Tales of Destiny: The Ancient Power
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own characters.
Chapter 21: Old Adversary Revealed: The Battle That Started In the Land of Snow
Dylan and his friends ran through the castle, Dylan leading the way, using his ability to sense energy signatures, chakra or otherwise.
They turned a corner and went through a door to find, much to their surprise, a winter wonderland.
Not joking.
It was a battle arena that was covered in snow and ice. Sarah shivered. "It's cold."
Shinn pulled out a cloak. "Here, use this."
"Thanks." Sarah wrapped herself up.
"Hang on." Said Naruto. "What happened? Did winter come early?"
Dylan shook his head. "No. This is deliberate. Someone wanted this."
Falcon nodded. "I agree. No doubt one of our adversaries is skilled at fighting in this type of environment."
A burst of laughter made them jump.
"Very astute of you. So you are not all mindless fools."
Everyone saw Brute some up to them as if he appeared under the cover of the blizzard.
He was clapping his hands somewhat enthusiastically.
"Kudos for getting this far. I must admit, this is the closest that anyone has gotten to Lord Kiritsu's private section of the castle. However, I'm afraid that you won't be Lord Kiritsu anytime soon."
Brute's eyes focused on Naruto. He gave a satisfying smile.
"So, we meet again at last, Naruto Uzumaki."
Naruto jumped. "Huh?"
"You know this guy Naruto?" Asked Dylan.
"I don't know. I've never seen him before."
Brute mimed being hit a by a bullet. "That hurt, Naruto, and here I thought you'd remember the name of the man you prevented from seizing power befitting his stature."
Brute reached for his face.
"Maybe this will help."
In one motion he removed the mask and threw it to the icy wind.
Naruto stared for a moment, processing the new face, then he looked shocked as his memory kicked in. Sarah realized it a second later.
"DOTO!"
"Huh?! Who is this guy now?!" asked Dylan.
"I think we'd all like to know that." Said Falcon.
"That's Doto Kazahana, Dylan." Said Sarah. "He was the brother of the ruler of the Snow Village until he usurped and led a rebellion to seize power. The ruler's daughter, Koyuki, better known as Princess Gale in the movies, escaped with Kakashi Hatake when he was in the ANBU. Naruto's team was assigned to protect her during the shooting of a new movie."
"Yeah, Doto there tried kidnapping her, but Me and my teammates defeated him and his ninja. I defeated Doto personally." Said Naruto.
Brute, now known as Doto Kazahana, chuckled. "Indeed. I was once the leader of the rebellion army that tried to take over Snow, I will not deny it."
Doto held up a hand.
"HOWEVER! That is all in the past. My service and allegiance is now to Lord Kiritsu. I have sworn to obey him and protect him and his ideals at all costs. Those who defy him will be eliminated."
"How are you still alive?!" yelled Naruto. "I hit you dead-on with that Rasengan!"
"My armor protected me from the worst of your little ball of destruction, but the secondary effects left me unable to move. I would've have probably froze had not Lord Kiritsu found me."
"Before you ask, I will tell you my reason for joining him, Uzumaki."
Doto pointed at Naruto, suddenly deadly serious.
"I intend to have my revenge on you."
Naruto stood there, as if he was stunned by the turn of events.
"You are reason the power I was supposed to have was taken away from me. You continually got in my way right to the last strike."
Doto clenched his fist.
"Lord Kiritsu told me to serve him and he would give me the chance to take my revenge. I gladly swore allegiance solely for this moment. In addition, for being his loyal servant, he will reward me greatly. I will rule all, only answering to him."
Doto took a pause, probably for dramatic effect.
"My service to him was the creation of chakra armor for himself as well his elite. They are much more advanced than that time in the Snow, as you may have guessed. However, for myself and Lord Kiritsu, I have just recently finished the new prototypes. BEHOLD!"
Doto removed his cloak. The armor he wore was black like it was from his and Naruto's fight. However, this new model seemed more sleeker and, to Naruto, a little bulkier.
"This prototype had all the usual refinements, however this time around I made it thicker and more versatile. From the studies of previous models, I devised two of this new type of super chakra armor. One is for me, the other for my lord and master."
Doto returned his attention to Naruto.
"I overplayed my hand before. I underestimated you and thought that you weren't going to be a hassle to deal with. You know the results. For the last three years I have trained and designed new blueprints for armors, waiting for the day to come. I will not make the same mistake a second time!"
"Now, enough talk. It's time to settle the score!"
Doto pulled out a remote and clicked the button. A visible field of energy appeared, cutting Naruto off from the rest of the group.
"This is between you and me. This battlefield was made solely for this day."
Naruto didn't see much choice. He got into a taijitsu stance.
"Fine then, Doto. If you want a fight, then you've got one!"
Naruto made a handsign.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Several Naruto appeared in the snowy field.
"ATTACK!"
The clones converged on Doto.
"Still the same jutsu?"
Doto made signs, then slammed his hand down.
