Chapter 34: Incarnation 1
Dozens of slavering maws lunged forward. Heedless of their impending deaths, throwing themselves headlong into the brilliant twin orbs of chaotic fury. Obliterating themselves utterly in the clash.
When the smoke cleared from Naruto's attack, more of the foul beasts rose, took their place. Rising from the very ichor of their fallen companions. Naruto scowled, landing atop one branch. The Sun mark throbbing with an unnatural pain. Pulsing and resonating with his chakra. The mark itself glowing a bright red.
These creatures, unlike the shambling walkers, or the wild brutes, were all together different. They had marked intelligence in their eyes. These Eight alphas circled the blonde Uzumaki cautiously. None daring to approach the blonde as recklessly as their lessers.
A mad cackle arose from the pack like that of a hyena. Full of blood lust and the need to do harm. All at once, three lunged from the rear, while one dove from the front.
Instantly nine spears of Obsidian black flickered into existence at his back. One slid into his palm, its shape shifting into one halve of a pair of familiar half staff. Its weight a comfort in the blonde's right palm. Three arms of chakra burst from his back. His form flickered with golden light. Grabbing the foul beasts and pulling them into the inviolable obsidian black sphere that grew to approach them. Obliterating them out right.
Under the crimson gaze of the Rinne-Sharingan the world seemed to slow. The slavering beast with its maw wide and intent on his death. It seemed so slow, so insignificant. Making it seem like it was an eternity by the time it was upon him, like an ocean of time had passed before it had even realized he had already stepped out of the path of its lunge. Dancing about it and the other four beasts. Whether with claws or fang none of them could reach the blonde shinobi. He was just a bit faster. Just a step out of reach. All seeing Crimson eyes ever present, ever watchful. Tracking the biggest of the group, the one that seemed to lead the pack.
With each passing moment. The intelligence behind those slavering jaws and dead eyes grew more and more. Coordinating attacks, seeking to pin their quarry. An instinctive need to snuff out the brilliant flame of life before them. Their numbers grew in accordance with their need, their desire. Swiftly compensating for their incompetence and beastly nature with swelling numbers.
Once more a pack of eight. As one, they charged both high and low, all of them at once. The biggest of the bunch in the lead, the others just a step behind. Determined to taste human flesh at long last. To make the gnawing pain cease. Anything was better than the suffering, than the hunger, the wrongness of their existence. They rushed headlong into the blonde shinobi. No fear, just the destructive hunger driving them onward.
Ducking under one set of claws, Naruto lashed out with the inviolable Halve-stave in his right, almost cleaving the monster in two at the waist severing its spine utterly, following through he spun with seven black chakra receivers generated from his own chakra in his off-hand. All launched with deadly precision. All of them harder than diamond, further enhanced by a surge of wind. Driving them deep into the creature's armoured flesh. Pinning them instantly to the ground.
With his foes immobilized for the moment. Naruto focused his attention on the immobile leader. The throbbing resonance of his Sun mark. Growing all the more powerful constantly with each passing moment. Becoming more familiar, like an old friend, like an old instinct he had forgotten. But knew to follow, as he knelt down next to the beast. The Truth seeking orbs resting at his back lashed out. When the beast thought he was unaware, ready to attack. Annihilating its limbs out right. And pinning it in place, unable to move so much as an inch.
When his marked palm met corrupted flesh. A discordant cacophony, Of agony met him, thousands of souls all crying out at once begging for help. So many that he almost drowned under the weight.
'Help,'
'It hurts,'
'Please,'
'Someone,'
'KILL,'
'Cold,'
'Hate,'
'Where am,'
'Die! Die! Die!'
'I don't want,'
Naruto had to give pause to his knee jerk action to help. Under the weight of so many souls. Focusing his attention. On the massive ever-expanding network of souls. The more he observed, the clearer the signal became. The darker, more hate filled what he received was.
'Hate, Kill you,'
'Die,'
'Die,'
'Destroy!'
Amid the spreading canvas of souls was what the blonde sage perceived as a clear darkness. So corrupt in its influence that it altered the very souls trapped within the network. Changing their very existence.
A pulse of power from the sun mark that adorned his palm and through the use of the human path Naruto attempted to force the spreading rot back. It worked, if only for a moment. The tenuous connection he had with the souls trapped within was abruptly cut. As if it were intelligent, knowing exactly what he was trying to do. The darkness rather than let itself be excised and destroyed utterly. It harshly cut off the portion of its spreading influence that the sage had latched onto. Leaving behind the eight hopelessly pinned shriveled shrinking husks.
