Naruto (Dragoon): So this is Hellfire?

Naruto (Reaper): That's him…Has he changed at all, Kate?

Kate: *worried frown* Not at all.

Naruto (Dragoon): Hmm. Start the chapter and I think he'll snap out of it.

Naruto (Reaper): Alright…Well start the show!

Forged in Hellfire: Lost Soul Reborn
Chapter Twenty-Four: War for the World (Part Two)

Tanzaku Town
Yasai no Tayuya

"This is so fucking annoying!" Tayuya shouted as skidded against the glass of the building with Haku in her arms before she leapt off the building and down towards the ground, with the Sheeva replicant and the Drahmin replicant charging down the building after them.

"I wasn't expecting not to be able to use chakra!" Haku exclaimed guiltily as Tayuya landed on the roof that sat next to the hotel building, her feet skidding against the surface of it.

"Not you beautiful," Tayuya said with a grin before the pair saw the Drahmin replicant leap off of the building towards them with his club in the air, ready to swing down onto them.

"But I can't have you fight without chakra!" Tayuya shouted as she quickly dashed backwards to avoid the strike from Drahmin, which caused the replicant demon to smash through the roof wall.

Tayuya then saw the Sheeva replicant launch herself off the side of the hotel building towards them at a fast rate. "So in short…I'm going to need you to stay safe and stay hidden!" Tayuya said before she tossed the protesting Haku as hard as she could away off of the roof, put her flute to her mouth and played a quick tune before she shouted "OtoĀto: Fōsu Shūha (Sound Art: Force Wave)!"

The Sheeva replicant slammed into the wave of chakra, its three digit hands fighting against the wave before it was forcefully sent backwards into the hotel building, crashing through it.

Tayuya then noticed the Drahmin replicant leaping out of the hole it made in the roof and falling towards her, its club arm high in the air. Tayuya played a harsher tune then shouted "Oto Āto: Hādo Shougeki (Sound Art: Hard Impact)!"

Several invisible fists rammed into the body of the replicant demon, which sent him soaring backwards into the air before it fell back into the hole it had made.

Tayuya barely turned around to face Haku when the area in front of her exploded and from out of it was a very large muscular being with dark green see through skin with yellow veins spreading across their bodies with three glowing yellow eyes that were aligned like a triangle, with chains around its left arm and a very large orb in its hand.

It was the Replicant of Moloch, another fairly strong Oni. The Moloch replicant swung its left arm down towards Tayuya, who barely managed to avoid the swing but the moment the swing missed and landed on the roof, Tayuya fell through the roof and down into the main floor of the building with a groan before she quickly rolled her body away from the club that belonged to the Drahmin replicant.

Tayuya flipped to her feet and ran towards the window and leapt through it with a crash then rolled to her feet and shouted "Oto Āto: Tsukinukeru (Sound Art: Pierce through)!" Just as the replicant flew from the window towards her.

The invisible needles pierced through the demon but it didn't stop its swing, which collided with Tayuya's right shoulder and upper chest, causing blood to spray from the wound due to the club having several small knives on it.

The replicant lifted up the club and smashed his club down towards Tayuya's head in but used her flute to block the strike, where while she was able to do it, her flute shattered from the blow. "Shit!" Tayuya hissed out as she rolled to the left to avoid another swing of the club.

Tayuya jumped up and punched the replicant in the face, which caused it to stagger to the side but it responded with a hard swing to her gut, which caused her to become breathless where the replicant then leaned its head back and smashed it against her head, which made her stumble backwards, blood falling down her face.

Tayuya fell down on one knee and quickly rolled to the left and kneed the replicant in the head, causing its body to lean backwards where she then landed a blow to its neck and stomach before she grabbed its head and slammed it down on the ground.

But before Tayuya could follow it up with anything more, she felt something with the force of a freight train slam into her back so hard, she felt her spine and ribs shatter from the impact which caused her body to fly over the replicant, skid and bounce against the ground several times and then slam into the wall of a house.

It was then she caught the image of the large replicant she had seen before and it was currently charging towards her at an inhuman speed. Unable to break herself out of the wall, the Moloch replicant's shoulder rammed into her body, sending her through the wall where it continued to run through three other buildings before it skidded to a stop but her battered body continued to fly until it slammed into the lobby of a smaller hotel.

Tayuya fell onto her knees, her eyes completely white as she fell face first to the ground, unmoving…not breathing…

The Moloch replicant then let out a roar and slammed the large cement orb against the ground, which sent a powerful shockwave towards the small hotel, which caused the building to collapse, burying her beneath the rubble.

