HOPE, A THING OF THE PAST - COLONEL PETERSON
The Hidden Leaf's Camp
As the villagers rush to get their loved ones mobile the stamps of feet can be heard just outside the wooden shack. This shack is especially significant because it contains all the Hokage present in the camp. Gathered around a flimsy looking table is the wood clone of Senju Hashirama, the 3rd Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, the 5th Hokage Senju Tsunade, the 6th Hokage Hatake Kakashi and the 9th Hokage Uchiha Sarada.
Contrary to the ruckus the other side of the door the interior of the room is relatively quiet, it is the duty of the Hokage to remain calm and provide leadership in these situations, something they all understand too well. Whether it was the first Hokage during Madara's uprising or the 6th Hokage during Pain's invasion of the leaf, every single one of them had dealt with crisis before.
"So my real body is heading towards the Colonel right now, I will either defeat him or delay him as much as possible" Hashirama's wood clone declares.
"A colonel" Sarada's tone is filled with a dread bread from the historic terror such high-level officers have posed the hidden leaf village. Perhaps only two people would have been capable of defeating Colonel's, Naruto and Sasuke, yet they had died in the first battle against a general. "This is bad" Sarada continues, "Really bad, we've never survived an attack from such a figure before".
"Just how strong are Colonel's" Tsunade asks with a high pitch.
"Incredibly strong" Sarada repeats, "Nobody has ever defeated one of them".
Sarada thinks back to the last time someone tried to defeat a Colonel. It was prior to the fall of the hidden cloud village. The last line of defence the village had was a combined effort from the eight-tails jinchuriki, Killer Bee and the three most recent Raikage. Despite their incredible strength, perfect dynamic teamwork and everything else they brought to bear against the Colonel they were unable to defeat him. That proved at the time a true testament to how strong Colonels were.
"Will you be alright Lord Hashirama?" Kakashi asks of the 1st Hokage's wood clone.
"I'll be fine" the wood clone answers simply with a smile.
"Don't worry" Hiruzen adds, "The first Hokage is no ordinary shinobi".
The first Hokage was for a long time revered as the strongest shinobi since the ancient times. The first leader of the strongest village, the only man in the world capable of not only fighting Uchiha Madara, but defeating him as well. While many would go on to claim that Hiruzen had surpassed his predecessors, the 3rd Hokage himself knew this to be a mere fantasy. Nobody would be capable of surpassing Senju Hashirama for generations, not until the emergence of two shinobi who had lost their parents.
"I of course know that the 1st Hokage is a truly legendary shinobi" Kakashi replies, "But will you be able to survive, this is not an opponent that we have ever been able to contend with before now".
Everyone pauses for a moment before Kakashi comes up with another suggestion.
"Would it be more beneficial if we all went to help, if we all fought together then we might have better prospects for long term survival".
"Think about this rationally Kakashi" Hiruzen responds emotionlessly.
"If we can escape using the time my grandfather buys us than that is what is best for our long-term chances" Tsunade reluctantly declares. Tsunade has both her palms pressed to the table surface, her eyes burrowing a hole in it as she contemplates the odds of her grandfather's death.
"Tsunade… I'm s…" begins the wood clone.
"Don't apologise" his granddaughter interrupts, "We're all Hokage here, we have priorities to think about".
"Where in earth is Lord 7th?" Sarada asks looking between the other faces in the room.
"He and his family went elsewhere for some privacy" Kakashi recites what he told Tobirama to Sarada and the others, making them fully aware of the situation as it is. "Lord sec… Tobirama went to get him".
"Together" Sarada begins, "Together you two should be strong enough to defend us against a Colonel".
Bursting through the door is the exhausted frame of Uzumaki Himawari, "Lord Hokages".
"Himawari" Sarada's eyes widen as she walks over to her friend and takes a firm hold of her shoulders, "Where is your father?".
"Boruto, my father and my grandfather went back to the village" Himawari manages to get out as she struggles to get her breath back. "They went to get Lord 8th's body… Lord 2nd is heading after them now".
"Dammit, why now of all times" Sarada curses, "Will you be able to hold out until Lord 7th arrives Lord 1st?".
A voice comes from over Himawari's shoulder, the voice of Hyuuga Hinata. "I remember Lord 2nd's teleportation capabilities from the war, he has a limited teleportation range when compared to Lord 4th".
