"Yeah… tomorrow." He said, still letting Sasuke support his body. While they didn't have to go too far to make their way back to camp from where they were, it felt like it'd take ten lifetimes after what they had just done. Hopefully they'd still be too busy looking for more threats and regulating the damage they had done to chase them out.
Sasuke did him a favor by basically carrying his body for a while until Naruto had recovered enough to walk on his own, and even then his newfound friend was still ready to help him.
'Friend.' That was already how he thought of Sasuke ater having literally just met him earlier that night. Naruto was starting to realize that was a startingly common habit of his.
"Do you think we should try to find a lower spot?" He suddenly said, feeling Sasuke's head whip to him. "You know, in case they try to retaliate-"
Before he could even finish that sentence both soldiers heard what sounded like several whistling sounds coming from behind them. Naruto didn't even need to turn around to see the attacks. So much for letting them walk away.
Sasuke still had enough gas left in his tank to fend them off. He let go of Naruto's body and formed a series of hand seals before spitting out a sphere of fire that enveloped them and rose high enough into the air to partially block or deflect their Jutsu.
Both of them knew it wouldn't last.
The heat was so strong it made his eyes tear. Sasuke made the Jutsu collapse from the back, giving them an opening to run for it while its front would stand as a proverbial smokescreen, preventing their attackers from having a clear line of sight toward their targets for the time being. They needed to find some real cover, and fast.
They made about ten steps before the assault was resumed. Both boys jumped for it, rolled along the sand, and finally managed to find their cover behind a shallow ditch-like depression. Naruto tried to peek behind his back to see if they had gotten away, but quickly had to put his head back down when the sand around them exploded.
He wondered if the soldiers had actually been ordered to fire on them, or if that was just the instinctive response of someone that had their home attacked.
Not that it mattered in the end, he just had a tendency to think about mundane things when in dire situations.
"Are you telling me headquarters can't hear that?!" Sasuke shouted as the area around them erupted into sound again. Their blasts were getting closer and closer, and their numbers were ramping up as well.
Naruto assumed their assault had begun with two people at most, but their ruckus had certainly attracted other soldiers, and he wouldn't be surprised to see an entire side of the wall filled with men throwing Jutsu after Jutsu at them.
"Doesn't matter if they did, they won't be able to send reinforcements through a barrage like that!" Naruto yelled back while keeping his head down. "We're on our own!"
Sasuke cursed. "What the hell do we do then?"
"I think my chakra's back to normal!" Naruto tried to focus on the flow of his power. "Not sure I can make more than a few of those clones, though. Can you do still do a Henge right now?"
"That won't work, they'll just-!" One of the Futon Jutsu hit so close to their hiding spot it launched sand all over their heads. Sasuke furiously wiped it out of his eyes as he talked. "They'll just kill all of them!"
Naruto knew their cover wouldn't last for more than a few seconds at that rate.
What could they do?
'Fuck it.' Naruto thought, forming a cross with his fingers. 'If we'll die anyway, there's no harm in trying.'
"Grab my arm." He told Sasuke, not leaving any room for thought before shouting out. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
This time he had tried to concentrate his efforts into making fewer clones than before, and with a puff of smoke ten different Naruto's were standing around them. Five of them immediately jumped straight ahead at the city, three scattered around, not following any particular path, and the final two sprung toward their headquarters.
As expected, the five going toward the city were immediately destroyed by the crossfire, bringing their short-lived memories to his mind. Just a tad later, their fire focused on the scattered clones. In that precise moment Naruto formed another seal and used the most powerful tool he had.
"Kawarimi no Jutsu!"
The environment around them changed to reveal Naruto and Sasuke in mid-air, right above a significant dune that stood between the city and their camp. Sasuke didn't miss a single second, grabbing Naruto and forcefully throwing his body at the ground. He returned the favor by grabbing the boy by his feet and dragging him along with him. Not half a second later did he receive the memories of the clones they had replaced themselves with.
They briefly rolled along the sand before stopping themselves in a haste, and Naruto looked over his shoulder, trying in vain to see if the city had sent any pursuers after them.
While he couldn't see anything over the hill, both of them still heard the sounds of Jutsu after Jutsu hitting near their position. "Persistent bastards aren't they..." He muttered, standing to his feet.
Sasuke tugged at his sleeve, and he turned back to see a scouting party sent by their own army.
"S-sirs?!" The lead scout asked, approaching them cautiously. "What happened-"
He instinctively dropped to the ground after hearing another explosion. Naruto gestured for him to stand. "Don't worry, they can't reach you here. But I wouldn't peak over there if I were you."
After some brief discourse the scouts were dismissed, and the two soldiers began making their way back to camp.
"That was beyond risky." Sasuke said, staring at him. "You know that, right?"
"Give me a break," Naruto rebutted. "What isn't around here?"
Their army's organization had already changed since Naruto and Sasuke had left for their brief suicide mission.
Each unit had their own camp, signalled by a high-flying banner with their symbol and colors. They were arranged into large circles with guards facing outward, and were all distantly separated from each other. Naruto scoured the sky for his own symbol, finding it a good bit away from where they stood, together with Sasuke's fan-like sigil.
Scouting parties were rotating across the entire perimeter, switching spots every couple of hours, and their path was illuminated by strange torches fixed on the sand.
The general's tent was put in the very center of that organism, with the biggest war-tent erected in its middle, guarded by the biggest number of guards that came from each of the three camps.
Naruto and Sasuke were both followed by several curious glances and tenuous whispers as they walked toward it. No one was foolish enough to actually intercept them.
As they neared the tent itself, Naruto saw Hinata and Kiba standing to either side of its doors. He wanted to talk to them - and they clearly wanted to talk to him - but everyone there knew it wasn't the time or place for it. They all shared salutes instead before Naruto and Sasuke walked in. He heard Kiba say "Unbelievable isn't it?" Before they did and couldn't help but smile afterward.
He quickly wiped it off while they walked in, steeling himself for what was about to come.
Just as before, all three generals shared a table. Said table had a large map sprawled over it that seemed to convey the region they were in. Naruto noted all three shared a similar amount of desk space.
All three had dead serious looks on their faces. He saw Sasuke straighten his posture out of the corner of his eye, then it hit him. That situation must have been ten times more frightening to him, with his older brother right there and everything.
"Those were some mighty noises we were hearing." Asuma began, and as if fate itself wanted to validate him, everyone present heard another rumbling coming from the city's direction. "Almost like an army attacking something."
"Sir," Sasuke took the initiative. "They were waiting for us."
"They had traps all over the city," Naruto elaborated. "Fake food storages that they let us attack. When we went for the last one they surrounded us."
"Did you find the real target?" Kurenai asked intensely.
"We did." Naruto afirmed.
"And how did you manage to escape?" Itachi asked.
Naruto and Sasuke shared a look. That wasn't missed by Asuma. "Yes?"
"I…"
"Naruto used a cloning technique to disorient the enemy, then found the real storage and destroyed it. He saved my life, sir."
