Chapter 2
Evil, what is it? The concept of immorality? Then what do you define as immoral? Is it by society's standards or by someone's ideals who you follow? If the latter, how do you define their ideals?
When someone asks something of you, is it honorable to ignore their request and commit a different deed? Is evil really all things that are bad, or all things you hate? Most importantly, when do you acknowledge that you've committed evil? Is it wrong to achieve your goals through any means necessary or should you choose to limit yourself?
How do you differentiate just means versus evil means?
Forest of death, Oto team
As per Orochimaru's orders, Team Dosu was spying on Sakura who was guarding the unconscious bodies of Menma and Sasuke. After their fight with the sannin last night, Sakura had remained awake as she didn't really participate in the fight. Although she wouldn't admit it to anyone, she did notice how useless she was by standing there and shaking in her sandals as Orochimaru tormented her crush and other teammate. Even now, Sakura was fighting the urge to stay awake after having remained awake the whole night.
"Do you two remember the plan?" Dosu asked as he looked at his two teammates.
"Yeah yeah, we go in there and kill the Uchiha. It shouldn't be too hard since we just have one tree hugging bitch to worry about." Zaku said impatiently.
Kin smirked as she noticed that Sakura was ready to pass out, "Or we could wait it out and kill her while she's dreaming. Not like the Uchiha is waking up any time, but we can go either way." she suggested.
"Then it's settled." Dosu said as he got out of the bushes and approached Sakura. "Hand over the Uchiha!" he ordered.
"Or I guess we could just demand him." Kin muttered as Zaku nodded.
Sakura stumbled as she tried to stand up, "N-No... I-I won't let you near m-my Sasuke-kun!" she slurred as she tried to pull out a kunai to defend herself with.
"She's barely able to stand. Let's just take her out now." Zaku said before being hit by a tree log.
"Ok so she had enough skill to set up traps." Kin said as she dropped a kunai into an obvious pit covered in leaves.
Dosu sighed as he continued making his way to the pink haired kunoichi. Which took almost twenty minutes as Sakura had provided quite a few traps to avoid. Which ended with them either avoiding them or ending up with some splinters around parts of their body. Then there was another distraction in the form of Rock Lee, a genin with one year of experience as a shinobi.
He's also well known for wearing a green jumpsuit and bowl cut.
"I will not let you three unyouthful foes hurt the lovely Sakura-chan!" Lee said before creeping Sakura out by making a heart come out of his blinking eyes.
"What the hell is this?" Dosu asked before Lee engaged him in a taijutsu fight.
Rock Lee had proven to be a strong adversary for Dosu, but in the end Lee was no match for a team up between Dosu and Zaku with a little assistance from Kin who as using genjutsu. It also did not help that Lee secretly snuck off from his team earlier to get some intense training in. In summary, it was being ill prepared that was Lee's downfall.
With a powerful blast from Dosu's gauntlet that made the bowl cut wearing ninja lose. With that, Sakura watched helplessly as Lee landed in front of her and fell unconscious. That left Sakura wide open for Kin to attack repeatedly before lifting the girl up by her hair before pulling out a kunai and pointing it dangerously close to her neck.
"You lose girly." Kin said as Sakura was trying to wrestle away Kin's hand from her hair.
Meanwhile Team 10 can be seen watching from a distance, "Hey Ino, should we get involved?" Shikamaru asked.
"I hope not, you saw what they did to that bowl cut kid." Choji said nervously.
Ino however remained silent as she was torn between helping her former best friend and fighting some enemy ninja or turning around and running away from a problem that doesn't involve her. However she also had considered the idea that her beloved Sasuke-kun's life was also at stake. So she also had to add that as factor.
"I don't know! But, maybe we should just keep looking. I'm sure Sasuke-kun will wake up and save the day." Ino said as both boys groaned.
In the distance, Team Gai was also watching. With Neji shaking his head at his teammates idiotic actions while TenTen was very sure she didn't want to step in. It was rather pathetic for the Konoha teams to leave their own behind and even worse in terms of just sitting there and watching. Regardless of this being a test, especially since it revolves around life or death. It didn't sit well with a certain sorceress.
"It looks like Konoha is still as weak willed as I said before. Satoshi, Hikari, hide yourselves while Kingu and myself are involved." Naruko ordered as they both disappeared into the trees.
"Are you ready milady?" Kingu asked as he drew his bow.
Naruko smiled as she was surrounded by a crimson mist. A moment later, Naruko had taken the form of her ancestor, Ultimecia. Now taking the form of "The Witch" that everyone refers to her as.
"Come now, let us show these genin something to fear." Naruko said as her voice started to change into Ultimecia's.
As the Oto team had practically prevailed and were just moments away from completing their objective. Only for some random balls made from the earth land around them like meteors. Looking back, Team Dosu witnessed who they believed to be Ultimecia coming out from the woods.
"W-Who the hell is that?" Zaku asked nervously as he could sense a portion of Ultimecia's power.
Kin started to unconsciously shake her knees, "She's nothing special, r-right?" she asked as she looked towards Dosu.
"Drop the pink haired bitch. Orochimaru said to watch out for the witch if we run into her!" Dosu ordered as he got his gauntlet ready.
"Witch? A ridiculous moniker if you ask me. Just a mere way to define me as evil isn't it?" Ultimecia asked with a stare asking them to challenge her.
"They do not understand you milady. They fear for what they do not know or understand." Kingu said.
"They choose to never understand Kingu." Ultimecia said as she slowly made her way towards them.
Dosu narrowed his lone visible eye as he readied to use his gauntlet, "Stand back!" he ordered.
Ultimecia glared at the bandage wearing ninja, "Do not command me as if you have the authority." she said as she subtly casted Shell around herself.
"Resonating Echo Drill!" Dosu called out only for the Shell to block reduce the attack to a minor sound vibration.
"You didn't aim right! Decapitating Airwaves!" Zaku called out as the same thing happened.
Ultimecia rolled her eyes, "Child's play, Aero." she said as the team was sent flying in various directions by the wind magic.
As the three Oto shinobi crashed all around the sorceress. They were soon filled with various cuts around their body and clothes as they were unaware of the effects caused by wind element related techniques. That didn't stop them from trying to continue their assault as they quickly recovered and attacked all at once
"Extreme Decapitating Airwaves!"
"Resonating Echo Drill!"
"Shadow Senbon!"
Ultimecia quickly extended her wings and started hovering over them as they ended up hitting each other with their various attacks. From there, they all proceeded to barrage her with kunai and shuriken with a few explosive attacks involved.
"None of you have trained enough. This farce is over." Ultimecia said before waving her hand and summoning more magic around herself. "Quake." saying that, she invoked an earth spell that started to make the earth under them to shift.
Before long, the trio were being violently shaken by the ground before being tossed around and slammed whenever the earth lifted itself up and went back down. It was painful and disorienting and only got worse as Ultimecia casted one more spell on them to keep them down for good.
