Myrmidon Chapter 32
The Sun and the Rope
Despite the many humans and Ants surrounding East Gorteau's Central Palace, there were three who were a cut above the rest. Those three's instincts were quick enough to alert them in time.
As one, they watched the King of the Chimera Ants launch from the Palace, straight up with such speed and import that he more resembled a missile launched from a secret silo than a living being. All three were enraptured by the living shooting star.
The first was Hinata Uzumaki. She'd watched her husband's fist connect with the King's chin with the force of a small earthquake as the Ant had charged forward, and couldn't feel anything but vicious joy. As had so often been her role since stepping through the portal all those weeks ago, she had nothing to do but Watch.
The second was the Royal Guard who no longer had a purpose in life, Neferpitou. She looked up at her sailing King, and was overwhelmed by a sense of inevitable doom. But just as quickly as the premonition overcame her, it was banished by the reality of her situation: Shaiapouf dislocated her remaining hand, and Pitou fell back into an impossible fight for her life.
The third was Isaac Netero. Netero's feelings could not be rendered down into one word, or several flowery ones. Unlike the months old Royal Guard who was fighting for their life or the young woman at his side, he was an old man who'd lived a deceptively complicated life and seen things even more unbelievable than this. More than that, he had responsibilities beyond his own life to consider as he watched Meruem soar two kilometers into the sky, nearly touching the low and thick clouds.
There was a feeling, inconsequential to the proceedings but amusing to note, that could be put simply as he watched the followup to Naruto's attack: Sasuke Uchiha came up after the King, one arrow fired after another, and struck the Ant down and away from the Palace with a thunderous kick. Literally. The shinobi's foot shone with electricity, and when the blow landed it let out the crack of a lightning bolt.
That feeling was jealousy.
Netero knew in a moment of wonderful clarity that he would like nothing more than to be in the King's place at that moment. To be weighing his life against not one but two impossibly powerful opponents, who were working together with obvious experience and who without a doubt would not extend a grateful hand if he lost.
But that was a childish emotion. As childish as the King itself. Right now, it wasn't Netero's place to fight for his life. That duty had been relegated to others. His duty was to consider the politics, irksome as ever; if Netero faced the King, he would almost certainly die, and if that were to happen the Rose would wipe away the Ant, East Gorteau's capital, ten million people, and the Hunter Association's credibility. As the board had been set, it was impossible to bait the King into a situation that would leave him the only casualty.
Nonetheless, he couldn't banish the itch that had long ago transformed him into the strongest man in the known world. Right from the start of the engagement, the King was being manhandled, just as Netero had feared. Things were going to become infinitely more complicated.
As Netero watched, a storm began to descend around the Palace. It wasn't the low clouds finally coming due.
It was a storm of chakra, violent and vibrant, and it only grew more vicious as the battle continued.
###
It took Meruem longer than he would have liked to understand that he'd been punched.
The transition from his charge to his launch was perfectly perceivable by him. Naruto Uzumaki had stepped forward, into him instead of away like any self-aware creature in existence should have, and launched a picture-perfect uppercut directly into his chin. Meruem's only experience with martial arts was the Gentle Fist, which didn't really feature blunt instruments like uppercuts, but even he had to admit that it was an impressive punch. The impact hadn't hurt. All it had inspired was a dull ache. Then he'd been going up, very, very fast.
So, in terms of actually seeing it, Meruem hadn't had an issue with the attack. It was the fact that he'd been punched in such a mundane and predictable manner that he was having trouble with.
He should have been able to dodge that. Surely. He'd anticipated more than twenty possible counterattacks before he'd gone more than an inch. Something as dumb as an uppercut had been low on that list, but it had been there. It had already been anticipated.
Which meant, Meruem realized as he neared the apex of his launch, that Hinata's husband was a little faster than he'd assumed. Stronger too, but that was a given.
Humans fought by trained instinct. Or at least, Hinata did, and Hinata was an accomplished fighter, so it was safe to assume for now that that reliance on instincts held true for her husband. They were the opposite of Meruem, who didn't have the same experience to build those instincts and used his peerless mind to walk through every possible option. That meant that Naruto had probably never even decided on that specific punch to counter his charge; the Fire Shadow had just reacted to incoming danger and his body had done the rest.
That was fantastic to know. Just from that bit of information, the blow had been more than a fair trade. Meruem smiled as he looked down: Sasuke Uchiha was coming after him. The Hokage didn't flinch from danger. It was his instinct to step right into it. Meruem could take advantage of that.
Sasuke ended up above him, a perfectly calculated jump more than two kilometers straight up, and threw a kick sheathed in lightning at him. Meruem wasn't concerned. What could a cripple's imitation be when he'd been struck by the real thing? He let it hit him, curious where Sasuke would send him. Just as he'd thought, it couldn't compare to the bolt that had struck him Peijing. His entire torso tingled, and his shoulder sung with something in between a bruise and a burn, but it wasn't real damage. Had his body already adapted to high voltages? He wasn't sure, but it seemed possible if that was the only effect of the kick.
He descended as quickly as he'd risen. As he'd suspected, Sasuke had sent him north, towards the back of the palace and away from the millions of humans arrayed in front of it. He was trying to isolate the fight. That was fine by Meruem's reckoning. The people of East Gorteau were both resources and hostages; they couldn't be carelessly spent.