Naruto winced in pain from the backlash alone. Shaking his hand to ward off the phantom pains. 'Of course it couldn't be easy!' he thought. The truth seeking orbs at his back fading away. Kurama snorted. 'when has it ever been easy?'
Forming the signature hand seals of his most famed technique. In a minor explosion of smoke where once there was one, now there were thirty identical blondes. Exactly like the original. "Gentleman, either turn them back or destroy them. Let none pass!" the blonde declared.
The sonorous roar among the identical blonds was unanimous. All of them vanished in a blur of speed and motion. Making the same hand seals once more, he gave the five summoned clones entirely different orders. "Evacuate our friends, it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. And I don't want them to get caught in the crossfire."
Worse was even now, as Naruto made his preparations. The blackened ichor that made up the blasted earth was shifting, changing. Four more blackened pillars arose from the blackened basalt. Glowing with an ominous dark light, pulsing with dark intent and power. The fragile, shambling husks no longer dared to approach the sage. A perverse mockery of a castle forming out of the rippling depths. Walls blackened and worn with time. Towers battered and burned. A moat filled with the black blood of thousands.
Naruto knew he needed time. Time to prepare. And yet time was the very thing working against him here. The longer he took, the worse things would get. He couldn't do it alone. He had no choice. Hands flowed through long practiced hand seals. Ending on the modified tiger seal. Different yet similar to his famous jutsu. 'Yang Release: Shadow clone Jutsu!' he mentally chanted. It was a jutsu he swore only to use in the most dire of circumstances. With it, he was never alone.
Six exact copies brimming with and made of pure yang chakra were brought into existence. But he was not done yet. Flowing through the next set of seals Tiger → Snake → Dog → Dragon → and finishing by clapping his hands together. He slammed a palm into the earth.
Six coffins burst from the ground. On each of their lids were the Kanji of one to six.
One by one, the lids slid from the caskets.
With teal green eyes, the first to awaken regarded Naruto with a gentle expression. "It's been quite some time, old friend?"
Clasping hands, Naruto couldn't agree more, "yeah, it has Gaara."
A perverse giggle met their ears. "Ma ma, now how has my adorable little student been all these years?" He was met with the masked face of his first teacher, Kakashi. It was like a balm to his soul to see his old teacher once more, even if he was up to his old antics at the moment. Reading a copy of Icha Icha paradise at the moment.
"Honestly Grandson, I don't know why you put up with him and his smut." Mito Uzumaki said with a huff, stepping out of her coffin. "Oi, pervert, we've got work to do!" she hissed. Yanking harshly on the resurrected Hatake's ear.
"It's been awhile Brat." he would know the sound of that voice anywhere. Naruto gave him a curt nod, his eyes never leaving the coal black orbs of Madara Uchiha. "Of course, if you summoned me, then it means you're serious. Aren't you?"
"Yeah, I am. You should have my clone's memories, that should tell you just how serious this is." the Uzumaki sage replied curtly.
Madara's grin was just downright vicious. "Good," he purred.
"Well, it's quite clear on what we need to do here." Hashirama said, saddling up to Madara, resting one arm around the other's neck in a jovial tone. And a grin of excitement to match his Uchiha counterpart.
"Oi, Obito! Help me with this perverted Scarecrow." Mito yelled at the last to awaken. All Obito could do is sigh at their antics with an amused grin. His face was unmarred by scaring. But his raven black hair maintained a shock of white. A consequence of becoming a host for the incomplete ten-tails.
"Yes Mito-Sama," he obediently complied with her request, aiding in her attempts to wrest the lurid manuscript from the masked shinobi's grip.
This was the pinnacle of the Edo Tensei. That Tobirama, Orochimaru, and even Kabuto had been striving towards. The closest thing to a true resurrection. And thus Naruto felt it was only fitting to change the name of the Justu. This was the summoning: pure world Incarnation.
The summoned had 'true' bodies. And near limitless Chakra reserves. Their power surpassing anything they had when alive.
Naruto cleared his throat, gaining the attention of those he summoned. "We need to deal with that." he said pointing his finger toward the ominous growth that was a castle.
Stepping up to the edge, his grin showed a bit of the madness that once dwelled within, and the power that remained. "Well then, let's get this started!" Madara declared, "Come on Hashirama, this will be such fun." grabbing Hashirama by the collar, he leapt from the building.
"Honestly, those two. Like children." Mito sighed, failing to hide her grin of amusement. "Obito, be a dear and make sure those two don't get themselves killed again. Will you?"
