THE END WAR – AKASHI VS JONAS

The Imperial Palace

"It is strange that you would only return now," Jonas remarks. "A man like you would not hide while the people of the rebellion died. Presumably you returned from the dead very recently."

Akashi smiles at Jonas before ignoring what he just said. He approaches one of the injured warriors that Jonas just defeated. He kneels beside her and calmly applies golden 'life' energy to her wounds. As he does so his continuously active divine ability works wonders. His divine ability is Mass Cohesion. The main component of Mass Cohesion is always active, it is a power that makes groups of people fight as a well-coordinated team. Right now it is helping to calm tensions between the Imperial Guard and the rebellion who have now been enemies for years. For now he holds the other part of his divine ability in reserve.

Akashi finishes healing the woman and helps her to her feet.

"You are Uzumaki Himawari aren't you?"

"Yes," Himawari answers.

"Mitsuki told me about you while we were rushing here. I believe that you are my granddaughter, the Blaze Princess."

"Yes… that is what they call me…"

"It's very nice to meet you."

Akashi hugs Himawari. The Blaze Princess feels very warm in his embrace, as if she has known him for years despite never having met him. She understands straight away why everyone adored Akashi so much, why they made him the emperor. She doesn't just feel at ease because they are family, she feels like this because he has a special presence, similar to her father but different. Naruto feels like an unstoppable force who will stop at nothing to overcome every obstacle, Akashi feels like an eternal presence, never waning, never fading, someone who can always make you smile and believe in tomorrow.

Next Akashi moves towards Boruto.

"You are my grandson, right?"

"Yes. My name is Boruto."

Akashi hugs Boruto for a moment, telling him that it is nice to meet him as well. Akashi says that he has heard of Boruto's struggles since he has arrived in Homeworld and that he forgives him. Hearing these words from Homeworld's former emperor somehow changes things for Boruto. This forgiveness makes him feel cleaner, as if he truly has been forgiven. He can feel his emotions matching everyone's, he can feel great relief, he can feel the sadness of old memories washing away and being replaced by happiness.

"And you must be Sarada."

"Yes, it's nice to meet you."

"Mitsuki says that you help my grandson to stay on the right path. I'm glad that he has met someone like you. I don't like to ask a favour just after meeting you, but please keep helping him. The Endou family is strong, but we go through a lot of pain to protect Homeworld just as you have done for your village."

"I will."

Next Akashi looks at the rest of his family who have gathered together. He approaches them, still ignoring the obvious threat that is Jonas. He pays no head to the man who killed him, to the man who destroyed the world he helped to build. Instead he approaches the group of four who are closer to him than anyone. He approaches Enri, Hinata, Mana, and Michel.

"Hinata, you look different, and happy. Reincarnation has been kind to you. I knew that it would be difficult for you to reach this place, to fight a war against Jonas, but I always believed you could do it. The true empress, returning from exile in another world. I am very proud of you and everything you have done. You will be a worthy empress when this is done."

"Dad, I… I didn't do it alone."

"I have heard. This Uzumaki must be quite something if he can even impress you."

"He is… he's loud, he's stubborn, he claims that he can do anything, he keeps talking about never giving up, he is naïve, he's an idealist, he's a fool, he doesn't think anything through, he fights without holding back, he has no mind for tactics. But he's unlike anyone I've ever met, we only reached this place because we fought together."

"From the description Mitsuki gave me he doesn't seem to be around here. I hope that I get the chance to meet him."

"So do I."

Akashi nods before turning to his other daughter.

"Mana, you stuck it out to the end. It must have been difficult waiting for your sister to return, but you did it. When this is over you must be given the title you have always deserved, you must be made a Princess of Homeworld. The people would be lucky to have you as part of their Imperial Family. I have always thought myself lucky to have been a father to you."

"Thank you, dad."

Akashi looks to Michel.

"You kept them safe Michel; I knew that I could count on you."

"I did my best my lord."

"I didn't give you permission to use formal language."

"In that case it is good to see you again old friend."

Akashi smiles. Then he looks to the one who has doubtless missed him more than anyone. He looks to Enri. They're eyes lock for what seems like an eternity before either of them speaks. She saw him that day after the coup, she saw him before he died. That was the worst day of her life. Since then she has endured much just to reach this moment, just to see him again one last time. She would do it all again in a heartbeat if that is what it price to see him. They are together again here at the end of all things.

"Hello Enri," he says.

"Hello Akashi. You always show up at the last moment don't you?"

"Sorry, it wouldn't be me if I showed up on time though, would it?"

