Injustice: The Path to Hell.
Book 2: Darkness in the Light.
Chapter VIII – Injustice League.
Before we begin, please read this little message:
So, I like debates, I mean the whole situation with canon Naruto and his rank in DC comics has stirred up a large debate with a few people (pissed off a few more as well) and I like it. I like listening to your opinions on where you think Naruto should rank because it gives me a wider perspective. I've already said on several occasions that I've done a lot of research-based on DC and Naruto, but I don't know everything some stuff I've forgotten about and other more obscure stuff has escaped my notice. I've done my research as well as looked at fan sites, battle forums, etc. to gain an opinion from others to inform my own.
But the Aqualad-Naruto debate has gone on long enough and to be honest, I'm tired of having to repeat myself in PMs. So, I'll make this very clear, this is the YJ timeline, but with COMIC BOOK POWER LEVELS. This is something a lot of people didn't seem to be aware of which is my fault, I should have clarified that and I acknowledge that, but I'm telling you now.
As we all know, live-action, cartoons, and animations have limits to what levels of power they can portray. A comic book Atlantean like Aquaman is thousands of times stronger than his live-action, cartoon, and anime appearances. Aqualad, just like every character in YJ is severely underpowered, but in this story he has comic book levels of power. Therefore, Naruto is not being nerfed as you believe, but simply those around him being stronger than they were portrayed in the cartoon. Hopefully, this clears up any confusion.
"Normal Speech."
'Normal Thought.'
"Demon Speech."
'Demon Thought.'
"Other Speech variants."
Location/Time.
Thursday 1st October, 18:05.
Rhode Island,
Happy Harbour,
The Cave.
After the revelation of the information about a mole - information that remained unconfirmed - had nearly succeeded in causing a rift between the team. Even then, things had still been tense, and while the mission in Northern India had resulted in them discovering that the supervillain, Brain had been conducting experiments on wild animals with the Blockbuster-Venom formula.
The mission wasn't completed cleanly by any stretch of the meaning, but it had been completed and served to unite the team once more.
"You've been spending an awful lot of time in Gotham lately." Turning his gaze from the ceiling, Naruto looked towards the door to see Barbara stood there. Sitting upright, Naruto watched as Barbara entered the room sitting down beside him. "What're you doing over there?"
"You remember when Jason Blood came over?"
Barbara nodded her head. "Yeah, but I thought you said there wasn't much he could train you?"
"I wouldn't call what he does training." Naruto chuckled ruefully. "But the results speak for themselves, I'm getting better with my powers."
"How many?" Naruto raised a single finger in response to Barbara's question and while impressed, she could tell Naruto didn't share her sentiments. "You don't agree?"
"It's not that, it's just frustrating," Naruto admitted with a sigh. "Before my powers, I was always frustrated by how much I'd lose, but when I fought and defeated Killer Croc I realised it was not that I was weak, but my enemies were too strong. When I trained under Deathstroke, it was brutal, but I threw myself into it and I made a great deal of progress. More than I had ever imagined possible."
Barbara nodded along with what he was saying, she had experienced how strong he had become firsthand. "But now?"
"Now, I look at the progress I've made with my powers and it's practically nothing. I feel like every time I begin to make progress in learning to control my powers, I suddenly find myself taking two steps back."
And that was the truth, Naruto didn't know why and even Jason Blood seemed confused at first as to why Naruto struggled so much. But the answer was simple, Naruto's powers were great and if fully mastered would put him on a level rivalling the heavy hitters of the Justice League, the downside was that it was directly linked to his emotions. Naruto had learned early on that each 'Stage' or transformation of his demonic powers gave him access to far greater power than the previous one.
From what he had learned before Jason Blood was that his Tailless form - as the team had taken to calling his initial form - was that it initially increased his natural physical abilities by half. But that was when he barely had full control of the form. As he had told Barbara early on in the beginning of this team, each transformation had a well of power and that power had a limit.
A few months ago, around the time when Amazo was introduced, had been able to access the full totality of his power. But after Bialya and he had unlocked not only a single tail, but an additional two on top of that, Naruto had found that things had changed. Not only did he have next to no control over his Tailless Form anymore, having to start from scratch in terms of controlling it, but it was far more powerful, nearly three times more powerful in fact.
He was reminded that despite having a basic understanding of how his powers operated, there were further depths to his powers. And once again, Naruto's found himself back to stage one. The progress he had made in fully controlling his Tailless form was not only cut back to stage one. It was like by unlocking his One-Tailed, Two-Tailed Form and then Three-Tails, all the rage - far vaster and more potent than his Tailless Form - was shared between all three forms.
And as a result, all the progress he had made leading up to the Bialya mission was lost and Naruto was forced to start back from square one. Luckily, he at least had a basic idea of how to use his powers unlike before where he was walking through the dark. Jason Bloods' help had also been greatly appreciated, but Naruto was still frustrated.
All the progress he had made was lost and while he had gained control of his Tailless Form once more and then his One-Tailed Form. It had not been easy and according to Barbara the possibility of a fourth tail was imminent. If that were the case then it was more than likely that he'd once again be losing a lot of the progress he made.
"So that's why you're spending a lot of time in Gotham with Jason Blood?" Naruto nodded his head and Barbara smiled sadly. "You don't intend to stay on the team much longer, do you?"
It was something Barbara had always known would be the case, but something she had hoped wouldn't be the case.
"No, I'll probably stay on for another month or two, I'm getting paid a decent amount so by that point I should have a good pool of money to draw from," Naruto admitted.
"What will you do?"
Naruto kissed his teeth in thought. "Not sure. But I'll probably focus on gaining control of my powers. As much as I like the team and all the facilities here, I think spending a good few months of purely dedicated training with my powers would help me learn to control them. But I can't do that while I'm leading the team. Besides, Kaldur's more than able to cover for me."
"What about after then?" She asked hopefully.
"I don't know."
Barbara frowned at that, recognising once again that Naruto truly was different from how he used to be. It had always struck her as strange how Naruto's personality seemed to suddenly shift and change. At the time she had just been too relieved to have him safe and have the 'old' Naruto back. But she had always suspected that soon, Naruto would return to how he was, become Black Hood or possibly Marauder once more.
He hadn't and while strange, Barbara had brushed it off, too relieved to think on it anymore. But this did strike her as strange.
