
"Much more than you have you and I should be asking you the same thing you fucking cunt!" Son Goku bellowed in retort as he grabbed Naruto who refused to let go, for all 6 arms held with an immense amount of grip strength
"Let go of my face!" Son Goku demanded as he tried harder and harder to rip Naruto off his face
"Make me." Naruto responded as he refused to let go as he only gripped on harder
The struggle between the two continued on more and more until soon enough with a meaty and slick tearing sound a chunk of Son Goku's nose half the size of a small house was ripped off, sending a large spurt of blood flying through the air as Naruto used the chunk of flesh like a makeshift parachute to tumble down to safety. With Son Goku covering his nose that was gushing spurts of blood as he glared daggers at Naruto whom with a shadow clone was flying through hand-signs with a rapid fire quickness, considering how their lives literally depended on it before soon unleashing their separate jutsus.
With the orginal using all of it's chakra up to unleash a powered up Large Spiraling Impulse and Naruto releasing a Great Fire Annihilation that combined into a swirling tornado of white hot flames, that slammed into the pained tailed beast who who roared in pain before soon enough after the flames consumed his being slammed them hard together causing a shockwave to erupt. Before soon grabbing Naruto in his massive fist and punching him so hard into the ground; that his singed and furred arm was nearly shoulder deep into the ground, for Naruto was hacking up blood with his partially cracked skull wringing and nearly 3 quarters of his ribs and his collarbone were fractured, as well as his organs feeling like they were in a oversized pinball machine.
With him having to quickly teleport out of the way before Son Goku soon filled the large void like hole with searing hot lava, for Naruto had to push a great deal of chakra into himself to prevent himself from possibly bleeding out as he did enough to make sure that they were non debilitating. Until he saw a grinning Son Goku began to charge up chakra in both his hands yet unlike the one with the 3 tails this one felt different, because while there was still the dense chakra that came along with all Tailed Beast Bombs he felt other chakra being added into it.
"What the hell is he planning?" Naruto wondered as he saw the large sphere of chakra grow and warp
"I'm impressed you've managed to give me one of the best fights I've had in decades, but let's see if you can handle what I've got here." Son Goku spoke as the tailed beast bomb was now doubled in size and had large chunks of magma coming out of it that caused small patches of earth beneath to catch flame
"Oh you gotta be fucking kidding me." Naruto spoke considering that he was looking as a lava release infused tailed beast bomb
"Well since you know what it is; let's see if you can absorb this in a friendly little game of catch. Because if you win then we get to keep fighting and if not then at least I got to fight against a worthwhile opponent!" Son Goku called out before launching the Tailed Beast Bomb
"I'm pretty sure that this is gonna hurt most of all." Naruto thought as he braced for impact as the searing construct of chakra crashed into him
"Officially going on the top ten of most painful things yet." Naruto groaned as he absorbed it his arms and parts of his neck began to sear and peel away as smoke began to come off him
"Huh so he can actually withstand it, as this kid just continues to impress me." Son Goku said to himself as the lava release infused Bijuudama got smaller and smaller until Naruto was shaking
"Goddamn….of all the…. things I've had to put up with…...that hurts one of the most…." Naruto gritted out as plumes of black smoke trailed off his arms and neck that were covered in major 2nd degree and minor 3rd degree burns as what chainmail was on him was glowing white hot
"Now then…." Naruto spoke using a multi shadow clone jutsu
"I want half of you to focus on distracting Son Goku and half on focusing on making wound as possible for me to jump through, since this is all or nothing." Naruto ordered as he made a battalion of shadow clones that soon sprinted off
"As for the rest of you well…..let's hope this works." Naruto thought as he forcibly healed the damage from his arms as his remaining shadow clones got to work
"Just what the hell are you planning?" Son Goku wondered as he was soon assailed by shadow clones
With that the battalion of shadow clones launched an all out assault upon Son Goku launching all manner of jutsu and physical attacks upon him; that was contested by Son Goku pounding down upon them with his massive fists or breathing out scorching absinthe colored immolations of searing flame and him launching chunks of magma as the area around them was soon warped into a warzone. With a smattering of shadow clones teleporting up to Son Goku's chest and began tearing into it ripping apart and busting through his chest; as every distraction made was another chance the hole in his chest was made to widen.
Meanwhile Naruto was having shadow clones make dual Rasenshurikens in his hands except this time they were of the Oodama variety evident by them being twice as large as Naruto waited for the opening. With their soon being in Son Goku's chest who was roaring in agonizing pain from the bleeding wound a jagged hole thrice the size of a 21 feet in diameter; with Naruto giving the signal to all his clones to jump upon Son Goku's face and start wailing on him and in effect blind him.
