Their captor suddenly appeared through a swirling gate, appearing from thin air. He was in a bad shape, both arms bent awkwardly, his clothes burnt to rags, and his mask-
The Captain was not waiting to be observant. Sword raised, he foolishly charged.
The half-masked man, one hand clutching the remaining piece in place, caught the sword in the other hand. With almost no effort, he forced the sword down and brought his foot upon it.
It snapped in two.
He was done looking. He ran forward with the Chakra Scalpel, and severed the arm holding the mask in place. In flopped to the ground uselessly in a pile of white slime. The arm itself was white, alien, and oozed the same white material.
The mask was held in place by melted flesh, it must be. The arid stench proved his hypothesis. On the fleshy side of his face, the eye was closed. However, he still tracked his swings and attempts with ease.
But the damage was to great; the dodging became hazardous and sluggish. A glowing blue hand struck the mask-
Emptiness, darkness. His stomach swooned with the sudden change in pressure. He was going down a long swirling tunnel-
"Kabuto-!"
"And you're going with him."
And so the two captives were unceremoniously set free from the strange land and returned to reality.
XXX
Naruto
His assessment of Sudoar's skills during the others fight with Juruko had proven that the leader of the Black Five was deserving of his title of an S-rank criminal. Naruto summoned clone after clone, trying to dam up the flood of attacks, but it was all he could do to keep up. His fight with Bioto had sucked up most of his own base chakra. To keep going, he would have to rely on the fox's chakra.
And that was an avenue that he was unwilling to follow. His experience with utilizing its power had given him strength, yes, but it was barbaric, untamed power as well. He was lucky he could control it during his battle with Neji during the exams, but he could not forget what had happened to him with Haku.
He ducked a scrunched up hand from Sudoar that would have ripped his throat out, and brought his sandal up in between the brute's legs. Sudoar stumbled backwards, taking in a breath to take in the pain.
Stop resisting my help, you idiot child. You need to use my chakra if you want to stay alive long enough for your teammates to come and help. Or, since I personally believe they'll all have died by now, for you to actually beat him. Only I can accomplish that.
How about no, and let me do this on my own.
You've always been stubborn, naïve, and downright ungrateful to anyone and everyone. All those times I lent you my power was so that it could benefit us both in child's play matters- though I will admit I really wanted to give Shukaku a good beating- but I will not wait another century to be put back together if you die here.
Naruto brought in another four shadow clones, who were instantly cut down by a lightning- enhanced punch from Sudoar. He back-flipped to avoid being hit with it himself, narrowly avoiding decapitation. The attacks did not let up. He rolled to the right, drawing out a shuriken and throwing it at his opponent. The other simply lifted the Gauntlet and deflected the incoming metal.
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A massive number of identically battered but hardy Naruto's suddenly littered the platform, numbering around eighty total. Sudoar looked around, eyebrows raised and eyes squinting, impressed.
"You really have some talent, Naruto," Sudoar praised. "At such young an age, to have mastered an advanced jutsu like this. I can see that this isn't Kakashi's tutition... but rather something you learned yourself. A most impressive move..."
A most impressive move that's now emptied your chakra. What do you plan to do, boy? Just jump at him and hope you can tackle a grown man ten times your strength? Just utilize my chakra-
Why do you want me to use it so badly, huh? What's the big idea of egging me on like this? What are you not telling me?
The fox went silent, and Naruto clamped down on his mind to prevent it from speaking. It was somewhat true, his chakra levels were dangerously low. He had perhaps a small sliver left before he would make himself pass out. And if he did that, then things would get very bad very quickly.
Need to take him out now. But how to get around that lightning?
Sudoar was in the middle of a long, complex series of hand signs that Naruto could not hope to follow. His eyes became mesmerized by the sheer amount, but he shook it off immediately when a massive, echoing boom from the clouds sounded. The storm was on top of them now, only thirty yards above their heads. Where they had come from was anyone's guess, but Naruto felt oddly comforted by their presence.
"Alright guys, lets get him!"
"Right with ya!"
The eighty clones all leaped forward with a vengeance, intent on mashing Sudoar to a pulp-
"Lightning Style: Bolt Surge!"
