THE END WAR – THREE GENERATIONS
The Imperial Palace
Naruto launches himself at Jonas, leading the rebellion's charge into battle. Once again he uses his divine oddity to propel himself, arriving before his enemy and attacking him with a volley of strikes. Jonas blocks each strike elegantly, moving only his arms to do so. Despite Naruto's enhanced movement speed he anticipates the direction of every attack and bats it away by swatting Naruto's forearm. He has many abilities that help with this, but as the fight progresses he systematically stops using them, testing how few he can use to maintain an advantage.
The Truth-Seeking Orbs behind Naruto's back often prove very useful in combat. He reshapes one into a bo and enhances it with golden 'life-fate' energy. He then leaps a short way into the air, adds 'might' energy to his arm to superpower his movements, and slams the bo towards Jonas head as hard as he can. The emperor raises his hand, coating it in golden 'destruction' energy, he then 'creates' a diamond barrier between himself and Naruto. Naturally, Naruto smashes through the diamond barrier but he is subsequently blocked by the emperor's hand. He leaps back to safety.
Naruto feels irritated.
"Looks like your 'might' energy won't work here, Kurama," says Chomei.
"There are still other routes available to us," Kurama says. "Naruto, you will find a way to get through that guard of his, I am certain of it."
"That's not what I'm worried about," Naruto explains, his voice uneasy.
"Then what?"
"That last diamond barrier was significantly harder than the others. I think he's just understood tier 2 'creation' energy."
Naruto's prediction turns out to be correct. Jade green energy begins to surround Jonas in greater amounts than before. Not only is he able to use this green energy now, but he can also form a divine energy cloak from it. If he stopped using 'destruction' energy altogether he would still be just as powerful as Naruto. He leeches from the many insights Sarada has into her element, using those insights to learn the element faster than anyone has ever learned it before. Naruto knows how terrifying the prospect of Jonas understanding another element is. If Jonas understands tier 3 'creation' energy he won't be a class 10 warrior anymore, he will become a class 11 warrior.
Jonas 'creates' water in his hand. He instantly works out how the tiers of 'creation' energy work. The first tier allows you to 'create' solid objects like diamond and steel, the second tier allows you to 'create' liquids like water and lava, he correctly presumes that the third tier allows you to 'create' gasses. This is a wonderful power, very useful for any experiments he may want to perform in future. He wonders if he could use this power to 'create' pocket-worlders with enough practice. He is certain that Sarada would be incapable of that but with his Micro-Control it may just be possible. It matters not, soon the ability to 'create' life will be nothing compared to his powers.
"Don't you think that using that power is weak?" Naruto asks.
"Oh?"
"You never understood 'creation' energy yourself, you have just stolen those understandings from Sarada. Don't you want this fight to be a true test of your powers against mine. Stop using 'creation' energy and find out if you really are as strong as you think. If you want to be better than me then prove that the strength is yours."
"How absurd," Jonas says. "You understand 'fate' energy. Would you have understood it if not for Muto Enri's intervention in the war? Would you have developed a divine oddity if Sora didn't suggest to you that they were real? Would you have understood divine energy if I didn't send Clyde to your world? If you want to test your power against mine stop using divine energy and I will stop using 'creation'. Do we have a deal Uzumaki Naruto?"
Naruto doesn't answer. Jonas is correct.
Jonas continues. "What you are seeing now was foretold years ago Naruto. I went to that old lady from the Hertz Clan with Akashi and Sora. She told us that she saw a god in our future. She was terrified. I realised that I was right when I thought like that before. As you do not concern yourself with insects, I do not concern myself with humans. I am that foretold god. My new energy is only further proof of that."
"You are not a god; you are just a man."
"You are no longer my greatest concern. Now I am considering how to deal with the others. The first priority is the Returning Empress. The Crown Prince and the Blaze Princess also have claims on the throne, so they are also a problem. Then there is the Untitled Princess Mana, she could claim the throne too. The Beast King is an issue as well, as are his subordinates, I will need to deal with them."
Naruto breathes. He only needs to hit Jonas once to begin with. He uses Kokuo's energy to fill the air around them with 'steam'. Jonas doesn't react to it, this helps Naruto. He then swings both arms out to the side, surrounding them both strange 'water' patterns, he does this by borrowing Isobu's energy. He then moves around with his right arm superpowered. Jonas occasionally spots Naruto through the steam but he doesn't attack. He waits until he sees the 7th Hokage approaching and then he punches towards him.
But Jonas doesn't hit Naruto. He hits a reflection of Naruto in the 'water'.
Jonas starts. Nobody has fooled him like this before. He spots his approaching adversary out the corner of his eye, but there is no time left to react. Naruto uses Detonation Martial Arts and 'might' energy to superpower his arm. He jumps slightly off the ground and as he drops down he hits Jonas as hard as he can. A direct hit to the face of the emperor. Naruto feels great pain in his arm as his muscles are worked like never before. He unleashes all the strength he can spare with this strike, pushing and shouting as he continues to hit Jonas.
Then the energy dies down.
Jonas has not moved from the spot.