"It's now or never." Naruto said as he and his shadow clones rushed as fast as they could
"Get the hell off of me already!" Son Goku bellowed as he launched into the night sky an enormous plume of absinthe flame into the night sky
"What the hell is he even planning?" Son Goku thought scanning the area for Naruto as multiple calls of Shinra Tensei were heard
"Now then its all or nothing." Naruto thought as a small mach cone formed around him
"Oh no you don't!" Son Goku roared knowing that damage one Rasenshuriken could do
With that he launched out another Monkey Flame Arson at Naruto who managed to steer himself out of the way although not without getting a facefull and chest full of flame that he gritted through as he came through it although still burning with his chainmail now reduced to ash. As with all his might he chucked the Oodama Rasenshurikens into the hole in Son Goku's chest; with him using a reduced Shinra Tensei to help guide them to their target like missiles.
For the attacks soon flew into the bloody void of Son Goku's chest cavity and once they hit flesh Naruto felt himself be propelled by the explosion of wind chakra as blood burst from the 4 tailed ape's chest and mouth; with him roaring and bellowing out in pain as the wind chakra blades tore him apart from the inside out. With Naruto grinning like a madman as he made his agonizing and speedy descent downwards with his right arm shattering in 3 places upon impact from the velocity he had reached upon going beyond supersonic with his collarbone also being fractured and having his shoulders dislocated from their sockets as well and his right leg being cracked in 4 places.
"Well…...looks like I win….." Naruto wheezed out in pain as he teleported himself to the 4 tailed ape who chuckled as he hemorrhaged out blood
"So it would….seem as I….have to admit...that was a pretty gutsy move….you pulled off." Son Goku spoke his maw a blood filled mess
"And as a...monkey of my…..word I'll relinquish myself…..to you...but first since….you defeated me...in honorable combat…..like I requested…..and actually impressed….me I have something to give you…." Son Goku spoke as it shakenly made a fist
"You want me….to bump fists with you?" Naruto questioned as Son Goku nodded
"Alright fuck it...besides I can mark this on the top 10 of….coolest things ever that I've done." Naruto spoke as he bumped fists with Son Goku only to feel a considerable chunk of chakra transferred into his system that burned anything beyond what he felt
"What the hell did….you do to me?" Naruto asked as he felt his being burn like hundreds of volcanic eruptions were going off in his system as Son Goku let out a bloody chuckle
"Simple…...I gave you..some of my power...as to simply put...much more of the volcanic power Roshi could ever hope to wield as….as a bloodline. Because...you've got far….greater potential than he has….so I saw it fitting that you...have more of it than he did." Son Goku explained as he soon retreated back into Roshi in a burst of chakra but not before giving Naruto the thumbs up as he did so
"This has got to be one of the weirdest and most awesome things I've done in awhile." Naruto thought to himself as he was going to lie here for awhile and wait for the waves of pain he felt to subside before doing anything else
(December 9th 996 S.E, Amegakure, 3:45 Pm, 1 week and a half later)
It was roughly a week and a half later as Naruto after defeating Son Goku returned with his injuries and the unconscious jinchuriki back to Ame where he decided to spend the week and a half focusing all of his chakra into accelerating his healing rate. With him being back and fully recovered from all of the external and more over internal injuries inflicted upon him not to mention that it also took so long considering that the transfer also left him with full body burns both outside and to a minor extent inside his body.
"I just want to once again thank you for you having done this for us." Nagato told Naruto who still felt phantom pains from the fight and the chakra transfer
"It was of no problem and thank you for the generous payment, not to mention I got to settle the score with Roshi as a big plus as well." Naruto responded both having gotten to kill 2 birds with one stone
"So then how are you feeling after what the 4 tails had done to you?" Nagato questioned as to how Naruto was feeling since
"One thing I will say is that it will take some time getting used to considering that it was such a mass shock to my system that it actually messed with my healing and made my chakra act all weird since. But I won't complain, as power is power after all and I won't complain about added power." Naruto responded considering that the transfer had messed up his chakra and had some adverse effects upon him
"Fair enough I suppose." Nagato spoke as he continued to walk on his crutches
"And how's the relearning to walk going for you since it looks like your starting to fair better at it, considering the last time I saw you that you were in a wheelchair?" Naruto questioned as he saw the Akatsuki leader hobble and walk on his crutches
"I'll admit that its been a challenge, but I'm getting the hang of it considering that I've been relearning to walk for someone special in my life." Nagato told him since while trying to walk again had proved to be difficult he refused to give up
"Really and who is she?" Naruto asked the red haired Akatsuki leader
"Let's just say that she's someone who's been with me from the very start and someone who I would do absolutely anything to protect." Nagato stated as thoughts of Konan came to mind
Since throughout all of this Konan was the one constant of happiness and positivity throughout his life from their time as orphans to the battle with Hanzo and up till now with the Akatsuki, she was always there by his side. Therefore she was also a large motivator for his reason to walk again since if she was willing to stay by his side and put up with him for nearly 20 years; then he felt that the least he could do for her was relearn how to walk again as he felt it right of himself to do so.