"Bio." she casted as all three were hit and started to feel heavily nauseous.
"What... is this?" Kin asked as she suddenly felt motion sickness.
Ultimecia gave her a devilish smile as she answered, "A minor, poison spell. Don't worry you'll live, but you won't be so comfortable." she said before her face contorted back into one of seriousness. "Now, your scrolls hand them "all" over. Unless you want your death to be as equally long as the poison, but much more painful." she threatened as Dosu nodded.
"Please spare us." Dosu said as he tossed a heaven and earth scroll.
"Very good, now go scurry off." Ultimecia ordered as the disgraced Oto team hurried and escaped the scene. Ultimecia's serious face never left as she turned to see that the Uchiha was wide awake, "Finally awake are you? Here to revel in your status or demand a fight that you cannot win?" she asked.
Sasuke started to laugh maniacally which only made Ultimecia groan and roll her eyes at the rebirth of his arrogance, "You will be the one kneeling to me bitch. Now that I have this power." he said as black marks started to appear all around his body. "Now, you will fall behind my hand and Itachi will follow you shortly." he said as he ran up to her with his increased speed.
Once again rolling her eyes, Ultimecia took a step back as she slapped Sasuke away, "My mood will improve when I see those dry cracked lips kissing dirt." she said as Sasuke sneered and formed several hand seals.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu." he called out as he grinned at the increased size of his fireball.
"This again? No matter how big it is, it will always end the same." Ultimecia said as she summoned a wall of earth to appear and block the attack. "Holy!" she called out as Sasuke was hit by a beam of light. "Kingu hold him. I do not need Orochimaru potentially ruining my plans by biting little boys in the woods." she said as the green haired man appeared and held Sasuke down.
"Let us begin the operation milady." Kingu said as Ultimecia went over Sasuke and proceeded to remove the mark as painfully as possible in order to dispose of the disgusting work of nature at a later time.
"Well what is done is done. Now then, no doubt the snake sannin has messed with the boy as well." Ultimecia said as she approached the tree where Menma was still unconscious. Of course Sakura started to crawl backwards to avoid the sorceress, "Typical, a weakling like you would give up your teammate. Then again, I suppose cannon fodder such as yourself has no other purpose." she said.
"He... he's a nobody." Sakura said as she referred to Menma.
"And you are even less significant. You are more cowardly than those pathetic children hiding in the trees. Too afraid of getting into danger unlike the one in the ridiculous outfit." Ultimecia said before looking at the seal placed over the boy's stomach. "Five Pronged Seal Kai!" she said as she destroyed the seal.
Menma shot up awake and held his stomach in pain, "Gah! What the hell was that!?" he asked before noticing that the witch was standing before him.
"It was you being weak boy." Ultemica said as she left the tree and started to walk away with Kingu.
"Wait! Why are you after my sister! Tell me!" Menma demanded.
Ultimecia scoffed at him, "As I said before, you are still oblivious. You are still a fool that bathes in foolish beliefs." she answered before disappearing into the woods with Kingu and leaving a frustrated Menma.
A while later, at the preliminaries
After making it through the forest, the successful teams had managed to gather around into the arena in the tower. However they were informed that too many had passed and needed to cut down their numbers by half at the very least. Many were stunned by the need to do more work and complained while Naruko scoffed at the reactions.
'The enemy will not care if you are ready or not. There are no rules in a battlefield except for winning. The only way to win, is to make sure that your opponent can no longer stand or is no longer a threat.' Naruko thought as she only saw small children in the guise of adults pretending to bask in the hardships of war.
Speaking of war, the sandaime explained that the chunin exams were created as a substitute for war. Many were stunned again and thought it was a messed up concept to force people to fight to stop a war. Once again Naruko only saw fools that were concerned over the tasks that they obligingly accepted. Especially those in clans that are highly respected and have ancestors who lived and died for the village's values.
'Pathetic, if they cannot bare the idea of fighting let alone raising a weapon. No one in this room should be called a warrior of any kind. If this was the shodame's era, most of them would be ready for a burial.' Naruko thought bitterly.
With Hiruzen's speech finished, the next proctor, Hayate Gekko, gave everyone who was too exhausted or unable to fight a chance. Naruko subtly gave her two "teammates" a signal to drop out as to not further extend the fights as she wished to end this farce as soon as possible. Luckily that Kabuto man had already said that he needed to drop out due to exhaustion and low chakra reserves when Naruko could sense that he clearly had high jounin reserves.
'As I thought, he is not what he seems to be.' Naruko thought suspiciously.
"Ah man, I was really excited about making chunin too." Satoshi said as he played the role of the energetic optimistic shinobi.
Hikari sighed, "Satoshi, you really to need to calm down. It's not the end of the world. If you're tired, then you're not ready and neither am I." she said as she played the roll of the slightly more mature kunoichi. "Is it ok if I leave too Shirona sensei? I'm feeling a lot of aches and chakra is really low." she asked.
Naruko turned to her clay sensei who smiled brightly, "Of course Hikari-chan, at least you've learned your limits and Satoshi, take this time to reflect." Shirona said as she played the motivation adult mentor.
"It still feels wrong, good luck anyways Naruko. If you make chunin, you better not forget about us." Satoshi said as he tried to sound supportive.
"I've got this you guys!" Naruko said as she gave them a thumbs up.
Hikari smiled, "At least one of us can still do their best." she said before leaving with Satoshi.
After Kabuto and her two clay servants left, the matches began the moment an electronic board came out of the wall. It quickly started to shuffle through various names at a quick pace before settling on the first match.
Sasuke Uchiha vs Yoroi Akadou
To keep it brief, Sasuke managed to do a good job initially and managed to catch Kabuto's teammate off guard. Almost as if he had never expected to see the Sharingan. Not even Naruko was aware that the seal was meant to weaken Sasuke whenever he activated his dojutsu. However the removal of the seal had caused that setback to be removed and created more roadblocks for Orochimaru's plans.
However Yoroi proved to still be a difficult opponent, even when things don't go as planned. The man revealed that he had some sort bloodline or ability that allowed him to drain his opponent of their chakra. Though it didn't help that Sasuke managed to overcome the pain and used a technique called the Lion's Barrage which was just a bastardized version of Rock Lee's technique.
In the end, Yoroi lost consciousness after taking a heavy blow to the head, "Winner! Sasuke Uchiha!" Hayate announced as Yoroi was taken away.
And from there, the preliminaries continued with many more matches.