He slammed into the earth behind the palace and caught himself with his chakra, not even raising a puff of dirt from the once-carefully-maintained lawn. Sasuke landed before him, but Mereum didn't attack. He was still analyzing, and a head-on charge clearly was a suboptimal option when his opponent was ready for it. These opponents weren't like any others he'd faced: he wouldn't be able to blitz them into submission.
Naruto appeared a moment later at Sasuke's side, and the world was silent as the humans considered him.
"You didn't tell me he was so short," Naruto said. Sasuke glanced at him. "From the way you talked, I figured he'd be taller."
"Does it matter?" the man asked, and Naruto laughed.
"Not really."
Meruem began circling, and both men shifted to stay facing him. He tried to keep calm, but he couldn't lie to himself: he was getting excited. He hadn't even gotten a hit in, while they'd managed one each. Without a doubt, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to improve himself.
He tried to forget about Komugi. She didn't have a place in this fight. But even now, it was difficult.
How to approach two opponents? Obviously his best chance was to split them up. But before he could act, the decision was made for him. Sasuke Uchiha came for him.
The shinobi didn't try for subtlety. He simply rushed forward with a suddenly unsheathed sword and swung it directly at Meruem's midsection. Meruem wasn't sure why he'd chosen such an obvious attack, or whether the sword could even penetrate his body in the first place. Better safe than sorry, he thought. Someone like Sasuke wouldn't bother with an attack if he didn't think it would have some effect.
Their chakra was starting to mingle. It carried Meruem over Sasuke's blade with a graceful roll; with a missing arm, the Uchiha only had awkward angles to counterattack from. It wouldn't take much effort as Meruem's tail wrapped around Sasuke's arm to crush the ninja into an empty husk.
That would have been the case, if Sasuke hadn't suddenly grown a skeletal hand of pure chakra from his stump and backhanded Meruem in the face.
He stumbled back, and the Uchiha swiped at his feet with his sword. Meruem hopped over the blow, puzzling at the sudden arm. Sasuke had enough chakra control to form a coherent limb? He hadn't considered that possibility, but surely it was the same principle as the Rasengan. Only a more complicated shape-
With the same surprising speed as before, Naruto was at his side before he could take advantage of Sasuke's overreach. This time, Meruem raised an arm to block; the Hokage's kick knocked him back, but he was done observing for now. It was time to test himself. Before Naruto could finish breathing out, Meruem threw himself back at his opponent. His tail lashed out, knocking Sasuke away and leaving him with only one opponent for a few precious seconds.
First, savagery. The Hokage had surprised him with his speed and strength, but could he keep up if Meruem wasn't forced back? The King attacked without reservation, throwing twenty blows in less than a second. There wasn't anything refined about his assault. He didn't bother with graceful hits, only punches and kicks that would shatter bone and stabs with his tail that would gore the human.
Naruto kept up. Their chakra and their fists clashed, and neither of them gave ground. Meruem couldn't help but marvel at the human's reaction time, and his sound judgement. Every blow was redirected or knocked aside, and the third time he stabbed out with his tail the Hokage stomped it into the ground, throwing Meruem off balance. Even an extra limb to watch wasn't fazing the man. He punched out with both hands, and Naruto twisted aside; the air pressure from Meruem's fists ripped the grass from the ground for twenty meters behind his opponent.
Meruem laughed, and Naruto laughed back. It wasn't a cruel sound. That disrupted his rhythm more than his tail being stepped on had. Meruem puzzled over it until the man's golden chakra made it clear.
The Hokage was having fun.
Well, that was fine, for now. Let him have his fun before he died.
Meruem leapt back, only to find Sasuke behind him. He prepared himself for another attack. Next, he would have to test his chakra.
"Hey, Sasuke." Naruto raised a hand. The Uchiha stepped aside, keeping his sword raised. It was covered in coruscating electricity. Meruem landed, not able to understand why the other shinobi had simply stood down. He looked back and forth between the two men, uncertain where the next attack would come from.
"I got this," Naruto said, and Sasuke and Meruem scoffed simultaneously. "Go check on the others, all right? Make sure they stay out of the way."
"Naruto-" Sasuke was obviously exasperated. Meruem didn't let him finish.
"You," he said, pointing at Sasuke while keeping his eyes fixed on Naruto, "are not leaving my sight."
Naruto raised both hands, his face growing a little more serious. How could he possibly be so casual? "Listen," he said, and Meruem realized that in his monofocus on his opponents he'd barely taken note of the storm of chakra they'd kicked up. Had it just been from their brief skirmish? It filled the air, purple and gold and other colors that didn't exist, ruffling the human's hair and faintly howling like a distant storm. Their chakra mingled, and unlike Sasuke Naruto welcomed it in.
It was like it had been with his wife. Before Meruem could seriously considering resisting, there was an invisible, painfully sincere chain between him and the Hokage.
"We've both got people out there we don't want hurt, right?" Naruto asked, and Meruem was infuriated at how quickly the man had cut to that simple but fatal fact. Komugi was his one physical weakness, and now the Hokage knew it as effortlessly as breathing.
"What are you doing?" he asked, and Naruto ignored the question.
"Sasuke's just going to make sure of that," he said. "He's not going to hurt any of your people. I swear."