"Ice Style: Icicle Spikes!"
Rows of ice spikes shot up, impaling almost all the spikes.
Naruto leaped into the air, throwing three kunai with explosive tags.
Doto took a defensive stance. The tags went off on contact, but Doto's armor protected him.
Through the smoke a Demon Wind Shuriken came flying through, slicing off the tops of the ice spikes.
Doto jumped over it and saw Naruto leap through the smoke. He made a fist and punched Naruto only to see him disappear with a poof.
Doto spun around to see Naruto charging at him.
Naruto threw a fist at Doto's face. The armored man easily dodged the punch and sent one of his own toward the orange clad ninja. Naruto blocked the punch with his spare hand but cringed as he held it there.
It was as if Doto's fist was made of concrete. Naruto then felt intense pain when his stomach was hit by Doto's other hand, knocking the air out of him. Naruto then leapt away while shaking his hand out and taking deep breaths.
Naruto made around 50 Kage Bunshins that ran toward Doto. Doto just smiled as he stepped around the clones gracefully, taking them out with expertly placed blows to vital areas despite the fact he knew they would disappear even with just a regular hit, indifferent to whether the blonde shinobi would see his taijutsu style.
Naruto cursed as the last of his clones vanished and made another 100, all of which charged toward the former rebellion leader with reckless abandon. Doto looked at the clones, this time with a frown, as he once again dodged every single one of their blows, using a series of hard punches to finish them all off in a matter of seconds.
'Looks like she actually has a taijutsu style this time around,' thought Naruto as he analyzed the information he gathered from his clones. However, even without this info the blonde knew he more than likely would not be able to beat the man in a taijutsu match. With this thought in mind he knew exactly what to do… and that was to engage her in taijutsu anyway.
Doto looked on with amused eyes as she saw the young nin once again charging straight at her. The blonde was obviously still a clueless youth. Once Naruto reached his target he attempted a roundhouse kick, which Doto easily dodged. Doto then tried a sweep kick which he found managed to hit the shinobi and cause him to descend toward the ground. This however seemed to be part of Naruto's plan as he grabbed hold of Doto as he fell, causing him to crash into the ground too.
'Blasted brat.' Said Kiritsu. He leaped back and made handsigns.
"Ice Style: Wolf Fang Avalanche!"
The ice around him formed into a pack of ice wolves that charged at Naruto. Naruto quickly used a clone to make a Rasengan.
He charged, flanked by his remaining clones. The wolves and the clones clashed, destroying each other. Naruto leaped into the air and descended down on Doto, a Rasengan in hand. The man recognized the move that finished him before and barely got out of the way, the ground he was once standing on now being horribly marred by the effects of the jutsu.
Naruto formed the same ball of chakra. The blonde charged but was met with a kick to his ribs and a punch to his chest as he was sent flying backwards. This did not deter Naruto in the least as red charka started to gather around his body, his eyes turning into red slits. The blonde soon sent a large clone wave toward Doto, while he and another clone each formed a Rasengan.
Doto sighed as he once again went through the boring task of destroying the large mass of Naruto clones. It was obvious the boy hadn't gotten much stronger than their previous encounter.
After destroying over half the clones he was surprised to see Naruto charging at her with another Rasengan. The man simply leaned his body to avoid the hand with the sphere before kneeing Naruto hard in the stomach. However to his surprise the blonde disappeared in a cloud of smoke, indicating that it was a clone. His eyes soon widened in pain as she was hit in the back with a Rasengan.
Once the attack hit, Doto was sent flying until he hit a large block like piece of ice. He then looked at the attacker and saw none other than Naruto, grinning though he was breathing heavily.
"If you really want to die you should have just told me, halfwitted fool!" With that exclamation the right hand of Kiritsu went through a series of hand seals.
"ICE STYLE: BLACK DRAGON BLIZZARD!"
A huge mass of black-colored ice shot from Doto's hand and formed a dragon. Naruto was sent flying and hit the hard snow…well, hard. Naruto found he could barely stand up despite how much of Kyuubi's chakra was healing him.
"Give it up brat, it's over now, and don't think that the Kyuubi's chakra will help you any," He smirked. It was clear that Doto wasn't even trying yet. Despite this Naruto looked at the man with fierce determination in his eyes.
"I'm not about to lose to you, I beat you once, I can do it again!" With that said Naruto's eyes flashed a light red for a split second before the Kyuubi's chakra went away and his eyes returned to normal. Naruto threw a smoke bomb.
Doto was blinded by the smoke, but bided his time, waiting for it to clear.
When it cleared, he saw Naruto making handsigns rapidly. Doto realized the upcoming jutsu had much more signs then normal.
Doto didn't give him the chance.
"Ice Style: Ice Gauntlets!"
Ice formed around his fists, forming into frozen gauntlets. Doto shot forward.
And took him apart.
Doto unleashed a barrage of ice-enhanced punching fury. The ice made his punches harder. Every hit sent pain through Naruto's body.
