AN: Again, thank you very much for your reviews!
"[…] in the earlier Epochs, when the second Great War still raged and Bethrezen sought to walk Nevendaar through the possession of Empire's heir Uther, the way of the Damned was not what it is now. Bethrezen didn't commune with the mortals, instead choosing to send his orders of slaughter through his demons […]
His worshippers -cultists and witches- were disorganised and deranged as they performed endless sacrificial rituals in hopes of getting a favour from our God. But He did not care for that. We did not have a system of faith. It was akin to an abusive master who through his mere existence forced worshippers to kill innocents in hopes of attracting attention, but he seldom would turn his gaze towards these mortals as a reward. He was content in knowing that they were damning their souls, and in the end would be reborn in hell as horrors to walk Nevendaar […] often than not these practitioners couldn't handle the strain of constant rituals and most of them either went mad with power, or got possessed by lesser demons they attempted to summon […]
It is only in later Epochs when Nevendaar as a whole was learning the true history of the Gods that a faith dedicated to Bethrezen, their true creator, emerged in a methodical worship. So surprised was our God that for the first time ever he channelled his dark essence through one such worshipper and spoke to us through her mouth. And so was born the first Prophet of Bethrezen […]"
- The Disciple's Archive
The Cultist
Chapter 4: Bloody Wave Pt 1
It's been three weeks since the forming of Team 7 and at first they were a bit rocky with their dynamics: Sasuke was still as broody as ever, rarely speaking more than necessary while trying to outperform everyone; Sakura proved to possess an above average intellect and quite an analytical mind, but she rarely put any of that to use. Instead she fawned over Sasuke and defended him at any turn she could when Naruto was poking fun at him. Unlike Sasuke and Naruto himself, she didn't seem all that interested in training outside team meetings.
Good thing that happened was the light rivalry going on between Naruto and Sasuke. Sasuke always suspected Naruto was not as useless as he appeared to be at the Academy. The teen observed Naruto enough to notice that his movements during spars were too clean, too calculated. That's why Sasuke even stopped calling him 'dobe' (and it obviously had nothing to do with the fact Naruto wasn't even responding to those jabs). Sasuke's suspicions were proven correct during the Genin test, and subsequently during the training meetings. So far Sasuke haven't beaten Naruto in a spar even once. It was both infuriating and exhilarating to the young Uchiha. Sasuke was also baffled by Naruto's mastery of fire jutsu, but he was too prideful to ask about it.
Kakashi himself was a weird sensei. Being chronically late forced Team 7 interact with each other more as they would always arrive couple of hours before Kakashi in case "this was the day he would be on time", which obviously hasn't happened so far. This led to them training together without Kakashi's supervision (by together of course it meant Naruto and Sasuke. Sakura chose to just sit and watch). They would always play around and come up with different battle strategies as a way to pass time.
Naruto consistently tried to get Sakura involved in the training too. Sometimes she would, sometimes she wouldn't. And when she would, she'd always give up quite early because or her weak stamina.
Both Naruto and Sasuke realised quite early that she truly is the weak link of the team. And Naruto told her exactly that and told her it would remain that way unless she put in any effort. The girl waved away his concerns only saying he's being rude for no reason to which Naruto would always reply with "Don't blame me if you die on a mission outside the village." He didn't raise the issue again afterwards. Kakashi didn't put any extra effort to fix this and if a Jonin, who knew what he was doing, didn't then neither would Naruto.
In one of the spars Naruto also revealed his ability when he shocked Sasuke and Sakura (who even screamed) by stabbing his own hand and starting to chant. It took a tremendous amount of willpower for Sasuke to pull his focus back and dodge the suddenly incoming blood whip that, in Sasuke's eyes, appeared out of nowhere.
What followed after was a mad game of cat and mouse as Naruto was working that whip like an expert and cackling like a mad man. Kakashi might not cackle, but as it turned out Naruto did. Sasuke was good enough at avoiding the strikes but he couldn't launch a counter attack at all! When Naruto saw that Sasuke was good at dodging he allowed the whip to ignite in the infernal flames and Sasuke actually screamed "Narutoooo!" as now every strike that connected with the ground resulted in a tiny explosion. And with every second Sasuke was getting slower as fatigue set it. Needless to say by the end of the 'spar', if it could be called that anymore, Sasuke was full of bruises and burns and on the brink of exhaustion. Kakashi, the sadist that he was, said "Splendid! You will be doing this every day from now on, Naruto."
He called it good training.
Afterwards they asked him about his ability and Naruto tried to be honest – he revealed he's made a pact with a God and all his jutsus were ritualistic and worked on a sacrifice/offering/prayer basis. That's why they'd see him cutting or stabbing his palm and chanting in a language they couldn't understand. He explained that all the techniques they would see him do were mostly developed by himself as that's how Infernal Arts worked.
They, of course, were too sceptical about the 'God' part. Other than that the reactions were mixed – Sakura was the one who looked a bit pale at the idea of having to cut yourself every time (to which Naruto explained that due to this pact he has been granted with such a high pain tolerance that he hardly feels pain anymore). Sasuke seemed to be intrigued by the ability and even asked a couple of questions but that's all it was – a mere interest. He only believed it's just something obscure Naruto found somewhere that has nothing to do with higher power. Kakashi seemed indifferent already knowing this from the Hokage.
Of course, Naruto didn't reveal or elaborate that sacrifices also meant other things. But then they didn't need to know all of that just yet.
In the end they were growing closer bit by bit. While it still looked like everything remained the same as it was upon graduation, Naruto couldn't help but feel a sense of real comradery developing between them all.
Now speaking of missions, they were horrified when they learnt what D rank missions actually entitled. But after being forced to do a couple of them Naruto got to appreciate and love them. When he expressed this to their team they thought he'd lost his mind.
But for Naruto it was a chance to interact with the villagers. And villagers were forced to interact with him. Before they could just ignore him, look away, stare coldly, and because they didn't have to actively interact with him they had no reason to change their opinion or behaviour towards him.
Sasuke and Sakura of course didn't understand the weird behaviour people had towards Naruto and when they'd ask Naruto he would always say it has been like this his whole life, and then he'd lie that he didn't know why.
But now the civilians actually had to speak with Naruto, mostly because the teen was being stubborn. Naruto was always persistent on engaging with the clients as much as possible. His reasoning was that the more they interacted with him, the more they got to know him, the more they will see that he is more than just the jailer of the Kyuubi.
Villagers that he did interact with were loath to admit but the blonde teen was… not too bad. Sure, he had an intimidating and eerie presence but they chalked it down to him housing the Kyuubi. Other than that he seemed bright, intelligent, compassionate, empathetic, and overall pleasant. Slowly they were changing their opinions for the better and started to see the guy rather than the jailer. And Naruto enjoyed that. He enjoyed interacting with these people because for him it meant he is on the right path.
There was one time when they were reporting back in the mission building and it just so happened that Hiruzen was present. The old man was downright beaming at Naruto when he relegated to him the civilians' positive comments of him being a decent, hard-working sort.
Naturally, Naruto couldn't help but beam at that as well. And with both the Hokage and Naruto beaming like two suns the rest of the team felt like the room suddenly got too bright for no reason.
But that was what happened in these three weeks. Today though… today they would ask for a new, harder mission.
As much as Naruto liked doing D rank missions for the village, he was getting a bit antsy. It's been almost a month since they formed as a team and he was dying to get out of the village on some missions to get battle experience. He was excited to try some new techniques and rituals he had developed.
Sasuke agreed with him. Unlike Naruto, he -and by extension Sakura- hated the D ranks and considered them nothing more than useless chores.
