The God of War:
A/N: Side story whilst I make the next chapter. Has some action in it in a different context, and it serves as an extension of the world in Rainfall, but not a continuation of it.
…
Before the Sage of Six Paths, there were two deities worshipped by the people of the planet the elemental nations inhabited.
One was the rabbit goddess, possessing a beauty and power otherworldly. Scarlet processions fell wherever she walked, men and women alive falling to their knees in awe of both. Men she slept with were turned into a sick fuel, yet each time more and more came to her. The people loved her, and despite the blood she spilled, she loved the people. She gave people chakra, but only for her own benefit.
She was cruel, and perfect. An active contradiction in every sense.
The other was the God of War. A description seems redundant for such a title, but one is necessary I promise you. In all tales this figure manifests as a neutral force. Sometimes they fought for justice, sometimes cruelty. Entire families had been hunted down by this man, as were bandit clans and marauders.
His power was as natural a force as the earth he stepped on, yet it seemed to elevate him. He was powerful beyond any army, more durable than steel, and had a mind sharper than the cleanest cut. He never commanded armies, but there are tales of leaders having his wisdom whispered in the middle of the night, and them waking with a plan capable of storming the heavens.
Some wondered the origin of his strength, and while descriptions of his power aren't dissimilar to the legends of Sages (Not of the Rikudo etymology, but the Senjutsu sect.), they seem to be outclassed by the reported feats of strength and speed, entire armies cut down in the blink of an eye.
Boredom was his calling card, a dull face with ne'er any recognition of enjoyment that served as a harbinger of destruction. Many have postulated that the figure only intervenes for his own entertainment, whilst some consider him tied to the world. Why would one so bored of life stay in it for so long?
Despite the reported cruelty (Some because of,) many worshiped him, despite his occasional culling's, churches and temples splattered with faithful blood. In these religious books of myth and legend, there was a trace of truth. Across all of these texts, aged pages each and all, there lay a tale of a man 'born into a war', who learnt to gain power simply by observing battlefields. He would stand by the side, like a reaper waiting for crops to grow, while people fought for survival. Eventually he joined in, and a God was born.
Some had tried to walk in his path, yet he had killed them all. Any person with chakra from Kaguya's home, he killed without remorse. It was even said he had gifted Kaguya her land, but how true that is, only the earth can say.
One can only speculate on who would win between the two, though it is the opinion of the author that the God of War would win. The length of tales depicting them stretch on for much longer than Kaguya's, and seniority usually means strength.
Both figures faded into obscurity after the rise of the Sage of Six Paths and his battle with the Ten-Tailed Beast. We will continue to wonder where they went, and why? After all, war never left us.
-From Myths and Legends of the Pre Sage era: Authored by Shinto Muyori, 12th Grand archivist of the Fire Damiyo.
…
Set looked out from the picturesque little porch of his wooden made cabin. He loved the view he had, the front door leading into a pebble covered coast to a calm lake, morning light dancing playfully of the still water, ripples texturing the orange light, the blue-ish waters leading up to a grey mountain stretching far into the distance.
It was almost enough to distract him from the two large energy sources he had sensed a bit away, which had been still for about 10 minutes. He was fine with them staying nearby, but it became a bit grating when they didn't even come to say hello. He ran a hand through his brown hair in frustration, and just before he went to investigate the two, they started moving towards him.
He stood in expectation as a pair of figures appeared, silhouetted from the sun behind them, just to the side of the mountain, as they began walking slowly towards him.
Eventually Set could divine their appearance, the cold metallic eyes of the brown-haired man on the left were ringed and held a power to them. The one on the left had features more familiar to Set, milky pupilless eyes and hair, long and white. They were both twins, and looked ready for a fight, but with the one on the left imbued with an exhaustion betraying the aesthetic of their youthful appearance.
Set liked making gambles, a long life filled with murder and risk-taking gave way to both earned and bad habits, so he guessed:
"You've seen the future, right?"
