So… 2020 was a bad year and 2021 has been interesting to live in. I hope all of you are keeping safe and healthy.
I don't own Naruto
Naruto's bullet riddled corpse fell backwards to the ground after several seconds of continuous gunfire, the blonde's eyes staring up unseeingly towards the sky. After a few moments of his corpse lying on the ground, the bushes around the body rustled as a squad of namahages made their way towards Naruto's corpse. They were all green masked oni clad in forest camouflage battle armor and each one clutched a submachine gun with attached bayonet.
One namahage, who had epaulettes on his shoulder, made his way to the corpse and prodded it with his bayonet before grinning. "Radio the boss and tell him we got the fox brat!"
Naruto's eyes snapped open, causing all the namahages to let out screams of surprise. "I wouldn't count on that," the corpse said before vanishing in a puff of smoke to reveal a wooden dummy covered in explosive tags that promptly detonated and killed all the namahages in the clearing.
The real Naruto popped out of the ground a few minutes after his trap had detonated and grinned before looting the remains of the kill squad. "Alright, time to show them why taking on a Konoha ninja in a forest is as dumb as starting a land war in Asia or getting into a prank war with a kitsune… Huh… did they make three classical blunders at once?" Naruto muttered as he hefted a handful of grenades with a slightly psychotic grin on his face before leaping into the trees to parallel a nearby path leading towards the biggest source of yōki he could smell higher up the mountain side the forest covered.
(0o0o0)
Near the upper edge of the forest, an Oni was roasting a human leg over a fire and looked up as he heard gunfire followed by an explosion. When the radio beside him failed to make any noise, he frowned. "I guess the brat survived the fall. That's impressive," he grunted, feeling bloodlust seeping from the katana resting in a scabbard on his back.
(0o0o0)
"This place is pretty close to the Forest of Death for atmosphere, but my danger sense is acting up," Naruto muttered as he hopped through the trees before dropping to the ground and slamming his feet into the face of a green masked namahage, sending it flying into a red masked namahage that was hefting a zanbato.
The red namahage swung the massive blade, slashing the green namahage in half, but wasn't ready for Naruto to be right behind the body and skewering the red namahage's head with Nenshōsaiga. Naruto hit the ground and rolled, avoiding two more red namahages attempting to bisect him before springing to his feet with a helicopter kick to send the namahages flying into trees. A squad of green namahages armed with assault rifles charged through the forest, only to run right into the live grenades Naruto tossed their way.
Hearing a flapping in the wind, Naruto rolled under cover just as a high-power bullet hit the ground where he had been. The sniper, a blue namahage using a giant kite to ride the wind, only had a second to scowl before a wind chakra enhanced kunai slashed through the kite and sent him falling to the ground with a screech of surprise.
(0o0o0)
The large oni bit into his roasted human leg and grunted as he heard the radio chatter from his minions trying to take down Naruto. "Damn idiots aren't even giving me enough time to finish my meal," he growled.
(0o0o0)
Naruto kicked a red namahage in the crotch, relieved it of its zanbato, and flung the massive sword just like Zabuza had done when he ambushed team Seven in Wave to mow down three green namahages. Naruto's eyes widened as the ground under him suddenly erupted as a massive yellow masked namahage leapt out, a pair of massive maces in its gorilla like hands as it tried to crush him. The fox boy leapt back, chakra swirling in one palm before he lunged forward to slam the Rasengan into the namahage's giant body, sending the gorilla like yōkai flying back and through several trees.
Naruto had to drop to the ground to dodge a swing of a Zanbato, kicking the massive blade as it passed over him and sending it and the red namahage holding it up into the air, where a very surprised blue namahage let out a screech as its pair of submachine guns were knocked from its hands and its kite shredded. The two namahages plummeted towards the ground only to be slashed in half by Naruto before he found his way through the forest barred by a small river.
A smirk appeared on Naruto's face as he formed the boar and tiger hand seals as he touched the river water and let his chakra flow along its entire length through the forest to expand the reach of his next jutsu. "Doton: Yomi Numa!" The swamp surged out from the river and spread through the forest, swallowing up all the namahages on the ground, even the Yellow Namahages that could move through earth with ease, leaving only the blue namahages flying in the air still a threat as the swamp hardened back to solid ground, killing the namahages it had caught.
The blue masked namahage were just releasing sighs of relief when Naruto leapt into the air above the trees forming hand seals. "Fūton: Shinkūha (Wind Style: Vacuum Wave)!" Naruto declared before exhaling a massive wind blade that spun with him, slashing through the entire airspace above the Sea of Trees. None of the Blue namahages in the air had a chance and fell to the ground slashed to pieces.
(0o0o0)
"This has gone on long enough," growled the Oni as he witnessed the last of his forces get taken out. "Go get the brat and bring him to me!" he roared at five black masked namahages standing by, all five of which snapped a salute off before darting into the trees. Your six follow and soften him up for me if you can't kill him, he added to six other oni who all grunted before starting down the mountain.
(0o0o0)
The first hint Naruto had he wasn't alone any more as he made his way through the forest was an energy beam almost hitting his leg. Rolling behind a tree to provide cover, Naruto grabbed a small mirror from his supply pouch and used it to peek around the tree, seeing five black masked namahage, each of which had four drones hovering around them before a second energy blast hit the mirror. Naruto grimaced.
The five black masked namahage all chuckled as their drones started advancing on Naruto's position, with ten drones on either side of the tree to target Naruto whichever way he dodged.
When a blurry form shot out from behind the tree on either side, all twenty drones reacted at once and engaged the target on their side, causing two wooden dummies to tumble to the ground with the drones tracking them.
The five namahage had only a second to register the ruse before the real Naruto popped out from behind the tree hurling shuriken and kunai in either direction with a cry of "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" The drones were shredded by sheer force of numbers, all twenty crashing to the ground. "Awww, are your toys all broken?" Naruto taunted the five namahage.
The five namahage howled at the mockery and leapt towards Naruto, intent on beating him to death. Naruto smirked as they all leapt into the air intent on attacking him at once, setting in a Battōjutsu stance. "Futon: Shinkūken (Wind Style: Vacuum Sword)!" Naruto growled as he unsheathed his blade, releasing a wave of wind chakra that sheared through the five Namahage at their waistlines. "I'm honestly feeling insulted, these things are using modern gear and I'm still barely breaking a sweat! I guess they've gotten lazy preying on normal humans and yokai, not someone training from a young age like we do in the Elemental Nations."
Naruto landed on the ground and snorted as he sheathed Nenshōsaiga and resuming his trek through the forest. The next obstacle barring his way was an energy barrier similar to the one that had trapped him in the forest, a towering wall of yōki that would burn him to ashes if he tried to cross through. The only way through the barrier was a small structure right in front of Naruto, a ruined arch with green flames floating around it and green crystals clustered around the base of the gate.