"Hey old man," Naruto called as they walked into the mission hall. Team 7 was still baffled at Naruto's relationship with the Hokage, anyone else would have been punished for such disrespect. They could clearly see that the Hokage favoured the blonde even though he tried to hide it.
"Naruto!" Iruka, who was helping assigning missions today and sat in the mission hall, exclaimed "Show some respect!"
Naruto looked at Iruka and the man couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy at the look he was receiving. But then Naruto smiled and the feeling passed.
The Hokage waved his hand signalling to Iruka that it's alright "Team 7. Here for another missions?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Kakashi answered.
"Right, so today we have weeding some gardens, catching Tora the cat again, painting-"
"Actually, Jiji, can we get a proper C rank mission? As much as I like these chores we've been doing them for three weeks now."
"Naruto, you can't just demand a mission from the Hokage when you get tired of D ranks! Every Genin has to-"
"Eh, Iruka-sensei. I know all of that, hence why I am not demanding but asking."
Iruka didn't know what to reply to that so he just looked at the Hokage.
"And I assume your other teammates share the same mind as you?" after seeing the rest of team nod he turned to Kakashi "You think they are ready to take on a C ranked mission?"
Kakashi looked over the team, his eyes lingering on Sasuke and Naruto, before giving a nod to the Hokage "I believe they are."
"Very well," he then shuffled some scrolls on his desk before retrieving a specific one "I think I have just the mission for you," he then signalled for his secretary "Please bring in Tazuna-san," he turned to Team 7 "Your mission will be to escort Tazuna back to his house in Nami no Kuni. He is a bridge builder who was visiting Konoha for some business. Ah, here he comes."
Tazuna entered the room bringing with him a stench of alcohol "Are these kids supposed to protect me? Some frail pink girl, a brooding emo, and-" he looked at Naruto and uncontrollable shivers ran through his spine "Nevermind. Is this the team then, Hokage-sama?"
"Indeed it is. Team 7 led by Kakashi Hatake will be taking this mission."
"Alright," he then turned to Kakashi who he assumed was the Jonin leader "Meet me at the main gates in an hour." And with that he left the room.
"He was pretty rude," Sakura commented.
"Mah, it can't be helped. You will meet all kinds of clients throughout your career," Kakashi commented "Now as the man said, meet at the main gates in an hour. Go and pack and make sure you have enough supplies for at least a week or two. Dismissed."
"Kakashi, remain." Hiruzen called.
The team left and Kakashi approached the desk and accepted the scroll that Hokage was giving him.
"There are more details in there," Hiruzen said "There's a possibility that Tazuna-san wasn't completely honest with the mission request. There's a high probability that the mission parameters will change. If that happens, I won't have any available back-up to send to you so it will be up to your discretion if you will want to continue or not."
Kakashi narrowed his eye and nodded. Those were the worst kind of situations when the client lies about the missions, and sadly that happened too often. If the Hokage's hunch was correct then he will need to keep his eyes peeled "Understood. Anything else?"
"Yes. It's regarding Naruto."
"Hmm?"
"You weren't briefed fully on the Mizuki incident, were you?"
Kakashi shook his head "No, I wasn't. I know what happened and that Naruto was involved but no further details."
"Wait, Naruto was involved?" Iruka asked.
Hokage for a moment forgot that Iruka was there too "Yes. It's Naruto who apprehended Mizuki and saved the Scroll of Seals from getting into Orochimaru's hands."
Iruka was shocked by that revelation. Firstly, Mizuki was a traitor for Orochimaru of all people. And secondly, Naruto – a fresh Academy graduate, managed to apprehend a Chuunin? It seemed like there was more to the teen than meet the eye.
"At the end of the encounter when we arrived at the scene," Hokage continued "Naruto looked ill – he was shaking, sweating, and his eyes were darting to Mizuki. He asked me if he may perform a ritual offering of Mizuki to his God," Both Iruka and Kakashi widened their eyes "That's right – he wanted to use the traitor as a living sacrifice. Naturally, I denied him stating we needed him alive for T&I interrogation. So instead he asked if he could still make an offering while keeping Mizuki alive. He expressed that he needed that to further his training and skills. I allowed and Naruto performed something he called a half-offering. From what he told me afterwards, it did have the desired result of furthering his training but a lot of it was still limited. Which is why I suspect Naruto is so excited to go on this mission – it would be a prime opportunity to meet an enemy to make a full offering of," Hokage finished.
"So…" Kakashi began not quite sure what to say. Never in the history of Konoha did they have a shinobi who practiced something like that. It seemed dark and unethical and for some reason it seemed like Hiruzen was allowing this "I don't know what to make of it, Hokage-sama. When you debriefed me about Team 7, and later when Naruto revealed it itself, I thought the extent of 'offering' and 'ritual' was him spilling his own blood and saying something in that language of his."
Hokage shook his head "That's just the most convenient and quick method for him to use some of his techniques. He also has some very complex battle ready techniques in his arsenal and those truly are a complex in comparison than just stabbing himself. After all, I did help him develop some," here Kakashi and Iruka looked horrified and Hokage couldn't help but chuckle "Nothing so drastic. Young Naruto and I spent a lot of time together and sometimes he would bounce some ideas with me. It's only because of those possible ideas that I can make an educated guess on the complexity of his techniques," here he waved his hand "We are getting off track. What I wanted to say is that if you come into a situation where he asks permission to do something like that then I urge you to allow him, granted if killing the enemy will not interfere with the mission."
Other two men widened their eyes again "But Hokage-sama… isn't it just, dark?" Kakashi struggled to pick the right words. Iruka was rendered completely speechless about the information he was receiving so he couldn't even give any input in the conversation.
"Tell me, do you know of a cult of Jashin?" receiving a negative he continued "There used to be a whole clan of cultists that, according to obscure history texts, were immortal and couldn't be killed in battle. Did you know that Uzumaki clan had techniques that could summon the very Shinigami? In fact, the seal on Naruto that holds back the bijuu was placed on him when Minato summoned the Shinigami itself," shocked silence. No one knew for certain what transpired that day and to think that their beloved Yondaime summoned a God. "Or what about the legend of the Fire Temple whose founder was so strong that he was rumoured to be Kami's champion?" well, they knew about that legend.
"But what does it have to do with Naruto?"
"The point I'm trying to make is in all the legends those favoured by the divine are unique and powerful. Konoha never could boast to ever have something so unique as a ninja who was favoured by a divine, dark or not. Therefore in the past years I've tried to cultivate this in Naruto. If not only to atone for the mistakes I've done regards to the boy, but also to enable his growth and give him tools for his future. Jiraiya has reported that there are some organisation that could be after Jinchuurikis. Nothing concrete but enough to keep an eye on it and prepare," he took a breath in and lit his pipe here to relax his nerves before continuing "Is it dark? Yes, but we are all veteran Shinobi that kill every single day. Danzo, of course, is right when he says I've mellowed out in my old age and allowed my peaceful ways cloud my judgement when it comes to Konoha's strength. This is my way of trying to correct that. Naruto loves this village like no one else, and for the life of me I can't figure out why after everything it has done to him. Yet his Will of Fire burns bright, even if his path is shrouded in darkness. If it means allowing him to use his enemies as sacrifices to bolster his power and by extension Konoha's and act as its protector, then I will not shun it and I strongly recommend you don't either. They are the enemies after all. He could be our greatest ninja and that's not even because of the beast within him. Therefore I want to normalise it, for Naruto at least. And I've made sure he would never turn on the villagers."
That was certainly a moving speech and if Kakashi was being honest, then it alleviated the most pressing doubts he had.
"Has he done it before? Kill, I mean." Iruka asked.
"No, I don't believe so."