*Same as canon fights*
Zaku Abumi vs Shino
Misumi Tsurugi vs Kankuro
TenTen vs Temari
Shikamaru Nara vs Kin Tsuchi
Gaara vs Rock Lee
Dosu Kinuta vs Choji Akimichi
Naruko rolled her eyes at the overall battles, aside from Shino and Rock Lee's efforts. The fights have been a bit one sided against Konoha as Shikamaru relied on luck as Kin was too clumsy and didn't pay attention to her surroundings before being knocked unconscious. Ignoring that, she could only imagine what will happen when those fangirls get involved in their fights.
Then there was the other villages. There was about one team for Kiri, one for Kumo and one for Iwa who all have yet to participate.
Sakura Haruno vs Ino Yamanaka vs Naruko Uzumaki
Now this was strange, even the hokage himself thought that the system looked a bit faulty. These fights should be auto generated, but clearly something must be off as there was likely need to make a fight of three people even if there is an odd number of fighters. The last one usually gets a free pass and is to fight victor of the last fight during the finals.
Naruko shrugged it off as Shirona gave her a smile. Naruko then jumped down as she waited for the two other girls to make their way down to meet her.
Of course he saw arrogant smirks as both took their sloppy stances. Sakura taking the academy style taijutsu stance and Ino using one that likely belongs to the Yamanaka clan. Naruko just stretched as she waited for Hayate to signal the fight.
"Are all competitors ready?" Hayate asked.
"Ready!" Sakura said with a smirk.
"Same here!" Ino said with a smirk of her own.
Naruko gave a grin of her own as she walked a step forward before placing her hands behind her head, puffing up her chest and raising a knee. Everyone sweat dropped as Naruko looked like she was posing for a fashion magazine with many wondering if she was unsure of what were her circumstances. While assuming that she was simple minded.
However the looks of indifference changed to many ranging from shock to confusion as her body started to glow. Her pigtails were gone and replaced with luscious long hair, her white shirt and shorts were replaced by chest armor and her sandals with leggings were replaced by grieves. Removing her arms, she extended them out for a fine silver shield baring the Uzumaki clan symbol and a silver sword of a unique design appeared.
"Let us end this buffoonery." Naruko said as she prepared her shield and sword.
(Final Fantasy Dissidia OST - The Extreme)
Hayate snapped out his surprise, "Begin!" he said.
"Cha, some fancy dress and sword is gonna help you." Sakura said as she ran up to Naruko and tried to punch her. 'And it's a good thing this little tramp looks like Menma-baka. I've been wanting to hit him for so long and now his loser cousin or whoever she is will take it for him.' she thought.
Naruko lazily raised her shield and waited for Sakura to smash her fist into it. What resulted was the sound of a loud snap followed by Sakura landing on her butt. Followed by Ino throwing a few kunai only for Naruko's sword to swipe them all away as if they were just annoying insects.
"Now be good girls and lay your heads to rest. Leave the exams for someone who can win with zest." Naruko rhymed to mess with the girls.
"Like hell! You're probably trying to use your fancy weapons to get with someone like Sasuke-kun!" Ino said as she believed her world revolved around brooding boys.
"Confusing ourselves with others are we? I can't fathom how retched your life must be." Naruko taunted.
Ino grew a tick mark on her head, "Don't act like you wouldn't fall for all that." she said as she pointed to Sasuke who was so tired that he looked like he got run over by a bus.
"Your mind is so infantile. That listening proves a trial." Naruko further continued to taunt before kicking Sakura away who tried to go for a sneak attack.
Ino began to charge at Naruko with the intent to punch her lights out as well, "I'll show you immature!" she yelled.
Naruko quickly blocked the punch before hitting her abdomen with the sword's hilt, "In due time, you shall come to rue. Biting off more than you can chew." she replied before grabbing Ino by the gruff of her shirt and tossing her away.
Meanwhile a white haired boy from Kumo was scratching his head, "It's like listening to Bee-sama if he was actually good and serious in a fight." he said. "Wait, what if Bee-sama finds out about this girl. So he convinces Raikage-sama to kidnap her to train him to rap better? Except this time Konoha decides to go to war. Even worse, she's the jinchuriki of the kyuubi so Bee-sama and Yugito-sama have to fight and..." he stopped his rambling as a red haired girl hit him on the head and lifted him up.
"I did not come to these exams just so you can go on with your conspiracy theories Omoi!" the girl yelled.
Back to the fight, Ino and Sakura were not having an easy time as even without the weapons. Naruko proved to be better conditioned to fighting. While unaware that she was training to learn the real Ultimecia's magic, Naruko had also worked to have a body decent enough to handle physical combat. While Ino had actually practiced her taijutsu, her speed and presence was too predictable and lacked power.
So a few punches and kicks weren't enough and only lead to being attacked back. With a good leg sweep, Naruko slammed her elbow into Ino's stomach which was pretty boney to begin with due to the heavy dieting. Sakura wasn't any better as she was constantly stunned by punches to the stomach and kicks to the chest which forced her to stop and pant heavily. Sure Sakura had a bit more power in her punches than Ino and it was a lot stronger upon being angered, but her attacks were clumsy and slow which left her wide open.
The match was over before it started. Ino had attempted to utilize her family's bloodline to enter Naruko's mind and force her into surrendering or letting Sakura rough her up a bit. Which was stopped as Naruko used shell again.
Just as Ino's mind was about to return to her body only for Naruko to raise her hand and lower it, "Thunder." she called out as Ino's body was directly hit and sent skidding back.
Sakura started to step back in fear as Hayate declared Ino unable to continue, "I think... I can't win..." she said.
"Oh no you don't." Naruko said with a smile of her own. "Consider your mother's debt to be ever so high. Quake!" she said as the floor under Sakura started to move on it's own and started to toss her around before slowly crushing her. Naruko snapped her fingers and stopped the spell, "She's done for as well." she said before turning around.
(Final Fantasy 7 Remake OST - Midgar Express)
That's when Kakashi suddenly appeared right behind her with a hand full of lightning. All the jounin's went wide eyed as they recognized the copy ninja's signature technique. The hokage was ready to jump in along with several ANBU and jounin when Shirona suddenly appeared in between her student and Kakashi.
Before Kakashi's jutsu could hit anything, Shirona released a chain from her sleeve and wrapped it around Kakashi's hand. The blond haired woman quickly turned Kakashi around and punched the back of his head before wrapping chains around his neck and twisting the other arm behind his back. Without realizing it, Kakashi soon felt as if both his arm and neck was being lifted up by the chains.
Everyone looked up to see that the chains had connected to the ceiling on their own. Shirona kept Kakashi's available arm tight behind his wrist before wrapping her other arm around his face.
"Would you like both eyes removed this time? You pride yourself in looking underneath the underneath." Shirona whispered into his ear as she reached for the glass eye that replaced the lost Sharingan eye. "If Sakumo-san made any mistakes in his life. It was allowing you to continue making your own choices." she said only for the ANBU to stop her.
"That is enough jounin!" Hiruzen said as Shiron was forced to release Kakashi and retract her chains.
