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Chapter 8
The Sword of Darkness
"There...is...no...greater...honor...than...to...die...to...protect...your...family...and...home"
He remembered his father's smile and solemn words in that miserable hospital room. Even when his body had given up, his spirit had not. There was no regret in those eyes as the man died with a smile on his face.
"I'm...so...proud...of...you...I...wish...we...could...have...spent...more...time...together. Remember...what...I...said...about...Tobirama...and...look...after...your...little...brother...Promise...me...Mi..."
He had cried tears of blood that night on seeing his mother meet her end before his very eyes. Until the very end, she had protected him, even giving her life for him and dying with a smile on her face.
"You...are...the...savior...of...our...people...I...know...you...can...do...it"
His little brother's final words tore his heart apart as he watched his last family die with a smile on his face.
Time after time, his heroes, his family, his friends, his comrades...they died trying to protect their home against people whose ambition knew no limits. Those sacrifices gave birth to endless pain and anger...most of all it gave the most powerful feeling in his heart.
Hatred.
"KINKAKU!"
Mei felt a chakra even more sinister than her own monster's get unleashed across the entire city. It consumed everything in its path threatening to drown it all in endless agony. The killing intent, she had never felt so much anger and hate before in her life. Even the Six Tails wrath paled in comparison to this feeling.
It was not just her, but every single shinobi from both sides who were affected to the point that the fighting had stopped as each of them tried to sustain themselves against this power.
She could already see many of the younger and less experienced shinobi from Kiri falling to their knees and grasping their chest in pain.
Her eyes then narrowed down upon the direction from where this power was born.
She froze.
There in front of her stood Lord Seventh, except for the fact that he no longer resembled the man she knew.
Those once blue eyes were now pitch red having been consumed in hatred and pain that only sought to inflict agony. But most of all, she felt his pain. A never ending fire that burned his heart day and night, threatening to torture him till eternity.
A man consumed by darkness.
Dark chakra more closer to ash was emerging from his body and hovering around him like a protective parent.
But it was the sword that terrified her.
With every passing second, it was growing more and more red to the point that even from this distance she could feel the heat contained in that metal fueled by Naruto's rage and hatred.
"It's him..."
"Can't...believe...he...still...lives...after...that...battle..."
"Demon..killer..."
"This...is...bad"
"We're...dead"
Mei blinked on hearing that terrified chattering among the most feared special forces unit in the world. They had laughed at her and her power even when she summoned the Biju's chakra against them. But now, she could see real fear in their eyes and it was soon followed by red smoke bombs going off in the air.
Tobirama blinked when he saw the remaining Kumogakure forces instantly abandon the fight and run for their very lives. The Seven Ninja swordsman and Kiri forces gave chase but were stopped when the Kinkaku units got in the way to cover the retreat of their comrades.
Angered by the Intervention, dozens of Kiri Anbu and Jounin rushed forward to butcher their enemies but were stopped when Mangetsu stepped in between and looked at them sternly.
"Stand down" commanded the Hozuki heir,
"Like hell-"
The female hunter and the ninja around her gasped when Mangetsu cracked her mask with a single stroke of his sword and looked at them all coldly.
"Next one takes your heads" warned Mangetsu icily, making many step back.
The Kiri force soon started to make way allowing their Commander to walk forward and join the remaining swordsman who looked at him warily.
"Do you want us to let those bastards escape?" asked Zabuza irritatedly, as he pointed at the fleeing Kumo forces led by one of the Gold and Silver brothers. One of the fleeing Kumo Anbu's had also managed to grab a wounded A from the prison and was now running away.
"Let them run, I'd be surprised if the Raikage does not kill them himself. More importantly, I will not allow our men to venture deeper into Kumo territory without any backup. Let me deal with these bastards, you guys take the Second Hokage into custody. He is far more valuable than these cowards" ordered Naruto, looking directly at Mangetsu who didn't need anymore explanation as he glanced at Tobirama with a surprised look.
"Let's go" commanded Mangetsu, taking almost all the swordsmen and most of Kiri's forces.
Only Zabuza remained by Naruto's side, the bloodthirsty grin from the man's face was not missed by Naruto as he too gave a cold smile devoid of any mercy.
"Kill them" ordered Naruto, earning a grin from his partner.
"Gladly, Lord Seventh" answered Zabuza teasingly,
Tobirama didn't move even as he was surrounded by hundreds of Kiri shinobi for his eyes were fixed upon only one warrior. What these people didn't understand was the fact that perhaps he was the only here who could truly understand the depth of Naruto's pain that gave birth to this hatred.
This chakra, there is no mistaking it. He has the blood of the Namikaze, Senju and Uchiha in him. The body and mind of a Senju and Namikaze...but the heart of an Uchiha.