"A cloning technique?" Itachi asked. Naruto saw a glint in his eye. He didn't know if that came from Sasuke's admittance of him saving his life, or if he was simply curious about his Jutsu. "Which one?"
"The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, sir."
It was like the wind had just been sucked out of the room. Asuma leaned forward. If he thought the expression on the man's face was serious before, it was nothing compared to what he looked like then. "And where did you learn that, Naruto?"
"I saw Bokuden using it during our fight, sir. Since the seals didn't look too complicated and I knew the basics of cloning techniques… more or less, I decided to er, borrow it."
"During the heat of battle, when surrounded by the enemy in their own city, you decided to borrow a forbidden, S-ranked technique, which you succeeded in doing without any prior practice?" Itachi asked.
Naruto blinked, shuffled his feet, and then gave a shy nod. "Yeah?"
The older Uchiha simply leaned back on his chair without any further comments. Asuma took out a cigarette, ignored Kurenai's glare, and lit it.
"If it makes it any better I had no idea it was a forbidden technique."
"But that doesn't make any sense," Kurenai turned to her peers. "I know the Kage Bunshin's special, but just a single clone couldn't have turned the tides by that much, especially when they were being ambushed."
"Ma'am," Sasuke said, drawing their attention back to him. "Naruto made about a hundred clones, not one."
Eyes turned to him again. Naruto shrugged. "Thereabouts."
Asuma took a drag of his cigarette, Itachi shook his head, and Kurenai simply exhaled a brief curse.
"The Kyubi's power is truly fearsome." Itachi said, nodding. "We should have considered this sooner, Asuma."
"Kid's a pile of surprises, I'm telling you." Naruto was glad to hear an undertone of pride on the general's voice, though he sensed they were still being scolded. "But I'd like to reinstate that this was supposed to be a covert mission."
Both of the commanders spoke at the exact same time. "I'll take full responsibility, sir."
All three generals laughed. Naruto felt more than a little embarrassed, and Sasuke seemed to be on the same boat.
"Well," Asuma flicked his cigarette. "At least you two got away. It took a lot to keep Itachi from going in there by himself," He told Sasuke, who bowed his head at his words. As for the referred general, he simply crossed his arms and glared at Asuma. "Make sure to apologize later."
"Of course, sir." Sasuke said, not raising his voice above a whisper.
"As for you," He said, turning to Naruto. "How did you feel after using the Jutsu? Any exhaustion, headaches?"
"I felt tired afterward, and whenever they got dispersed I saw these images flashing in my head. I've been assuming those are their memories from the moment they get destroyed, sir."
"And that would be why the Jutsu is forbidden." Asuma looked between the two of them. "Well, normally this information would be strictly confidential, but since you've already used it, and since you were there to see it all, I don't think it'll be that much of a problem. The Kage Bunshin is dangerous for two reasons. First, it consumes an inhuman amount of chakra. Making even one clone is enough to deplete the average man's reserves, just like that. The second is the possible mental damage overusing it can cause. As you've correctly guessed, every time a clone is dismissed all of the information it gathered over time, and I mean all of it, is directly transmitted to its user."
"Mental damage, sir?" Naruto asked, clearly worried. The things he had seen when captured by Bokuden were still fresh in his mind, and there was nothing he'd rather avoid than having his head be messed with again.
"Exactly. But that's assuming its user is an average man. You've already used more clones at once than anyone has ever tried, as far as we know. It's definitely something you should be cautious of, but not enough reason to rule it off altogether."
"I understand, sir." He said, nodding. Then something else came to him. "Wait, if this is a forbidden and secret Jutsu and all that, then how did Bokuden even know it?"
"That's the worrying part." Kurenai said. "And the part we probably will never learn now that he's dead."
All of them felt the weight of that statement sink in. The reality of a possible rat inside of Konoha was getting more and more likely. And if Bokuden had knowledge of some top-secret techniques like that, that could only mean it had been going on for far longer than Naruto had been serving in the army.
"Well, we'll need a complete report later, especially after this campaign." Asuma said. "For now, tell me anything of note you two learned while you were in there."
Sasuke and Naruto proceeded to say as much as they could, filling the blanks on each other's stories, especially regarding the commander they had faced. Naruto remembered a crucial fact by the end of it.
"When we were scaling the walls, we heard some talking with the passing guards. They said someone had left the city in a hurry, before their general could arrest him. I think he was in the first battle."
"Mhm, that's worrying," Asuma scratched his chin. "Either he's a deserter or the general here wasn't willing to listen to someone who ran from battle."
"We should be on the lookout for nearby cities, they might come to serve as reinforcements at any second." Itachi said.
"Either that or he did desert them." Kurenai pointed out. "We can't overlook that and act too cautiously."
"Either way, that's good information to have. Now, while you two should have done your utmost to stay hidden, and the fact you survived could be classified as pure, stupid luck," Naruto's body tensed for possible punishment. "I think you two have been through enough for the night. Go back to your camps and get some rest for tomorrow."
"Thank you, sir." They both said, saluted, and promptly left. Hinata and Kiba were still waiting for them outside as Naruto felt wave after wave of relief hit him. It was just sinking in that they had truly escaped danger and were now safe while among their comrades.
"Is your meeting over?" Kiba asked as they walked a few steps away from the tent and the soldiers meandering around it. Naruto nodded and they quickly embraced each other. "You lucky son of a bitch!"
"I think you and I have different concepts of 'luck'" Naruto said with a grin. Then he saw Hinata approach Sasuke out of the corner of his eye and turned to see them. Kiba did the same.
Even the boy seemed to be on guard, and the expression on Hinata's face was purely stoic. For a second Naruto was afraid she might even hit him.
Then she bowed to him. "Thank you for keeping Naruto safe."
Sasuke clearly had no idea of how he should respond to that. As far as Naruto knew their families had been rivals for decades, and some of that clearly carried over for the two of them.
"There's no need to thank me," He finally decided to say, returning her bow. "He was the one to save me, not the other way around."
"I'll be damned." Kiba whispered so that only him and Naruto could hear it. "How'd you swing that?"
"Shut up," Naruto whispered back as the two would-be heirs finished their awkward greeting.
Then Hinata turned to him.
"And do you mind telling me why you were just running away from a city filled to the brim with men ready and willing to kill you?"
He laughed nervously. "How about we do it over some drinks?"
"Now that's a good idea!" Kiba said. "I've got some top-tier sake stowed back at my tent just for a moment like this, straight from the clan's reserves."
"I could use something to take the edge off." Hinata said, rolling her shoulders. "Tomorrow's gonna be ugly, that's for sure."
"You joining us, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, turning to his new friend.
The Uchiha seemed really uncertain, and he couldn't blame him. From what he had gathered up to that point, his relationship with Kiba and Hinata hadn't been the best.
But he ultimately nodded, and they quickly set off to find a quiet spot for their meeting.
"Cheers!" All four said, pushing their cups together. Naruto swallowed the entire shot in one go, feeling the warmth course down his throat and settle in his stomach. They had gone through the trouble of making a small bonfire - powered by a miniature version of Sasuke's fireballs - to heat it up.