Hinata enters before continuing, "But he will be teleporting to Naruto making his markings along the way. His return journey should be a lot quicker".
"I forgot that you have seen all of our fighting styles during the war" Tsunade pushes herself up from the table before her, "Will my grandfather be able to hold on long enough?".
Hinata shakes her head gently, "I have no way of knowing that for certain Lady Tsunade but I believe that he will".
Sarada takes in a deep breath of air, "In that case we have no time to waste. Let's escort the villagers further to the east".
"And we will believe in Hashirama, believe in Tobirama and believe in Naruto".
Atop the Hokage Monument
The wind continues to howl over the top of the Hokage monument. Formerly a series of faces, now a set of ruins. The only faces in sight are those of the insane warriors making as much as noise as possible below and those of Uzumaki Naruto and Captain Davis on the statue above. Unlike the warriors down below Naruto and Davis simply stare at each other for a long period, sizing their opponents up. Eventually it is Naruto who breaks the silence.
"Why are you attacking this world?" Naruto asks, recalling Boruto's mention of a portal to another world, "What do you want?"
Davis allows an unnatural pause before responding to the 7th Hokage, "The knowledge would do you no good, even if I were to tell you".
Naruto clenches his fist while focusing his gaze on the man facing him. It quickly becomes clear that he has no intention on answering the shinobi's questions.
Davis turns his head to the side slightly, shifting his pupils to the corner of his eyes to look behind him. 'Someone is coming he notices'. Not a moment later a kunai wizzes past his head, Davis refusing to dodge it despite its proximity to him. The kunai continues to travel forward all the way to Naruto's side.
Once the kunai reaches Naruto's side, the blonde shinobi's hand whips out grabbing it by the handle. Not a moment later a man dressed in blue armour appears stood right next to him. This man is of course, the 2nd Hokage, Senju Tobirama.
"Naruto, a Colonel has appeared, they are heading towards the villagers" Tobirama informs the man who would eventually have inherited his position as Hokage. As he is speaking Tobirama's head turns to assess the man Naruto is staring down.
"A colonel?" Naruto starts.
"Yeah" Tobirama replies, his tone more subdued now that he has seen Davis, "We need to go and help my brother to fight him".
Naruto shakes his head before refocusing his eyes on Davis, "I need to take care of this guy first" he claims. No matter how impressive Tobirama's teleportation ability, no matter how strong he is, this Captain would still chase after them. This Captain would still pose a threat; thus, Naruto makes the decision, born of battle experience, that he must be dealt with right away.
"A Captain" Tobirama makes the judgement based on the bronze cloak and the number three on the man's uniform, "Do you need me to take care of him while you head back" he offers. Tobirama has only seen one Captain fight but based on that he is confident enough that he could defeat one of them.
Suddenly a smile comes to Naruto's face, "There is no need, I need you to hurry me towards old man 1st".
"Besides… this will be over in an instant".
The faces of both Tobirama and Davis change when they here Naruto's declaration. 'An instant' Tobirama starts, 'Doesn't he remember how strong the last Captain we fought was'.
Much to Tobirama's surprise the Captain begins to cackle maniacally, "An instant, what are you some kind of fool" Davis laughs.
'If only he knew' Tobirama sighs internally.
"Do you not realise that I am easily capable of seeing through that kind of empty boast" Davis continues. Then, with ease, he launches himself from a standing position towards Naruto, his speed like that of a missile.
'He's fast' Tobirama notes as he gets himself into a fighting position.
"I am… I AM A CAPTAIN" Davis shouts as he approaches Naruto.
Suddenly a chain of 'poof' noises sound behind Naruto and Tobirama, where the hidden leaf village use to be. Tobirama turns around to see what the noise is, it is the shadow clones of Uzumaki Naruto. One by one, they disappear yet the unusual thing about them, is that they are all sat in a meditative position.
As the clones disappear a hint of orange appears around the eyes of Naruto. Something Tobirama is familiar with, he quickly realises what is happening, 'He used the shadow clones to go into sage mode'.
Davis stretches out his fingers to use them like a spear, thrusting them towards Naruto's throat.
At the last second though, Naruto dodges, a technique he learnt recently but at the same time many years ago. A technique from Mount Myoboku, 'Just like geezer sage taught me'. As he dodges the incoming attack from Davis Naruto begins to form a rasengan in his hand. As the whirring noise increase and increase, Naruto waits for it to reach its crescendo before slamming the ball into the back of Captain Davis.