"Great, Mom always warned me to never go through these if I ran into one outside the village," muttered Naruto before squaring his shoulders and moving through the gate, which transported him to a rocky valley that looked straight out a picture book on the Land of Earth Iruka had used to teach about the other Elemental Nations.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Naruto groaned just before the ground shook and knocked him off his feet and down the mountainside in an uncontrolled tumble. "Ow… note to self, beware of earthquakes…" Naruto groaned as he slowly climbed to his feet only to be knocked sprawling by a sudden avalanche. "It's like fighting a Doton user squad!" Naruto yelled as rocks of various size and dirt slammed into him, battering his body and carrying him down the rest of the way to the valley floor. Laying battered on the ground Naruto let out a whimper. "So that's what it feels like to be in a rock tumbler."
Naruto slowly got to his feet, only to feel a slight vibration in the ground beneath him. Leaping as high as he could with chakra, Naruto grimaced as he saw a dozen earth spikes pass through where he had been a moment ago. "All right, let's see how you like it when someone else copies you!" Naruto growled as he plummeted towards the ground with a whisper of "Doton: Iwagakure (Earth Release: Hiding in Rock) no Jutsu!" as he plunged into the ground like it was water.
There was a large ripple in the earth as a massive brown skinned oni climbed out of the ground and moved over to where Naruto had dived into the ground. "Hmmmm, quite unexpected," the oni growled as it hefted a massive battle hammer before slamming the hammer down on the ground, a shockwave racing out from the center of impact and causing the ground all around to shatter.
A sudden buzz was the oni's only warning as Naruto erupted from the ground behind him, lightning coating Nenshōsaiga's blade as the blonde delivered a slash to the back of the Oni's upper legs to sever his legs, causing the oni to bellow in pain and start to topple down. Naruto's feeling of relief ended as the oni's arm touched the ground and he instantly regrew his legs.
"Oh crap, you draw strength from the Earth itself!" Naruto yelled as he leapt away.
"That's right runt, I am Doki, the Oni of Earth! And you'll have to kill me without letting me touch the ground!" roared the oni as he regained his feet, kicking his severed legs away before trying to crush the fox boy with his warhammer. Naruto leapt to avoid the hammer, actually using it as a platform to boost the height of his jump.
"You'd be helpless against some of the people I know, you've got pretty good speed for being so big, but I think you're making the same mistake everyone makes, underestimating me!" Naruto taunted before vanishing in a Hiraishin. He reappeared on the top of Doki's hammer already flipping through hand seals. "Katon: Ryūka (Fire Style: Dragon Fire) no Jutsu!" A stream of fire in the shape of a dragon shot from Naruto's mouth to hit Doki's face, making the earth oni bellow in pain as his eyes were repeatedly melted and healed in rapid succession.
The real Naruto appeared in a body flicker as his clone maintained the fire jutsu. "Rapid regeneration can suck when it's your nerves being burned and regenerated instantly!" Naruto taunted as a Rasengan swirled into each of his palms. Each Rasengan slammed into a different shoulder, literally disarming Doki as his arms fell to the ground as bunches of rock. New ones started growing out almost instantly, causing Naruto's eyes to narrow.
"You brat!" roared the Oni as the stone melting flames finally died off, only to find Naruto on the ground in a Iaijutsu stance. The clone that had been maintaining the fire technique poofed into smoke just as Naruto unleashed his strike, slicing Doki from right hip to left shoulder before leaping back and watching the oni's upper body hit the ground before regenerating, the leftover lower half crumbling away to a pile of rock.
"Upper body confirmed!" Naruto said before darting forward and once against slashing Doki, this time sending his head rolling from the reforming body, which reverted to a huge pile of stone as the head started growing a new body. "Got you, your head is the important part that determines when you regenerate!"
Doki snorted as he finished regenerating and climbed to his feet and growled, "I'm impressed you managed to figure that out, brat. Most people don't survive long enough to try and test my regeneration!" Doki raised his fists before slamming them into the ground, causing the valley to shake as it was hit by a 5.0 earthquake. Naruto bounced between the spires of rock that suddenly popped out of the ground, acting like a pinball until the shaking died down, allowing Naruto to deliver another decapitation strike and sending Doki's head up into the air.
"Let's change the terrain!" Naruto said as he formed the snake hand sign. "Suiton: Bakusui Shōha (Water Style: Exploding Water Colliding Wave) no jutsu!" With Suiton techniques being some of the hardest for Naruto to master, Jiraiya had decided to teach Naruto techniques that would take advantage of Naruto's huge chakra reserves. Up in the air, Doki's eyes widened as he saw Naruto spew out enough water to fill the valley they were fighting in. Naruto smirked as he caught the plummeting head with Senjutsu strength and held Doki above the water. "Alas, poor Doki, no earth for you to touch!" said Naruto with a smirk.
"I don't know how you're managing to hold me up brat, but you won't manage to keep it up for long!" Doki snarled.
"Yep, so combo technique: Mizu Bunshin (Water Clone) and Suirō (Water Prison) no jutsu!" Naruto said cheerfully as a clone formed from the chakra rich water before forming a water prison around Doki's head. "I wonder how long it will take you to drown?" Naruto asked as Doki silently screamed in the water sphere as it filled with water. Naruto stared into the earth oni's face as the bubbles coming from his mouth gradually grew smaller and smaller before ceasing entirely. Just to be sure, Naruto tossed a flash bang tag into the water prison and when its explosion got no reaction, he also sent some lightning chakra current through the prison, not wanting to give the Earth Oni a chance to play dead. Pulling out a sealing scroll, Naruto nodded to the water clone, which dispersed itself, allowing Naruto to catch Doki's head on the scroll and seal it away.
The whole realm seemed to shudder for a second before fading away and Naruto found himself standing in the middle of the now dead demon gate, no sign of the green fire and the green crystals were all turned to dust.
"Arugghghghgh," Naruto groaned as he felt a sudden drop in his yōki. "Okay, the reversion to human was delayed when I was in the gate!" he panted before dashing towards a second yōki barrier. This one had another gate with dark blue flames and water dripping from the gate structure. "First was Earth… this one might be water," he guessed as he dashed in, channeling chakra to his feet as he did so. He found himself running on the surface of a giant lake with several small islands, bits of wreckage, boulders, and floating logs dotting the surface. Nenshōsaiga snapped up in a guard, intercepting a water whip and causing steam to billow around Naruto as the water boiled away.
"Well that stung," said a sultry female voice as the water whip was revealed to be the transformed arm of an oni woman with gills on her neck and wearing a wave patterned kimono. Her other hand clutched a trident and combined with her seaweed like hair and drowned appearance Naruto knew her name even as she said it. "I am Suiki, and you shall pay for killing my brother with my own element!" she yelled. "We'll see how you like drowning as my water fills your lungs and crushes your body!"
"Lady, you are nowhere near as scary as the two Hidden Mist Ninja I've encountered and both of them scared me more than you do," Naruto countered.