"Goddamn!" Hinata slapped her knees. "You weren't kidding, Kiba!"
"Please, when it comes to food or drinks, I never am."
Akamaru had joined them when Kiba went to pick up their alcohol, and was now lying by Naruto's feet. He made sure to scratch him well, and even offered Sasuke the chance to pet him, though he seemed less than willing. Given the way Akamaru growled at the boy, Naruto couldn't blame him.
"Wish I could cook something for us to eat too," Naruto said, allowing Kiba to refill him. "Bring me right back home."
"You cook?" Sasuke asked him, clearly shocked.
"Yeah, he has a shop back home." Hinata answered. "Him and his sister."
"Sister?!"
"She's not an Uzumaki." Kiba explained, knowing what Sasuke's surprise hailed from.
"She's my sister." Naruto quickly interrupted, more than a little defensive. Kiba raised his hands in feign surrender.
"I didn't know." Sasuke admitted. "I… I heard you had been trained from birth by the Hokage to serve in the army."
Naruto shook his head. "I swear, every time I talk to someone I don't know, they've heard more and more stuff about me. What else did you hear?"
"I heard you've taken out a thousand men all by yourself during the ambush." Kiba supplied with a smirk.
"I heard you walked through a hail of Kunai and didn't let a single one hit you." Hinata played along, giggling as she took another shot.
"I heard you demolished a mountain while fighting one of Suna's officers." Sasuke tried to join in.
Naruto coughed. "No, that one's actually true."
"Oh."
"Gives you a bit of perspective, doesn't it?" Kiba laughed. "I want to see what type of rumors are going to be flying around you a few decades from now."
"'Did you hear? Naruto Uzumaki stopped an earthquake by punching it!'" Hinata mimicked before breaking down in laughter halfway through her sentence.
"Please, you guys are full of shit." Naruto grumbled. "I'm sure there's rumors flying around about all of you too, how come I'm being singled out?"
"I don't make a habit of fighting giant sand monsters." Kiba countered.
"Or destroying mountains." Sasuke added.
"Or walking in and out of enemy territory." Hinata finished with the killing blow.
Naruto blushed and took another sip of his drink. "Fair enough."
"Speaking of rumors…" Sasuke said, a slight slurring to his words. It seemed like the alcohol was catching up to him faster than the others. "Can I ask you about your mother?"
Hinata and Kiba immediately tensed. Naruto froze for a couple of seconds before gently putting his cup down.
"Sorry," Sasuke quickly excused himself. "I don't know what I was-"
"No, it's fine." Naruto said. "But I don't know much about her, so don't get your hopes up. I guess you want to know why she does… well, what she does?"
The other three nodded.
"I don't know a lot about it, just what the Third told me over the years. The Uzumaki clan wasn't originally from Konoha, we had our own country. Something happened to it, something related to the war, and almost all of us died."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Sasuke said sincerely. Naruto shook his head. "Don't be, I never knew them, remember?"
"But they were still your family." Kiba pointed out sympathetically.
"I suppose…" His gaze got lost for a bit before he continued. "Anyway, they… we, I suppose, got destroyed, and the survivors scattered. Kushina was one of them. She ended up joining Konoha during the war, and obviously made a name for herself. Everything seemed good at that point. A lot of people thought the war would end with her and the Fourth fighting side by side."
"You actually remind me a bit of the fourth." Hinata said, squinting at him. "You know, with the right angle."
"Hair's nothing like him, though." Kiba said. Sasuke nodded.
Naruto shook his head. "Back on track… Everything seemed good. Then I was born, the Kyubi attacked, the Fourth died, and Kushina left, betraying everyone. She carved her path through the country, fought everyone there was to fight, dismantled entire armies, and then vanished across the border. For a while people thought she had joined another village and was plotting to destroy us, but she attacked everyone else too, like an animal. And there we go, now you're caught up."
"...Maybe it has something to do with her clan being destroyed." Sasuke pointed out.
Kiba nodded. "She must have been pretty young at the time, right? Younger than us I'd bet. That's bound to do some fucked up shit to a person, seeing everyone you know die like that?"
"But she wouldn't have joined the village in the first place if that was the case." Hinata argued. "What, she serves for years, becomes a hero, and then decides to go nuts because of what happened to her when she was a kid? That makes no sense."
"I think you guys are thinking about it the wrong way." Naruto said, shaking his head. "You're trying to give her a reason, a motive. That's not how Kushina Uzumaki is. She did what she did because she wanted to. That's the gist of it. Like a tornado, or a typhoon. Looking any deeper into any of it is pointless."
"...I'm sorry for bringing it up." Sasuke said.
"Nah, don't worry about it. You were curious, I get it. It took me a lot of time to come to terms with a lot of this, and truth be told I still haven't completely accepted most of it, but there's no point in me pretending that none of it happened. At some point you've gotta stop running away from how you feel about stuff like this." He took a deep breath. "Anyway, this was supposed to be our time to unwind, wasn't it? Let's change the subject."
"You know," Kiba spoke up, immediately jumping on the chance. "Tsunade's supposed to be the most beautiful woman on earth, how injured does a fella have to get before they let us see her?"
"I bet she's not even all that." Hinata said, pointing at Kiba with her cup. "She's super old, isn't she? And a bookworm at that."
"Hinata, she's one of the legendary Sannin." Naruto pointed out, laughing. "I don't think you can call her a bookworm."
"She's a healer! All healers are bookworms!"
The four of them quickly burned through Kiba's first bottle, and then the second, and then kept going until they emptied out the fourth. Hours passed by in a flash, and before he knew it, Naruto and Hinata were sitting further away from the campfire where Sasuke, Kiba, and Akamaru slept.
"So," Hinata coughed as she continued with her story. Both of them had trouble sitting upright, leaning their bodies into each other while gazing at the empty, faintly illuminated desert. "Yeah, learning the gentle fist was a pain in the ass. They had us stabbing our fingers into these bamboo posts over, and over, and over and over and over again."
"Sheesh, and you were what, six?"
"Yeah, not that it'd do me too much good now." She said, flexing her iron fingers. Naruto glanced at them. It was the first time he really had the opportunity to look at the prosthetics from that close with nothing else on his mind. Sear marks still stood out as the metal met skin, and he could hear the mechanisms that powered them every time she flexed her hands.
"I think they're cool."
"Please," She scoffed, shaking her hand. "Don't try to flatter me, Naruto."
"I'm not, they look sick. It reminds me of those stories I'd read with the old man back in the day."
"Y'know how hard it is to do anything with these things? Cook, eat, dress up?"
"I already cook for you, though."
"Naruto, I'm serious!"
"So am I! Here, look," Before Hinata could react he grabbed her hand, wrapping his fingers around hers, and held it up to her eyes. "We can still hold hands, can't we?"
She stared at him, trying to maintain a stern expression before giving up and laughing again. He joined her, and they soon were hugging each other, using their warmth to protect themselves against the cold.
They sat there for a good while, just feeling each other's bodies and the comfort they brought.
Naruto allowed himself to feel at peace.
