Chapter 53: Victory and Conspiracy
Katasuke watched as he saw a sphere break out from atop the meteor. The meteor cracked and broke apart the chakra unraveled and Boruto appeared in the sky.
"...You're strong." Katasuke admitted, "You're strong enough to break anything that gets in your way...but you're not strong enough to win. You'd break every bone in your body to win every battle but you don't have the strength to grab victory in the end. But to bring me this far...is the greatest feat you can accomplish. Take it with you to the afterlife."
Katasuke turned around. Boruto turned his head as he saw another shadow eclipse him.
"Tengai Shinsei." Katasuke winced as he walked away, "This jutsu took months to reproduce and capture. It's sheer power overtaxes even my kotes for it's duration and afterward. With only one, you'd be left vulnerable as your kote recovers. With two you can fend them off until it recovers. But two Tengai Shinsei seals all hope."
Boruto turned around in the air as another meteor flew down towards him.
"Die. And watch as your village joins you soon."
"Chakra Shift: Base."
The rasengans on the ground broke apart and shifted towards Boruto as he gathered everything, every chakra remaining and pooling whatever natural energy was willing to support him into his fist. He stared down the meteor as it closed in on him. And as it was about to impact him, Boruto threw forth his fist.
"Fly. Chijo ni Kotozute Ten ni Tsuku!" (Earthly Message That Pierces the Heavens)
Katasuke stumbled as the earth suddenly stumbled as the earth shook. Turning around, his jaw dropped as the his second meteor cracked and broke apart in the sky. Stumbling back, Katasuke fell on the ground as the pieces of the second meteor crashed onto of the remains of the first. And as the last pieces of the second meteor fell, Boruto began to fall back to the earth with them. From the great height that he had been launched, his fall came quickly. Having used all his strength, Boruto couldn't lift a finger to save himself as he plummeted. The ground rushed closer and closer until his kote beeped.
Katasuke stared at the earth that their fight had transformed. The pieces of the second meteor were thinner than the pieces of the first meteor. Together, the fallen pieces resembled a giant earthly lotus flower. Numbly, he began to walk back, climbing into the veritable crater that his attack had created. And in the center of it all laid Boruto. Not moving a single inch, unable to even pick himself up.
"...This is it." Katasuke said, "I can end it all now. Rasenshuriken!"
His kote formed a shuiken of wind in his hands as he stepped forward towards the motionless Boruto. As he stepped forward, the chaff that Boruto had scattered ate away at his jutsu but not enough to hinder him as he stood above his body.
…
"...That wind jutsu." Katasuke said, "You didn't use it yourself. Your kote...your kote did it by itself. It saved you."
"..."
"...Did you...program it to do that?"
…
"I...worked on programming artificial intelligence." Boruto smiled faintly, "But that was never a part of my kote. Not even in full function."
"...My kote wouldn't do something like that."
"Would it?"
…
"This is over." Katasuke said as he raised his rasenshuiken.
"Yeah. It is."
"...Is that how you're going to die?"
"Heh."
Katasuke watched as Boruto pushed himself up once more. He only used one arm. His other arm, the one that struck the meteor, dangled there, beyond being simply broken.
"...Your first technique." Katasuke said as Boruto moved himself, "You drilled through the meteor itself but your second attack...you blasted your chakra through the core of the meteor and expanded a rasengan in the core itself, destroying it from the inside."
"Is that what I did?" Botuto smiled as he leaned against a rock, "Ah. This is much more comfortable."
"...Then let's end this." Katasuke said as he drew back his arm.
"...Let's."
…
"Rasenshuriken!"
Katasuke struck.
"Rasengan."
Katasuke doubled over, his attack falling short of hitting Boruto. As a rasengan dug into his stomach, pushing and then throwing him across the ground, meters away.
"So this...is what you meant by feeding." Katasuke coughed as he pushed himself up again, "This chaff...is not just a hindrance."
"..."
"Your chaff...soaked up every bit of chakra from our fight...and now each of them is full of chakra...that you can manipulate."
"..."
"..." Katasuke stepped forward again, pointing his kote at Boruto.
"Lightning Release: Voltaic Cumulus."
Lighting sparked out of every chaff as they electrocuted Katasuke. Katasuke fell to his knees as he gasped.
"...Whatever I do...you can respond instantly...and attack from any direction...before I can even make a move."
"..."
"...So why don't you finish me?" Katasuke growled as he stood up again.
"..."
"It doesn't matter...who is stronger...or who has been damaged the least...the only victors...are those who have the will to seize it!"
Katasuke roared as he ran forward, calling two rasenshurikens to his hands and charging towards Boruto.
"..." Boruto held up his hand as every single piece of chaff in the area used their chakra to become a field of rasengans.
"Rasengan Convergence."
And with a snap of his fingers, Boruto had every rasengan fly towards Katasuke, imploding and barraging Katasuke with a myriad of rasengans from every direction. Until finally, Katasuke collapsed.
"Boruto!"
Sarada, Mitsuki, Konohamaru and Sasuke all climbed into the crater to rush to Boruto's side. As they gathered around him, Mitsuki quickly knelt down to examine him.
"Your arm's beyond broken." Mitsuki said as he ripped off one of his sleeves and carefully moved Boruto's arm in position for a sling, "There's some major damage that will need some professional attention but for now, I can heal some of your minor wounds and replenish some of your chakra."
"Thanks...Mitsuki." Boruto smiled tiredly as Mitsuki began to heal him.
"You're welcome."
"How do you feel?" Sasuke asked.
Boruto closed his eyes and leaned back, taking a deep breath before answering.