"No, it wouldn't."

"I hear that Sora died?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry."

"You're here now, I forgive you."

"I should probably fight the fool now, shouldn't I?"

"Yes you should. Good luck."

"I don't need luck, I have all of you," Akashi says before standing and walking towards Jonas.

Enri sighs, "You always say that."

Akashi walks forwards for a few more seconds, walking slowly towards Jonas before he stops and spots something interesting out the corner of his eye. He spots a woman with orange bio-hardened skin, dark blue hair, and horns atop her head. He grins, realising that a lot has changed since he was last alive. He turns away from Jonas and waves towards his former nemesis.

"Hi Ashen, it's been a long time."

"I made a deal to fight for the rebellion. Speaking with you was never part of the deal."

Akashi smiles widely at Ashen, knowing that it will irritate her. He then resumes his original walk towards Jonas. He stands face to face with the man who replaced him. It is the first time Akashi has seen his former friend in a robe that is red, blue, and gold, the colours of the empire. They are each wearing the robes of the emperor. This encounter has long been fated and now it has arrived. The 1st emperor and the 2nd emperor stand as enemies.

"You have disappointed me Jonas."

"Ruling Homeworld was never meant to please you. Shall we get this over with Akashi? I defeated you last time. For you nothing has changed since then, but I have become much stronger. Isn't it obvious how this fight will end?"

"Probably, but you don't know until you try."

Jonas strikes first, hitting Akashi in the shoulder with a powerful strike. Of course the former emperor is knocked backwards, just as all the others have been until this point, but after three steps he stops himself and smiles at the second emperor. Unlike Jonas's other opponents he has taken that attack without any significant damage. The mere fact that he was able to take this punch is enough to excite many among the rebellion who start to cheer loudly for their former emperor.

Jonas 'creates' a series of diamond arrows. He coats each of these arrows in golden 'destruction' energy, in power that nobody could hope to endure. He fires each of these arrows towards Akashi one after the other. Akashi uses the Step Burst to dodge each of the arrows in turn, moving far faster than Boruto can with the technique. Boruto takes note of what he is seeing, this is how a true expert uses the Step Burst, he has avoided all the attacks of an opponent on a higher level.

"You're going to have to attack faster than that," Akashi says.

Jonas picks up one of his failed arrows. Instead of launching it with his energy control alone he throws it manually. The speed almost triples as the arrow races towards Akashi. Even the former emperor, perhaps the most powerful class 9 ever, is not fast enough to avoid that. When Jonas throws an arrow like that it is not just surpassing the speed at which people can dodge, it is surpassing the speed at which they can react.

From the gold and crimson dust of the explosion Endou Akashi emerges with only minor wounds. Golden 'life' frantically circles around the spot where the arrow hit his chest, but that diamond arrow now lies on the ground, shattered into small pieces. Akashi has just taken the most powerful attack Jonas has used so far and has survived using only golden 'life' energy. Those who have never seen him fight before are just now beginning to understand how remarkable he is.

"Yes, that's very impressive, you survived. Although I notice there still seems to be a wound on your chest."

Akashi glances down and sees it. "Ah, it has been a long time since I was last wounded. Mitsuki thought that this body would recover from damage automatically, but it seems that damage from divine energy is not so easy to recover from. No matter, this body will be more than enough to fight against you with."

Jonas 'creates' another diamond arrow, taking it in his hand, enhancing it with golden 'destruction' energy and getting ready to throw it.

"You know that I can keep this up for longer than that body will last. Akashi, I expected you to at least challenge me a little bit."

Akashi smiles. Jonas appeared humble at times during their fight against the Dark Dimension, he knows that much of that was a cover. He always heard rumours that Jonas was very arrogant but he refused to believe them, because Jonas was his friend. Jonas was the most brilliant of all warriors in that war, the only reason he didn't win the war himself was his refusal to use a divine ability. Akashi knows now that Jonas was only his friend to maintain the deception, a trick that a naïve man like him would always fall for.

"If you want a challenge stand still and take my strongest attack."

"I am not a fool Akashi, I know that if I wished to challenge myself I could stop using golden divine energy, but that is not the kind of challenge I seek. I seek someone who can challenge me at my strongest."

"Very well then, I'll show you an attack you haven't seen before, the strongest in my arsenal. The fused-hundred-punches technique."

"Don't be absurd, you never mastered the fused-hundred-punches technique and if you did you would have used it in our last fight. I know that you haven't had time to train Akashi, I know that you don't know anything like that."