Tanzaku Town
Momochi Haku

Haku felt a deep sense of guilt, shock and horror as she watched the two replicants walk towards the remains of the building and stare at it. "Tayuya-chan!" Haku exclaimed after she watched the house her friend had been launched into crumble into dust from the powerful shockwave sent by the replicant.

Tayuya had wasted no time in getting her out of the battle and she was possibly killed because of it. But with her scream of horror, she had caught the attention of the two replicants, both of which began to charge towards her.

Haku's eyes widened and she immediately began to run as fast as she could and despite being unable to draw from her chakra, she was still quick without it but as she weaved through the alleyway, she could hear the thundering stomp of the Moloch replicant as well as the quick steps of the Drahmin replicant closing in behind her.

But thankfully for Haku, she took a left turn and found herself on the main street of the Tanzaku town, where she collided with one pinked haired kunoichi, who fell with a yell.

Haku quickly looked down at the girl with a surprised expression and murmured "Sakura-chan?"

"Haku-chan?" Sakura asked in surprise.

Haku rose up from her feet and helped Sakura to her own and then noticed a large group of shinobi around her. "W-What are you guys doing here?" Haku asked her. "And why such a large group?"

Sakura opened her mouth to reply but Kakashi stepped up and said "Haku-san. We're here to bring Naruto back to Konoha."

"Back to Konoha? We'd be lucky if we walked out of this place alive," Haku said.

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked her.

"Well long story short, there is a warrior named Shao Kahn that is in our world. He is strong enough that he nearly killed a god. If he is resurrected, we can all kiss the world goodbye," Haku said. "Naruto-kun told us this before we were attacked. Two of them are following me now."

Just then, a large roar echoed from the alley behind Haku.

"That's a shit ton of power that I'm sensing in that alley," the platinum blonde muttered fearfully as she took a step back.

Haku looked to the alley and muttered "We either need to fight or run."

"We don't run," a pearl eyed kunoichi said to her with cold eyes. "You said Naruto-kun was attacked…Where were you located?"

'Naruto-kun?' Haku thought to herself before she vocally replied "The hotel. It's the large building over-" Haku didn't even get the chance to finish due to the girl suddenly leaping onto the roof and running off.

"Hinata!" the red eyed kunoichi said, who Haku recognized as the Genjutsu mistress, Yūhi Kurenai. "Kiba, Shino, let's g-!" Kurenai was swiftly interrupted by a large roar that came form the alleyway, which was followed by heavy, slamming footsteps.

"What the hell is coming?" the blonde asked fearfully as she took a step back, voicing what many of the other shinobi were facing.

Haku narrowed her eyes, sweat dripping down the side of her head.

Tanzaku Town
Uzumaki Naruto

Skidding on the balls of his feet, Naruto fell to one knee as he coughed out blood. "How annoying," he growled out angrily as the replicant of Kintaro towered before him. Kintaro was tough, Naruto knew this from his past battles with him but he was far tougher than before.

He felt like he was fighting Goro and not the kitty cat he used to beat consistently. Naruto rose to his feet and maneuvered against the quick jabs from the replicants four arms before he leapt up and kneed the replication in the head, which caused it to stumble backwards.

"Come here!" Naruto shouted as he shot his hellfire kunai towards the Kintaro replicant but said replicant caught it and pulled Naruto sharply towards him. Naruto released the hold of his chain to avoid a punch from the lower right arm then punched the replicant twice in the stomach before leaping up and punching it in the face, which made it stumble back.

Naruto then flickered behind the figure while summoning his hellfire chain and leapt into the air and wrapped the chain around its neck activated the flames. The replicant screamed as flames shot up around its neck but then it ran backwards and slammed against the wall back first, sending Naruto crashing through the wall but the shinobi kept his chains wrapped around its neck.

The replicant then leapt into air and slammed down on the ground back first, which sent both it and Naruto crashing down several floors before slamming into a wooden desk but again, Naruto refused to let go of the chains.

He began to pull at the chains hard, causing the flames to become stronger, despite the pain he was in. The replicant rose to its feet and leapt into the air and smashed Naruto against the ceiling before it turned down and slammed through the floor again, sending the pair crashing through five more floors before colliding into another desk.

This time however, Naruto's grip did slack just enough for Kintaro to grab Naruto and toss him over his shoulder and against the wall, which caused a crater against the wall but despite the pain, Naruto flickered from existence and appeared on the left of the replicant in the air and landed a strong punch to the replicant's face, which made it stumble on one leg.

