THE BATTLE FOR THE EARTH – FOLLOW MY PATH
The Hidden Leaf Hill
Boruto stands still, his black coat fluttering in the breeze slightly as he looks into the valley below. There are a few orange glows of light coming from the various tents pitched on the opposite hill, as well the torch light seeping through the cracks in the huts behind him. His hands are deep in his pockets and there is a solemn look on his face. As he gazes at the lights on the other side of the hill he cannot help but wonder, 'Is one of those lights from my opponent tomorrow'.
It is a depressing state of events for him. He is now in the last situation he wanted to be in. When he had drawn position 6 in the contest he had hoped, somewhere in the back of his mind, that this meant he wouldn't have to compete. He had prayed, prayed that they would win the contest by then. He had prayed that the likes of Hashirama, Mirai and Sarada could win, that they could get four wins from the first five. Of course, that thinking has now proven to have been naïve.
"Shouldn't you be asleep" a nearby voice asks.
Boruto looks over his shoulder, turning around to look at the source of the voice. "Oh, it's you grandmother".
This woman is Uzumaki Kushina, someone Boruto never had the chance to meet during his youth. Many people in the hidden leaf village didn't know their grandparents, after all, many had died during the 4th great shinobi war. That isn't the end of Boruto's emotions when it comes to his grandmother though. When he had suggested that his grandfather be left to die, it had earned her anger. Hinata had been upset with Boruto when the latter made the suggestion but Kushina didn't know how to react, at the time she simply couldn't believe what was being suggested.
"It's late" Kushina explains, "You need to be well rested before tomorrow".
'My grandmother' Boruto says in his head, 'I suggested we let my grandfather die and she is still treating me so well. I know she reacted badly at first but shouldn't she still be angrier. Shouldn't she be furious about what I have done'.
Boruto continues his inner monologue as he gazes at his grandmother. 'To forgive people so easily, despite the horrendous things that they have done, is this something she shares with my father'.
"You need your rest, Boruto".
"What good will it do" the shadow Hokage sighs, "I'm not like the others, I'm too weak to do this".
"What are you saying" Kushina chuckles slightly as she steps towards her descendant, "You are far stronger than I am".
"I…".
A groan comes from nearby, from someone hidden in the shadows.
"I told you to go back to sleep" Kushina shouts as she waves her fist at the source.
Naturally, the groaning individual is her husband, Namikaze Minato. He grimaces as he emerges from the shadows, clutching hold of his gut as he approaches. "I was worried".
"It doesn't matter if I'm stronger than you" Boruto explains, ignoring his grandfather and instead responding to Kushina's former point, "What matters now is that I'm weaker than a Colonel".
"Boruto…".
"I don't have Lord 1st's power, I don't have my father's heart". Boruto clenches his fist, hesitating for a moment before he finishes, "I…I… I'm too weak for this".
"I chose you for a reason" Minato retorts. "I chose you because I believe you can win".
Boruto shakes his head upon hearing his grandfather's confidence. He has been even harder to understand than his grandmother. Boruto suggested that he should die. He had suggested that Minato's death would improve their chances in this contest. Not only had Minato not spoken one word in rebuke since then, instead he has encouraged Boruto, stating that the blonde-haired shinobi is a better choice, even than the 3rd Hokage, to replace him.
"What makes you believe something like that" Boruto breathes out, "What single aspect of my existence as a shinobi can compare to the others here".
"I remember something that Jariya always used to say" Kushina begins.
"Jariya". The name sounds familiar to Boruto. "Wasn't he dad's godfather".
Minato sweatdrops upon hearing this. 'Kushina allowed my perverted sensei to become Naruto's godfather?'.
"Yeah" Kushina nods, seemingly unfazed by the revelation. "He always used to say that the measure of a shinobi is not how many techniques he knows. He said it was how much that shinobi has had to endure".
"You've had to endure a lot, Boruto" his grandfather furthers, "I don't know much about the shadow Hokage, but from the sounds of it, due to that position, you have had to endure even more than Sarada".
Boruto takes this in for a moment before lowering his gaze to his feet. "If the hidden leaf is to die tomorrow, it will be my fault".
"Boruto…".
"Sorry Grandma, but I need a moment to be alone".
Having gotten his feelings off his chest, Boruto walks away dejectedly. In this sort of condition, perhaps being alone is the worst thing that he could do. Still, what can Minato or Kushina do? To force their company upon him would likely just irritate him, agitating him before his big match tomorrow is the last thing they want to do.
'He is so different to Naruto' Kushina frowns. 'Naruto always seems to believe in himself when it matters most. No, Naruto believes in himself all the time, even when it is completely illogical. Yet, Boruto has such confidence issues. What has this world done to him?'.
