HOPE, A THING OF THE PAST – UZUMAKI
The Clearing
The tension in the air is thick, laying immobile on the ground are 8 of the hidden leaf's Hokage. Laying on the ground are 5 legendary shinobi of the past. Standing ready to kill them is a Captain of the invading forces and only 2 shinobi standing in his way, no, it would be more accurate to say that one shinobi is standing in his way. The body language of Boruto and Mirai making it clear to the others that he is the stronger the pair and that he intends to fight the captain alone.
"Hey" shouts Senju Tsunade, "Will you really be OK, that attack he just performed was on the Kage level".
To shoot lightning on the Kage level is truly an unimaginable feat for a normal person. Even amongst the Hokage there is very little combined power using the element of lightning, the only one amongst them who favours it being Hatake Kakashi. The Captain before them though, he had created a sea of lightning on par with the raikiri in merely a second.
"Don't worry about me" Boruto says with a smile.
While Boruto does smile, he refuses to take his eye from his opponent, although confident it pays to not be overconfident, regardless of the opponent. Against an opponent like this, being overconfident is nearly impossible anyway. Boruto does have one distinct advantage though, his opponent uses the element of lightning, yet his key competency lies in the wind style.
Mirai's voice draws the gaze of the many guests from the past. "Boruto won't lose".
At that moment, the Captain decides he has had enough of listening, with but a flick of his hand lightning manifests in his hand, quickly extending to form the shape of a sword. A terrifying weapon that leaves Boruto reminiscing about his master's use of lightning to enhance swords.
The Captain charges towards Boruto, his steps light but his pace quick as he closes the distance towards his fair-haired opponent.
Boruto's reaction time is equally quick, instantly he weaves a successive five signs sending chakra out of his body to the kunai around him. Each individual kunai adjusts its angle before shooting into the air before him. Each moment that passes the distance between the kunai increases, an attack with little accuracy but great area of effect.
The Captain sneers at Boruto's attack, "Do you think I can't avoid them?".
True to his comment the Captain swiftly dodges the kunai heading towards him. It is not particularly difficult to do this, anybody at the jonin level should be capable of doing so. Though something about this event seems out of place to the Captain, he is right to be concerned as is confirmed when his eyes contact Boruto's once more.
Boruto is smiling.
A strange noise fills the air surrounding Boruto and the Captain, it is as if the air is moving at an unprecedented rate. As if the wind is furious and has decided to shatter the earth itself but what it is out of place is the lack of a breeze, not a flutter of clothing, not a slight force against the skin of anyone present. The wind is instead acting to influence the kunai. As if an invisible box has been formed around the Captain, the kunai ricochet off its walls. The wind is sending them back towards the Captain, from all different directions.
The Captain flinches.
"WHAT THE…".
As several of the kunai hurtle towards the captain he is left with no choice but to spin on his heel and knock them from the air. The lightning sword makes quick work of the kunai before him, most shinobi can knock kunai from the air, much less a Captain of the invading forces. An elemental weapon like the lightning sword is far too strong to be overcome by simple kunai, even for a genius shinobi like Uzumaki Boruto.
The Captain turns back around to run towards Boruto only to make a shocking discovery.
Boruto is right in front of him.
In Boruto's open palm a pure ball of blue chakra has formed, a technique created by his grandfather, made famous by his father and taught to him by his sensei, the rasengan. Boruto's twists his body from the hips, the part of the body responsible for creating the most momentum with such an attack. He swings the rasengan as hard as he can towards the Captain.
'That technique is powerful but it won't be enough to put me down' the Captain concludes, 'I'll endure it and stab him at the same time'.
Thinking that the Captain thrusts his sword towards Boruto, a wry smile on his face as he looks Boruto in the eye. Something that again manages to throw him off balance.
Boruto still looks confident.
The rasengan in Boruto's hand begins to spin, as if preparing to form a rasen shuriken. This sort of spinning is a method to make the rasengan more dangerous as first discovered when the 6th Hokage suggested it to the 7th Hokage.
The Captain's eyes widen as he realises the increase in danger, 'NOT GOOD'.
The Hokage of yesteryear watch on in awe as a huge bang stuns everyone. The rasengan has connected. Unfortunately, it is not a full connection as the Captain adjusted his course at the last second, it is simply a weak blow to the biceps of his off-hand, yet the results of the attack speak for themselves. His entire arm has been blackened.
The Captain leaps backwards to create distance between himself and his opponent.
'If that attack had hit me in the torso… I would have been down for the count'.
The Captain's thoughts are interrupted by the mocking voice of his opponent, "You really should have thought twice before destroying my home".
"Ha, you really are overconfident boy" the Captain begins, "See the bronze cloak, see the prestigious uniform marked with a 'number 3', feel my unmatched aura… I am… I AM A CAPTAIN".
The connotation of this quote is quite clear to Boruto and the other's, I won't fall for the same trick twice. Bearing that in mind Boruto weaves a sequence of signs causing the kunai to gather before him once more, regardless of the chances, the circumstance, the odds or the challenges he is confronted with, nothing changes, he must still fight.
Once more the Captain begins to run towards Boruto, this time with a more reserved pace. He maintains an open posture and his eyes are scanning the various kunai that Boruto has once more gathered before him.
Boruto also repeats his actions from the previous encounter, launching the kunai in various directions. The kunai fly away from each other and begin to bounce around the invisible box that Boruto has created. This time there is a key difference, even after they have bounced the Captain continues to dodge them. The distance between the two continues to close and the observers all have the same ominous feeling, if the enemy is to reach Boruto, then he will die.
