Hello everyone, TheRealNingen is back from the dead!

Sorry for dropping off of the face of the earth for three years; a lot of stuff has happened during that time. But now, I have the muse to write. Today, I present to you a project I've been working on with two of my closest friends (YourMom and UchihaLegend) to create an AU Naruto fanfic. Took a while to plan out most of the plot and characters. Welp, enough talking, let's get to the story.

The Shinobi Legend

Arc 0

Chapter 1: Submerged in the Abyss

Nighttime sky, the ground of corpses, houses set ablaze, burning while crumbling due to the molten stream, was simply the effects of the "Demon Horse," Kokuo.

"What the hell is going on?! Why would the Five-Tails of Iwagakure attack Takigakure like that?!" A man, deprived of sleep, merely whimpered. A wave of steam soon devoured him; his burnt, bloodied corpse collapsed on the ground.

"GRAHHHH!"

Its cry pierced the ears of those who were unfortunate enough to hear its roar that turned the village into hell. Kukuo savagely stomped the ground with pained might, screaming out pained roars.

"Hmmh... The beast wants to oppose the true power of the Sharingan?" A man boasting smirked about a few hundred meters from the destruction whilst on top of the giant tree with water flowing out of it. He stood atop the great tree of Takigakure: Yggdrasil that stood just at the outskirts of the village, flowing water into the village. He wore a red cloak with a drama mask that covered his face, only displaying his two Sharingan, fully matured into a three tomoe. He adorned an oddly shaped Chokuto, with its blade shaped like a zigzag-line on his back.

"Hageshi Formation, ATTACK!" A man with black, curly hair commanded. He wore a purple trench coat with black kanji. The man's face was slightly tan, with a small scar just under his eye. He had a navy blue vest under his cloak with dark green pants under them.

YES, SIR RYOUTA UCHIHA!" Takigakure ninja passionately replied. "WATER RELEASE: WILD WATER WAVE!" One squad burst out hundreds of gallons of water at the Kokuo from their mouths, extinguishing any steam or flames it was about to fire at the village. "FIRE RELEASE: DRAGON FLAME BULLET!" Another squad spewed an inferno of flames in the shape of dragons, burning the Five-Tails with its fiery might, but it was merely a set-up for the next technique.

"WIND RELEASE: DRILLING AIR BULLET" One squad fired out wind bullets only to fan the fire dragons already being fired at Kokuo, which inflicted some pain on the tailed-beast but was nevertheless wasteful of their workforce. "LIGHTNING RELEASE: LIGHTNING WHIP!" The jutsu was a twist on the Water Release: Water Whip, manifesting lightning chakra to bind it. It was instrumental as the last squad charged up their previous technique,"EARTH RELEASE: PILLAR PRISON!" The previous team created earth pillars to bind Kokuo to the ground. It was proven effective as the tailed beast was nearly smashed by all of the earthen posts crashing onto him at the village center. Ryouta rushed to the village center as he viewed a whole crowd of citizens glancing at the Five-Tails, bound to the ground. Kokuo gave a pained grunt as Ryouta noticed instead of the tailed beast's seafoam-Sapphire eyes, it was a 3 Tomoe Sharingan, that could only mean one thing...

"Another Uchiha is controlling the Five-Tails, step back!" He commanded the citizens of Takigakure. The citizens obediently dashed back a few feet away from danger. However, the masked man adorning a red cloak appeared in thin air, a gust of wind surrounding him, blowing the steamy atmosphere around his body.

"Ryouta Uchiha. Long time no see! As you can see from the current invasion of your village, I am a bit on the clock here," The masked man spoke in a humorous tone, unbefitting the current atmosphere of the flaming village filled with noxious steam.

"Now, let's get to business: you will now tell me where the Scroll of Powder that wields the grandiose power of the Seven-Tails is. Of course, you do have a choice in the matter, if you prefer seeing your precious village burn to ashes." He maliciously offered.

"Sorry, but I can't tell you where the Scroll is. It's one of Takigakure's most prized possessions. As the leader of the village, I have a duty to uphold after all." Ryouta replied, rubbing the back of his hair casually.

"Have it your way then."