Naruto was never someone who "didn't know" what to do with himself. Sure, he may not always have a plan, but he always had a goal in mind that he was working towards. Always striving forwards and making his own path in pursuit of a goal. The fact that he didn't only drove home the fact that while the changes maybe a little more subtle and unnoticeable to those who truly didn't know Naruto, to those that did it was a shocking shift in character.
"Naruto, I know that we've had our differences and disagreements, but you know you're my best friend, right?" Naruto nodded his head unsure of where this was going. "I don't know how much you remember about what happened at Cadmus and I don't know whether you'll ever tell me what happened even if you do remember, just know that I'm here for you. I haven't been before and I feel extremely guilty for how bad I've treated you, but I want you to know that I'm there."
Naruto paused, but then turned to her with a smile. "I know."
Thursday 1st October, 18:15.
Rhode Island,
Happy Harbour,
The Cave.
There was silence as the team digested the information they had been told. The attack on Metropolis that had kept the League busy was big news. But what made it bigger news was the knowledge that the very thing coursing through the plants was the same Kobra-Venom drug that Sportsmaster had intended to buy from Kobra so many years ago was shocking.
'And the theory that this is all the work of someone or an organisation behind the scenes is something that looks more and more concrete.' Naruto's thoughts were something the rest of the team shared each piecing the pieces.
From the Kobra-Venom and the inhibitor collars worn at Belle Reve that Brain had used to keep the animals in line, it all looked far too coordinated to be a coincidence.
And as Dick began searching the web, it was revealed that Metropolis wasn't the only city to have been hit. "Plant creatures have sprouted in Gotham City, Paris, Star City, and..." Before he could finish, the screens went blank.
"Dude?"
"It's not me," Dick told Wally as he tried to regain control of the systems. "Someone's cutting into the signal, all satellite signals." At that moment, the screen came to life, and on it, the Joker's face appeared, a large manic smile upon his face.
After knocking on the camera screen, the Joker. "Ladies and Gentlemen. We interrupt your regularly scheduled mayhem to bring you this important announcement." A flip knife appeared in his hand as he turned the camera towards a group of individuals. "From, the Injustice League."
The camera zoomed in on Count Vertigo as the Joker cackled madly.
"We are responsible for the attacks on your cities. If you wish to save them, a ransom of ten billion American dollars is required. Delivery instructions have been sent to the United Nations. There is no time limit, but the longer your government waits..."
"The more we get to have our...jollies." The Joker whispered menacingly before the screen cut out.
As Naruto remained silent, he questioned just exactly what was going on, it just seemed too, generic. 'If these are the secret organisation behind all this, has everything they've done only being for this, surely not. That means there must be something else at play, but what.'
"Roger that Aquaman," Batman said, the team looking towards him questioningly. "You want to prepare the ransom as a fallback." It was not a question, but a statement. "But it won't come to that."
As this happened, Dick went back, identifying each member of the Injustice League.
Count Vertigo.
Poison Ivy.
Ultra-Humanite.
Atomic Skull.
Black Adam.
Wotan.
As Dick had listed off each member, his voice had become gradually more and more shocked. "Seven heavy hitters. Probably behind everything and everyone we've fought."
"There's your secret society."
"Not so secret anymore." But despite that, as Naruto and Barbara shared a look, neither of them convinced. Nothing added up and made no sense, why go through all this effort just to go for the generic ransom act? It made no sense and didn't fit in with everything they've done so far and as they looked to Batman; they saw that he didn't seem convinced by this either.
"Perhaps after India, they realised we would deduce the truth and saw no point in hiding anymore." Kaldur reasoned.
"Yea! Well, that was their mistake!" Wally exclaimed; fist clenched in excitement. "Right now, I suggest we go kick some plant creature butt."
Before Wally could get too excited, Batman burst his bubble. "The Justice League will handle the plants. I have a different job for this team." Wally did not seem pleased by this at all, Artemis hitting his arm to shut him up. "With the plants attacking so many locations simultaneously there must be a central control system. Your mission is to destroy it."
"Do you realise what you're asking them to do?" Zatara asked, concerned about leaving such an important task to the team.
"They're ready."
Thursday 1st October, 18:45.
Arkansas,
Bayou Bartholomew.
Sitting quietly in the Bioship, Naruto looked through the data files Barbara had transferred to him on the members of the Injustice League. He had read up on a few members of the Injustice League, mainly Atomic Skull, Poison Ivy, the Joker, and Black Adam, but the others were a bit more of a mystery to him.
The Joker was a homicidal maniac and the archenemy of Batman. Possessing a genius-level intellect, indomitable will, and above all else, incredibly unpredictable. Naruto wanted him taken out as quickly as possible as while not as powerful as some of the villains on the Injustice League, he was by far one of the most dangerous individuals that Naruto was extremely wary of.
Pamela Isley, aka Poison Ivy, was another Batman villain, but more widely recognised as a prolific, eco-terrorist. A former botanist that later gained total control over plants, and considering the forested area in which the Injustice League had made their headquarters, it favoured her heavily and was no doubt done with that intention.
Black Adam or Teth-Adam as he was formerly known, according to Captain Marvel was the former champion of Shazam before his fall from grace. He was a dangerous and powerful foe capable of going toe-to-toe with the heavy hitters of the Justice League. He was by far the biggest threat to them all, he alone would be capable of dismantling their team and ending their mission before it even began.
Albert Michaels, aka Atomic Skull, was previously a researcher in S.T.A.R Labs only to soon join the small-time criminal organisation known as SKULL. Of course, the remedy that the SKULL scientists offered only worsened his condition along with gifting him with the ability to release his bioelectricity into atomic energy that would be projected through his visor.
Next was Count Werner Vertigo, a scion of the Vlatavan Royal family and was armed with an implant that could disorient an opponent. From the way he positioned himself with the rest of the Injustice League he was more than likely in charge of the group which meant taking him out would give them an advantage by removing a stable chain of command.
Ultra-Humanite was a man whose name was unknown but was an enemy of Superman whose body slowly began to burn out while his mind remained unchanged grew stronger developing numerous abilities such as telepathy and telekinesis, and other abilities. As a result of his body giving out, the man who became known as Ultra-Humanite transferred his body into that of a gorilla. With intellect like that, he could very well elude and possibly pick apart their team one by one.
