Author Note:
Hi All,
I happened to not have much to do today.
That means you get an early chapter.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Thanks for Reading,
Me
THE BATTLE FOR THE EARTH – THE LEAF'S TRUMP CARD
Mirai and Sisto's Starting Point
Sisto gazes towards Naruto and Clyde's starting point, shaking her head gently as she feels the battle progress. 'Damn, that guy is actually fighting against the General. Even for a General, using an element as strong as darkness is unusual. They're both monsters'.
Sisto takes a deep breath. He has seen the General battle against people stronger than Naruto before. Those battles had not been fights to the death but they hadn't gone too badly. He quickly concludes that the General should be able to pull through this fight as well. Still, what sort of monster is Naruto? To fight not only against a General, but one using darkness. That is truly amazing.
He turns to look at the prison before him. The weighty black metallic structure is incredibly strong. From his brief time knowing Mirai, her personality means she likely tried to break out from it, such a thing is impossible though, there is no way to break out of the prison. Not even Clyde could do so, much less any of the locals.
'Mirai won't be too much of a problem even if she gets free' Sisto notes.
During the Colonel's battle with Mirai he hadn't had to battle too hard to win. Mirai is strong, her power is one that he doesn't understand. He has seen many people with the power to manipulate chakra, he has seen even more sharing the same power source as himself. He has though, never before seen someone who could fuse elements at will. Such a power is ungodly.
Nevertheless, while Mirai is strong, she is not too strong. Her power is equivalent to a low-level Colonel at most. Despite her perhaps unrivalled capacity for development.
'That being the case, I should try to free one of the others'. Sisto amplifies his senses to the maximum, searching for all the other starting points. He could have memorised them before-hand but he has some honour, he does not need to cheat in a match like this, not with all his experience. 'Sheer is the closest from here, her opponent is waiting outside her prison'.
Yes, that is the decision Sarada has made, not to free her comrades but instead to prevent Sheer from being freed.
'Sheer is one of our stronger warriors, our most experienced Colonel and her opponent is one of their greatest fighters too. If I can free Sheer and defeat her opponent, then we will be well ahead in this match'. Sisto makes this opponent before his feet lift slowly from the floor, the separation gradually increasing as his height increases. He soon looks in Sheer's direction and begins flying towards her at full speed.
The Hidden Leaf Hill
Biwako is stunned by what she has just witnessed. Unlike everyone else, her eyes have frequently drifted to this screen, the screen covering Mirai's position. After all, Mirai is her granddaughter, it's natural to have a bias to watch her. However, something has changed since she last looked. Sisto has gone.
"The water user has left Mirai unguarded" she says as she points towards the screen.
"To do such a thing…".
"It's a good strategic move" Shikadai interrupts the 3rd Hokage mid-sentence, "Compared to some of the others, Mirai is a minor threat to them".
"A good strategic move" Biwako is surprised once again. "But if someone is to free Mirai…".
Hiruzen places a hand on her shoulder, smiling to his wife as she looks into his eyes. "If a member of the Nara clan says it's true then it must be true".
The Nara clan is famed for its tactical comprehension. For years, the clan has been the intellectual driving force behind the shinobi of the hidden leaf village. The clan heads, whether it be Shikaku, Shikamaru or Shikadai have all been reputed as their villages greatest tacticians and not without merit. They see things that others cannot, the very motions of battle have spoken volumes to them.
"I agree with Shikadai" Shikamaru nods as he adds his piece, "This is a good move, it has little to be lost and a lot to be gained".
Naruto and Clyde's Starting Point
Naruto turns his head to his left, looking as if he can see something that nobody else can. He doesn't really understand what he is feeling but he can sense movement. This is a result of his sensory training, with Kurama's help and the practice routine formulated by his friends, his sensory prowess far exceeds what it was before.
"Amazing, you can really feel it" Clyde sighs, 'This man Uzumaki Naruto is truly incredible. It took me hundreds of years to reach this level and he isn't even an adult yet'.
Naruto turns to look at Clyde, who evidently understands the feeling better than himself.
"Sisto is moving" Clyde explains, "He made the perfect decision to try and free Sheer from her prison. It's not our first time battling in this sort of contest, we have the advantage in terms of teamwork".