He didn't need to swear. Meruem knew it was the truth. Naruto had made that both a belief and a command without any effort whatsoever, and Sasuke would gladly lay down his life for either. The man wasn't hiding a thing from him. Maybe he couldn't, the way their chakra had connected so quickly. It was a tempestuous thing, and it only made the storm around them worse.
It was, Meruem realized, an ideal environment where ideas and violence could be communicated with equal efficiency. This wasn't the almost painful connection of Ninshu where attacking the other was like attacking yourself: it was something more refined. Was that on purpose, or just an unconscious flexing of the Hokage's will? Either option was interesting.
"As if I would leave that to him," Meruem growled, and Naruto cocked his head. As both he and Sasuke watched, Meruem crouched down, clenching every muscle and drawing in on himself. The air around him began boiling, and Naruto raised an eyebrow.
The Hokage was right about one thing. He couldn't afford for Komugi to be harmed.
However, it was more than that that drove him to mass chakra in his core, so much that his weight increased and the ground buckled under him. There were certainly more efficient ways to protect Komugi than what he had planned.
But he needed to prove to himself, and to the Hokage, that his chakra could be just as potent as his body. The honesty was refreshing to Meruem. As he reared up, raising his hands to the sky and releasing every ounce of chakra he'd gathered at once, both humans simply watched. It was obvious to them that what he was doing wasn't an attack.
"Go." It wasn't a shout, but the word detonated out of him alongside his chakra as an ephemeral wave of light and heat. It washed over the unimpressed shinobi, exploding south and steadily growing. As it grew, it lost coherence, until it was nearly invisible; a wall nearly a mile tall and five times as wide.
His chakra washed over Komugi, four miles away, and the entire population of East Gorteau. It also struck seventy-four Chimera Ants, as solid as a kick in the teeth.
He felt them all from the bottom of his soul, but Komugi was the loudest and brightest, and Meruem closed his eyes, memorizing the feeling.
To her, he only imparted a simple message.
Stay. Safe.
Safe.
Safe.
To the Chimera Ants, even his worthless Guards, and to the counted uncountable humans, he implanted something more direct.
Protect Komugi. At all costs.
He breathed out. The earth began rumbling.
The people of East Gorteau, 9,474,830 humans who had been given the only task that would ever mattered in their miserable lives, were on the move.
###
Hinata had to resist the urge to take a step forward.
The King's chakra hit her and everyone else on the hillside at once, a nearly coherent tidal wave of energy that blew her hair back and forced her brain to reset itself before she could finish taking her first step. It was like a genjutsu, was her first, panicked thought. An enormous, inconceivably large and powerful genjutsu that dwarfed any reasonable categorization.
Her companions felt the same compulsion. None of them took the step, but she saw all of them squash it. Right now, she was so focused, so in tune with the universe, that she could imagine the ghosts of their electrical and chemical impulses; the first, coated in the King's chakra that lifted their foot, and the second, faster, that brought it down.
"Was that-?" Gon was the first to speak.
"The King," Killua finished for him. "One hundred percent."
Hinata didn't say a thing: she was focused on the Ant, and on her husband. Sasuke was coming back to them. Naruto had sent him away.
Why had Naruto sent him away? She'd seen everything, watched everything, but she couldn't understand it. Her husband…
Her husband wasn't trying to kill the King. He'd appeared with Sasuke, and there hadn't been anger in him. Just curiosity, and some concern. Sasuke hadn't told him the whole story, she was suddenly sure. If he had, there was no way Naruto would have come without throwing the first punch. He was kind, infinitely kind, but she also knew without a doubt that if he'd known what the King had done to her, it would already be over.
Why had Sasuke withheld the whole story? Just pressed for time? No; he could have imparted everything in seconds, with words or chakra.
He was still searching for a peaceful solution. The thought struck Hinata like a stone, and she tightened her fists. It was obvious, now that she had wrapped her head around it. Sasuke didn't have the context to see the King for what he was, and he was hoping Naruto would see it the same way. That he would see the King's youth, and not his malice.
But surely, surely, he'd see the truth. The King was a monster. He had to be destroyed.
…
And yet…
As Hinata watched, nearly ten million humans began moving as a single organism. It was a number that crushed her mind under its weight. She simply didn't have the ability to perceive them all at once. To look at them one, ten, or even a hundred at a time, that was easy, but the population of East Gorteau simply couldn't be taken in all at once, no matter how powerful her vision was.
The crowd was densely packed, about as tight as a fully occupied stadium, but standing, and stretching over nine million strong. Again, it couldn't really be taken in; Hinata could only observe about a thousand of them at once and take the rest as an abstract. If a thousand humans all began running at once, in a crowd that dense, dozens would have trampled, no matter how coordinated they were. There just wasn't any way around it.
And yet, when the entire population of East Gorteau broke into a sprint at once, not one of them fell beneath the human tide.
They moved as a single unit. Like ants, Hinata thought. Ants didn't trample their own, at least not that she'd seen, and now these people moved the same way.
East Gorteau wasn't moving with malice. The entire country had been thrown at a single objective; keeping Komugi safe. And consciously or not, the King had given that command with an addendum. Now, every human in the country was keeping the others safe.
"Amazing."
Zeno Zoldyck leaned forward, his hand on his chin.
"All that, for a single human?"
It was the truth.