The red figure weaved many hand signs in rapid succession, throwing an innumerable number of shurikens into the night sky whilst inhaling, "Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Scarlet Claw!"

Miniature firestorms shaped in balls covered the shurikens, soared towards Ryouta, "Earth Release: Earth Wall!" A nearly impenetrable wall of earth stopped the shurikens right in their tracls . Concurrently, the man roared to the group of citizens the wall shielded them from, "Go to the shelter!" Immediately complying, groups of remaining Takigakure shinobi escorted the shinobi to a nearby shelter, trying their best to dodge the steam and flames of the Demon Horse.

The fire diminished on the shuriken as the entity soared through the air, appearing as a red missile rather than a human. Unsheathing his Chokuto at lightning-fast speeds, once he descended to meet Ryouta, he raised his blade before rapidly slicing downwards like the sword was a hammer. Any normal human wouldn't be able to react to the sheer velocity of the sword. Fortunately, Ryouta was not a normal human; he was a shinobi, a leader of a group of shinobi in fact. Despite the lightning-fast speeds of the masked man in red, the man in purple's reaction speeds was exceptional as well. For a moment - a crucial moment- he blinked, and the next moment his eyes opened. Mirroring the same gleaming crimson as the masked man, Ryouta's eyes swirled as three tomoes rotated around each of his optics.

"So the rumors were true, the leader of Takigakure is also an Uchiha and bears the Sharingan…" The masked man mused, continuing his slash without any form of relent.

"Honoikazuchi! Emerge!" Among the inferno and steam that was the remnant of Takigakure, thunder veiled in flames roared above Ryouta like a church bell, as burning blue light rained down above him. The light swallowed him whole, shocking the masked man who was still midair. A midair adjustment was child play's for the masked man, utilizing the Body Flicker technique to escape the light, standing on the ground five meters away from the man bathing in it as if he was some sort of god.

Then suddenly, the light ceased as the Takigakure leader severed it like butter.

At that moment, Ryouta charged through the steamy air, his crimson optics locked onto the standing prey in front of him. What would have taken four steps for someone to cover merely took one for the man in purple. The man in red quickly raised his Chokuto at his chest to block what his Sharingan predicted to be a high-speed punch from Ryouta, but his eyes fooled him. Steel met steel. Ryouta wielded a sword?

"He used the chakra to create a weapon?" The man in red panicky thought as the ground before him shattered and nearly exploded due to the sheer force of the clash of swords. Sparks of lightning filled the battlefield while the masked man was pushed back another ten meters. He glanced up once he got ample footing on the battered earth. The man in purple - no, the leader of Takigakure glared directly at the masked man with an expression that resembled rage incarnate. He could no longer keep his cool, he would defend the village and eliminate all of those who threatened its security. That was the duty Ryouta Uchiha would carry out until his last breath.

The weapon the leader of Takigakure held fiercely on his right hand was one of the dozens of "Legendary Weapons" in the current Shinobi World. Honoikazuchi (Fire Thunder), the Sword of Fire and Thunder, that could manipulate all aspects of the storm, was said to be the personification of one of the eight gods that were born from Izanami's body - old folklore passed by generation to generation back when the Sage of Six Paths was still kicking. A black hilt with red diamonds embroidered in it along with a red ribbon and gold bells gave it a thunder-like motif but with a semblance of flames. The bladed section had the pommel resemble lightning and the stainless blade appeared to be forged from the remnant of an inferno instead of steel due to its sheer sharpness. It was a weapon that truly represented the intensity of both lightning and fire.

Ryouta slowly approached the masked man as Honoikazuchi's blade sparked with delight. Each step he took was filled with utter might, threatening the earth below him to explode at any moment. The man in red scowled in annoyance, he didn't expect the leader of Takigakure to wield such a powerful weapon that could control both fire and lightning freely. His plans were slowly being thwarted, but he didn't want Ryouta to revel in the false hope that his village was going to survive today!