With a grunt, Minato drops to his knees.
"Minato" Kushina frowns as she kneels down to look him in the eye. "Are you alright?".
Her husband chuckles in response. "That really hurt".
"I'm going to get Naruto".
Just as Kushina rises to her feet, Minato grabs hold of her wrist. "Don't distract Naruto, he needs to focus to".
"But if the poison…".
Minato smiles through the pain though, an innocent expression his face as he pleads with Naruto's mother. "I can easily endure this pain for a few days. After all, I'm the 4th Hokage, right?".
The Invader's Hill
General Clyde sits alone in his tent. He is by no means confined though, the tent is easily big enough for him to walk around him. He is sat not on the floor but at a chair positioned next to a small table. He ticks off the results of the contest so far, making notes on what the enemy have done, what they have said. This may seem like strategy but actually he does it to relax himself. With his friends in such danger, he cannot help but be tight-chested.
His peace is disrupted though, it is interrupted by a man who will obviously bring him a lot of stress. The cowardly Colonel Martin.
"What do you want Colonel" Clyde asks, looking up from his notes.
Martin does not have any desire to engage in pleasantries. He walks straight up to the table, tearing Clyde's notes from under his hand, shredding them as he tosses them onto the floor. This man may be his superior but it is clear for some reason that he is not afraid of him.
"You were a fool to call this contest" Martin spits.
"A fool?".
"They've shown they can win" Martin says as he points towards the valley where the battles have taken place, "What if we lose? Have you considered what will happen then?".
The General sighs, leaning back in his chair such that it swings slightly. His pupils rest at the corner of his eye sockets as he considers the consequences of such a disastrous result. "If we lose we will hold true to our word. And we will probably die".
"I won't allow it" Martin slams his fist on the table. Whatever he had been doing before visiting his commander, it has certainly given him a lot of confidence.
"Oh?".
The cowardly Colonel explains his plan. "If we launched an attack now, we would be able to overcome them. We would obliterate all of their mightiest warriors in one stroke".
"We no longer have the right to attack" Clyde suggests, "If I hadn't agreed to this contest Peterson would have died".
The moment Clyde had arrived at that battle, he saw Naruto and Hashirama bloodied and on the ground. Instead it was the last man standing, Tobirama who held Peterson's life in their hands. Since arriving in this place, Clyde has not lost a single Colonel. Of course, that means the shinobi have never defeated one. That would have been their first chance, if Clyde had offered them no way out and had instead attacked them, it would be logical to assume Tobirama would have killed Peterson when he had the chance.
General Clyde is many things to the 'locals'. He is a conqueror who has destroyed their way of life, a murderer who has slaughtered tens of thousands and he is a villain who killed Naruto and Sasuke. One thing he is not, though, is disloyal. He had made a strategically weak move to save a Colonel who wasn't that necessary to his war effort.
"Peterson's deserves death for his failure" Martin harrumphs, "That has always been our way".
"IT HAS NOT".
Clyde stands from his position as he shouts into the Colonel's face. He takes a deep breath before continuing, "That hasn't always been our way".
"Listen" Clyde says sincerely, "My way is still to save all of my men. Our cause may not be noble but it is our cause. No matter what horrible things we do, we do them together. We do them as comrades, as friends".
Martin pauses, a twisted smile creeping onto his face. "That sounds dangerously close to the teachings of the old man".
"…".
"I wonder what would happen" Martin begins, "I wonder what would happen if I told the other generals about you saying that". Indeed, these teachings are taboo in their force. Martin knows that, it is not something pleasant and it is not something moral, but this fact is something he is willing to use. He is a man of a disgusting nature.
"Are you threatening me" the General muses, "Two can play at that Martin. What if the other generals never saw you alive again".
Martin frowns at his leader. 'He is too powerful for me to rebel against here. I can't rebel like this anyway. My sister will make you pay General, all I need is a chance to get out of your grasp. My opportunity will come and when it does, you will regret it'.
"Martin, if you are never loyal for the rest of your life it will come back to bite you".
The Colonel smiles as he turns to leave. "Maybe. But, it's better not to be loyal at all than it is to be loyal to the wrong people".
"Don't you think so, General Clyde?".
The Other Side of the Hidden Leaf Hill
Boruto has come here to be alone. It's not necessary solitude that he desires, it is to be away from his grandparents. He has a great deal of respect and admiration for them but right now he needs to be logical. He determines that emotion won't win his match and that only logic will. It is only in fairy tales that self-believe and ethical ideologies save you at the last moment. Such a thing won't happen in this world.
"You're scared, aren't you?" a voice asks from behind Boruto.