He was the first to awaken from their group as the fainlty began to rise in the horizon. Naruto stretched, feeling a slight headache, before something stirred against his arm. He turned to see Hinata, still dropped, just as they had been last night. "Just a bit more…" She muttered in her sleep.
Naruto did his utmost to stand without waking her. He guessed it was about five, five-forty in the morning at the latest. Walking over to their makeshift campfire he saw Kiba and Sasuke were also still down. Akamaru was already awake, but hadn't moved from his owner's side. He silently petted the dog on the head and received a few licks in return before walking over to see how the rest of their army was doing.
People were already up and about, going on with their business. He saw Asuma giving out a few orders from where he stood. It seemed like there would be no urgent attacks anytime soon.
'Mizu and Bando are going to be worried,' He realized, stretching the inactivity out of his limbs. 'But…'
Well, he had at least one hour to spend all by himself, and if anyone needed him they'd know where to find him.
Turning back he passed by Kiba and Sasuke, then Hinata, until he was standing far away enough to avoid waking any of them up with his racket, but still in the area in case his presence was needed.
He closed his eyes, concentrated as best as he could, and did his utmost to summon a single clone.
And just like that, it appeared.
"So, everything going through your mind-" He anxiously started.
"Is the same as yours, yeah." The clone finished before Naruto could. He stared at it for a bit. It was really weird, looking at himself like that. It was different from a mirror with how… real it seemed, for the lack of a better word.
"Asuma said I'll see everything you do, so-"
"I'm thinking the same you're thinking, there's no reason to say it."
"Yeah, but this feels less weird."
"True."
"Anyway, if I see everything you do, and all of your memories come back to me, that means any training you do will come back to me, right?"
"Why stop there?" His clone proposed.
Naruto formed the seal again. In the blink of an eye, another Naruto was standing there with them. Both of them wordlessly stood in front of each other before starting their drills.
He sat down and watched them. "But how am I going to confirm if their training actually works on me? It's not like I'll learn a new move in a couple of minutes or anything, and none of their actual muscle is going to come over…"
Just like that, they stopped their Taijutsu practice and stood side by side, forming hand-seals based on Sasuke's earlier Katon technique and trying to spit out a similar attack.
It immediately failed, just as expected, but Naruto motioned for them to start over again.
Then another idea popped in his head, and he conjured ten more clones. His chakra still felt fine afterward, and he quickly set them to continue with the drills. It took about thirty minutes of their conjoined effort before a single one managed to actually fire off a partially successful fireball.
He then dismissed all of them and made ten more, making sure the new clones had absorbed the same information he had, and set them to work on the Jutsu again. Finally, one of the ten seemed to almost complete the Jutsu in its entirety.
Making sure that his mind still worked after receiving their memories, Naruto tried to still himself and organize their thoughts, feeling out what did and didn't work based on their past attempts. Finally, it was time to put it to the test.
"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"
Just like that, he produced the expected fireball and watched as it hit the sand and burned away for a bit before fading out.
It was nowhere near as powerful as Sasuke's own, and the boy certainly still held several degrees of mastery over him when it came to it, but he still managed to learn a Jutsu from scratch, something that should have taken him several days at least, in less than an hour. And he wasn't even using as many clones as he could make, not even close.
The true power of the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was just beginning to reveal itself to him. And if it worked with Jutsu, it certainly would work with their muscle memory as well…
"Holy shit." He said out loud, looking at his hands. "This is way too good."
'Calm down,' He told himself. 'Remember, you still have a battle to fight, you can't use too much chakra now or else you'll screw yourself later.'
Naruto waited a bit and then formed the seal again.
Twenty clones materialized around him. Naruto made sure to double-check his chakra reserves, and he knew his tank was still full for a fight. He ordered ten of them to pair up and train their Taijutsu skills, five to meditate and practice the fundamentals of chakra control, and the other five to repeat the Jutsu he already knew over and over again until they mastered them.
That was when he came across the first 'flaw' of the Kage Bunshin technique. A clone of the latter group only managed to fire off one of Naruto's signature Jutsu three times before he disappeared against his will.
The most probable cause that came to mind was that each individual only had the chakra reserves allocated in their creation, so the more clones he made, the less high-level techniques they'd be able to do before disappearing. A similar principle also probably applied to their durability.
There was so much he still had to experiment, so much to discover about this new power he had just blindly stumbled upon.
The thought was extremely exciting. Like Naruto had just been handed a key to a gate he had been trying to open his whole life.
With his newfound knowledge in mind, Naruto restructured the entire thing, letting half of them work on the basics of hand-to-hand combat while the other half worked on the basics of ninjutsu. Once he had enough time to deliberate on the mechanics of the Jutsu back home, he'd come up with something more effective.
With that in mind he turned around and went back to camp.
He still had a war to fight.
Naruto did the others a favor and woke them up - including an incredibly embarrassed Hinata, whom he quickly assured and calmed down - while not telling them anything about his new venture. He knew the others would be incredibly worried for his well-being, and rightfully so, but he'd breach the topic with them later.
Thankfully Sasuke hadn't even told them about his usage of the Kage Bunshin yet, which was a miracle considering how hammered all of them had gotten earlier.
He met with Mizu and Bando for the first time since their arrival in the city, letting them and the rest of his deputies know he was safe and had simply spent the night with his friends. He felt a mixture of relief and shame at seeing how worried his men had gotten about him, and made sure to spend most of that morning with them.
They were quickly moved into the frontlines. Their armies were posted around the city, although it only had one gate. Asuma's, Kiba's, and Shikamaru's units were all facing directly at it. Meanwhile, Itachi, Naruto, and Sasuke were to the general's left, while Kurenai and Hinata, together with a few he didn't know, were to their right. He wondered where the civilian girl they had brought along was for a moment before pushing it out of his mind.
Itachi, Asuma, and Kurenai's armies were organized into blocks. Large squares of men standing in line according to the placements of their commanders, with large distances between them. As it was, orders would be conveyed through flags and messengers, not to mention Asuma's classic chakra-enhanced screams. Bando, thankfully, had already memorized what all of them meant and would be conveying that information back to Naruto.
He saw a line of men standing over the city's walls, and with the distance between them, he knew they had seen him as well. For a moment he expected them to begin launching Jutsu at them right there and then - but it was too risky to start the offensive against such a large army when they stood right outside of their range.
Something big was going to happen soon. He felt it in his skin, deep in his bones, across his entire body. An immutable tension in the air, almost electric in nature. It was like the collective chakra of everyone present there had condensed and condensed until it formed an impenetrable mist.
"Bando," He said, not taking his eyes away from the city. His deputy stirred and turned to him. "Yes, sir?"
He could see that the man's hands were shaking out of the corner of his eye.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm ready, sir."
"...Stay safe, you hear me?"
"Of course, sir."
"Don't worry," Mizu said from beside them. "We'll keep him safe, sir."
"Good. That goes for every one of you!" He shouted, turning back to look at his own men. "No matter what happens today, if a single one of you dies, I'll chase you to hell and kill you again, got it?!"