While the kunai continue to bounce around the box Boruto makes a simple gesture with his hands, not a sign, to Naruto it seems to be more orientated to controlling what the kunai are doing now that they have gained that momentum. That guess is proven correct, as the next time the kunai bounce off the walls they all double in number, Boruto had successfully applied the shadow clones jutsu to weapons.
'With this number it is impossible to dodge them all at once' the Captain realises, 'But it's different to last time, he can't afford to be hit by them either, he cannot close the distance'.
Bearing this in mind the Captain flips forward into the air, conservatively swinging his sword to only knock down enough kunai that he is happy he can dodge the present ones once more.
Boruto waits for his opponent to hit the ground, the moment he does so making another gesture to affect the kunai rebounding around the box. This time it is simply the tightening of his fist, such a small gesture yet it has an enormous affect.
All the kunai bouncing around the box changed.
They all transformed into rasengan.
"Impossible!"
The Captain is hit square in the chest with one of the rebounding rasengan, quickly losing his balance he plummets towards the ground without any control over his direction.
"What will you do now?" Boruto taunts the captain, "What use is your bronze cloak now?".
The Captain is hit by another rasengan.
"What use is your prestigious uniform now?".
Another hit!
"Where is your unmatched aura now?".
Another hit!
"Welcome to despair good captain".
Finally, another rasengan hits the captain from behind, propelling him uncontrollably in Boruto's direction.
"Welcome to our world".
With that Boruto creates a spinning rasengan in his hand just like he did previously and waits.
The Captain verbally lashes out sensing his impending doom, "You will… you will die for this. The others will kill you, my superiors, their superior, YOU WILL DIE".
"Ask the devil to prepare a feast" Boruto mutters, "Because they will all join you in all hell".
BANG!
The rasengan pierces directly through the uniform of the Captain, shattering most of the bones in his torso and ending his life. The body falls to Boruto's feet a broken mess. For the Hokage of the past one thing had been made very clear, powerful shinobi existed in this time just like any other.
A few moments past before something else draws everyone's attention. Once more Naruto gets to his feet, slowly and surely with a lot more confidence and balance this time.
"You are already on your feet" Boruto notes with a hint of admiration in his voice, "Despite how much chakra you have lost your rate of recovery is incredible, your power is unquantifiable. Sarada was right to bring you back here, you're…".
"You're the hidden leaf's greatest ever shinobi".
"Thank you uh…".
Boruto chuckles at his dad's cluelessness, "Forgive me for the lack of introductions". Walking slowly over to his father, the two shake hands, "My name is Uzumaki Boruto".
"Uzumaki…" Naruto starts.
"Yes, I'm your son".
"Eh my son" Naruto responds with disbelief, reminiscent of his incredulity when he first met his father, "But you're older than me".
A brief silence passes.
"Is he serious?" Tobirama asks.
Kakashi, knowing Naruto the best of anyone shakes his head slightly, "You'll have to forgive Naruto Lord 2nd, he was always awfully slow when it comes to these things".
Tobirama sighs in response, "Well, I suppose he is a monster who managed to get to his feet before my brother, as well as a Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, that's enough for me to admire him".
"Minato, we have a son" Kushina smiles.
"Yeah… and a grandson".
"Yes and they're both really incredible shinobi".
"I've never met my paternal grandparents" Boruto comments as he approaches the downed Minato and Kushina, crouching so that he can get closer to their level. "It's an honour to meet you grandfather, grandmother".
"Nice to meet you" they both reply with smiles.
"I have a sister who would love to meet her grandparents too" he continues, "However, right now we need to focus, we are in danger here, another captain could be along soon".
The next of the Hokage rises to their feet, this time it is Senju Hashirama. As someone who has spoken to the Sage of the Six Paths Naruto understands that Hashirama is another of Asura's transmigrants, it is unsurprising that he has also been so quick to get to his feet.
"Another person as strong as the last one?" Hashirama enquires about the potential of another attacker.
"That was a captain" Boruto explains, "The weakest of the enemy's officers, next time we probably won't be so lucky".
"There are 3 tiers of officers" elaborates Sarada, "Captains are the weakest, slightly stronger than them are Colonels, then the strongest of all are the Generals. We have never defeated a Colonel".
"Never" gasps Tsunade, "Not once?".
"Not once" Boruto confirms.
While the Hokage and their spouses tip their heads in astonishment, they consider just what the implications of such a strong opponent are. Just how has the hidden leaf village managed to survive for so long?
Boruto crosses his fingers, creating several shadow clones. "Mirai, I'll need your help as well, we have to get these men and women out of here".
Mirai crosses her fingers and does the same. "Of course".
"Where are we going?" Naruto asks.
"To meet the villagers" his son responds, "They have been waiting a long time to see you again".
Author Note:
Hi all, first I would like to say thanks for reading and for all the lovely things you've been saying about the work I've done so far. It's always great to hear / see that you are enjoying what I am doing, so thanks for all that.
I thought I would take this opportunity to try and elaborate on just how often I will be uploading (assuming all is normal). My plan is to upload one chapter every weekday as long as I am able, I'm sure you understand that some chapters may turn out to be longer than others and thus will take longer to complete but I usually get them done 1 per day. I don't intend to upload chapters on weekends but sometimes I will because I have nothing else to do (such as this one), no promises though.
Further to that I have to plan these out before I write them, so far I have planned and scripted Part 1 (Hope, A Thing of the Past) and have written four chapters for it but I have not yet scripted and have only got the start of a plan for Part 2. Hence, there will have to be brief periods of inactivity while I plan and script between parts. I know where I want to go with the story so it shouldn't take too long but I hope you appreciate these things are unpredictable.
Thanks for reading.
Me