"Very well then, I'll be escorting Naruko-chan back up." Shirona said as the jounin sympathized with the kind jounin and saw Kakashi as the villain.
"ANBU, subdue jounin Hatake. Ibiki and I will be having a word with him later." Hiruzen ordered as they took Kakashi away.
(End of Song)
After settling the issue with Kakashi randomly attacking Naruko. The matches continued as planned.
Samui vs Iwa ninja 1 = Samui wins
Omoi vs Kiri ninja 1 = Karui wins
Kiri ninja 1 vs Suzumebachi = Suzumebachi wins
Karui vs Iwa Ninja 2 vs Chojuro= Chojuro wins
Menma Uzumaki vs Kiba Inuzuka
"Aw right! We got the idiot in the orange jumpsuit! Let's go Akamaru!" Kiba said as he jumped down the rail.
Menma used a shunshin to get down a lot quicker. He hoped by showing a good level of skill (basic chunin), he would show that he was serious and ready to show off his real skills. Then again, no one aside from Sasuke uses ninjutsu. So there isn't a whole lot of skill to show off.
"Are both fighters ready?" Hayate asked as both nodded. "Begin!" he said as Kiba got onto all fours.
"Four Legs Technique! Beast Human Clone!" Kiba said as Akamaru transformed into Kiba. Both got ready as they started to turn into the shape of a drill, "Fang Passing Fang!" he yelled out as he expected Menma to stand there and take the hit.
Menma sighed as he moved out of the way and created several clones. As Kiba recovered from the impact of his failed attack. He was about to retort only to see the many clones forming hand seals.
"Shadow Shuriken Jutsu!" the Menma clones yelled as Kiba was barraged by an large amount of shurikens.
Kiba yipped as he and Akamaru tried to run away only to take a few cuts and stabs everywhere. Luckily they didn't get hit in any vital areas. Which didn't help as Menma was far from done as he kept making hand seals.
"Wind Style: Air Drill Bullets!" Menma called out as Kiba avoided getting hit.
"Crap, we gotta hit him this time Akamaru! Then maybe we can hit on that Naruko chick." Kiba said with a grin. "Fang Rotating Fang!" he yelled out.
Kiba laughed as he hit Menma until he realized that the target he hit was a clone. Which didn't stop Menma from making more clones and uppercutting him into the air.
"MEN-MA! UZUMAKI BARRAGE!" Menma yelled as his clones performed a strange taijutsu technique that revolved around kicking and punching Kiba into the air before Menma and another clone landed one last uppercut to his chin.
Kiba quickly crashed down back into the earth, "I'm not done yet! Don't look down on me!" he said as he tried to regroup with Akamaru only for the dog to bit down on his arm. "Akamaru! What the hell man!?" he asked.
Suddenly Akamaru poofed into smoke and revealed Menma who punched him back into the ground. Meanwhile the real Akamaru was trapped in a subtle sealing array that was crafted by the clones while Kiba was in the air. The match was over with one last jutsu.
"Wind Style: Air Bullet!" Menma cried out as Kiba took the hit shortly after getting back up only to crash into the wall and fall unconscious. "Call it proctor!" he said.
Hayate nodded, "Winner, Menma Uzumaki!" he said as Kiba was being taken away by the medics.
Finally, the preliminaries were ready to come to a conclusion and ending with the two Hyuga facing each other. Naruko could see the seriousness in Neji's face but can only sense malice. She knew of him, if it wasn't for his position as a member of the branch house that petty clan. Then he would just be a Sasuke clone. Instead of using his pain a way to grow stronger, he uses it as an excuse to invoke his wrath.
As for Hinata, she looked nervous and Naruko's senses made her feel as if the girl was about to be hit by a collapsing wall of bricks. If it were any worse, Naruko could swear that breathing the wrong way around certain people could kill Hinata. Although, while she has everything you would expect an heiress to have, she only wants love and acceptance as well as encouragement. Sadly while Kurenai Yuhi provided this, she did not provide strength to make her push away all the negativity.
'Perhaps a little real motivation will help the little princess.' Naruko thought as she moved back. "Excuse me sensei, I need the bathroom." she said as Shirona nodded and understood the message.
Ironically, she was going in the same direction as Hinata and purposely bumped into her while making it look like an accident. Hinata yipped as she fell on her butt only for Naruko to help her up and offer her a smile before dusting off her shoulder. All while the Hyuga princess was unaware that Naruko placed a small seal that dissolved into her clothes and would later do the same to her body.
"Good luck Hinata-san, I'll be sure to return before your victory." Naruko said as encouragement as Hinata started to shake and Neji started to sneer.
As Naruko made her way to the bathroom. She quickly made sure that no one else was in with her and proceeded to lock the door before placing a silencing seal and locking herself in a stall. From there she used the same viewing technique she used to watch the world from Danzo's eyes and manipulate him. However here she was able to watch the two Hyuga from another angle.
The blonde girl sighed as she heard Neji doing nothing but putting Hinata down and the little princess preparing to fall down like a deck of cards. Hinata did very little to defend herself and was just being belittled and was barely able to say anything before being put down again. Now the two put up their taijutsu stances but could see that Hinata shaking in her sandals.
Naruko sighed as she prepared to take control with the seal, "Let me see what I can do with you little princess. Something tells me that those flying contraptions in Snow country are much easier to pilot." she said to herself.
In the arena
"Begin!" Hayate said as both entered the gentle fist stance.
"Fate has determined me the winner Hinata-sama." Neji spat with venom.
"Now now little princess. Don't be scared, now is a good time to discipline your subjects." Naruko said from within Hinata's mind.
Hinata started to look around in worry before avoiding a palm strike and a kick, "W-W-Where...?" she tried to ask.
"Not now little princess, one of your greatest knights has fallen far from grace. You must show him the error of his ways." Naruko said as Hinata tried to fight back only for Neji to block her and kick her back. "Before you say anything, speak from your mind. I can hear thoughts and speak with you that way." she said.
Hinata nodded which confused Neji as both continued their onslaught, 'Are you going to help me?' she asked.
"In a way, but only if you let me. I will not help you if you refuse and transform into a tortoise. Now exit your shell and fight like a warrior." Naruko answered as she tried to motivate Hinata.
'No I'm a tortoise and Neji nii-san is getting the upper hand.' Hinata said as she started to put herself down.
"ENOUGH!" Naruko yelled as Hinata yipped in fear. "You are a little princess, not a little bitch. You have faced hardships and unlike Neji, you've only received hate from your side of the clan." she said as Hinata continued to quiver.
"You really are weak Hinata-sama and an embarrassment to the clan. I will finish you as you are in range of divination!" Neji said as he stood in front of Hinata. "Eight Trigrams! 2 palms! 4 palms! 8 Palms! 16..."