"What about his mind then? Killing for power… it corrupts. I apologise for bringing it up, Hokage-sama, but Orochimaru is a prime example of this."
Hokage acquiesced his point "I thought of this at first too, but I don't think it would ever be an issue," he then turned to Kakashi "Keep what I said in mind. You're dismissed, don't be late to your client."
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
An hour later Naruto, Sakura, and Tazuna were at the main gate of Konohagakure waiting for Kakashi to appear so that they could depart on their first proper mission.
"Don't tell me Kakashi-sensei is actually going to be 3 hours late again for a mission too." Naruto complained.
"Oh, you are Kakashi's new team?" Izumo, one of the gate guards, asked.
"Yes, we are." replied Sakura.
This time it was the other gate guard who piped in, Kotetsu "Congratulations to be the very first team he has passed. You must be exceptional Genins."
"The first team?"
"Yeah!" Izumo nodded "Hokage-sama has been trying to get him a team for a while now but apparently they all kept failing his Genin test."
Kakashi suddenly appeared in a swirl of leaves "Now now, what kind of rumours have you been telling my cute little Genin?"
"We didn't get a chance to share any yet!" "You're late!"
"Mah mah, I promised to be on time but a black cat crossed the street so I had to take a detour…"
"Liar!"
Kakashi eye smiled and turned to the gate guards "We will be on our way now."
"Enjoy your first mission outside the village!"
And with that the band moved out in a leisurely pace - after all their client was a civilian who couldn't exactly tree hop. They walked in a comfortable silence for a couple of minutes until Tazuna broke it.
"So this is your first time outside the village?" he asked uncertainly.
"It is!" Sakura replied.
"Don't worry, Tazuna-san, you are in capable hands. If any bandits come our way then my team will be able to deal with them. You also have me here." Kakashi added.
"Yeah, Bandits..." Tazuna muttered "If you're sure."
"Say, Tazuna-san, does the Wave country have-"
And so for the next quite a while Sakura was interrogating the client about Wave and the man himself.
Turns out his country was occupied by a tyrant Gato from the Gato Corporation. The vile man kept draining the land and its inhabitants of all the resources for his own selfish greed and there were no ninjas in the country to protect them.
Tazuna himself was building a super important bridge which would connect to the mainland. The idea would be that it would open many trade routes through Wave and that in turn would exponentially boost the economy of the country and would allow them to in time recover and eventually let them find a way to do something about Gato.
"How are we going to cross to Wave?" Naruto finally asked "It's surrounded by water, is it not?"
Tazuna nodded "I have a brave friend waiting for us with a boat at the shore. We should hurry up."
No sooner did he say that as two shadows leapt from a nearby puddle and wrapped Kakashi in a metallic, sharp chain. The two assailants pulled hard and Kakashi was severed in two. Sakura screamed.
"One down. Get the bridge builder, Meizu!"
"On it, Gozu!"
They both stretched their deadly chain and rushed at the Genins and Tazuna aiming to skewer them all in one sweep.
Naruto reacted first by throwing a kunai at the middle of the chain making the two missing nin skid back.
"Sakura, protect Tazuna-san," Naruto shouted "Sasuke!"
Sasuke nodded and ran through handseals together with Naruto,
Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!
Two balls of fire emerged from the teens and combined as they approached the assailants and then exploded in a fiery storm. Sakura and Tazuna had to cover their eyes from the intensity of the flames.
Screams were heard from within the fire. When the flames died down they could see the one who spoke first –Gozu- lay on the ground, unmoving and suffering from burns. He seemed unconscious but still alive if the breathing with the rise and fall of his chest was any indicator.
The other ninja, Meizu, managed to release the chain from his gauntlet in time and dodge the brunt of the jutsu.
"You will pay for this!" he screamed.
Before he could do anything else, Naruto flashed behind him in a burst of speed and delivered a powerful kick to his back. Due to Naruto's superior strength and the momentum of the speed, Meizu was sent flying towards Sasuke.
Sasuke didn't hesitate and delivered a follow up jumping roundhouse kick to the enemy's face sending him back towards Naruto.
Naruto in turn grabbed a kunai and attempted to stab Meizu while he was still in the air, but the enemy ninja managed to recover and twist to avoid the lethal attack. However he didn't manage to avoid it completely – the kunai made a deep gash on his calf and that was enough for Naruto to start chanting.
Meizu landed on the ground and immediately winced at the pain and had to make another roll to land on his good leg. This moment of hesitation was enough for Naruto to complete his technique:
Binding of Haemorrhage!
4 bloody tendrils shot out from the gash on Meizu's calf and embedded themselves in the ground and Meizu screamed in pain as he tried to move that leg.
Sasuke was already upon him with a fist coming up towards his face. Meizu blocked it and attempted to swipe Sasuke with his claw but Sasuke leaned away from the attack.
Naruto once again using his superior speed appeared behind the enemy and knocked him out with a blunt side of his kunai. The binding jutsu dissipated after that.
"Well," Naruto said "That was kinda exciting. And rather easy."
"Hn."
"I'm glad you agree."
"B-B-But Kakashi-sensei, he-" Sakura wailed until a voice rang nearby.
"I what?" Kakashi said with an eye smile as he came out of some bushes "Yo."
"You're alive!" she breathed in relief.
"Of course he is," Naruto deadpanned "Did you not see the substitution log or the lack of blood?
Sakura looked at where Kakashi was 'cut' and indeed only saw a log there which made her blush in embarrassment. All she could do was to shake her head.
"Why would you trick us?" Tazuna demanded and then he started sweating when Kakashi gave him a glare.
"I sensed them a while ago. Besides, it hasn't rained for days and then there's a puddle on a dry street. Seemed suspicious and I knew it's a possibility of a ninja ambush – I wanted to see who they would go after. Me – a ninja with a sizeable bounty on my head, or you – our client? It was you they were after."
"I-"
"Did you know Gato hired ninjas?"
"I- Yes, I suspected." he deflated.
"Then you deliberately lied to the Hokage. Not only that but you deliberately put my team at risk with wrong information that you could have shared. The Demon Brothers, if I remember bingo book correctly, are C rank missing nin from Kirigakure which automatically puts this mission as at least B rank due to further unknown ninja threats. This is not a mission for Genin as inexperienced as my team."
Tazuna dropped his head in shame "We didn't have the funds to request a higher ranking mission. In fact, we gave everything we could scrape together and it was only enough for a C rank. I am really, really sorry. Without this mission, without the bridge, without any help we just won't survive."
"The Hokage, and by extension Konoha, is not that cruel to ignore a plight such as this. I am more than sure we could have struck a deal. Lying is never an option for honest missions. The right thing to do here would be to cancel the mission and return to the village to arrange something else."
Here Tazuna dropped on his knees and begged "Please! I can't afford to spend any more time than I already have by coming to Konoha. Every second I am gone is another second one of my countrymen are suffering. I am also super worried about my daughter and grandson! Please don't abandon the mission! I am very sorry for lying!"
Kakashi sighed – what a bad form of guilt tripping. Hokage's hunch has proved to be right though. He considered his options and looked at his Genin. Naruto could definitely hold his own, and by extension Sasuke too. Sakura, however, was completely unprepared for such scenarios as evident by her reactions. He could see that Naruto wanted to continue with the mission. Sasuke seemed completely indifferent to the man's plight but Kakashi knew that the raven head also wanted to continue with the mission to at least challenge himself with real combat.
"It will be up to the Genins. They are after all at the most risk here so I will the decision to them."
The Genin blinked at that proclamation.
"I say we go, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said "Can't really just leave these people suffering."
"I agree," Sasuke added "I want to face new opponents. These were weak."