The 7th Hokage looks his opponent up and down. Even for one of the invaders his power seems to defy all logic, his ability to keep calm yet admire every development the shinobi makes. 'Are they really as old as he claims? Is something like that really possible?'.
"Next will be Burns" the General points in another direction as his mind wanders to his red-haired subordinate, "She has been waiting to see what happens and now that Sisto has moved, she will make her decision on how to act".
A smile comes to Naruto's face. He actually begins to laugh.
"What's so funny?".
"You keep talking about how great the situation is for you but I think you have overlooked something".
"Oh" Clyde grins, "You talk as if you have a secret weapon of some sort".
"We do" Naruto replies, "You are overlooking the hidden leaf's trump card".
Kakashi and Burn's Starting Point
Burns laughs faintly as she senses Sisto moving from his starting point, heading towards Sheer. 'That's good Sisto'.
She takes in the prison before her, recalling her battle with Kakashi. It had become more difficult during the fight, that is for sure but it had been easy for her to win. She considers that it's a miracle her opponent even forced her into using her elemental cloak. Of all the fights, hers had truly been the easiest.
'This guy isn't worth defending, he's the weakest of the lot' she concludes, 'Grace can't move. She has to protect her prison because if that man escapes'.
That man is of course Senju Hashirama. Hashirama had only lost last time because he had been so careless, he had wasted time toying with his opponent and he had yet to get used to his own power. That was the danger of sage mode. If he were to get free this time though, it would be different. He would likely now have complete control over his power and he would not be so foolish twice. With the exception of Naruto and Clyde, there can be no doubt, Hashirama is the most dangerous fighter in this battle.
Burns shivers, 'He will have realised his own weakness. He will be truly dangerous. In that case, I have to move to stop that guy interfering'.
The man she will stop interfering is their true disadvantage. Namely, Boruto. Martin abandoning the fight had truly been a knife in the heart to them, not only had he lost, that meant Boruto was immediately free to leave his starting point. Of course, it is obvious who he would try to free first. It could only be that man, Senju Hashirama.
Burns lifts off the ground slightly, preparing to fly into the distance.
"Where are, you going?".
A voice stuns her, pulls her gaze away from the distance and back to her own starting point.
It's an impossible voice. Escaping the prison is impossible. Not even General Clyde can do it.
But, one man can, that man is the hidden leaf's trump card, Hatake Kakashi.
Kakashi walks leisurely through the wall of the prison, passing through it as if it is not there at all.
He raises his eyes to meet those of his opponent. "The two of us aren't finished yet".
The Hidden Leaf Hill
"Het, what is going on?" Dan asks as he looks at the future generations. "How did Kakashi escape from the prison…".
That's not what stuns Minato though. What stuns Minato is Kakashi's eyes. Each eye contains a red and black pattern, commonly known to be used by the Uchiha clan. Other than Sarada, Kakashi is the only one capable of manifesting this kind of eye today. It is the Mangekyo Sharingan inherited from Uchiha Obito.
"It's Obito's power" Hinata recalls, drawing a questioning look from Minato. "Obito had the power to pass through objects at will".
Minato sighs in admiration. This man, Hatake Kakashi is his pupil, a man who would go on to inherit Obito's goal of becoming the Hokage. Indeed, Kakashi became the 6th Hokage, he inherited the power from Obito's eyes on a permanent basis. His abilities are unspeakably profound, his space-time jutsu impressive to an even greater degree than Minato's own.
"It's here" Mitsuki smiles knowingly, "This is the power the two of us were training for. The power we trained to unlock from within him and now this power is here".
Kakashi and Burn's Starting Point
"We battled once before and you lost completely to me" Burns reminds Kakashi.
"That may be so" the masked shinobi admits, "But I am stronger than I was yesterday".
Kakashi hits the ground running, dashing towards Burns with a speed greater than before. Each of his paces is enhanced not only by his muscle but by his newfound chakra. Every day Obito's chakra has been growing from within him and now it is complete. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the warrior on the move now, is not Kakashi but instead a fusion of Kakashi and Obito's powers, of their chakras.
