HOPE, A THING OF THE PAST – BATTLING A COLONEL
Hashirama and Peterson's Battlefield
Hashirama gazes down at the man below, stood atop a wood golem he just used one of his most powerful attacks, a full force punch straight towards Peterson. Despite this Peterson had shown his true power, instantly having created a shield of lightning he blocked the punch from Hashirama's wood golem as if it were nothing.
'This is the power of a colonel' Hashirama lets the situation sink in.
Previously Hashirama had been in a position like Naruto, they had reached a level above any others. In their respective eras both the 1st Hokage and 7th Hokage were considered god-like for their talents and their powers. Having seen Boruto fight a captain once before, Hashirama had realised that the average strength of the enemy they were facing was great, though it's not until this moment that he truly appreciates just how terrible an enemy they are facing.
Hashirama motions with his hands to control the wood golem beneath his feet. Swinging his palm one way then the other, he manipulates the golem to do his bidding, to throw a punch around the lightning shield that Peterson has constructed.
Peterson continues to hold his palm out before him, maintaining the lightning shield with small helpings of electricity, arcing from the edge of his fingers. Spotting Hashirama's new angle of attack he swings his outstretched arm to his side, the shield maintaining a constant distance from his palm.
Thud!
The newly positioned shield blocks Hashirama's second attack, just as easily as the first.
'So you can move that shield, that surely is a strong technique' the 1st Hokage offers this silent praise to his opponent, not daring to waste his breath on communicating with such a man. 'But you cannot defend from every angle at once'.
Adopting this new ethos of attacking from multiple angles, Hashirama pushes his hands apart, causing the wood golem to raise its arms, revealing its full wingspan to Peterson. Suddenly Hashirama slams his hands together, forcing the golem to do the same.
The Colonel retains his complacent expression as he raises his other arm out to his side. As electricity flickers on this hand too, a second lightning shield appears on his opposite side. Both to his left and to his right he summons mighty defensive barriers.
A huge boom rocks the surrounding area as the wood golem's hands crash onto the shields. The shields block the attack. Hashirama's two-pronged strike had not worked.
"What about this!" Hashirama shouts as the wood surrounding him begins to shift.
The wooden dragon unfurls itself, separating from the golem and launching straight towards Peterson. 'You may be able to do godly things with those hands' Hashirama notes, 'But you still only have two of them'.
"You just don't seem to get it" Peterson muses, interrupting his opponent's thoughts.
The colonel pushes his lips together as if to whistle. Then out from his mouth fires a single bolt of lightning. Unlike most lightning it does not arc or curve. The path of this lightning is not in the least bit jagged, it is a perfect straight line. Straight through the centre wood dragon.
The wood dragon is cut in half.
Hashirama's eyes widen as he realises what has just happened. The wood dragon is one of his mightiest techniques, something he used to fight all throughout the feudal wars. Something he used to train the jonin of the hidden leaf village. Something he used to fight Uchiha Madara himself, yet this man had split it in half just like that.
"I am simply toying with you" Peterson smiles as he pushes his arms out.
In response to Peterson's gesture the two lightning shields are launched away from his body. The arms of the wood golem, still in contact with the shields, are pressed so hard by the shields momentum that they launch form their sockets.
Following the destruction of his golem Hashirama begins to lose control of the construct. Slowly the wood that has been holding it up begins to crumble, the support falling from beneath the feet of the 1st Hokage.
'I have no choice' he concludes, 'I'm going to have to use the true several thousand hands'.
The last reserves of wood fall out from beneath Hashirama, who gracefully steps from the golem's falling head and lands perfectly on his feet. Instantly he begins to weave signs for the true several thousand hands, understanding that at this point it is his last hope if he wishes to win this fight.
Suddenly his hands stop moving, his sign pattern is incomplete and his muscles are still tingling yet his body refuses to listen to his commands. 'I can't move, why, what is going on'. He looks past his hands to the ground around him. By looking closely, he notes that several small arcs of electricity are jumping from spot to spot. 'This must be what is causing my paralysis'.