"Well then the most I can say is good luck with that and I actually hope you do succeed in that endeavor, since despite the whole bit with the tailed beasts I honestly do think your a pretty good guy." Naruto spoke as despite his immense avarice he could see that their as a good guy behind Pein
"Thank you I appreciate it and as to what you've said I've given it some thought to what you've said concerning them." Nagato told Naruto as they stopped to look at the rainy overcast of Amegakure
"Really what brought this on?" Naruto asked as the rain instead of pouring was a light drizzle
"Its easy really when I did my homework while you were gone and recovering and realized that collecting all 9 would bring about the 10 tails I realized one thing. That I was being had and set up to bring about something that would be far from peace and instead a pale faced perversion of it; something that I can't abide by. Therefore instead of collecting them for the purpose of starting the end of the world I'm going to do so, but with a different purpose in mind something of which is going to be a major work in progress." Nagato stated as once he found out what collecting all 9 would bring about he decided that instead of doing so and rebirthing the 10 tails he would do something better
"And this work in progress if it does succeed like I hope it does then while it may not bring about total peace like I had originally planned; by gathering all 9 it should at least slow down the cycle of destruction and hate. Since in my hubris I thought that with these eyes I could single handedly force people to get along, but as I'm beginning to realize with our conversation 2 weeks ago that something such as that isn't possible. Therefore I guess that the 1st step is taking the Tailed Beasts out of the equation, because they've been abused for too long and I'm ending it now." Nagato added with hardened resolve in realizing that while his original plan would've ended in disaster his new pan was much more attainable and well thought out
"Well what is this newfound plan of yours since if you aren't gonna gather the tailed beasts for using them as a doomsday weapon; one that as we both know would've recreated the 10 tails. Then what exactly does this entail since now you've got my interest?" Naruto questioned wanting to get the details on what this new game plan would be
"Now that is a secret as like I said it is still a work in progress, so I'm not spoiling anything." Nagato responded with a small smile after all he wasn't sharing anything just yet
"Good and I trust that you enjoyed getting to meet Kakazu during your stay and recovery?" Nagato questioned as Naruto's face looked like a Christmas tree as it lit up with joy
"Well to the people who say its a bad idea to meet your heroes in person; well they can go fuck themselves because meeting mine was fucking amazing. Hell I even got him to agree to going on future bounties with me!" Naruto replied with good cheer in his voice
Considering that meeting Kakuzu had been the highlight of his stay here in Ame considering that he not only got to talk with his hero and idol who he found out that within his avarice was, a gruff, cynical, dark humored but pretty good to get along with miser of a man who he found himself sharing a good deal in common with and found himself knowing now that his dream to meet his idol was complete.
"Excellent to here as Kakazu had said that it was a small pleasure to meet with you as well as having some nice things to say about you as well, which is something to be said since outside of gaining more funds for our organization doesn't really care for many." Nagato responded since he did speak fairly highly of Naruto in the time he got to meet him stating that the Rinnegan user reminded him of himself in his youth
"That actually means a lot coming from him and actually warms my greedy black heart a bit." Naruto spoke feeling warmth in his chest from hearing his idol think of him in a positive light
"I'll tell him you said that and I assume you'll be headed off to Iron Country soon enough?" Nagato questioned as to where Naruto's next destination was
"Yup as I've got business there and besides there's something I've been wanting to try out with my Rinnegan that I've never gotten the chance to do yet, because I've never thought I'd have a reason to do it. But with my new power that's proven to be a quite a good deal out of my control I think it'll be necessary for me to craft this and I honestly can't wait to do so." Naruto told him since he had quite a few matters to attend to in Iron Country not to mention he now had a reason to work on something pertaining towards the Rinnegan
"Well I wish you the best on your travels and hope to see you again and on more friendly and less professional terms. Since I would like to get to know the only other Rinnegan user in existence, because after all the both of us are literally 2 of a kind you and I." Nagato responded wishing to get to know Naruto better under friendlier circumstances since he felt it would be nice to get to know him better
"Same to you as I hope that one day when and if I have the time after I get some more of my affairs in order, since I still have somethings I want to do and people I want dead. So I think that once that's settled then I would be very much up for getting to know another Rinnegan user, for its been how can I put this exactly…...an experience meeting you Nagato. And if I may say so a quite positive one and hope to see you walking again soon." Naruto agreed to that as he would like to after getting some of his affairs in order spending some time with his fellow Rinnegan user