Suiki smirked as her whole body turned to water and merged with the surrounding water before rearing up in the form of a primordial liquid titan. "What about now little fox?" She roared in a voice like a typhoon before sending a tidal wave at Naruto,
Naruto's eyes had widened as Suiki merged with the water and grew into her massive titanic form and the massive wall of water rushing towards him. "Well shit!" he groaned before raising Nenshōsaiga over his head. Wind Chaa and yōki roared up of the blade, forming a massive wind blade. "Benkei Kaze no Yaiba (Strong Man Blade of Wind)!" Naruto yelled as he swung down, bisecting the tidal wave so it passed on either side of him. Naruto recovered from his attack just in time to see Suiki's giant fist slam into him, sending him skipping back across the water by pure force before he eventually rolled to a stop with a small "Ow!"
"I'll admit that splitting a tidal wave was impressive brat, but not good enough!" the water oni roared as a maelstrom formed beneath Naruto, sucking him down into the depths. "Enjoy your new home in Davy Jones' locker!" Suiki taunted. Her triumph was cut off as a massive pillar of water erupted from the middle of the maelstrom, a glowing eyed Naruto riding the water up and coughing some water out of his lungs.
"Not bad, most people don't go for overwhelming pressure and depriving me of oxygen!" Naruto gasped after taking a deep breath of air.
"How the hell are you even alive?" Suiki screeched.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, a descendant of the Uzumaki clan of Uzushiogakure no Sato in Uzu no Kuni," Naruto growled as spiral marking appeared on his body and a voice like roar of a whirlpool overlaying his own. "Trying to drown ME in a whirlpool is one of the dumbest things you could have done! Every Uzumaki gets the Uzumaki Kairo (sea route) seals put on them so they can freely enter Uzushiogakure! Even one like me who hasn't been there yet! And here's another Uzumaki classic! Uzumaki Hiden: Kongō Fūsa!" massive chakra chains shot out of Naruto's tails and back, wrapping around Suiki and yanking her out of her massive titan form, which instantly slumped back down to rejoin the water around the dimensional space. The water Oni was yanked towards Naruto and got her face introduced to his fist at high speed, sending her rocketing away before the chakra chains yanked her back to repeat the process several times. Naruto didn't let Suiki touch the water, not wanting to face a giant water demon again.
Suiki finally managed to recover long enough that she was able to form one arm into a water tentacle and merge with the water pillar holding Naruto up, instantly resuming her giant battle form and trapping Naruto inside her chest as she occupied the head. "Now you're dead!" she gasped, finding it painful to talk through all the beating Naruto had delivered, only to stare in astonishment as lightning erupted around Naruto followed by a sphere of swirling wind, growing big enough to fill a small room and with a small tube-like bit connected to outside her battle body to give Naruto fresh air. "How did you do that?" Suiki shrieked.
Naruto coughed up some water and took several deep breaths. "Never heard of electrolysis?" He managed to wheeze out. "I'm releasing lightning chakra to convert the water into pure oxygen and hydrogen."
Suiki scowled as she tried to punch Naruto, only for him to take a deep breath and dive into her arm and shoot up it to reach her shoulder and swim outside her giant body, using chakra to stand on the giant shoulder and glaring at her in the head. "You'll never get me in here brat, the water pressure is as dense as at the bottom of the Marianas Trench, over fifteen thousand PSI!"
Naruto's eyes narrowed as he looked at the water circulating through the giant water body before smirking and swinging his hand back, Yōki surged around Naruto's claws, then forward, a giant wind blade shooting out from each of his claws. "Jūha Shō (Beast Tearing Palm)!" growled Naruto as the blades slash through Suiki's giant neck, sending the head tumbling towards the water with the surprised water Oni trapped inside. Naruto leapt from the dissolving water giant with chakra, landing on the water below Suiki's giant water head, then brought both his arms back, yōki and chakra gathering around his hands to form a pair of giant claws. "Jūha Reppū Shō (Beast Tearing Gale Palm)!" snarled Naruto as the two giant claws snapped up, trapping Suiki between them like Naruto was smacking a bug between his normal palms. "That high pressure didn't do much when you only have the head to keep the water circulating in!" Naruto taunted as the water fell away, leaving Suiki trapped in the grasp of the giant wind claws.
"Filthy Hanyō!" gasped the water oni, spitting a stream of high-pressure water at Naruto that sliced his left arm, causing Naruto to flinch but keep her pinned between the giant wind claws.
"Inari-damn it, do all you yōkai here in Japan read from the same script?" Naruto demanded. "Wouldn't Inuyasha-sensei and his companions have proved that hanyō and humans can fight even the most powerful Daiyōkai and win? It's been over five hundred years since their adventures and people still underestimate a hanyō like me!"
Suiki shrieked in pain and rage, shooting out another water jet, this one aimed right towards Naruto's face, only for Naruto's tails to snap around and harden, forming a barrier stronger than steel. "Hari Jizō (Needle Jizō)!" Naruto said from inside the cocoon as the water jet repelled the water, wincing as he felt the water cutting itno his tail and knowing he had at best seconds before he took a high pressure water jet to the face. "Alright, no more Mr. Nice Kitsune!" Naruto growled before lighting surged up his wind claws and through Suiki, causing her to scream and spasm as the charge was amplified by her water nature. Naruto eyed the smoking twitching oni woman for a moment before dispelling his wind claws and leaping towards her falling body in mid-air, Nenshōsaiga flashing out and separating Suiki's head from her body. A quickly created clone pulled out the scroll containing Doki's remains and added Suiki's head and trident to it.
As soon as its mistress' remains were sealed away, the demon gate realm tossed Naruto out, making him stumble at the sudden drop in his yōki and kitsune blood. Hurrying to the next gate, Naruto saw red flames flickering around it as well as red crystals before he dove through the gate, feeling the lessening of his kitsune blood cease as a blast of flame shot over his back. Looking up, Naruto saw a giant red oni with hair of orange fire staring at him like Chouji eyeing the last piece of meat at a barbeque. "Mmmm, been a long time since I got to taste kitsune. I'm going to have to fillet you and sear each part separately to get the maximum flavor!" the Oni growled.
"And I managed to go out of the frying pan and into the literal fire," Naruto groaned as he pulled a bandana from his supply pouch to help filter the smokey air caused by the forest fire that filled the demon gate realm and raged without stopping. "And what's your name Mr. Would-Be Chef?"
"I am Kaki, Oni of Fire!" Kaki bellowed as he pulled a giant cleaver from his back and brandished it as a sword before he inhaled deeply and breathing out another jet of flame.
Naruto grimaced and threw up a shield of fox fire to part the flame jet, only to have to dodge a swing of Kaki's cleaver as the fire oni used the flames as cover to charge at him with a series of wild swings that echoed the fire around them. Not wanting to be sliced up, Naruto dove underground and winced as explosions immediately shook the ground to try to force him out of hiding. "Time to show why I'm the number one unpredictable ninja!" Naruto said as he focused his chakra and a chill surrounded him.
