CHAPTER 35: FINAL SHOWDOWN – NARUTO UZUMAKI, AKIRA SUGIYAMA, TETSUMA HYUGA
Tetsuma Hyuga, donned in his dark garments covered by a long, silvery robe with the kanji for "God", scowled as he lessened his grip on Neji Hyuga's throat. Indeed, the two seemed to be mirror images of each other, although Tetsuma's years of crime and violence definitely differentiated himself from his younger cousin. His face bore a number of healed-over scars, and his shoulder-length hair swayed gently in the breeze of the Hyuga's villa of Konoha. But what was most unique about his appearance from that of Neji was his eyes; the Ikemasen Byakugan, as it was called, radiantly shone from the five points on each eye – four glowing white points, one at each cardinal direction of the iris, and one in the center of the pupil accentuating the already vein-ridden and intense Byakugan. These eyes were set in a scowl as Tetsuma peered left past Neji's face at the new set of intruders.
"You, get away from my friends," commanded a boy's voice from off to the left. Tetsuma turned to see three figures: a handsome brown-haired man immediately recognizable as Akira Sugiyama, a huge orange toad, and a blonde-haired boy sitting on the toad's head. The boy donned a handsome black cloak with raging orange flames rising from the hem, his arms folded and his eyes closed.
"Akira…" said Tetsuma with a bored tone. "Who's your little friend with the big frog?"
"I am Naruto Uzumaki," replied the boy without hesitation. "And this is the end of you."
"Hmph…" grunted Tetsuma, releasing Neji from his grip, causing the Jonin to fall limply into the shallow pond. "Seems I can't count on Jago to do anything. And you, boy…wasn't Kira supposed to be fighting with you?"
"Kira is gone…" said Naruto softly, lowering his eyes in shame. "I defeated him myself, and Jago has joined with us."
"Is that so," countered Tetsuma. "Well, Jago's betrayal will be dealt with soon then. Once Raiko finds out, he will seek him out to destroy the whelk without a moment's hesitation. But since I can't seem to count on my subordinates to complete their assignments, I will just have to take care of them myself." Naruto looked onward intensely, his muscles preparing for the battle about to commence, but just as he was about to leap forth and commence, something flew past his vision. It was Akira.
"You bastard!" cried out the Kankokage, flying across the garden. In his hand was a kunai, and he swung it at Tetsuma without restraint. "You'll pay for what you've done!" Tetsuma looked up at him with a bored look in his eyes, and he pulled out a kunai of his own. Blades met with a spray of sparks, and the clash began, all the while Naruto looked onward in shock.
This isn't the Akira I know… thought Naruto. He's never shown rage like this…
"Akira-sama, I'm impressed," said Tetsuma while the Kankokage let loose his rage upon him. "You're anger and hatred are splendid – you've finally shown me the strength you possess. I'm curious though…what brought this out?"
"You murderer…!" growled Akira, his rage spilling into his voice, making it warbled and unstable. "You killed my family, my friends…you destroyed my village, my hopes, my dreams…everything I spent my life creating, you destroyed! I can't hold it in any longer! I will kill you for your crimes against me and my people!" Akira continued his barrage of slashes and strikes upon the leader of the Twelve Cloaked Daggers, and it began to seem as though he was succeeding in weakening Tetsuma.
"Akira!" cried out Naruto, but the Kankokage didn't hesitate to interrupt.
"Stay out of this Naruto!" he shouted, not turning around. "This is my fight, and I will defeat this slime!" Naruto gulped; clearly Akira had been holding in a great deal of pain, and seeing the source of his pain in the flesh must have caused him to snap, replacing the calm, peaceful, and friendly Akira with what looked, acted, and sounded like a monster. Beyond Akira's screams of hatred increased, as did the frequency and speed of his attacks. It was then that Naruto felt it, a painful feeling he had tried to ignore since reaching the village and activating his Sage jutsu.
"Hinata…" he whispered to himself. Hinata is dying…Lee too…and Jago…
"What are you going to do Naruto?" asked the toad Gamakichi below. "Looks like Akira's gonna beat that guy pretty good. He might not need your help after all."