The final member was Wotan, an evil sorcerer and long-time foe of Doctor Fate. A master of the mystic arts and someone Naruto would ensure that Superboy stayed far away from. The Kryptonians' weakness to magic could be disastrous and dangerous, Naruto wasn't about to expose one of his teammates to something that could prove too dangerous.
'Now I need to figure out how best to pair up our team against them. I would have ideally liked Superboy to face off against Black Adam, but his weakness to magic could prove disastrous, especially considering Black Adam has fought and beaten Superman. But I guess I'll deal with him, hopefully, I can stall him long enough for the others to back me up.' Naruto thought, not fancying his chances at being able to stall him, let alone win.
Before he could think on it further, he heard Miss Martian groan out in pain as she clutched her head, he and the team looking to her in concern. "Are you alright?" Superboy asked worriedly.
"Dizzy." Miss Martian muttered in confusion as if unsure as to what she was feeling.
"Martians get airsick?"
"She does look a bit greener than usual." Kid Flash muttered in agreement with Robin.
"Not me, her."
As if assuming Miss Martian was speaking to her, Artemis spoke up. "I feel fine."
"Not her, the Bioship!" Miss Martian exclaimed. "She's trying to shield us but..."
It was at that moment that the Bioship went out of control, Miss Martian trying to regain control but failing. Just when she did manage to steady it, the ship was struck by something powerful from underneath. They spun through the air, descending to the muddy water below eventually coming to a stop, each member of the team feeling a little sick after the unexpected joyride.
Just as things started to calm down, they noticed that out from the water, numerous, large, plant roots burst out and started wrapping around the Bioship. The ship resisted, trying to fly up and escape their grasp, but they proved to be too strong, actually holding the ship in place.
"Gah!" Miss Martian cried, clutching her head in pain just as a whole was ripped open in the roof of the Bioship the face of Black Adam staring down at them. "He's hurting her!"
With a cry, Superboy jumped up and smashed his fist into Black Adam's face, launching the villain into the air and off the ship. However, it was at that moment that the roots pulled the Bioship underwater, water spilling in from the hole.
"No, no way am I drowning two missions in a row," Artemis said, she and the rest of the team pulling respirators as they dive underwater, Miss Martian having created gills as she swam to the bottom of the Bioship and opened a hatch for the team to swim out of.
Arriving at the shore, they each crouched down to see the Bioship being fully pulled underwater.
"This is not going well at all," Batgirl muttered and Naruto nodded his head. It was then they were struck by a powerful wave of vertigo, each member of the team collapsing to the ground in pain.
"Vertigo!"
"Count Vertigo to you, peasant!" The villain in question taunted, Black Adam intercepting Superboy who had attempted to attack Count Vertigo and knocked him to the ground with two quick and powerful blows.
As the vertigo subsided, Naruto quickly gave out orders. "Leave Black Adam to me. Kid Flash takes out Vertigo as soon as possible, then take Wolf and move onto Ultra-Humanite. Batgirl, Robin follow as the backup to deal with Vertigo while distracted if need be, but your target is Ivy. Aqualad on Atomic Skull. Miss Martian, Artemis deal with Wotan. Superboy, wait until all of them are being occupied and then take out the Joker quick and hard then deal with the control system. On my signal."
As this had continued, Aqualad had slowly looked to the lake at his side, readying himself to create a distraction for Naruto to attack Black Adam. The rest of the team tensing in preparation.
"Now!"
Quickly getting to his feet, Aqualad pulled his Water-Bearers off his back and directed the water towards Black Adam and Count Vertigo. While both turned to face the water, the former remained standing as it struck him, the latter was knocked the ground and carried along with it.
As this had happened, a cloak of red bubbling energy had formed around Naruto as he burst towards Black Adan. The first blow struck the former champion of Shazam with enough force to catch the unawares man slightly off-guard causing him to stumble, the second blow picked him off his feet and Naruto jumped into the air after him, his single tail swinging around and slamming into Black Adam's midsection.
However, Black Adam was unharmed by these blows, the final one not even proving to make him budge as he stared at Naruto with minor curiosity, one arm blocking the tail strike. Gripping the tail, he pulled Naruto towards him and slammed a powerful blow that Naruto felt break a few ribs as he rocketed out of the sky and into the forest below.
His spinning body broke through branches and tree trunks, eventually striking the ground causing it to explode upwards chucking dust and debris into the sky.
Laying there, stunned and in pain, Naruto could nothing but groan and cough weakly as his powers slowly started to heal his broken ribs. 'Damnit, he's more powerful than I thought.' Coughing a few more times, Naruto for the first time noticed that his cloak had been dispelled as a result of that single strike. 'Fuck! Not even Superboy can hit that hard.'
Naruto's cloak was a very good defensive and offensive tool, but it had limits. For one, its acidic and toxic properties were perhaps the most dangerous tool he possessed as a result. While the tail was well and good, Naruto still struggled at times using this extra appendage. Yet despite this, it had one very clear disadvantage, it was susceptible to physical damage. It had limits to how much kinetic energy it could absorb before it became too much and would be effectively destroyed as a result leaving him completely exposed.
This cloak was capable of lasting several rounds from Superboy before it could no longer withstand the power of the Kryptonian clone. They had tested the limits of his cloak thoroughly and it would take Superboy an hour of sustained attacking for the cloak to eventually break.
Yet in a single blow, Black Adam had destroyed it.
'This is not a fight I can win.' Naruto realised, slowly rising to his feet as Black Adam floated down towards him. That alone proved his point, Black Adam didn't even make use of Naruto's vulnerability simply because he did not need to. They both knew Naruto wouldn't stand a chance against him. 'But I need to keep him distracted long enough for us to destroy the central control system.'
"This is not a fight you can win." As if knowing what he was thinking, Black Adam landed on the ground. "But I find myself curious, what are the limits of your powers?"
"When I find the answer to that question, you'll be the first to know." Naruto snarked, his cloak coming to life once more, this time pushing it to its utmost limit, just on the border of turning into his Second Tailed State. The burning under his skin became more pronounced and Naruto snarled at the pain.
Rushing forwards as fast as he can, Naruto goes to blitz Black Adam, hoping to catch him off guard only for the villain to casually avoid each swipe with ease. His gaze studious and curious as he watched Naruto try and fail to land a single blow.
'This power, I've felt this before. But where?' Black Adam wondered, swinging his fist upwards, Naruto using his tail to push off the ground and flip away just barely from the uppercut. He landed on the nearby tree on all fours and pushed off, the trunk shattering into thousands of wooden fragments as Naruto shot towards Black Adam like a bullet.