*CRACK*
Neji stopped as Hinata had suddenly grabbed both his wrists and stated twisting them. Before Neji said anything, Hinata suddenly twisted them 180 degrees before making him slowly kneel and stomping on one of his knees. However it wasn't too painful until after the 20th stomp to the knee until that knee finally made a loud snapping sound was made. Neji yelled out in pain before Hinata tossed him over her shoulder.
'What was that?' Hinata asked.
"A little motivation, no thanks to you." Naruko answered.
'I'm sorry.' Hinata said.
"Stop apologizing now." Naruko said while trying to remain calm.
'Sorry.' Hinata said as she made Naruko sigh.
"Follow the movement I am giving you. Only then will you have a decent combat pattern to combat your kinsmen. Especially as you have the same bloodline." Naruko said as Hinata's flexibility allowed her to move like a fluid.
'Why are you helping me? I don't even know you.' Hinata asked as she avoided Neji's strikes and started striking more vulnerable parts of his body.
Neji went wide eyed, Hinata looked as if she was moving more slowly in some ways but was still able to hit some near critical areas of his body. It's almost as if he was a child fighting a snake that kept biting him with every chance it got. Only little did Neji know that while Hinata didn't fill him with a toxin that would affect him at a later date. The end of this match would affect his shinobi career and most likely her life in general.
"As for your questions, I am... Artemisia. Apprentice of the Almighty and Superior Sorceress Ultimecia." Naruko said with a rather villainous sounding laugh.
'The witch!' Hinata said.
"Do not call her that. As for your other question, I was once a princess just like you. Child of the fallen King of your home and Queen of it's allied nation which had fallen years prior." Naruko said as Hinata's eyes widened but remained confused.
'So why help me? I'm a failure.' Hinata asked as Naruko left out a laugh.
"There was once a little princess. She was born alongside her twin brother. Both children of heroes until tragedy struck, a monster that the queen had imprisoned was released from her body. The king in all his might was no god, but a mere man. A foolish man, he believed that his citizens were as great as himself, but they were demons coated in human flesh." Naruko explained.
'What does that have to do with me?' Hinata asked as she kept avoiding Neji's strikes.
Naruko frowned, "The King and Queen both perished as they sealed the demon into the prince. The prince was taken away to be trained by a foolish wizard who followed a prophecy foretold by disgusting slimy amphibians. The man was the student of the ape man and both lied to the citizens and claimed that the princess was the jailer of the demon. Thus they were told to see her as a hero, but saw her as a demon. Thus she fell from grace, unaware of her stolen family and conspirators." she explained before sighing.
Neji was about to land a critical strike to the heart only for his arm to be twisted and end up having his elbow smashed in. Leaving many of the other competitors surprised by Hinata's sudden strength and motivation to become stronger.
"Hinata's newfound fighting style is different, but she is winning." Shino said as Kurenai watched with worry.
"Thus the story ends with the rebirth of the princess as new sorceress. One that Ultimecia had taking a slight liking to. Soon enough, she found another princess. One that saw nothing but greatness for herself and clan, but her father, the duke. Was filth, waste, and disgusting. He allowed his brother the baron to die for him, his nephew grew hate for the princess. But I suppose you know how the whole story already and how it ends. Rather, how it should end." Naruko explained before laughing one last time.
'And why do you believe that I can win?' Hinata asked.
"There's a perfect reason for that and that is..."
As Hinata was listening to Artimisia's words. Neji took the chance to finally strike her chest which ended with her spitting out some blood. Neji smirked as he watched his cousin cry out in pain as she slid through the floor.
"Call it, she's done." Neji said only to hear some laughing. Looking back, Hinata stood right back up, "Stay down Hinata-sama or I will finish you for good." he said threateningly.
While Hinata would have been normally shaken to the core by such a threat. It appears that she just stood there and gave him a terrifying grin of her own while ignoring the damage applied onto her body. Before Neji realized, Hinata had left his sight and even with the almighty Byakugan at his disposal. He couldn't find the little princess until he felt his body stiffen and shut down.
(A/N: Crona's creepy smile from Soul Eater)
After taking a brief look around, he saw Hinata's creepy smile right up in his face. Looking down, he saw that Hinata had actually pierced his chest with her fingers. While it was slightly different from the Hyuga clan's traditional taijutsu style. Hinata had actually made it deadly by going through his flesh and drew blood.
"Neji nii-san~ You do have a heart, but it's blackened. The only way to fix it is to rip it out." Hinata said before slamming a powerful palm attack on his chest.
Neji gagged as he spat out blood before collapsing on the floor. Even with his fixation with fate, Neji found it impossible to stand back up and ignore the pain. His chest was in pain, his heart was beating irregularly, his was breathing difficult and out of order and now he started to feel as if he was about to lose consciousness.
"He won't get up proctor-san. No matter how much he believes in fate. He is not the victor." Hinata said as Hayate nodded nervously.
Neji tried to argue only for the blood to make it difficult to breath let alone talk, "Winner, Hinata Hyuga!" Hayate declared as the medics took the supposed Hyuga prodigy away.
"Hurry, I think he's having cardiac arrest." one of them said as they quickly left with Neji.
"Good job princess, you can have this for now. Curaga!" Naruko said as Hinata was surrounded by a green vale of energy that healed her wounds.
Naruko quickly made her way back to the arena with an innocent look full of ignorance, "Aw man, is the fight over?" she asked.
Shirona smiled, "Yes, but you were right about Hinata-san winning Naruko-chan." she said as many gazed at the Hyuga heiress who's terrifying smile disappeared.
Before the matches were declared over, Hinata walked up to Menma's face, "Hey Hinata, nice win but do you think you went a bit overboard with..." he was interrupted with a slap.
Before anyone asked why she slapped the male Uzumaki. Hinata immediately grabbed his face and pulled it in for a deep kiss. Everyone from the rookie 9's jaw dropped as they watched the Hyuga kiss her crush like it was a daily routine. Everyone except Menma obviously who's jaw and the rest of his mouth was busy being held onto Hinata's. It didn't help that Menma was also as red as his mother's hair.
By the time Hinata pulled out, she whispered into his ear, "I hope you enjoyed it my prince. For this won't be the last time." she said before slowly unzipping her jacket to the halfway point.
Naruko giggled at the sight while Menma became a stuttering mess. Having enjoyed the scene, Naruko realized that the prince has been claimed by the princess... no, the queen.
After recovering from Hinata's sudden change in character. The winners of every match had met with the hokage to be notified about the finals and the rules. It was fairly basic, in one month's time, the finals will be held in the stadium and will be given that time to train to their heart's content. Foreign competitors were allowed to leave to train but return before their match begins.
After that, everyone was given a number to determine who their next opponent would be. With that, everyone was presented with the new bracket of who they would prepare to battle.