"Gama, go to the gate of the village and find Hinata," said Naruto bluntly, ignoring Gamakichi's statement. "You can heal, right?"
"I've been practicing healing jutsu, but all I can do is stabilize."
"That's good enough," continued Naruto. "Please hurry – it feels like the Wolf Fenrir is already there, but something doesn't seem right. Go quickly!"
"Fenrir?" gasped the toad. "What brought him out here?"
"Just go!" demanded Naruto.
"Yeah yeah, I'm on my way," said Gamakichi. "Be careful, okay?" Naruto nodded in the affirmative, his gaze never leaving the battle ensuing before him even as he hopped off the toad's head. Gamakichi leaped off out of sight, now leaving Naruto alone to witness the terrible fight between Akira and Tetsuma. A few more strikes came, each releasing more sparks than the one before, and with a mighty slash Tetsuma flew backwards, landing hard on his back. Akira stood above him, his chest heaving, his eyes twisted in unbridled anger and furor, sweat rolling down his face and his teeth clenched so tightly it hurt.
"S-stop!" pleaded Tetsuma. "D-don't kill me!" Akira scowled in anger as he looked down upon the trembling ninja.
"I'm sorry, I can't honor that request," said Akira coldly. "You will die here, and I will assure it no matter what."
"Akira…" said Naruto. "Akira you don't have to do this…"
"Shut up, Naruto!" shouted the Kankokage. "I can't let him live! Look what he's done already! He's wiped out the Brine, the Lightning, and now he's turned his destruction upon your own home, Konoha! He's murdered thousands, and I cannot look the other way!"
"N-n-no!" cried out Tetsuma, his trembling so intense it rattled his voice. His eyes still exhibited the Ikemasen Byakugan, but now they were so filled with fear that Akira ignored it.
"You will die now…for your sins…" Akira's face became stony and cold, the emotion leaving his face to be replaced by pure apathy. For him the agony, anger, hatred, and sorrow were complete, and now all that remained was the merciless, friendless, and heartless face of death. The time came, and he slashed his kunai down at Tetsuma's face. What happened then surprised Akira – indeed he had lost his ability to think logically, being lost in his own rage beyond the point of rational thought. Tetsuma's look of horror vanished, replaced instead by a cruel look of pleasure. Tetsuma's eyes flashed, the light emanating from each Ikemasen point, and Akira's movement immediately stopped.
"Heh heh…got you…"
Akira's body trembled despite his forced paralysis from Tetsuma's Byakugan while his foe stood up, brushed the dirt from his clothes, and cracked his knuckles while stretching. Naruto looked onward in horror; Akira had been stopped, and now would die any moment for sure.
"You are a poor ninja, Akira Sugiyama," said Tetsuma with a disappointed air to his voice. "You let loose so beautifully, then had to screw it all up. Thinking clearly under rage is difficult, yes, but impossible. I'm sorry to do this, I really am, but your life is now over." Tetsuma's right hand began to glow with chakra, and Naruto knew exactly what was about to happen – jyuuken, against an incapacitated foe, directly into the heart. One hit would be all he would need.
"Akira!" cried out Naruto, but before he could make his move Akira's seemingly frozen body stirred.
"N-not…yet…" muttered the Kankokage with all his strength. The three rings of Dragon, Earth, and Water began to glow red, and chakra rushed into his body like a broken dam. "Yubiwa no jutsu: hanatsu sankasa!" (Ring Technique: Three Ring Release)
Waves of red, brown and blue chakra burst out of Akira in all directions, creating wind gusts and blasting away debris and grass all around. As though having invisible chains broken, Akira's limbs became free, and with a dramatic burst of energy he broke free from the Ikemasen's grasp.
"Oh, this is interesting…" said Tetsuma with piqued interest. "They said you could die if you released all three rings at the same time. If my understanding of Ring jutsu is correct, releasing all that stored chakra into your system will overload your cells, leading to catastrophic damage. Tell me, am I really that worth it?" Akira did not respond, rather his eyes were directed at the ground, his entire figure motionless. His appearance had changed; his brown hair was now white, standing up rather than hanging down. Bi-colored were his eyes, his right grey and stony, the left deep and blue as the sea, and bronzed was his skin, almost as though it were covered with metal. Wings stretched from his back, large, bat-like wings, and power surged from his being unlike anything Naruto had seen before.