"Yes, SIR!"
'This is bad.' He thought, turning back to the soon-to-be battle. 'This is really, really fucking bad.'
He didn't know why he felt so strongly about that. They clearly outnumbered the enemy, no matter what sort of fortifications they hid behind. There shouldn't be that much of a gap in their forces.
But still…!
A shift happened on the battlefield. Naruto sensed it before he saw it. The commander, the same he had seen in the previous night, walked in front of his troops and stopped in the middle of the walls, right in front of their main gate.
Asuma responded in kind, stepping forward until he stood in front of their entire army. Naruto shifted his weight from one foot to the next. 'Please…' He thought of Kiba, Hinata, Sasuke, and Shikamaru's faces. 'Stay safe.'
"I am the leader of our forces, Shira of Suna!" The man announced, eliciting cheering from his men.
"Asuma Sarutobi of Konoha!" Asuma responded, getting a similar, but much louder response from his own. Naruto was among them as he raised his fist in the air and let out a shout to free the tension from his body.
"To you invaders, we have a simple order!" Shira said, pointing at them - and Asuma in particular. "Leave our lands, now, or be destroyed!"
"I respectfully deny your request!" Asuma responded, a good amount of amusement in his voice. "General, your forces are utterly surrounded and no reinforcements are coming to free you! Surrender now and your people will be spared, resist, and you'll face your destruction!"
Shira gripped the stone walls with such strength that Naruto saw the stone under his fingers crack. "You come into our land, massacre our soldiers, threaten the very foundation of our village, and you demand our surrender?! Do you really find the people of Suna to be so meek, so frail, that we would accept these terms?! That we would not hold to our last BREATH?!"
"No." Asuma calmly responded. "I expected you to know better than to waste away the lives of your men just to delay the inevitable."
Asuma raised a hand into the air. A flag was raised behind his back. Bando conveyed the unspoken order to him. Naruto leaned forward and gathered his chakra. Mizu, Itsuki, Izuno, and everyone else capable of using Jutsu in his camp did the same. Itachi, Sasuke, and all of the other commanders did the same.
At the exact same time Shira's troops went through similar motions. Naruto expected to see Asuma running as fast as he could back to their ranks, but he simply stood there, vulnerable and immovable.
All of the tension he had felt up to that moment, all of the gathered chakra, all of the generational hatred fueled over years and years of constant massacres inflicted upon both sides of that particular conflict, all of it exploded outward all at once. Naruto, as prepared as he thought he was, as steeled as his conviction had seemed, couldn't help but step back and watch the scene unfold.
Columns of fire rose tremendously in the air before descending upon the city walls, courtesy of Sasuke and Itachi's camps. From the right wing, where Hinata was stationed, Naruto saw torrents of water start to flow in the air at their enemies before taking all sorts of different paths and trajectories, clashing against specific soldiers that stood on top of its walls.
And from the very center he saw blades of wind cut through flesh and stone with equal measure, as well as "spikes" that traversed immense distances underground before shooting up and impaling defenseless men, together with all sorts of different techniques manufactured with the sole intention of massacring their fellow men.
They retaliated, of course. Naruto's camp ended up being immensely fortunate, stationed at an odd-enough angle so that most attacks missed them, but others weren't so lucky. Of special note were the infantrymen that composed the bulk of their forces, not assigned to any particular commander, who were incredibly easy targets for those in the high ground.
How long did it take for the dust to settle? Naruto didn't know. It was like he had phased out during the majority of the "battle." One second the barrage was still going on, and in the next most of them had stopped, watching the fruits of their labor.
A good part of the once-glorious walls had been destroyed. More accurately, the portion that sat directly above the front gates had collapsed, taking the drawbridge with it and leaving the city completely vulnerable for their attack. Naruto, from his higher position, could see that several soldiers had still survived, making a formidable force under different circumstances.
As it was, though, their battered and now vulnerable army stood no chance.
But his uneasiness still hadn't gone away. Naruto realized why half a second later, as he suddenly received an influx of memories. He fell to his knees, grasping his hand with both hands, and both Mizu and Bando went to support him. "A messenger!" He told them, desperately trying to come to terms with what he had just seen. "Send word to Asuma right NOW!"
"Sir, what do you need-" Bando began to say before the words died in his mouth. Naruto turned to see what the man was staring at and cursed.
It was already too late.
Directly behind their army, in a similar level, was an immense army of Suna soldiers, with their own banners and flags, effectively surrounding them when combined with the remaining city forces.
Naruto surmised they were at the very least equal in number, if not outnumbered.
Asuma clenched his fists. 'So your gambit paid off, did it?' He thought, sending a cursory glance at the city. There was no doubt in his mind that their general was still alive, but he didn't have time to worry about that. One wrong move on their part, one wrong move on his part, and their campaign would end then and there.
"Urgent message!" He told the messengers surrounding him. "Tell Itachi and Kurenai to circle around and protect our flanks, and let them take as many infantrymen as they need, now! Kiba and Shikamaru are with me."
As desperate as their situation was, there was a clear silver lining. If Suna managed to wipe them out then that's that. But if they managed to win against the army and take the city at the same time, it'd significantly set their efforts back, opening an entirely new array of possibilities to the invaders.
In that sense, that might as well have been the most important battle in the entire campaign.
"I hope you kids are ready…"
Naruto was already moving before Itachi even gave the order. Thankfully their enemies didn't try to interrupt them outright. Was that a move born out of caution or overconfidence?
He could see that Mizu, Bando, and the rest of his men were clearly shaken by the sight. He couldn't blame them, and as much as he wished there was something he could do to alleviate their worries, everything that passed through his head at that moment seemed hollow.
Sasuke clearly came into view as they reorganized their troops, shortly followed by his older brother. They were both to his left now, together with another force appearing in the distance. Naruto recognized their banner as Kurenai's, which meant Hinata was also going to be fighting in the same front.
'So we hold them off while the others take the city?' He thought. 'No, that wouldn't work, not after the damage we did to them. We'll have to defeat them right here and now, and with less men to boot.'
"Can't a single fucking battle in this war go as planned?" He grumbled, steadying his hands. Then one of Asuma's messengers reached his camp.
"Uzumaki-sama, the general ordered for you to take command of as many infantrymen as you need to carry out the battle on this front." He told him.
"Wait a second, don't they have their own commanders?" Naruto asked, utterly disoriented. "And I don't have the rank to-"
"Sir, for the purposes of this battle, you and every other commander in our army have been given the honorary rank of General." The messenger said, saluted, and ran off to carry the rest of his duties. Naruto stared at his back for a few moments, trying to decipher what he had just heard.
Then the masses of infantry stepped forward, mingling with his army and more than doubling their forces. How many men were under his direct command by then? A thousand, two? And they all eagerly awaited his orders.
"Okay, fuck," He wiped more sweat off of his brow. The enemy hadn't moved yet. The most obvious factor in the battle would be how their Jutsu specialists would still be completely refreshed, while those on Konoha's side had just used everything they had to destroy the city's defenses. "How are we going to swing this…?"