Hinata watched, her nails digging into her palms, as an enormous dust cloud raised up by the stampede of people began mingling with the chakra storm. Beside it, about to be swallowed, two Royal Guards were fighting to the death. Inside it, her husband and the King were talking.
All that, for a single human. She considered the paradox, and could not reconcile it.
###
"That wasn't necessary." Naruto frowned.
"Who are you to tell me what's necessary or not?" Meruem frowned back. "Don't you understand that you're going to die here? Why did you send him away?"
Naruto shrugged. "Lots of people have told me that," he said. "Hasn't happened yet."
Meruem sighed. "I was hoping you'd improve me," he said. "But so far, you've only amused me. If you seriously think you can take me on alone…"
"No thinking about it," Naruto grinned. "You're definitely strong. I wouldn't be surprised if you've never met anyone even close to as strong as you." His smile faded. "Even Hinata. But…" He stretched out one of his calves, rotating the ankle. Meruem watched the ball joint circle around, marveling at the man's cockiness and the inherent fragility of the human body. "That's cause you hadn't met me."
Naruto settled into a martial stance, his whole body at the ready and practically vibrating in anticipation. "Sasuke told me you were dangerous, and you seem to think so too." He gestured. "So show me."
This man didn't crave fights, Meruem understood. Not like some others did. But fighting was something Naruto Uzumaki had always been good at, and it was natural to enjoy what you were accomplished at.
And it had been a long time, dozens of times Meruem's lifespan, since the Hokage had had a real fight.
That would be a good final gift then. Naruto smirked at the thought, and Meruem took that as the signal to attack.
Strength alone wouldn't accomplish anything. He'd realized that after their last engagement, and Naruto knew that too. Still, his next move managed to surprise the Hokage. He came at the man with delicate, flowing motions, hands and feet formed into spears.
"Juken?" the man had time to ask in a confused tone, and then there was no more time for talking.
Using the Gentle Fist, Meruem immediately decided, was very satisfying. He'd only had several seconds of practice with it before, during his brawl with Hinata in Peijing, and that had been a short, furious fight with both of them forgoing form for violence. But now, Meruem did his best to perfectly imitate the style he'd stolen from Hinata's memories.
This was the appeal of a martial art then. His whole body flowed like water, effortlessly shifting from attack to attack. It was, as the name implied, Gentle. Meruem didn't strike to crush or pierce, but to cut and burst. Chakra burned throughout his body, concentrating at the point of each of his limbs. Even a brief touch would be enough to broil the Hokage's delicate aura points and render him a temporary cripple. It was an unending series of chained attacks where even a mistake of inches would spell death for his opponent.
The chain went on for three seconds. It was like a dance, Naruto graciously giving ground, refusing to strike back. He was a practiced partner in this dance, Meruem realized, where one pursued and the other conceded. Five seconds. Ten.
Fifteen.
He couldn't land a hit. His chakra burned nothing but air.
That wasn't possible.
"Hey," Naruto said, and he seized Meruem's outstretched hand. To the King's astonishment, shimmering golden chakra covered the Hokage's hand, keeping the baneful chakra of the Gentle Fist at bay. The Hokage's leg went up. "Where'd you learn that?"
Before Meruem could answer, Naruto's axe kick came down directly on his back. The pressure was sudden and enormous. In an instant, he was buried more than twenty feet below the earth.
Meruem turned, grinding away hard soil without effort, just in time to catch Naruto's next kick directly in the chest. His hands wrapped around the Hokage's foot and stopped the attack short, but the force of it still drove them another ten feet into the earth.
The shinobi's whole body was wreathed in golden chakra now. Before Meruem could twist the man's foot off, Naruto threw yet another kick. That one slipped past his guard and slammed directly into his face.
Still no pain, but the ache in his chin throbbed at that one. He hit concrete instead of earth, and broke through it. He was in an underground tunnel now: one of the dozens that sprawled out from the Palace heading every which way. The concrete tunnel stretched in both directions, apparently endless. The lights lining the ceiling were flickering.
Naruto dropped down through the hole his body had made, and Meruem leapt back before he landed, considering the man's new aura. He was still confident; he hadn't taken any damage. Eventually, the man would run out of tricks, and Meruem would shatter his rhythm.
"You picked that up from Hinata," the Hokage said. His chakra was like nothing Meruem had ever seen before, and it lit up the tunnel brighter than the overhead lights ever could have. It was similar to the aura Hinata had gained in Peijing, but where that had been a barely controlled inferno that had surrounded her whole body, Naruto's cloak of chakra was totally uniform and stable, like a layer of still golden water.
It should have made him look inhuman: the Hokage's eyes had crossed pupils now, and the scars on his cheeks were huge and black. But somehow, it only amplified his human features.
"Picked it up?" Meruem asked. Could he create a cloak like that? What was the effect? The man was physically stronger now, he was sure of that, but did it have other implications? Did it help him control his chakra externally? That was his best guess. Subtly, Meruem began poking at his own chakra, trying to have it dance on his skin. No, it wasn't just above the surface. The chakra had even been coating the inside of Naruto's mouth. Did it suffuse every cell? Deeper than that? How much was conscious control versus unconscious protection, like someone flinching away from a high speed object? The question was thrilling.
"Your Juken form is just about perfect," the Hokage said, stroking his chin. "So you couldn't have just learned it from fighting Hinata, even if you could learn something like that on sight. She always improvises in a fight: you didn't."