He saw Naruto charge towards the Kinkaku fearlessly.
Tobirama had never seen any Kinkaku cower when they faced him but now they were afraid as their death charged towards them. These shinobi remembered that the boy who murdered a Biju was alive and was now hunting them down.
There was so much power in this boy, so much that it scared Tobirama.
But inside the boy's heart, the former Hokage felt an endless sorrow and emptiness. A void that was as pitiful as that broken sharingan of his that never truly awakened.
He watched as Naruto unleashed a hail of ash from his body that surged towards the Kinkaku platoon. Half of them managed to jump away but the remaining were surrounded in that small storm. Tobirama's eyes widened when Naruto clenched his fists and all those men and women were set on fire.
Their screams were raw and bone chilling as they were burned alive in those vicious flames. The surviving Kinkaku roared in fury as they charged towards Naruto but two of them were instantly cut down as Zabuza appeared behind them.
Naruto met his first opponent soon enough as the female Kinkaku attempted a wide horizontal slash towards his chest. The Kiri commander simply blocked the attack with his burning red sword which led to the shattering of his enemies weapon.
A permanent terrified expression was etched across the female Kinkaku's eyes as Naruto plunged his hand clean through her chest and tore her heart out killing her instantly.
Unfazed by the brutality that he had inflicted, Naruto surged forward to slice down two more Kinkaku in half as they were trying to kill Zabuza from behind.
Only seven more Kinkaku were left and they all were now wielding twin swords that now burned with their foul Biju chakra and lightning.
Zabuza was about to move forward when Naruto stopped him.
Instead the Kiri Commander himself calmly walked towards the last of his enemies. They all charged towards him at once with ferocious roars.
Tobirama narrowed his eyes when he saw the sword in Naruto's hand burn more and more red with every passing moment. He extended his sensory powers fully and his eyes widened.
It's calling out to his hatred and using it to fuel its power. But it is also consuming his life-force, a cursed power.
But a power with no match which made its user nearly unstoppable.
It spread across Naruto's entire body making his stark white haori turn dark and transformed the kanji of Lord Seventh to red as well.
The seven Kinkaku unleashed a storm of shuriken towards their sole opponent who didn't stop moving towards them and easily deflected the projectiles with his deadly sword. However, it allowed them to close in on him and surround him from all sides.
Naruto bent himself to one knee and raised his sword to block all fourteen swords that arrived at him from upwards. From his other free hand, he grabbed his tanto from his back once more making the Kinkaku curse. All but one of them swiftly jumped away as Naruto twisted himself to stab the tanto clean through one Kinkaku's neck.
The man collapsed dead without any scream ever escaping from his body.
Use your hatred and destroy these creatures.
The voice called out to him once more promising all the vengeance he desired. He felt the life-force draining from his body and for a second he thought to stop channeling so much of his power into this sword.
However, the faces of his dead family and friends again flashed before his very eyes that destroyed his hesitation.
Ino flinched when Naruto jumped towards his enemies at alarming speeds and gave them no chance. The six Kinkaku cursed when their enemy landed right in between them and quickly tried to stab him only to have Naruto roar in fury as his sword was rotated fully across all directions shattering all the other swords and decapitating his enemies in half without mercy.
The battle was over.
Just when Kiri shinobi were about to breathe a sigh of relief, they saw three Kinkaku choking on their own blood and refused to die even when they were cut in half. The remaining three had died instantly.
Even the most hardened shinobi would have given these suffering creatures a merciful death.
Mangetsu knew there was good in Naruto, this same man had shown compassion to his own comrades but for these people he seemed to have no mercy in his stone cold heart as he shrouded the moaning warriors in ash and set them on fire making their screams chill every surviving soul across the city.
Naruto never smiled even as his arch enemies died screaming in agony, for it was not enough.
His furious eyes landed over the hundreds of civilians cowering in their homes, having been abandoned by their own shinobi. His hatred burned once more as he walked towards the remaining half of the city with his sinister sword. He saw the fear in their eyes as they saw their death in him.
A firm hand was placed on his shoulder.
He glared furiously at the person who had dared to stop him from having his vengeance but the person glared back at him with equal cold eyes.
"Enough"
Tobirama channeled his own calm and soothing chakra into the boy and felt some of the hatred that clouded his heart begin to fade. The sword howled in protest and Tobirama swatted the weapon away from the boy's hand, that was when the sky blue eyes of the boy returned once more.
"There is still good left in you. Don't lose yourself to your own darkness" advised Tobirama gently,
Tobirama keenly observed as Naruto's eyes widened in horror as he saw the carnage he had wrecked across the entire city. He had butchered half of the population alongwith so many shinobi, and now that the hatred had faded all he felt was sorrow and shame.
