The Tomb of the Wise Man: Part 2

The heavy black and white cloaked whipped sharply in the harsh desert wind. If the heavy clothing in the oppressive heat bothered him he showed no signs. Strapped to his arms, legs, and waist were multiple scrolls as well a single massive scroll slung across his back. He reached up and pulled back his hood revealing pale skin decorated with twisting and twirling black lines that came together and formed an eye upon his forehead. He surveyed the three shinobi with cold, hard, flinty grey eyes.

"I'm sorry Loew, but he was the one responsible for the state you found me in." The woman said.

"Then you should thank him. Due to his actions your mind was open to the truth and you became enlightened," Loew said.

"But he-"

"Now he stands in the way of our most holy mission. Kill him not for the past, but for the glorious future promised us."

"You are right Loew, you always are. Let us fulfill our destiny."

"As precious as that was, who are you?" Asuma asked the hooded man.

"A Shrouded Herald, religious zealots. They're dangerous, do not underestimate him," Kurenai said.

Loew turned towards the red-eyed woman. "How is it a puppet of the Usurper knows of us!?" Loew demanded, authority booming from his voice.

"I've met your brother Shinkō."

"Ah, Shinkō, Father's favorite. He failed to clean up after himself again then? He always was too soft. I will not make the same mistake. You know the mission, Satori. Nothing else matters." Loew said sweeping his arm out.

"Yes, for the Savior." Satori extended her battle fans and lowered her stance. Loew brought his hand down and a group of the sandstone statues rushed them.

"You take care of the Herald, I'll take her," Kurenai said weaving an illusion.

"I have unfinished business with her," Asuma replied.

"I can't put those statues under a genjutsu, I've already tried," Kurenai shot back.

"Fine, just make sure to kill her," Asuma relented gathering chakra in his knives.

"If he starts glowing fall back, it'll take both of us to take him down." Nodding Asuma threw himself at the man and his statues as Kurenai turned her attention back to Satori.

"Let's do this," Kurenai said extending her hand towards Satori and beckoned towards her.

"I had wished to fight him. But as Loew said I now serve a higher purpose. For the future promised us!" She swept her fan down sending a cutting gale at the Konoha-nin. Kurenai wasn't fast enough to dodge and was pushed back as the wind cut her skin. With a click one of Satori's war fans detached into five knives and Satori threw them at Kurenai. The pierced her skin and lodged in her bones, drawing a scream of pain from the kunoichi. Satori drew her hand back, pulling the chakra threads attaching the knives to her fingers taunt. She yanked on the threads pulling Kurenai off her feet. She then collapsed her other fan into one larger blade and sent a powerful singular blade of wind straight at Kurenai.

She wasn't able to dodge in time and the powerful attack hit her square in the chest. Kurenai looked up disbelief in her eyes, then the two halves of the sandstone statue fell to the ground. The knives dislodged from the stone corpse and flew back to Satori's hand. She stared at what should've been the corpse of the enemy ninja. She turned and threw her arms up to block, but the attack still staggered her. The sandstone statues closed in, the one closest rising its club-like arm for another attack. She sidestepped it but was hit by another she hadn't seen. "Loew! Your golems are attacking me!" She shouted fending off the attacks. "Loew!" Another near miss. "Loew!" He wasn't there. "Loew!" No! He wouldn't leave her! "Loew!" No one answered.


Loew watched as the one named Asuma tore through his sandstone creations, Satori had not exaggerated. He took one of his scrolls and unfurled it. Biting his thumb, he ran the bloodied finger along the seals written on the paper. He threw the scroll into the air where it snapped close. "By my blood you were created!" He caught the scroll and slammed it down on the ground. "By my blood rise!" Smoke rose on either side of him. "Kill him."

Asuma cleaved the head from the last golem and let it drop to the ground. Asuma stepped back as a glass sword shaved off a few of his beard hairs. A second flew at his face and he blocked it with is knife, moving with the momentum Asuma pivoted and threw the thing away from him. They were taller than their sandstone brethren, and made from the blackest obsidian. Both their arms and legs ended in wicked glass blades. They had eyes of quartz and the same three runes etched into their foreheads. They jerked and attacked as one.

Asuma blocked and parried the creatures as they swung their arms at him. They were much faster than the others, but weren't any smarter. He could fight these things till he grew old, but it wouldn't make any difference unless he killed the controller. Asuma brought his hands down and created a gust of wind that threw the things away from him. He turned and charged Loew. The tattooed man watched calmly as Asuma approached. Asuma swung his trench knife at his throat, but before it connected Loew disappeared in a cloud of smoke and an obsidian blade blocked Asuma's knife.

Loew had substituted with one of the obsidian golems at the last moment. He wasn't a skilled hand-to-hand fighter, and was more than happy to let his creations fight for him. "Loew! Your golems are attacking me!" Loew turned at the sound of Satori's voice. She was swinging wildly and attacking thin air while the Konoha woman moved in and out striking her when she had the chance.

"It's a genjutsu! Break it!" Loew shouted at her.

"Loew!" She continued to shout. She couldn't hear him. All this was a distraction anyway, he needed to complete his mission.

"By my soul were you given purpose!" He brought his hands together in a prayer. "And by my soul I command thee!" He rose his hands high towards the air in supplication. Loew's eyes glowed with an inner light. He saw images from beyond his field of view, jerky chopped images of battle sent to him from his creations. He focused on two images in particular. When he closed his eyes, he could see Asuma fighting his obsidian golems. Time to show him what fighting Loew the Sculptor meant.

Asuma blocked the swing form one of the golems and turned to engage the second when both jumped back. Their crystalline eyes began glowing with a ghostly light. They moved as one and were on Asuma instantly. Whereas before their actions were direct, even animalistic, now they fought intelligently. They feinted and came at him from different angles alternating which side they attacked from and which limb to attack with. Asuma was hard pressed to defend himself and was unable to block all attacks. He felt blood be drawn and knew something had to change.

He lashed his foot out knocking one of the golems off balance. He managed to grab the flat of one of the creature's glass blade and held it in place as he brought one of his trench knife up in a savage swing. The chakra laced blade cut through the rigid material like butter. The maimed statue leapt back while pointing its new stub at Asuma. The jonin realized what was about to happen an instant before it did. A crack filled the air as what was left of the obsidian golem's arm shattered and the shards flew at Asuma. He positioned himself so that his flak jacket absorbed most of the damage. Even so he felt the tiny glass shards cut into him. He assumed a defensive stance as the golems continued to circle him. "Shit."


