Rain:…..Guess whose back! That's right, me and it's time I start over on this chapter! I hope you all missed me because I missed you guys so…

Mario: Here we go!


Reaper's Blood: Reincarnated

Chapter Forty-Nine

Kuroi growled out but then he said in a calm voice as he slowly reached for his mask "You think you can just take a life so easily…Tell you what…Show me you aren't weak…I want you to strike me down while seeing who I am…"

Naruto watched in shock as Kuroi dropped his mask then his face formed a look of pure horror as Kuroi slowly rose his head to reveal very familiar blue eyes, facial structure, the very faint whisker marks, the slightly sharp canines he noticed from Kuroi's bitter scowl and that same look of determination that he himself had given many times.

"N-No…" Naruto whimpered out as the flames in his hand died out.

This couldn't be happening.

There was no way this could be happening.

This had to be a trick.

A damn Genjutsu.

A dying dream.

Something!

He just didn't want what he was looking at right now.

"Come on Uzumaki! Strike me down where I stand…Right here…Right now!" With those words filled with rage, desperation and defiance, Kuroi spread his arms apart, his blue eyes sharp with fury.

"Strike down the shinobi who has your face!" the beaten Kuroi screamed, anger coursing through his veins. Naruto took an unwanted step backwards from this person who bore his face.

"T-This has got to be a trick…" Naruto muttered in disbelief, his own voice shining through, his blue eyes glittering with many emotions, none of them being positive.

Kuroi laughed while leaning his head back on the tree, a true insane smirk plastered on his face as he said "This is no trick nor dream. This is my face…This is my life Uzumaki…" and as he said these words, black and white lightning shot up his body, causing him to buckle in pain.

His time was almost up but if there was some way he could get Naruto close before it all ended, then his master's work would be done…

"But that is not possible!" Naruto yelled out with fury. "There can't be two of us here! I'm the sole Uzumaki Naruto! Only I have these eyes and whisker marks. Only I have this face, this voice, this curse! Only I do!"

"Then explain my existence," Kuroi replied, his voice as cold as the rain pouring down on them. Naruto opened his mouth but then shut it instantly.

How could he explain this shinobi, this being that shares his likeness existed? Then again, it didn't matter! He was the true Uzumaki Naruto. He was the number one hyperactive shinobi in this village and there was no way this could be him.

And yet….He could see the truth in Kuroi's eyes.

"How is this possible?" Naruto breathed out softly.

"Simple…They wanted better," Kuroi taunted while forcing himself off the tree and walked towards the shinobi slowly, a grin forming on his face. "You see, I was created by the great minds of this village to do one thing. To become something you would never become. I was created to be stronger, faster, smarter, better than you. I'm your Replica…"

"Replica…" Naruto repeated, finding himself taking another step back.

Kuroi laughed lowly and replied "Yes…They knew of the Uzumaki's Dōjutsu and wanted to take it for their own but the Hokage wouldn't allow one of my creators' to take you under their wing but you see, The Hokage wasn't stupid enough to pass on a different idea thought…"

Kuroi smirked and let out a brief chuckle. "He knew the Dōjutsu of the Uzumaki was strong and while he wouldn't accept them taking you…He did allow them to take samples of you…You see, the Uzumaki clan was a great one, filled with skilled seal masters as well as our Dōjutsu…Understand that if a village would have them, that village would be unbeatable…"

"Don't tell me…" Naruto said with this sick revelation filling within his head, his blood running cold as Kuroi's smirk grew. There was no way he meant the old man? Surely he couldn't mean him. Lately, the Hokage had shown him a different side but there was no way he would let this shinobi's creators use him as a template for some super army.

"Oh yes…With the Hokage's permission, my creators took many of your samples to start Project: Phoenix. Using your DNA, They were going to bring the Uzumaki clan back from the dead and create an army. An army with our skills at seals and our Dōjutsu to become the greatest Village of all time…But you see, they didn't take account of one thing…"

Naruto instantly knew what this was and murmured "The Kyūbi…."