"Of course, Mito-Sama," he smiled softly, his attitude reflecting his redeemed outlook on the world. "Come on Kakashi!" Obito yelled, leaping into the fray, Kakashi right on his heels.
"Gaara, crowd control if you would?" Naruto asked, handing him the small gourd on his back.
"Of course Naruto," Gaara complied, how could he not. When he knew the significance of what the gesture meant. He was being trusted with protecting everyone. And by giving him this gourd he was being equipped with the masterwork of years of research. A weapon that would enable him to fight and do battle with even Biju. it was not an exaggeration to say there was no greater when it came to Magnet release than him.
Garra took flight on a cushion of sand.
"I suppose while they have all the fun that leaves us to do the hard work? Does it not my grandson?" Mito said with a wry grin. Soft purple eyes gazing upon him, not unlike that of his mother. Shrugging off her elaborate kimono, she revealed a skintight bodysuit, and a short-sleeved top, and skirt, with her pouches with all her tools contained within bound to the obi she wore underneath. Pulling the pin from her hair, she pricked her finger to draw blood. Smearing the bloody digit across the hanging talisman on the other end. She released the contents contained within a puff of smoke.
Naruto nodded, retrieving his own scroll from his back. "Now lets begin."
]|[
Pyrrha worried her lip as she flew high in the air. The devastating sounds of combat behind her. All around were the scars of pitched combat, battered buildings, cratered streets. She wondered where she should go, just where she would make the biggest impact. Who needed aid the most?
Ultimately, it was the flash of green in the distance followed by the crumbling of a three story building that decided for her. A battle cry that could only be Nora followed it. That too was followed by a rumbling that echoed into the distance.
She did not know why, but it brought an awkward smile to her face. It seemed, despite everything happening right now. Her teammates were doing just fine.
Soaring through the air, Pyrrha poured all of her power into her semblance, into her very soul, into the remaining massive stores of iron sand she had yet to even tap into. Charging the many particles with just a touch of her power.
It responded to the resonance, like an old friend, the sand under her control responded as fast as her very thoughts. Pouring forth from the gourd. A trickle becoming an ocean under her command.
She landed, the sand shaping into thousands of mighty blades. Hovering just above the heads of the remnants of what was once a literal army. Nora was devastating with vigor and all due haste. "Gentleman, I accept your surrender." she declared, a bit presumptuous, yes, but the careworn smile gracing her gentle features. Told a different story, that she considered this a mercy and a warning. "Otherwise I'll have to get mean." she warned, an ominous hint of what's coming in her tone of voice.
"You hear this, Ben, Andy, this slut thinks-" the burlier of the three identical men began. He was poignantly cut off by the massive sword that cut clean through his aura and flesh like it was not even there.
"Wayne! You fucking cunt! I'll kill you!" Andy roared at the sight of his impaled brother.
"I told you I'd have to get mean." she warned. "I won't kill you, even if you'll wish I had." her smile was wide now, full of teeth. "Nora, we seem to have a perfectly good lightning rod, if you would?"
"Oh ohohohoh, my you give me the nicest gifts, I think I'm in love." the ginger haired valkyrie declared. Her body now fully wreathed in an aura of lightning, "I've been waiting for this for so, so long." she licked her lips. And charged him. Faster than most could react, Nora was in their midst. The coating of lighting that once wreathed her. Now coating her fierce hammer, Magnhild.
For what it was worth Andy and his younger brother Ben tried to stop the lightning clad fierce valkyrie. They really did and they probably would have stopped her had it not been for the wall of blades that shot up from the ground in front of Ben, who was the closest. And Ren, who had closed the gap between the two while Andy was distracted.
With a war cry, and a devilish grin, Nora drove her Lightning clad hammer into his chest with all her strength. Squeezing Magnhild's trigger in the same moment. Shattering what remained of his aura, and sending his body rag dolling down the scarred street amidst a calamitous explosion of her lighting based Aura fueled, Fire dust enhanced attack. He did not rise again. Nora considered it a mercy that she merely caved in his chest rather than imparting him with an explosive care package. When she had the opportunity. She knew he deserved worse. But she was no killer. It was not in her nature to be so cold. Even to a sadistic waste of space like him. At least this way he might survive.
Nora pivoted on her heel. Letting her body spin with the motion of the recoil. Her body once more charged with potent lightning. She blurred, pavement shattered in her charge. And without hesitation she brought that hammer of hers down on the head of Ben. poor bastard. Never stood a chance. Distracted as he was with not getting impaled like his brother once was. Still, his movements seemed slow, sloppy, and off. In the end, whatever it was, it mattered not.