"I admit not much time has passed for me since we last fought, but I will show you how I have put that time to use."

"Your grandson has inherited your guidance. If you knew this technique he would have used it."

"I've never used this technique; it may blow up in my face. Rest assured Jonas, I wouldn't recommend this to my grandson if I thought it could kill him."

Akashi holds his hand out to the right and vibrates it slightly. He gathers golden 'life' energy on his hand, but this level of energy is not enough to threaten Furst. He then moves his arm away from the midpoint of the vibrations before slowly returning it to that midpoint. When he returns the divine energy in his hand increases, much to Jonas's surprise. Akashi moves his hand away from the midpoint again before returning it, this time moving in a different direction. He does this again, and again, each time his power increasing. When he is done his technique name proves to be accurate, he is no longer using the strength of one punch, he is using the strength of one-hundred-fused punches.

"You've never been hit with anything like this before Jonas. Trust me, it will defeat you."

"If you think that this punch will be enough to defeat me you are wrong. I admit, I always thought that technique fusion was a myth, but I am well versed in many defensive techniques. You cannot hurt me with that one."

"Let's find out."

The rebels get their hopes up. Many shout out to Akashi to "go for it" and "get him". Of course the former emperor intends to do just that. He uses the Step Burst to weave through the obstacles Jonas 'creates' for him, working his way calmly to the emperor. At the last second he switches from double-stepping with the Step Burst to triple-stepping, throwing off Jonas's defensive timing. The stage is now set for him to try his ultimate technique.

Jonas 'creates' a multi-layered diamond shield, enhancing it with golden 'destruction' energy. Rarely has he been so worried about an attack before. The only time he has felt such danger is when Sora detonated his core and when Nadia tried to poison him. Nevertheless he holds the shield steady, optimistic that he can block even Akashi's new most powerful attack.

Akashi hits the shield with the Fused-Hundred-Punches.

The energy of a hundred punches illuminates the area, blinding all those who try to look. They each partially cover their eyes, desperate to see what happened. When the light dies down the result is clear. They placed all their hope, expectations, and prayers on Akashi, making them into an enormous weight on his shoulders. It seems that even for Akashi that weight was too much to carry. He has destroyed the shield Jonas created but he has not been successful.

Jonas is still standing unharmed.

"I admit that was very impressive Akashi, but it is not enough to defeat me. You have lost."

"I…"

Jonas coats his hand in golden 'destruction' and strikes at Akashi. The previous emperor uses the Step Burst to move back just in time but still suffers a nasty wound from his right shoulder to the top of his right leg. He lands but doesn't spare any energy fixing his wound. He has a different plan for this situation. The Fused-Hundred-Punches is indeed his most powerful attack, his most powerful technique, but he always doubted it would be enough to defeat Furst Jonas. That is why he had a backup plan ready.

"Do you remember my divine ability?" Akashi asks.

"Yes. Mass Cohesion, it was very useful during the war. It helped people from all over Homeworld who were previously enemies to work together."

"There are two parts to my divine ability Jonas. The first part is improving the cohesion between my allies, the second part is more relevant here. I can take that cohesion, I can take their unity, I can take their positive emotions, and convert it into power. The more united they are in their desire the more power I can take."

"Your allies look disappointed in you. I doubt you would get much power from them now."

"I told them that I would win with that punch. I got their hopes up as much as possible. I knew that attack might not kill you, but them being hopeful was important. I don't need to convert the cohesion into energy now, I have already done it. I did it the moment before I was about to hit you."

"What!"

Akashi holds his arm out to the right. He deviates from and returns to the midpoint in a hundred different ways much more quickly the second time around. He starts with many times more power than when he prepared for the first punch before multiplying that greater power by one hundred. The result, an attack even more powerful than the last time. That was the most powerful attack that Jonas has taken, and now its strength has been multiplied again.

Jonas quickly 'creates' another shield.

"Remember Jonas, they would never have felt these emotions if you didn't back them into a corner."

Akashi strikes the shield again with an even more powerful Fused-Hundred-Punches. This time he feels it give easily under the pressure of his strike. He breaks through the shield and feels his fist connect with Jonas's hand. He feels the man who replaced him using his Nano-Control to the utmost of his power, doing everything he can to resist. Akashi is hitting Jonas harder than he has ever been hit before though, with more power than a punch from Ming Dai, than a strike with Hinata's Sacred Sword, than any of Ashen's bio-hardened attacks. He feels the last of the power available to him slipping away, so he uses all that remains in one go, forcing it all to the very tip of his knuckle and detonating it.