Yet it was not fast enough, Black Adam moving backward to avoid Naruto's outstretched claws.
As Naruto struck the ground, it exploded outwards, creating a small smokescreen. Only for a red tail to burst out and swipe at Black Adam who ducked underneath the strike, the wisdom of Zehuti and the clairvoyance it provided allowing him to avoid each strike with ease.
Again, and again Naruto followed after Black Adam, trying to keep the much stronger foe at bay. The villain in question just avoided each strike with ease, occasionally counterattacking and while Naruto managed to avoid most of them, some struck true.
With a gasp, Naruto was flung back as a fist buried itself into his stomach, his energy cloak dispelled in flakes of red energy before he was flung backward. His limp body spun rapidly through the air, smashing, and breaking through everything in his path before he eventually rolled to a stop, his body lying face first in a deep trench.
'I'm blacking out.' Naruto realised, darkness gathering around the edges of his vision. 'I can't win.'
Black Adam continued to float through the air, eventually landing on the ground and made his way towards the crumpled mess that was Naruto. "I remember now why your power felt familiar, boy." Black Adam spoke, flipping Naruto one foot and pressing down upon his chest, bones cracking and snapping as he began to dig his foot into it. "You may hold the power of the Kin of Kurama, but you hold none of their skill. Such a shame to see such a blessed lineage being reduced to this...disappointment."
Naruto gasped out, clasping, and clawing at the foot pushing down upon his chest. Blood pooling out of the corner of his mouth as his vision continued to darken.
'Shit! Fuck! I'm going to die! Do something! Do something!' He cried mentally feeling his ribs snap and his sternum shatter. 'You useless piece of shit! Do something!'
{Flashback Begins}
Groaning, Naruto sat upright with a pounding headache. As to not aggravate his sore muscles, Naruto slowly got to his feet and looked towards Jason Blood who sat at the table to one side of the room. There was a tray in front of him with two cups as well as a teapot, one cup filled with steaming liquid as he read a book.
"Ah, Naruto, I see you're awake." Placing his book down, Blood indicated for the seat across from him which Naruto took. "Tea?"
"What's in it? A healing potion?"
Blood smiled. "No, just an herbal tea." He answered and Naruto shook his head.
"I'll pass." Shrugging his shoulders, Jason picked up his cup and took a small sip, savouring the taste of the tea. "How did I do?"
"Well. You did well." Naruto frowned at that, recognising he did neither good nor bad. It wasn't what he wanted to hear. "Naruto, we both knew this was going to be difficult. Your powers are extremely dangerous due to how much rage is within them. And the only way to learn to control that rage is to experience it."
"I don't exactly like waking up with no memory of what happened, and a body covered in aches and pains. I've woken up covered in burn marks before, that wasn't a nice feeling nor sight to see." Naruto snarked.
"Indeed, I doubt it would be. But Naruto, by losing control, you are exposing yourself to that power and rage. Little by little, you are learning to control and understand the depths of your power, even if it doesn't feel like it." Jason calmed him, trying to show Naruto that he was making progress. "Don't lose hope, we both knew this would not be simple. Our powers and the way we use them are fundamentally different."
Naruto reluctantly nodded his head, turning away to look out over the numerous books and scrolls. He knew what Blood was saying was the truth, but it didn't make it any easier to accept. Progress was slow, slower than Naruto would have liked or wanted, right now, his powers were more of a crux than anything else.
"How are our powers different again?"
"For me, I share my body with Etrigan the Demon. Therefore, I simply need to allow him to take control. But it's not as simple as simply giving up control, if I do that then Etrigan will never give up the hold he has on his body and it'd be extremely difficult for me to regain control. I struggled for many years to find that balance between allowing Etrigan control but retaining just enough so that I could take my body back once Etrigan was finished." Jason explained, chuckling ruefully as he did.
"Sounds annoying," Naruto muttered.
"It was, but it has been made easier by forging, not a friendship, but a mutual understanding and respect for one another," Jason admitted, not saying just how long that had taken. "What you have to understand Naruto is that a Demon's power is more often than not, just as fickle as the very Demon they are tied to."
"Fickle? Demons?" Naruto questioned disbelievingly.
Jason chuckled at this. "Oh yes, Demons are very fickle. You see, they often fall into one of three categories. Mindless beasts who run on pure instinct." He raised one finger. "Those that have a modicum of intelligence, but still live purely by instinct. Then some posses vast amounts of intelligence and cunning. These are Demons like Etrigan. Even so, with all this intelligence it is common to see these Demons do things with it making no real sense."
"Really? I'd have thought with all that intelligence that they would be more careful."
"Rarely do Demons do what we expect," Jason told him. "Take Etrigan for example, do you know why he helps me do what I do?"
"Let me guess, he's been fickle?"
"Exactly. He's not doing this for any reason other than he can." Jason said and Naruto frowned. It was a little strange to him that someone would do something like this without a reason for it, it didn't make sense.
"So why is he agreeing to help? Didn't you say that my powers made him nervous?" Naruto asked and Jason smiled.
"Yes, they did, but you're mistaking nervousness for fear. Etrigan is smart, he knows when to make enemies, when to make allies and when to make allies out of enemies and enemies out of allies. He intends to ensure that the very least, you're not an enemy." Jason told him. "But he's also preparing for the possibility that you may be an enemy in the future, so he's learning how to beat you. He's studying your powers as much like every Demon, their powers are both limited and limitless."
"So, he's trying to figure out the limitations?" It was a rhetorical question. "Great. Well at least tell me what I'm doing wrong, we've been training for weeks. And don't give me that shit about our powers being different, I want something concrete."
"What you're doing now is the best thing for you." Jason sighed. "You need to learn how to control your anger and the only way to do so is to experience the depth of your anger when using your powers. Much like I did, you need to find that balance between giving up control and retaining control. But that's not something which can be taught, but something that is experienced."
{Flashback End}
Gritting his bloody teeth as he tried to push Black Adam's foot off his chest. 'Get ahold of yourself.' Naruto snarled, digging his claws ineffectively into Black Adam's ankle, his claws unable to even pierce the skin. 'Lose control to gain control. Lose control to gain control. Lose control to gain control.' He repeated like a mantra.