Kaki was surprised when Naruto erupted out of the ground with a rising slash aiming for a decapitation strike but still managed to bring his cleaver to bear and block the strike and force Naruto back and Nenshōsaiga flying away. Charging after Naruto, the fire oni swung wildly as Naruto frantically dodged, bobbed, and weaved to avoid the frenzied attacks. "Stay still you little pest!" roared Kaki after they had circled the clearing several times, leaving a spiral of gouges in the ground and surroundings to mark their path.
"Alright!" Naruto said as he suddenly stopped dodging and crouched under the next attack. Caught off guard, Kaki wasn't able to react in time as Naruto delivered a rising uppercut that left a cold breeze behind its path as it slammed into his chin. "Hiryū Shōten Ha!" yelled Naruto.
Kaki had a moment of rage as he raised his cleaver to chop Naruto in two, only to scream as the tornado Naruto had unleashed sucked him, the debris lining the flaming forest, and the flames themselves up into itself while an icy cold energy seeped into him, leeching away his strength to fuel the tornado and keep him from using the wind to power himself up. Trees, rocks, dirt, and logs repeatedly slammed into him until he was bruised and battered all over, the flames fueling the tornado slowly dying down and leaving him high in the air dizzy, short of breath, and unable to move before he plummeted to the ground where Naruto waited with chakra surging around him. Kaki slammed into the ground, forming a five-foot-deep crater from the impact and finding himself embedded in the ground face down. He couldn't move as rock walls sprang up around him and a rock floor rose up beneath him, seal on all five of them binding him with chakra chains. "Going to skin you alive, brat!" the oni tried to roar as he raised his head out of the imprint of his body, only to be cut off as a clone of Naruto slammed an Odama Rasengan into his back. The real Naruto simply placed his hands on the rock walls, causing a ceiling to form and seal Kaki away as the chains holding him down vanished. Leaping to his feet, Kaki started pounding on the wall, not noticing how his flaming hair was starting to flicker.
Naruto grimly kept the prison's walls supplied with chakra to repair themselves, waiting for ten minutes after he heard Kaki's body hit the ground inside the prison and making sure he couldn't sense any of Kaki's yōki with Sage mode before he dismissed the prison back into the earth and decapitated Kaki to seal his head and weapon away. The expected reversion to reality made Naruto lurch and he could feel a headache as his kitsune blood started receding again.
Hurrying to the fourth gate, Naruto saw yellow crystals and swirling winds, Naruto dove through and suddenly found himself being caught in a tornado this time, though luckily there was no debris to pummel him, just wind blades hurled by an enraged wind sorceress wielding two hand fans. "I am Fuuki the Mistress of Winds and you will feel the fury of the storm!" she shrieked.
Naruto kept quiet as he let the winds carry him, using a shell of chakra to blunt the wind blades and letting them bounce him around the tornado until he was right on the inner edge of the tornado's eye and could clearly see Fuuki. Naruto's hands snapped out and he halted in midair as his yōki clashed with Fuuki's, causing a gap in between them. "I may not have Tessaiga and be able to kill a thousand yōkai with a single swing, but Inuyasha-sensei DID show me how to find the Kaze no Kizu!" Naruto snarled. "And as a wind master myself, I know how to use it!" Naruto's claws flared with yōki, fire, and wind chakra as he gripped either side of the Kaze no Kizu. "Atsuikazeha no Kizu (Hot Wind Blades Scar)!" growled Naruto as he snapped his hands apart, tearing the barrier between the two auras and sending ten blazing wind blades flying at the shocked Fuuki. The wind blades sliced and burned Fuuki and her aura, causing her to lose control of the tornado surrounding them and revealing to Naruto that they were in the air above a series of mountain peaks surrounding a central plateau. The peaks were connected to the central plateau and the peaks closest to them by rope and wood bridges to allow either combatant some freedom of movement. Naruto and Fuuki drifted down to the plateau, Naruto using burst of wind chakra to slow his descent and Fuuki using a mini tornado as a chair to lower herself down.
"I will admit to being impressed that you can find and attack through the Kaze no Kizu," Fuuki said as she managed to regain her feet and glared at Naruto. "But that makes it even more important you die to protect Kidoumaru-Sama!" Her declaration ended in a shout that sent a giant oni head of wind crashing into Naruto, who plunged Nenshōsaiga into the ground to keep from being blown off the plateau and raised a rock wall in front of him as extra insurance. Fuuki only had a moment to growl in frustration before Naruto charged out from behind the rock wall, hurling shuriken and kunai the Fuuki deflected to the ground with a swipe of her fan before soaring over to one of the mountain peaks with Naruto in quick pursuit, a constant barrage of weapons keeping the wind sorceress moving until she was forced back to the central plateau with Naruto a few peaks behind her. Spinning, she fired wind blades that cut all three bridges leading from the peak he had just reached, leaving him stranded there. "To bad you can't fly!" Fuuki taunted Naruto as she landed on the plateau by his fallen weapons, only to see Naruto smirk and vanish in a puff of smoke before the real Naruto erupted out of the ground by her feet with an uppercut that slammed into Fuuki's chin, making her see stars as she flew into the air before regaining her bearing and hovering out of Naruto's reach as she glared down at him.
"Never take your eyes off the ninja!" Naruto taunted before vanishing in a burst of gold light and reappearing in midair to hit Fuuki in the back, vanish again, and reappear on one of the mountain peaks. Fuuki tried to hit him with a small tornado, but Naruto kept vanishing to attack her and retreating to a new peak each time so she couldn't keep track of him.
Forced back into the ground of the plateau due to the pain of the rapid series of strikes Naruto made on her, Fuuki waited until Naruto vanished once more and unleashed a gale of wind all around her, catching him as he reappeared and sending him tumbling through the air over the edge of the plateau, only for him to reappear on one of the peaks in another burst of golden light.
Naruto shook his head and tried to hide his shock from being caught after using Hiraishin, he'd have to tell his father about that method and figure out a counter. "I've felt bigger impacts from sneezes and farts," he taunted. "For a wind sorceress you are a disappointment! I know of old grannies and a cripple who can command the wind better than you!" A Rasengan swirled into being in Naruto's hands, before a spark ignited in the center, blazing red chakra infusing the orb.
Shrieking in rage, Fuuki sent a tornado crashing down on Naruto, only for him to raise the blazing orb and absorb the wind attack into it, making it swell even bigger. "Katon: Odama Rasengan!" Naruto yelled as the orb became a bright orange and roared like a forge while doubling in size.
Fuuki KNEW instantly that if that attack hit, she would die, so she hurled a barrage of tornado lances at Naruto and spun to fly away. She didn't see Naruto vanish in another Hiraishin to reappear above her, but she felt the flame sphere slam into her back and send her plummeting to crash in the center of the plateau as the flames engulfed her, feeding off her wind aura. The last thing she felt was Nenshōsaiga cleaving her head from her neck as Naruto put her out of her misery.