"Only you would go on a dangerous missions for some fun," Naruto rolled his eyes.
Kakashi then looked at the only girl in the group and she shakily said "Well, if both Naruto and Sasuke are ready to go then so will I."
"Then that's decided. Tazuna-san, we will continue with the mission."
Tazuna's expression immediately changed, now suddenly in high spirits "Thank you! Thank you so much! Off we go to build my super bridge!"
"Hold on!" Naruto called "What about them?" and pointed at the Demon Brothers who were laying on the ground, unconscious.
"I will tie them to a tree. Then I will send a message to Konoha about the change of circumstances and inform that we managed to apprehend enemy shinobi," Kakashi replied.
"Oh, I see..."
"You almost sound disappointed, Naruto." Kakashi commented.
"Well… it's truly nothing..." Naruto trailed off.
Kakashi sighed as he remembered the Hokage's words.
"... to normalise it…"
"Hokage-sama mentioned something like this before we left. Do what you have to do."
It was almost disturbing at how Naruto brightened up.
"Really? Thanks!" he then looked around and saw Sasuke's and Sakura's intrigued faces "Erm, right here?"
He received an eye smile "You have to remember we are still on a mission," he then looked at Tazuna "For how long is your friend waiting for us?"
"For a couple more hours at the least - he won't leave without me and I didn't exactly know how long I will take to get a mission."
The Jonin nodded and looked at Naruto "Nevertheless, we don't have the time to look for a suitable place so here and now will have to suffice. If this is something you have to do, then you will have to learn to be comfortable with doing it anywhere with anyone present. Sakura, Sasuke," he addressed the other two members of his team "This will probably get bloody and unsettling. If you don't want to experience something dark then you can proceed further with Tazuna. Naruto and I will catch up when he's done. There shouldn't realistically be any threats ahead."
For Naruto it's not so much he had an issue with the location as with people seeing the darker aspects of his Infernal Arts. What if his own comrades would be too horrified? What about the clients? If they heard Konoha was practising human sacrificing then he had no doubt fear of common folk would follow.
He then steeled his nerves. Naruto does not get nervous - he demonically cackles. No matter how the world perceives his Art he would always do it for the sake of Konoha even if he had to do it in loneliness. It changed his life in a good way and it would be stupid to abandon his practices just because of some fear. Not to dismiss at how flexible and powerful if was.
Naruto nodded and ignoring everyone's stares got to work.
"I will use the burnt one. He probably won't survive the wait anyway - he got hit dead on by our fire jutsu."
Not waiting for Kakashi's affirmation he took out his special knife and approached Gozu who was still unconscious.
"What is he going to do, sensei?" Sakura asked as she opted to remain. Even Sasuke couldn't deny he was extremely curious, to the point he fully faced the scene. He understood it was something to do with Naruto's mysterious techniques.
"If you're intent to stay then wait and see. He is going to do a ritualistic sacrifice, other than that I have no idea either."
"Ritualistic sacrifice?" Tazuna asked uncertainly.
Kakashi shrugged and then smiled at the bridge builder "You're perfectly safe."
Everyone immediately shut up and looked at Naruto who already had his hand cut open and had started chanting. Every ninja present noticed that this chanting felt different than what they've experienced before when he used the Infernal Arts in combat.
Naruto drew a large circle around the downed man using his bloody knife and even dared to channel a bit of chakra through it.
"With this circle I mark the beginning of the final Rite of Passage,"
As he closed the circle there was a tiny pulse of Power that everyone felt - Bethrezen accepted the rite and deemed the offering worthy so Naruto could proceed.
He sliced his palm again to spill more blood and used it to draw an even larger pentagram outside the circle so that the circle was inside the star. He was thankful that the Infernal Arts of his current level allowed him to manipulate blood to a small extent otherwise he'd completely bleed out drawing diagrams of such proportions.
He chanted his thanks, chanted that this kill will be in honour of his God; this offering the ultimate pact and the proof of His power that was bestowed upon Naruto.
Another pulse of Power, this one a bit stronger than last, and the onlookers released a gasp as five points of the pentagram burst into tall pillars of flames before calming down to the sizes of a candle.
Using the knife he then carved a symbol for Hare in a circle on the ground at the northernmost point of the pentagram.
"Thank you for bestowing upon me the Blessing of the Hare so that our enemies could never escape,"
The repeated the same for the bear and the stag, carving those symbols at the bottom two points.
"Thank you for bestowing upon me the Blessing of the Bear so that no enemy might hurt me and mine,"
"Thank you for bestowing upon me the Blessing of the Stag so that I could stand tall and proud as your champion."
All the symbols ignited and remained lit.
Next was the most exciting part for Naruto for even he didn't know what would happen.
He positioned the man inside the star so that each of his protruding body parts –head, arms, and legs– was facing each of the points of the pentagram. As an afterthought he used the blood already on the ground to bind Gozu so he doesn't thrash around. The pain of what will follow will definitely wake him up but only the fifth strike will be the killing one.
He took his knife and positioned to strike Gozu's left hand.
"He's not… is he?" Sakura asked horrified. No one answered her. "What is this weird feeling, what language is this?"
"For power,"
And Naruto stabbed Gozu's hand immediately waking up the burnt man who screamed in pain. The fire at the point nearest to the left hand turned increased in size and turned crimson. Gozu tried to thrash and get away but the bindings prevented him from that. A faint pulse of Power was felt in the air, making the hairs on everyone stand up.
"For knowledge,"
Right hand quickly followed suit with its adjacent fire pillar. Pulse of power.
"For understanding and comprehension,"
Left feet. Fire. Pulse.
"For control and force of will,"
Right feet. Fire. Pulse.
The Power was now palpable in the air – everyone wanted to turn away but they couldn't. No matter how dark, it was transfixing, intoxicating.
And now for the crescendo.
"I give myself to you just as you give yourself to me; I am your champion as you are my God and Master; I am protector of my people and you are my weapon and shield. Everything and anything to you; everything and anything to me. This is my offering for your eternal glory. This is for you, Bethrezen. Fire, and blood, smoke and ashes.
For Bethrezen."
And he channelled chakra into his knife and stabbed it right through Gozu's heart. A wave of Power emitted upon point of contact making everyone present stumble.
The fire pillars on the points of pentagram shot up and started swirling around the whole ritual scene before rushing into the ground and earth itself. From there, the infernal fires started dashing and darting across the star and the circle, carving lines, symbols, shapes along all the edges of the blood. The fires were completing the ritual circle as if it had a mind of its own.
But Naruto didn't see any of this. He left the knife in Gozu's heart as he kneeled inside the ritual circle, his head thrown backwards staring at the sky with unseeing, unblinking eyes, and his mouth opened in a silent scream – savouring every single iota of Power that was channelled into him, out of him, and through him.
Then the fires calmed down and dissipated only leaving behind an intricate and incredibly complex ritual circle made of charred black blood and ash. Kakashi could only compare it to some intricate Fuuinjutsu.
There was an unnatural quietness in the air – no tree leaves shuffling, no birds chittering, a lull in the air almost like nature itself was waiting with a baited breath. It made Kakashi feel alert because he knew from experience that this kind of lull usually led to an ambush.
And then there was it.
A strong pulse of Power emitting from Naruto. It made Tazuna's and Sakura's legs shake; not out of fear but something else.
For Naruto however… Bethrezen accepted his plea and his ritual. Knowledge, power, understanding, comprehension was running through his mind in a rapid pace. Everything he read up to so far suddenly made infinitely more sense. Hidden aspects of his languages, diagrams, rituals, beings, blood, symbols… All of these things flashing at a fast pace, embedding itself in all the relevant parts of his brain. His pupils were wildly shaking and darting back and forth as if trying to see something invisible.