Their resigned expressions told him all he needed to know. No shock, nor even a response. They've already heard this too many times
He laughed; massive smile etched across his mouth, teeth glinting in the low sun.
"I would congratulate you, or tell you something I deem important, but since you've already heard it, I'll keep this brief."
He stretched out his arms. "Hit me with all you have"
The two stood silent for a second.
Then the Byakugan user dashed to the side, sonic boom following, speed faster than the sound it made, but nothing Set couldn't handle. Gravitational waves, however, were a little faster than he could go, and he was sent flying away, across the lake, where a barrier seal had been placed, ready to trap him. In response, Set threw a pebble he had collected downwards, creating a shockwave that pushed him out of the way of the seal. He used the momentum to flip around into a standing position, sandals skidding in the grey stone below.
A canon of air shot out at him from the side, Set simply leaning to the side to avoid it, the blast coming from the palm of the Paler twin, With the Rinnegan wielding one leaping over Set, aiming a steel rod down at him. In response, Set grabbed the hand, aiming to slam the Sage into the ground, When the newly made Demon Container flipped himself around, landing in front of his Brown haired foe, then lashed out with an overhead blow. The War God caught the blow with his hand, the Sage threw a jab with his remaining limb, that too was caught, forcing him to leap up, launching a twin kick at set's body, pushing him a short distance away.
Leaping from his back, with the assistance of gravity, the sage attempted to follow through, swords extending from his flesh, manifesting as wrist blades, him unleashing a flurry of slashes, all missing his target by mere flakes of steel. From underneath, a quick kick flashed out, yet Set chose not to follow.
The logic went something like this.
If I can hit him, it is probably planned.
But if they know what I am going to do anyway, I should go for the hit anyway.
But then they would know what my next move is.
Then, he realised something.
The white eyed one was right behind him, dashing behind to take advantage of his distraction.
Hence, he turned, and uppercutted the man's torso, shooting him into the air. Using his turn as momentum, he then unleashed a powerful kick, the blow smashing into the Sage's guard, and creating a shockwave and blasting him away anyway. Set was pulled after at a breakneck pace using gravity, then the water underneath him rose up, encasing him and pulling him down.
The Sage then pulled himself up, lifting tonnes of rocks and trees, and aiming them at the rough position of the God of War, ending the barrage with a massive explosive generated through pure chakra, decimating the lake, the high temperatures vaporising the water, leaving behind a cloud of steam covering a whirlpool below.
Then out from the cloud, a stone clump was launched just to the left of the Sage, epically missing completely. The Sage looked at the rock, unimpressed, when Set leapt from below, smashing into the rock faster than his eyes could see, kicking the rock, launching himself of with a spin, and smashing his leg into the Sage, catapulting him all the way into the mountain in the distance, creating a crater in an instant.
Just then, falling to the ground, a tree flew up to Set himself, allowing him to flip to land on its top, just as Hamura dashed up it to meet him. Just as he reached Set, Hamura launched a barrage of palm strikes, each one creating a sonic boom with its speed. Hamura took the first few, but eventually his bruised body adapted, and began to redirect each blow, as if he was playing a game, left, right, up, and then pushing Hamura down as he lifted his leg straight up, axe kicking him straight through the tree, sending him down the earth below.
Then the world shifted, as Hagaromo gave an almighty push to the celebrating Set.
He became the projectile for the world's biggest bowling game in existence, as he knocked down about 2000 trees with his body alone, the rest of the destruction caused by the Sage.
He dug himself out of the rock slump he had been buried under, entire body covered in cuts and bruises, covered in so much red he looked like a facsimile of a revenant, a man too spiteful to let death win. Covered in his own blood, he stood before the twins.
"So far, so good. Right." He said, clearly having the time of his life.
The mud covered Hamura and clearly dishevelled Hagaromo didn't look as happy.
"Honestly, I didn't expect you guys to sacrifice each other. You must be pretty desperate."
