No, I'm not dead. Yet. It took me a while to finish this chapter, but when I finally got the time to do it...well, you're getting it now, right?
Review response:
1. TigrezzTail: Oh, no, Zabuza has quite a bit longer to stick around and play Daes Daemar with the rest of the ninja world. You can be sure of that. Unscathed? Maybe, maybe not...and mentally, or physically, is the question to be asked there.
2. MetalRasenganBijuuLord: That's alright, man, I definitely get not always having time or knowing what to say. Thanks for your support!
Let's get this trainwreck moving.
Flames licked the sky as the ground below caught fire, grass and trees drying out and smoking in moments before flaring up like a lost temper.
"A living demon." Zabuza said to himself. Despite his own words to Gato's mercenaries, he hadn't wanted to believe it. "A humanoid one, in Konoha's service. That shouldn't be possible."
By all accounts of myths and legends, nearly every demon besides the Bijuu had been killed in the war against the dead gods. Makai was broken to pieces, the Great Darkness having long since fled that realm at its first opportunity. The Heavenly Throne was similarly destroyed, and only the World Tree existed as proof that the Age of Gods had even come to pass.
The blond wasn't human. Zabuza had understood that as soon as he'd seen the corrosion that Naruto's chakra had caused in the Kubikiribouchou. It could be split, and cracked, but even Mei's Futton techniques weren't capable of putting burrs in his blade.
As fast as he could, Zabuza did his best to process what was happening, and why. The Sharingan was renowned for its ability to memorize and replicate anything it saw, and it was possible to learn a dead shinobi's techniques and chakra natures, even their kekkei genkai, through harvesting cells from their body. Zabuza had graduated from Kirigakure's academy at six years old after murdering an entire graduating class of children more than twice his age, which meant he was more than slightly lacking in any formal education, but he was capable of putting obvious conclusions together.
The demon had access to every technique that one of Konoha's most feared and decorated soldiers, Hatake Kakashi, had ever seen or used. On top of that, demons grew stronger by killing their enemies. That was why the Bijuu were so powerful. They had killed vast numbers of men and other demons in their quest to slaughter the gods, growing to the point of no longer needing their physical bodies. It was what had been so shocking about Konoha's death tolls after the night the Kyuubi had attacked them: somehow, the Yondaime Hokage had been able to force the Kyuubi to physically manifest, and then he killed it.
And yet, the demon before him bore nine tails. A young blond man with mismatched red eyes, but if he were to imagine that they were blue instead...No. Namikaze Minato hadn't killed the Kyuubi. It was an engine of destruction, a force of nature, a king of demons on par with the Great Darkness. There was no way a single human had that level of power. The child was no Jinchuriki, and no seal bound a demon to his flesh, but what if the dead Hokage had forced the Kyuubi to take a mortal form against its will?
All of that power, all of that demonic energy, inside of a baby's body? There was no seal that could prevent the obliteration of the infant's keirakukei, or the hemorrhage of its brain. It would be like trying to fit a king-sized bed inside of a shot glass. The container would rupture, the power source would overflow, or both would happen at once. So if the boy in front of him was the Kyuubi, then he was a drastically weaker one than the demon that Uchiha Madara had bent to his will.
In theory.
Two months ago, Zabuza had taken that Bijuudama at full force. That hadn't been a fluke, and it wasn't thought out; it had been performed due to instincts born from violence. He'd used the Kubikiribouchou to guard his body and perform a shunshin, letting him escape with nothing more than some light contact burns and an annihilated blade. That was a nuisance long past, since his sword's reformative abilities were well-known. And yet, ever since that day, it had felt...lighter, but thirstier. A reverse of the Samehada, which Kisame had revealed to grow heavier as it consumed more chakra.
Now, his sword arm trembled, but it wasn't from fear. Each of Kirigakure's great blades was a monstrosity born of hate and enmity, and the Kubikiribouchou seemed excited to go up against the ninja who'd so viciously broken it. It had felt Naruto's chakra, knew he was nearby, and it hungered for his infernal flesh. As a last resort, though, Zabuza reminded himself of his escape plan. In the event that Gato went down...well, for the moment, that was a "what if," and Zabuza himself held no love for the tyrannical businessman. The most important thing, even more than killing the newfound Kyuubi or his friends from Otogakure, was to make it back to Kiri alive and in one piece. Hopefully, that wouldn't be too difficult.
A little gingerly, he stood up and away from the dead tree that had broken his fall. If that demon could split the earth open and let magma run free, then his Suiton techniques would be an exercise in futility and wasted chakra. It would be better to just augment his movements, and take every advantage his larger frame could give. Sheerly by virtue of his age, he would be stronger and faster than any teenager whose body hadn't finished growing. If only he knew his opponent's capabilities! Training in mock battles against Yagura and Utakata in preparation for enemy Jinchuriki had been strenuous enough, but a Jinchuriki in their fully possessed state was weaker than their unsealed demon. As long as Naruto lived, he would continue to be at his strongest.