Menma Uzumaki vs Dosu Kinuta
Sasuke Uchiha vs Gaara
Temari vs Shikamaru Nara
Suzumebachi Kamizuru vs Shino Aburame
Samui vs Hinata Hyuga
Chojuro vs Karui
Naruko Uzumaki vs winner of match 6
"And with that, I leave you all to prepare for the finals." Hiruzen said as all the genin and jounin excused themselves.
His attention soon turned to Naruko as he was about to ask her about her newfound abilities. His plans soon changed as he saw that the girl had already made her way out of the room. Hiruzen sighed as he signalled the ANBU to follow him.
Outside
(Final Fantasy 8 OST - Premonition)
Naruko giggled as she knew that she was going to be chased by the sandaime and his ninjas. Thinking about it, she could also sense that lecher that calls himself a sage. Not that it mattered, Naruko was sure that she could avoid being caught by that moron Jiraiya. As long as Kingu timed his appearance correctly, then it should be smooth from here.
From this point, turning back is only worth a death sentence. Naruko shook her head as she knew very well that any doubt at this point is just as dangerous.
Having that in mind, she could sense the various ANBU ninja making their way towards her.
Just as they were a few steps away, Naruko dived forward and stayed on the ground. The ANBU assumed it was a bad attempt to escape only to be impaled by a barrage of weapons. The ANBU had all scattered as some just barely managed to avoid the many weapons that were flying towards them. Hiruzen had quickly removed his hokage robes and revealed his battle armor that was underneath.
Naruko stood up after the barrage had ended and turned to the sandaime to give him an evil smirk. The elderly hokage was confused by the expression on her face but quickly had to regain his focus as something came out from the directions of the weapons where they were launched. He went wide eyed as the witch herself has come out in person.
Not since knowing that his student Orochimaru had been experimenting on humans had Hiruzen felt this level of fear. Ultimecia was here and she was extending out her arms towards Naruko who was running towards her. Similar to a mother who was awaiting for her child to return to her and the child longing to return to their mother's embrace.
"Naruko no!" Hiruzen called out only for the girl to ignore her as she hugged the witch.
Suddenly Jiraiya came out and tried to slam a rasengan into the witch, "You aren't taking my goddaughter away!" he yelled.
Ultimecia smirked as she revealed to have casted Shell earlier, "You mean I won't be letting you harm my family anymore. Flare!" she yelled as Jiraiya was soon hit with a powerful bright light.
Hiruzen quickly formed several hand seals and slammed his hand down, "Summoning Jutsu!" he called out as the Monkey King Enma had appeared.
"Do you seek my services Sarutobi?" Enma asked.
"Yes Enma, I need your help to stop the witch Ultimecia from kidnapping Naruko-chan!" Hiruzen answered as the monkey king nodded and transformed into the adamantine staff.
"As if I should fear an overgrown stick." Ultimecia said as she placed her hand over her head. "Ultima!" she called out just as the hokage and his subordinates were all about to attack at once only to be blasted away by the massive attack.
No one had any time to recover as they all watched as Ultimecia and Naruko had disappeared in a swirl of black feathers.
"Minato, Kushina, I've failed you haven't I?" Hiruzen asked as he punched the ground in frustration.
With Naruko
"Pardon my tardiness milady." Ultimecia said as she revealed herself to have been Kingu in disguise.
"It's fine, do not worry about something trivial. You did your job perfectly and now the old man and excuse for a sannin are in despair and unprepared for what is to come." Naruko said with a smirk ask Kingu nodded.
"Very well, speaking of completing missions. I have managed to track down Tsunade Senju and her apprentice. After a brief scuffle with some shady debt collectors and criminals. I have delivered her the news and she should be here in no more than three days time." Kingu explained as she further brighted Naruko's mood.
Several days later, hospital
Tsunade Senju, the most strongest of the sannin in terms of physical power and possibly the greatest medic the elemental nations has ever known had return to her least favorite place in the world. She's not talking about Jacksonville either or a certain Siberian prison either. After losing her family and closest people in her life, Tsunade had left with her apprentice Shizune.
For years she spent her life wasting away with alcohol and gambling as she saw no other point. Deep down she thought that her grandfather must be rolling in his grave because of what she's become, but then again. Tsunade felt like she had no other options left in life and Shizune was pretty much ready to become a personal nurse and would be ready to have her body ready for a casket when the time came. Jokes aside, after receiving news from a green haired man and strange summons made of earth.
Tsunade dragged her assistant and pet pig, Tonton, back to Konoha to deal with a pair of conniving morons she thought she could trust. First was her sensei, her father figure after her own father had passed away and was the very student of her grandfather and great uncle. The other being that perverted teammate of hers who has always had her back up until now. Both of them lied to her face about her goddaughter being dead while Jiraiya left with her godson.
After making her appearance known, the last Senju made her way to the shared room of Jiraiya and Hiruzen. There she could see that they weren't in any critical condition or in need of body casts. Rather they were just covered in a few bandages and having to be given a special therapy from some nasty burns.
"Tsunade! Are you here to finally give me that date?" Jiraiya asked only to get a bedpan tossed at his head.
"Anything, but that Jiraiya. You both know why I'm here." Tsunade said in a serious tone.
"No, no we really don't. That could literally be any number of things." Jiraiya replied as he was glad that the bedpan wasn't used.
Tsunade rolled her eyes, "I'm talking about Naruko and why you hid her from me!" she yelled as Jiraiya started to looking around for an escape while Hiruzen sighed.
"Tsunade how did you hear about this?" Hiruzen said knowing that there is no way to lie to her and would only incriminate himself further.
"I got the message from a green haired man with summons made of earth manipulation." Tsunade answered as they both went wide eyed.
"Tsunade you can't be trusting that guy! He works for the witch!" Jiraiya yelled only to get the metal pole used for IV bags tossed at his head as well.
"Shut up Jiraiya! Besides, it looks like the words of the servant of a which are much more credible than my own teammate and sensei's." Tsunade said as she was furious.
Hiruzen cleared his throat as he decided to add his own wisdom to the situation, "Tsunade you have to understand. Jiraiya was better equipped to take care of Menma and we needed the village to remain strong by letting all the other villages believe that we still had a jinchuriki." he said as if the logic was sound and had no room for argument.
Tsunade's response was to toss a bedpan at the old man's head as well, "That is just utterly stupid. The most ridiculous is Naruko's suffering! Do you honestly believe no other village would challenge you when your fake jinchuriki is a baby? Listen up Sarutobi sensei, babies can't fight back no matter how much power they have! Even worse, jinchuuriki are hated!" she yelled.
"But it was the best way..." Jiraiya was silenced by another object that Tsunade threw at his head.
"I wasn't talking to you pervert! As for you sensei! For someone called the professor, you only think of what might happen! Not thinking about the repercussions for having too much trust in the wrong people! This is why I think the title of hokage is for fools!" Tsunade yelled.