The masked man let out a shrill battle cry, kneading copious amounts of chakra in his feet to propel himself towards Ryouta faster than the speed of sound, cutting through the air instantaneously. A slipstream of wind covered his body whilst he gripped his Chokuto with all of his vigor, slicing at the man in purple's throat horizontally once he got within a foot of distance. Ryouta mirrored his movements too, dodging the slash and countering with his own slash aimed at the man's abdomen!

This was the end of the beginning.

When he retained the slightest bit of consciousness, he was in a red field, roaring in conflagration.

"Ugh…" His memory was hazy. The night was pitch black. His house, his home, his people, everything he knew was submerged in the inferno that the masked man caused, destroying the hope and pride of Takigakure no Sato along with its people.

The day was so normal too, he just left the Takigakure Ninja Academy after being mercilessly bullied by his peers for being so weak, and then, suddenly at night, everything went black. The last thing he remembered was devouring his usual favorite dinner: steamed pork buns and pickled cabbage with his father, mother, and younger sister chatting normally as a happy family would. Then the house collapsed with great might once a blast of steam crushed it. His parents, both as village leaders of Takigakure, needed to combat the threat looming near the village as if it was pandemonium incarnate.

He immediately grabbed the hand of his frightened sister with all the power he could muster and ran - ran as fast as he could to the nearby shelter. Even though he didn't inherit any sort of unique power or even the bloodline of his parents - seen as defective at birth and shunned by his peers especially being the son of the two most influential people of Takigakure, he still knew the location of the shelter.

Reassuring his sister that everything was going to be okay, he dashed across an empty alleyway that led to the shelter's entrance about a football field away. Then, all they saw was black.

The collapsing clocktower of Takigakure - nothing more than a slave to gravity - fell ominously above them.

The sister could only watch in morbid awe while the looming skyscraper-like tower fell like an anvil towards the cobblestone road. The young boy's eyes flared in instinctive resolve; even if he was weak, even if he couldn't protect anyone during the attack, even if his hands couldn't hold anything, he WOULD protect his sister! He kneaded the little bit of chakra energy into his frail arms and pushed her outside of the alleyway - that way, she would be secured from the clutches of death for the time being. "Go to the shelter!" He fiercely commanded. "S-satou!" She whimpered, outstretching her hand in midair, weeping for her brother before she fell harmlessly to the ground, many feet away from the catastrophe that was about to unfold.

He simply smiled, with melancholy etched on his expression. The boy's sparkling sapphire eyes were reminiscent of the insidious twilight, threatening for tears to drop at any moment. His jet-black hair blended into the alleyway, so the only thing his sister could see was his smile. Satou Tsukishima resigned himself to fate's hands, but he was somewhat relieved. At least, he was able to save someone.

"I'm sorry, Himari."

And with that, the clocktower crushed him.

Those memories flooded back in the mind of the lying Satou. Even when he resigned himself to his fate, he wouldn't forget - no, it was more like he couldn't forget the weeping expression of his sister who witnessed him presumably die. Speaking about his death, it was a miracle that he survived the collapsing tower of certain death. His body and Academy uniform -albeit bloodied and gashed in countless areas- had all superficial wounds. His normally straight yet curly hair was disheveled and his clothes were filled with blood and dirt. He chuckled painfully from his throat, coughing up from the gasses of the inferno surrounding the village. Someone like him, who was born unlucky and without any talent, somehow survived death. How ironic.

The area was flat, appearing more as a distorted prairie than anything else. The alleyways, the towering skyscraper-like buildings, and the houses that covered all of Takigakure morphed to ash. All that remained were burning fields covered by ash of many varieties and charred structures that could be blown away to a cinder by the windless air. This was nothing more than the remains of a battlefield - well, it would be disingenuous to call it a battlefield.

This was a massacre.

Satou's breathing hitched as he connected the dots, going into a panic as he rushed through the seemingly endless field of ash. The smoke was insidious, assaulting the boy's frail throat the more he respired, surely suffocating him if he kept dashing through the area. But he didn't care, he needed to see for himself, he NEEDED to see everyone alive.

"Please." Satou thought pleadingly, nearly tripping from a pile of ash whilst he made his way to the shelter. Everyone was alive.

"Please!" He dodged inferno after inferno, charring his shoes the more he evaded countless burning hells.