Why? Why were they attacking her? Had she disappointed Lowe? Was her faith not strong enough? Regardless of the reasons Lowe's sandstone golems surrounded her. They came in as relentless as the tide. She swung her battle fans back and forth pushing the things back. Even so it wasn't enough. Blows landed, she was bruised and cut. She sensed one of the statues approaching her from behind and lashed out with a kick. Satori blinked, Lowe was crouched on the ground, coughing as he clutched at his gut.

The golems were gone, turning Satori found the red-eyed woman leaping away from her. Righteous fury filled her and she swept both of her battle fans forward sending a powerful blast of wind at the Konoh-nin, sending her flying. "Are you okay Lowe?" Satori asked helping the tattooed man up.

"I…am…*gasp*…fine," Lowe said trying to regain his breath. "You were…under an illusion," Lowe said with a vacant look in his eyes. Satori saw the glow behind his pupils and knew he was distracted controlling his golems.

"Black hair, red-eyes, from Konoha. She's the 'Genjutsu Mistress'. I should've anticipated that."

"It doesn't matter. They are meaningless, we must make our way to the artifact."

"Where is it?" Satori asked. Lowe closed his eyes for a moment, when he opened them he finally looked at Satori.

"It remains in the tomb. We have to get there."

"That's going to be harder said than done," Satori noted trying to figure out where Kurenai went.

"Indeed, while my obsidian soldiers are keeping Asuma busy they will not be able to defeat him alone. But I always have a trick up my sleeve." Having said that Lowe pulled another scroll from his sleeve. He unfurled the scroll and began twirling it around himself. "Come forward," The scroll became infused with chakra, to the point where it became visible. "Fly through the sky, and sow your teeth upon the battleground!" Lowe threw the scroll into the air. The chakra surrounding the paper coalesced into the form of a dragon. With a terrifying roar it flew into the sky before spinning faster and faster. With a final roar kunai began raining down.


Hinata ducked and weaved her way around the attacking statues. With the Byakugan and her agility so long as she focused on defense the statues were too slow to be able to land a hit on her. Considering she didn't have an effective means of damaging the things trying to kill her, defense was a good option. She and Ino were surrounded by the animated statues and were fending off their attacks. They had come up with the impromptu plan where the two shinobi would keep as much attention focused on them while the local workers would pick off the straggling statues using their picks and hammers.

Even as a trio of the workers smashed a statue to pieces two other works were overwhelmed by the stone men. Things could not continue like they were, Hinata had to figure something out. She examined one of the creature's more closely. They had no internal structure, nothing she could target with the Gentle Fist. The chakra powering them flowed back and forth with near no discernible pattern. What she could see was that all the chakra originated from the three rune markings adorning the thing's forehead. Here goes nothing. Gathering chakra in her palm Hinata ducked an awkward club swing and slammed her palm into the statue's forehead.

Cracks formed along the runes and the thing reeled back as if in pain. She had seen their arms get shattered and take sledgehammers to the chest without so much as flinching. Working on her hypothesis Hinata gathered her chakra into the tips of her pointer and middle finger, turning them into a honed knife. Redirecting the statues attack Hinata jammed her two fingers into the rightmost rune. The brittle stone cracked under Hinata's chakra and a piece of stone containing the rune flew off. Like a switch being flipped the chakra that was flowing from the runes reversed and sucked in all the statues energy instantly. The sandstone statue became lifeless and fell to the ground.

Hinata ducked a swing from behind, twisted and brought her chakra laced heel into the things leftmost rune. It shattered and the rune went flying. The sandstone man reeled, but regained its footing and continued its advance. So focused on fighting the one in front of her she hadn't been paying attention to the rest and was hit in the back by another statue. She stumbled right into the statue in front of her. It raised its arm to cave in Hinata's head when its legs got pulled out from under it.

A streak of black flashed in front of her as one of the Daimyo's Elite Guard wielding a sickle and chain crashed into the statue behind Hinata. "Are you alright?" He asked from behind his battle veil. Hinata regained her balance and stood back to back with the guard.

"Y-yes, thank y-you."

"What are these things? They just attacked out of nowhere."

"W-we don't kn-know. W-we're just t-trying to p-protect the civ-civilians," Hinata said pushing away the damaged statue who had gotten back up to continue its attack.

"Duck." Hinata crouched as the weighted ball on the end of the guard's chain swung out and smashed into the damaged statues neck. A terrible crack formed on its neck; seeing an opportunity Hinata kicked out and broke the head off its shoulder. Without its head the sandstone man fell to the ground inert.

The guard stepped forward to face the statues, his chain whirling through the air. Hinata turned towards a sandstone man who had split off from the pack. She wanted to perform one more experiment. She charged forward and ducked the predictable awkward swing. Sweeping her foot out she dropped the creature onto its back. Before it could recover She brought her fingers down and broke off the rightmost rune on the golems forehead. Like before the chakra vanished almost instantly.

Hinata stood and up from the inert golem's body. She grabbed the two fingers she used to attack and pulled on them. The was a sharp crack and Hinata sighed in relief. Even if these techniques were effective they were designed to be used against soft, squishy flesh, not hard, unyielding stone. But now she knew the statues weakness, now they had a chance to win. She surveyed the area and ran back to join her allies. She put on a burst of speed and knocked one of the statues down with a flying kick. "Thanks, Hinata," Ino said glad that one of the things was off her back. She and the guard had been fighting near back-to-back.

"G-go for the rightmost r-rune. I-if you b-break only th-that one they d-drop." The elite guard spun his chain before releasing the weighted end. The heavy ball zipped through the air and slammed into the forehead of a statue. The rune went flying, and the statue dropped.

"Thank you," The guard said. He flourished his chain and got both ends spinning faster than Ino's eyes could follow. He flipped into the air and landed in the center of the mass of golems, where his chain and sickle began harvesting a terrible toll.

"Still don't have a way to break stone Hinata," Ino said standing back to back with Hinata.

"N-Naruto can p-probably help."

"If he were here mayb…oh, there he is." Naruto stabbed the flat of his pick into the gut of one of the golems. Against a human that would have dropped them, it just made it take a step back. But that was more than enough room as Naruto spun and slammed the pick into the things head, destroying it instantly.

"You two alright?" Naruto asked jogging up to them.

"Fine, just a little helpless here," Ino replied.

"Here," Naruto said handing the pick to her. He removed his sheathed sword from his back and tied the scabbard to the blade, turning it into a makeshift bludgeon.

"…Guess this'll do." Ino stepped forward and engaged with two more of the statues.

"I can't get a read on anyone else, too much chaotic chakra. What's going on with Kurenai and Asuma?" Naruto asked. Hinata focused her eyes and peered past the distance, past the marauding statues to the sight of six figures engaged in combat. Her eyes widened and her face paled as she saw who her teachers were fighting.