Sixty of the clones were instantly vaporized as a thick electrical discharge from Sudoar brushed the incoming bodies. The shockwave was enough to blast the remaining clones and Naruto off his feet, while Dortmuller, still disabled on the ground, went skidding dangerously across the marble to the edge.
His hair standing on end, Naruto picked himself up. "Is...is that all you got?"
Sudoar laughed aloud, and Naruto winced at how strange it sounded. Not just because it rebounded off the obsidian mask concealing its face, but because it was empty of humor or any emotion normally contained in laughter. It was sickening, cold, and dark. In it, Naruto thought he could hear ten years worth of insult and neglect in it.
No... I have to stay focused.But his vision was blurring with hatred, and Sudoar's continuous empty laughing was not a consoling factor.
"Just what's so funny, anyways!" Naruto snarled, unable to take it.
"It's just that I can't believe I'm being stalled by a boy. When I fought on par with the Third Raikage, have killed uncountable amounts of jonin and ANBU agents, and I've even slain Juruko. But yet here I am actually having difficulty killing a mere child." He shook his head, still chuckling madly to himself. "This is turning out to be quite a day!"
I can't get around his defenses, and I can't take another attack. I have twenty clones left, but they're useless without more help...
Sudoar lunged forward for the real Naruto, hand held high so as to grab him by the face. Naruto crouched down and brought his left foot forward like a piston, suddenly desperate to just get away. It caught his menace squarely in his chest, but the attack was shrugged off like a loose cloak. Sudoar grabbed his foot by the sandal strap and swung him around a full 180 degrees and let go, letting Naruto fall sickly to the ground. The break in concentration caused the remaining clones to disperse, leaving him quite alone.
He's out of my league-
"Preposterous that a simple genin, no matter how skilled, could confront an S-ranked criminal. Surviving long enough to run away should've been your objective all along." Sudoar flashed forward and kicked Naruto over painfully, so that he laid on his back staring up into the dark mask and empty eyes. "I heard your village bred the strongest warriors. So, show me! Show me what you can do, boy!" Sudoar kicked him again, harder, and Naruto flopped over like a fish out of water.
"Disgusting," Sudoar leered. "I had already killed when I was your age. I felt the unfairness of society in the Third Shinobi War and lived through it. It just goes to show that peace creates weakness."
Naruto coughed out blood. "I thought you were trying to create peace?"
Sudoar paused, suddenly confused. Naruto took the moment to scramble away, but Sudoar suddenly stooped down and picked him up by his collar with both hands and shook the poor boy like a rag doll.
"And what do you know?" he yelled. "You stupid kid!"
Naruto felt the fox trying to break through, trying to take control but he had enough willpower to restrain him. He saw that behind Sudoar, the air was becoming warped and dysfunctional. And Bioto is coming back... I couldn't even stop him...
Sudoar continued to shake him. "Tell me what you know about creating peace!" he shouted. "Tell me, Juruko, tell me!"
He's lost it, Naruto thought. He thinks...
Above them, the thunder boomed ominously, and both of them looked up to view the spectacle as the portal closed and two figures were tossed from within it.
"What... am I doing?" Naruto felt the pressure holding him in place lighten, and some sort of lively, almost friendly tone enter Sudoar's voice. "This is..."
A large sandal suddenly flipped around from behind Sudoar and struck him in his temple, launching him away from Naruto. The black mask came detached from the face and went clattering across the marble floor until it fell over the side of the platform, into the darkness.
"Well, looks like we came at the right time," Kabuto said dryly. "And what a ride, too!"
Naruto gave him a withering glare. "You idiot, he was just about to stop the whole plot!"
The eyes behind the glasses rolled. "It looked more like he was about to rip your head from your body. You're lucky we came when we did, you little fool."
"We-?"
Captain Dalto was still picking himself up from the ground from where the portal had ejected him. He held a sword handle with a broken blade, and he definitely was angry about it. "That little bastard broke my sword... how could he..."
"Captain Dalto!" Naruto called happily. "You're alive!"
The other looked at him strangely. "Well, of course I'm alive. I was only kidnapped, no big issue."
Naruto had expected a more harried explanation and reply, but Dalto seemed rather calm and good natured about it. He was skinny and pale, but his mental state was unharmed. Kabuto was definitely shaky physically and mentally from his imprisonment, which was odd since Dalto had been there longer-
Kabuto walked towards Sudoar's slumped form, Chakra Scalpel raised. "Enough games. Whether he plans to end the plot or not, he still needs- no, deserves- to be executed."