At that moment, Black Adam once again pushed his foot back down on Naruto's chest causing him to gasp out in pain. 'Such a disappointment to see your descendent being reduced to this, Ashina. I will end this stain upon your great legacy, old friend.' Just as he was about to fully cave-in Naruto's chest, he paused as he sensed something growing within Naruto.
Not only did his snarl grow more pronounced, but the redness of his eyes also grow brighter, and his fangs and claws grow longer and sharper. The cloak also burst to life once more, but it was far more powerful.
Suddenly two tails burst up from the ground, one smacking the left side of his face, the other following up with a strike to the right side. The increase in strength caught him off-guard and his footing came loose just enough for Naruto to bring his legs up to his chest and slam a double-footed stomp to Black Adam's chest.
Landing with a grunt, Black Adam got to his feet and watched Naruto scrambled onto all fours. "Perhaps I misjudged you." He said and Naruto burst forwards to attack Black Adam.
Thursday 1st October, 19:10.
Arkansas,
Bayou Bartholomew.
"Now!"
As Naruto rushed to attack Black Adam, the rest of the team also burst into action. Kid Flash was the first and sped off after Count Vertigo into the forest. Much like Naruto had ordered, taking out Count Vertigo was the first priority.
However, Count Vertigo seemed to have expected a follow-up attack after Aqualad struck him with a blast of water. And so, he fired a wave of vertigo in the general direction of where he expected the young heroes to attack from. He made the right decision as Kid Flash burst through and ran directly into the vertigo.
He cried out, slipping upon the mud, and slid straight past Count Vertigo as he rose to his feet. Unsheathing the blade from his cane, Count Vertigo went to strike at Kid Flash only for an arrow to knock the blade from his hand. Turning he went to see who attacked him, firing a wave of vertigo in the general direction just to be sure. And it was at that moment he noticed someone descend from the trees.
Using the remainder of his cane, Count Vertigo managed to keep Robin busy and went to strike him with vertigo only for something to strike him from behind.
Gasping out, he fell to his knees not sure what struck him from behind, only able to see Robin swing a roundhouse kick into his face. His face whipped to one side and fell into the muddy ground unconscious.
"Vertigo's down." Batgirl called over the link, as she, Robin and Artemis moved on to deal with their next target. Kid Flash having already gotten to his feet and moved on the moment Robin made his appearance.
Thursday 1st October, 19:15.
Arkansas,
Bayou Bartholomew.
"It seems we have visitors," Wotan spoke, rising into the air as he saw a group of young heroes burst from the tree-line. "Fulmina Venite! (Lightning Come!)" From his hands, numerous bolts of lightning arced towards Aqualad, Kid Flash, Wolf, Robin, and Batgirl only for each bolt to strike some form of a shield. It wasn't magical, that much he could tell, but it was a shield nonetheless and a strong one to.
Wotan studied each member of the team closely, trying to figure out which one had stopped his attack only for him to find no one.
"Rileva a Vita. (Detect Life.)" Wotan intoned and suddenly picked up three additional life forms. Two hidden in the trees and another floating in the sky. Smirking he gathered magic and fired more bolts of lightning at the floating figure.
There was a gasp and suddenly the invisible figure revealed themselves as Miss Martian, she raised both hands to erect a shield that just barely withheld under the hail of bolts. From the tree-line, Artemis looked up to see Miss Martian in trouble and aimed, releasing an arrow that exploded upon contact with Wotan.
Only for the smoke to clear revealing Wotan unharmed, he having summoned a shield to protect himself from the explosion.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team continued to rush forwards, Aqualad having to quickly form a shield to block a blast of energy from Atomic Skull. The force behind it was strong pushing him backwards as a result of it striking his defence. But he held firm, digging his feet into the ground and after a moment with grit teeth, began slowly moving forwards, pushing against the radioactive energy beams.
At his side, Kid Flash and Wolf made their way towards Ultra-Humanite, Wolf leaping out with a snarl to try and bite the gorilla. Only for one of its large fists to smack Wolf to one side as he then turned to fire his energy-based weapon at the speedster forcing him to keep running and dodging each energy bullet as well as he could.
As Kid Flash and Wolf kept Ultra-Humanite busy, Batgirl and Robin were forced to do something similar with Poison Ivy. The natural environment around them suiting Poison Ivy perfectly, forcing them on the defensive without much hope of attacking.
Flipping through the air, Batgirl rolled backwards avoiding the numerous plants that attempted to slap her to one side and into another pile that would have restrained her. As she came out of the roll, she jumped backwards and threw a handful of Batarangs that impaled the plants and exploded. Each of them burning and fuelling Poison Ivy's rage.
"Superboy, now!" Aqualad called over the link, aware that all the members of the Injustice League were being occupied.
At that moment, Superboy leapt from the tree-line and landed beside Joker who looked at him. Before the maniac could say or do anything, Superboy punched Joker across the face and knocked the Clown Prince of Crime clean-out. "He's dealt with!" Jumping down and heading towards Atomic Skull who had initially been splitting his power between keeping Aqualad at bay as well as powering the plant.
With Joker taken out, he then turned his full power against Aqualad and forced the Atlantean further and further back. Landing, in a crouch behind the villain, Superboy swung his fist up striking Atomic Skull on the underside of his chin and launched him through the air towards Aqualad.
Both knew that the strike alone wouldn't be enough to take him out – he having taken blows from Superman – and so Aqualad's shield shifted into a hammer that he swung round. It was timed perfectly so that just as Atomic Skull began descending to the ground it struck him across the face and threw him to one side. The added momentum and gravity meant that the force of the blow was too much for Atomic Skull to withstand.
Taking a moment to study how the rest of the team was doing, Aqualad carefully considered the options. With Naruto taking on Black Adam they needed to ensure that the rest of the Injustice League was dealt with soon because there was no way Naruto would be able to win. Even if Aqualad spent a few seconds carefully study the options, he would take that risk to ensure that he made the correct decision that would win this fight sooner.
"Superboy, give me a lift."
As Aqualad rushed towards him, Superboy clasped his hands together acting as a platform for the Atlantean to step on. Tensing his muscles, Superboy chucked Aqualad over his head and into the air, directly towards Wotan.
"Artemis, Miss Martian, keep Wotan occupied." Aqualad ordered and just as he said, Artemis began firing much more arrows, each one exploding arrows while Mis Martian flew round, forcing Wotan to turn to face her as well. And as he cut through the air like a bullet, Aqualad collided with Wotans back, wrapping both arms around his body, locking the sorcerers' arms in place.