"You're correct," Meruem said. "She showed me it. Or I pulled it from her. The difference is academic."
The Hokage shifted, and Meruem did as well, but the man just relaxed again without attacking.
"That Ninshu of yours, huh?" He frowned. "It's pretty parasitic, so I guess that's not the right word for it, but it's the closest thing."
"Hinata came to the same conclusion."
"You spent some time with her." The past came to them both, bidden by the man's words, and suffused the space. It wasn't a visual memory, but the sensation. The words, the violence of their meetings, Meruem's admiration and gratitude. "I'm a little jealous," Naruto admitted.
"She's an impressive woman," Meruem said. "And she led me to you."
"You're gonna have to explain that to me," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head. "Sasuke didn't tell me the whole story, and you…" he laughed. "You just jumped right in. I'm pretty lost right now."
Meruem laughed back. "You're polite. I'm trying to kill you, and you just want to know why?"
"If someone tried to kill you, wouldn't you want to know?"
"No. It's always been self evident."
Naruto smiled. "Indulge me, then." He gestured around at the coherent chakra filling up the tunnel. "We've got something going on here. Can you use that?"
This was part of it, Meruem thought. Part of the meal, as it were. Would it be as meaningful if he overcame this man without his opponent even knowing why he was being eaten? That would diminish his victory, if only by a fraction.
Not to mention, there was something exciting about speaking so casually to someone who had kicked him in the face.
"I'll try to help you understand," Meruem said, crouching down, "why you have to die."
Now, image came sensation. It wasn't the most efficient transfer, but it came by instinct. It began, as everything did, simply.
It began with one Ant. Not him, or his subordinates, or his mother, but his mother's mother's mother's mother, and many more uncountable generations beyond that. A single Ant, scuttling in the shade of living umbra and clashing titans and thirsty trees and a billion more terrible things, scavenging and stealing whatever it could. Growing stronger, larger, smarter, until it was as large and as cunning as a human.
That was his mother, who had been sent adrift in an alien sea and washed up on the shores of this tiny world of humans where she could feast to her heart's content. Where she had eaten everything under the sun, including the squabbling humans of the NGL and Shino Aburame's arm, taking in a piece of the man whose gravity had caused two wildly divergent and powerful vectors to inexorably move towards collision.
From all those accrued genes and consumed destinies, he'd emerged, a monolith to their sacrifices. A burning fire that had already taken in so much and only hungered for more. He'd searched for a home for that fire, for more fuel-
"Boring." Naruto waved away the genealogical epistemology with a tired gesture, and Meruem hiccuped in surprise. "I get that. That's not important. Why did you call me, instead of just fighting Sasuke?" His eyes narrowed. "You wanted me, not just a strong opponent. What made Sasuke not good enough?"
"He was a servant, not a King," Meruem bit out, chafing at the interruption. He experienced an epiphany as Naruto's chakra spiked at the word. "But he was, once, or wanted to be. He wasn't what I needed."
"You needed a 'king?'" Naruto asked, and Meruem nodded. The man pondered his admission, and then snapped his fingers.
"I gotcha," he said, and to Meruem's pleasant surprise his witnessed a familiar metaphor; two suns crashing into the other, flares of plasma and radiation twisting space and time. "That's how you see things; one thing eating another." He grinned. "So what, you think you need to eat me? That's a little insecure."
It was an irritating thing to say, but Meruem couldn't deny it. Especially since the words made him want to attack again: that would just be proving the man's point.
"It's not a matter of insecurity," Meruem said. "I thought I was alone, at my peak. When I learned that there was someone out there like you, someone who could command servants like Sasuke Uchiha or Hinata-"
"They're not my servants."
Meruem paused. "They're subordinate to you."
"Wrong again." Naruto crossed his arms. "Hinata is my wife, and Sasuke is my friend. It's a partnership."
"I'm not familiar."
"Sure you are." Naruto held his hand out, the golden chakra around his hand floating up and out and forming a gungi piece.
Meruem felt a chill run down his spine. "That's not the same."
"Maybe. I've only known you for about ten minutes. But uh, in the first two you spent more chakra than most people will ever see in their lives to send a couple million people off to protect that girl. Komugi?" Naruto cocked his head. "You definitely wouldn't do that for a servant, but for a partner…"
Meruem took a mental step back, reassessing the situation. How much had the Hokage already pulled from his head without Meruem knowing, if he already understood Gungi? For the first time, he felt at a distinct disadvantage. Not physically, which almost made it worse. He was taking the man too lightly.
"You misunderstand. Komugi is only…"
Only what?
Meruem tripped, and Naruto took a step forward. There was violence in him now, Mereum realized. The Hokage was ready to go on the offensive for the first time. But all he could focus on was that consuming question. Only what? His only equal? His equivalent, in one aspect at least.
His partner in Gungi?
No, it was more than that. No one sane would have done what he had: dismissed his Guard, sent out that chakra pulse, confided in her, taken her advice, no one would have done for a mere partner in a board game. Komugi was more than that. She was his…
"Yeah, you don't get it either." Naruto shrugged. "Maybe this will help you figure it out."
He made the same kind of step Hinata had in Peijing. The step that took him too far. Then, he threw his second punch.
Meruem deflected it, knocking it aside with his arm, but the fraction of force that made it through still knocked him backwards, his heels digging divots in the concrete. He barely had time to go a foot or so before Naruto was after him, throwing a precise series of punches at his head and torso.