Another Pulse, this one stronger than before. Even Kakashi's and Sasuke's legs started shaking.
"What- What is this?" Sasuke wondered in true bewilderment.
And now Naruto understood. Understood all the aspects of his Infernal Arts. If before he just practiced and did them as instructed, now he comprehended it all. He still had much to learn but now he could truly begin living and breathing life into the Infernal Arts.
Suddenly Naruto's head snapped forward and he extended his arms in a wide gesture and as if by command massive deep crimson stalagmites sprung from the ground where the three symbols of his blessings were around the star.
Naruto stared hard at those and suddenly his vision became dark.
He blinked a couple of times and found himself in a strange sewer. Completely still water was covering his feet up to his ankles. Naruto looked around and noticed that the corridor he was in was very well lit despite not having any clear light source. All kinds of different pipes were running across the walls – blue, red, and black crimson. All of them twisting and intertwining and disappearing in all directions. Upon closer inspection he also noticed that the walls in the corridor were irregularly adorned with what appeared to be shiny black and crimson gems or stones, same colour as one of the pipes.
"Well, no point standing here and waiting for something," Naruto mused. Despite the sudden change in scenery from being outside on the roads performing a ritual and then ending up here, he felt pretty safe. No wariness or unease of new surroundings that somehow to him felt familiar.
And so he proceeded forward. He ignored all the different pathways and doors that appeared on his way – he allowed his feet to automatically drag him forward.
After what felt like forever he finally arrived at his destination – a massive room with an enormous gilded cage at the back of it, gates of which was held by a paper seal. Naruto immediately put one and one together and surmised that he somehow managed to access the part of his mind that housed the seal where the Kyuubi is held.
Ignoring that for now, he looked around. Next to the cage there was a medium sized smooth stalagmite growing from the ground. It was the same colour as the stone in the walls he noticed earlier – dark with red streaks coming in no discernible pattern. The red streaks seemed to pulse once in a while. In fact, in a closer inspection, the same red streaks could be noticed all over the cage too.
He observed that all three different coloured pipes seemed to originate from somewhere in this room and were somehow connected to one or another element here: the dark crimson pipes seemed to originate from the smooth rock, the red pipes seemed to disappear behind the cage, and the blue ones didn't have a specific starting point – they were just twisting around the large room before disappearing into many hallways. He also idly noticed that there was one pipe which was seemingly connecting the stalagmite and the cage.
A loud, terrible growl spread through the chamber "So my jailer finally graces me with his presence." Two large, red slitted eyes popped open behind the bars.
"Kyuubi," Naruto nodded. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't intimidated. This being in front of him was rumoured to create natural disasters with a single flick of its tails and now all that was holding it back was a paper seal.
"It's good that you have common sense."
"You are awfully civil. I was expecting something more of a… wild beast."
The Kyuubi snarled, hitting Naruto with some hot breath that made his long hair flutter "Of course you would. That's what humans were always painting us as – chakra batteries of no intelligence. Feared for our power, yet hunted for it too."
"If it's any consolation then I do apologise," Naruto said sincerely "My ignorance of your nature stems from not coming across any information to say otherwise. The question still remains – if not for a wild beast, then I expected at least someone furious enough to lash out in anger for this imprisonment."
"And I am furious! The mighty Kyuubi no Yoko locked away again and again, always something stopping me from being free!" it said mockingly "Nevertheless, I am exercising as much control simply for my self-preservation."
"Self-preservation?"
The Kyuubi stepped forward within the cage, revealing its towering dark orange body. Naruto had to practically crane his neck upwards to look it in the eyes.
"Yes," Kyuubi nodded "Are you familiar with the nature of the seal that holds me?" Naruto shook his head in negative "Ignorant. It is designed to slowly trickle my own chakra into your system. It's been doing that since you've been but a babe; that's why you have such large quantity of dense chakra."
"That makes sense."
"Ever since you came into contact with that Dark God of yours and started practising the rituals, another power source manifested here," Kyuubi pointed at the dark rock next to its cage "Maybe calling it a power source is wrong, it's still your chakra but different. It's what enables you to do whatever it is you're doing. Similar how Kekkei Genkai would have been represented in one way or another in other mindscapes."
"How do you know what I have been doing?"
"Over longer period of time, the more of my chakra gets syphoned off, I've learnt that the more the seal weakens. This is your mind and it's been 13 years now. Sometimes I am able to push and see glimpses of your life outside, especially when my chakra is being used for healing your body." It replied "Ever since that rock appeared, the chakra syphoning from me was diverted into that stone, and from that stone to you. It's like an extra convertor, an additional cog in the mechanism, if you will. I do not know its purpose but what I do know is that the seal keeping me locked is no longer deteriorating. Instead, your usage of your rituals is changing the seal itself. I feel I am more linked with you and the stone than I've ever felt before."
Here Kyuubi regarded Naruto with somewhat cold expression even though its eyes were still holding so much fury.
"Couple of years ago my fate was certain – I would wait until the seal is weak enough and push my will onto you, and then break free. If I die in the process then it's no bother – I would reform. Now I am uncertain of my own future. I do not want to end up as a sacrifice to an unknown God with no chance of reforming, not knowing how the change to the seal is affecting me."
"And it is in your best interest to be at least amiable until you know for sure what is happening with your life," Naruto finished for it. Kyuubi snarled but didn't offer a response. "Thank you for sharing this with me. I will try to make it bearable for you – at the end of the day you are as much stuck with me as I am with you. Thank you for always healing me though." Kyuubi nodded "How did I end up here? Do you have the ability to pull me in?"
"Now that we have met and you are aware of this place I will possibly be able to drag you in here with strong enough pull. I will also be able to talk to you. At the very least, thanks to your God, my container is not entirely useless and weak. Maybe you won't be an embarrassment to be my Jinchuuriki," as an afterthought Kyuubi also said it didn't know why Naruto was pulled in – it wasn't the Kyuubi's doing. "Your presence is starting to irritate me now. Do what you came here to do and leave."
And with that the bijuu retreated back into the shadows of its seal.
But that's the thing – he didn't come here consciously, so something must have dragged him into his own mindscape. Naruto looked around again and his attention was drawn to the dark pillar which was softly pulsing.
He slowly approached it and put his hand on it. Immediately there was a jolt of pain that shot through his body and he heard in the distance a sound that resembled that of breaking chains.
With this he was pulled out of his mind.
Not even two seconds had passed since Naruto got pulled into his mindscape.
When he returned to his body, he came with an enormous wave of Power that knocked everyone off their feet. The land around the ritual circle burned and cracked and in an instant was turned into a barren field of red and black.
The Power was so palpable that Kakashi felt it vibrating in his very bones. It wasn't like Killer Intent or Chakra Pressure. It was something that affected them all on more of a spiritual level – it was intoxicating and part of him didn't want for this to stop. It made him feel safe and protected, as absurd as it sounded. He looked around and saw the others in the same state.
And then it was gone like it was never there to begin with. Everyone took a deep breath it, but not of relief but because they lost that feeling.
The stalagmites scattered into dust as did the ritual circle and the earth around it. Everything returned back to normal. The only thing showing that something supernatural happened was panting Naruto who was on his knees and hands .
"Naruto?" Kakashi called out.
Naruto snapped himself out of his daze and sat up "I'm alright, Kakashi-sensei."
Kakashi nodded as he stood up and approached the blonde teen. He looked at the corpse next to him and his eyes widened. Gozu looked like he lived through many more years than he actually did – his skin was pale and wrinkled, his hair completely grey, his whole body seemed to lose a lot of weight with the clothes that remained covering him like a blanket.