"I-i-it's a Shrouded Herald!"

"What!? Is it Shinkō?"

"N-no, someone else," Hinata said as Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.

"We have to get these people to safety. There's a safe house at the back of the compound. Shino, Choji, and Shikamaru are clearing paths. Let's get rid of these things."

"G-go for the right r-rune. That's th-their weakness."

"Thanks, Hina!" Naruto rushed forward and drew the attention of a few statues away from a group of civilians. He lured them away ducking their attacks and provoking more and more of the statues. He kept moving until he had a sizable crowd of them gathered. Once enough distance had been put between them and the civilians Naruto swung his sheathed sword for the rune Hinata told him about.

He hit it dead on, Naruto then realized that his impromptu bludgeon was a terrible idea. Only a small crack formed, and the way his weapon sounded when it hit scared Naruto that his precious sword would break. Good thing he always had a plan B. Naruto slapped an explosive tag on the chest of the nearest golem before leaping onto its head. Pumping chakra into his legs Naruto jumped as far away as he could. Mid arc he put his hands together to form a hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A copy of Naruto poofed into existence and used its falling momentum to grab the real Naruto and throw him as far as it could. Naruto did his best to act cool and not look at the explosion that engulfed the stone men, but then the shockwave hit him and he tumbled to the ground.

Looking back at the burning crater where the golems used to be Naruto hoped nothing fragile was in the blast radius. Getting back to his feet Naruto hit the side of his head in a vain attempt to get the ringing to stop. Maybe Sensei was right and he was putting a little too much oompf in his explosives. He surveyed the area and found that most of the golems had been destroyed. He jogged back over towards Hinata and Ino who were helping some of the local workers.

"Is everyone alright?"

"W-we're fine. Most of the s-statues are gone," Hinata said.

"We need to get the civilians to safety and-" They were cut off when the entire compound shook with a bone rattling roar. They all looked as a dragon made of chakra began circling in the air above the dig site.

"Get Down!" Hinata shouted. Naruto flung himself to the ground as the sound of sharp metal whistling through the air portended danger. Kunai fell from the sky cutting into the ground. Naruto heard cries of pain from the civilians when they weren't fast enough to find cover.

Naruto looked up from his cover and felt his heart stop. Kunai were sticking out of the ground everywhere, but the first thing Naruto noticed were the pieces of paper attached to the knives handles. "Get away from the knives!" Naruto shouted leaping to his feet. Too late Naruto felt the surge of chakra. Instead of the fiery doom he was expecting smoke rose menacingly from the knives. The smoke cleared reveling a clay sculpture of a man. It tilted its head down to look at Naruto. Where the sandstone creations had hollows for eyes these had Glass beads instead. No runes adorned the things head, but it possessed a small hole where its mouth would have been.

Naruto quickly got to his feet and hefted his bound sword. The clay man tilted its head as it watched Naruto. Naruto felt a shiver run up his spine, it wasn't just watching him, it was evaluating him. Naruto gulped as he realized that these creatures were far smarter than their stone companions. It charged Naruto, clawed hands leading for his throat. Naruto ducked the attack and swung his sword for the things mouth. It was the biggest difference, Naruto figured it had to be important.

The clay man brought its arm up and blocked the attack. The sheathed sword left a divot in its arm, but did little real damage. With one arm blocking the sword the golem tried clawing out Naruto's kidney. His clothes tore and he felt his skin break. Luckily the metal mesh hidden beneath his clothes took most of the damage. Naruto leapt back from the golem, only to nearly trip over another. Naruto ducked the new golems attack and managed to unsheathe his blade.

Naruto kicked out the legs of the nearest golem, and swung his now bared blade at the approaching clay man. The golem brought its arm up like last time but instead of bouncing off the steel bit deep. Grunting with the exertion Naruto forced his sword through managing to cleave off the creature's arm. The clay composing the creature didn't feel like normal hardened clay. It felt wet, warm even, disturbingly familiar. With a sickening lurch in Naruto's stomach he realized it felt like living flesh. The golem had recomposed itself and stood contemplating its new stump. It looked back up and stared at Naruto's sword. It then bent down and picked up a piece of wood that had at one time been a sledgehammer's handle. It held it out in front of itself like a sword and charged.

Naruto parried the awkward swing and retaliated with an attack of his own. Instead of blocking the golem ducked the swing and went for Naruto's legs. Naruto flipped into the air avoiding the golem's sweep. He then grabbed the clay man's head and tried twisting. The golem followed Naruto's motion preventing its head from being wrenched off. When Naruto landed, he used his momentum to throw the unbalanced golem into the one that was trying to sneak up behind him. The pair fell to the ground in a tangle of clay limbs.

Naruto reversed the grip on his sword and stabbed it down at the golem's head. The statue managed to raise its arm fast enough to intercept Naruto's sword with its stick. But Naruto had leverage and chakra control on his side and the wooden handle splintered and broke. Naruto's sword descended and pierced the golems mouth. Spasms rolled through the clay body, smoke rose from the creature's mouth and it fell still. Naruto wrenched his sword away from the inert statue, breaking it. Without whatever was powering it, the clay went back to acting like hardened clay.

The other golem wrestled with the inert one pinning it to the ground trying to get back up. Naruto quickly dispatched it before it could do so. Naruto looked around and horror gripped his heart. The civilians were either running for their life, or trying to fight back. Naruto could see divots and cuts in the statues. The softer clay made it easier to damage them, but they were smarter and Naruto saw some using weapons like the one he fought.

Movement out of the corner of Naruto's eye caught his attention. Two more statues were bearing down on a younger man, blood dripping from a wound in his side. Naruto charged forward aiming to save the man. Too late. The man screamed out as clay claws rent his back. The man fell just as Naruto's sword cut into the attacking golem's mouth. The golem froze up as its body hardened. Naruto was moving too fast to stop and lost the grip on his sword. Not breaking stride Naruto tackled the other golem and wrestled it to the ground.

Producing a kunai from his sleeve Naruto stabbed the clay man's mouth. With a savage twist the golem spasmed and fell inert. "You alright?" Naruto asked moving to the injured civilian. No response. "Hey? Hey!?" The wound Naruto had seen earlier was far worse than he had originally thought. "Come on, Hey!" Naruto felt along the man's neck, looking for a pulse. "DAMMIT!" Naruto shouted punching the dirt.