Finally Doto threw one final punch that sent Naruto flying into a heap.
Doto smiled with satisfaction at the verge of achieving his revenge.
"Oh, how the mighty have fallen, Naruto Uzumaki. This was inevitable now that I see it. You've hardly even gotten any better."
Naruto tried to get to his feet.
"I guess that the Leaf won't be any weaker if I just get rid of an extra piece of trash."
With that he prepared to finish Naruto off.
"Naruto! Get outta there!" yelled Dylan.
Doto finished the handsigns for his strongest jutsu.
"Ice Style: Twin Black Dragon Blizzard!"
This time there were two dragons that converged on Naruto and the moment the two joined, they made a black ice tornado.
"NARUTO!" yelled Dylan and Sarah. Shinn and Falcon was both tense.
When the smoke cleared, Naruto was seen lying there, not moving.
Doto laughed. "YES! At long last, I have gotten my revenge! This is a moment to savor!"
Doto walked up to Naruto's body.
"There are now only a few words to say."
He opened his mouth to speak, but the 'Naruto' interrupted by poofing away. He then found himself cut off by…
"It's OVER, DOTO!"
Doto spun around. It was Naruto. He had several wound from the barrage of punches, but he was standing tall, his eyes burning.
"WHAT?! HOW?!"
"While covered by the smoke, I made a clone to hide in the snow. I kept you from looking for him by making handsigns as a bluff. It worked, and when you made that last attack, I used Substitution to switch with my clone."
"Bah, it's doesn't matter. You are on your last legs. This ends NOW!"
"You're right, it does end now. FOR YOU!"
Naruto said while performing the appropriate hand seal. Two clones poofed into existence as Naruto started gathering chakra into his right hand.
Once the ball of swirling chakra was formed, the second clone started to put wind chakra into it. Unlike the first clone, whose hands were moving rapidly, the second kept his hands still.
"When I used this before Doto, the technique was incomplete." said Naruto as the Rasengan gained a wind affinity to it. Finally Naruto took a deep breath as he started to reshape the Rasengan.
"It didn't have an elemental affinity. Through repeated training with my clones, I managed to give my wind affinity to it. As result, it became stronger, and became my strongest technique!"
The wind Rasengan took on the shape of a large shuriken that was letting off a screeching sound as the concentration of chakra.
Doto's eye widened. He had made the same fatal mistake, the one he swore he wouldn't make again: He underestimated Naruto Uzumaki.
Naruto charged carrying the shuriken, the clones in front of him.
The clones literally ran into him. Doto quickly knocked them away, but too late.
Naruto leaped up and let the shuriken go.
"Wind Style:Rasenshuriken!"
The shuriken enveloped Doto, slicing his whole body apart.
"!" screamed Doto as his body was sliced up like it was in a blender.
When the attack ceased, Doto fell to the ground, dead.
Naruto staggered over to his body, found the remote and clicked the button. The chakra barrier turned off, and everyone ran to him.
"You did it Naruto, alright!"
"Indeed. Well done, Naruto." Said Falcon.
Dylan nodded. "Here, Let me get those wounds for you." Dylan put his hands over Naruto's body and focused energy into them. His hands started glowing and the wounds started healing.
"What was that attack anyway?"
"It's called the Rasenshuriken." Said Naruto. "It acts the same as the first version, but it also cuts due to the element. It slices apart at the celluar level."
Shinn and Falcon were stunned. "That's…that's powerful." Said Shinn.
"I agree. Truly a nasty attack." Said Falcon.
"Problem is, due to how close it is to my body, it gets damaged too. That's why Granny Tsunade said only use as a last resort. Last time I used it, my arm was in a cast for a few days, even with my healing factor."
Dylan looked at the arm. "Let's get that then."
He put his hands over Naruto's arm. The many cuts and slices healed up one by one, and Naruto stopped gritting his teeth from the pain.
"Huh? What…"
Shinn helped Naruto up, Naruto looking at his arm. He stretched it, moving the fingers, testing the joints.
"It's healed completely! Thanks Dylan, I owe you one!"
"No problem."
Everyone looked at the door at the far end.
"Kiritsu's in that direction."
Falcon turned to Dylan.
"This may be the toughest fight of all of them. Are you ready for this, Dylan?"
Dylan nodded. "Even if I'm not, it doesn't matter. I'm not gonna run. I'm facing this battle head on. I know I can win."
"You are certain? He may have something else up his sleeve. And you powers are still undeveloped as they are."
Dylan looked at Falcon and smiled.
"I don't know, but I believe in myself."
Dylan looked at the door.
"Belief is all that matters."
Falcon looked at Dylan for a moment, then smiled.
"Well, whatever happens, I am with you to the end."
"Me too." Said Shinn.
"Same here!" said Naruto.
"Me too." Said Sarah.
Dylan nodded. "Okay! LET'S GO!"
The five ran through the door.