"Tsunade! Have I taught you nothing! You dare say your own family were fools!?" Hiruzen asked with much shock and frustration in his voice.
"Of course! My grandfather split the most powerful beasts in the world thinking they were a way to maintain the peace and guess what! There have been several world wars shortly afterwards! My great uncle discriminated the Uchiha clan and caused Madara to betray the village! Not only that, they're almost all dead! You of all people, let a small child be attacked and ostracized for something they weren't! Meanwhile instead of being given love and care, you let the pervert take the other kid and likely brainwash him into thinking he's a godlike hero that can fix anything! You sensei, are nothing but a failure who's grown too old and follow ideals that you never back!" Tsunade yelled as she left a silent hokage.
"And Minato?" Hiruzen dared to ask.
Tsunade sighed as she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Minato was too optimistic and an idealist. He was a true genius, but was too foolish to understand what it meant to be hokage. Sure he understood sacrifice and the values of my grandfather, but even then he saw being hokage meant being a hero and believed everyone was as kind hearted as him. Especially when having faith in the wrong people." she answered as she struck a chord.
"That's where you're wrong Tsunade! Menma is the child of prophecy! He's going to change the world whether you like it or not! Naruko doesn't matter!" were Jiraiya's last words before his jaw was shattered and the side of his face.
"DOESN'T MATTER!? JIRAIYA YOU ARE MANY THINGS, BUT THIS JUST TAKES THE CAKE!" Tsunade yelled as she slammed her elbow down on his head as his face was smashed into the floor. "Jiraiya, out of any ridiculous thing you've ever said. And you Hiruzen Sarutobi are supporting this!?" she asked furiously.
Hiruzen gave a slow nod, "Jiraiya knew what was best Tsunade. Menma needed to be trained and prepared for the world. Naruko-chan is strong like her parents and could always learn to forgive and forget." he argued only to see his other student being kicked into a wall.
"Then you I'll leave you to that. Clearly you two only wish to listen to your own delusions. You two are now alone to do whatever you want without me or the Senju clan." Tsunade said as she started to walk off and leave.
"What do you mean by that Tsunade?" Hiruzen asked.
"It means that I'm burning away my ties with you two. I am not your teammate or your student any longer. You both lost the right to that for following your delusions and acting as if you two are the one sacrificing your lives when you are the ones sacrificing others for your selfish interests. You can do whatever you want now, but I want no part of it." Tsunade explained as she left and ignored her sensei's pleas for her to reconsider and listen to "reason" as he put it.
Another day later
What is the concept of honor? Is it a way to show your respects to someone or to earn respect? In other words, is honor the act of reverence or pride?
Once again, it is a matter of morality. What is moral and what makes someone so important that you would dedicate your time to remember them? Obviously, it's what they've done in life and the beliefs that they've passed on.
Naruko stood in front of the few that she wished to honor. However while she remained in an open area as there was a silent manhunt after her and her persona as Ultimecia. She kept her hair covered by a black cossack hat and dark coat with some sunglasses covering her cerulean eyes.
"I hope you're proud of your son Dai." Naruko said as she smiled at the grave in front of her.
Maito Dai
Naruko placed a white flower over the man's grave before moving onto the next one. Another man who had always been a patriot of the village and never asked for anything. Another man who was in the running for Yondaime hokage and was just as loved until he grew a conscious similar to that of a normal human being.
Sakumo Hatake
Naruko sighed, "What would you do Sakumo-san? Had you crumbled in the beliefs that your fellow villagers abandoned you? Or did you take your life knowing that there was nothing left for you? That no one cared for "foolish" beliefs." she asked before placing a flower on his grave as well. "I hope you've found peace. I do not want to sound disrespectful, but there is nothing left here for you. Nothing and no one you should concern yourself with." she said before leaving.
Naruko adjusted her outfit as she left the graveyard. After finishing up with her visits, Naruko decided to head back home. No doubt she would have to meet Tsunade and ask her for her assistance for a few favors. Upon finding a good spot to avoid being spotted, Naruko disappeared in a spiral of black feathers.
Forest of Death
"It's strange, I've always lived here and yet it felt so foreign to be running around the outskirts of my home." Naruko said as she referred the chunin exams second stage. "Then again, no one was able to find my specific residence." she said as she stuck her hand out and summoned a strange ripple in front of her.
Smiling, Naruko walked through the ripple. Taking a deep breath upon going through it, she smiled at the sight of a gothic looking castle that would normally intimidate the weak hearted into submission. This castle originally belonged to the true Ultimecia and she kept it locked away prior to her demise. Now it was Naruko's inheritance despite being given the ire of having to clean up all the dust from the lack of activity within the castle. It seems that the Sorceress of the Uzumaki Clan prefered to remain isolated.
Within the castle
(Final Fantasy 8 OST - The Castle)
Naruko sighed as she took off her hat, jacket and sunglasses. She immediately began to make her away passed the main lobby and up to her homemade lab. Out of anything, it appears as if her ancestor never bothered to install a lab. A library, a treasure room, an art room and a throne room, but not a single lab? Perhaps it was lost in the remodelling from years ago. Oh well~
Upon entry to her makeshift lab, Naruko had spotted what she was looking for. It was a strange container that was hidden under a velvet tarp, but upon closer inspection anyone can notice the bright colors coming from under it. Naruko pulled off the tarp and was greeted by the sight of a blond child inside a tube surrounded by a blue liquid while wearing an oxygen mask.
"Ana! Present yourself!" Naruko called out as a hooded girl with purple hair and a scythe appeared.
"Yes milady?" Ana asked as she stood at attention.
Naruko gazed down at the shorter girl. Ana was basically the guardian of the boy and is very loyal to Naruko to a fault like Kingu. Although she doesn't worship Naruko like a goddess as Enkidu does. Most likely with Naruko being the creator of Kingu and other warriors made from the clay that she uses.
"How has the little one been?" Naruko asked as she referred to the child in the liquid tank.
"The boy is stable, but he's still unable to awaken unless you count the random twitching in his head and eyes." Ana answered.
Naruko nodded, "Very good, you may relax for the moment. I will not be leaving the castle for some time. So I think I will be taking the time to watch over the child." she said.
"Yes milady." Ana said before leaving the lab.
Naruko turned back to the child in the liquid tank and smiled as she graced the glass with her fingers. All the while the child's hand and fingers were twitching. Almost as if he was trying to touch Naruko's hand on the other side of the glass.
"Soon you will be awakened little brother. You won't suffer anymore." Naruko said as she tried to reach out for the twitching hand. "Don't worry my little brother. Onee-chan isn't leaving your side." she said as she could see the boy's fingers slowly tapping the glass.