Meruem did his best to forget Komugi and focus on the fight. He ducked and dodged what he could and deflected what he couldn't, but one punch still managed to slip through. Naruto struck him in the temple, jerking his head to the side and making his ears ring.
It hurt.
It hurt?
For the first time in his life, Meruem felt actual pain. He'd registered something like a sting when his clone had been destroyed in Peijing, but his apparation had died before he could really process the feeling. But that blow caused a deep ache in his head that traveled down to the base of his neck like a burning liquid.
Just one punch, and Naruto Uzumaki had actually hurt him? He really was trying now.
The pain spurred something deep in the King's gut. That pain he was feeling, that was part of the deal. If he wanted to become something more, he'd have to endure more than irritations and disappointment. He'd have to endure pain, probably greater than this.
Meruem embraced it.
He roared, chakra exploding out of him, and pushed the Hokage back with his satisfaction alone.
Jutsu. The concept rang through the tunnel. We've spoken with our fists, but there's more to chakra than your body, right? Meruem thrust his palm out, and a gale of fire and lightning erupted from his hand, scouring the tunnel and turning everything it touched to molten glass. The overhead lights shattered from the sudden pressure change.
Naruto could have met the attack head on, Meruem knew, but he didn't. Instead he touched a hand to the ground, and a wall of earth and metal rose up, completely blocking off the tunnel. Meruem's primal jutsu slammed into it and dug a deep divot of sparking magma, but wasn't able to fully penetrate; it guttered out as quickly as it had appeared, and for a moment Meruem was left in total darkness.
But only a moment, because before his eyes could begin to adjust the wall shattered and Naruto came through, his aura brighter than ever.
Meruem growled, digging deeper. Lightning began coruscating around his body, sparking across every limb and dancing around his head. He dug his heels into the ground, and charged.
It was a simple technique, inspired both by the chakra cloak in front of him and the shield of lightning that had kept the young Hunter in Peijing one step ahead of him. The world blurred: Meruem was traveling so fast that even his incredible senses couldn't fully keep up. He left behind a wash of ozone, crackling air and shattered concrete.
"Oh?" Naruto had time to say, and then Meruem kicked him in the jaw.
It was a tremendous hit; the Hokage's head snapped back, and he was sent rocketing upwards, smashing through the tunnel ceiling and the earth beyond. The man's aura didn't even flicker: Meruem knew instantly that he hadn't done any permanent damage. Nonetheless, it felt incredible to land. He'd hit him!
If he could hit him, he could kill him.
Before Naruto could begin slowing towards terminal velocity, Meruem followed him up out of the hole, back into dull daylight. The clouds had only grown lower and darker, and the storm of their chakra had barely abated; the whole world was tinted purple and gold. He focused, calling up a now familiar memory. His hand curled into a claw.
At the center of his palm, thick and violent chakra began to swirl; it started out fast and only grew more insanely rapid as each hundredth of a second slowly crept by Meruem's strained senses.
The Hokage was above, looking down at him. Both his expression and his chakra were neutral. The passage through the ground had stolen much of his velocity, but he hadn't yet begun to fall.
What Meruem created wasn't a proper Rasengan. It was too large and too hungry to be called one. It was angry and violet, and it fluctuated in size and shape, vibrating between a sphere and an orb the size of Meruem's head. And it wasn't light and mobile, but enormously heavy, so heavy that the King sunk several inches into the battered earth.
And instead of striking with it, as was proper, Meruem hurled it, roaring in both exultation and frustration. The chakra bomb soared into the sky on a perfect trajectory, sure to knock Naruto out of the sky.
As Meruem watched, sure he'd landed a decisive blow, the Hokage sighed and raised one finger.
There wasn't even a puff of smoke. Where there had once been one Naruto there were suddenly four: three more joined him in an instant. If it weren't for the infallibility of his senses, Meruem would have been sure he was seeing double. All four of the Hokage stuck their hands out, a gentle open motion, and caught the chakra bomb between them, the sudden fifth point of a rough star.
Meruem sneered, and closed his hand.
The bomb exploded.
It should have wiped away the sky. Meruem had placed just as much chakra in his Rasengan-inspired attack as he had in his compulsion that had sent the entire population of East Gorteau running. At the very minimum, the clouds would have been erased. Unstable buildings in Peijing would have received their final push. Most of the nearby Palace would probably have collapsed. Meruem was sure Komugi was at a safe distance by now: he wasn't holding back.
But instead, when the bomb detonated with unspeakable malice, Naruto and his clones simply cradled it. Their shimmering golden chakra encompassed the explosion as suddenly as it appeared, softly expanding to accommodate it.
The bubble swelled to perhaps five feet in diameter. Inside, Meruem's chakra raged with enough ferocity to erase a city. It burned with the light of the sun. Like a brilliant stone trapped in amber, it shone with potential.
And yet-
The bubble of golden chakra did not pop. Naruto closed his eyes, and Meruem could not help but watch in astonishment. The light of his bomb dimmed, faded, and disappeared. The chakra contracted, flattened out, and drew back into Naruto.
The man began falling, and Meruem watched him come.
For the first time in his life, there was a tickle of doubt at the back of his throat.
###
Menthuthuyoupi watched Meruem's bomb fail, and retracted the telescopic eye he'd extended from the top of his head.