Burns notices the difference in Kakashi's speed immediately, she quickly creates a huge shield of ice to protect herself. She concludes that behind the shield of ice she should be safe, that even if used his most powerful blow from before it should not be able to pierce this defence. Her caution, is insufficient.
Kakashi creates a ribcage around him, a technique commonly known as Susano. His Susano is the colour Obito's was always meant to be, cyan. Perhaps not even this Susano fist could smash through the barrier, Kakashi has no intention of testing that though, instead he runs through the barrier, Susano and all before slamming the first forwards ricocheting Burns back along the ground.
'He can run through anything' Burns makes a mental note of this capability as her opponent begins to run towards her once again, 'I need to wait for the moment he attacks and match his strike so that my own will connect'.
Once again Kakashi charges towards Burns, the Susano ribcage fully formed around him. His fist prepared. From Burns' side a fist forms, a fist of equal size to that of the Susano, a fist made of pure ice. This will be their collision. Or at least it would be, if Kakashi decides it will be.
Kakashi instead times his punch perfectly, pulling Burns into his own timing, so their fists would slam together perfectly. It is at that moment he activates his power. The two fists pass through one another, with the Susano fist quickly starting to dissipate.
'Not good' Burns curses as Kakashi passes through her.
Burns has over a hundred years of experience on the battlefield. She is a conqueror though, never before has she truly had to fight with her life on the line, never before has she had to pool all of her abilities with no choice but to win. This is the cruelty of the shinobi world, even from a young age Kakashi has been doing this, watching his friends die one by one. It is a cruel world that he was exposed to, with situations that only he survived. Hundreds of people were thrown into the forge with almost no chance of coming out, the 6th Hokage had come out though, he had come out as a sharpened blade. No matter how long you practice for, small time contests will never allow you to compare to the tenacity of someone who has walked the border of life and death.
Kakashi passes through Burns and jumps into the air, spinning a full 180 degrees before kicking his opponent in the side.
BOOM!
Once again, the red-haired Colonel is sent tumbling back along the ground.
This time she takes a lesson from the encounter. Take your time, you have to win here so don't let him pull you into your pace. She learns from just one encounter, battle experience making the world of difference to her mentality. 'I have to keep my distance from him while I think of a plan'.
This is the correct way to think, although the 6th Hokage pursues her he cannot catch her. His physical capabilities have improved but they are still no match for hers. It is practically impossible for a local to have abilities that transcend a Colonel. It must be understood that Naruto and Hashirama who have done so are both monsters, unseen by Burns through her entire life.
'I'm still faster than him in this form' Burns fixes her eyes on Kakashi, not daring to lose sight of him. 'Then, if I use my elemental cloak, I may be able to move faster than his reaction speed'.
Burns turns on her heels, preparing her fist for an attack as she activates her ice elemental cloak. She doesn't swing though, she allows Kakashi to approach her. The 6th Hokage may have a superior battle mind but there are some differences that you can't account for, even if you are a genius. Burns waits for the last possible moment, until Kakashi is right before her, before unleashing a full power punch into his gut.
Kakashi starts, the attack had arrived at his stomach before he could even make the decision to let it pass through him. As the force transfers from his opponent's hand into his gut his backwards momentum increases enormously. His only saving grace is that he does not need to use the ground to slow down, he instead uses the air resistance in the alternate dimension linked to his kamui. Still, it was not an attack he could take casually, the internal damage is already done.
The Hidden Leaf Hill
"Kakashi…" Minato mutters, clenching his fist as he realises his pupil's predicament. When he had taught Kakashi, the latter had almost been able to pass the bell test without his teammates help, this would go against the point of the exercise. At his stage, there is no way he should have been able to pass that test alone yet he had almost done so. Not just against anyone either, against the yellow flash who would one day become the 4th Hokage.
"What a drag" Shikamaru sighs, "Even with Obito's power Kakashi is really struggling".
"No" Kushina shouts as she raises both fists to her chest, "This is the combined power of Kakashi and Obito, there is no way they can lose".
Himawari turns awkwardly to her grandmother. "If the Colonel is so much faster what can he possibly do".
'Come on Lord 6th' Mitsuki begins this mantra in his head, 'Have you started to feel it yet?'.
Kakashi and Burn's Starting Point
Burns laughs maniacally at the situational change. In an instant, she has turned the tide, making this a near impossible situation for Kakashi. "How can you possibly hope to win now?".