In the blink of an eye, the Kubikiribouchou was in Zabuza's right hand, and chakra had spread evenly across his body. That expression on Naruto's face...a deep-set look of merciless anger. It was a good expression for a demon to have. Appropriate, even.
"I see you." Naruto snarled. "Analyzing, high and mighty, so secure in your skills that you stop worrying."
The demon mistook his silence for arrogance? Good. Better to stay quiet, then, and make him lose focus in his rage. As long as he could continue to dodge...but a well-aimed strike would end it. Before he could act, though, the gulf between them widened further. As Nami no Kuni was ripped into pieces, flames spread further along the quick-drying grass. How many crops were being burned to cinders? Kirigakure had used the island nation as an external foodsource, taking enough to survive their recent lean years while leaving the civilian settlement with enough food to subsist on. Gato had been a necessary evil in that circumstance, to be "removed," in the Kirigakure way, as soon as he became irrelevant.
Why another village had decided to get involved was beyond Zabuza's willingness to understand. Any village leader with half of a working brain, a category that the renowned Sandaime Hokage certainly filled, would have understood a front when they saw it. Sarutobi Hiruzen had deliberately sent a team of fresh recruits to face off against a death squad. Worse than that insult to his team's skills, the trio of Genin had come off better in the exchange.
The entire campaign, over these past two and a half years, had left a deeply bitter taste in Zabuza's mouth. Now, he'd reached the dregs, and it was time to finish things.
Naruto shot forward, rising high over the lava and coming down at just a steep enough angle that Zabuza would have difficulty blocking with his blade. The swordsman backed away, but immediately after Naruto had landed, Zabuza took a step forward and swung for a powerful strike from his right side. Ducking under it, Naruto came forward with his hands racing to make seals.
"Katon: Hi no Rendan." The blond growled. Six bolts of fire streaked out from the lava behind him, twisting into thin lances that ripped through the air before crashing into Zabuza's body.
The ex-Anbu promptly melted into a puddle of water that evaporated seconds later. Immediately, Naruto leaped to his left, avoiding an identical swing to the one he'd gone beneath moments ago.
"Good. Good." Zabuza said. "That probably won't work again, but this wouldn't be fun if you didn't have good reflexes. I need to enjoy cutting you to pieces."
Naruto stayed silent, his eyes not leaving Zabuza's.
"Don't find too many beasts like you in the wild anymore. Civilization bred 'em all out, or killed them." The swordsman grinned, his giant blade twisting in the air. To swing it with an axe-grip, where his top hand slid down to increase power, was just a basic maneuver that some people believed most of the Seven Swordsmen's weapons mandated.
They were wrong.
The Kubikiribouchou had a lengthy handle for a reason, and the blocks that separated the handle-pieces from being one smooth rod were similarly thought-out. The more space he had between his hands, when both were on the grip of the sword, the more leverage and control he had over it. The effectiveness was normally more easily demonstrated with a katana or shorter blade, but the Kubikiribouchou had drank deeply of Naruto's blood, and its weight had continued to decrease as it acclimated to his unholy power. There was little limit to the range or depth that Zabuza's strikes could take.
An ordinary sword would have broken, and stayed broken, but the Seven were remnants of a bygone era. They were indestructible, and had only grown stronger as the weight of age settled down on them. Zabuza's generation of the Shinobigatana Nananin Shu was the most powerful in history, and while the group had traditionally been at one another's throats over conflicting ideologies and goals, they'd been united in their unwavering service to the Mizukage. Zabuza was not the strongest of the Seven, or the fastest, but he was the most adept assassin, and the unquestioned master of the Muon Satsujin. He'd been content with that; each member of a group had their role to play, and greed had only ever proved to be a universal undoing.
It had been too long since he'd gone home. The Demon Brothers had been comparative small-fry who'd still known what they were getting into, but Haku was far too young to have been assigned to this mission. He'd have to speak with the Mizukage when he returned to Kirigakure. As he once again swung at Naruto's torso from the right side, and the blond backed a half-step away, he put his years of practice into motion.
Zabuza twisted his wrists and slid his back hand up the shaft of the Kubikiribouchou's handle, the simple motions driving the sword from a straight side-cut to a vicious downward slash that took Naruto across the front of his ribcage. The damage healed over in seconds without scarring, but Naruto's miscalculation was as clearly visible as the blood dripping down his chest; to account for a sword's full threat range, he needed to account for the arm, the blade, and the handle.
When Naruto had dodged backwards to avoid the simple attack that he'd avoided multiple times before, Zabuza had used that last piece of the swordsman's puzzle to his advantage. His weapon had a deceptively long series of removable handles, and by manipulating his grip on the sword as well as his leverage in the other hand, he'd created a diving slice that had taken Naruto by surprise.
"Can that eye of yours predict every movement I can make with my sword, even before I make it?" Zabuza asked. "I'd think that you'd know better than to come after me, if that's the case."
