Author Note:
Hi All,
Sorry for not giving you the usual chapter yesterday.
I have my reasons but I won't make excuses.
To make up for giving you this one late, I will try my best to give you another one tomorrow.
As always, thanks for reading,
Cbehrills
THE BATTLE FOR THE EARTH – SARADA'S FATE
Naruto and Clyde's Starting Point
Clyde growls as he observes Naruto's movement. The 7th Hokage doesn't look phased in the least, his confidence is supreme, his heart unwavering. Clyde is a general, someone who can manifest a golden elemental cloak. Not only can he do this, but he is also a user of the darkness element, an element even stronger than standard ones. To be able to stand opposite the General without a trace of fear is near unthinkable, no, for a local it is unthinkable. A person with these capabilities should not exist, not here.
"I've felt sorry for you before, Uzumaki Naruto but now I have realised that you are blessed" Clyde begins, the disdain in his voice clear for all to hear, "You have been blessed with most absurd luck that I have ever witnessed".
He stares down the Uzumaki clansmen, "One of us has to die here though, and it's not going to be me". The General makes this declaration and focuses the golden darkness energy onto his hands. The air around him can almost be seen vibrating as a result of the power he exudes. Through one moment, in which he doesn't attack, he demonstrates just how ready he is to cause pain, to cause damage. In this one moment, Clyde demonstrates just how powerful a General is.
It is in this moment, where there is no combat between them, that Naruto realises just how powerful Clyde is. Now that he can feel the power coming from him, now that he can identify it he cannot help but admire the General. The sensation, the pure power output from Clyde is far greater than from Naruto, but, the shinobi has his chakra based powers to rely upon as well as his newly obtained power. Meaning he can win.
Still, Naruto does not refuse to go toe-to-toe with Clyde, he too flares his aura, gathering the power of life onto his fists and ensuring that any punch he throws with them will be as effective as possible. The tension can be cut with a knife, the whole world stands unmoving for just a moment, until someone interrupts them.
"DAD!".
Approaching is Boruto carrying an unconscious Sarada in his arms. On either side, he is flanked by Kakashi and Tobirama, each nearly as flustered as the shadow Hokage himself. It is clear why he has come to Naruto at this time, Sarada's condition is critical.
Naruto quickly notices the danger to his son. "Get back Boruto!".
The warning is not unjustified, just as his son is approaching, General Clyde forms another golden darkness dart and throws it towards him. For someone of Boruto's speed, dodging this is absolutely impossible. He attempts to push it away with repulsive powers of his Tenseigan but he is not quick enough.
He is saved though. A truth-seeking ball coated in life energy collides with the dart just before the shadow Hokage's face, saving him from certain death. He quickly realises just what sort of power his father has, just how strong Uzumaki Naruto has become.
Boruto doesn't stop, he continues on his path towards Naruto, eventually placing Sarada down at his father's feet. "Dad, it's Sarada".
Naruto looks over his recently accepted pupil feeling something terrible, she barely seems to be alive at all, the physical signs are different from what Naruto senses though. It is like there is a difference between perception and reality. He then looks to his son who seems to be emotionally distraught with the situation, a tear rolling down his cheek confirms what Naruto had thought. Boruto's strange illness has caused this.
"That stuff leaked from my body again" Boruto confirms, breathing raggedly, "It her and she hasn't responded since".
'It's her chakra' Naruto finally understands the strange feeling, 'Her chakra is dying'.
"Please, you have to help her".
"It's not very easy right now Boruto", Naruto's eyes move back to Clyde, stood opposite from him, "I have to beat this guy first". There is naturally, no way that Naruto can focus if he has to worry about the possibility of an intervention while he is helping Sarada. Such a thing would not be in the General's nature but there is no way of knowing at this moment. There is only one way forward, there is only one enemy left, Naruto only needs to defeat him and this will all be over.
"Dad I… she… when I… if I kill her" Boruto mumbles incoherently. With hundreds of clones, Naruto has seen many people doing this in the 4th great shinobi war, he is more than accustomed to dealing with it.
"Don't worry Boruto" he smiles, not moving his attention from the enemy, "You still have things you have to tell her, right?".
"Yeah".
"Well then" Naruto punches his open palm, "I may be the Hokage but before that I am your father. It's my job to help you with these things".
"So" he continues, "In order to do that…". He focuses his life energy on his open palm and moves it towards Sarada's chest. His power may be incredibly useful for fighting but if it lives up to its namesake then it must have an even greater ability, to help those who are dying.
Just as Naruto is about to reach Sarada he is tackled away. Clyde wraps his arms around Naruto's waist and drags the 7th Hokage into the distance, as far away from Sarada as he can. It may be out of character for such an honourable individual but it is clear that he has made his decision, he is going to hinder his opponent no matter what.
"As if I will let you" Clyde snaps as he tackles Naruto into the distance.
Boruto falls to his knees, "This can't be happening".
With two quick flashes, Tobirama disappears and reappears at Kakashi's side, bringing Mirai and Hashirama with him.