She continues, "You're weaker than me, that special technique was the only thing that allowed you to be on my level for a second. But, now even that won't work". Her aura flares as she growls at Kakashi, "I hope you are ready for what I'm about to do".
Kakashi is paying no attention to the words of his opponent. 'I can follow her by copying Sasuke's observation algorithm, that's no problem. I still won't be able to activate Obito's technique in time, I'll have to battle her with my fists. In that case, I'll have to copy Sakura's chakra control technique'.
Burns dashes towards Kakashi, the Hokage's copied observation technique just barely keeps up with her.
'It will drain my chakra rapidly but I have to do it anyway because…'.
'because…'.
"I am the 6th Hokage!".
Kakashi copies Burns charge, launching himself forward at his maximum speed. The two don't use any flashy jutsu or ice constructions, instead they simply bang their fists together. Some out-draft stems from the point of contact, nothing so impressive as when Naruto and Clyde had done it but still enough to push back a normal shinobi.
Burns realises that Kakashi's strength of punch has increased even further. To help herself in this tussle she increases the power of her own punches, cladding each fist thrown in the coldest ice she can create.
The two exchange punches. Three punches each. Four punches each. Tens of punches each. Hundreds of punches each. Both warriors condition worsens at a uniform rate as they throw their fists, while they both dodge some of the incoming blows neither of them is perfect, neither can possibly dodge all of the incoming attacks.
The Hidden Leaf Hill
"He's doing it" Minato gasps.
"Go for it Kakashi" Kushina eggs her husband's student on as if he can hear through the television.
'It's different' Mitsuki observes, his eyes wide with shock, 'Everything about him. It's different, his speed, his strength, his determination. This is a far greater level than he achieved while we were training'.
Kakashi and Burn's Starting Point
Kakashi changes from punching, instead flipping forwards and slamming his foot into Burns' chest on the way around, sending her skidding backwards along the ground. It's not his most powerful kick but it achieves its goal, separation.
As Burns skids, backwards, Kakashi finds the opening he has been looking for. "Kamui" he calls as he opens a hole between this world and his other dimension. Out from the hole comes two shuriken, on a perfect course for Burns' head.
This is naturally, nothing to the Colonel. She is easily able to deflect this attack, with just a flick of her hand a small icy gust knocks the shuriken onto a different path, missing her head by the narrowest of margins. Still, it speaks volumes of her power that she is comfortable with such a margin. That moment of distraction is enough though, Kakashi is right before her.
''Being the Hokage is about more than your personal power' he shouts in his head, almost as if giving a lecture to Burns.
A desperate situation, Burns throws a simple but effective punch towards Kakashi's head.
A punch that Kakashi avoids.
'It's about embracing everyone's power'. In one hand, he creates a chidori, in the other a rasengan. The lightning extends further than ever before and the rasengan spins more quickly than he has previously managed.
'Naruto's rasengan, Sasuke's chidori, Sakura's power, I'll combine my three student's specialities'.
Burns gasps as she realises the incoming disaster is impossible to avoid.
'By embracing them all, I will defeat you'.
SLAM!
He swings the chidori into one of Burns' arms, the rasengan into the other. He does this using Sakura's chakra control technique, the power of the slam is therefore enormous, comparable to the 5th Hokage's. Imagine combining the 5th Hokage's strength with the techniques created by the 4th and 6th Hokage's, that is the essence of this attack, of its power.
The explosion isn't big but it's powerful, it's condensed and the epicentre is Burns.
After it finally settles down she falls to her knees. "Sorry… everyone…".
Then she collapses.
Elsewhere the hidden leaf hill is euphoric in their celebration. They cheer with jubilation as Kakashi stands over the opponent he had previously failed to defeat.
The 6th Hokage falls to one knee, taking repeated deep breaths as he presses the ground with his fist to maintain his balance.
'Obito, this one is for you' he declares, 'I hope that I can be the Hokage you want me to be'.
To escape from a prison that nobody else can. To defy all the logic set down in this final match. To put the first competitor down for the count.
It should be impossible but it has been done.
That is what makes Hatake Kakashi, the leaf's trump card.