Boruto doesn't turn around to determine who this is. Away from the peak of his hill, it could be the enemy attacking him. His mind instantly transforms its inner workings, assuming that a battle has already started. The first thing he does is to activate his byakugan, to give himself a clear view of the person behind him.
This is unnecessary though. "Oh, it's you Lord 1st…".
"You're scared because you have to win tomorrow" Hashirama explains as he walks around Boruto to look him in the eye.
"I'm not scared" Boruto explains, "It's just…".
"You needn't hide it from me" Hashirama says with a smile on his face.
Boruto is stunned. A smile, a smile that truly comes from the heart. It is the first time since the 1st Hokage's return that Boruto has seen him smile like this. Previously he had been so moody, so full of anger and animosity. Now, this is like the 1st Hokage of old, the 1st Hokage who had inspired so many. It is the 1st Hokage, the Hokage who bears the most resemblance to his father.
"Yeah" Boruto sighs, "I'm scared. I'm scared of losing. I'm scared that the blood of the village will be on my hands".
"Then win".
"What are you talking about" Boruto steps towards Hashirama with widened eyes. "I haven't been training, I have no power that could help me to defeat a Colonel".
Hashirama smiles once again, a genuine smile and not one filled with malice. "Boruto, you follow the path of Uchiha Sasuke don't you".
Boruto doesn't even need to consider this. "Of course, Sasuke was my master, I admire him in the same way I admire my father. If their roles had been reversed, it would be my master who would have been the greatest Hokage in history".
"I have never met Sasuke" Hashirama admits. "But I felt his power, it was incredible. It was something I hadn't seen since I fought Madara. Yet, now I have a new-found appreciation for his power. However, it wasn't a clean power".
"A clean power?".
"His power was stained with blood and pain" the 1st Hokage frowns.
"He had a tough life" Boruto confesses, "He made a lot of mistakes".
"You were raised in an easier world. A world created by Uzumaki Naruto". Hashirama reminisces about his childhood. About how much harder the world had been then. About the man, he met who agreed that world had to end, his power was stained with blood and pain too. His name was Uchiha Madara. "In this world Uchiha Sasuke believed in the path of never giving up. He believed that you should let go of your grudges, he came to believe that was the only way of ending this 'cycle of hatred' as I believe it is known".
"He does believe that" the Shadow Hokage confirms, "He is right too. My father fought his entire life to break that cycle".
"Is it right" Hashirama questions. "Like it or not, Naruto, Sasuke, Madara and even I, all of our powers were born through that cycle of hatred".
This is not a pleasant reality but it is one that nobody can deny. Naruto's greatest source of power was the nine-tails, something that was hated throughout the village, something that brought about the death of the 4th Hokage. Sasuke had lost his entire clan when his brother had slaughtered them in his youth. That was a result of the hatred between the Uchiha clan and the rest of the village.
"While Naruto and I strived to end that cycle, we are both strong because of it" Hashirama asserts.
"… what are you suggesting?".
"Perhaps Tobirama was right when he said that the path of absolute power is wrong for me" the elder Senju brother confesses. His path has never been that of Sasuke nor that of Madara, "But for you that path is right, Boruto".
"Absolute power…".
"Stop releasing your grudges. The cycle of hatred cannot start again if you crush your opponent. Embrace your hatred, your rage at what these people have done to your family".
"Then" Hashirama continues, "Then you can win".
Boruto shakes his head. This sounds like pure madness to him. For those of previous generations, how to deal with this cycle of hatred had been a subject of debate. Many of Naruto's friends had implored him to kill Sasuke to end the cycle of hatred. However, for his generation this was not a subject for debate but a subject of education. This philosophy of saving your enemies from hatred had been proven to work. It had been proven to make the village great. To go against it was not something that just anyone would do.
"But if the cycle returns" Boruto begins.
"Your master was the peak of the cycle of hatred". Hashirama points to the huts behind him, "But your father was able to save him. He could overcome any obstacle the cycle put in his path. Don't you have someone that could save you too?".
'Someone that could save me?'. Boruto has had a short but complicated life so far. He had to work hard to earn his father's respect. He considered it his duty to put his mother and his sister before himself, as part of his rebellion against his father's absence. Then, after enduring many trials growing up, the war came. His father had died, so many of his friends died. One time even he had thought he had died.
Throughout his life, had anyone appeared whose words could reach him no matter what. 'Her' Boruto decides. The woman in his mind is the Hokage to his shadow Hokage, they shared a similar relationship to Naruto and Sasuke. Of course, it is Uchiha Sarada. 'No matter what, Sarada continues to admire my father, believing in the same principals he did. She strives to protect the village and everyone in it, no matter what she has to do'.
"Yeah" Boruto finally replies to Hashirama, "I have someone who could save me".