At the same time, training ground
After four days of relying on a training schedule. Menma has been working on his own with his army of shadow clones. Apparently Jiraiya did something that ended up with an extended stay at the hospital. Menma wasn't given the explicit details as it would have worried him, so the Uzumaki boy was left believing that Jiraiya peeped on the absolute worst woman to come across. Then again, the man would have gotten himself beaten by another group of women anyways.
That's the one thing Menma never liked about his sensei. Sure he was the sensei of his own father and godfather and potentially a grandfather to him and Naruko, but the man was a chronic pervert. Naked women were the only things that would keep Jiraiya's brain functioning. Now Menma was stuck having to work on improving himself physically as well as mastering the list of jutsus he was given. At least now he can work on improving his water and fire release.
However Jiraiya had promised to speed things up by trying to use the month to learn senjutsu and enter sage mode. Sure both had their doubts, but they both thought that maybe Menma wouldn't have such a tough time if he at least had a grasp of the legendary technique. Besides it will surely impress the judges to be using summons and showing them off to everyone if Menma had to rely on Fukasaku and Shima appearing on his shoulders.
His musing was broken by sensing about a fifth of his shadow clones being wiped out. Menma started to take cover and formulate a game plan as he had 250 clones with him and were working on their individual tasks. That's about 50 that were wiped out and another 50 were just killed as he realized how many losses he took. Looking up, he could see a great wave of lightning destroying the rest of the clones as they all attempt to evade the sudden ambush brought upon them.
Menma jumped out and was making hand seals for a summoning only for his hands to be grabbed.
(Final Fantasy 8 OST - Libertari Fatali)
Looking up, he gazed at Kingu's smiling face, "No need to be hasty. We don't want any unwanted visitors." he said as Menma moved back.
"Take this! Rasengan!" he yelled as he and another clone charged at Kingu who threw a knife at the clone and made the jutsu go unstable and explode in Menma's palm.
"I'd rather not. Are you going to stop or keep fighting like a barbarian?" Kingu asked as Menma got up and made more shadow clones.
"I won't give up so easily dattebayo!" Menma yells as they all start going through various hand seals in hopes of barraging the clay man.
"Wind Style: Air Bullet!"
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
"Water Style: Water Bullet!"
"Shadow Shuriken Jutsu!"
"Hair Needle Senbon!"
Kingu shook head head as he jumped high in the air and avoided many of the attacks, "Aero!" he casted as he was surrounded by a dome of wind that blocked out most of the shuriken and hair senbon. Sure a few pierced his body, but he wasn't susceptible to most pain. Especially since he doesn't bleed and only requires more clay if he was too lose a limb or two. Kingu soon fell back down to earth as he summoned a lance to his side and engaged Menma who relied on the frog katas taught to him by the elders.
However it wasn't enough as he still lacked the speed and accuracy to keep up. Sure Menma believed he could keep fighting thanks to his Uzumaki stamina and his improved endurance due to the kyuubi, but getting beaten up all the time wasn't necessarily a good thing. Especially since someone who is the servant of an S rank criminal is beating him up when he's qualified to be a chunin and maybe a tokubetsu jounin within the next year.
Kingu eventually started to get annoyed as all he was stuck with was Menma having to rely on a few jutsus mixed with lots of clones and spamming the Rasengan. So after a few more minutes of the non-stop barrage, he made a path for himself and started to channel a lot of mana into one last attack in order to put the boy into submission.
"Ultima!" Kingu called out as he destroyed all the clones that surrounded him and forcefully sent Menma flying back. Before the boy could get up, Kingu slammed the bottom of his lance onto his abdomen, "Are you finished?" he asked.
(End of Song)
"What do you want?" Menma wheezed out.
"I want to know what is on your mind boy. Milady wants to see how far the toad has corrupted you." Kingu replied.
"I don't see why a witch cares if I become a pervert, because I'm not." Menma said only to make the green haired man frown.
Kingu shook his head before speaking, "No you foolish child. Milady Ultimecia wants to know how much the toad and monkey have hidden from you. Do you even know your own sister?" he asked.
"I haven't met her in person because I can't find her. The old man lost her address or something, but even then she's always on missions." Menma said using the little bit he knows.
"Ok, do you know about the false jinchuriki plan then?" Kingu asked. Menma immediately tried to deny it which earned him earning another hit in the stomach, "I know very well that you are the true jinchuriki boy. Naruko has no seal on her and until milady found her, she was not aware of her family. Let alone the fact that she had a clan or parents that loved her. Did you know she was attacked by many people, your sensei included and that was right before she found." he explained.
"That's a lie! You're just trying to turn me against Jiraiya sensei!" Menma yelled only to get the back end of the spear slammed onto his knee.
"Do not test my patience. Are you so stupid that you are unaware of how jinchuriki are treated?" Kingu asked.
Menma glared at his foe, "The ones in Kumo are treated like royalty!" he argued.
"Because who would dare lay a finger on the adopted brother and niece of the Raikage? Let alone the fact that the Raikage always faces opposition. The same said being here in Konoha as they believe jinchuriki are the reincarnation of their biju." Kingu said. "Did you know that boy Gaara is a jinchuriki? He was an isolated boy that turned into a murderer because his own father sent assassins towards him. In Taki, their jinchuuriki isn't allowed to live in the village but outside like a guard dog." he added.
"No! That can't be true! You have to be lying!" Menma argued again which earned him more punishment.
"I do not see why milady bothered sending me here. Clearly Naruko-sama is also a bit absent minded when she believed you could be trusted." Kingu said as Menma's eyes widened.
"What?" Menma asked.
"For some odd reason, at the behest of Naruko-sama. Milady wants to see if you are trustworthy or another imbecile who believes in patriotism over the cold hard truth. You really are such a puppet that you likely wouldn't care if one day you saw your poor sister being brutally attacked so long as the village is happy." Kingu taunted.
"That's not true! Take it back!" Menma demanded only to be kicked away after having a seal placed on him to prevent the kyuubi's chakra from being activated.
"Then perhaps you should be much more open minded. Even your own father was a fool, while you may be the true jinchuriki. He wished for you to be seen as a hero for what you contain, but when the lie was sent towards Naruko-sama. They turned on her and believed your father's true wish was for her to be dead." Kingu said as Menma did start to think it through. "Now then, I best be on my way. Hopefully Naruko-sama isn't too angry for roughing you up a bit." he said as he let go of Menma.
"How do I know you aren't lying and try to manipulate my sister?" Menma demanded.
"Because we all choose to follow milady Ultimecia. For while some say she is cruel, she is honest and blunt. There is no need to sugarcoat the truth." Kingu said as he jumped into the air. "Now then little puppet! Perhaps it is time to cut your strings and find the truth out for yourself!" he yelled as he disappeared deep into the forest.
Only to leave a confused and conflicted Menma Uzumaki who was just informed that his little happy and simple reality is full of traps and despair. All to keep him happy and ignorant of how cruel the world is not only to him, but of others who remain innocent.
TO BE CONTINUED...