THE BATTLE FOR THE EARTH – THE LUCK OF THE DRAW
The Centre of the Valley
Nobody shifts their gaze, each of them intensely focused on the man or woman stood opposite to them. They feel no fear, instead they feel determination, this is true for everyone except one man. Uzumaki Boruto. Boruto is not like the others on his team, he has not diligently trained for this contest, he has not made any great breakthrough. Fear, that word would not be enough to describe how he feels in this moment. These people, these men and women have tormented him for years on end, they have always appeared unbeatably strong and now he is faced with them. He has to beat them.
The only noise passing through the valley, the gusty wind and the gentle trickling of the streams flowing down the hill. It is all interrupted by the calmest man at the scene, by General Clyde.
CLAP!
Clyde simply claps his hands together, a smile on his face as he applauds his counterpart. "What a rousing speech, however, I have no intention of losing either".
The General has a quick glance to his side and Naruto notices that the smile becomes slightly sincerer. "You and I both have things to protect…" he begins, stopping short of naming the blonde shinobi.
"Uzumaki Naruto".
"Uzumaki Naruto huh" Clyde smiles, as if amused by the name, "I guess we will find out which one of us values what we are protecting more".
"I guess so" Naruto replies in a monotone voice.
Before this moment, he had not considered that Clyde was also trying to protect those close to him. It is a nice change to him, in a way, from those he has battled in the past. So many times, he had defended the leaf against treacherous villains, against those who would stab their friends in the back. While Clyde has done more damage to the leaf than any of them, it seems that he is still human, he is still someone that Naruto can relate to.
"Now then" Clyde perks up slightly, "Allow me to explain how the Captained Six contest will work".
"First, the strongest member of each side is designated as the 'Captain' for that team".
"Of course, since I am a General, I am our team's leader. Ironically that makes me our team's 'Captain'". Each word is spoken eloquently by the experienced General, as if he has spoken them a thousand times before, the more perceptive shinobi of the hidden leaf take this as a sign. A sign that Clyde has plenty of experience in this type of contest.
"So" Clyde continues, "Who is your captain?".
Naruto takes a step forward. "If it has to be the strongest member of the team, then I am our captain".
This revelation may be a great shock to others, those who can't sense chakra, those who don't know Naruto. That is because Naruto is by far the youngest competitor on his team.
The corner of the General's lips curl as the obvious is revealed to him. "As expected, well then, the chances are that you or I won't be fighting in this contest".
Boruto leans forward subconsciously as he reacts to this sudden declaration. "He won't be fighting?".
"What do you mean" Sarada follows up on her 'shadow Hokage's' question.
"Everything will become clear" Clyde remarks, "Now, as for the other six members of our teams, they will draw number respectively".
Having said that, he pulls a set of hand-sized pieces of paper from his pocket. Each of these papers has a simple drawing on it along with a number. These are not-dissimilar to a set of playing cards Naruto determines. Indeed, these are the playing cards used by the invading forces, who play similar games to those they refer to as 'locals'.
As Clyde places the six cards face down he prompts those at Naruto's side to pick them up.
"I'm number one" Mirai announces as she holds the card up.
"Number four" Hashirama quietly declares.
"I drew number six" Boruto shows Sarada as he speaks his number.
"Hey" Tobirama doesn't announce his number, instead deciding to question Clyde, "What are these numbers for"/
"You will see" Clyde teases, "Uzumaki Naruto, now you must take the cards and shuffle them".
Naruto does as Clyde instructs and shuffles the cards. He then continues to follow his instructions, placing the cards face down and offering them to the Colonel's on the opposing team.
"Phew" the Colonel with short blonde hair sighs in relief, "I got number six, lucky". While the shinobi of the hidden leaf don't recognise this man, he has already had a great influence on this contest. This is the man who arranged for Minato to be poisoned, this is Colonel Martin.
"What a cowardly man you are" remarks Sheer, the woman who brought Sasuke back from the dead.
Peterson sniggers, "You can hardly talk, you got number five".
The chatter of these military elites is enough for Kakashi to be certain of these numbers significance. "I see, this is our competing order".
Pointing at Kakashi, Clyde raises his voice, "Exactly, you catch on fast. Indeed, this is our competing order".
"In that case our order is as follows" Tobirama begins.
"Mirai will be first, followed by Kakashi, Myself, my brother, Sarada and Boruto".
"This is used to fairly determine your opponents" Clyde explains.
"I get it" Mirai holds her chin in her hand as she thinks about the consequences of this method, "So the reason that you and Lord 7th are unlikely to compete…".
"It's because they are going last" Sarada frowns, "The chances are the contest will have already been decided by that point".
"As for the rules of the individual matches themselves, they are simple" the gold-cloaked leader explains, "Whoever can immobilise their opponent first, or can force their opponent to forfeit the match, will be the winner".
Kakashi raises his hand, as if requesting to speak in a classroom, "Wait a moment. How are we defining immobilised?".
"It varies from contest to contest" Clyde holds one hand out as if holding an invisible object for Kakashi to inspect, "It requires agreement between the two captains".
Kakashi turns his head slightly to his side, looking from the corner of his eyes towards the one designated as his team's captain. That is his own student, the man who would become the greatest Hokage of all, Uzumaki Naruto. 'Naruto… this is all on you' he says in his head.
"A common choice is that if you cannot get to your feet for ten seconds, then you are immobilised". Clyde tugs gently on his chestnut sideburns as he waits for Naruto's response, feeling this is a trivial part of the contest.
"Ten seconds…" Naruto repeats.
"How about it, Uzumaki Naruto?".