(0o0o0)
Naruto stumbled out of the demon gate realm groaning as his yōkai level dropped once again and hurried to a fifth gate with two silver katana crossed together and metal crystals as decorations. Passing through the gate he felt his yōki stabilize and found himself in a large dojo with the walls lined with almost every conceivable weapon known to man, all gleaming with the shine of fresh sharpened blades. In the center of the room was a steel statue resembling basic samurai armor, but the bladed gauntlets, shoulder pads, boots, and helmet with full face mask made it clear the armor was designed with the idea the best defense was a strong offense by making every part of the armor a possible weapon. Naruto stared at the statue for a moment before sighing. "Could we get this over with?"
Dark red flames sprang up in the eyes of the statue as it climbed to its feet, revealing that it was a solid metal oni under the armor. "I am Kinki, Kidoumaru-Sama's invincible sword and shield!" he declared.
"Uzumaki Naruto and I'm not a mutant turtle, just a teenaged ninja kitsune hanyō!" Naruto declared with a smirk.
Kinki did a mask smile just like Kakashi. "Ah, so you recognize the inspiration for my armor?" he asked.
The ninja turtle part caught my eye when doing a Google search," Naruto admitted as he settled into a Battōjutsu stance.
"Then I'll enjoy defeating you even more!" Kinki said as three claws extended out from between his fingers, leaving him with an extra foot of sharp slashing weapons.
"Oh boy," Naruto said before his eyes widened as Kinki went from a standing pose to trying to slash his head off with the claws far faster than someone of his size and full armor could move. Naruto ducked under the decapitation attack and felt the top hairs on his head get a few centimeters trimmed off as Kinki passed him. "Fast!" Naruto growled as he tried to strike Kinki in the back with a punch, only to graze him as the metal oni spun to deliver another claw slash that Naruto leapt to the dojo wall to avoid.
"And so are you. You've been warping around during some of your fights with my comrades to make precise attacks on them," Kinki said calmly. "I'm interested in how you do it!" Naruto replied with a barrage of Hiraishin kunai, his eyes narrowing as Kinki blocked some of them while others barely missed him despite the oni not moving at all.
"Magnetic fields, that's how you're so fast and all those missed you!" Naruto growled.
"Clever boy, you caught on quickly," Kinki said in an amused tone. "But look around you!" Naruto's eyes widened as all the weapons on the wall rose up and aimed their sharp pointy ends at him.
"Oh fuck!" Naruto hissed as all the weapons fired at him.
Kinki grinned as a whole wall worth of weapons skewered Naruto, not surprised to see a log taking the hits and momentarily trapping his fired weapons. Naruto reappeared by the wall opposite his last location, his eyes widening as more weapons oriented themselves and shot at him, necessitating another Kawarimi, only for the same thing to happen twice more, Kinki never even turning to look at Naruto.
"Looks like you barely dodged that last attack," the oni gloated as Naruto panted, numerous cuts on his outfit and slowly spreading blood stains showing he was right.
"You're sensing the metal I have on me," Naruto guessed, tossing his shuriken and kunai holster, and supply pouch to different parts of the room, Nenshōsaiga being stabbed into the floor a second later
"Fighting me unarmed, you're either brave or insane," Kinki said with a surprised angle to his eye flames.
"Probably both," Naruto growled as he untied his Hitai-ate, crimson yōki erupting around him in a chakra cloak that added a chakra tail in addition to the seven golden ones swaying behind him, giving him eight tails as Naruto forced open the Kaimon (Gate of opening). "After all, my fiancé is going to be furious I used this technique and if we were already married, I'd be sleeping on the couch for a few months for this!" Vanishing in a crimson blur, Naruto attacked Kinki's legs from behind, his claws gouging into the metal armor as well as Kinki's steel flesh before the fox boy had to leap back to avoid a spinning back hand that would have shredded his skin with the barbs on Kinki's arm guards.
Kinki growled as he freed and set the blades scattered around the dojo flying at Naruto, only to see Naruto dodging them with pure speed before appearing in front of Kinki in an attempt to disembowel the oni.
Kinki countered with a knee strike, the spikes on his leg armor digging into Naruto's stomach through his yōki cloak. Growling, Naruto leapt back to land on all fours, his eyes now red slits fixed on Kinki.
Kinki launched himself forward, claws flashing as he tried to once again take Naruto's head. The semi-feral ninja's tails shot out, four grabbing each of Kinki's arms before Naruto indulged in a little metronomic man mashing, smashing Kinki one either side of Naruto for several times, leaving the metal oni stunned and dizzy, all the weapons he'd been levitating having fallen to the ground after the third slam. The last thing the metal oni saw after Naruto flipped him over was the feral hanyō raising his claws covered in wind chakra and yōki before Kinki's head rolled across the dojo floor.
Naruto gasped as he struggled to fight down his yōki raging through his system, focusing on the Shodaime's necklace under his shirt. The gem glowed and Naruto felt his yōkai instincts calming down and his chakra regain control over his yōki, allowing him to regain his equipment before sealing away Kink's corpse and weapons. Exiting the battle realm, Naruto fell to his knees and barfed, the unleashing of his kitsune blood in the battle room meaning his system was not happy to have it be diminished so suddenly by the moon preparing to rise.
"Oh god, that was even worse!" Naruto gasped as he climbed to his feet and gargled from a water bottle before making his way up the hill, finding Kidōmaru waiting in front of a large cave.
The oni and kitsune princes stared one another down before Kidōmaru frowned. "You sick, brat? I don't want anyone saying you lost because you weren't feeling well when you ought me. I can put a grudge aside for a bit while you heal up enough to at least entertain me in a fight.
Naruto scowled before his right arm jabbed backwards, a loud SQUELCH filling the night air before he yanked a still beating heart from thin air, an oni woman in a classic black ninja pajama outfit with a stiletto raised for a backstab on Naruto appearing a moment later. She gasped as her free hand went to the hole Naruto had ripped in her chest and tried to stab him, only to topple over as his tails slammed into her and tossed her to the edge of the clearing. "Ongyoki the invisible oni," Naruto growled. "I've seen little kids do better sneak attacks!"
Kidōmaru scowled at his assassin failing. "How did you know she was there?" he demanded.
"These ears and my nose aren't just for show," Naruto bragged. "I could feel the ABSENCE of air and scent from a spot, and my beast blood KNOWS when a predator is watching me. I knew she was there from the moment I landed in the first demon gate realm, she kept running ahead of me to warn your underlings about my tactics." Naruto shrugged. "It's sad what you old home country yōkai think counts as a ninja nowadays, she was a nonja."
"I hate it when a filthy hanyō like you thinks you're so much better than us pure blood yōkai!" snarled Kidōmaru. "Especially if they weren't born in Japan! You're Gaijin, not worthy to be called a yokai!" Kidōmaru pressed a button on what appeared to be a car remote, causing an iron bull to stomp out of the cave before shifting into a minotaur like mech that the oni prince leapt into. "And I will squish you like a bug in my Iron Bull!" he crowed as covers popped off, revealing three small mini guns arranged around each arm of the mech while shoulder missile pods opened their hatches to reveal small missiles ready to fire.
"Overcompensating much?" Naruto taunted, hiding a grimace as his kitsune blood was fading fast.