Kuroi nodded "Many of your replicas perished because of the Kyūbi's tainted chakra but then a miracle happened...One replica was able to survive that tainted chakra and harness it for its own…The moment my creator saw this, he fled the village without telling anyone that it was a success…With the thought that Project: Phoenix was a such a failure that when the Uchiha massacre occurred, they didn't bother to resurrect it…"

Kuroi paused, a few feet away from Naruto, his blond hair covering his eyes as a cruel smirk was on his face. He was close enough that his final plan of action would not be in vain and considering how shocked his opponent was, Kuroi had a better shot at finishing this.

"You see Uzumaki Naruto…I still stand as the success of the project that your Hokage hid from you…I stand as the best of all the best…I survived the hell that I had been born with and became who I am today. I am faster, stronger, smarter, better. You may have been my prototype but I am the Ultimate Uzumaki…And guess what?" Kuroi let a victorious smirk form on his face, his body pulsating, the chakra around him rising to the air slowly.

Naruto eyes widened as Kuroi's head glanced up at him and said "I know how to use a clone as well! Shiro Hekireki Ba-suto: Arashi Bushin Bakuha (White Thunder Burst: Tempest exploding clone Technique)!" Naruto immediately switched out with a rock at the very last second as Kuroi's body was enveloped in a white orb with black lightning crossing it briefly before exploded.

Despite his switch, Naruto found himself still getting hit due to barely escaping the blast and found himself slamming into a tree hard then sailing to the ground, slamming into every large tree branch that came to pass before slamming into the ground but the moment he did, he felt a large amount of pain go through his left arm.

'Do not scream…' Naruto said to himself as he forced himself to his feet and to his horror, he couldn't. Slowly looking to his left, he saw that his left arm was bent in the wrong direction.

He had broken it.

With gritted teeth and unshed tears in his eyes, Naruto started to claw his way to a boulder nearby to help him get to his feet and once he did, Naruto managed to get on his feet and use it as support.

For the first time in ages, Naruto felt true exhaustion overtake him and not just physical exhaustion…

Mental as well.

So as of right now until proven otherwise, the man he used to view as a grandfather had allowed people to take his DNA to make replicas of himself to recreate his long gone clan? Naruto wanted to say Kuroi was lying but he saw it in his eyes.

The very same eyes he bore himself.

If Kuroi was telling the truth then the man he knew as his grandfather may have never cared about him at all. Did all he want was a weapon?

And not only that, the Kuroi that he was fighting all alone was a damned clone. So if that had been the clone, where was the real Kuroi?

The final question was answered when Naruto's weak eyes glanced at the forest he had just dragged himself out of and merely gave a smirk.

With a weak, dreary laugh, Naruto said "Kage Bushin. The ultimate move to surprise your opponents…I should have known you would know it." Naruto knew who it was from the moment he saw him step out of the forest but Naruto was just too exhausted to try and fight him.

He knew that at this moment that this was it.

He had lost this battle.

He couldn't find the will to keep going. He was too exhausted both physically and mentally to keep going, especially considering that he was going against someone who was vastly stronger and also very fresh so even if he did continue, he would have perished anyways but at least before he was to go, he needed to know everything.

"Yes…I must admit, you are a very strong opponent, to fight off my clone like that…" Kuroi replied honestly as his cloak drifted to the left due to the gust of cold wind.

"When?" Naruto asked, not bothering to ask the full question.

"Since the very start…" Kuroi answered.

"How?" Naruto asked,

"…Shiro Hekireki Ba-suto: Arashi Bushin (White Thunder Burst: Tempest Clone). When it takes a certain amount of damage, its ultimate jutsu is triggered…" Kuroi explained with shut eyes.

"I see…How did you learn all of this? How did you gain that eye of yours?" Naruto asked him solemnly.

Kuroi looked to the sky and said "Simple…Because of the Kyūbi's tainted chakra, it morphed my Kioigan into the Akureigan…The reason I know so many of its techniques is because I trained with this eye to the point of breaking…and when I did, the spirit within decided I was worth it and gave me access…"

"I see…she chose wisely then…" Naruto complimented with a small smile.