"Anyways I'll be going now since I have to get packing and ready to go if I want to beat the snowstorms in Iron Country. Because it gets rather cold there and I'd rather not be caught in the middle of one of their blizzards; since take it from personal experience they are not a laughing matter all." Naruto added remembering the infamous winters of Iron Country that were 2nd to the formerly known Spring Country
"Then I wish you safe passage and once again thank you for enlightening me about the situation of the 10 tails, because not only do I owe you a small deal of gratitude in that regard. But also I now will be keeping my guard up against a certain manipulative traitor in my midst." Nagato thanked Naruto for his enlightening him to Tobi machinations of tainting the Akatsuki
"It's no problem and good luck on getting rid of the parasite." Naruto told him before teleporting away
"Well Tobi or rather Madara as you proclaim to be, your days in the Akatsuki are numbered for I'll play your game for now but beware." Nagato thought as he stood on his crutches looking over his village with ironclad resolve and spiteful wrath towards the Uchiha
"Because nobody plays me for a puppet and fool and gets away with it, because I will not have you bring about the 10 tails and by extension the end of the world for your own gains. Since sooner or later I will end you, because as of now these eyes see through your illusion and I will use them to grind you to dust." Nagato swore to himself that one day he would destroy Tobi and obliterate him to the wayside
(December 23rd 996 S.E, 2 weeks later, 8:40 Pm, Iron Country)
It was 2 weeks later as Naruto decided to go on foot to the land of the samurai since he felt that after the ordeal with the 4 tails and all that he deserved to just stroll and run through the lands, at his own pacing since he was in no rush at the moment that he had to immediately book it. For he managed to beat the snowstorm and reach the capital where it's leader Mifune resided, for he thought that it would be nice to stay and visit in Iron Country for a good while since he could use something of a small respite.
"Well I finally made it as time to go see the old man." Naruto thought as he locked on to Mifune's chakra signature and teleported adjacent to his location
"Good thing I've got the common sense not to teleport directly to him, since I still remember the last time I tried to surprise the old man and thank god I'm insanely durable because hot damn does he hit hard." Naruto spoke remembering the times in which he tried to sneak up on Mifune only for it to be met with retaliatory failure
"Hey old man I made it." Naruto greeted the wizened samurai
Standing at 5 foot 8 and looking to be somewhere in his early 60's with him having near waist length stone grey hair and a mustache and matching goatee the same color that went down to his chest, with him wearing bandages around his head to conceal the wounds he sustained from his fight with Hanzo. For he had distinct wrinkles and creases across his face from age and black eyes that showed that despite the ravages of time, he was as sharp as his sword Kurosawa as he wore a royal purple colored kimono like outfit and sandals.
"It has been too long the last time I've seen you Naruto, as I'd wager nearly a year." Mifune greeted him
"I'd say about 10 and a half months give or take close to 11 since I've last been here. But nevertheless its great to see you again." Naruto spoke as he went into hug Mifune who returned it
"Likewise as its nice to see you've been faring quite well for yourself, since I've heard that recently you've been very busy as of late." Mifune responded as he broke off the hug having heard of how Naruto's been making more and more waves with what he's done
"Well what can I say I like to do everything all or nothing, besides with all that I've done recently no one can deny that I've officially made it to the top. And now no one can deny my power and strength." Naruto said since he was currently feeling on top of the world right about now
"Because ever since I've started down this path I've not only wanted to gain all the money I could possibly want; granted that was a huge part of it but now I've finally accomplished the other half of it. That being for people to know my name and strength is undeniable and now after so long I've finally accomplished that goal." Naruto added as finally with his more recent accomplishments the world around him would know he was undeniably in the top tiers of strength and power
"Well with the fact that you're now S-ranked in the Bingo Books with a flee on sight order I'd say you've definitely met that goal." Mifune spoke since after defeating both the 3 and 4 tails Naruto was now regarded with a flee on sight order with no one under Jonin level to approach him
"Really? Well damn don't I feel special." Naruto spoke since with everything's that's been going on he's forgotten to check his most recent update
"Yes and to that congratulations is in order, so would you like some tea since just in case you came I made some of your favorite." Mifune told him as he poured him some cinnamon apple tea
"Ah thanks old man you've no idea how much I love this stuff." Naruto thanked him as he blew the steam off of the hot tea
"So what other reasons have you came here for?" Mifune asked as they both drank their tea
"Well for one I'd like to stay here for a bit ya know, since with all that I've done I could use a break and I thought that coming here and being with you and Saeko once she gets back would be quite nice. After all I've been going none stop to prove my strength and worth of what I can do, so I think it could do me well to take a break." Naruto responded after all he felt that he needed a bit of a break from bounty hunting and mercenary work; due to the fact that he had been going from one job after the other ever since started so a break was what he needed