Naruto is far from the most intelligent shinobi but he still has a good grasp on battle tactics and strategies. He has shown this many times, in his battles against Nagato and Obito, he intends to show it again here.
'The person who this time limit will affect most is the ones of us with the best regeneration ability' the 7th Hokage concludes, 'Let's see, other than myself that would be… Old man 1st'.
Naruto looks towards Hashirama who wastes no time in replying.
"That's plenty of time Naruto".
'I don't know what it is about old man 1st' Naruto continues in his head, 'When we were out of action he was so cheerful, he was kind of like me. Yet, ever since he has gotten back he… he's been different, and not the good sort of different'.
A small nudge from Boruto wakes Naruto from his thoughts.
"Alright then, I agree to your rules General".
"As for our match" Clyde sighs, "The rules will be different, should we make it to that match".
"Different?" Naruto repeats.
"You needn't concern yourself with them" the General shrugs, "The chances are you won't have a chance to fight me. Don't worry, I dare say that you would think the rules to be in your favour anyway".
"Hey wait a second" Boruto stretches his hand out.
"Yeah, what are these…".
"Don't get caught up in it" Hashirama mumbles, causing the others to turn their gazes towards him. "They have always known what the rules of this to be, we are just maintaining the disadvantage we already had".
Tobirama lowers his eyes, thinking of Mito's wishes for Hashirama. "Brother…".
"By making you worry about these little things, he is trying to establish a psychological advantage" the disinterested 1st Hokage explains, "Even if he told us the rules now, he could claim that he was lying and change them later. Look up on that hill, look at all those captains. We are not in any position to complain".
Sarada holds her head in her hands, "All these mind games, is there no advantage they won't seek".
Placing a hand on Sarada's shoulder, Boruto consoles his teammate, "It doesn't matter, we just have to win right".
"Boruto" Sarada whispers before nodding, "That's right, we just have to win".
Mirai steps forward, putting herself level with Naruto, "Then I'm up first".
"These fights have the potential to be dangerous". A sensible comment from the leader of the enemy. "I assume you can protect your followers on the hill, right, Naruto?".
"Of course," the 7th Hokage smiles, "You are damn right I can protect them".
"Well then" Clyde smirks as he lifts gently from the ground and begins to float back towards his hill, flanked by five of his Colonels.
"Let's go" Naruto says to his teammates as he turns and walks back up his own hill.
"Good luck Mirai". Boruto and Sarada wish their long-time friend the best before following Naruto back up the hill.
On the Hidden Leaf's Hill
Upon returning to the hill Naruto and the others explain what has occurred in as much detail as they can, being extra sure not to leave anything out. While the others may only be here to spectate, they may notice something that the competitors didn't. Perhaps these spectators would discover an excellent strategy to win, this is especially the case since Shikamaru and Shikadai are amongst them.
"So, this is really happening huh" Mitsuki sighs. He has been one of those at the forefront of the war, he has seen death on a massive scale, with only Boruto being exposed to more.
Biwako clutches a fist to her chest as she looks at her feet. "Mirai is first…".
Hiruzen is obviously worried as well. "Mirai…".
"Hiruzen, Biwako, don't worry" Hashirama says while looking at Mirai and her opponent, "My senses improved while I was using nature chakra in my training. I could feel Mirai's power, she is no ordinary shinobi".
"I felt it too" Naruto declares.
"Lord 7th…". These words are a great relief to Biwako. It must be understood that these are no normal shinobi complimenting her, these two are Hokage's. Not only are Naruto and Hashirama Hokage's but they also hold the reputation for being history's greatest Hokage, history's strongest Hokage. This sullen man and enthusiastic boy truly represent the best the village has to offer.
"Although I could feel it, I couldn't truly grasp the secret behind Mirai's power" Naruto explains.
"I caught a glimpse of her using it with my Byakugan" Boruto adds, "I have no idea how she does what she does either".
"Does there have to be a secret" Sarada asks, "Does there have to be a reason".
"Sarada?".
"We're here because of our hard work, our determination, because of the will of fire" she asserts strongly, "Mirai has earnt this strength through her determination to protect what is precious to her".
Kakashi nods his agreement, "That's what we have to believe".
Minato looks towards his now-adult pupil, noting the interesting choice of words. "You do believe in it, don't you Kakashi".
As Kakashi turns to face Minato, his teacher continues, "You believe your comrades are more important than the mission".
Kakashi looks away again, choosing his feet as a resting place for his eyes. His mind is far away from his feet though, his mind is in the past, thinking of that day that Rin was captured.
"Yeah" he finally speaks, "She has someone she wants to protect, someone more important than the mission".
"Someone she wants to protect?" Hiruzen says this as if it is a great surprise. He has not seen Mirai spending time with any loved ones since coming to the future.
Shikamaru places a hand on the 3rd Hokage's shoulder to get his attention. "Lord 3rd, because of Asuma's death and Kurenai often being busy, Mirai grew up without much of a family".
The Nara clansmen says this in full confidence, himself being one of the closest people to Mirai as she grew up. "Her mother died in the war, her cousin became Hokage and was too busy to spend time with her. She always seemed so lonely but they you guys came back, she has a family again, something to protect".
"Your granddaughter is truly incredible, Sarutobi". Tobirama takes a rare moment to praise his successor.
With a thumbs-up, Tsunade joins in with the praising of her sensei, "Nice going old man".
In the Valley
Mirai screws her eyes shut, visualising certain people as she prepares herself for the battle ahead.
'Mum, Dad, Cousin, Grandpa, Grandma… I can't afford to lose again here'.
She opens her eyes, in anticipation of the terrible battle ahead of her. Her opponent is a colonel but she is ready to fight. She is ready to win.
And so round one of the contest begins.