The explosion of energy masks the result for a second.

There was such hope, such joy, such cohesion of wills, but they shouldn't have raised those hopes.

Jonas has caught the punch.

With the attack stopped Jonas withdraws his arm and looks at it. That hurt, he can feel significant damage along the length of his arm. He starts trying to fix that by 'destroying' and 'creating' undamaged tissue. He looks at Akashi with disdain, nobody has ever done such damage to him in battle before, he is not going to let that go unpunished.

The emperor kicks his predecessors feet from under him before kneeling and punching him several times. He keeps striking until Akashi's resistance completely fades, until he stops using golden 'life' to aid with his recovery. Once Akashi is defenceless Jonas punches him once more out of spite. He then kicks the former emperor back towards the rebellion and the Imperial Guard. He is now faced by an entire army of demoralised and broken people. Their hero came to their rescue and gave Jonas his best shot, but he still lost.

Enri cradles Akashi.

"He's stronger than I remembered," Akashi jokes. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more."

Jonas smiles. "Do you think you have achieved something Akashi? You accumulated all that energy, but I want you to know something. I have not taken a single step since I started fighting Naruto. I have moved by teleportation, but that is all. For all the power those positive emotions gave you, it still wasn't enough to move me from this spot! You are a failure Endou Akashi!"

Akashi drops his head back to the ground. Even he cannot believe that such a monster could exist. Everyone has attacked Jonas but none of them have been able to move him. He is without a doubt the strongest warrior in Homeworld, and there is nobody who can even come close to rivalling him.

Jonas reaches into his pocket, happy that he has now proven himself to be the foretold god. It is beyond doubt now that only he could hold this title. Now is the time to exercise his right as a god, to do what he has been planning to do for years. He uses his communication stone, telling a collection of trusted guardians to bring his weapon to him. They emerge from the Throne Room behind the rebels and the guards. They walk towards them, knowing they will need to go through them in order to reach Furst. The rebels all have the same question, what is this thing being moved towards them?

"What is that?" Hinata asks.

Jonas answers. "You might be familiar with its origins; it is one of the reasons you are here. This is my weapon, my life's greatest work. It is a device of unimaginable power, unfortunately when I originally designed it I realised it couldn't be powered by divine energy. There was one power source that could be used to create this weapon and that was what you call chakra, the power pocket-worlders use. For years I sent the military into the pocket-worlds to gather all chakra into one spot, to harvest it and return it to me. That was all for the creation of this weapon.

"It doesn't look like much of a weapon I admit, but it does something interesting when combined with divine energy. It can project it anywhere in Homeworld. You have all surely heard of the sudden catastrophe that took place in Dunstone. That was a result of me using my 'destruction' energy with the prototype of this weapon. In a second I was able to destroy an entire quadrant of a city. Of course that was only the prototype, the version behind you is very different, more accurate and more powerful.

"There was a reason I needed to master both 'destruction' and 'creation' energy; it is because this weapon can project that energy anywhere. But unlike the prototype it is not limited in scope. With this weapon I can use my energy on all of Homeworld at once. Imagine it, someone who can 'create' or 'destroy' anything anywhere anytime. I could create a mountain; I could destroy a microorganism. There would be no fighting someone like that, no way of defying their will. That is what that seer saw all those years ago Akashi, she saw the moment I use this weapon. She saw me with the ability to remake Homeworld as I see fit. She saw me use this weapon, becoming a god in the process."

Now Boruto understands why Jonas attacked Swen. Boruto determined that if Jonas continued as he was doing there would be nobody left to rule in his Homeworld, but that is not true. With that weapon in the hands of Jonas Homeworld may be completely different tomorrow. It could be smaller or bigger, flat or mountainous, hot or cold, there may or may not be humans. Jonas would be omnipotent with such ultimate control. There is no need to keep anyone on his good side, because tomorrow he could kill everyone and replace them.

Hinata points at the guardians bringing the weapon, "Take them out! Take them out!"

Shao Chin still has his vantage point atop the hill. He creates four Tracking Shots and unleashes them towards the guardians. He takes them all down quickly, stopping the weapon from getting any closer to Jonas. What he cannot do, for all his strength, is stop Jonas from getting any closer to the weapon. He can only stand by and leave that task to Hinata.