At that moment, his tattoos began to glow blow as electricity coursed through Wotan's body. It doesn't knock him out and Aqualad is struck by a powerful blast of magic that launches him into the ground, but it weakens him enough for Miss Martian to smack him with a wall of telekinetic power that knocks him out of the sky.
Landing with a boom, the ground caving in the underbody, Wotan rises onto all fours, shaking his head. Only to be struck by three exploding arrows, each of them exploding against the shield he barely managed to put up in time.
Grunting under the explosive power of those arrows, his magical shield weakened enough that when Aqualad came up and swung his mace round, the shield shattered entirely, the mace striking his face and knocking him off his feet. Aqualad followed up, Miss Martian reaching out and holding him in place with telekinesis which suited Aqualad perfectly.
With a shout, he swung his mace upwards and struck Wotan upon his head and knocked the immortal sorcerer unconscious.
Standing over his defeated foe, Aqualad took a look to see Ultra-Humanite being struck by a blow from Superboy that launched the gorilla where he landed beside Poison Ivy. The two remaining members of the Injustice League warily looked at one another and then to the team. Things weren't looking good for them and they knew it, they'd need Black Adam to return to change the tide. Which was exactly what the team didn't want to happen.
There had been constant series of explosions and dust clouds miles away from them, but things had gone silent for some time. And while the explosions had returned, appearing locations all over the place, it was obvious the fight was continuing.
"Miss Martian come with me; we'll help Maelstrom. Robin, take out the central control system." Aqualad ordered, narrowing his eyes at Poison Ivy and Ultra-Humanite. "The rest of you take them out quick and fast."
But at that moment the sound of a sonic boom struck their ears followed by the sound of breaking trees. Out from the tree line, the body of Naruto appeared, bouncing, and skidding across the ground before he eventually came to a stop. The cloak that had disappeared, reappearing with two tails waving behind him, small patches of skin on his facing starting to melt way revealing red muscles and veins pulsing with power.
Thursday 1st October, 19:30.
Arkansas,
Bayou Bartholomew.
"Perhaps I misjudged you." Black Adam said and Naruto, not even close to giving up yet, tensed his legs and shot across the forest ground on all fours. With a yell of effort, the blonde threw a swinging right overhand right, only for it to be blocked and Black Adam to follow with a counterattack. Instead of falling prey to the manoeuvre, Naruto was able to block the kick and spring off of it, into the sky.
Performing several acrobatic flips, the blonde then spun around and swung both tails down attempting to catch him by surprise.
Despite the swiftness of the tail strikes, Black Adam effortlessly slapped them away before rocketing up towards the hero and swinging straight at him. Naruto responded in kind by spring-boarding off the tree trunk he just landed on, directly towards his foe. As they closed in on one another, he threw a kick right into Black Adam's fist.
The pair collided in mid-air with a deafening shockwave, which not only destroyed the nearby trees but caved in the ground beneath them.
Despite his kick, Black Adam had yet to utilise his full power, even when holding back his full strength, the power behind his fist was enough to carry through and buried itself in Naruto's stomach. Doubling over and coughing up blood, Naruto was completely exposed, Black Adam then grabbing his leg and with an almighty toss, threw him into the ground below.
Despite being stunned by the blow, as a result of his power, Naruto's instincts were running at a hundred and ten per cent. As a result, while not fully conscious of his actions, he quickly righted himself and extended his tails outwards, wrapping around the broken trunk of a tree, using it to help slow him down.
However, the moment Naruto touched down on the ground, his feet and hands digging into it as to further slow himself down, he looked up. There, appearing directly in front of him was Black Adam who drove a killer hook right into his body, sending the youngster crashing through another row of trees.
Shockwaves began ringing out across the forest like cannon fire as the one-sided battle between Naruto and Black Adam carried on. The former champion of Shazam effortlessly avoided all of his opponent's attempts to attack him and spent the next couple of minutes leisurely beating the crap out of his foe. Every blow he landed was marked with a thunderclap that cracked the ground and uprooted trees, and every miss was followed by a wave of wind that would cause further destruction.
Eventually, Black Adam's chasing of his opponent led to him retreating momentarily from the youngster when the boy tried to swing at him. What caught him by surprise was how the cloak moved, the left hand on the cloak growing and extending into a huge, clawed hand easily ten feet wide.
'It seems he's learning how to use his powers instinctively.' Black Adam realised blasting lightning from his hand at Naruto to keep him at bay. 'Though his control of his powers are still amateurish, he has potential. A great deal of potential.'
Caught by surprise by the lightning, Naruto pulled back his cloak fully to protect himself. For you see, extending his cloak in this way meant drawing energy from other areas, leaving them less protected. The lightning struck and flung him backwards, digging Naruto into the ground and flinging him backwards into a boulder.
Black Adam, watching his attack disperse, chuckled loudly, and studied Naruto closely. He then flew down directly in front of his opponent, surprising the hero and smashing the boy further into the ground with a lazy punch.
When Naruto shot up to try and sock him across the jaw, Black Adam slammed his knuckles across the boy's face, backhanding him immediately afterwards. After knocking the heroes head around, Black Adam then grabbed the blonde by the hair, pulled him over, and drove a knee-deep into his stomach, watching the blood fly out of his mouth the moment he released him.
As Naruto began to fall to the ground, Black Adam tensed his muscles up and thrust his right fist forwards. His fist smashed into Naruto's chest, his rib cage caving in under blow and a shockwave exploded outwards.
The Two-Tailed cloak surrounding Naruto dissipated and Naruto momentarily froze, eyes widening in shock and blood bursting from his mouth. Slowly folding over the fist, time returned to normal, and he was flung backwards, body flipping madly through the air, bursting through trees and boulders before he burst out into the clearing near the Injustice League headquarters.
He struck the ground, bouncing off it numerous times before skidding to a halt.
Thursday 1st October, 19:45.
Arkansas,
Bayou Bartholomew.
"Maelstrom!" Batgirl cried, rushing to skid beside the blonde's side. "Are you alright?" Naruto groaned out clutching his healing chest in pain, there was nothing quite so painful as his bones mending themselves.