The storm clouds suddenly burned brilliant white, blinding all of them for a nano second. In that moment, Kabuto went flying back as Sudoar transported to his feet.
For the first time, Naruto could see his face. Sudoar's eyes were either darker, more empty than before. His entire face was a pale white, much like chalk. And the teeth were canine; bared, dangerous, and sharp. His whole face was another mask entirely- one of absolute rage.
"To hell with Juruko," he whispered, his voice making Naruto's spine chilled. "For years, when we lived in the Land of Lightning, we tried to think of ways to create peace for everyone. Neither of us could agree... just like your own Hashirama and Madara. And just like Madara, I took the initiative to take drastic measures. I have his strength, his ideals, and his hope. Like him, I didn't allow anyone, not even his closest thing to a friend, get in his way. This is how it must be done. And that is how it is going to be."
He clapped his hands together and performed a single hand sign. Then he stretched one finger to the thunder clouds above, while with his other hand, he pointed another finger at them.
That's the same move Juruko pulled-
"This is why I stand alone, Naruto. It takes one man, with as much power as he can possibly obtain, to save a world. To become a benevolent dictator at all costs. Now, I bring this lecture and fight to a close. You had your chance to give me the Star, but now I will simply take it from you. Lightning Style: Dance of the Thunderstorm!"
A huge lightning bolt descended from the storm cloud above them and touched down onto Sudoar's fingers. His body became illuminated for a nanosecond, and then the same bolt exited out the finger pointed right at them. It raced straight at him-
A body was suddenly flung in front of him, absorbing the majority of the attack. The lightning bolt still broke through the flesh and bone, exiting out bloodily from the other side to hit all three of them. However, its power had been dimmed sufficiently that they felt only a moderate electrical surge. It was not permanent, but it did fry them enough that they fell to their knees.
Naruto looked with shock upon the blackened man before him. With a shaky, shocked hand, he turned Dortmuller's head towards his. Through charred lips, a few words escaped:
"And at any cost... stop... him..."
Naruto did not have any time to mourn, nor to react. Sudoar flashed forward and took him by the scruff of his shirt again. His eyes flicked around the orange jacket, until it found a small bulge in his front pocket. Naruto's arms twitched in protest, but he could not move his muscles from the discharge. Delicately, his breathing rapid, eyes glazed over, Sudoar withdrew the Fire Star from within Naruto's front pocket.
"It's... finally done." He tossed Naruto aside like discarded trash and, with great relish, brought up the gauntlet-
Kabuto was very quick on his feet, and Naruto recalled how Tsunade had stated even she had had difficulty fighting him. However, the speed of which the chakra scalpel arched forward and plunged into Sudoar's chest was astonishing. Sudoar himself did not really seem to realize what had happened, blinking down onto Kabuto's determined face with questioning, then in turn, looking down upon the arm protruding from his body.
"I've punctured your right lung," Kabuto breathed. "In a few moments, its going to flood with blood and you're going to drown in your own miserable life. It's over." With a single movement, he wrenched his hand out of Sudoar's body, causing the Black Five leader to stumble back and collapse in a quickly pooling puddle of blood.
Naruto and Dalto looked upon their suddenly defeated opponent with shock. Kabuto shook his head and casted a side-long look at Naruto. "Like I told you before, Naruto. Children think life is to easy, that's why they never give up. Sudoar possessed the mind of a child and this is where it led him."
Unsure of what to say, Naruto instead bended down beside Dortmuller's corpse. He did not know why this man had risked his life for him, barely even knew him. Yet he had thrown his life down for him without a second thought, all in hopes of perhaps saving his village.
He was what you might call a real warrior, dying in combat for his country. Naruto was surprised to hear the fox talk, but he allowed it continue. He had never heard it say anything so positive. However, it did not speak anymore. Rather, he felt within him a small sense of respect well up inside for the burned body before him.
Dalto was walking towards Sudoar, his broken sword still in hand. He did not cast any of them any glance, but strutted forward, intent on reaching the body.