"Have some dakka!" roared Kidōmaru as all six miniguns spun up and started spitting hot lead at Naruto, who took off running, the bullets mere inches behind his feet and tails as he used chakra to push his body as fast as possible.
"I am so going to enjoy punching that guy in the face!" growled Naruto as he managed to reach the nearest trees and get out of Kidōmaru's sight for long enough to spam shadow clones and hide. Hearing the mecha stomping after his clones, Naruto took a deep breath and sank into meditation, trying to compensate his fading kitsune blood with senjutsu chakra. Feeling the pain of being reverted to human easing as the senjutsu chakra filled his system, Naruto received the memories of his clones as Kidōmaru hunted them down one by one, the clones taunting and enraging him with each one he destroyed in a burst of chakra smoke. Naruto grimaced as he could sense the moon just below the horizon, as soon as it rose high enough to bathe him in the moonlight his kitsune blood would go dormant for good.
(0o0o0)
Kidōmaru scowled as yet another clone of the fox brat burst into smoke upon being shot. "This is taking too long, engage Dakka Death Wheel!" he growled, causing his mecha to assume a T-pose as the gatling guns all shifted to point at slightly different angles. The mecha started spinning and place as the guns spun up and fired, sending a wall of bullets through the forest.
Naruto's eyes widened as there was a rapid series of gun fire before all of his remaining clones died in rapid succession and an impact occurred on either side of his head that sprayed him with splinters. Turning his head slightly, Naruto saw a bullet hole right beside where his ears would be as a human and gulped at being an inch off from death. Flipping through hand signs, Naruto triggered the special blue kanji Hiraishin kunai he'd dropped earlier.
(0o0o0)
In Kitsune-su, a pair of blue slit eyes snapped open before the blonde figure vanished in a puff of smoke, causing Hinata to frown in worry.
(0o0o0)
The radar in Kidōmaru's mech only gave him a second's warning as something shot towards the back of his mech, up the back, revealing itself as Naruto in the process. The blond slapped paper talismans all over the mech, especially the missile launchers. "What good are a bunch of post-it notes?" Kidōmaru taunted the fox boy.
Naruto smirked. "Paper bombs, Naruto want big boom!" he exclaimed as he formed the ram seal. The explosive tags started going off, rocking the mech and forcing Kidōmaru to eject or be consumed in the resulting inferno. The oni prince scowled as he slammed the eject button and the mech opened to launch his pilot seat out just before the whole thing was consumed in a fireball and reduced to so much scrap metal.
Landing on the ground and tearing himself free of his seat's safety harness, Kidōmaru stood up and drew his sword as an aura of bloodlust surrounded him. "This is Muramasa's Beast Hunter, it thirsts for the blood of beasts and animal yōkai! I'm going to enjoy watching your filthy kitsune blood burn you from the inside!"
Naruto blinked before smirking as the moon finally cleared the mountains on the horizon. The silver moonlight illuminated him and he reverted to a normal human. "Talk about good timing!" he said with a grin.
"Figures it would be your human night, but now I'm free to slaughter and eat you," Kidōmaru growled as he lunged forward with an overhead slash that Naruto blocked with Nenshōsaiga. Dropping the block after a split second, Naruto let Beast Hunter slam and dig into the ground, trapping the sword and leaving Kidōmaru caught by surprise. Naruto used this chance to roll between Kidōmaru's legs, going for a cut at his hamstrings only to have the oni's aura and armor repel Nenshōsaiga.
"Is that aura from the sword or you?" Naruto asked as Kidōmaru wrenched his blade free of the ground and spun around, the two blades clashing and causing sparks to fly. "I honestly can't tell with my sense of smell at human level, it's always a pain to lose something you take for granted!"
"Hah, I've seen enough anime to know not to blab my abilities to you!" Kidōmaru taunted, flowing into a series of continuous slashes in an X pattern that Naruto wove around or parried as needed.
"What do you know, a legendary yōkai who has common sense and knows modern culture!" Naruto teased. "My cousins and most others ignore that kind of stuff and seem to think that I'm just going to roll over and die because I'm half human!" Naruto seized the moment Kidōmaru extended his blade just a bit too far and lunged forward, launching a series of thrusts to push the oni prince back. Kidōmaru retreated, but grinned as Naruto's foot came down on a loose rock, causing his attack to falter and leave himself with Nenshōsaiga out of position.
Kidōmaru seized the advantage and delivered a horizontal slash across Naruto's chest, leaving a long cut over is breast bone that bled freely. "First blood to me!" he cheered, only to stare in shock as the bleeding stopped, green energy appearing to knit the wound closed. "How the fuck?"
"I do have contingencies in place on the off chance I get attacked without my usual healing ability," Naruto taunted, hiding a grimace at the pain the cut caused.
"Oh really? Like what?" Kidōmaru sneered, only to gasp as a freezing wind slammed into him, buffeting him with ice and gale force winds.
"Like me!" growled Naruko as she sauntered out of the forest. "Handy that I keep my kitsune blood while Naruto loses his!"
The aura around Kidōmaru flared and he grinned. "Then Beast Hunter will still be effective on you," he said in the tone of an addict who had just found their next fix.
"Okay… getting Orochimaru mixed with Kisame vibes here," Naruko said as she snapped her hands down, Tsuraraken (Icicle Fangs) sliding down into her hands from their wrist sheaths.
"While I doubt he's a pedophile," Naruto trailed off as Kidōmaru's face darkened in anger, "That's a Muramasa Blade, so more Kisame." Raising Nenshōsaiga in a guard position, the twins separated, not wanting to risk being caught together in a big attack. Kidōmaru scowled and faked a charge at Naruto, only to juke towards Naruko and bring his blade down in a cleaving strike.
Naruko caught Beast Hunter with both her daggers in a cross block above her head, her tails lashing forward to slam into Kidōmaru's stomach. The oni grunted before his muscles bulged and Naruko felt her arms being forced down, allowing Beast Hunter to get closer and closer to her. Her ears could hear the snarling of a starving predator coming from the blade, making her instincts scream at her to run and hide.
"Beast Hunter hungers for your blood vixen, maybe I'll keep you alive after cutting off your limbs as my plaything!" Kidōmaru taunted. And I'll force myself on you on top of the rug of your brother's pelt!"
Naruko felt a shiver shoot down her spine at the image Kidōmaru's words conjured but shook off her fear and smirked at Kidōmaru. "You just made a huge mistake giving into your sword's desire for my kitsune blood!" she growled out.
"Oh, what do you mean?" Kidōmaru taunted as Beast Hunter got within an inch of Naruko's body.
"You took your eyes off my brother, Konoha's number one unpredictable ninja!" Naruko said with a grunt.
Kidōmaru only had a second to process her words before he felt extreme pain as Naruto slammed a Rasengan into his back with a cry of "Uzu!", the chakra sphere tearing into his back and sending him stumbling into Naruko, who rolled onto her back and kicked up with a "Maki!" cry, launching Kidōmaru into the air as his armor, already damaged from the Rasengan, shattered under the force of her kick, where a horde of Naruto clones leapt out of the trees with Rasengan spinning in their hands. "Naruto Rasengan Rendan!" The clones finished the technique name as their attacks slammed into Kidōmaru, trapping him between the techniques as he was battered from every side, Beast Hunter plummeting towards the ground as his grip slackened.