He got to his feet and retrieved his sword. Naruto ran up a pole and balanced on the top. He surveyed the area trying to wrap his head around what was going on. The clay men were everywhere, attacking everyone, and had picked up numerous weapons. Hinata, Ino, and the Daimyo's Elite Guard had set up a loose perimeter around a few of the workers. They were trying to fight them, but the creature's numbers were too much. Those workers that hadn't made it behind the fighters couldn't hold them off. Naruto watched them die.

A coldness overtook Naruto. No, not a coldness. He felt empty. He could help these people. He could destroy these monstrosities. All he had to do was let loose, unleash his full power on them, break his promise with Sensei. But if following Sensei's rules meant watching innocent people die? Then damn Sensei, and damn his rules! Naruto leapt from the pole and landed in a crouch. He rose to his feet and began moving towards the nearest group of golems. At the edge of his consciousness, just beyond perceptions Naruto felt more than heard strange whispers. He called to them, drew them close. The golems noticed the approaching shinobi and hefted their weapons.

Naruto should have felt anxious, excited, fearful. His heart should have quickened, his blood flow faster. He should have felt the need to hurry, to leap into the fray sword swinging and teeth gnashing. Instead he was calm, cool, empty. The emptiness that Sensei had taught him to seek. The golems approached and Naruto's eyes seemed to eat in the surrounding light.

"First Step of the Traveler: Ignorance."

Black light infused his sword, an impenetrable miasma exploded from the metal. Darker, more powerful, Naruto raised his sword for his first strike. The golems paused, had they been capable of showing emotion, they would have looked surprised. The first charged, sledgehammer leading. Naruto brought his sword down. It was a simple, straightforward attack. The golem raised its hammer to parry the attack and leave it able to strike back. It fell to the ground in two pieces as Naruto's blade completed the arc. His sword had passed through the wooden handle and hardened clay without even slowing.

The golems watched as their comrade fell to the ground. While they were processing what happened and how to respond Naruto was already among them, felled both of them with a single swing. Naruto extended his senses across the battlefield. Readying his blade Naruto charged into the nearest cluster of golems. They swung hammers and picks and claws. Naruto danced around them all. His blade sang as it split limbs and cleaved the chakra laced clay. Naruto had entered a trance, there was no boundary between him, his sword, and the black mist rising from the folded steel. He had become an engine with a singular purpose

Naruto continued moving among the clay enemies laying their numbers low with each swing of his sword. At the edge of his senses Naruto felt a grouping of multiple chakra points heading his direction. Looking up he saw a group of clay golems charging towards him. Naruto held his sword away from him. The black chakra running along the blade condensed into an impenetrable orb at the tip of the weapon. "Third Step of the Traveler: Despair." Naruto swung his sword and with a terrible crack the black orb shattered and the pieces flew forward nearly too fast to follow. The golems twitched and spasmed as the tiny specks of darkness drilled through them.

"N-Naruto?" Naruto came back to his senses when he felt a warm and familiar chakra move next to him.

"You alright, Hinata?" He asked trying to reorient himself.

"What was that!?" Ino shouted running up to the two.

"What was what?" Naruto asked.

"What? That!" Ino gestured emphatically to the pieces of golem littering the ground.

"Oh, just something Sensei taught me," Naruto said rubbing the back of his head.

"Whatever it was we owe you are thanks Sir Naruto." Naruto turned as the elite Guard approached. His battle veil had been torn from his face revealing a surprisingly young man behind it. He favored one foot over the other and bore small wounds like the rest of them.

"We need to get the civil-"

"Wait!" Naruto shouted turning his head. "Somethings going on near the Tomb's entrance."

"On it!" Hinata's Byakugan reactivated as she focused on the rocky spire. "I-it's the Shrouded H-Herald. He's d-doing something. K-Kurenai-sensei and Asuma-sensei are there with the others."

"This Shrouded Herald, is he responsible for what has happened?" The guard asked.

"Undoubtedly," Naruto answered.

"I'll rally my brothers and get our people to safety. Regroup with your comrades, and kill the man responsible," The guard said through gritted teeth. Without waiting for an answer, he turned and began ordering around the civilians who could still walk.

"Do…uh…either of you want to tell me what a Shrouded Herald is?" Ino asked.

"L-later we need to help K-Kurenai- sensei and the others," Hinata said. "L-let's go."


Kurenai twisted, turned, and tumbled through the hail of kunai. Whilst she was moving she grabbed as many of the tags attached to the knives as she could. She ripped them apart as clay golems sprang from the ones she couldn't get to. She lost track of Satori and Loew as his creations swarmed her. She dodged and parried their blows. They were more sophisticated than their sandstone counterparts, but their level was still only high genin.

Kurenai dodged and blocked their attacks as she moved through their masses. She stopped when she felt her back hit something solid. "Where'd those two go?" Asuma asked cutting apart the golems while remaining back to back with Kurenai.

"Lost them when he sicked these things on us."

"How many of these things does he have?"

"Too many. How much time do you need?"

"Just a few seconds and some space." Kurenai poured chakra into her legs and launched herself at the nearest golem. She landed on its chest feet first and used it as a springboard to attack the next one. She took out its knee sending it sprawling and spun into a roundhouse kick that sent another skidding away. She kept moving attacking, doing minimal damage but creating space around her and Asuma. "Fire Style:-" Kurenai disengaged and leapt back to Asuma. "-Burning Ash Cloud!" Asuma exhaled a cloud of gunpowder in a ring around them. Asuma focused fire chakra to his mouth and clacked his teeth together creating a spark. The spark ran through the cloud igniting the gunpowder within. Kurenai shielded her head from the blast, and the subsequent rain of clay.

"They must be heading towards the tomb, we need to catch up," Kurenai said brushing dust off herself. Without a word Asuma took off moving as fast as he could after Loew and Satori. Kurenai followed and the pair moved across the compound dodging, or destroying, any golems in their path. They came in sight of the spire's entrance. Satori and Loew had undone whatever locks the archaeologists had put in place before seeking shelter.

Loew ran in and Satori was about to follow when her body seemed to seize up and she froze. With an explosion of dust Choji came rolling into view. He barreled towards the unmoving Satori, crushing golems as he went. Loew interceded himself between his partner and her death by crushing. He swiped a bloody thumb across an unfurled scroll and threw it to the ground. A pillar of smoke enveloped the pair as Choji charged in.

A terrible, whining scream filled the air. The smoke dissipated revealing Choji spinning in place. Before the rolling boy stood a thirteen-foot tall golem made of granite with eyes of ruby. Fuuinjutsu seals ran along the length of the construct leading up to the things forehead where they formed the same three runes that were on the sandstone statues.