"What's happening?" The tiny human sitting on his shoulder strained to see with blind eyes, and Youpi sighed.
"The King is in trouble," he said. He hadn't hesitated when the King's chakra had struck him, but it wasn't the supernatural wave of energy that had compelled him to seek out the blind gungi master; it was simply that that was the King's will. In the same way that Youpi had decided that protecting the King's subjects was critical, it was obvious to him that keeping Komugi safe, who the King had discarded everything for, was a number one priority.
Of course, he hadn't realized that until the chakra had reached him, but that was his error. He'd been too focused on the Ants to consider the girl.
The other Ants around him, around eighty in total, watched the distant fight with a quiet solemnity. It was growing harder and harder to tell the combatants apart: the storm of chakra was growing thicker every moment. At the moment, the King and the Kage weren't moving. They were only speaking, and yet the chakra around them was only getting more intense.
Youpi wondered what that meant.
Among and beyond the Ants, all nine-million and some of East Gorteau's citizens stood rigid, forming an endless barrier of humanity between the fight and Komugi. Youpi could comprehend the number, but chose not to. It wouldn't make any difference in the end.
It was already obvious to him that if the Hokage decided to pursue them, it wouldn't make a difference if there were nine million humans in the way or none.
Youpi started walking, carrying Komugi with him, and all of East Gorteau followed him. Just the same as nine-million or none, another kilometer or so of distance probably wouldn't change the final result. The fight could intensify and catch them anyway, and the omnipresent gaze of the Watcher, even now burrowing into the base of his skull, would no doubt follow him to the edge of the continent.
But it might make him feel a little better.
###
"You given it more thought?" Naruto asked as he landed. Meruem blinked.
"You may be right," he eventually said. "Komugi could be called a partner."
"Well, at least you can see that," Naruto smiled.
"Why are you doing this?" Meruem asked. "Why do you care if I admit that or not?"
The Hokage shrugged. "Sasuke said you were interesting. And he was right. You're…" he laughed. "Just a kid. A baby. You're young and strong, and strong kids make bad decisions."
Naruto had, Meruem realized. Made bad decisions. The implication was clear in his chakra. So had Sasuke. So had many others. He saw Meruem in a similar way.
But he was wrong about that. Meruem was young, but he wasn't a child. That was yet another critical piece of information about the Hokage. The man was enormously strong and fast, and his cloak was incredibly versatile, but he stepped into danger without hesitation and for now at least he was obviously disinterested in killing his opponent. Slowly, the profile was coming together. He'd find the path to victory soon enough.
It wasn't strength or martial arts. The man matched and outstripped him in both. It definitely wasn't jutsu; he would develop over the course of the battle, but for now the gap in their techniques was simply too steep. If he wanted to regain his momentum, he'd have to rely on his unique advantages: his physiology, and his parasitic chakra.
"You still want to fight?" Naruto asked. "You don't get it yet?"
He didn't shove the image into Meruem's mind: it just suffused both their conscious. The brutal fury of two suns devouring each other grew smaller and smaller, and in its place something small and calm appeared: a rope, or a red string. To Meruem, it appeared familiar.
The King regarded the contrast curiously. The idea was mundane and boring compared to the thrill of devouring, and yet he could feel the quiet appreciation emanating from it.
What is this? They were both falling fully into the storm now, letting it sweep them away. Meruem's soul leaned forward, examining the rope. It looked like a scarf, until his conception of it solidified. Naruto gracefully accepted the change.
Listen for a moment, and maybe you'll change your mind. And if not, I'll beat it into you.
The King laughed. The honesty was amusing.
You can look at it as consumption, Naruto believed. That's partially true. Sometimes, you have to use things up to improve yourself, which you so yearn for. But that's short-sighted. No matter what, you'll eventually run out of food.
The sun shriveled, condensed, and died.
But that happens to everything, Meruem counterattacked. Even stars burn out. There's no escaping that: why not burn as bright as possible while I can? What are you trying to say?
Everything burns out, Naruto admitted without guilt. Everyone and everything grows old and dies. But you burn fastest alone. Just listen for a second, and consider. A rope isn't just a rope.
Why-
I'm trying to show you real strength. If you get that, you won't have to waste time killing me. Or anyone else. You're already really close.
A rope isn't just a rope. A rope is two, three, or a thousand little ropes wound around one another. Bodies, intertwined. Twine, right? Of course, that's simple. On its own, each strand is easy to break. But when you tie them together, they each strengthen one another. Exponentially. Two strands can hold the weight of eight. Do you get it?
You're saying that I'm the twine.
Of course.
You're saying that Komugi is twine too. And that the two of us could make a rope. But that wouldn't make me stronger.
Don't be dumb. You've already realized that there's more to strength than the ability to kill. It would make you more whole. You can feel that emptiness now, and you thought you could fill it with me, but you still wasted all that chakra on keeping her safe, even though I had no intention of hurting her.
I could accept that. He could accept that. It was a kind of truth, and following that truth had obviously given the Hokage power.
But there's an obvious problem with the rope.
Oh?
If it's made up of many pieces, it can be broken apart.
Of course. Everything can. We already got that bit.