"Orders from General Itachi!" Another man said, waltzing into their camp. Naruto's head whipped around so fast he was afraid of cracking his own neck. "Commander Uzumaki, you and your men are to…"
He was forced into silence after hearing their new orders. "...Are you serious?"
Then he grinned. All of the sudden, things didn't seem that hopeless anymore.
"That dumbass Shira…" The General of Suna's Expeditionary Force said, staring at their enemies in the distance. "Couldn't even protect his city for one day until we got here? Pathetic! You know I'm not one to question orders, but that's exactly why I told the Kazekage that man should have never been made a general."
"You're right, General Hoki." His right-hand man said, kneeling by his side. It had taken them a long while to travel all the way to Altia, and they had done it all not because of any intel the higher-ups had acquired, or even some sort of intimate knowledge about Konoha's strategies.
It was all based on that man's intuition.
"And look at those walls! Those beautiful, beautiful walls. Do you know how many men died to make those, Totsubaki? I'll have him hanged after this. In fact, I want you to push that to our top priority as soon as this is over."
"Of course, General Hoki."
"And stop kneeling! You!" Hoki turned around, pointing at one of their commanders. "Take five hundred men and rush their left wing, focus on the Yuhi banner. I know that woman, and they won't be able to fight you off for long enough until that Uchiha bastard comes to their rescue, then their center will have opened up enough for the killing blow."
"Sir," Tsubaki said, raising his head to watch their enemy. "Have you ever seen a banner styled after a whirlpool?"
"Eh?" Hoki didn't turn around to face his subordinate. "No. Why do you ask?"
"It seems like they're charging straight at us, sir."
"WHAT?!" He turned around, and sure enough, a large number of men were running at full-speed, straight for their center. "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT SOONER TSUBAKI, YOU MORON?!"
"You didn't ask me, sir."
"I SHOULD HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR THIS!" Hoki roared, wrapping his hand around the smaller man's head.
"But then you'd have less men to deal with them, sir." Tsubaki responded, voice unwavering.
"Sir?" The commander he had been addressing earlier timidly asked. "What are we to do-"
"DO YOU EVEN NEED TO ASK?" Hoki whirled back around to him. "USE ANY JUTSU WE HAVE ON THEM, NOW!"
"YES, SIR!"
Just as he ordered, their army quickly restructured, entire ranks of long-ranged specialists standing in line as they prepared their attacks. Now, the suicidal charge was pretty fast, but not fast enough to outrun a couple of hand-seals.
"So that's the Uzumaki brat I've been hearing so much about?" Hoki said to himself, crossing his arms. "And here I was expecting something from the boy who took out Gaara. When will those morons at Konoha learn their lesson? Just because someone's strong in a one-on-one fight doesn't mean they'll make for good commanders."
"You're absolutely correct, General Hoki. I believe our men are waiting for your orders before firing."
Hoki pointed straight at the foolish commander and shouted with all of his might. "FIIREEEE!"
As it was expected out of such decorated soldiers, they did so as soon as the order came out of his mouth. They were quick, carefully organized, and perfectly aimed bursts of Futon Jutsu that quickly kicked up an immense amount of sand and undeniably killed all of their enemies in one fell swoop.
"How sad! Seeing the desperation war brings to the young will always bring a tear to my eye," Hoki said, complimenting his speech by covering his eyes with the palm of his hand for about two seconds before quickly returning to his previous mood. "Tell the troops that was an excellent attack! Now, as for the previously agreed strategy, I want you to target the woman first-"
"Sir…?"
"What is it, Tsubaki?"
"They didn't leave any bodies."
"What? Don't be ridiculous, of course they-"
...Why were there no bodies?
The veins in his arms bulged as Hoki's hands were balled into fists. "WHAT THE HELL?! WHERE IS THAT BASTARD-"
Then Hoki looked down and saw his shadow was marginally larger than it had been just a few seconds before. In fact, so was his entire camp's. He looked up, and couldn't help but smile. "Those crazy bastards…"
"MEN IN THE SKKKKKKKYYYYYYYY!" One of his aides shouted, directing the entire army's attention.
There, falling in mid-air, was the army that had seemingly been charging them just a few moments ago. And heading it was a young man with bright-red hair and green eyes. But they weren't falling, their feet were gliding along nothing, as if surfing down a hill.
"THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" HOKI ROARED. "THE GENIUS OF THAT! THE DARING SPIRIT! TSUBAKI, BRING ME MY WEAPONS AND ARMOR! THE REST OF YOU, WELCOME THEM WELL!
Naruto let himself enjoy the feeling of wind rushing past his body for the brief few seconds before the battle properly began. The trick he had pulled on the enemy army was extremely simple in nature, which is probably why they had fallen for it. He simply inflated their frontline with shadow clones and then cast a massive Kawarimi, replacing all of their bodies with the air slightly above their army, before manipulating the wind below their bodies to make for a smooth fall.
Chakra, much like any other part of the human body, could be extensively trained. The more someone used their reserves, the larger they'd get.
And it just so happened that Naruto had been fighting to near exhaustion throughout every step of the war up to that point, already had an enormous amount of energy due to his descendancy, and possessed the neverending stamina only a Jinchuuriki could claim.
"Futon:" He said, aiming at the very center of their army. "Hirogari Tei Ihen!"
Contrary to most Futon techniques, the one Naruto had just used didn't have any cutting power behind it. But what it lacked on that front was compensated with sheer destructive power, especially when coming from an upward angle.
It crushed enough men underneath their feet to make for a relatively clear landing zone for the first units that touched the ground, and Naruto did his best to push the disoriented soldiers back, cutting a path for his army to follow.
It was a merciless strike. They fell right in their middle, and Naruto's men quickly went to work. Those that already had their chakra depleted were left behind at their camp, but he could still count with the support of his melee troops.
As for himself, well, Naruto put the lessons he learned against Bokuden to practice. He didn't pull a single punch, always using his full power.
The surprise element combined with the completely atypical method of approach allowed them some mileage, and they quickly formed a valley in between the army's lines, attacking wildly in every direction around them, forming a large "sphere" of empty space that was appropriated as a foothold.
Naruto felt something coming from behind him and smoothly jumped back, narrowly avoiding a current of air shaped after a sword that had attempted to decapitate him.
His newest opponent was a short man that stood at about half of his height, with dark skin and slightly slanted eyes. His right hand was half-open, and if he concentrated his eyes he could see the Jutsu appearing out of his palm.
"You bastard!" One of Naruto's men shouted and was about to rush him before the commander held him back with one hand.
"He's too dangerous for you, go on and help the others, make sure no one gets close to us." He never took his eyes off of the newcomer. "That was a pretty sneaky move."
"You'll forgive me. My name's Tsubaki." He spun his hand, and the length of his 'sword' seemed to shift in front of his eyes, growing larger and smaller by the second, never staying the same. "My master is a great man, but his size is often too curbersome for his own good. I was tasked with holding you back until he arrived, but I'm afraid I can't hold back against you."