Its eyes glowed a devilish red and the screeching came to a stop as the golem halted Choji's rotation completely. It lifted the expanded boy over its head, and slammed him into the ground. Choji deflated and laid on the ground stunned and gasping for air. The golem brought its arm back ready to destroy Choji but halted for a split second before punching the ground where Choji lay. But that brief instant of inaction allowed Shino to pop out of the ground and pull his teammate to safety. Even so the shockwave created by the impact sent the two boys flying.

Kurenai split from Asuma and went to make sure Choji and Shino weren't dead. On the way, she saw Shikamaru hiding behind a rock. He was panting hard and seemed on the verge of passing out. "Shikamaru are you okay?"

Shikamaru shook his head as he grasped his chest. "It took…all my chakra…just to possess…that thing…for one…second."

"Stay low, we'll handle this."

"Go help…Asuma-sensei. I'll help Choji and Shino." Looking back at the towering creature Kurenai knew Asuma was going to need all the help he could get.

"When you find, them keep your heads down and find the other three." Kurenai turned and ran back towards the stone behemoth. Asuma got there first and had already prepared a ninjutsu to deal with it. "Fire Style: Burning Ash Cloud!" He exhaled a thick choking cloud of gunpowder that enveloped the golem.

Before he could ignite it, though, the fuuinjutsu on the golem's arms began to glow and it brought its hands together in a terrible crash. Wind blasted from the seals and sent the black cloud scattering. It separated it hands as its chest started glowing. Fire erupted from the seals sending a roaring inferno at Asuma. "Wind Style: Wind Break Jutsu!" Asuma slashed his knives forward stopping the flames with gale force winds. The jonin leapt back away from the blistering heat. If he could lead it away the others might be able to enter the tomb and stop Satori. No luck, the golem remained impassive in front of the entrance. Only the ghostly red light in its ruby-eyes gave hint to its unnatural life.

"What do we do?" Asuma asked as Kurenai caught up with him.

"I'll try to distract it and get it to use that wind technique. While it's focusing on me use you Burning Ash Cloud to destroy it."

"Think that'll be enough?"

"It'll have to be." The two split up and ran in opposite directions. The golem remained unmoving, watching them. Kurenai moved in first and let loose a hail of shuriken. They bounced harmlessly off its stone body. It remained unmoving. Kurenai moved in closer, a kunai in each hand. Finally, the statue took notice and turned to face the red eyed kunoichi. She let her kunai fly. One scraped harmlessly along its cheek, the other found its mark and chipped one of the ruby eyes. The ominous glow in its eyes intensified as it took a step towards the jonin.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Kurenai fired five fireballs at the golem. The golem didn't pay the burning spheres any attention as they slammed into its chest. It waved the fire away with lazy swing of its arm. With the other arm, it picked up a boulder and threw it at the Konoha-nin. Kurenai rolled out of the way and released another flurry of shuriken. Her aim had been spoiled and the shuriken either missed, or harmlessly bounced off its arm. "Now Asuma!"

"Fire Style: Burning Ash Cloud!" Asuma once more released a choking black cloud of gunpowder at the construct. The lines running along the golems arms began glowing as it moved to nullify the attack. Metal strained and wires cut into stone as the ninja wires attached to Kurenai's shuriken were pulled taunt. Asuma clacked his teeth together and ignited the black cloud. The explosion engulfed the golem as Kurenai and Asuma got clear.

A dreadful humming filled the air as the granite golem staggered from the smoke. Cracks ran along its body, but was otherwise unharmed. Its eyes now burned with the intensity of a forest fire. It raised a single fist as every line on its body glowed. The humming reached a crescendo as it slammed its fist into the ground. Shockwaves spread out cracking the earth and sending the jonin to the ground as debris rained down. The earth continued to splinter as the golem raised a chunk of rock the size of wagon above its head. The humming continued as it hurled the boulder at the unbalanced shinobi.

"Get down!" Naruto shouted as he leapt at the boulder, his sword surrounded by black chakra. He pushed his chakra as far as he could as he brought his blade down. The black mist extended from the middle and cut the stone in half, missing Kurenai and Asuma. "How many of these things does he have!?" Naruto shouted in exasperation.

"Too many!" Kurenai said as Ino and Hinata joined them.

"Glad to see you three are alright," Asuma said as he and Kurenai got to their feet.

Asuma popped a chakra pill as he weighed the situation. "I'm fresh out of ideas on how to take that thing down. Anyone have a plan?"

"I-if you remove the r-rightmost rune, th-the s-statue will deactivate," Hinata spoke up.

"Really?" Kurenai asked.

"Yeah, it's how we fought those stone guys earlier," Ino replied.

"But this thing's…granite? I think. A lot harder than sandstone. Still, if I can get up to his head I'll be able to cut the rune off," Naruto said swinging his sword.

"No, leave the rune to me," Asuma said sizing up the golem. "You four distract it, once I'm in position I'll be able to remove the rune without having to climb it."

Cracking filled the air as the golem, growing impatient, began tearing up stones to throw at them. "Follow my lead!" Kurenai shouted flipping over a flying stone. The Red-eyed women charged forward, towards the giant, flanked by Naruto, Ino, and Hinata. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu." Like before the golem was unfazed by the blistering flames. Naruto moved in while the golems sight was blocked and swung his sword at its knee. The black clad blade bit in only an inch deep as the cloying mist surrounding his sword sputtered and vanished. He needed time to recharge. Naruto tried to pull his sword free but the grey stone held it fast.

"Naruto!" Naruto ducked just as a giant hand swung at him. It then lifted its foot and tried to stomp Naruto to death. Naruto let go of his weapon and tried flipped out of the things reach. The shockwave from its stomp caused Naruto to go tumbling away.

"Hinata!" Naruto shouted tossing her one of his pouches before he rolled over a dune.

She opened the pouch and pulled out a few exploding tags before tossing the pouch to Ino. "I-I'll get the left you get the r-right."

"On it!" Ino shouted as Kurenai released another barrage of fireballs obscuring the golems vision. Becoming annoyed by the nuisance the golems chest began glowing as it released a gout of flame at Kurenai. While it was distracted Ino ran in slapped an explosive tag to its ankle before sliding under a grasping hand and moving to safety. Hinata had moved to the other leg and slammed the tag onto the front of its knee. While it was trying to grab Ino Hinata leapt up and grabbed the hilt of Naruto's sword with both hands. She planted her feet against its leg and hauled on the weapon.

At first it didn't budge, but then she felt it loosen and managed to pull the sword free. She fell to the ground and rolled back to her feet. She took the sword and moved out of the golems reach as Naruto leapt over her. He landed on the golems chest and slapped an explosive tag on it. He tried to leap away but the golem surprised him with its speed as it caught his foot. The golem wrapped its other hand around Naruto's chest and began squeezing. The blonde ninja winked at the granite creature before disappearing in an explosion of smoke.