"Then you need not look any further, since like told you when you first came here that you are always welcome here. After all you've got a good although brash and avaricious head on your shoulders, so I think that I will find you appropriate accommodations while you stay here." Mifune told him for as long as he knew Naruto he knew that despite his faults that he was a good kid at heart
"Thanks I appreciate it because I can't remember really the last place I had to stay that was permanent, so I thank you. And whatever jobs you need me to do I'll do it since I want to at the very least pull my fair share while I stay here." Naruto thanked him with a great amount of sincerity and gratitude behind his words
"Trust me I already have something in mind that will put your talents to great use; considering that I already have some issues that need to be taken care of. Since I trust you already know about Orochimaru." Mifune told Naruto of the snake that had been an ever present thorn on his side
"Yes I know about him after all he's one of the few that I'm aiming to kill, because if you've ever seen the bounty on his head then oh boy do I." Naruto replied as Orochimaru was on his to 10 list of bounties to capture
"Well apparently he's been rearing his serpentine face around my parts having been sending out his men one by the name of Kimimaro Kaguya to kidnap and take my men for his own experimentations." Mifune told him in disdain
"What would he want with your men exactly?" Naruto questioned as to the intentions behind this
"As you may know we samurai here in Iron Country aren't just know for our skills as a military force, but also for the fact that our power comes from a specialized variant of chakra we've perfected over the years. Since due to our more increasingly martial focus in combat over the centuries we eventually developed our own specialized chakra; to which we've used to defend our country for years against threats and more often than not help to retain our neutral position in things. After all you've personally seen the talents my granddaughter has in combat with it." Mifune informed him since for centuries the samurai here had developed their own variant of more martially focused chakra
"Believe me I've seen and suffice to say damn does it hurt when I have to fight her." Naruto replied remembering the fact that despite not looking it Saeko could deal out so much damage in so short amount of time
"Yes well she's been going out and destroying everyone associated with the Kaguya and by extension Orochimaru, for if there was ever someone to be one of our best sentinels then it would be Saeko." Mifune stated as if their was one thing his granddaughter was it was a complete martial hurricane
"Which is why I'm sure that if and when the two of you fight again; for she really does want to have a rematch against you that I've got some confidence that she'll be able to push you onto your back foot." Mifune added with confidence in his granddaughter's capabilities
"She's gotten that strong has she?" Naruto asked of Mifune who nodded
"Yes as you're not the only one who's been busy recently." Mifune remarked at Saeko's process
Since his granddaughter had advanced herself considerably in her combative skills with her taking up dual wielding Jian's with deadly effect in becoming what equated to on the battlefield; an human blender on legs since anyone that had gotten in her way was inevitably turned into bloody and diced up chunks of human flesh.
"Well I can't wait to see that then." Naruto spoke feeling pretty good about his future rematch with her
"Neither can I as well and for now why don't we just catch up more on what you've been up to since I'm sure you've got all sorts of exciting things to regale me with." Mifune told Naruto wanting to hear more upon what he's been up to
"Sure why not." Naruto responded
"Because trust me old man have I got some awesome stories to tell you, because trust me I've been doing quite a lot so we may be here for awhile." Naruto told the leader of Iron Country who poured him another cup of tea
"Humor me Naruto as I'm a man who's for the most part got nothing but time, so let's hear them and since we're sharing I'll tell you some stories of how things were during the wartime. Because there's a reason why even now I'm regarded as one of our strongest; as don't let the grey hair fool you for even now that I'm past my prime. I could still give some of you in this new generation a run for your money." Mifune told Naruto with a small smile on his wizened face as he felt that it would be nice to tell some stories from his war days as well
With that in mind the Rinnegan eyed bounty hunter and master of samurai spent a good deal of the night talking and regaling one another sharing some drinks along the way and lifting each others spirits, as Naruto thought to himself that this break was gonna be just what he needed.
(6 days later, Southern Iron Country, December 29th 996 S.E, 2:10 Pm)
It was soon a few days later as Naruto had after settling in had managed to create his new weapon too not only serve as focus for his highly potent yet still uncontrolled lava release, but also to fit his more strength based style of fighting. But besides that he was currently geared up too take down an encampment of sound ninja who were planning a kidnapping/raid on one of the towns in Iron Country as now better geared he was ready to go.