Naruto finally stood up and suddenly he felt better than he ever did. Reenergised and happy. And he was extremely excited to finally be granted the power and complete understanding of his arts so that the next time he fights, the enemy would be in a world of surprise.
"I'm alright," Naruto repeated and stood up.
"What happened to him?" Kakashi asked.
"Eh, I don't know. Usually during the rituals Bethrezen takes whatever offerings I make – that's why my blood always dissolves and disappears. I can only take a guess that a whole body was too big and intense to just take from this physical world. The results of the ritual made themselves know differently. That's only my guess. Either way I am ready to go!"
Kakashi nodded "I will tie the other one and send a message. Wait with the rest of the team."
Naruto nodded and practically skipped to his team with a wide grin.
What ensued was a bit of an awkward silence while Kakashi was working. A minute later they finally resumed their journey at a relaxed pace.
Naruto was glad that there wasn't any fear or horror or even disgust from his team and the client. Sakura seemed apprehensive, sure, but she also seemed more confused than anything else. Kakashi looked indifferent but then it was always hard to tell with him. Sasuke looked contemplative and curious, and Tazuna… Tazuna definitely looked confused but there was also a sense of wariness in his gaze.
The blonde just sighed "You know, you can just ask questions if you have any. You all look constipated; I'm not about to go and start cutting you up."
Sasuke snorted at that comment.
"Well…" Sakura began uncertainly "What is it that I- We felt?"
Naruto looked at her "Felt?"
"Yeah, several times throughout your… ritual," she gulped "There was some sort of power coming off you several times. The final time, just before everything disappeared, it brought us all to our knees."
"Huh. I didn't know that these rituals have an effect on people."
"Well the thing is…" again she looked uncertainly at Naruto from the corner of her eyes "By all rights I should be horrified and disgusted by what I witnessed – you did kill someone essentially in cold blood. But for the life of me I can't figure out why I don't. Instead there was this feeling of…I don't-"
"Of pure bliss, pleasure, excitement, and safety," Tazuna helpfully supplied and Sakura only nodded to that "Some logical part of me does feel uneasy that you just killed a man in a very disturbing fashion, but the bigger part of me never felt safer. I don't want to witness something like that again, but I do want to feel the same way. It's a weird paradox."
"Something what you describe is actually common in ninjas," Kakashi added "We kill every day, that's our job" here Sakura looked a bit green "but most of us don't really enjoy it, and sometimes some of us even feel guilt. However we would gladly kill hundreds of innocents if it meant protecting our village and its citizens. I'm sure you feel the same way – after all you did lie to the Hokage and requested a mission knowing the risks. But your country's well being is all that mattered." Tazuna winced but agreed. Here Kakashi turned to Naruto in curiosity "I do share the same feeling though. When you began your –ritual?- I did feel a bit of distaste but then when the first wave of the power hit my mind suddenly was supplying me completely different feelings. Why is that?"
"Hmm. From what I've read and what you're telling me I might have a theory. Give me one moment."
Kakashi wanted to say they don't have any more time to waste but Naruto already had his knife out and slashed his palm. He raised the palm and aimed it somewhere in the forest…
Blood Bolt!
A bolt made of his blood shot from his palm and in a blink of an eye flew in the bushes. In a burst of speed Naruto disappeared and then reappeared back with a rabbit in his hand who was quickly bleeding and dying.
Not wasting any time Naruto drew a circle on the ground with his blood and then put rabbit in the middle of it.
"Accept this small offering as a testament of my power to murder my enemies. For destruction and chaos, for blood and glory no one shall stand in my path. All will die and perish in your name!"
A small pulse of Power, and the rabbit slowly, almost uncertainly, dissolved layer by layer and got absorbed into the circle before the circle itself flashed crimson and disappeared into the wind. Naruto blinked – he just got an incredibly strong feeling of confusion and then it passed. Naruto widened his eyes in realisation, but he put that new information for later.
He then turned to his companions "Did you feel anything this time?"
"Revulsion." Sasuke said.
"Still felt the pleasure, but also a lot of disgust. I felt shudders go through me – complete opposite of earlier and this was tame by comparison! Completely horrifying." Tazuna added.
Seeing that everyone shared the same way it confirmed Naruto's theory "That confirms my theory then. I am not sure whether it's actually true but it makes sense."
They resumed walking and Kakashi asked "What is it?"
"What you feel is most likely linked to my prayer during the ritual," Naruto explained "My God called me a protector so in all my prayers in the rituals I do, I always try to make it a point to say I am doing it for the protection of others. Not in all rituals, but in most. So I think what you feel is the chakra intent. Kind of like killing intent that ninjas can give off, but instead of seeing your own death and playing on your fears, you feel whatever the practitioner, me in this case, based their pact with their God on. You don't understand the language I speak in, but with this rabbit just now I essentially made an offering based on murder and destruction, whereas in the previous one I said I am a protector of my people. And here you have your feeling."
"That's quite elaborate," Kakashi said "But thank you. It explains a few things as far as our mixed perception goes."
"I'm just glad it didn't scare any of you away," Naruto muttered.
"I really want to be scared and disgusted," Sakura told him "But I can't bring myself to. If it's to protect us… as horrible as it all looks it's also kind of noble."
Naruto shrugged "Maybe you will feel different when you will get your first kill." That shut Sakura up as she was silently contemplating her future.
"Who is your God?" Sasuke finally asked. Strangely he was the quietest so far and while usually that's normal, everyone knew Sasuke was quite opinionated in his own right. They could see he had hundred and one question he wanted to ask but he had remained quiet.
"Bethrezen."
"I never heard of him."
"I don't think anyone has," Naruto shrugged "He is an ancient, old God from the Old World. The knowledge of him has not survived all these eons."
"Old World?" Sakura asked, intrigued. She was the most scholarly present from her team so new pieces of information and history really interested her.
Naruto frowned before replying "It's too long of a history lesson, to be honest, and even I don't understand quite a lot of it. It's a long, long, long time before Elemental Nations were even a thing."
"Oh," Sakura muttered "Will you tell me about it sometime?"
"Sure."
"If no one knows of him, then how did you come across him?" Sasuke pressed. "You didn't just… start cutting things up?"
"I don't actually know about that," Naruto honestly replied "From everything I've read, they always say Gods work in mysterious, often illogical ways. Maybe it's something specific I thought, maybe it's something I did, or something I showed an interest in. There are too many, and oddly enough, not enough variables that happened in my life to tell you exactly why and how it happened. And no, I didn't randomly start doing rituals of my own making in hopes some God would answer… that's ridiculous."
"Hn…"
"Sasuke," Naruto narrowed his eyes "You didn't think of doing that, did you?"
"Hn."
"Sasuke!"
"It seems like a quick way to power," Sasuke shrugged "How I am even supposed to kill that person if I can't beat you?"
Naruto shook his head "There are no such things as quick ways to power. And if there is then there is always a steep price for them," he said "Even I have to pay in my blood. Besides, I worked really hard for the past several years to be where I am now, and I still train hard to get even stronger. Maybe if you have a problem with your lack of progress in your training then you have the wrong goals? It's all about the motivation."
Sasuke whipped around, seething "Don't you dare say that!"
Naruto shrugged again, not quite concerned about Sasuke's anger "I am just pointing out the obvious. Each one of us have goals and how we are at this moment represents how strongly we believe in those goals."
Sasuke didn't respond to that and merely walked a bit quicker to get away from that argument. Despite the pure anger those words triggered in him, part of him couldn't shake off the feeling that Naruto did make a good point.
"You shouldn't antagonise him so much, Naruto," Kakashi commented "We all have things we have to deal with."