'That technique of his, it's the jutsu invented by the 4th Hokage and manipulated by Boruto' the 2nd Hokage asserts in his head, 'However, the rate at which his rasengan spins is much faster than theirs'.
Naruto finishes the arc of his arm, launching Davis into a nearby rock face. The solid impact of man on rock is so thorough that the entire Hokage monument shakes as Davis is buried into the most famous stone in the world.
'Unbelievable' Tobirama simply concludes before his thoughts are interrupted.
"Old man 2nd, take me to the 1st".
"I want to see just what type of man this Colonel is".
To the West, The Land of Fire
Spotting Hashirama on the ground below brings a smile to Colonel Peterson's face, he quickly lands opposite the 1st Hokage, assuming he is the one who defeated his subordinate. After all, the fact that he was also heading towards the Colonel was quite a coincidence. A whoosh of air colliding with ground, the result of Peterson's quick descent.
Hashirama stops opposite Peterson after he sees him land. Sweat quickly fills his brow, 'This is a Colonel… I can't feel any chakra coming from him but I can tell one thing from his aura'.
'He is strong'.
Peterson appears as a middle-aged man. He has short hair that Hashirama quickly concludes to be silver rather than greying. The Colonel is a tall man, giving him an even more imposing presence than his incredible aura, something that even Hashirama finds intimidating. Yet Peterson's most remarkable feature are the scars that cover his entire face, they make one thing clear, Peterson has experienced a life full of battle, perhaps even more than Hashirama has.
"Are you the one who defeated my Captain" he nonchalantly asks Hashirama.
'I have to be careful what I say, I have to avoid endangering the villagers' the Senju clansmen thinks to himself before he answers.
"That's right" he shouts.
"I see" Peterson smiles as he gazes at the shinobi before him, "I can't say I'm very impressed".
"Then why don't you just turn around and leave" Hashirama suggests, "I have no interest in fighting you either".
Peterson smirks as if he has just heard a bad joke, "I'm afraid I can't do…".
Hashirama doesn't wait for Peterson to finish, quickly closing the distance between them and maximising his chakra control. He throws a full force punch straight towards the Colonel's face, a punch that was still revered as the strongest in the world.
Peterson puts his palm before his face, effortlessly catching Hashirama's fist. "Indeed, your strength is far more than the others I have fought since coming here" he declares, bemused by the efforts of his ancient opponent.
'He caught that punch, despite my chakra control, he caught that punch' Hashirama notes in his head, astonished that anybody could catch one of his punches. Not even Uchiha Madara would have been so careless as to catch one of those punches with his bare hands.
"Still" Peterson continues, snapping Hashirama from his thought-scape, "Did you think this sort of power was anything exceptional?".
In an instant Hashirama activates his trump card, sage mode. He quickly lifts his other fist into the air, throwing it towards Peterson.
"Useless" Peterson shakes his head as he puts his palm out to catch the other fist.
Once more Hashirama's fist connects with Peterson's palm. Only this time the result is different, the impact sending Peterson skidding backwards along the floor. The Colonel digs his heels into the earth beneath him as he stops his backwards momentum.
Steadying himself a small smile comes to the face of the Colonel, "Oh, this man is indeed different to the others from this world".
'I had to use sage mode just to knock him backwards' Hashirama makes a mental note of what just happened, something necessitated by the peculiarity of the situation. Never has he felt so helpless, 'I can't mess around, I have to go all out'. Upon reaching this conclusion his hands begin to move, forming signs in quick succession.
After Hashirama finishes weaving the signs a great deal of wood emerges from the earth beneath them, gathering beneath Hashirama before forming into the shape of a wooden human. Yet the jutsu isn't yet finished, it continues to form a second shape, a wooden dragon. The wooden dragon quickly wraps around the neck of the human, becoming the basis for some of Hashirama's strongest attacks.
Hashirama takes control of the wooden human, swinging its fist towards Peterson with maximum velocity.
Peterson holds his palm out before him, lightning energy quickly pooling in the space just before it. That lightning then forms into a giant shield, blocking the incoming attack of Hashirama.
"Tsk" Hashirama grits his teeth, 'I need only land one of these attacks, that would be enough'.
'If it doesn't kill him it at least might give me time to escape'.
Hashirama then looks through the lightning shield into the relaxed eyes of the Colonel before being hit by a terrifying reality.
'This power is… a Colonel'.