"Well looks like I'm not only dressed for the occasion but also have the chance to test out Carnifex." Naruto spoke looking at his new battle axe
"Because now I've got my new gear and a new weapon to match as oh boy do I feel awesome right about now." Naruto said as he cracked his neck
Naruto now wore an obsidian breastplate with him wearing armored bracers with worn leather wrappings to tie them to his arms with the armor being the same color; with them having a roaring ape face in crimson red in honor of Son Goku underneath it was a dark green undershirt. On his legs he had padded leather leggings of dark red and black on them were metal greaves of dark silver with lava red crack designs on them to protect his legs as he wore heavyset boots made for moving through the snow of Iron Country.
With Carnifex being a battle-axe he made from his Creation of All Things with the effort having dropped him to his knees from making it from the immense amount of chakra concentration it took for him to forge it but overall in his opinion it was worth it as he looked over the two handed axe who's handle looked to be made of solid and worn oak that was thick around as his the full length was a meter long, with the pommel having a metal face that looked like Son Goku in mid roar made of solid steel; for the axe head was split into 2 parts one being a broad 13 inch blade with both sides painted onyx black with lava red crack shaped designs going through it to make it look like molten lava while a 6 inch curved blade was on the other side
That in mind geared up in his new half-plate armor and his battle-axe in hand; Naruto soon broke into a full blown sprint towards the encampment with him building up more and more speed until he soon pushed himself off into the air. And when he landed focused lava release chakra into Carnifex and through it as the sound ninja conversing with her compatriots soon found the several inch wide blade embedded in her as jagged obsidian spikes burst out her body ,as she fell over dead before Naruto recalled his axe back into his hand.
"So I've heard that you lot are working for Orochimaru, as I've got to say that for all the people to work for really a bad call considering that you've got me to deal with." Naruto spoke as everyone came outside to see Naruto
"Because I'm only going to tell you one thing and that is that all of you should pray to whatever you believe in, since I'm personally going to escort you to the afterlife." Naruto told them all
"Oh really like we're so scared just because you have some cool looking axe?" One of the sound ninja spoke as Naruto was doing a some test swings
"Really do either of you not know who I am?" Naruto questioned
"Why should we as you'll just die anyways as no one can beat the Sound Ninja." Another proclaimed as Naruto rolled his eyes
"Well looks like all y'all get to die, so at least now I have a reason to test out my new axe, since maybe if I fuck all of you up with Carnifex here then you'll remember who I am from the Bingo Books considering that all of y'all need to be reminded of just who the fuck I am." Naruto spoke as with that in mind he soon rushed forwards
Naruto soon proceeded to then slam Carnifex into the ground as soon enough the snow covered ground hissed and steamed before everything within a 12 foot radius burst into searing hot magma that scorched anyone who was within range; with the victims of it screaming in agonizing pain as their flesh burned and melted off the bone. Using this distraction of shock he soon blasted everyone several meters back with bone shattering force with a Shinra Tensei that killed a dozen and a half upon impact, for Naruto stood there with a massive grin on his face that said " come and get it bitches" to which all of them did as they activated their curse marks.
With that they soon fired out jutsu after him to which was blocked with ease from his Preta Path before throwing Carnifex, as the axe sliced off several heads like it was nothing before being recalled back to Naruto's hand. For Naruto proceeded to hack and slash his way through anyone that got in his way for they may have had the numbers advantage; all in thinking that with their greater numbers and curse mark empowered force that they could overpower him with ease but were out of luck when he used his Asura path missiles and focused earth chakra into them.
The result was a storm of shrapnel exploding outwards from the missiles that shredded any unlucky target in radius for a small handful of them managing to escape, while the rest were covered in jagged shrapnel that tore their bodies asunder and painted the snow red with their corpses. For Naruto soon came down on one of them with a mighty cleave that split him straight down the middle as the two halves slid to the ground, as the remaining of those in the encampment were staring at him with shock at the fact that they'd been so rapidly decimated.