"I asked you to be the voice of the dead but for that to happen your soul doesn't have to die as well" admonished Tobirama,
"They killed my family" countered Naruto furiously, as he again remembered his father, mother and little brother.
"And how many families did you slaughter in return?"
Tobirama felt the fight inside the boy die when he himself saw the other half of the city that he had turned to dust in his anger and hatred. In doing so, he had killed so many families.
A family like his own.
The truth of his actions hit the boy hard as his eyes teared up. Tobirama felt the conflict inside Naruto as his light and darkness warred against each other which only left him even more broken. Deep down, he was empty which made him do things he wouldn't do.
The boy wrenched himself away from Tobirama and walked away, but his question to himself truly saddened the former Hokage.
What have I done?
Naruto sat alone at the docks watching the silent ocean even as the morning rays of the sun slowly started to pierce through the clouds.
As the night faded, he could see the results of his own actions in the destroyed city.
Osaka would take years to rebuild, if ever. Half of its population was dead, the command center of the special forces destroyed with hundreds of shinobi dead and many more injured. The remaining civilians had surrendered without protest after watching his power.
Many of the food stores were still surviving after the battle, so were a few weapon stations and treasuries. It was safe to say, Kirigakure had gained a huge bounty in prisoners and resources, not to mention a Hokage who was willing to accompany them in hopes of forging an alliance with the Mizukage.
It was a key strategic victory for Kirigakure, and perhaps even an indirect one for Uzu and Konoha as they had managed to deal a severe blow to Kumogakure's might and superiority.
But he didn't feel the same.
How many families did you slaughter in return?
Tobirama's words rang in his ears even now and they hurt just as much the loss of his family hurt him.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
He looked up and saw Mangetsu and Haku arriving by his side. Accompanying them a little further behind were the remaining ninja swordsman.
"Is the mop-up complete? We need to leave before reinforcements come back" warned Naruto, earning a smile from Mangetsu.
"We have taken care of it. You've done more than enough for all of us in this battle. Still, I never thought the Kinkaku would be this weak" said Mangetsu calmly,
"They are not" countered Naruto,
"What do you mean, Naruto? You easily took them down" argued Ameyuri with a frown marring her face,
"I have faced them before so I know how they fight, that gave me an advantage. However, these Kinkaku were new recruits. They were not able to master the Biju chakra implanted in their bodies fully, their training was not complete. If it was the veterans then it would have been a different story. My best guess is that the Raikage took all the veterans into his battle against Konoha leaving behind only the Anbu and new Kinkaku recruits believing they were enough to protect their stronghold of Osaka" explained Naruto honestly,
"That's troublesome..." whispered Mangetsu worriedly,
"Heh. Atleast we won this battle...that should be enough for now" suggested Haku with a smile,
"We'll beat the Kinkaku when the time comes" declared Kisame with a grin, earning nods from the remaining swordsmen without any hesitation.
"What I did..." whispered Naruto, earning a scoff from Zabuza and Kisame.
"Heh, you've made us proud to call you Commander. You've upheld our village's reputation and restored fear in the hearts of our enemies" said Zabuza with a smirk,
"War is cruel, Naruto. But you proved that you are willing to make tough decisions, not many can do that" praised Kisame,
"I never thought you had that much power. It scared the enemy enough, that is good enough for me" added Ameyuri, earning a nod from Jinpachi as well.
It was Haku who knelt by his side an offered him a bottle of water. Naruto nodded and accepted the help which helped quenched his thirst now that his tears had ran him dry.
"We only lost 40 of our own men in this battle, with another 20 injured. The enemy nearly lost 1000-1500, you saved our men. For that I am grateful to you, Commander" thanked Haku,
"The men are wary of your power but at the same time they are also reassured that they are being led by a truly remarkable leader. You're a powerful ninja, Naruto...but more than that you are a dangerous Commander whom I would not want to face in battle" remarked Mangetsu with a smirk,
Naruto looked at all six of them, the finest warriors of Kiri. There was once hesitation and mistrust in these eyes but now they looked at him differently. His actions had changed their views on him, maybe even ignited something close to friendship.
As they helped him get back on his feet, they all echoed their thoughts by giving him a respectful nod and calling him by the name that the 501st and the world would remember him by.
"Commander"
Tobirama looked at the guards around him who kept him free but under-watch at all times. His eyes instantly caught sight of Naruto as he walked among the troops inspecting their progress and morale. It was the way in which the Kiri shinobi instantly responded in his presence that showed Tobirama that Naruto had earned their respect.
Wherever the boy went, he was met with respectful bows and some even cheering by calling him "Commander'', to which Naruto simply nodded.