"PLEASE!" He screamed to the sky, but the twilight horizon's moonlight rays were exempt that day, replaced by the background flames that lightened the remains of Takigakure. So who was Satou screaming at? God?

Ah. There it was. The sturdy shelter of Takigakure. It was a few feet before him, towering above him just like those buildings he saw a few hours earlier. A bright smile appeared on his face, clearly contrasting the violating atmosphere of the burning village. See! The shelter was still there! "What was I worried for?!" The young Tsukshima happily muttered, dancing around the ashes in sheer joy. The ceiling was busted open, and the building was slightly charred but what did it matter? The shelter was still remaining so that meant everyone was still alive! Right?

Satou quickly opened the door, wanting to see the faces he longed for so much. Mr. Shuntaro, one of the few guys in the village who actually liked the Tsukishima despite him being a shinobi failure along with his wife and two cute little kids who gave him free ramen if he entered his restaurant. Satou's mom: Mizuki Tsukishima who loved him so much so he could always confide in her was probably there as well. She probably guided everyone to the shelter like the heroine she was! He already told Himari to join everyone there so she was probably safe too. His dad, Ryouta Uchiha was so strong, cool, and amazing! He probably beat the people who dared to attack his village. Takigakure would be rebuilt, and everyone was going to be okay!

Suddenly, the shelter shattered when Satou touched the door, blown by the wind as all were left was a clearing filled with everyone in the shelter.

Ah.

The clearing was bathed in red. Satou scanned the area, confused. Until, his illusion broke... Everyone was lying on the ground, in pieces. Bludgeoned, beheaded, sliced, torn apart, burnt, crushed, steamed, drowned, melted. Men, women, even innocent children were plastered in many gruesome "corpses" - if one could call groups of human parts pieces anymore. The clearing was filled with guts and blood, turning everything into a red nightmare before Satou.

Foam dripped down the boy's mouth as his sapphire eyes went dark and devoid of light. He collapsed to the ground, only his knees allowing him to stand up. He didn't understand. Nothing made sense. Everything was alright just a few hours ago. So why, just why was everyone lying on the ground so lifeless? Satou managed to crawl to the corpses and pieces of humans, mentally catatonic from the shock of the situation. A severed head was in front of him. He turned it. Blood, wet like water dripped from his hands. It was the face of an average middle aged man, so average that Satou knew who it was. "Mr...Shuntaro…" He managed to utter in sheer bewilderment. A face of a man who would usually have a happy expression now devolved into a face of fear that Satou had to witness. The young Tsukishima turned to the left, maybe his children had a better fate.

Their eyes were gouged out and their stomachs were sliced open.

Satou screamed, he screamed in pain. He screeched in agony and sorrow for minutes until he couldn't anymore. He lost his voice. Tears and snot ran down his throat. Everyone was dead. He told Himari to join the shelter. That meant Himari was dead. He sent Himari to her death. He killed Himari, his sister. Her body parts were probably plastered along with everyone else in the gruesome clearing that lasted for meters without any foreable end. Satou was broken. He cried. He just cried for an hour after he couldn't scream anymore. Everyone was dead, and he killed his sister.

He was just a kid. He had no jutsu, he was a failure. Miracles only happen once, so no miracle would happen to save everyone that died. So, the only way to atone for this was to kill himself. That was the only way to relieve himself of such pain. He scratched himself roughly on his right hand until it drew blood. He needed to think of a way to die, so for the time being, he walked endlessly throughout the clearing, sobering himself to death as tears and snot dripped down to his chin like he was an infant. He was already getting resistant to the smoke so it didn't bother him anymore, in fact, he would welcome death if it came to him due to inhaling the smoke so much.

He walked aimlessly, mentally broken until a stranger loomed before him. The stranger soon appeared to be a man with a blue cloak, not to be mistaken for the masked man in red; he also adorned a glaive-like axe holstered on his back. His hair was blue, matching his azure cloak. Just by looking at the man, he could tell he wanted to rip him apart, just like the clearing he walked past.

Satou was emotionless - or more so, he couldn't feel any emotion anymore. He should be angry, wrathful at the people who butchered his village but he couldn't. He embraced death as the man lunged his glaive towards his chest.