"So then do any of you have something that can I don't know can actually stand up and put up some kind of a fight, because wow do you guys suck?" Naruto questioned as he slashed through an earth jutsu as Carnifex dripped out small globs of magma
"Fine if you want a fight then we'll give it to you!" The remaining jonin bellowed as the remaining few got a shocked look on their faces
"Are you insane he isn't ready to be released, for Lord Orochimaru specifically said not to let him loose until…." One of the Sound Ninja spoke as Naruto clotheslined another one of them hard enough to decapitate him
"We don't have a choice any more just do it now!" The sound jonin ordered as Naruto threw Carnifex at the chunin he was talking too causing obsidian spikes to erupt from the flesh
"So then on a scale of 1 to 10 how boned would you say you are?" Naruto spoke as he absorbed a water dragon jutsu with his Preta Path as he walked towards him
"It doesn't matter because soon enough you're gonna be dead!" The sound jonin bellowed charging after Naruto with a kodachi
With that Naruto teleported out of the way of the strike and reappeared behind the curse marked jonin as he soon pushed more lava release chakra into Carnifex, as a scathing cloud of volcanic ash mixed with molten rock soon burst forth with great force. For the sound jonin tried to make hand signs for a jutsu but was soon violently coughing and trying to get out of the cloud that burned at his throat and violently stung at his eyes that were turning bloodshot; with him stumbling to try and get out of it as Naruto was patiently waiting on the other side for his target.
Once the curse marked jonin made it out he soon felt an absence of his right arm and in his blurred vision that still stung from the mix of ash and molten rock that burned his eye sockets, found that it was now a stump at the bicep for he soon made a one handed attack with a Water Trumpet jutsu that Naruto used his greater strength to leap over. Before burying the axe blade of Carnifex into the man's skull splitting it down from the top of his head down towards his collarbone as he fell over dead; with Naruto soon scanning the area too see where his next target would be before finding the corpses of them strewn about but the noticeable thing was the electrical burns.
For soon enough he saw a several foot tall stormcloud grey skinned creature that by the mark on its neck was tainted with Orochimaru's curse mark with it having an build to it that made it look like a lean muscled oni with lightning bolt shaped marking that pulsed with electric blue light all over its body. With it having sternum length stark white hair jagged several inch long spines on its arms and back, with the ones on it's back being wider as it pulsed with heavy amounts of static for it looked at him with onyx pits for eyes that had golden yellow irises.
"Alright so what in the hell are you supposed to be?" Naruto questioned as the being in front of him looked at him with a demented grin
"I'm Kaname and thanks to them releasing me I have so much chaos to reap and I'll start by tearing you pieces!" Kaname responded in a manic low tenor voice that gave Naruto the creeps
"Yeah I'm….I'm just gonna kill you a lot, because man are you creepy." Naruto spoke finding Kaname to be all sorts of creepy right now
"I'd love to see you try, because I'll splatter your insides all over the snow as won't that be just fun!" Kaname cheered rushing after Naruto with lightning fast speed as bolts of lightning raced behind him
"Strike of the Fire Giant!" Naruto bellowed as the axe head of Carnifex grew searing hot and steamed in the cold air
"Thunderclap Drill!" Kaname shouted as his arm became covered in a thin shell of electricity
With that magma formed around it in such volume it looked like it more jagged and thicker with the two attacks connecting, for Naruto's armor held strong enough for him to endure the attack with him using his Preta Path to absorb it. Conversely Kaname was struck by the axe blow in the gut and thrown back 5 feet as magma seared itself into his gut from the deep axe wound that melted his flesh, but with a pulse of electricity blasted it off as it continued to burn away the snow as he was left with a deep axe wound that was mere centimeters from his vital organs and 3rd degree burns all across his stomach.
That in mind Kaname released a Lightning Release: Depth Charge at Naruto who teleported out of the way with it causing a small explosion due to the amped up power of the curse mark, with him rushing at Naruto attacking with a rapid series of jabs to his face that while individually didn't do much together at the blistering amount together did a considerable amount. For his face felt somewhat numb from the combined voltage as he took another electrified backfist to his lower jaw for he would've been attacked by the spines on Kaname's right arm, had he not parried it with the flat of Carnifex and sliced off a chunk of flesh from the mid neck down to the upper pectoral.
With him then grappling it and proceeding to tackle it into a rock face several meters away with him pounding into his face with renewed vigour giving him a black eye in the process and knocking out some of his teeth, before he retaliated with a pulse of electricity that stunned Naruto for a bit as his nerves recoiled from the sudden burst of voltage. Before using the spines on its back to charge up a concussive beach-ball sized orb of lightning that was released knocking Naruto back several feet as he soon regained his composure, with Kaname after him attacking him with his spines to which he blocked as bolts of lightning arced out Kaname.