"Finally you have realised" Peterson notes as small jolts of lightning travel down his legs and into the ground beneath him. "Since our fight began I have been storing a small current in the earth".
The colonel begins to walk towards the Senju clansmen, slowly and calmly as he continues his lecture, "I can put someone as weak as you into a state of paralysis just like this".
"Your greatest weakness isn't your carelessness though, it's your powerlessness".
With a sneer Peterson gathers lightning on his fist, a technique similar in appearance to both the raikiri and the chidori. He immediately throws his lightning clad fist towards the head of Senju Hashirama, who can only wait for the blow to come.
It's then Peterson's turn to be shocked, his eyes widen as his instincts scream one word to him.
Death.
Peterson pulls his arm back to his body and leaps backwards as far as he can in a single jump. Just as he manages to pull his arm out of the way a blue ball with whiney windy blades shoots past his face, missing by just an inch.
"Who is it?" he calls.
At that moment two people appear next to Senju Hashirama, one middle aged and the other yet to reach adulthood, though Peterson quickly determines that they are far stronger than average for the people of this world.
"Sorry we're late" Tobirama says.
Hashirama takes a deep sigh of relief and wipes the sweat from his brow, "I was almost dead there, again. Thank you, Naruto,".
"Don't thank me yet" the young man replies as he takes a few steps to put himself in front of the Senju brothers, "We still have to take down this guy".
As Naruto steps, out ahead of the brothers his gaze falls firmly onto Peterson who returns the gaze in kind. In this moment, it as if both realise just how strong the other is, just what a mountain they must climb in this fight. The casual smile from before no longer occupies the face of Peterson and the easy-going attitude that Naruto displayed against Davis vanishes like a leaf in the wind.
A bead of sweat rolls down the head of Tobirama before he looks to his own arm. All along his arm are visual indicators of just how intense the moment is for him. 'I've got goose bumps'.
"You are excited as well I see" Hashirama smiles but doesn't move his eyes away from the two before him.
"Excited?" Tobirama repeats incredulously.
"Yeah" Hashirama nods. "We are about to see just how strong our greatest Hokage really is".
The words 'our greatest Hokage' has a soothing effect on the younger of the brothers. Placing one hand on his shaking arm he smiles, "I guess so".
"Naruto" Tobirama calls, his voice returning to its normal deep gruff tones, "I've been eager to see you fight ever since I heard your story. I hope you don't disappoint me".
"It wasn't so long ago you told me I was the only one who could surpass old man 1st as the Hokage" Naruto claims, thinking how it was just a few days ago for him that he fought alongside this man, the 2nd Hokage. "I hope I prove you right".
'The way they are looking at that youngster' Peterson begins in his head, 'It's almost as if they revere him. Do they think he is some kind of god?'.
"You two hold back" Naruto shouts, "Don't jump in unless I look like I need support".
"Got it".
Tobirama places his palm against the backs of both Naruto and Hashirama, the two strongest Hokage, no, the two strongest Kage in this world's short history. In an instant, he marks them with his teleportation formula, allowing him to instantly and repeatedly jump between them.
"Understood".
Hashirama nods before clapping his hands together. This is not a posture Naruto is familiar with but one that he quickly comes to understand. This position for Hashirama is much like the crossed legged position for Naruto, ideal for gathering nature energy. Nature energy is ideal for Hashirama in this sort of situation where he can take a break in the middle of a fight. Gathering it would be impossible if you couldn't stay still, this is an ideal opportunity.
Not waiting a moment longer Naruto charges towards Peterson, his speed nothing Peterson hasn't seen before. Peterson is of course, a colonel who had battled against the mightiest shinobi from the hidden cloud village, all of whom were famed for their speed.
'Here he comes' Peterson readies himself.
Naruto speaks through his telepathic link to the tailed beast inside him. The famous nine-tailed fox.
"Sync with me Kurama"
"Got it" the fox replies.
One moment Naruto is running towards Peterson in his normal form, the next he has transformed, his body resting in the centre of a gigantic beast. This is the tailed beast transformation, more specifically the nine tails transformation.