Naruto landed on the ground and grabbed its extended leg and pulled it forward and landed another hard fist to its face, which sent it down to the ground before Naruto twisted his body and landed a hellfire covered elbow on its face, which sent both of them crashing through the floor and landing in the lobby of the hotel with Kintaro hitting the ground first and Naruto's hellfire covered knees slamming into its chest moments later.

Naruto summoned a kunai into his hand and stabbed downward but his hand was grabbed by the replicant and then tossed away, sending Naruto colliding against a wall and down on the ground. Naruto shook his head and heard the replicant crash through the ceiling and flickered away just before two pair of shokan feet could crush him and appeared nearly across the lobby.

"This thing is very nimble," Kyūbi noted with an impressed tone. "I wonder how long you can keep up with its pace."

'Same here…' Naruto growled as he stood up to face the replicant, embers of hellfire floating around him. The Kintaro replicant roared before he bolted towards Naruto, who scowled and ran towards Kintaro before he leapt up, his fist covered in hellfire and nailed the replicant in the face while he got hit in the stomach, which sent him soaring backwards and slamming against the wall.

Naruto bounced off the wall and landed on his knee and saw the replicant open is mouth wide and let out a burst of fire, which came towards his way. Naruto's eyes widened before they narrowed in anger and caught the fire ball, which burned the palm of his hand before he changed into the dark red of hellfire and launched it towards the replicant, which nailed it in the face hard, causing it to roar in pain as it staggered back.

Naruto whipped his hand forward and shouted "Come here!" before it nailed the replicant in the chest but instead of pulling it to him, Naruto pulled himself towards the replicant and landed a drop kick to its face with hellfire covering his feet, which caused the replicant to fly out of the building and out onto the street.

Tanzaku Town
Team Kumo

"For a horse thing, it moves far too quickly," Omoi hissed out in pain as he held his torso, blood dripping down the right side of his face with his longsword in his hand while the Motaro replicant stood across from Team Kumo, looking as fresh as it did before the battle.

The battle between the three and the replicant was so far one-sided in favor of the replicant. With its high paced speed, its crushing strength, its ability to shoot energy from its tail and the ability to disappear and reappear anywhere, it was taking the Kumo shinobi all they had to keep on their toes.

"Well, horses do move pretty fast…But this is abnormally fast," Karui replied as she held her long blade in both hands, blood falling from her left arm and the corner of her mouth.

Samui stood in between the two with a detached expression on her face, her tantōdrawn and gleaming with green light. "He's not that tough. We just need to stop holding back."

The Motaro replicant roared and charged towards the three shinobi.

"And he just made a mistake! Shocking Triangle formation!" Samui shouted. Karui shot to the left side of the room while Omoi shot to the right. Samui flipped into the air and stood upside down the ceiling, which caused the replicant to skid to a stop behind them.

The three formed several hand seals as they turned around to face the replicant and together, the three shouted "Raiton: Ikazuchiryū no Jutsu! (Lightning Style: Lightning Dragon Jutsu)!"

Three dragons made of lightning shot out from their hands and collided together to create an even large dragon, which slammed into the replicant's form, sending it flying out of building and plummeting towards the ground.

"Follow it!" Samui ordered as she ran towards the large hole and leapt down, with Karui and Omoi following her lead. As the three fell, the trio formed another set of seals and shouted "Raiton: Dendō Dangan (Lightning Style: Electric Bullet)!"

An aura of crackling electricity formed around the forms of the Kumo shinobi as their speed suddenly picked up as it neared the falling body of their opponent.

Samui's body slammed into the replicant's head while Omoi's body slammed into its left arm and Karui's body slammed into its right hip, causing a large burst of electricity to shoot around the falling bodies before they slammed into the ground with an explosion of lightning.

When the smoke cleared, Samui, Omoi and Karui flew from the crater that was created and landed on the ground but to their shock, the replicant wasn't there. "We…hit it…" Omoi said with a stunned expression. "I'm sure we did…."

"We did," Samui said. "It fucking disappeared during the impact. I'm sure of-" Samui was interrupted by the ground exploded from beneath her, revealing the replicant who grabbed her neck and proceeded to shoot off in the air.

"Samui!" Karui and Omoi shouted but when they leapt to follow, an explosion of glass came from behind them and when they turned around, both were brutally clotheslined by the Sheeva replicant.

The two hit the ground hard as the Sheeva replicant skidded to a stop.

"God damn, that bullshit hurts!" Omoi growled out as he rose to his feet, with Karui standing up moments later.