"Finally someone who doesn't die in the first hit, as do you know how hard it is to find someone that won't die in the first hit?!" Kaname questioned as Naruto broke off the engagement
"I do but I know for certain that I'm not completely bonkers like you." Naruto responded as he readied Carnifex
"I'm not crazy at all, as all I want is chaos and destruction and what the hell is wrong with that; nothing is what I tell you." Kaname said with lightning collecting around his fists
"It's official you are completely off the deep end." Naruto spoke as he readied another Strike of the Fire Giant
"I am not CRAZY! I'll show you who's crazy when I fry you into ash!" Kaname screamed at hated being called crazy
"Fine you're not crazy more like psychotic." Naruto spoke as Kaname rushed after him
"Die! Lightning Release: False Darkness." Kaname intoned as he through an 8 foot long javelin of lightning at Naruto
With that Naruto absorbed the lightning jutsu with his Preta Path before teleporting towards him and in a brutal axe swing slammed it hard into his chest hitting a lung in the process; with him yelling out in pain as the magma infused blow melted his flesh and broken bone with Naruto forcing the axe deeper into him to try and slash apart his left lung. Before another concussive burst of lightning erupted out of Kaname who panted from the fatal wound and glared at Naruto before charging up more and more lightning; until he unleashed an empowered Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder that surged forth in the form of a powerful stream of lightning.
Naruto teleported out of the way from the attack and soon dropped on top of Kaname and tackled him to the ground with his arms wrapped around his neck in a rear naked chokehold, with Kaname repeatedly shocking Naruto who held on with all of his strength as he continued to crush the man's neck and windpipe. For Kaname's oxygen supply became rapidly depleted as he struggled for breath, before with a loud bellow he released as much lightning as possible resulting in a explosion that blasted Naruto back a dozen feet with small electrical burns covering his body as his hair stuck up like porcupine quills.
With Kaname looking somewhat winded from having to exert a good deal of power with him soon charging after Naruto who waited for opening in his guard before blinding him in a cloud of volcanic ash and molten rock, to which Kaname ran right into as he coughed and choked on as he rolled across the ground like a skipping stone. Before Naruto soon used this opportunity to raise Carnifex and swing down like a lumberjack chopping down a tree and decapitate him as he choked on the ashes stuck in throat, for Naruto looked at Carnifex with satisfaction at the decimated Sound Ninja forces.
"Well I guess I can say that today was a good day." Naruto thought to himself as he walked back to the Iron Country capital
"Now then I wonder if Saeko is back since I'd sure love to have my rematch with her." Naruto said as he casually strolled away from the carnage
So then with Naruto's defeat of Son Goku the 4 tailed ape he now has gained new power gifted to him by the tailed beast, with him departing from Ame as Nagato shifts gears in his plans for peace we now see him going to Iron Country to take a break from bounty hunting. As what will entail for Naruto during his stay in Iron Country well you'll have to find out in the next new chapters of You'll never keep me Down.
Jutsu List
Strike of the Fire Giant (B-Ranked, Close Ranged, Requires Carnifex) By channeling Lava Release into Carnifex Naruto can unleash a magma covered wide arching strike that will deal out a burst of magma into the target.
That cuts everything off here and sorry for the wait you guys as what with me having had writers block with the story and the fact that my grandmother passed away last week this took awhile but, be rest assured I will try and update more frequently so with that being said let's get down to it now shall we.
First up we've got the boss battle between Naruto and Son Goku which I tried to make as good as possible and hoped you liked it, but as for Naruto getting Lava Release I thought it would be nice since here's the thing while what he has is much more potent and stronger than Mei or Roshi it's just that much more uncontrolled and dangerous.
Next we've got Naruto and Nagato talking which I thought would be a fun little part to do since its the only 2 Rinnegan users in existence just being normal around each other which in the future we'll get to see more of, because I do plan on them not being enemies to each other and being semi friendly to each other. And as for what Nagato has instead of the whole using the tailed beasts as a superweapon let's just say that its gonna be an endgame surprise.
Following that up we've got Naruto going to Iron Country where my own arc I've been planning out for awhile will take place not to mention it'll allow me to give Naruto something else to do besides mercenary and bounty hunting work and expand a bit on Mifune and Iron Country as a whole.
Finally we've got Naruto testing out his new weapon called Carnifex which serves as a focus for his Lava Release as I got the idea for his new axe and the encounter with him and the Sound Ninja as well as Kaname from the new God of War Game which by the way is pretty fucking dope.
That being said please continue to show your wonderful support to the story and thanks you guys and please continue to do what you've been doing in giving it a favorite, follow, review and share since I want for this to continue to be the popular and good story its becoming. That being said please give your reviews which are always welcome and let me know you actually like the story so please continue to leave them and remember flames will be ignored and criticism so long as it's reasonable, well thought out is welcome.
With all that being said this is Nomadic Chaos using the power of said chaos to give you guys good content to read as next chapter is gonna be Naruto meeting up with Mifune's granddaughter and them having a rematch so stay tuned for that.
Part 1 Theme Song: Exile by Soilwork
Random End Song: Slaves to the Subliminal by Scar Symmetry