"He's something else, isn't he?" asked one of the Jounin guarding Tobirama,
"That's the Anbu Blackops for you. He was one of us first, but yes he is a fine Commander" responded the lone Anbu in the guard detail with great pride,
"He's amazing" praised another Hunter, as he saw the Commander himself spending time beside the wounded shinobi.
Tobirama didn't understand why these ninja were in so awe of the boy, granted he was powerful and had displayed admirable leadership skills, however those were traits every officer should have. But the way the Kiri shinobi were reacting, it was as if they had seen an officer like Naruto for the first time.
Someone else also sensed Tobirama's dilemma as her voice called out to him.
"It's because Commander Naruto understands the feelings of his men and strives to protect them. Our former superiors never cared for us and only sought victory and personal glory at all costs. Naruto leads from the front and fights alongside his men, our enemies fear him and our people will love him after this victory. He's the hero of Kiri" said a blonde female hunter,
Tobirama blinked when he sensed the Yamanaka clan chakra present within the women. The Kiri shinobi couldn't distinguish that power but a former Hokage who had lived amidst this woman's clan knew their power very well. His doubts were proven when the masked female Hunter gave him a subtle nod.
The former Hokage pondered over those words as he glanced at the boy who could probably be his child. Doubt still lingered in Tobirama's death, but there was one thing which could prove that Naruto was his son. The boy would never allow him to test his blood but there was one fact that Tobirama had only shared with Inoue Namikaze, a fact that could still be true as Naruto had confirmed that his real name was in fact not...Naruto.
If Tobirama could make him confess his true name and if it turned out to be what he believed...
He looked at the boy again who was possibly not even aware of his true identity. If Tobirama's doubts were proved, then Naruto was not only the last surviving member of the now extinct Namikaze clan but the heir to the Senju clan as well, now that Hashirama's sons and grandson had perished. Hashirama's granddaughter still lived but the clan demanded a male heir to lead them, they had been pestering Tobirama to settle down quite adamantly only for him to refuse them everytime.
If this boy was truly his son, then he belonged with his people.
He belonged to the Senju clan and his father.
But there was something about the boy, something about his powers...that scared Tobirama Senju.
Tobirama...
He blinked on hearing his long dead elder brother's voice. Frantically, he looked around only to see himself surrounded by his Kiri guards. Tobirama closed his eyes hoping he was being delusional, but the same voice called out to him again.
Tobirama...
There was no mistaking it now, it was truly his brother's voice.
Elder Brother...where...are...you?
The lament in Tobirama's voice brought a hearty chuckle from that voice, words couldn't describe how much Tobirama had yearned to hear that. Hashirama was the only brother Tobirama had left after the Clan Wars, he was all Tobirama had left of his family and his loss hurt even today. In that way, Tobirama could truly understand Naruto's hatred for the ones who killed his little brother as Tobirama himself had never forgiven Kumogakure for playing a part in Hashirama's death.
Still...holding...grudges...Tobirama...you're...just...like...your...son.
Wouldn't it be the son is more like the Father?
At Tobirama's counter the voice laughed out once again which even made Tobirama smile, Hashirama had that affect on even someone like Tobirama. Whatever this was, a delusion or something else...Tobirama wanted it to last a little longer, if only to hear his brother's voice.
There...is...great...power...in...that...boy...but...there...also...lies...great...sadness...
Elder Brother?
Promise...me...you...will...train...and...look...after...the...boy...
I will for I have questions of my own.
He...is...the...chosen...one...he...will...bring...balance...to...this...war-torn...world...
Hashirama's words left his younger brother speechless and before he could further question his brother, the voice was gone leaving him alone in the ravaged city.
Tobirama looked at the boy who could possibly be his son, he didn't know if the voice he had heard truly belonged to his deceased brother or not...but something within his heart begged him to protect the boy.
On top of the eastern side mountains were two figures currently watching over the badly destroyed city of Osaka beneath them.
"It was interesting, wasn't it?" asked a plant like creature to his partner,
The tall dark haired man beside him didn't answer but instead his eyes were keenly focusing upon the source of their current interest.
"That sword...you tinkered with it, didn't you...Zetsu?" asked the man amusedly,
"Not too much, the rest is all him. Did you feel his power?" questioned Zetsu,
The red eyed older man still stared at the Namikaze boy. Having watched him fight and lead his forces had been a delight, even though he was the son of the man that the red eyed warrior hated most.
"All this destruction and carnage, he did it to avenge his little brother" said Zetsu calmly,
"I would have done the same, no I would have been much more harsher. There is still hesitation in him, but there also exists darkness in his heart. I have seen it" declared the red eyed man, as he turned around and started to walk away.
"What would you like me to do?" asked Zetsu to his retreating partner,
The older dark haired man stopped and looked back at him with those dangerous red eyes.
"Make him realize his destiny, one day he shall be known as...The Black Flash"