The emperor grabs Naruto's wrist and removes the 7th Hokage's fist from his face. At first Naruto feels completely defeated not ready to give up but without hope of victory. Then the Hokage spots something that gives him hope. There is a small bruise on Jonas's cheek where he hit him. However small, however insignificant, he has hurt the Emperor of Homeworld. It is possible. Several nearby onlookers cheer and congratulate the Leader of the Rebellion.
Naruto exhaustedly laughs, "Seems like you are mortal after all."
Jonas taps his cheek before sighing. "Oh, it has been a long time since that happened."
"Are you starting to doubt yourself yet? Aren't you worried, that things are going to change now? Jonas, you can be hurt, and if you can be hurt you can be defeated."
"You have exhausted yourself, the Leader of the Rebellion, and all you have achieved is small bruise to my cheek. I commend you for your great achievement, I'm sure that nobody else could do it. But this doesn't change anything. This is no longer a fight between you and I. I am only observing developments on the battlefield while you entertain me."
Naruto smiles. He doesn't care how pathetic it is, this small victory is a reason to be happy. There is a way to win. There is a way! He is going to do that again, a million times if that is required. Who knows what could happen here? One trick resulted in a bruise. Perhaps one big trick could give the emperor a more severe injury. If there is anyone in the rebellion who has mastered that sort of trickery it is Naruto.
Nearby, the Imperial Palace
Boruto exchanges strikes with Nadia, smiling all the while. Nadia's clever use of her 'mind' powers mimics Hannah's instinct. However good Nadia's reactions, she lacks the physical ability of Hannah. Boruto doesn't require the use of his Death Mask to keep up with her. He increases his pace gradually, using his shinobi experience to gradually outpower the Thinking Queen. As the seconds pass Nadia becomes more and more uncomfortable. Boruto continues the strike exchange until he has a comfortable opening, then he creates a golden 'death-fate' Rasengan and presses it into Nadia's abdomen.
Nadia is pressed back by the blast, eventually falling to her knees. She tries to stand but quickly falls again, feeling the strong aftereffects of the 'death' energy. She feels a hand grab her through the ground, a skeletal hand, one of Boruto's unique powers. She quickly spins on the spot, holding her leg out and in one sweeping kick eliminating all the surrounding skeletons. She sees her opponent approaching yet again and leaps back to get away from him. Boruto teleports behind Nadia using the Flying Thunder God technique but is quickly hit by a golden 'mind' blade.
Boruto looks down and sees the blade in Nadia's hand.
"Sorry, I knew you were going to do that," Nadia says.
Boruto smiles, "I know."
Suddenly Adamantine Sealing Chains appear and hold Nadia in position. Boruto knocks her blade away and stands back slightly. He uses his Tenseigan to begin gathering chakra. He uses golden 'death-fate' to start enhancing that chakra. Energy is pooling on his hand very quickly, and with the chains themselves being enhanced, Nadia is struggling to get away. Boruto continues to prepare his attack, taking as much time as he needs to pool as much strength into it as possible. When he is finally ready he announces his attack, "Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion."
Nadia forces herself to vibrate at the resonant frequency of the chains, shattering one of them at the last second and managing to force herself out the path of the attack. She takes a deep breath of relief as she gets out of the way. Just as she starts to shatter the others Boruto attacks her with a big sweeping punch, pushing her back with enough force to shatter the chains anyway. When Nadia does eventually come to a halt she grits her teeth and reluctantly fights through the pain.
"Stop this, you can't win!" Nadia says.
"Stop? Why would I do that? If we don't win here Furst will execute everyone I care about. Even if I did join the empire he wouldn't spare me. There is no reason to defect here."
"I'm not asking you to defect. Just run away."
"This fight is only a matter of time. You are clever, I know that you will find ways to delay my victory. But you are weaker than me, significantly weaker. I am a class 9 divine oddity user, and you are a royal who doesn't specialise in battle. My victory is guaranteed."
"I am well aware of that, but you cannot defeat me here. I have already thought through every possible scenario. If you defeat me the consequences will be disastrous for everyone. Run Uzumaki Boruto, that way things could be different in your future. Maybe your family would be dead but some of the things you care about would survive. If you keep fighting here defeating me won't matter, the emperor will destroy all of it."
"Then help me to stop him. You are the Thinking Queen Nadia if anyone can work out a way it is you."
"I have already thought everything through idiot! That's why I know this is the best option. The rebellion rushed to declare without ever considering the consequences. Now there is only one-way things can go. This battle will be won by the empire, Swen and I must survive."
"Is that your compassion or your self-interest speaking?"
Nadia smiles. "Don't try to get in my head, don't try to understand me. Although good fortune for the rebellion has gone against some of my predictions, this war has gone almost exactly as I expected. Once I took your father's breakthroughs into my calculations everything happened exactly as I predicted. This final battle has spoiled a lot of those predictions though, things need to go against the odds here or all will be lost."
"Things will go against the odds Nadia. We're going to defeat the empire!"