Kidōmaru's entire world was pain, as the various Rasengan pummeled his body, the remains of his armor shattering and leaving him feeling the full impact of the chakra spheres before he was sent rocketing to the ground where he bounced from the impact and tumbled across the ground, ending up by Beast Hunter as where it had landed blade first in the ground. Naruko could see him barely conscious before the Muramasa blade leapt to his hand and reinvigorated him, allowing him to slowly climb out of the impact crater he made. "Ugh, for a normal human you pack a punch brat!" he growled. "Now I'm going to force you to watch as I violate this wench until your kitsune blood returns and get a pair of nine tailed pelts!"
Naruko sneered as she raised her daggers to a guard position. "We don't have full kitsune forms yet, idiot!"
Kidōmaru chuckled. "There are spells to turn a kitsune pelt into a nine tailed one permanently," he said with a smirk.
"We would rather earn ou tails by showing our strength and skills," said Naruko coldly, the air around her growing chilly.
Kidōmaru opened his mouth to reply, only to leap back as a kunai barrage stabbed into the ground where he'd been standing. Naruko caught a glimpse of Naruto or one of his clones moving through the trees before flicking her daggers into their fan forms and spinning, sending a constant stream of ice-cold wind blades at Kidōmaru as she stepped back to keep distance between them.
The Oni prince proved how strong he was by forcing his way forward despite the wind blasts, his sword seeming to radiate a hungry aura that only Naruko's blood would satiate. Naruko kept on sending wind blades at him, only to lose her footing as a rock shifted under foot. Without any resistance, Kidōmaru charged forward as Naruko tried to regain her footing, unable to block as Beast Hunter pierced through her chest, causing Kidōmaru to grin as blood dripped from the wound, only for Naruko to grab his arms, keeping him from pulling the blade free. "Ice Clone Great Explosion!" She said with a grin as she erupted in ice shards, acting as a fragmentation grenade to send razor sharp ice everywhere.
Kidōmaru fell back, reeling from the explosion and bleeding from numerous cuts, Beast Hunter once more flying from his grip and into the air, only for Naruto to dive and catch the sword in a sealing scroll, causing the blade to vanish in a puff of smoke.
"Alright, I'm a normal human, you're unarmed. Let's settle this!" Naruto said as he shoved the scroll in his supply pouch. "Unless you're afraid I'll be able to beat you as a human!"
Kidōmaru roared in rage and charged at Naruto like a bull, the young ninja waiting until the last moment to twist aside and left Kidōmaru slam face first into a tree. Staggering backwards, Kidōmaru tried to clear his head, only to feel Naruto leap on his back and lock his arms around Kidōmaru's neck in a chokehold.
"Like your scrawny arms can choke me out!" Kidōmaru snarled as he attempted to grab Naruto, only to feel blue ice chakra chains wrap around each of his limbs and pull them in different directions, raising him into the air. He could see the chains sprouting from Naruko's back and wrapping around nearby trees before converging on him, one to each limb.
Naruto grunted as Kidōmaru tried to slam the back of his head into Naruto's face. You're a tough bastard, I'll give you that," Naruto growled. He was forced to let go as Kidōmaru grew from human sized to three stories tall, gaining the strength and leverage to break free, rubbing his throat as he breathed deeply.
Naruto and Naruko regrouped, readying their weapons as Kidōmaru tried to catch his breath. "We almost had him," Naruko said with a growl that turned into a curse as Kidōmaru uprooted a tree to use as a club.
"Dual tech?" Naruto suggested. Naruko considered for a moment before nodding, the twins separating as chakra began swirling on their hands, white hot flames for Naruto and icy blue crystals for Naruko. Ducking dodging and flipping around a series of wild blows from Kidōmaru, the twins seized their chance as an overhead blow left the tree club stuck in the ground. Charging up the impromptu ramp, the twins slammed their elemental Rasengan into Kidōmaru's chest. "Hyōton: Rasengan!" growled Naruko. "Katon: Rasengan!" roared Naruto as the two orbs combined into a giant blue and red sphere that rapidly froze and burned Kidōmaru's chest over and over as it ground into him and the twins leapt back away from him. "Antipode Rasengan!" the twins cried as the orb detonated, sending Kidōmaru flying through the trees.
The twins hurried through the forest, eventually finding Kidōmaru staring into the sky, a grimace of pain forever locked on his face and a hole where his lungs and heart should have been. As soon as Naruto sealed the corpse away, the bounded field around the whole forest shattered, leaving the forest undamaged from all the fighting and removing all evidence aside from the various ninja weapons scattered around. Naruko took care of those, using a special scroll to summon all their shuriken, kunai, and other gear back to them and seal it away.
"Sooooooooo, how are we getting home?" Naruko asked. "We can't exactly summon Gamabunta to give us a ride and that modified Hiraishin kunai was only good for reverse summoning me here and we didn't have the time to make a pair to bring us back home."
Naruto chuckled awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head. "I was more concerned about surviving the night," he said. "I can call Ero-sennin…." He trailed off as he pulled his completely busted phone from his pocket. "Uh oh!"
(0o0o0)
Back at Kitsune-Su, Hoshiko frowned as she watched Hinata fidget as the lavender eyed girl tried to focus on a scroll she was holding. Ever since Naruko had vanished with the modified reverse summoning, Hinata had turned into a nervous wreck. Jiraiya and Roshi had moved to the backyard and were conversing quietly as the kitsune maid finished cleaning up the leftovers from dinner, leaving a bento for Naruto and Naruko each since the twins were sure to be starving when they returned from the duel. She'd just finished drying her hands when the phone rang. "Moshi-Moshi, Kitsune Sou, this is… Hos…" was all she could get out before the phone vanished from her hand as Hinata seemed to teleport into the hallway and grabbed it.
"Ohmygodareyoutwookaywhydidntyoucallearlier?Doyouneedmedicalhelp? Didthesealwork?" Hinata babbled.
(0o0o0)
"Well, my cell phone got destroyed in the battle," Naruto explained, grinning at his sister as she clearly heard Hinata's mashed together question storm. "We're fine aside from being tired and hungry, the seal did its job and healed me just as if I was in my hanyō form, and we had to find a place still open to get a replacement phone, activate it, and call."
"So Hoshiko can reverse summon both of you home now?" Hinata asked, finally relaxing a bit.
"It's going to have to be Ero-sennin," Naruko spoke up. "Naruto isn't a kitsune at the moment so he can only be reversed summoned through the Toad contract." There was a rapid patter of footsteps followed by a high-pitched scream from Jiraiya over the phone.
"Get them back here, you old pervert, or I'll blow your bits off!" roared Hinata, causing the twins to stare at one another in shock.