"Stop, Dalto," Kabuto warned. "He can still move-"
And once again, the man whom Naruto thought for sure had died was rising with these words. Two body piercing wounds had not been able to stop him. Dalto broke into a run, a frenzied, desperate look in his eye Naruto could not explain. However, it was far to late.
Click. The Gauntlet of the Slayer, once a white husk, now shined five colors at last. Restored to its former glory.
Sudoar laughed hoarsely. Dalto stopped before him. "We had a deal," Dalto said, and Naruto's eyes widened. What did he just say? "Give me the Gauntlet. This was the agreement when I hired you-"
"So you can restore your precious clan?" Sudoar coughed out. "The Land of Iron alone cannot atone for the crimes of the continent. I was never your employee, I used you to fulfill my own goals. Your years of hiding within the Palace , gathering information for us, even my promise, was void from the very beginning. Just like Orochimaru, you were only a tool in my kit to be used to hammer in the nails of victory." He hacked and blood coated his lips, but he still managed to stand upright.
Dalto clenched the sword violently. "You son of a bitch. After all of this planning, tricking the boy, falsifying the kidnapping, and diverting the treasury fund to you, you betray me." He held up the broken sword. "I guess you can't call this betrayal then. More of revenge!" He lunged forward, but it was far to short. Sudoar jumped, blood trailing out of him like a waterfall. He landed near the edge of the platform, where the village rested beneath him.
'Tricked the boy?' No... he used me? Even faked that kidnapping to try and get me to give the Fire Star to Sudoar? No... no I can't believe it! "WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS!" he screamed at Dalto's back. "How could you use me like that, to claim to be stopping the plot when all along you were behind it! That's not right, it's sick, and cruel! All of these people who had faith in you, like Dortmuller, and you just-"
"Shut up, boy. You will never understand." Dalto gazed upon Sudoar with intense eyes. "I intended only to subdue the Land of Iron, to reclaim my clan that was so brutally slaughtered. But now it is all foiled. Watch, as the end of the world descends upon us."
XXX
Sudoar
At long last, the salvation had arrived. It had proved to be tedious enough, and by no means was he ignorant of the quickly spilling blood from his lung.s. He was finding it difficult to breath, just like Orochimaru's lackey had stated. He would have to do it now, or he would pass out.
And he had no quarrel with that.
Bioto was gone, fled to his little world. The arrival of Dalto and the lackey had basically been a resignation note. He was hiding in that little universe of his. When he emerged, he in turn would be ready to introduce Bioto to the new world.
He firmly performed the hand signs from the texts Dalto had shown him years ago. One... two... three... four... five...
The Gauntlet vibrated angrily as its bonds loosened. He was acutely aware that right now he was holding pure power in his hands, and that any slip up now could potentially destroy the entire Palace. He focused his remaining chakra into controlling the surge of power in his hand. The last hand sign finished.
The explosion of black chakra was instantaneous and hot. Very, very hot. He could not feel the hand possessing the Gauntlet, could hardly even see the Gauntlet itself in the black portal forming around it. Around him, the stupid 'heroes' shielded their eyes from its beauty.
With his other hand, he performed the last hand signs. Above the rising cacophony of total chaos emitting from the Gauntlet, he shouted, "SUMMONING JUTSU!"
The Gauntlet began to warp, and he distantly felt lucky he could no longer feel his hand. The Gauntlet was warping around the containers holding the Stars, drawing them together in the heat. The black power, raw and untamed, was blinding, almighty, and it expulsed itself into the clouds above. The sea of gray parted to make way for the blackness. On the Gauntlet, he could see five tiny colors all coming together in the heat, melting to become one...
The black power crashed back onto the Gauntlet, began being sucked into the central focus of where the Stars were joining together. He watched in silent ecstasy as the five prominent but tiny colors began to disappear, and instead take on a single, larger, uniform color...
A final boom, and then the Gauntlet rapidly sucked away all the blackness into the single slot that had been created. He paused, unsure. He flexed his fingers, found that he could at least move them. The white material was steaming profusely, and his arm felt like it had been through a fire pit. The Gauntlet was the same, except for-
"Gentlemen," he said quite strongly. "Now we can all see where myth meets reality." He held up the single, black orb where originally there had been five separate ones.
"Behold, the Dark Star."