"Nope, I think that's the fifth time he's broken my rib cage. He's fucking strong." Letting Batgirl help him to his feet, they and the team along with Poison Ivy and Ultra-Humanite turned to see Black Adam float towards them from the path of destruction Naruto's body had made. "Batgirl, get away from here, he's too strong."
"But..."
Aqualad put one hand on Batgirl's shoulder, shaking his head. "Maelstrom's right, you should focus your efforts on dealing with Ultra-Humanite and Poison Ivy. Leave Black Adam to us." Reluctantly, Batgirl nodded her head and moved away, Aqualad and Miss Martian moving to flank Naruto's whose Two-Tailed cloak returned in full force. "He's that powerful then?" Aqualad asked, taking note than even with Two Tails worth of power, Naruto had been smacked around with what looked to be ease.
That was not an easy feat to do, with Two Tails, Naruto was a rival for himself in strength and surpassed him in speed. The only one who surpassed Naruto in either category at this stage was Superboy and Kid Flash, respectively.
The fact that Naruto seemingly had been bodied by Black Adam was not looking good. "What's the plan?" Miss Martian asked.
"Hit him hard and hit him fast." Naruto told them, crouching down low.
"Miss Martian, keep your distance." In response to Aqualad, Miss Martian rose into the air while Aqualad moved behind Naruto. There was no room for error right now, they needed to keep Black Adam preoccupied long enough for one of three things to happen.
The first was for Ultra-Humanite and Poison Ivy to be taken care of. That way they would receive backup from Superboy, Wolf, Kid Flash, Artemis, and Batgirl. The second was for Robin to detonate the bombs that would destroy the tree acting as the antenna to control the rest of the plants. And the third was too last long enough for the Justice League to arrive. It didn't matter which one came first.
So long as the third one happened first, then this entire thing would be over with. But even so, holding Black Adam off seemed to be easier said than done.
"Is this the best you can do, Kin of Kurama?" Black Adam taunted; arms crossed over his chest.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Naruto questioned.
"You do not know of where your powers come from, do you?" The frown on Black Adam expressed his disappointment with the discovery. "Such a shame."
Seeing an opportunity to stall, Naruto took it. "Why don't you tell me about my powers then? I'd love to know."
"And allow you to stall for time. Hardly." Leaning forwards, Black Adam bolted forwards, his take-off being marked by a crack of wind as he propelled himself towards his foes. Closing the hundred-meter gap between them in the blink of an eye, the man slammed a fist across Naruto's face and sent the young hero flying, before following up and nailing Aqualad with a knee.
Both heroes were practically rag-dolled across the landscape and sent crashing through multiple rocks and trees. Upon travelling a few hundred feet in two different directions, the pair eventually collided in two separate locations, the river, and a large rock formation, respectively.
He then turned up and brought his hands in front of him, concentrating his lightning, which proceeded to form a large ball of crackling energy that expanded outwards when he widened his hands. Electricity sparking around its pulsing mass suddenly burst off, striking against Miss Martian's hastily raised telekinetic shield.
It didn't last long, the first bolt of lightning shattering the shield and it was only Miss Martian's training with the team and learning to avoid fast individuals like Kid Flash that allowed her to fly out of the way to avoid the second, though it scored a glancing blow, knocking her out of the sky with a cry. He flew down, bringing one first down to strike at Miss Martian only for a red blur to come along, grabbing the Martian girl and bringing her out of harm's way just in time.
The ground exploded outwards under the force of his blow, a cloud of dust and debris rising. However, Black Adam saw the torrent of water coming towards him and raised both arms.
The water struck his guard and drove him back slightly, but the moment Black Adam dug his feet into the ground, he came to a stop. With a shout, he spread his arms apart, the water bursting apart and that's exactly when Naruto arrived in front of him using the water as a distraction.
Black Adam rose his forearm, Naruto's fist striking against it, but Naruto jumped into the air, spinning round and driving heel kick right into his chest. The attack was compiled with both tails fusing into one large tail that also slammed into him with such force it caused him to fall back.
His back slammed into the ground beneath, that he had been hovering over, but Black Adam looked up with a start. His eyes widened when he saw Naruto thrusting both tails towards him, intent on further driving him into the ground. Reacting instinctively, Black Adam thrust his right hand up and fired a lightning bolt which allowed him to block the heroes attack when it struck him.
The impact of the lightning striking against the tails managed to generate a loud thunderclap on contact, Black Adam then bursting up into the air after Naruto. The blonde had just momentarily landed on the ground before the two were engaged in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. Black Adam pursued Naruto with numerous fast and swift strikes with both aggression and great skill. Naruto dodging them as best as he could while trying to land strikes with his own, but extremely wary of the power behind those blows.
Black Adam's instincts screamed at him, prompting him to spin around mid-strike to catch the sneak attack thrown at him by Aqualad coming up from behind. Aqualad swung both water blades down onto Black Adam from above, only to see it get blocked against the enemy's forearm. With his attack thwarted, Aqualad frowned back at the former champion of Shazam before throwing himself fully at Black Adam, soon joined by Naruto.
Working together, the two team members danced around Black Adam, speedily attacking him from two directions with their respective techniques and weapons of choice. But Black Adam managed to parry and deflect their blows with ease, the combination of attacks from both warriors and the agility they possessed kept the former champion of Shazam on his feet, but he had lived for thousands of years and had fought in many battles, the accumulated experience giving him the advantage in this fight. Even so, the fact that Black Adam had not gone on the offence since Naruto and Aqualad began tag-teaming him showed the effectiveness of their teamwork.
The two friends had trained alongside one another for months and while in recent weeks Naruto had spent more time training with Jason Blood, he sparred constantly with Aqualad and Superboy to test the limits of his powers against someone more on his level. While sparring against superior opponents was the best way to learn, both Superboy and Aqualad allowed him to measure the rate of his improvements.
Combine this training with the various fights they had been in as well as the constant psychic link that Miss Martian used to allow them secure means of communication has resulted in their teamwork being miles better than anything most would expect in such a short space of time.
This was further aided by Miss Martians use of telekinesis in which she pushed her powers to their utmost limit in order to simply slow Black Adam just that fraction of a second would save her teammates. All the while giving that extra push to Naruto's and Kaldur's blows, adding that little extra force necessary to stall their enemy.
As a result, despite being a superior fighter, more experienced, stronger, faster, and more dangerous all around, Black Adam was unable to press the advantage at this moment in time due to their effective teamwork. But with the help of the recently recovered Miss Martian who used her telekinesis to provide resistance to all of his movements, allowed Naruto and Aqualad to move around his strikes with some measure of safety.