Naruto hunkered down in response, culminating in a four-limbed leap that no human would have performed on instinct. The blond demon twisted in the air, and Zabuza's long history as a warrior told him to move the hell out of the way. A flash of raw chakra was the only glimpse he'd get as he ducked away, unable to completely move the Kubirikibouchou from Naruto's path. A blindingly white orb of annihilation ripped through the space between both ninja, an extension of Naruto's hand that touched Zabuza's sword before grinding into it.
That sound was awful. Metal screamed its agonizing protests as it contacted a technique Zabuza had only heard of. It had connected from underneath the decapitation ring, buzzing in deep enough that the blade snapped. Zabuza still had most of his sword, but the ending was jagged; it was as unclean and ferocious as the attack that had put it there.
"The Yondaime Hokage's..." Zabuza shook his head, growling, as he chose his next course of action. "You know, little demon, I think I've had enough fun playing with you today. If you ever want to try again, come find me in Kiri."
He couldn't afford to get seriously committed here, on this dying island, in a battle that was far from in his favor. He wasn't running away, he was making a tactical retreat. With two consecutive shunshins, he was well out of Naruto's theoretical threat range, but still visible.
"Kuchiyose: Gyaku!"
As Zabuza leapt into the air, a massive shark appeared from a cloud of smoke. Rising to swallow him whole, it vanished in the same way it had arrived. The ground rumbled underneath Naruto's feet, and he turned back to see that the Sound Four were all gathered in a tight circle.
"Yuurei, get over here! The island's going to sink!" Jirobo shouted. "We're getting out with Kidomaru's summons!"
Naruto shook his head. He'd thought of a better idea, and the opportunity that came with it. Besides, if he really need to, he could always just use the summoning scroll that Kidomaru had given him. Something told him that his hunch was correct, though. Gato couldn't have walked to Nami no Kuni, and the idea of being ferried would undoubtedly have sat poorly with the billionaire. A man with that kind of money would have a high-end yacht, and if he had any kind of sense, he'd be headed there now.
So Naruto vanished into the orange glow of the lava-lit night, killing as he went, until he came to the top of the hill where Gato's mansion sat. From his vantage point, he saw the mogul running towards a private dock with one ship moored.
"Smaller than I thought he'd be." Naruto said to himself.
While it was true that his main point of reckoning was with Zabuza, Naruto had a bone to pick with Gato as well. He'd grown up in utter poverty, stealing food or going hungry, and the grotesque wealth of corporate monstrosities like Gato was a root cause of that kind of suffering. Of course, the night of the Kyuubi's attack had been what robbed him of his family, but that was just playing a game of semantics. In the name of greed, terrible atrocities were committed...and permitted. For the sake of one man's ambition, a nation had been left to dwindle into nothingness. Humans were such sad creatures.
Like a blight-walker from the old legends from the time of the Age of Gods, Naruto wove through the trees that began to catch fire. The island trembled again, and Gato fell. He was so close to that boat...Naruto would have liked to see the man suffer, but he couldn't afford to waste time. Darting forward, he was nothing but a blur of skin and tails as he raced to the lone ship. With practiced ease, he called upon the Tajuu Kage Bunshin, and the mooring line was cut as his clones shoved the yacht out to sea. A shunshin took Naruto onboard, but to his surprise, there were no mercenaries left for him to fight. Gato must have sent everything he had at the Otoyon when they'd followed Naruto to make their assault on the tyrannical midget.
Naruto was more than happy to begin sailing away.
Quietly, with a firmly-entrenched sense of detachment, the blond saw a geyser of lava shoot into the clouds of the night sky. Smoke wafted up from the island, and he was just getting away from the area of its odor when he watched the incredible happen. Gato was screaming something unintelligible, and was barely even audible from Naruto's distance. It didn't take long for him to get drowned out by the most devastating force of nature that Naruto would ever get to bear witness to. With a shudder, the entire nation seemed to seize; the tide lowered enough that Naruto could tell a difference from his distance, and then...then, it split into thirds, with each piece capsizing as it sank beneath the sea.
The effect was nearly immediate, a massive sinkhole draining water from all sides as the newfound cavern sought to fill itself. With speed being the only attribute that would allow him to survive, he made the yacht sail faster, until he couldn't point out where the eradicated island had been located. From there, he raced off into the night, looking to the sky as his means of guidance; while the night was partly cloudy, it was just clear enough for him to make out a few of the constellations that he'd learned years ago. And, knowing where Nami no Kuni had been, he shot north. He could cut northeast in a little while, or simply go straight east if he managed to find a port with a decent map.
For now, he cut through the ocean's smooth waves. A deep sense of peace had set itself in his mind, and he'd completed his mission. It just so happened that his liberation of Nami no Kuni had inadvertently caused its annihilation.
The Hakai wasn't a technique he'd learned from watching Kakashi's memories. It had been a deep rage inside of him, the desire to erase his enemies from existence. There had been too much backlash. Far too much.
Naruto resolved to never use it again.