"She's really worried," Naruto muttered before the world seemed to lurch and they vanished from the rooftop they had called from to reappear in the backyard of Kitsune Sou facing Jiraiya. Before anything could be said, a blue haired missile tackled them to the ground in a glomp that would have made Ranma's old fiancé Brigade jealous. Hinata let out a small whine as she hugged the twins to her, wanting nothing more than to continue to hold them close and not let go. Naruto and Naruko simply let her, Naruko wrapping her tails around Hinata, who blinked in surprise before snuggling closer and visibly relaxing.
Jiraiya chuckled as he jotted down ideas in his notepad. "And so, the gorgeous princess greeted the returning twin heroes, demanding they accompany her to the royal bedchamber…" he muttered, only to trail off as he felt the killing intent radiating off all three of the teens. "Oh crap!" he gasped as a blazing hot and freezing cold chakra chain grabbed him by each arm and yanked him into Jūken range.
(0o0o0)
The sun woke Hinata up and she smiled as she felt Naruto, back in his typical hanyō form, and Naruko on either side of her as they let her use their tails as blanket. She gazed contentedly at the fox siblings and was surprised to find that her affection for Naruko was just as strong as the long established one for Naruto, the fox girl was definitely going to be in Hinata's heart the rest of their lives.
Hinata carefully pulled up the right sleeve of Naruto's shirt and smiled as she saw the seal in the shape of a jar on his shoulder. The black body of the jar was filled with green ink representing healing chakra she' stored inside the seal and a red yōki lid kept it from leaking out unless Naruto was near death.
Quietly slipping out from between the still sleeping twins, Hinata made her way to change in the bathroom after washing up and then downstairs to join Hoshiko in the kitchen. The vixen housekeeper smiled as Hinata started pulling the ingredients for a western style breakfast from the fridge. "Pampering them?" she asked Hinata, who blushed and nodded.
"They were falling asleep as they ate the bento you had ready for them and I KNOW Naruto-kun is going to be hungry after so many battle and Naruko-chan only slightly less so." The kitchen was soon filled with the sound and smells of bacon, eggs, pancakes, sausage, and breakfast potatoes as Hinata put all her love into the preparation of the food.
(0o0o0)
Naruto and Naruko woke to the rumble of their stomachs demanding sustenance as their noses detected delicious food approaching their eyes locking onto the door as Hinata stepped through with several stacked food trays, causing her to freeze as she felt the gaze of two predators locked onto her. "Breakfast!" she said, giggling as Naruto and Naruko started drooling at the word.
Naruto and Naruko set to eating as fast as possible, placing eggs, bacon, sausage, and potatoes between pancakes for large breakfast sandwiches or rolled the fillings in a single pancake for a thick breakfast burrito. Hinata waited until the twins had eaten enough breakfast for three civilians each, which took approximately minutes as the twins were being polite, before speaking again. "So, an army of Namahages, six elite oni from legend, and the oni prince. Are you going to find another Yamato no Orochi to fight next? Maybe Tamamo no Mae?" she asked half in jest.
Naruto shrugged. "It's not like we go looking for these fights with legendary figures!"
Naruko snorted. And it's not our fault all of them try to kill us for being hanyō!"
"I know, but you both have a gift for provoking more rage from them once you start fighting," Hinata said with a sigh before giving both twins a kiss on the cheek. Then she grabbed Naruto's ear and pinched. "And don't think I didn't notice you forced open the Kaimon Naruto-kun, you KNOW you need to be careful with that since your yoki could damage it in large quantities!"
Naruto winced and whimpered as Naruko backed out of easy grab range even though she hadn't done anything wrong. "You know I would only open it in an emergency Hinata-chan!" he whined.
Hinata sighed before releasing her grip and healing Naruto's ear. "Yes, but I can't have you thinking you can sneak stuff like that around me," she said. "And it's going on the report to your mother." Both twins cringed at that, Kyuubi was not going to be happy when she read the long list of injuries that Naruto had aquired during the training trip. Luckily, she would take most of her anger out on Jiraiya when they threw him in her path as their primary trainer.
(0o0o0)
Several days later, Naruto was grinning like an escaped lunatic as he admired his brand new driver's license. His examiner had been a snake yōkai who simply told him not to get them in a crash and acted like the sudden changes Naruto made between lanes, speed, and even drifting were normal facts of life, looking bored even when Naruto used his chakra to make the car drive on the roof of a tunnel to avoid a drunk driver. Naruko had taken the test next and then both of them had also passed a motorcycle course under Keiichi, who had joked that the twins were naturals on the two wheeled vehicles and were pulling off stunts that made Mach Go Go Go look tame. "I think I'm going to be the first Kage to have a Driver's License and a high school diploma," he said to his friends as they sat around doing homework at Kitsune Sou.
"When you put it like that, it makes them sound like High School dropouts," Ryeka commented as she typed up her latest English essay.
"Well, the last two Raikage would definitely qualiy," said Hinata with a scowl. "The Sandaime tried to have Naruto's grandmother Kushina kidnapped as a child and the Yondaime Raikage used the signing of a peace treaty to try to have me kidnapped. Luckily the Godaime is an intellectual and is trying to improve the village through individual skill instead of bloodlines.
"And the Yondaime Mizukage was a genocidal idiot," growled Naruto. "Ordering the elimination of all bloodlines in Kiri."
"So evil ninja Hitler?" asked Miyuki a with a tilt of her head.
Naruto thought for a moment before nodding. "Add in stupid since he drove the clans that were the basis for the Hidden Village to near extinction."
Any further conversation was cut off as Naruto, Miyuki, and Kimiko all jerked as something hit their enhanced senses, their ears and tails all going alert and showing extreme agitation as Cinnamon also grimaced.
"Strong Yōkai!" the three beast blooded teens growled.
"Dark magic," hissed Cinnamon, with Hinata grimacing a second later as she nodded.
All the teens grabbed their weapons while Roshi and Jiraiya moved to act as a front-line defense at the front door while Hoshiko hurried upstairs. "One contact, combination of yōki and necromantic magic!" hissed Hinata, Byakugan active. "Turning in at front gate and walking to door!"
Naruto created a clone henged into Hoshiko that moved to the door as a knock was heard. Opening it, the clone revealed an elderly kitsune with pale skin and blood red eyes. An ornate funeral kimono fit for a Daimyo and a daishō set on his waist, made him look like he stepped out of a period drama, while the nine black fox tails and ears on top of his head were relaxed but showed a wariness for possible battle. But it was his sunken cheeks and visible upper fangs that made Cinnamon hiss "Vampire!"
"Correct Phoenix child, I am a child of the night," said the kitsune. "My name is Fujita Gorō and I am here as a messenger of Lord Ichiro, heir of Lord Ankoku."
And that's a wrap for this chapter! We're now entering the final bit of the story after so many years. I've had to cut stuff I wanted to do, added stuff I never thought I would, and finally the end is in sight. I have been planning this bit out for years and I'm excited to finally be starting to write it!
Please leave a review, especially if there was a part you particularly liked or disliked, reviews feed my enthusiasm and can help me make the story better!