Blood, hot like fire yet moist like dew splashed on Satou's face, yet the pain never arrived like a dream deferred. "Hm," The Tsukishima tiredly croaked, just wanting the nightmare to end already. A woman stepped in front of the blade, taking it in the chest. The person he knew as,

"Mom?! Why?! Please run! Don't worry about me! Just-" The boy choked on his running tears and the smoke mixed together as the woman who's brown and straight hair flowed through the ashen wind smirked, "You're always acting older than everyone Satou, that you can handle everything and protect everyone...It's okay to rely on someone once in a while, so let me do my job as your loving mother…" She muttered only enough for the boy who stood stupefied and shocked behind her to hear.

Suddenly, the Tsukishima was propelled hundreds of feet away in the air, to the outskirts of Takigakure with a sudden flick of a hand coupled with a burst of wind chakra by Mizuki. His teardrops flew through the wind as his mother, never called his name again. She was engulfed in the rest of the conflagration of Takigakure.

"Live, for all of us…"

Two swords, like night and day danced and crossed throughout the elusive twilight of the Takigakure outskirts. The duel of destiny between Ryouta Uchiha and the masked man endured even among the collapse of Takigakure, displacing itself from the entrance of the village to the outskirts. The leader of Takigakure had failed his job, and failed poorly, not being able to protect his citizens and family. "I'm sorry, everyone." He dejectedly thought with sorrow written on his face, but that thought was enough to make him detached from the battle on hand. The masked man seized opportunity by slamming his foot into the gut of Ryouta, drawing some blood from his mouth.

Ryouta zoomed through the steel-like wind and crashed into a nearby forest from the lake that surrounded Yggdrasil, the great tree of Takigakure. Landing on one of the branches like a cat that always came down on its feet even when falling to certain death, his Sharingan barely picked up an incoming kunai that would pierce his head had he not dodged at the last second. As the kunai stabbed into a nearby tree, the masked man rushed through the air using the Body Flicker technique to meet his blade with Ryouta's once again. Steel met steel while Ryouta was on the defensive, parrying each one of the masked man's fierce yet deft slashes that yearned for the taste of blood. They clashed and tousled among the swaying branches that cracked among each slash, searching for an advantage each blow they exchanged.

And in a moment, a crucial moment, the masked man missed one of his slashes…

"Earth Release: Tearing Earth Bullet!" Ryouta instantly parried the cloaked assailant's missed slash, causing him to be in front of a nearby tree. And suddenly, a gigantic Dragon head with gleaming eyes made purely of earth rushed out of the tree, utilizing the earth-like minerals of the sapling to become fully realized with chakra. With god-like force, the dragon tore through the atmosphere and smashed into the masked man, sending him flying out of the forest and many feet high up in the horizon. The dragon's demonically sharp teeth bore into the masked man's attire and then skin, ripping through flesh and nerves as an attempt to rip him apart. Blood fell from his sides and rips, threatening to kill him.

"RYOUTA UCHIHA!" He screeched in agony, cursing the name of the person who would impede his plans. Ryouta sneered in response. He was still in the midst of the trees. Still gripping his weapon in his right hand, the leader of Takigakure continued his smirk, as his blade grew bright red, as well as the Earth Dragon as well.

"Honoikazuchi: Shambles."

With a single snap of his finger, the flying dragon head that carried the masked man into the sky exploded in a violent inferno of incandescence, engendering the horizon of the Takigakure Outskirts to be painted red. The earth dragon exploded, along with the masked man who lied waste to Takigakure, HIS village. Guilt rushed into Ryouta once he realized the sheer gravity of the situation. The people, his family, everyone he knew, were murdered by the Five Tails that were defeated and turned to chakra by the Takigakure Military. The masked man also seemed to carry a small squad of capable shinobi that laid waste to the village as well. He needed to take care of them later but now, he needed to check for the masked man's body and identity; most would be a pile of ashes due to the explosion but Ryouta did not want to play any games. "I'm sorry, everyone. Mizuki, Satou, Himari, I'm truly sorry…" Ryouta solemnly thought in grief, a tear managed to slip from his eyes. What good was a leader - no, a FATHER if he couldn't protect his children and wife from danger. Ryouta Uchiha was a failure. He was no hero. There was no more village to lead, so what was there left to do? Maybe he could finally see what Chiaki was up to.