Even so, with the wisdom granted to him by Zehuti, he started to notice the little patterns in their strikes and finally went one offensive.
While blocking an onslaught of punches from Naruto with one arm and countering with a right straight to his face with the same hand, Aqualad came round and drove a kick into his exposed flank and doubled-up with a couple of swings with his swords to Black Adam's face. After he got cracked across the cheeks three times the blades being dealt more damage than Black Adam was, he answered the Atlantean assault with a solid kick to his abdomen, only to then get smashed in the nose by Naruto jumping at him with a punch.
Black Adam didn't even stagger and parried the blondes follow up body shot, he was then struck again by Aqualad coming in and nailing him with a good hammer strike across the face, this one, aided by a timely telekinetic push by Miss Martian knocked Black Adam backwards.
His legs quickly being swiped out from underneath him.
But before even touching the ground, Black Adam flew up into the air, electricity gathering around his hands. Even Miss Martian's attempts to slow him down didn't stop him. Spinning around, he thrust both hands forwards, numerous, powerful bolts of lightning lancing out at the heroes.
The entire forest was rocketed with an explosion.
Slowly, as the smoke cleared, it revealed Naruto, Aqualad and Miss Martian all laid on the floor unmoving. Black Adam continuing to float above them, his victory attained. "Stop right there!" Before he could do anything else, he was encased in a green barrier and Black Adam looked up to see the Justice League coming towards him.
So here we are another chapter done and with it, the team faces off against the Injustice League, a bit more into the history of Naruto's powers are revealed and Black Adam has a link to them. However, the fight between Naruto shows just how much Naruto has come, and let me explain, Naruto has full control of his Tailless and One-Tailed Form, and limited control over his Two-Tailed Form. That is a huge improvement and with it, he managed to put up a very decent showing against Black Adam even if he did lose in the end.
Just a little note, last chapter I received a review from a few people who correctly pointed out where a lot of you are going wrong. Injustice Naruto is not Canon Naruto. He was born and raised in Gotham; therefore, his personality matured much sooner than Canon Naruto's and he never had chakra and never will. All of you are talking about how I should just use Canon Naruto because of how weak Injustice Naruto is and start talking about how Canon Naruto can body people like Superman and even Darkseid someone said once! Like, just what? This is why I've had to talk about how Canon Naruto would rank in comparison to DC because some of you (the vast majority are not) are coming out with some outlandish stuff.
And I do love a good discussion, which is something I stirred up last time with my last chapter, so I'm very glad for that. Some of you I have reached out to through a PM simply because the reply would have been very, very long. So, let's get on with the questions:
Drake3000: Thank you very much for pointing that out, tbh I didn't even realise I'd done it that way so I've gone back and changed it. As for numbers, well it just gets incredibly difficult to narrow it down to that level. Like I said, when initially doing this fic I underestimated just how powerful the DC characters are and now that I've done more research I've realised that trying to narrow it down to that degree is pretty much impossible. As for Naruto being stronger in Boruto, I know but there's a lot to the DC universe that people tend to overlook.
M.D. Hurricane: I'm glad to see that you're enjoying the progression of Naruto's power, a lot of people are frustrated, but I find that it's only natural for things to not be a simple and easy road. Hopefully, I can make his power progression satisfying.
Okren: I'm glad that you realise that canon Naruto should not be compared to Injustice Naruto, but you're wrong about the last bit. It's like in Book 1, Naruto when he started was a little fish in a big pond, that pond was simply Gotham. Now in Book 2, we're looking at the entirety of Earth and even beyond. To compare the villains of Gotham to the villains of with wider DC universe in terms of power, it's like comparing an ant to a mountain. The difference in power is just insane, so yes, he's struggling.
But it's only these last two chapters, besides the incident where Aqualad led the team in which the Team has struggled to win. Every other time they've done so very well and handled the situation very well. Have there been bumps in the road? Yes, but that's because they're still a new team and I've already explained why this story is unfolding the way it is before, so I suggest going back and reading other ANs as I don't feel like repeating myself.
Seraph: I have considered the latter, not the former I'll have to check it out. Right now, he's going to keep his Maelstrom outfit and while he might add a few changes here and there, I don't think I'm ever going to go along the route of either of those.
Yohnos: They would be in the same place as Superman, Flash, Captain Atom, and Martian Manhunter. They are incredibly powerful and to not cause mass destruction with just the shockwaves of their punches and kicks, they have to hold back their powers a great deal. They'll become more accurate when we see their full power in action. As for Naruto's threat level, yes. Whenever a character's threat level changes, it means that if their powers are used in certain situations then their threat can be massively increased. And you're right, the ranks aren't a definite thing, lower-ranked heroes can beat higher-ranked heroes, it's just they have less chance than the higher-ranked person.
Allheaven Paragon: I've looked at a lot of Quora, Comic Vine Battle pages, Reddit, and other sites that look at power levels of Naruto. A lot of them vary from the realms of ridiculousness and put him at universal to barely a small country, but the vast majority even when looking at Boruto, only put him at Planetary and when I read what those people put, it makes more sense and doesn't seem to be blown out of proportion to the extreme. And I haven't read anything that puts Naruto on those levels.
anoyak11: Don't worry, I think I've got a very good way in which to introduce the harem into the story, I can message you by PM and explain it to you, so you can decide on whether you like it or not and therefore, chose whether to read or not. However, when the Harems are introduced, besides some scenes here or there, there won't be a huge emphasis on it. It'll be there and acknowledged, but there's so much going on in the story that I won't be able to put a huge emphasis on it.
GamerX568: Please read my reply to Allheaven because that sounds like FTDS has wanked Naruto to the extreme. To be honest, some of his stories I do like, but others like you pointed out to me, wank Naruto to the extreme that it's just not enjoyable.
GroundedForever: Ah, thank you for that little tidbit of information, I don't think I'll change what I wrote right now, but I'll remember it for future chapters. That I can promise you.
DylanThe Demon: Yes I have, but I don't know if I'll be doing that.
Lrmccr7: Starfire will be appearing in the next arc.
Sultan Asil Arslan: I know, it's insane that Martians were so OP the Guardians themselves had to make them vulnerable to fire just to stop them.
OgFrosty: Maybe, maybe not.