"Kai!" The tag on the golems chest exploded causing it to step back. "Kai!" The tag on its foot exploded sending it stumbling to one side. "Kai!" The final tag exploded causing the golem to fall on its hands and knees. Asuma surged out of the dust cloud kicked up by the explosions. He hauled his arm back then whipped it forward flinging his trench knife at the golems head. The knife hit the creatures head and cut through the stone like butter. A chunk of granite containing the rightmost rune tumbled through the air. The humming that filled the air ceased as the now inert statue fell to the ground.

The group stood there catching their breath as their victory settled in. "Sound off!" Kurenai shouted stepping up next to Asuma. Ino, Naruto, and Hinata responded followed by Choji, Shino, and Shikamaru as they walked forward to join the others. "Can you recover your knife?" Kurenai asked Asuma once she knew everyone was alright.

"Considering its probably halfway through that spire there? No. But Satori's been holding onto one for me. I'm going to go get it."

"I know this is going to be a drag, but what's going on?" Shikamaru sighed taking a chakra pill.

"That man in the black and white cloak is a member of a group called the Shrouded Heralds. We have encountered them before," Shino answered.

"The last time we faced one he kept going on about some sort of artifact. My guess, there's one in the tomb," Kurenai said.

"So why not get the civilians out of here and let them have it?" Shikamaru asked, drawing everyone's attention. "We were hired to protect these people. Wouldn't it make more sense to get them to safety than to go after these heralds?"

"What are you sayi-"

"Quiet Naruto." Kurenai said. "Shikamaru isn't necessarily wrong. Our mission involves protecting the locals and the researchers. Normally I would agree with him."

"But you don't agree with him now because?" Ino asked. She had seen too many of these people die already. She had never fought so hard or so long in her life, she didn't know how much she had left. Looking at her two teammates she surmised they didn't have much either.

"There is next to nothing known about these Shrouded Heralds. You've seen what one can do here. And the other one went toe-to-toe with," Kurenai caught herself as she glanced at Naruto. "We only barely got away with our lives last time. A group that powerful would attract attention. From that and from what this one, Loew, said I've figured out roughly how they've managed it. They leave no witnesses."

"If we evacuate then these heralds would attack the village without any hesitation. You've already seen how they see human life." Kurenai swept her hand across the compound taking in all the dead bodies. "This artifact could contain dangerous powers. If people who could do something like this got more power, they wouldn't hesitate to level the village. We need to stop them now."

"Kurenai's right," Asuma said turning to face the genin. "We need to hurry. If we can catch them in tight corridors, then Loew won't be able to overwhelm us with numbers as easily. Move Out!" Asuma charged into the tomb first. Kurenai quickly followed, she was concerned for Asuma. This Satori had him rattled. Glancing behind her she saw their teams following them. They had to succeed. For the civilians, and for themselves.


Kurenai and Naruto led the group, them being the only ones to have entered beforehand. Hinata had deactivated her Byakugan to conserve chakra and Shino had recalled all his Kikaichῡ to let them rest for the final battle. They turned into the final corridor heading towards the burial chamber when they came up short. A half dozen sandstone golems blocked their way. Moving among the dun colored group three black obsidian creatures waited, as still as statues. But worse than all that was the granite golem that stood in front of the large door Naruto had seen earlier. They remained eerily silent and still, but there was no doubt that they were watching the shinobi.

"More of them?" Choji asked in disbelief. Shikamrau's eyes scanned the area quickly taking in every detail trying to come up with a battle plan. This was going to get ugly.

"Everyone get behind me!" Naruto shouted stepping to the front. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto became surrounded by smoke as five clones rushed forward down the hall way. The clones spread out as they charged, three of them even running up and along the walls.

As one the golems exploded in action moving to meet the Naruto's. The three on the walls made it past the sandstone golems easily. One on the ground wasn't so lucky and was dogpiled. The obsidian creatures dropped to all fours and climbed up the walls moving like disjointed spiders across the uneven surface. The closest Naruto to them drew his sword and met them with an onslaught of steel. He was quickly overwhelmed and dispelled, but had managed to open a path for the other three Narutos. These three landed on the ground sprinted at the grey monster standing before them. The golems chest began glowing as it readied its attack.

The two Naruto clones on the outside of the trio grabbed the Naruto in the middle and threw him forward as fire erupted from the golems chest consuming the two clones. The one thrown rolled across the ground between the granite constructs legs. It got to its feet and slammed its hands against the sealed door. The golem turned and swung it's fist trying to backhand the clone, but it had dissolved into smoke before the golem had hit it. "Get down and hold on to something!" Naruto shouted drawing his sword and plunging it into the earth up to the hilt. The rest of the shinobi took his advice even as the golems had decided to press the attack. Light filled the corridor and everyone present felt as though they were about to start falling towards the door.

They began using chakra to stick to the floor or walls as the force pulling them in grew. It grew and grew, Shino could feel as it began pulling the air creating howling winds in the hall. Kikaichῡ crawled out and started helping hold Shino to the ground. A single insect's strength was insubstantial, but thousands of them were not. Shikamaru tried to use his shadows to anchor him in place but the growing light weakened them and he started slipping.

Ino reached out and tried to hold Shikamaru in place when the jutting stone she was holding onto broke. The sudden jolt broke the shadows and both Shikamaru and Ino were pulled towards the glowing door. "I got you guys!" Choji shouted releasing his chakra hold and jumping in front of his teammates. "Body Expansion Jutsu!" Choji's body exploded in size and wedged itself between the wall and floor of the corridor. Shikamaru and Ino fell against his belly and held on for dear life as Choji yelled with the exertion being placed on his body.

Hinata had thrown herself against the wall when Naruto had yelled at them. She was using her chakra to hold her in place but didn't know how long she could hold it. When pain exploded across her back as a stone hit her. Her grip weakened and her chakra anchor ceased as she fell to the ground. She began falling across the ground towards the door, towards Naruto. "Naruto!" She managed to yell as she extended her hand.

"Hinata!" Naruto releasing one hand from his sword. He managed to grab Hinata's hand as she slid past. Naruto's shoulder exploded in pain as his body was nearly rent with the force of arresting Hinata's slide across the ground. Naruto gritted his teeth against the pain as he tried helping Hinata forward. With the stop, Hinata had managed to use her chakra to hold herself to the ground and crawl up to where Naruto's sword was sticking out of the ground. She grabbed the handle and used her other arm to hold onto Naruto. Pain still dulled his senses but Naruto responded and held Hinata close.