The Sheeva replicant dashed towards the two shinobi but moments later, another explosion of glass was heard, which caused the two to look to the left to see the replicant flying out towards the Kumo shinobi.

The shinobi leapt back to avoid the flying replicant but their opponent wasn't so lucky. The replicant collided against their opponent, which sent the two monsters flying into a building.

"Whoa…" Karui murmured.

It was then the two saw Naruto walk out of the building and fall onto one knee and cough up blood.

Tanzaku Town
Uzumaki Naruto

"Holy shit, you okay man?" Omoi asked as he helped Naruto to his feet.

"I'll be fine…" Naruto responded as he panted heavily while he held the right side of his body. "I managed to beat it but they seem to recover fast…Things aren't looking too good for us right now…" Naruto then looked at the pair and said "One of you are missing…"

"Yeah, that horse thing snapped Samui," Karui said.

"Shit…." Naruto swore before another loud roar shook the area then the Kintaro replicant came barreling out of the hole towards the trio with the Sheeva replicant beside him.

Without warning, two bright blue fans flew out from behind Naruto and nailed Sheeva in the neck, which sent her flying backwards to the ground and seconds after that, Hinata came soaring behind Naruto and nailed the Kintaro replicant in the head, which sent it flying to the side along the other replicant.

Hinata landed on the ground and said "I think this is the second time I've had to save you like this, Specter."

"Hinata…" Naruto breathed out before his eyes widened in surprise. "No…Not just Hinata…Kitana?"

Hinata turned around and gave me a confident smirk that instantly told Naruto that he had struck gold but how could that be?

What happened with himself was a rare occurrence. For Hinata and Kitana to have gone through the same thing was no coincidence…

"And he is correct. Did you miss me Hanzo?" Hinata asked with a wider grin.

Naruto snorted and replied "Pompous ass," before he glanced towards the two replicants that were now rising to their feet.

"I tend to be. Comes with the princess territory," Hinata retorted as her fans returned to her hands.

"Dude, she just called you Hanzo," Omoi said with a surprised tone.

"Did you tell her about your past as well?" Karui questioned.

"No…It seems she went through the same thing I did," Naruto responded to Karui before he looked Hinata and said "This can't be coincidence."

"I figured that once Shao Kahn came into the picture," Hinata noted. "Now facing off against Sheeva and Kintaro tells me that there is something more to this…But what, I don't know."

"Well," Naruto removed his large blade from his back and held it front of him. "I suppose we'll have to live and find out."

"Don't forget...We have a score to settle," Hinata told Naruto with a grave tone, which Naruto nodded.

"Wouldn't dream of it. Omoi, Karui. Go find Samui. Me and Hinata will take care of these two," Naruto commanded.

"You sure?" Omoi asked.

"She is in grave danger. Motaro is a very powerful foe. The longer she is left in his grasp, the greater chance of her dying will be," Hinata told them. "We are both more apt at battling them so we will be fine. Now make haste."

The two Kumo shinobi looked at each other before the pair nodded and leapt off, leaving the two shinobi to face off against the replicants…

Unknown Location
Yasai no Tayuya

Tayuya opened her eyes to the sounds of faint sirens in the distance under a nice and comfortable bed. She looked up and found herself in a large room with three very large windows, which showed her above a bustling and busy city with strange moving steel horses that were controlled by red, green and yellow lights.

The city looked beautiful with the dozens of skyscrapers and lights but Tayuya wondered where in the hell she was.

"Yo, you're finally awake," A voice said, which caused Tayuya's head to snap towards a doorway.

Leaning in the open doorway was a blonde girl in sunglass, skin tight yoga pants that read "Cassie" on each side in white and a black sports bra with a water bottle in her hand.

Tanzaku Town
Samui

Samui hissed in agony as she gripped at the large wrist of the replicant gripping at her neck. For the past few minutes, the Motaro replicant had been in the air, slamming and grinding her body against the brick walls of the various buildings that passed and she was doing all she could to get away and yet the grip persisted.

'This is not cool…I need to get out of this…' Samui thought as she began to punch at the being's face repeatedly but its hold didn't lessen. She then tried to rack at its glowing yellow eyes but again, its grip didn't slack.

The Motaro replicant let out a sinister growl and tilted its body down so Samui's back was pointed towards the corner of a building where the replicant glowed a bright purple before propelling himself down to the building and crashing through it, which caused Samui to scream in agony.

The replicant then lifted up Samui and punched her in the face several times before it tossed her into a window, where she crashed out of it and landed on the ground.