Kuroi nodded and replied "Yes…I couldn't go through all that I have without Mitsuru to guide me. To keep me strong when I could no longer stand…"

"Yeah…I just wish my spirits and Kyūbi could be the same with me…But I guess that is my fault…" Naruto admitted to his opponent before laughing weakly. "I didn't want to abuse them like they were nothing…"

"Admirable but foolish all the same…How will they be able to grow in strength if you don't use them to their full potential?" Kuroi asked the genin.

"I just…didn't want to drain them dry each and every time…" Naruto replied with weak blue eyes. "I have one last question…After that you can do what you fought me for…"

Kuroi's Ranmyaku Akureigan stared at Naruto's relaxed form and nodded his head, allowing him to answer.

"Why tell me this? What right did I have to know that the person I viewed as my grandfather could hurt more than he already has…Why?" Naruto asked him weakly, tears of anguish falling from his face which was thankfully hidden by the rain above.

He didn't want to know that he had a replica.

He didn't need to know that his own replica was to be his killer.

He didn't want to know that the Hokage let himself be swayed to betray him in the ultimate way. Yes, he considered the Hokage separating his sister from him but to let unknown people take his DNA to create his long gone clan…It was far too much.

He didn't want to know that everything he basically grew up with was a lie…

But what he truly did want to know, if this was it was why?

Why did his killer want to tell him all of this?

"Because in the end…" Kuroi started while pointing his two fingers forward, black lightning gathering at his fingertips. "You deserved to know the truth…Kurobuchi Shūrai: Tsukinukeru," and with those words, a single black bolt of lightning shot out from Kuroi's hand and pierced through Naruto's chest and through the boulder he was leaning against.

Naruto took several steps forward before he fell to his knees then fell to the ground, his eyes completely white, seemingly dead but if one were to look close enough, the Uzumaki was still breathing.

Lowering his arm, Kuroi stared at the downed body of Uzumaki Naruto for a moment until he heard a female's voice from a distance say "I see something orange over there! It might be Naruto-kun!" which caused him to snap his head at that direction.

"It seems your friends have arrived and not a moment too soon…" Kuroi glanced back the genin and examined him.

During the battle, Naruto's orange jacket was ripped from his body and his shirt was half destroyed on the left side, leaving his right sleeve and the bottom half of his shirt remaining.

His shinobi sandals were missing and the right legging of his orange pants were ripped from the knee down, revealing his scratched up leg.

"You truly fought well…Recover as much as you can Uzumaki because soon, this village will need you…" Kuroi warned the unconscious Uzumaki before shaking his head, saying "Until we meet again, Uzumaki Naruto…"

Kuroi deactivated his eyes, returning them back to the steel blue eyes they were before and turned his back on the genin's body and began a slow pace back to the forest.

But as he walked, he was stopped when a warm female voice within his mind said "…I thought you aimed to kill him…That level of power would have just knocked him out…"

Kuroi stopped mid-stride and said "I couldn't kill him with looking the way he did…It reminded me too much of…" Kuroi looked to the sky and shut his eyes, willing a memory deep within him from making its way to the front of his mind.

Taking a breath, Kuroi merely said "I just couldn't allow myself to beat a broken opponent. Next time we meet however…When he becomes stronger…I will defeat him…" And with that, Kuroi walked into the forest, trying to ignore the feelings of love that were being directed at him.


Unknown Location

Sitting at the edge of a lake with shards of crystals floating up from the lake and the dark blue grass sat a woman with long, bouncy bark blue hair with a black kimono on with a white wrap around her mid-section.

The woman's lips, colored in a dark blue lipstick formed into a loving smile as she stared down at the reflection of Kuroi with her soft platinum silver eyes.

"Kuroi…You may not want to admit it but you saw yourself when you were broken like he was..." The woman gave a soft chuckle.

"You're still the kind hearted boy you used to be…" She whispered softly while shutting her eyes, her hands clutched together at her chest.


Rain: And with that, this chapter ends. The next chapter will focus on a lot of other things. So how was it? Did I lose my touch or anything? I certainly hope not. So until the next chapter…

Mario: See you next time!