"It's the nine tails" Hashirama yells.
Naruto's speed of approach doesn't decrease, on the contrary, gaining an additional two legs each much larger than his own hastens the jinchuriki's approach significantly. He quickly reaches Peterson and throws a punch using Kurama's giant fist.
Peterson raises his arm, his motions far quicker than when he fought Hashirama just a few moments ago. Just in time the lightning shield raises to protect him from the incoming punch of the tailed beat.
Naruto wastes no time, as fast as he is able he throws a second punch towards Peterson using Kurama's second fist.
Once again the colonel raises his other palm into the space between him and the incoming fist. As lightning starts to flicker along his palm Peterson comes to a sudden realisation, 'I won't make it in time'.
BANG!
Kurama's fist connects solidly with Colonel Peterson, driving him downwards into the floor. Not only is Peterson driven down into the floor but he is also pushed backwards at an incredible rate, earth flies away from him like two waves as he leaves a trail where his body passes. Eventually stopping his momentum, Peterson regains he bearing before spitting blood onto the floor next to him.
For the first time, someone has hurt a colonel.
Peterson gets to his feet, looking at the space before him occupied by a giant fox. If he hadn't battled the eight-tails of the hidden cloud this may have surprised him yet this world has constantly proven very strange to the colonel, perhaps nothing would surprise him anymore.
The colonel flicks his hand several times in quick succession, each flick sending a powerful bolt of lightning hurtling towards the fox. These attacks are powerful, more than powerful enough to deal with anybody below the Kage level yet they are only being used as a precursor to an even greater attack.
Naruto, realising this uses the most dispensable weapon in Kurama's arsenal, his tails. He uses each tail to knock away a bolt of lightning, one after another, leaving his greatest weapons, Kurama's hands, ready for anything that Peterson should throw at him.
As the tails move out of Naruto's vision he spots Peterson with his hands cupped next to one another and positioned next to the colonel's stomach. Electricity arcs furiously between his fingers, its heat, its presence so strong that even Hashirama and Tobirama can feel it behind the protection of Naruto's chakra.
'That's not something I would survive getting hit by' Tobirama swiftly calculates, resolving himself not to die at the hands of the enemy before him.
In retaliation Naruto raises his two hands out before him while Kurama's mouth opens widely. In the gap left by this wide mouth appears a huge black ball fuelled by translucent blue and red smaller balls, it grows to an enormous size. This technique is of course the product of the co-operation between Naruto and Kurama, the tailed beast bomb.
"Brother, have you ever seen anything like that technique before?" Tobirama asks.
"Just once, I fought the nine-tails before sealing it in Mito" Hashirama reminds his brother as if he had not been around to know the story. "But this is far stronger than the attack it used back then".
As Peterson unleashes his attack towards Naruto a thick arc of lightning approaches the blonde.
Naruto responds in kind, "Tailed beast bomb" he yells together with Kurama.
As the tailed beast bomb is fired, Naruto stops his nine tails transformation, falling to the ground as the two devastating attacks head for one another on a collision cause.
BOOM!
The tailed beast bomb and the lightning collide with one another creating an explosion even more violent than the one that destroyed the hidden leaf village not so long ago. As the explosion spreads a light of exceptional brightness is formed, its brightness so extreme that the Senju brothers are forced to cover their eyes.
Hashirama monitors the heat around him, waiting until he is confident it is safe to open them again. Upon opening his eyes, however, he gasps at what he sees.
The surrounding area was a forest not a moment ago, yet the clearing had expanded. The trees for miles around collapsed because of that one collision of power, it is enough to make the 1st Hokage feel small, to make him realise just how big this world is.
"Brother they…" Tobirama begins, sharing Hashirama's awe.
"K… keep on your toes Tobirama, the fight isn't over yet" Hashirama stutters to remind his brother.
"Y… yeah" the younger of the two replies as he raises a marked kunai slowly.
'Still Tobirama is right, this level of destruction, yet there he stands, not a scratch on his body, not a moment of hesitation'.
'This is… Uzumaki Naruto'.