Fortunately Hinata does have a plan. When she uses other people's energy with the Sacred Sword she combines their energies in a circuit. When she did that with Enri and Himawari the energy transfer was very efficient because she formed a strong circuit. Creating a strong circuit with other people's energy is very dangerous, if you get it slightly wrong the consequences are devastating. However, a weak circuit is not as dangerous and is much easier to use. Of course the energy transfer in a weak circuit is inefficient in comparison and cannot reasonably be used to amass the same levels of energy. There is one exception to the weakness of the weak circuits though. If you gather enough strong warriors as part of the circuit the overwhelming amount of energy compensates for the inefficiency. With enough people you can overcome the drawbacks of the weak circuit and create an enormous amount of energy.

Hinata shouts her instructions, telling everyone to link arms and to stand together. She stands at the centre of this link with the Sacred Sword, ready to use it to redistribute the accumulated energy. Everyone who is able joins in with the link. Boruto and Sarada link energies, Himawari and Enri, Terukatsu and Clyde, Hannah and Ashen, Shikadai and Shinki, all of them who can find the energy to stand join this huge chain of warriors. It is filled with humans and beasts, rebels and guards, pocket-worlders and Homeworlders.

Jonas nods admiringly, he didn't expect this.

Hinata begins to swing the Sacred Sword in large circles. She projects the energy of it over a large area in pulses. She is morphing this tremendous energy into an enormous shield. This is the greatest defence that could ever be created, the power of those that are willing to stand and fight against Jonas, they stand as one source of divine energy and use all the power they have to stand in his way. This is their final way of standing up to him, they will use this shield to stop him reaching the weapon that could end the world.

Someone drops down the other side of the shield, opposite Jonas.

It is a being of pure light. Energy that is gold, white, and yellow shines brightly in all directions. Light shines from every spot on their body. It is hard to even look at them. Of course it could only be one person.

Sasuke's hand rests on the shoulders of Boruto and Sarada. He has joined those providing energy for the shield along with Rana and Odion.

"It's Naruto," Sasuke says.

Jonas looks at his returning opponent.

"It appears you have returned again Uzumaki Naruto. Your divine oddity seems to have changed slightly, yes. Before your arms or legs would shine when detonated your core and redirected your energy to them. Now your entire body is shining in the same way. Amusing, I can hardly believe that it is possible, but you are detonating one-hundred percent of your core continuously and still surviving."

Naruto says nothing as the shield continues to grow behind him.

"It is clever," Jonas admits, "But it won't be enough to—"

Naruto leaps forward. He is right in front of the emperor before Jonas can react. Naruto spins once before landing a clean powerful kick to Jonas's chest.

He sends the emperor flying back!

The emperor has been moved!

Those helping with the shield all uncontrollably roar their approval. Naruto has just done what even Endou Akashi could not. He has done what nobody else could ever do. He has struck Emperor Furst Jonas hard enough to take him from his feet. They can feel the earth shaking as they all nervously stamp their feet in anticipation. This is amazing, for the first time there is a warrior who can genuinely stand up to the emperor in a fight.

Jonas raises his head and shields his eyes when he looks at the blinding light emanating from Naruto.

Naruto dulls that light for a moment.

"You still don't seem to understand this Jonas!

"Your opponent is not the Thinking Queen, it's not the Empress of the Dark Dimension, not the Blaze Princess or the Crown Prince, it's not the former Empress Consort, the Returning Empress or even the Previous Emperor!

"Your opponent is me!

"You didn't need to make the pocket-worlds, but when you did you created your own worst enemy. You created me!

"Their job is to protect the machine.

"My job is the same as it has always been.

"Furst Jonas, I will defeat you here and free Homeworld once and for all!"

In Response to The Darkest Wizard
Who asks several questions

Question: Is it possible for Jonas to reach class 12?
Answer: I don't think it's possible unless he learns another element.

Question: Is there a chance of exploring Jonas's motivations for becoming emperor?
Answer: Akashi wanted to stop the exploitation of pocket-worlds, Jonas killed him. As this chapter shows, Jonas was farming chakra to become all-powerful in Homeworld.

Question: Why did Furst take Petra as his student?
Answer: That's a long story that I may put in a spin-off, basically it was to make use of her 'control' powers.

Thanks for reading.

In Response to m'j doom
Who asks "how?"

Reanimation jutsu.

Thanks for reading.

In Response to Guest
Who asks if Naruto's time in the spacetime trap would cause him to have his progenitor breakthrough before Boruto

Good point, I didn't think of that.
Yes it would.

Thanks for reading.

In Response to S
Who asks several questions

Question: Is this space like the spacetime trap where Naruto learned to use his divine oddity.
Answer: Yes.

Question: Was that spacetime trap made by people detonating their cores?
Answer: No, that was just made by many people instead of just three.

Thanks for reading.