"I only expressed my opinion. If he has a problem with that then it's his problem. People who have no issues wouldn't get a reaction like that if they couldn't relate. Maybe saying it out loud would spur him on thinking about it rather than ignore it."
Kakashi chose not to pursue this line of topic. Sasuke's mental state has been under scrutiny ever since the Uchiha Massacre but instead of getting professionals to help him, the higher ups decided to leave the teen be. Maybe Naruto's constant words and behaviour towards the Uchiha would force Sasuke to self-reflect. Time would tell whether it would end up well or make the situation worse.
At this time they finally reached Tazuna's friend who was anxiously waiting for them. Hushed greetings, and a brief conversation later, all of them were on the boat half way through to the Land of Waves.
The mood was quite gloomy, Naruto noted. Sasuke absorbed in his own thoughts while openly scowling. And Sakura was in deep contemplation.
The girl still couldn't get over how mixed her feelings was towards what she saw. She knew from what little time she had spent with the blond that he was a good person, but the ritual she witnessed twisted her perception of him a little bit. And that was what was confusing to her – part of her wanted to be absolutely disgusted with Naruto, but the bigger part of her really wasn't. What Naruto said also rest heavy on her mind – how her view of the world would change when she killed for the first time. She was no stranger to the idea that she would have to do it, the Academy did go over that and whole shinobi history was full of wars and strife. Naruto did it for the village, but it still felt a bit morally wrong. Would her view of it change when she would take her first life? She was glad Naruto was eager to explain his practices and even make an example later on. Because of that she could still proceed to treat him the same way despite her heavy thoughts.
"Woah, Tazuna-san!" Naruto exclaimed as quietly as he could "Is that the bridge you're building?"
Every turned to look at where Naruto was pointing and all of them were quite impressed. A massive bridge of stone and bricks was towering over them as they slowly sailed past. It clearly was still incomplete but they guessed it wouldn't take that long to finish the job.
Sakura finally broke her silence "How long would it take to finish it?"
"A week or two depending if nothing goes wrong," Tazuna responded, quite proud.
"You are doing a work of the saint, Tazuna," his friend added with a smile.
Here Kakashi hummed and asked something that was on everyone's minds "I wonder why did Gato even let you build this much."
"I don't know," Tazuna shrugged "I guess he didn't believe I would get anywhere with it so didn't consider it a threat enough to waste resources on. I started on my own and it's only after quite some time that I managed to get all the men of the village help me at which point the bridge was already under the construction at an incredible speed. I guess that's when he realised his mistake and started sending his goons to the bridge."
"I see."
Soon after they noticed a thick mist roll in which only thickened when they finally disembarked on the other side. Tazuna's friend wished them good luck and safe travels before quickly returning to the waters and disappearing.
They silently made their way forward while keeping their eyes peeled for something out of the ordinary. The heavy mist was truly making them all feel uneasy.
After a little while, Naruto suddenly threw a kunai in nearby bushes only to reveal a scared rabbit.
Before anyone could say anything Kakashi shouted "Get down!" and grabbed Tazuna to throw him on to the ground as he followed his own command.
A massive cleaver blade sailed above their heads and embedded itself into a tree where the rabbit was at just now. A second later an imposing man with bandages around his mouth and a slashed Kiri headband appeared standing on top of the handle of the massive blade.
Kakashi immediately turned serious as he recognised the threat they were facing "Zabuza Momochi, A-rank missing nin from Kirigakure no Sato, known as the Demon of the Hidden Mist," he then addressed his team "Formation around the client, protect him at all costs. If I fall – retreat."
"We won't abandon you, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Look at that, Kakashi no Sharingan and his little Genins who had probably never seen real combat," Zabuza laughed "You were quite lucky to never have encountered the Demon Brothers."
"Sharingan?" Sasuke thought as he narrowed his eyes.
The missing nin formed a hand sign and the mist around them thickened so much they could barely see further than their outstretched hand.
Kakashi immediately pulled up his headband revealing a lone Sharingan eye with three tomoe in it.
"Zabuza is a master of silent killing technique. Keep all your senses open, he could attack from anywhere."
"Eight points: larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart…" a voice boomed from all around them.
And they immediately were hit with a wave of killer intent. Naruto managed to shrug it off, and so did Kakashi though both of them broke a sweat. Sasuke and Sakura however – their legs were shaking as they imagined their own deaths that would happen any moment. Even Tazuna was on the floor in fear.
Naruto narrowed his eyes and quickly cut his palm that elicited a laugh from Zabuza that reverberated all around them "Hahaha, look at this Kakashi – one of your own is even cutting himself in fright. Poor little Genins are about to die without even living for a bit. You know, you call yourself ninjas but you are only just kids. Only when you spill blood may you even use the title 'ninja'."
"Don't do anything rash, Naruto," Kakashi whispered, knowing full well that Naruto cutting himself meant a jutsu from him was coming.
"You have mastered over a thousand jutsus… is there a Fuuton in your arsenal to blow away the mist?" Naruto whispered back.
"An exaggeration… I do but if I start hand seals then I can't defend myself."
"I will give you an opening," Naruto whispered back.
Kakashi wanted to protest but had no time as Zabuza laughed "An opening? You are funny, kid!"
Suddenly Kakashi shouted "Naruto!"
However thanks to his Blood Sensing, technique that Naruto only understood to master after the latest ritual, Naruto sensed the incoming attack and could dodge the attack in time. Zabuza's cleaver narrowly missed Naruto's arm before retreating back into the mist.
Naruto used this opportunity to smear some of his blood across Kakashi's back before squeezing his palm and spilling some of his blood on to the ground.
"A lucky dodge, good job, kid," Zabuza mocked.
Naruto waved his bloody palm and manipulated the blood on the ground to make a circle around them all, and then started chanting. He was glad that after the sacrifice his control of blood exponentially increased to allow drawing ritual circles with a literal wave of his hand.
"What's this? Blood manipulation and delirious muttering? Haha, your kids are hopeless, Kakashi. I expected something more from you. Maybe I should start with that pink haired bitch? She seems like she never seen real combat, might as well spare her the trouble and kill her first."
Demonic Barrier: Physical Plane!
Naruto exclaimed in the ancient language as he finished his chant. Immediately, within a second, five bloody lines expanded from the bloody circle and connected above Team 7 and Tazuna, and a crimson black sheen connected between the lines creating a dome around them all.
"Now!" Naruto shouted.
Kakashi trusted Naruto enough to start doing handseals.
Zabuza saw this as his opportunity and, not believing whatever the blonde kid did was of importance, slashed his Kubikiribocho aiming for Kakashi's neck.
His blade connected with the red barrier and Zabuza widened his eyes in shock when his attack was completely stopped. Some red sparks appeared at the point of impact and the barrier flashed deep red before reflecting the sword back. The dome surrounding them dissipated into the air afterwards.
But that was enough for Kakashi to finish his technique.
Fuuton: Daitoppa!
He channelled chakra and blew a strong gust of wind at Zabuza and then sideways, throwing the Kiri missing nin away while at the same time dispersing the mist enough that it returned some visibility on to the field.
Without giving the enemy the chance to summon the mist back, Kakashi engaged Zabuza in combat.
With the mist gone and Zabuza's attention on Kakashi everyone could take a breath of relief when the pressure of the killing intent was gone from them. Naruto once again cut his palm and performed the same technique to raise a protective dome around them. He then turned to Sasuke "I will put some of my blood on you,"
Sasuke frowned "You will ruin my clothes."
Naruto stared incredulously at him "That's something I expected from Sakura, not you. Princess, my blood will disappear if I perform a technique, don't get your panties in a twist."