Nearby, the Imperial Palace
Hinata and Himawari synchronise their attack against Sabine. The mother-daughter team uses a combination of their many elements with some Sacred Dagger trickery to obscure their approach. In the final few moments of that approach they both arch their runs, approaching their opponent from opposite sides. Both strike at Sabine with their weapons, but the Crazy Queen catches both of them. She grins pushing 'chaos' energy into each of their weapons before letting them go. The two family members stumble, slipping past Sabine and pushing their weapons towards each other. Hinata worries that the last thing they will ever see is the excited look on Sabine's face as they die.
But Himawari disappears.
Sabine is confused. Hinata uses this confusion and the opening to regain her balance. She spins on the spot and slams the Sacred Sword towards Sabine once again. This time the former Queen of Ewoa is unprepared for the attack. It sends her tumbling back along the ground, cackling as she uses golden 'chaos' energy on the way, exploding earth and eliminating a combination of rebels and guards. When Sabine regains her balance she understands what has happened. She is no longer facing two opponents; she is facing three.
Himawari and Hinata were saved by the 3rd Party Summoning divine ability.
They were saved by Muto Enri.
"You two have been fighting Sabine?" Enri asks.
"Yeah, she's tough," Hinata answers. "I don't know how father ever fought a monster like her."
"It doesn't matter how he did it," Himawari says. "All that matters is how we are going to do it. She may have great power but we have numbers on our side. She may be strong but she definitely has a weakness. Between the three of us we can definitely find a way to exploit that weakness."
Sabine walks as she approaches the three of them. When she reaches a ten-meter distance she stops and smiles. It looks like another of the Endou-Muto family has joined the fight. The former Empress Consort herself.
"It is good of you to join this game Enri. First I had the Blaze Princess, too weak to compare to the Crown Prince. Then the Returning Empress joined the fight, she who is famously weaker than the so-called Pocket Emperor. Now we have completed the trio of disappointing clan members. Muto Enri herself, empress consort, not even in the same league as the former emperor. You all have interesting ideas. If you gather up enough weak class 9 warriors you will be able to defeat me? Go ahead and try it, defeating all three of you at once will be fun!"
"Do you think you can scare me Sabine?"
Sabine smiles. "I did last time."
"You are saying that we are weaker than other members of our generations? Do you think that we are afraid because of that? Akashi, Naruto, and Boruto are probably three of the five strongest warriors ever. Two of them have divine oddities. The other was able to defeat you without one."
"I am saying you have a losing mentality. You travel with elite-level class 9s but you will never reach that realm yourself. Only that calibre of warrior can defeat me. Put as many other class 9s together as you want, you're not defeating me."
"Ignore her," Enri says to Hinata and Himawari. "She's trying to intimidate us. Don't let her. Maybe three ordinary class 9 warriors couldn't defeat her, but we can. We share a bond that will help us work together. We are family."
Himawari nods. She agrees with Enri. Their minds are alike, the way they fight, the impulsive strategies they come up with, they are all similar. They may be the most effective trio in the rebellion. Two sacred weapons, the 3rd Party Summon, two shinobi visual powers, between them they have everything they need to defeat any opponent.
Hinata points the Sacred Sword at Sabine. "Listen well Mauer Sabine. It doesn't matter which of us it is. My father, my mother, my uncle, Naruto, Mana, Boruto, or Himawari, we are the true Imperial Family. This family has stopped you every time you have stepped out of line in the past, and we are going to do it again today."
Sabine shrugs. "You can try."
Sabine runs at Enri. The former empress consort's daughter and granddaughter are already tired, her priority is wearing down the newcomer. She sprints towards Enri while pushing golden 'chaos' into the ground, executing her earth-detonating technique. The exploded earth does strike her but she believes it will strike Enri as well. She has forgotten about Enri's power. Enri uses golden 'fate' energy to change her fortune. The former empress consort walks through the exploding earth and approaches Sabine from directly ahead.
When Sabine and Enri are face-to-face the Crazy Queen questions her opponent's sanity. Enri is the weakest of all the class 9s in a fist-fight. But Enri has a plan. She uses the 3rd Party Summon to bring Hinata forward. Hinata quickly strikes Sabine from the right, swinging her to the left. Enri uses the 3rd Party Summon again. This time Himawari strikes Sabine from the left, swinging her back. Enri finally strikes from the middle, her fist contacting just below Sabine's neck. The Crazy Queen anticipated this attack and replies with a similar strike of her own.
Both Sabine and Enri are knocked back.
Enri panics and reaches for her neck, using golden 'fate' to push out the 'chaos' energy Sabine just used against her. She feels a sudden difficulty, a reduction in the rate of her blood circulation, a consequence of Sabine's attack. But she has a duty to Homeworld, she stands and continues the fight. She is consoled by the knowledge she landed a similar strike.
Sabine stands and begins to approach her opponents. She feels dizzy for a moment and pauses. Her Super Healing kicks in to fix the damage that Enri did before, resolving the issue. Sabine remembers fighting Enri now. Enri did not do this by pushing divine energy into her body. Enri landed a lucky strike, modifying the odds of such a strike occurring with her golden 'fate' energy.
Sabine smiles. She still has the upper hand, but maybe now that Enri has arrived this fight will be interesting. She must take on all three generations of the Endou family.