You don't understand. You've just proven my point to me. You can't strip off a piece of the sun without burning. No, that's too literal. A rope is made up of many pieces, and every one of those pieces becomes a strength and a weakness. Hinata understood that right away, when she looked into my heart and saw Komugi. She thought the exact same way as you. She thought Komugi was my strength. But she also recognized that Komugi was the only way she could hurt me.
And it's the same for you, Hokage. Meruem drew himself back from the link, but only enough to make his individuality firm. I can strip away your strengths, I'm sure of it.
You could try.
I already have.
Hinata?
She's alive, but I reduced her.
You couldn't have. She's too strong for you.
If that's the case, she suffered the same weakness as you. Apart, separated by worlds and circumstances and distances that couldn't have been crossed. Maybe with your strength, she could have kept herself whole, but alone, she was just twine.
Meruem attacked, but not with his body. His chakra surged and whirled, the link vibrating with its violence.
I killed her 31 times, he said, but only for play. Every punch he'd thrown, every jab of his tail, all held back at the last moment before they'd ended the woman's life, struck Naruto at once, digging deep into his soul. She was completely at my mercy, and by her own design! I forced her to use that lunar chakra that she so despises, to the point she became an avatar for it. I nibbled and lashed at your twine until it nearly snapped, and then I let her leave because I'd learned all I could. It wasn't even worth the effort to kill her at that point. Wouldn't you do the exact same to Komugi? You are too strong to be stupid! Knowing and believing as deeply as you do that she is my strength, wouldn't you tear her apart in an instant if you believed it would win you the battle? What would your beliefs be in the face of that reality, my bottomless improvement? How could I even begin to trust your strength, knowing that?
The Hokage was shaking. Meruem launched a killing blow, a phantom memory grown anew.
They both tasted Hinata. Their son, Boruto. Sasuke Uchiha, Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and every name that Meruem had been able to pluck from Hinata's mind, a limitless field of palates. Every name was distinct and delicious.
The final blow was one of Hinata's own memories, ruthlessly stolen and curated like a muddy ball rolled over and over again until it was a perfect sphere. They feasted on Himawari together.
But I won't need to play on that weakness, Hokage. I'm already enough to burn you.
The link shattered. Meruem broke it with a single flex of his will, one last horrifically violent chakra shock striking Naruto dead center. The Hokage staggered back a step.
Sparking with lightning, Meruem didn't charge directly in. He wasn't confident the same trick would work twice, even with his opponent so off balance. So instead, the King mimicked his Royal Guard, Neferpitou. He began circling the Hokage, leaping from point to point with silent energy, leaving trails of electricity everywhere he went. His chakra kept him rooted to the ground, and his speed continuously increased: after less than a second, Naruto Uzumaki was surrounded by the illusion of a solid wall of sonic booms.
He had to go faster. His only chance was to attack from an angle the Hokage couldn't predict, to strike so hard and so fast that there was no way for the man to counterattack. Meruem increased his speed, marveling at the electricity filling his body. The ground started to catch fire, continuously snuffed and ignited by his movements.
Naruto closed his eyes.
About a second and a half after he'd started, Meruem leapt forward with a scything palm. He was intent on shattering the Hokage's spine, and attacked from behind at a slight angle.
Somehow, even though Meruem had exceeded the speed of sound nearly ten times over and was attacking from within a ceaseless storm of bright chakra, deafening booms, and burning electricity wreathed in flames, the Hokage turned to meet his attack. Naruto made a fist, his eyes still closed, and Meruem gritted his teeth.
The Hokage threw a flawless corkscrew punch directly at Meruem's head.
The King was going too fast. The punch missed.
The punch scraped by Meruem's cheek, and he felt a laugh start to bubble up in his chest. The air pressure of the blow slammed a two foot deep hole in the earth. Meruem swung back, sure he was about to tear out the Hokage's vertebrae. He extended forward another half inch in that immeasurable moment.
And then the ghost of the punch, invisible, silent, and completely undetectable, struck the base of Meruem's skull like a hammer dropped by a thoughtless god.
Meruem went down so fast that his momentum was instantly cancelled, and so confused that his concentration broke instantly. His lightning went out like a shattered lightbulb, and before he could comprehend what had hit him his mouth was full of grass. He sprawled in the dirt, unable to take a breath.
His brain was frozen, stuck in a loop. What was that punch? What was that punch? Where had it come from? Was he on the ground, like he thought, or had Naruto sent him flying? His thoughts were completely scrambled.
Which was extremely unfortunate, because the next thing Naruto did was kick him directly in the face.
Meruem had regained enough composure to ride the blow. The kick, which he could only perceive as a flash of white and pain, flipped him to his feet and sent him flying backwards head over heels, but it didn't knock him out. Something in his mouth broke. He landed on both feet and stabilized himself with his tail, sucking in air. His whole body felt empty.
He spat something out, and looked down at it in astonishment. It lay in the grass gleaming and white, shining with the gold and purple chakra surrounding them.
It was a piece of one of his teeth.
Meruem looked up, his tongue unconsciously probing the jagged new gap in his mouth.
Naruto had barely moved. The man took a deep breath, and then another. He opened his eyes. They were like Hinata's eyes had been in Peijing. Sharp, and focused. The cross looked like blades.
His cloak exploded, shining chakra flooding out in every direction. Meruem leapt back, watching the onrushing tide with dull astonishment.
"Ah," he said out loud, before he was buried under a burning mountain of golden energy.
'I might have made a mistake.'