"Hn," Sasuke extended his hand without further complaints. He saw that Naruto did the same with Kakashi earlier and he couldn't deny the effectiveness of the barrier.
So Naruto put some of his blood on Sasuke's arm.
It was kind of gross, Sasuke thought, but he could squash those thoughts away easily enough. He was a ninja after all.
When they pulled their attention back to the fight between the two Jonin, it already has moved onto the lake. Naruto's eyes widened when he saw Zabuza perform a clever manoeuvre with his water clones that ended up with "Suiton: Suiro no Jutsu!" and Kakashi being trapped in the water prison.
"Get away from here!" Kakashi managed to shout before the jutsu completed and completely encases the Jonin in water.
Zabuza then proceeded to conjure a couple more water bunshins that stood near the lake, ready to take on the Genins.
"Sasuke," Naruto calmly called. The teen looked at him from the corner of his eyes "I can free Kakashi but you will need to keep the clones busy. I will do some techniques on you to assist," seeing the water clones ready to engage them Naruto firmly said "Go!" stabbed himself again, and started chanting.
Sasuke really didn't like taking orders from the blonde, but he also knew Naruto was stronger than him, which he respected in a way. And that's why he had a level of trust in Naruto – if Naruto had a plan and he needed his help then he would provide that help.
Sasuke shot forward towards the group of water clones and engaged them in combat. Despite them being mere clones with a fraction of the power of the original, Zabuza was still an elite Jonin in skill comparable to Kakashi so even the clones were a foe he'd need to take carefully.
Sasuke rolled under a blade swing and attempted to retaliate with a kunai strike, but it was blocked by another clone. The third clone moved in with a kick which he blocked and winced at the strength of the kick. He barely managed to lean away from the punch of the fourth clone, and he had to pull another kunai out and parry an incoming blade sweep from the fifth clone by making a cross section with his two kunais. He knew he didn't have the brute strength to stop the blade so instead he allowed it to slide across his kunai before vaulting over the blade and rolling away. The whole exchange didn't even last ten seconds. All the while Kakashi looked horrified that his team remained.
Sasuke dared to shoot a look at Naruto just as he finished his techniques. Naruto stood there in a circle of his own blood, with a burning pentagram with in it, with his bloody palm making a circular handseal aiming at Sasuke.
Demonic Boon of the Hare!
Demonic Boon of the Bear!
Demonic Boon of the Boiling Blood!
Sasuke couldn't understand what Naruto called out, but he did notice that the blood the blonde left on him suddenly spread across his body in thin lines, before flashing in black and crimson and seemingly vanishing within him.
All his muscles momentarily twitched before settling, and then he felt it – his blood boiled but in a good way. He wanted battle, and he wanted it now and he knew he had the power to overcome his foe.
Sasuke disappeared in a flash of speed way greater than before making the enemy widen his eyes.
It was so unexpected that Sasuke managed to take one of the clones by surprise by slashing his throat with his kunai.
But Zabuza was not an amateur and all the water clones rushed into action.
First clone once again vertically slashed with his sword but this time Sasuke easily blocked it with his two kunai before spinning away from an incoming kick from another clone. He attempted to stab the first clone during his spin but it evaded the attack.
Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu!
The third clone released a water bullet jutsu, but Sasuke managed to dodge it by jumping into the air. The water bullet hit one of the clones dispersing it back into water as a result.
While in the air, Sasuke performed his own jutsu quicker than he had ever done before "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" and spit a volley of small fireballs at the clones.
The clones managed to dodge all of them. One of the clones then rushed at Naruto seeing he was already performing another technique.
Sasuke saw that and threw some shuriken, forcing the clone to roll away.
The Uchiha then jumped into the fray once again and engaged the clones in battle. Block, punch, roll, parry, counterstrike, evade, kick, lean, spin, handstand, axe kick, kunai throw, roll, roll… Sasuke never felt so exhilarated and alive as he did in this moment.
Naruto though just finished another of his ritual. Now there was a pentagram surrounded by a circle, and a circle closed off by a triangle in his own blood.
Plague of the Damned!
Immediately the land around burned and churned and turned red and cracked with fiery wisps escaping from the cracks. It quickly spread all around the surrounding area.
With a wave of his hand a great, sharp stalagmite of crimson rock burst forth and obliterated one clone. Another wave of his hand, and another stalagmite destroyed another clone. Naruto did a handseal and red and black chakra surrounded his right arm before it quickly took on the form of the same ritual circle that was on the ground. Naruto slammed that hand on the cursed ground.
The clones had no chance.
The ground exploded in multitude of sharp pillars, each aimed to destroy a clone. Some managed to dodge but those that did were quickly destroyed by Sasuke's follow up attack. There were no more clones left.
Naruto released his technique and all the rocks dispersed into the wind, and the land slowly returned back to normal.
Naruto saw that more Mizu Bunshins were forming so in a burst of speed he dashed past them and no one could stop him, but that didn't matter anymore – he was within range.
A slash of his palm,
Demonic Combustion!
Naruto's blood on Kakashi glowed red before a small wave of fire exploded from Kakashi himself, destroying the water prison.
By this point water clones already formed and Naruto had to evade the strikes and return to his previous position. Thankfully the clones immediately disappeared as Kakashi resumed his fierce battle with Zabuza.
Sasuke returned to his side at protecting Tazuna, with all three boons now having ran out.
"Sasuke," Naruto said "Your eyes."
Sasuke's eyes widened. He looked at the nearby puddle from the clone and indeed there it was – Sharingan in both his eyes with a single tomoe.
"I didn't even notice…" Sasuke said "What did you do, Naruto? That power I felt. It was you, wasn't it?"
"Later."
They couldn't relax just yet. He was happy no one was coming for Sakura and Tazuna who were just standing there and trying to appear as small as they could in fear of being targeted.
The fight between Zabuza and Kakashi seemed to draw to a close as Kakashi managed to perform the water dragon jutsu first.
Zabuza got hit by the full force of the attack and thrown against a tree. When he finally stood up, a senbon was thrown into his neck and a hunter nin appeared on the scene.
"Thank you. I've been hunting him for a while now," the masked hunter nin said "I will take it from here and dispose of the body." With that he picked up Zabuza and disappeared as quickly as he appeared.
Only when the danger seemed to have passed did everyone relax. Pretty much everyone looked in wonder at both Sasuke and Naruto – more so at Naruto for his incredible jutsu of changing the landscape. Those ritual techniques were no joke.
Kakashi pulled his headband down to cover his Sharingan, and then stumbled and fell.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura cried as she quickly ran up.
"Mah mah, I will be fine. Just a little bit exhausted," Kakashi said. He then reached into his pouch and got out a pill and quickly swallowed it "Nothing a quick soldier pill can't fix until we get to safety." He stood up when he felt the pill work its magic. He looked at Tazuna "Is it far until your house?"
"N-No," the bridge builder stumbled "Not far at all!"
"Good. Because I think all of us needs some rest." He then turned to Naruto "Those are quite some techniques. Your Infernal Arts seem to be truly multi-purpose and adaptable."
Naruto nodded "I developed them in a way that I could fight on my own, but also with others. If I want to protect others then I thought I'd need to have something supplementary in my arsenal," he then sighed "Can we leave the talking until we have rested, please? I'd kill for a meal…"
Everyone nodded in agreement and they silently made their ways towards their destination. All the while Sasuke was even deeper absorbed into his own thoughts.
AN: Another long chapter. I hope you enjoy. Some more of Naruto's ritual techniques. Next chapter will close off the arc with some twists! And more of Naruto's power.
Thank you for reading! If there are some mistakes in the chapter then it's probably because I am finishing writing and proofreading at 5am so I might've missed something...
Until next time!