The joining of his face with her hammer made a satisfying sound. Made all the better when he was intimately familiarized with the ground. Teeth flew, and cartilage crunched. He would most definitely not be getting back up after that.
Nora looked to Ren, who was most assuredly handling the last of the trio. Blade met blade in a fast-paced dance.
Andy had thought the reason the Pretty Boy had abandoned his blade for his fists was that he was not confident in his skill with the blade. As he parried another blade. And avoided barely having his own blade hooked and stolen. He came to quickly realise this was not the case.
No, it was only now that it became all too obvious why his precious Little Snack had foregone his weapons. It was not because of a lack of experience, nor inborn talent. Only now did he come to realise that his adorable pet was more clever than he first thought.
Steadily throughout their battle, his Toy had destroyed the many buildings around them. In part to prevent him and his brothers from toppling a building right atop his pretty head. And to keep him from escaping and drowning him in clones. What was worse was that he was getting tired. He could feel his mind slipping. A negative side effect of the semblance he shared with his brothers, While Wayne and Ben served as the fuel source for the bombs. They gave more of themselves to each clone they made. As a result, they were inert, useless without him. He served as the spark that set things off. Even if it cost him less than his brothers, it still took them a while to recover from the use of their clones.
Each of them lost a little something to their semblance and for him it was the loss of his rational mind losing his inhibitions. The desire he normally held so tightly to indulge in his perversions, in his psychopathy. For Ben, it was his intelligence, his ability to think for himself. Wayne paid the heaviest price of all. He became more aggressive, more confident, more foolhardy.
With a snarl he wielded his sawed off at his Toy, point blank. On some level he knew at this range, Aura or not. This would be a killing blow. No way to avoid his lovely face. Even so, he pulled the trigger.
An explosion barked, Nora roared in rage, someone screamed in agony.
]|[
Finally, they had a lead, at long last. Winter and her team had been scouring Vale from top to bottom with no luck ever since the incident at the docks. Hoping for any hint of the ever elusive pair Kitsune and Ryu. The pair had been strangely inactive since then. Their absence only inspired the White Fang to act up. Even if they stuck to more small scale robberies. Nothing like their once brazen actions before.
It was only thanks to Cammie's hard work and hacking of the VPD camera network that they even caught so much as a glimpse of the pair. The girl had been relentless in her search.
It was odd, in all the time, that they had been searching for the two. They had never even so much as got a clear picture of them. And now they had a photo of them heading east into the industrial sector.
"Uhh, commander, we have a slight problem." Cammie, who was back aboard the Prydwen handling comms and acting as their eye in the sky as only she could, announced over the radio.
Winter hesitated only for a moment as their Bullhead traveled through downtown Vale. "What is it Cameron?"
"I found them in the Vale Fairway Lockheed industrial Park. and I've told you before it's Cammie," she sniped.
Winter hummed in curiosity. "What are they doing?" her mask finally breaking with a chuckle and a slight smile a muttered. "Right, sorry."
"That's just it, ma'am they're just standing there. It's like they're waiting for something."
"Or someone," Kazu added.
Winter looked to Chase and Yasmine, the most experienced of her assigned squad. "So what do the two of you think?"
"Well, we could land and Yaz and I could take to the sky and scout things out." Julian proposed.
"How about we go see what they want, but I can drop off Val as Overwatch?"
Winter considered both options where viable, and if this was a trap, then they would be better served with sniper support. "Val, you ok with this."
Valentina snorted in amusement, "I don't mind, it's not like anyone else can do what I do."
"Right then Val is Overwatch. While the rest of us head in to see what they want." Winter announced.
Moments after informing the pilot of their plans. The door to the Bullhead slid open. "One minute to drop." Their pilot announced.
Val stood, the crisp white and blue of her uniform fading to black and purple hues to match that of her cloak. "Wish me luck."
"You don't need luck." Yasmin retorted, "just a little help on the way down." clasping palms with the sniper. Imparting her with the gift of her semblance.
With a grin Val tipped over and out into the rushing winds below, vanishing like a shade on the wind. Rather than plummeting like a stone. She floated down softly to a building overlooking the industrial park.
"Touchdown," she relaid over the comm line.
Seconds later the bullhead touched down in the center of the industrial park's parking lot. "Now let's go meet them, it would be rude to keep Kitsune and Ryu waiting." Winter said as she stepped out of the Bullhead.
"No need, we're already here," an eerie voice echoed around them. Bleeding out of the shadows was Kitsune And Ryu, their unmistakable armour and crimson hair on full display.
"So you have been looking for us." Kitsune's voice echoed in the dark.
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