Ryouta dropped down from the forest and walked to the pile of ashes. He examined everything to see if there was some semblance of a corpse, but all he saw was the crumbling earth dragon, and...a log?

"Did you miss me, Ryouta?"

"Huh?" The former leader of Takigakure couldn't react; his Sharingan was useless. The cosmic-like force of a moon congregated into a singular mass that collided into his back at godspeed. "Guh?!" His back and spinal cord were shattered into disgusting bits of bone that poked out of his body. Blood gushed out of his mouth as he was suspended midair for a second due to the utter velocity of the attack before he dropped to the ground, near lifelessly. His Sharingan deactivated, revealing only soulless pale brown eyes. "Substitution...jutsu…" He croaked, realizing what the masked man had done to escape what would have been certain death.

"Not just Substitution jutsu, but I also used an ability that few people in the world possess. It might be out of your range since third-strings like you who attained your Sharingan through the remnants of Kengai's chakra during the Destruction Era cannot compare to pure Uchihas such as I. Such is the true power of the Mangekyou Sharingan." Ryouta turned his body that was paralyzed to the ground towards the masked man who gloated arrogantly about his strength. An aura of clear-white surrounded the masked man as if reality was currently bending to his will. His three tomoe Sharingan was replaced to an odd pattern. They were shaped like four petals, the top and bottom parallel from each other, and the left and right parallel as well. They swirled violently even as the man's optics scanned the paralyzed Ryouta.

The leader of Takigakure was bewildered. Mangekyou Sharingan? What the hell was that? And just what was that power that was able to survive his earth dragon explosion? "Don't tell me? Your 'Mangekyou Sharingan' was able to survive against my attack?!" Ryouta shouted in desperation, desummoning Honoikazuchi in a burst of flames as his chakra was being drained by the second.

"Ding ding ding! You're absolutely correct! I used Ganesha to save myself from that and I shall use it to defeat, I shall spare you that bit of information," The masked man clapped in a cheerful tone, unbefitting the mood of the dismal atmosphere of Takigakure. However, his tone soon shifted into cutthroat, "Now perish..."

The masked man raised his hand, charging ungodly amounts of energy as the aura went to his hand, enough to sever reality as a whole, yet before he could swipe downwards, the world was washed red once again. The red that was once despair, was now one of desperation.

"KATON: ENDAI NO GOUKA [ENDLESS HELLFIRE!]"

Spewing blood as chakra kneaded into his palm, the rest of the outskirts in Ryouta's sight, were set ablaze by the flames of the strongest Fire Release jutsu known by the Ninja World; without needing the countless hand seals to activate it, the leader simply substituted the hand seals with his paramount chakra control. Even when paralyzed to the ground and near death, Ryouta Uchiha showed his testament as the leader of Takigakure. Hellish heat licked his skin as everything in his sight, spare for the Great Tree and Lake of Yggdrasil was awash with red.

The masked man would die, it was impossible for him to survive a near point blank conflagration of flames that were deemed to be as hot as hell's flames.

Until…

"Jeez, I hate constantly having to remind myself to let the oxygen reach Infinity so I can breathe properly."

The flames were crushed into nothingness by the converging white aura that surrounded the masked man, seemingly not even reaching his body even though he was clearly shown to be engulfed in the flames of hell. A sudden burst of air blew the red chakra into sparkles of heat. All that was left was the masked man, unharmed and unfazed with his Mangekyou Sharingan spiralling methodically.

"That's a nice little candle you got there, but I'm afraid even your most valiant efforts will not be able to defeat me: the God of this New World." He spoke, magnanimously. "You surely weren't boring...Ryouta Uchiha."

The man gripped his fist.

And then…

Ryouta's heart was crushed by the force of a moon…

RIP Takigakure.

Hope y'all liked the chapter! Please review your thoughts and ideas on how to improve the plot and writing of the fanfic. As always, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!