"To stop you…" uttered Akira, his voice so deep and powerful it shook every bone in Naruto's body, not to mentioned every physical object in view. "I would give up my life. Prepare yourself, Tetsuma!" Like a ghost Akira vanished, and Tetsuma's eyes lit up in shock as the Kankokage appeared several yards behind him in an instant.
"What?!" gasped Tetsuma, but Akira was already prepared to deliver his attack.
"Sankasanami." (Three Ring Wave)
Akira swept his arms and wings forward, sending a horrific wave of water, stone, and destruction at Tetsuma's back, the din of which sounded like a thousand rocky avalanches. Tetsuma turned, his eyes still wide in surprise as he looked upon the devastating technique headed his way, but instead of recoiling in fear he grinned.
"Beautiful technique, but not good enough," said Tetsuma. "Ikemasen o ninpo: shiden." (Forbidden ninja art: flash). Tetsuma likewise seemed to vanish just as the wave of death would have struck him, the wave instead continuing its course towards and unfortunately through the Hyuga leader's home, rendering it completely destroyed.
"W-what?!" gasped Akira, seeing the failure of his technique, but before he could make his next move Tetsuma was there, crouched down, inches away from Akira's body. Tetsuma's face was still set in a grin, and time seemed to stop for Akira as the words left his foes lips.
"Good bye, Kankokage-sama," said Tetsuma softly. "Jyuuken!" Tetsuma's hand, glowing with chakra, slammed into Akira's chest at his heart and threw him backwards several yards.
"AKIRA!!!" cried out Naruto, but it was too late. Akira's body reverted back to his normal, human form, and was motionless from then on, his face pointed away from Naruto's view. "No…"
"So much for that one," said Tetsuma coldly. "Now let's take a look at you, why don't we?" Naruto felt his own feelings become unstable as he looked upon this terrible person, his rage almost too much to handle.
"Akira was a good person, and you destroyed everything he held dear…" growled Naruto. "And you just throw him aside and treat him like garbage…that is unforgiveable." The Fox marks on his cheeks began to darken and become ragged despite his being in Sage mode, and upon seeing these Tetsuma became astonished.
"Oh my goodness!" he exclaimed as he made his realization. "You're THE Naruto Uzumaki!"
"Yeah, what of it?" replied Naruto coldly.
"You defeated Pain," continued Tetsuma. "You're the Nine-Tailed Fox host, a jinchuuriki, reputed to be the strongest ninja in the world! I never thought you would have grown up to be so influential; you see, last time I saw you, you were just a toddler that no one wanted or loved. Seems you've come a long way!"
"So what's your point?"
"Oh nothing, just my realization, that's all," replied Tetsuma nonchalantly. "You're still going to die, just like Akira. Now, come at me, if you dare."
"Why you…!" cried out Naruto, his feelings exploding. He then charged at Tetsuma at furious speed, crossing the entire garden in a blink of an eye, and the Taijutsu battle began. "I'm gonna destroy you for what you've done!!!" This effort seemed to be in vain, however; despite Naruto's overwhelming chakra and strength, Tetsuma's eyes seemed to see right through his attacks. As such, the Toad Sage was unable to even touch a single hair on Tetsuma's head.
"Pity," said Tetsuma, his voice sounding sad. "I expected more than that."
"Grrr!!!" growled Naruto, setting his fingers into a cross formation. "Tajuu kage bunshin no jutsu!" (Multi-shadow clone technique). With a great burst of smoke several hundred Naruto clone appeared in the ravaged garden.
"Shadow clones?" mused Tetsuma. "Lots of them!" Tetsuma's movement rivaled Neji for grace and fluidity as he coursed through the field of clones, each failed strike from Naruto's hands met with a jyuuken of Tetsuma's. One by one the clones vanished at an alarming rate, and even if several attacked at once the result was the same.