"Same here." Naruto said, lowering his body and pressing his hands together, as if going for a tackle. "But I think your leader will have his hands too full to come bail you out right now."
"Huh-?" Tsubaki began to ask before hearing the sound of distant screaming coming from their own army.
Naruto charged him before he could turn to look at its source.
Sasuke wasn't even allowed to be stunned at Naruto's maneuver for long before the order came to move. And while the redhead was giving them hell, and all of their soldiers were trying to deal with his disruptive tactics, Sasuke's army was steadily advancing upon their opposite wing, not drawing too much attention to themselves until it was already far too late.
He had already used a lot of chakra when attacking the city with the others, so his typical strategy of starting a fight with shock and awe tactics was out of the window. Still, by the time their opponents finished their preparations to deal with him, he had recovered enough to use one 'technique' in particular.
The effect was, as always, instantaneous. The world itself slowed down around him for the first couple of seconds, and everything became infinitely more nitid. He could even see the pangs of sweat falling on some random soldier's armor, and the degree of intensity on their grip.
That which made the Uchiha clan the Uchiha clan. One of the most feared and revered techniques in the world.
His Sharingan came to life, and he knew what he had to do. He raised a hand behind him and formed a simple sign, one which the men who accompanied him had already grown more than familiar with.
All of them had been following behind him in a wave-like pattern, but after his signal they quickly scattered and simultaneously attacked different points of their army. Their objective there wasn't to break through their defenses outright as Naruto had done, but to find the weakest link of their chain, so to speak.
And find it they did.
Sasuke immediately ran up to the most unprepared section of their formation after observing his men for a few seconds, and his considerably honed Taijutsu skills combined with his vision resulted in him smoothly breaking through it. The infantrymen who were waiting for that precise moment followed in droves, and they had soon formed a second "hole" in their otherwise uniform army.
Still, he knew that it was way too early to call that a victory in any way, shape, or form. All it would take for Suna to turn the tides was granting them enough time to regroup and fill up the holes in their defenses, and if that happened they'd undoubtedly be massacred.
Thankfully, Sasuke and Naruto weren't the only ones fighting that battle.
Hinata and her troops were the closest to the area where Sasuke had attacked, and they moved as soon as the smaller Suna unit tried to encircle their allies. While she didn't have many far reaching attacks to contribute when sieging the city, her modified gentle fist combined with the Byakugan made for more than a considerable tool when it came to fighting in such a close range.
The resistance they met was pitiable at best, and while Sasuke held their possible reinforcements from the front, Hinata and the others wiped them out from their back. Once they had thoroughly saved their asses, the Hyuga detachment turned around, circled around Suna's now-exposed flank, and hammered them from another angle, further exacerbating their losses.
"Commander, if you told me we'd be saving some Uchiha brat a few days ago, I'd have called you crazy!" One of her deputies, a member of the branch family, shouted at her back while they went to work.
Hinata allowed herself to laugh, spinning in place to deflect enemy weapons while succinctly countering them, blocking lethal chakra points before aiming for whoever came after them. "They're our allies-" She jumped over a low sweep and countered with a spinning kick before continuing to speak. "What can you do?"
"We're not letting them forget it!"
"You got that right!"
Naruto's fight against Tsubaki quickly entered a flow of 'push and pull.' He jumped in to try and tackle him and restrict his mobility, and Tsubaki extended his sword to keep him away. Neither man gained any significant ground on the other, which ended up resulting in an overall stalling when it came to Naruto's army. He had to give it to his enemy, he was good.
But he was pretty good too.
Humans did a horrible job at being truly random. Everyone had their own patterns, even if they tried to switch them up constantly. And as he gradually learned Tsubaki's, his attacks became far less threatening.
He did a sweep, then a thrust, then made his sword smaller, then larger, then another thrust, and finally…
A sweep! Naruto jumped over it, whirling his body in mid-air for an axe-kick that'd crack his opponent's skull if it made contact.
His extremely sharpened instincts allowed Naruto to redirect his jump as soon as he felt a slight pressure against his left shoulder, alleviating a lot of the damage he'd have taken otherwise.
The bastard had actually managed to lure him into a trap! Tsubaki's last attack had been a feint, and he'd actually have managed to skewer Naruto's body if he hadn't been so cautious.
He grasped the light wound, trying to staunch the bleeding, but Tsubaki refused to give him any time to recover his footing, immediately jumping in to follow his initial strike. Naruto dropped his body to the ground, avoiding an attempt to decapitate him while simultaneously sweeping at both of Tsubaki's legs.
As expected of such a skilled opponent, he jumped up to avoid Naruto's feet, just as the redhead had hoped.
Rather than jumping back up to his previous posture, he supported his body with his hands, flexing his lower body into a 'headstand' before launching himself at the still airborne Tsubaki with a drop-kick.
Tsubaki avoided the move by pointing his sword at the ground and extending it, basically jumping again while still in mid-air. The maneuver resulted in both of their bodies becoming parallel with each other, which was undoubtedly advantageous on Tsubaki's part. "Wrong move." He said, pulling his right hand back for a final thrust aimed at Naruto's heart. From that distance, in that position, there was nothing he could do to avoid it.
Squelch
Tsubaki's eyes widened.
For the first time since he had applied it, Naruto undid the Henge on his disfigured right hand as he shot the lengthened fingers through Tsubaki's chest. There was no resistance to be found, especially after he coated his beast-like nails with his Futon chakra. It was impossible to tell, but if the attack had missed the lieutenant's heart, it had certainly pierced through his lungs.
Either way, it was an assured kill.
"Ge...neral..."
Gravity finally carried both of them to the ground, and Tsubaki's body fell on top of his own.
'You were really strong, one wrong move and that'd have been me' Naruto thought, grabbing the dead man's head with his left hand before launching him off of him. 'But I already had you in check.'
"Forward!" He shouted at the troops who were too busy fighting to notice he had finally gained the upper-hand. "The enemy commander has fallen! Forward!"
That was just the boost they needed. They managed to pull through with Naruto's assistance, cutting further and further toward the center of their army. No matter how many men their enemy had, if they couldn't position themselves properly to fight them off, the smaller force would still have the advantage.
'War is won by whoever has the better footing,' He remembered old Hiruzen saying once when he was a child. One of the few pieces of direct advice he had received from him. 'That goes to all things in life, Naruto, not just battles. Always make sure you're in the position to attack, never let your opponents do as they wish.'
"I'll need to buy you a new pipe when I get back home, old man…"
Then he heard it in the distance.
"TTTTTTTTTSSSSSSSSSSSSUUUUUUBAAAAKKKIIIII!"
A whole line of soldiers fighting in front of Naruto were thrown back, most bodies having been split in half together with a strong burst of wind that forced him to cover his eyes. Immediately after the yell, most of the fighting around them dwindled. Naruto heard massive footsteps coming his way, and immediately cleared the sand from his eyes.
A giant had just appeared in front of his eyes. He must have been at least seven feet tall, with a body filled with pumping muscles that were decorated with matching scars. He held two curved swords, one in each hand, which were covered in the blood of Naruto's men - or at least men put under his command.