It felt as though the wind whipped through the hallway and that they were one slip away from falling into the abyss for what seemed like hours, but lasted less than a minute. The light dimmed and the wind died, and the force pulling them towards the door ceased. Shakily the Knonoha-nin got to their feet. Looking down the hallway Asuma noted that all the golems had vanished. "Naruto, your arm!" The group turned to see Naruto get to his feet, his left arm hanging limply at his side.

Naruto leaned against the wall as Hinata examined his arm, it felt like someone had slipped ground glass inside his shoulder. "I-it's become dislocated. B-bite down on s-something, I'm g-going to fix it." Nodding Naruto lifted his sword and bit into its leather-bound hilt. Hinata gingerly took his arm and with one quick motion wrenched the joint back into place. Naruto screamed into his hilt as Hinata did this, but quieted down as the pain dimmed down to a dull ache.

"What was that?" Ino asked as she helped a breathless Choji to his feet.

"That is a good question," Asuma said pulling his trench knife out of the wall.

"The door to the final burial room is trapped," Naruto said massaging his shoulder. "I deactivated it before the attack occurred. My clone reactivated it. And…uh…you can see the results."

"How is your arm?" Shino asked moving to his teammates.

"It will do," Naruto replied flexing his arm.

"It will have to. They're on the other side. Follow our lead and if Loew starts glowing fall back," Kurenai ordered moving to the door. "Get ready." Weapons were drawn and techniques prepared as Kurenai threw the doors open. The ninja moved in and formed a semi-circle as they gauged the situation.

The chamber was large, with pillars supporting the arching ceiling. A dozen sandstone golems turned to look at the intruders while at the back of the room on a raised platform Loew and Satori were working to remove the lid from an upright sarcophagus. They stopped what they were doing and turned to the intruders. "You people just don't know when to give up," Satori said pulling out her battle fans.

"It is as Father says 'The agents of the Usurper are unyielding in their pursuit to destroy the works of the Savior.' We must be equally relentless." Loew stepped down from the raised platform and removed the giant scroll form his back slamming one end of it into the ground sending a hollow thump reverberating through the chamber. "Open the coffin Satori, I shall punish these puppets."

He grabbed the lip of the scroll and pulled it open. The paper whirled as the scroll unfurled. The paper laid across the ground among the sandstone golems. Loew bit his thumb and slammed his hand down on the unfurled scroll. "Rise my greatest creation, and crush these insects!" Smoke poured from the scroll filling the chamber. Both Naruto and Hinata started trembling as they craned their necks upward. When the smoke cleared the rest of the shinobi found themselves doing the same.

In the middle of the room stood a twenty-foot giant made of worked steel. Its skin was fashioned to look like armor, its head a helmet, and possessing eyes of diamond. The three runes were carved deeply into its forehead. Black line of fuuinjutsu ran along its armored carapace and across its arms to the impossibly large two-handed sword it held blade down. "From my flesh was your body fashioned, from my blood was your life granted, from my soul were you given purpose. Awaken, and serve your creator." That terrible humming filled air as though the creature wished to roar, but possessed no mouth. The sound of metal scraping against metal filled the air as the goliath lifted its sword. "Our minds are one, our duty before us." Loew's eyes grew hazy, distant. As though he were not looking at them anymore. The diamonds in the metal golems eyes began to glow and it took a thunderous step forward, shaking the entire tomb.

It raised its sword as the fuuinjutsu running along its edge began to glow. "Naruto!" Asuma shouted running through hand signs as he moved in front of the group.

"On it!" Naruto shouted stepping up next to him. The sword swept through the air releasing a wave of fire.

"Wind Style: Windbreak Jutsu!"

"Wind Style: Windbreak Jutsu!"

Weapons swung down and gale force winds intercepted the flames. Still the heat was searing and the two had to protect their heads. "Watch out!" Kurenai shouted. Naruto and Asuma dived out of the way as the golems sword crashed into the floor cleaving the ground where they were standing and sending tremors through the entire chamber. Its arm began to glow as it pointed its hand at the Konoha-nin. Lightning flashed and ripped apart the ground sending the shinobi scrambling to avoid the deadly currents. The earth shook as the goliath dragged its blade through the ground ripping the stone like it was made of paper.

The shinobi scrambled to avoid the golems attacks as the earth shook with every ponderous movement the golem made. The massive sword began glowing again as the golem plunged it into the ground creating a wave of force that sent the ninja flying. "Fall back!" Kurenai shouted as she threw a handful of smoke bombs on the ground.

The shinobi retreated back under cover from the smokescreen, they needed to regroup. "Is everyone alright?" Kurenai asked. Looking over the group the answer was obvious, while none had sustained any life-threatening injuries they all now had scrapes and bruises from the shockwaves the monster's attacks made.

"W-what are we going to do?" Ino asked the group.

"If I can get up to the head I can take out the rune," Naruto said.

"That's got to be solid metal," Shikamaru said incredulously.

"I know, just get me up there."

"Assuming you can cut through solid steel, I doubt that the goliath will allow us to move freely," Shino said keeping a watch to make sure their smokescreen was holding.

"Thirty seconds," Asuma said suddenly. "I can keep that thing busy for thirty seconds." Shikamaru thought for a moment formulating a plan when a gust of wind blasted the smoke from the group revealing the metal golem standing above them sword raised.

"Die!" Loew shouted as the sword descended. Time slowed as the group watched the massive blade fall.

Asuma stepped forward, one hand held palm out perpendicular to his face, the other palm out towards the ground. "Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder." Light filled the tomb as a heavenly Buddha appeared behind Asuma. It extended one of its countless arms and knocked the blade aside as another arm slammed its palm into the golem's chest staggering it back a step.

Shikamaru had no idea what was going on but their thirty seconds were ticking. "Ino, Kurenai-sensei distract the controller. Choji, remember that time we tried jumping Konoha's wall?"

"Y-yeah? Oh…yeah! Got it!"

"Naruto follow Choji's lead. Hinata, Shino, we'll cover them." Shikamaru finished as a boom sounded overhead. The metal golem sheared through a dozen ethereal hands with a flaming sword.

"We don't have much time. Move!" Kurenai shouted at the genin pushing them to action. They burst from cover and charged forward toward the feet of the metal colossus. The sandstone golems that had been standing motionless exploded into action and intercepted the ninja.