"Empty. As if a great burden has left me but nothing took it's place. In the end, I just feel like a part of me was lost."
"Yeah. That's revenge."
"...Revenge huh? Well, this was never for me. I'm sure..." Boruto held up his kote, "If this was alive...it'd be happy."
"..."
Sarada fidgeted behind Boruto, unsure of what exactly to say.
"Come on then." Konohamaru smiled as he gently coaxed Sarada, "Just say what you feel."
Sarada gulped and walked up, "Boruto?"
"Hm?"
"…" Sarada took a deep breath and gave Boruto her best smile, "Welcome back."
"..." Boruto returned her smile as he replied, "I'm back."
"Now then." Konohamaru sighed as he walked up to the defeated Katasuke, "What should we do with you?"
"Let me talk to him." Sasuke said as he walked up to Katasuke and pulled him up by the collar, "What were you planning?!"
Katasuke coughed and moaned instead of answering.
"That's right, you were sent here by the Hokage weren't you?" Konohamaru frowned, "What were you doing here?"
"After his exile, Naaruto kept a watch on his activities outside of Konoha. For a while, it seemed like all he would do was wander the wild lands until they realized that there were some suspicious activities from some of their own scientists within Konoha. Upon investigating they learned that there was a sect of people loyal to him. Naruto wasn't able to find anything specific despite observing whatever suspicious activities he could find inside Konoha and at the same time, the people tailing Katasuke suddenly disappeared, meaning that Katasuke disappeared. I was asked by Naruto to investigate when they finally had information on his whereabouts."
"Why you?" Konohamaru asked.
"There wasn't enough proof that the two incidents were related to send a proper team. What's more, the activities within Konoha were more concerning so sending out a team would compromise the watch within the city itself. As such, I was asked to preform the investigation on Katasuke as a man exiled from Konoha myself."
"I see."
"During my investigation, I fought with Katasuke and he managed to seal my Amaterasu into a scroll." Sasuke frowned, "Then I was captured and held within his lab."
"Did you see anything suspicious while you were there?"
"They kept me under drugs so I couldn't catch much." Sasuke scowled, "All I could really catch was a sea of white coats."
"There was a group of scientists?" Konohamaru blinked, "But if they were the same ones from Konoha, they would have been discovered."
"Not if they had kotes."
"Kotes? Of course, Shadow Clones."
"But when I arrived, there were no scientists."
Konohamaru and Sasuke turned as Boruto struggled to push himself up with his working arm, against Sarada and Mitsuki's concerns.
"The lab was empty." Boruto stated.
"Then where did his loyalists go?" Konohamaru mused.
"Hahahahahaha…hahahahahaha-"
"What?" Sasuke turned around as Katasuke began to laugh.
"This...this is my ultimate revenge."
"Revenge?" Sasuke frowned, "What are you planning?! Tell me!"
"It doesn't matter...what you do to me. It never mattered!"
Sasuke threw Katasuke on the ground, sending him tumbling across the ground until he was left laying face up.
"Ow ow ow." Katasuke winced, "He he...you'll regret that."
"What are you planning?" Sasuke scowled.
"The end...of Konoha..." Katasuke grinned manically, "The greatest...and most ironic end...and it's all because of you."
Katasuke pointed at Sasuke triumphantly.
"What are you talking about?" Sasuke growled, stepping forward only to be restrained by Konohamaru, "What do you mean?!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha..." Katasuke heaved a shuddering breath as he laid there, "Fine. I'll tell you. It doesn't matter anyway. There is nothing you can do to stop me."
"After my exile...I continued my work in secret. Recreating the strongest jutsus the world has ever seen and putting them into my kote. Making my kote even stronger than ever before. Even more perfect. But I had one new burning passion. To decimate Konoha. For the sin of rejecting my genius. Not just rejecting but punishing! I worked...on a magnificent ploy. A masterpiece of revenge! All I needed was to recreate...one technique...and while I was hard at work...the answer stumbled into my hands."
Katasuke turned his head to sneer at Sasuke.
"You showed up and gave me the Amaterasu I had been searching for."
"Why Amaterasu?" Sasuke scowled, "What do you plan on doing with it?!"
"Amaterasu...the Goddess of the Sun...her black flames...burn so hot that it eats other fires...it's thirst...cannot be quenched no matter what...that kind of weapon...would be the crowning weapon against Konoha!"
"..."
"...A bomb." Katasuke closed his eyes, "Or rather...a giant kote. Built under streets of Konoha itself. Set to run one jutsu at a great degree."
"Amaterasu." Boruto breathed.
"...The Land of Fire will be burned down with fire." Katasuke smiled, "Beautiful is it not?"
Sasuke kicked Katasuke in the head.
"We have to go." He scowled.
"Don't bother." Katasuke laughed, "We are at the farthest reaches of Konoha's territory! I set my lab here so I could escape without any problems. After I finished watching your home burn!"
"How long until this bomb is set to go off?" Sarada cried.
"How long? He he...I'd say in thirty minutes."
"Thirty?!" Konohamaru cried, "We can't possibly make it back to the village in time!"
"There has to be a way!" Sarada cried, "Can we not get even a message there in time?!"
"We don't even know where this bomb is located." Mitsuki bit his lip, "What can we do even if we did?"
"Destroy it! Evacuate the village, I don't know!"
"Calm down." Katasuke chuckled, "Come, sit down and watch with me as the fireworks begins. Sasuke...wasn't it your dream once to destroy Konoha?"
"..."
"He's right." Boruto said as stumbled up to Katasuke, "We have to calm down."
"But-"
"I have...I think...I have a way to save the village." Boruto stated, "But for now...let's get back to the lab."