And, most shocking of all, streams of constant tears were falling from his bloodshot eyes and onto the blood-soaked sand, and he seemed to barely contain his incessant sobbing. Said sobbing only became worse once he saw Tsubaki's corpse on the ground, a bit behind Naruto and his men.
"HOW DARE YOU KILL TSUBAKI, YOU-" In the blink of an eye the giant had appeared in front of Naruto's eyes, moving orders of magnitude faster than anyone his size had any right to. He put both swords together and swung them at his chest. Naruto thought quickly and formed a wordless "shield" of wind to protect the center of his body, and it just barely saved his life, impulsing his body backward by more than ten feet, crashing on the back of his soldiers. "BASTARD!"
'Holy shit…!' Naruto thought while flying through the air. 'Did he just break my arms?!'
The crying giant threw his head back and roared. "KILL THEM!" He ordered his troops, eliciting a loud cry in response. "BUT LEAVE THAT ONE TO ME!" He pointed both swords at the still-fallen Naruto. "HE'S MINE!"
"Give me a break…" Naruto groaned as he stood, flexing both arms to make sure they still worked. 'How the hell am I supposed to kill this guy?!'
But wait a second…
Wouldn't that be the first general he ever fought against?
He quickly repeated the trick that had just saved his life, spreading an equal layer of chakra around his body and transforming it into wind.
It wouldn't stop a full-powered swing from the man's weapons, but any advantage he managed to grant himself counted for a lot.
Naruto angled his body to hide his right hand from the general's sight. That was another trick he still had against him. Reinforcing those fingers with his chakra should give him more than enough power to pierce through his muscles, in theory at least.
His eyes suddenly captured a burst of movement, and Naruto had to lean his upper-body all the way back to avoid another slash coming from the general. Still, he didn't manage to dodge it all the way, and his chest was rapidly burning as blood poured out of his open wound.
'How the hell is he so fas-'
That thought was interrupted as Hoki reversed his grip on the weapons and slammed one of their pommels on Naruto's stomach, causing his body to curl around the flat end of the weapon.
Miraculously, his body still had enough autonomy to move, and Naruto tried to grab at Hoki's wrist with both hands to immobilize the larger man's motions. It didn't work, and the general pried him off with nothing but his brute strength, ramming one of his shoulders onto Naruto's chest to drop him on the ground.
Naruto grabbed a handful of sand as soon as he fell and threw it straight at Hoki's eyes before adjusting his footing and moving in to tackle him, wrapping both arms around his left knee.
If he could take him to the ground the difference in weight between them would be negligible.
Except he didn't even budge, no matter how hard Naruto pulled him back. It was like trying to push off tree roots with nothing but his bare hands.
He loosened his grip and rotated around Hoki's back just in time to avoid a chop from above that would have split his body in half.
While he was sliding into position, his hands rushed to form a bunch of seals. A jutsu from Hoki's blind spot seemed like his best hope.
But Hoki whirled around with a kick that forced Naruto to disengage his hands, lest he have them broken by his opponent. He side-stepped the blow and tried to pierce through the general's now exposed leg with his right hand.
Just as it had happened when Naruto avoided Tsubaki's thrust, his fingers barely managed to make contact with Hoki's skin before he brought his shin down and pinned the boy's arm to the ground.
Naruto allowed himself to be 'carried' by the move in order to alleviate the damage it'd cause, bringing his right foot into the air as soon as his back hit the ground in a scythe-like kick aimed at the general's chest. Hoki simply took the kick with his well-developed abdominal muscles and retaliated by grabbing Naruto's shin, lifting him into the air, and slamming him into the sand.
Naruto rolled on the ground to break his fall and jumped back to avoid Hoki's follow-up. His back met an enemy soldier's, and he immediately moved, grabbing the clueless man by the back of his neck and throwing it at his own general. Hoki was already bringing his sword down, and Naruto's human-shield worked well at deflecting the damage.
"DO YOU HAVE NO SCRUPLES, MONGREL?!" Hoki roared after seeing what he had been forced to do to his own men. Unfortunately, Naruto was in no mood for sympathy while fighting for his life.
He didn't need years of experience to realize what was happening. The older man outmatched him in every single way. In other words, he had just bitten off a lot more than he could chew.
"COMMANDER!" Some members of Naruto's army shouted as they jumped in to assist him, swinging at Hoki's back while he was turned to the boy. Naruto's eyes widened and he almost shot to his feet. "STAY AWAY YOU-!"
"FOOLS!" Hoki roared, spinning around while swinging both of his massive weapons, cleaving the men before they could get even close to harming him.
Naruto felt his chest buckle. Their lives had been ripped away, just like that. Just for trying to protect him. He grit his teeth while jumping to his feet and rushing at the general, all previous caution forgotten in his fit of rage.
"BASTARD!"
Neither combatant noticed the sudden shift in the battlefield around them in the heat of the moment. Naruto's side suddenly gained more and more momentum, pushing the Suna combatants away from them.
Hoki raised both arms high in the air, swords shining in the sun. "BEGONE FROM THIS WORLD!" The older man said, hammering them down on him.
Naruto would wait until the very last second before using his footwork to dodge out of the sword's path. That was his best option, the only one that'd allow him to win - attack the much more experienced general from his blindspot. But he also knew that no amount of regeneration granted by the Kyubi would bring him back after being split into four pieces by those weapons.
CLANG!
Naruto once again was forced to shield his eyes as the impulse of the clash sent him tumbling back.
By the time his vision had cleared, he saw another figure standing between him and the enemy general, a single Kunai stopping both of his swords at once. That was the exact moment he noticed that there were a lot more Konoha soldiers around them by that point than just a few moments before. And that man was leading them all.
"That was far too reckless," Itachi said, sparing him a glance. "Naruto-kun."
"Itachi Uchiha?!" Hoki's grip on his weapons seemed to tighten as veins bulged along his arms. He pushed his weapons back, disengaging from Itachi's lock, and then swung at him from two wildly different angles, one with each hand. "NOT EVEN YOU WILL STOP ME FROM TAKING HIS HEAD, BRAT!"
A/N: Sorry for the delay between this and Chapter 12. Writing a big-scale battle like this took a little bit more effort than the mostly "solo" fights leading up to it.
In other news, the story has officially suprassed 100 followers and favorites. By the time I'm writing this we're sitting at 121 followers and 103 favorites. I can't say much besides thank you (very much) for your support. Chapter 12 had a lot of very favorable reviews, and I'm really glad you're all enjoying the story so far. I haven't done this so far, but special thanks to Ggelo, Deafhaven8, LeviDragon, Roxas, Ggelo, Darling in the Fox, Veer1001, and Wolfy for the kind words. I hope Chapter 13 lived up to your expectations.
As usual, more updates soon, and I'll see you all next time!
JUTSU TRANSLATION LIST:
Kawarimi no Jutsu!(Body Replacement Technique!)
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!(Shadow Clone Technique!)
Futon: Hirogari Tei Ihen! (Wind Release: Spreading Air Disaster!)
Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!(Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!)