Samui struggled to rise to her feet but she then felt the hand of the replicant grasp her entire head, lifting her up into the air.

For a brief moment, she could see a smirk appear on its green and veiny yellow face as it reared back its right hand to punch her down but then the shout of "Raiton: Dendō Dangan (Lightning Style: Electric Bullet)!"

Samui then watched as Omoi's body slammed into the jaw of the replicant, which caused it to release her head, letting her fall to the ground in pain.

Karui quickly came in and picked her up and asked "Are you ok?"

"Not feeling to good…" Samui murmured weakly, her vision blurring.

"Omoi! We need to get her some help, she's suffering from a shit ton of wounds," Karui shouted.

Omoi looked back at her and said "I doubt that stupid thing is going to let us go without a fight so go, I'll hold it off!"

Karui frowned at this and shouted "Are you crazy?!"

"I might be but I got this!" Omoi shouted. "Get her to safety!"

Karui nodded and tossed her sword to Omoi, who caught and said "Be safe…"

"That's my line," Omoi said with a grin.

Karui looked down at Samui and said to her "I'll get you some help. Just hang on!" before she leapt off. Samui looked back to Omoi staring at the creature before it all went black.

Unknown Location
Yasai no Tayuya

Tayuya felt her face heat up for a moment at eyeing the woman. She was very fit and looked beautiful, even with the sides of her head being shaved, which was typically not her style when searching for a woman.

"What's up? Cat got your tongue red?" The female asked with a saucy smirk.

"You can get my tongue anytime you want," Tayuya said with a grin.

The female laughed at this and said "Holy shit. No hesitation. I like that in a girl."

"I'm glad so before we get to the tongue lashing, where in the hell am I and who are you?" Tayuya asked.

"Names Cassie Cage. Resident Elder God ass kicker. You're in my little home of Los Angeles…Well…It was before that fucking asshole decided to force a war," the female growled out angrily.

"What asshole did that?" Tayuya asked.

Cassie narrowed her eyes angrily and seethed out the name "Liu Kang…"

"Liu Kang…" Tayuya repeated.

"He was Quan-Chi's right hand man. Took over the NetherRealm after I put the beat down on Shinnok…We don't know how but he figured out the way to take control souls…He brought back Quan-Chi as his revenant…And then it was all over…They took over Outworld, took control of all their fighters and then attacked Earthrealm…"

Cassie clenched her fist tightly and said "I thought…I thought I would be strong enough to stop them like I did Shinnok…But I wasn't. Liu Kang…he killed my parents and turned them into sick puppets. He killed my friends and did the same! He went and killed every single warrior that could stand in his way and took them into his army…He even…He even killed his queen and best friend when he found them trying to become human…"

"Holy shit…" Tayuya breathed out.

"He killed me as well but Raiden and Ermac…They were there to save me and the few souls that hadn't been taken yet and after Ermac did that, Raiden destroyed the Earth before it could fully be taken by Liu Kang and forced the Elder Gods to recreate it while also creating a barrier to keep the Netherrealm from breaking through it again."

"Wait…Wait! Was one of these souls Hasashi Hanzo?!" Tayuya exclaimed.

"I remember Raiden saying his name…Why do you ask?" Cassie replied.

"Holy shit. He's my friend! He's going by Uzumaki Naruto now!" Tayuya exclaimed.

"Holy shit! So then it worked? Their crazy plan actually worked?!" Cassie said excitedly. "Holy shit, this is huge. You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that. Holy shit! Those crazy assholes."

Cassie rubbed her head and said "Ok, so that makes my comment true than before. Essentially, their plan was to take all the fighters souls that haven't been taken by that asshole and put them into new bodies so when the time was right, the souls can wake up and prepare to fight the Netherrealm when they came knocking."

"Wait…I also remember that Naruto said that he had died for him and Hanzo to become one…So if I'm right then I…I died…" Tayuya said with a blink. "I actually died…"

"Yeah…And if I am here then that means you and I are the same person," Cassie said. "So that tongue lashing…Would that mean this would be masturbation or…"

Tayuya snorted and said "So…What do we do now then?"

"How about tell me what the hell is going on out there," Cassie said.

"Well…It's not pretty but let me start at the beginning…" Tayuya began.

Naruto (Reaper) Holy shit…So that's the deal with that….

Naruto(Hellfire): *Blank Stare*

Kate: Come on Naruto…You need to snap out of it. I know things are bad now but they will get better. I promise!

Naruto (Dragoon): Until the next chapter.