He moves like Sasuke and Kakashi… thought Naruto as his clones continued their barrage of frightful fists and shins upon Tetsuma. He doesn't have the Sharingan, though…I didn't think the Byakugan could do this? And he's only using his hands – this is insane!
"My doujutsu is superior to that of the Uchiha clan," said Tetsuma suddenly, prompting a shock in Naruto's mind.
How did he…? The last shadow clone was destroyed at Tetsuma's hand, and he turned his eyes upon the real Naruto.
"The Ikemasen Byakugan lets me see deep into your body, beyond just chakra flows. I can see into your mind, into your thoughts…I can go deeper and deeper unimpeded…" Naruto's body suddenly stopped moving as though it had been frozen into stone.
What's going on?! I can't move!!!
"You are trapped within my jutsu," said Tetsuma calmly. "Let's see what secrets a jinchuuriki has to offer me…" Naruto felt Tetsuma perusing his mind like an old book, stepping from thought to thought as though shopping for a pair of shoes.
"G…get out…of my…" stammered Naruto with all the strength he could muster.
"Oh, hush," retorted Tetsuma coldly, but then the scene changed. Tetsuma found himself standing in what looked like a flooded sewer system with water dripping from ceiling all around him.
"What is this I've found?" he mused, and he began strolling down the sewer, his legs splashing the water around with each step.
Get out of there… thought Naruto, but Tetsuma ignored his plea, instead continuing his constitutional through this most secretive place within Naruto's psyche. It was as he passed a seemingly inconspicuous alley that Tetsuma heard a low rumbling, and with a smile he turned and walked towards it. Further and further into the shadows he went, but after a few dozen paces he entered a large room with a massive barred gate at the far end.
"This is…!" he gasped. "The Nine-Tailed Fox!"
Get away from that gate! cried out Naruto in his thoughts, but again Tetsuma ignored him.
"Seems not just one seal, but two are keeping this gate locked," said Tetsuma, looking closer at the cage. Indeed, the seal placed by the Fourth Hokage was present, but an additional seal was present, this one bearing the kanji for "silence". "What is the purpose of this second seal, I wonder?"
Please… pleaded Naruto. Don't remove those seals!
"But that would be so boring!" replied Tetsuma, and he pulled off the second seal. For a moment there was only silence, but then the same rumbling he had felt earlier returned – only this time a voice accompanied it.
"Naruto, is that you?" growled a deep voice, so full of evil that it gave Tetsuma chills across his entire being.
"I am not Naruto," replied Tetsuma proudly.
"Hmph, you don't feel like an Uchiha…" growled the voice. "Who are you?" Two huge, red eyes appeared through the darkness, accompanied by a horrible maw filled with razor-sharp teeth. "A Hyuga?! What is a filthy urchin like you doing here?!"
"Kyuubi," said Tetsuma. "I am here to free you." The Fox was silent for a moment, but then began to chuckle in a deep, booming chortle.
"You? A Hyuga? HA! You couldn't even scratch the Fourth's seal on this cage! You did well to remove Naruto's seal of silence; he's been relying on that 'good' Nine-Tail chakra for a couple years now, but I'm afraid you're just not…-" Tetsuma ignored the Fox, instead weaving a long, complex series of signs that caught the Kyuubi's attention.
"Again, I am here to free you," said Tetsuma. "I must say that it was pure luck that I came across such a wonderful treasure as the Kyuubi, but I can't simply let such a grand opportunity pass me by."
"What do you mean, opportunity?" asked the Fox. Tetsuma looked into the Fox's huge eyes and smiled.
"You will serve me, and help me destroy Konoha." Tetsuma's final sign was woven, and he placed his right hand upon the seal. "Ikemasen o ninpo: kaihofujirushumari!" (Forbidden ninja art: ultimate seal release). The seal dissolved, and the gate creaked open slightly, and Naruto's worst nightmare became realized.
Oh God…
"Come forth, Nine-Tailed Fox!" shouted Tetsuma. "Claim Naruto's body, come with me, and together we'll destroy Konoha!"
Next chapter: THE
ULTIMATE NIGHTMARE BONUS!