Hinata met them first with a flying kick that knocked the golem over. She ducked as a golem swung at her from behind. She twisted and scraped a kunai across its chest. This did little than annoy, but all Hinata had to do was keep them focused on her. She danced around its follow up attack and kicked a third golem in the shin dropping it to its knee. Shino vaulted over her and brought his heel down on its head shattering the rune. He then raised his arms and a flood of Kikaichῡ poured from his sleeves. They swarmed the sandstone men and congregated on their runes. Their movements became sluggish as the Kikaichῡ drained the chakra powering them, but the golems persevered in their single-minded goal of smashing the shinobi's heads.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu!" Shikamaru had enough chakra left for one jutsu, and he used it to trap four of the constructs in place. Hinata and Shino ignored the slowed golems and made quick work of the now paralyzed ones. While Shikamaru was forcing as much chakra as he had to the fore Naruto and Choji ran past the brawling group. They moved as fast as they could towards the metal monstrosity and its flaming sword.

"You…uh…know what you're doing?" Choji asked looking back at Naruto.

"Look out!" Naruto grabbed Choji and threw themselves to the ground as an oversized metal foot passed overhead before landing with an earth rumbling crash. "I hope so," Naruto said helping Choji back up while looking between the metal beast and Asuma. The Buddha he had summoned had grown dim and possessed fewer arms. Asuma himself was breathing heavily, sweat pouring down his face. Their thirty seconds were almost up and the goliath looked no worse for wear.

"Here Naruto!" Choji shouted getting down on his hands and feet. "Jump on my back!" Naruto, as lightly as he could, stepped onto Choji's back. "Get ready to fly!" Naruto crouched and readied himself.


'They are up to something,' Loew thought to himself. His eyes moved back and forth rapidly as his brain processed the images coming in from his sandstone statues and his metal behemoth. He couldn't focus on the insignificant ones too much. Asuma was somehow able to hold off his greatest creation from annihilating these worthless blasphemers from this world. But this battle would soon end, Asuma could not hold his technique much longer. And then, he would smash them like the pitiable insects they were.

It was then that he felt something. Like a worm trying to wriggle its way into his mind. He was an Adept Brother; his will had been honed to a weapons edge. But still the worm wriggled in. He had spread his consciousness too thin, over too many golems. He retracted himself from his creations and banished the intruder with as much force as he could. He began spreading back out when. "Body Expansion Jutsu!" The fat shinobi expanded catapulting the blonde-haired kid up into the air. Loew focused all his attention on his metal golem readying to meet anything these servants of the Usurper could throw at him.


Naruto was flying through the air his sword at the ready. He reached the top of his arc and time seemed to still. He gathered as much of his chakra as he could to cut through the golem's head. He dug deep for the necessary chakra, deeper, as deep as he could go. Deeper than he-

…drip…

He couldn't stop now, he needed more power, more chakra.

…drip…

"It won't be enough."

Naruto ignored it and gathered what he could, even if it was right he would still figure out a way.

"Pathetic."

…drip…

"Release me. Release me, and I will rip apart such paltry works and crush their maker. It would be so easy."

'I AM IN CONTROL!' Naruto shouted into his mind.

"So you keep reminding me, but use my power all the same. Remember, all things have a price." The voice faded with a deep, reverberating laugh as new chakra surged through Naruto's body. Red light began emanating from his skin, but that wasn't what Naruto wanted. The red chakra began moving up his body and along his arms. It passed onto his blade where the color began darkening. More! Faster! More than ever before.

Whatever the boy was planning Loew would not allow him to finish. The sandstone golems be damned, he focused his entire perceptions on the metal golem. Loew focused chakra towards the mouth where fuuinjutsu lines began to glow. "Fire!" Energy blasted from the metal goliaths mouth consuming Naruto in a burst of light, incinerating him.

"First Step of the Traveler…"

How? It was a direct hit; the boy should be dead. No…but he had missed. Except he hadn't missed…but he had. How had he…Genjutsu! But how? When he was distracted by the intrusion. He still had time he could-

"…Ignorance!"

Black chakra exploded from Naruto's blade as he descended towards the metal golems head. Loew's eyes widened and he could only stare in awe at what he was seeing. "ORYAA!" Naruto's blade met the golems head with an explosion of sparks. For a single breathless moment, all present stared at Naruto suspended in air cloaked in black mist of the darkest night. Light flashed, blinding all. Metal creaking against meal, the earth shook. Impossibly slow, the behemoth fell backwards crashing into the ground with a bone rattling roar.

As the dust began clearing Naruto stood atop the slain foe. Black chakra still misted from his body in ominous swirls. Naruto looked up, locking eyes with Loew. The Herald recoiled in fear at the boy's crimson eyes silhouetted against the black mist. "W-what are you?" Loew stepped back moving back up the stairs to the elevated platform, never once taking his eyes off Naruto.

"Loew, you need to call Father!" Satori's voice broke the trance the two were under as they looked to the missing-nin.

The tremor from the titan's death had shaken the sarcophagus lid free revealing a tightly bound mummy wrapped in ancient gauze. Upon its head was a brilliant golden crown, bejeweled and regal it reflected what light was in the tomb in brilliant patterns. "No…" Loew looked between the crown and the assembled shinobi. He then looked at Satori and made his decision. "No! I am not Shinkō! I will not call for help at the merest of setbacks." Loew turned his back on the shinobi and tore up the steps towards the Wise Man's final resting pace.

Naruto gave chase but Satori jumped in the way and sent him tumbling back with a gust of wind. "I am a chosen of the Savior! These blasphemers and heathens know nothing. I will show them. I will show them the wrath of a god!" He made it to the top and walked up to the interred corpse. He ripped the crown form the corpses head and held it in his hands. Then with a look of pure disgust he threw the golden crown to the ground. With a clang the crown bent and the jewels flew off.

Stepping over the ruined crown Loew grabbed the timeworn bandages wrapped around the mummy's head and ripped them away. With a sickening squelch the mummified head fell to the ground at Loew's feet. He turned towards the gathered ninja and reverently held up his prize. In his hands was a simple circlet of beaten copper. Inset at its center, a jagged piece of black metal. No eye could look away from the strange item. The room seemed to darken as the mysterious alloy ate the nearby light.

"Gaze now upon what the Usurper sought so hard to erase. Gaze now upon the Saviors wrath, his fury…his majesty. Witness the power of the Sage of the Endless Path!" With the reverence that can only be affected by a true believer, Loew placed the circlet upon his head. He closed his eyes and breathed deep. Naruto's hands shook as he sensed what was coming. Hinata forgot how to breath as she watched Loew prepare himself. A shiver ran up Kurenai's spine as dread fell over the entire group. Sounds seemed to dull, light seemed to fade, colors lost their hue. Eyes as black as the deepest ocean depths, as clear as a cloudless night, and as cold as an arctic winter opened.

"Servants, Slaves of a false prophet, a false ideal! Dare you face the truth!?"