Set dropped a rock he had in his hand.
He punched the Sage in the stomach, stomped near the other twin to kick up debris, forcing him to duck, as he grabbed his vulnerable leg and used it to fling him into Hagaromo like a fleshy projectile, he then jumped over the twin ball they had been pushed into, then kicked them like a projectile into the floor they had been sent over.
Then the rock hit the ground.
The Sage was the first to respond, flipping over and stretching his arm at Set, hundreds of iron rods forming all around him, whilst Hamura stood up, walking towards Set with a blue shield of chakra ready. Set smashed the shield with a powerful blow, the shockwave vibrating the rods floating in the air with the excess of its power. The Sage sent a pair at him, with one sent at him at breakneck speeds being deflected with his leg, and the other dodged with the turn of the head. Set backflipped, the rest of the rods, missing as they followed his last position, him twirling around in a hypnotic dance when he landed, deftly dodging each of the poles. Eventually, all the poles were gone, and Set none the worse for wear. That was when two massive poles stretched out of the earth, piercing his heart and lungs.
Set's eyes went blank
Then he started laughing maniacally, as he ripped the stumps of the poles off and walked towards Hamura with them still inside of him.
"This is the best you can do? A couple of shit brittle poles inside a man such as I? I conquered death long ago; don't tell me you pilfered the future for a victory as meagre as this?"
He walked, almost comfortable in his state of being, cuts closing with such speed they pushed out steam. A man millennia old walking with more youth than a graduate of adulthood.
It gave hagaromo the time to place down his scriptures and summon his newly made contract.
In an instant, Set was moved in front of The Sage of Six Paths, and it was then that he said those monumental words.
"Seal!"
Then Set was riddled with 10 thin steel rods, as a sealing array lit up beneath him in a distinctive orange glow. The now human porcupine, restrained by the complex crosshatch of human cruelty, looked mornfully, as the Sage began working on the container, a small baby with a tuft of brown hair.
"And what will happen when this one dies?"
For the first time, the Sage spoke to the God. "This seal will transfer to his lineage. Generations will keep you imprisoned, steadily taking your power to extend it."
A soft chuckle escaped his lips.
"In all my years I never found it. Purpose. For so long I lived for the sake of living, yet, I wanted more. I swore to myself that I would never stop fighting for it, and eventually not even death could stop me. That was my curse. There is nothing there, no point, no reason, no matter how hard you look, and I couldn't even choose to stop searching when the curtain of death came for me."
He looked at the two. Hamura spoke.
"You are wrong. We will go forward and make this world a better place, no matter what hardship befalls us. We will not stop!" He finished with a fierce and determined glare.
Set smiled a sardonic smile. Misery and amusement at the ironic.
"I was once a God of Peace. I sought the same salvation you two wish to gift. It never lasted, pages turned to dust and love turned to war. I have seen so many brothers fight. I now no longer remember how to heal broken bones, only how to break them once more."
His life force was being drained, so he resigned to his fate.
"My sons, wherever you consider me your father or not, go forth with these two pieces of advice.
War will come. Try to make it be the first, not the last, as that will only happen if it destroys the world.
Look out for a kid called Uzumaki Naruto. I don't remember why, but he will be important."
With that, he was sealed away for the ages unfurled.
The age of Gods had ended.
The age of the Sage and his Shade, The future God and Darkness of Shinobi, had begun.
Hagaromo and Hamura stood up. They had some work to do.
…
A/N: I mainly wrote this as an experiment with higher power levels. The type of fight where you can say some guy is immortal and have that be the most boring part of the fight. It also sets the stage for the extended world of SI's, this land and world is much bigger than Kumori, and bigger than anybody in fact. I wanted to, with this story, use the challenging of these SI tropes and concepts to introduce other concepts and ideas, reasons for continuing to live and fight, ect.
We have seen country, family, now we will see friends.
Thanks for reading and reviewing.