Finally coming to a halt, Clyde has Naruto pressed to the ground beneath him.
"Damn you" the Hokage curses, "She can't threaten you anymore, why won't you let me save her?".
"I'm fighting for my people, that means fighting against yours" Clyde shouts in reply.
The duo is too rushed and frenzied to focus their energies on their upcoming attacks, they just use their physical abilities to go as far as they can.
Clyde takes hold of Naruto's shirt in his left hand before throwing a punch towards his face.
Naruto dodges before taking hold of Clyde's jacket with both hands. He pulls down as hard as he can while swinging his head as hard as he can.
THUD!
A headbutt.
And another!
And another!
With one final headbutt, Naruto manages to create a momentary opening, he pushes his opponent away from him and scrambles to his feet. He wastes no time by continuing to attack Clyde, instead he runs straight towards Sarada, not even looking around as his opponent begins to get up.
The General knows what this means for the fight. Likely, whether Sarada lives or dies, she will have no impact in the battle from this point on. However, there is something entirely different up for grabs here, the momentum. If Sarada dies, fate will seem as if it is on his side, if she lives, then it will seem that destiny has moved in Naruto's directions. The will of the heavens may be decided in these next moments.
Clyde is about to catch up with Naruto when someone appears in his path. It is Senju Tobirama. The 2nd Hokage swings his kunai straight towards Clyde's neck. Of course, this is nothing to the General, he simply dodges to the side of the kunai before casually slamming his fist into Tobirama's side. If he were to go all out, such a blow would be fatal, but he has no time to waste, he simply knocks his opponent away like a fly.
Once more, Clyde is closing in on Naruto when he is interrupted, this time Mirai gets in his way. "Save her, Lord 7th!" she shouts as she fires explosions repeatedly at Clyde. These attacks, although they are unique, are ineffective, instead they prompt the General to try a new attack. Arriving before Mirai, he jumps and swings his foot into her sternum. The goal of this is not to hurt her, though it does break a few ribs, but instead to launch her at Naruto. It works, she flies backwards like a cannonball, hurtling towards her team captain.
A whirling pattern of air appears just behind Naruto's back. Out from it steps Kakashi, the 6th Hokage. "Don't stop moving forward Naruto, no matter what". He sacrifices his own body, he takes the blow by intercepting Mirai's body before quickly activating his kamui. He moves both himself and Mirai into the other dimension to make sure neither of them hit Naruto.
Clyde grits his teeth. 'No matter how many things I try they keep getting in the way' he growls in his head, 'If I can't stop Naruto, then I will kill her directly'. A callous decision but one that is his to make, he haphazardly gathers golden darkness energy on his hand before throwing it Boruto and Sarada's direction. No matter how fast Naruto is, he may even be able to outrun Clyde on a good day, but he cannot outrun Clyde's attack. He is helpless to stop it.
"Boruto!" he shouts as he stretches his hand forward.
BANG!
The golden darkness energy hits, a blow that would kill anyone. No matter if it is Boruto or Sarada who is hit, they will inevitably die. That goes for anyone other than Naruto on the shinobi team.
Except for maybe one person.
Except the one person who may be able to survive.
Except the person, it hits.
Except Senju Hashirama.
Hashirama is not on the General's level though. The injuries are clear all along one side of his body, scars that would make children scream form all along his arm as he begins to fall backwards.
He raises his voice and manages to whisper one word. "Go" he implores Naruto before he lands on his back.
All the time Naruto needs, has been bought. He thrusts his hand towards Sarada's chest and closes his eyes with a prayer. 'Please, this time, please let me make it'. He gathers life energy on his hand and waits for his hand to move forward, he is so on-edge that time seems to stop moving. While his hand moves at previously inconceivable speeds, it feels like it is moving at the pace of a snail.
Clyde gasps.
'The way they sacrifice their bodies to protect one another'.
'The way the survive all these brutal attacks'.
'The way they seem to keep on answering all of our challenges'.
'Could it be my destiny to lose here?'.
Naruto's hand finally touches Sarada and he doesn't hold back in the least. The life energy has so far responded to his every wish so he hopes it will do the same here. His prayer does not cease, it is truly the time to find out whether or not he has the power to save his friends. So, he sends one single pulse into Sarada's body, one strong pulse of life energy that carries the village's prayers with it.
With a deep intake of air, Sarada raises from the ground. She doesn't know where she is but she immediately feels a warm embrace around her. To her there is only one person left who can give her such a warm sensation. It is Boruto.
"Boruto" she whispers, "Naruto".
She doesn't understand what has happened, having been unconscious for the last few minutes, but from the tears on Boruto's face, from the tightness of his embrace, it is clear that she was close to death. Still, more importantly, she is fine now.
All of the shinobi competing have gathered on this starting battlefield. All of the others are watching on their television. Not a single one of them isn't overcome by joy at this sight, Sarada is going to be OK. Sarada is going to live. After all this death, the woman responsible for summoning the Hokage will not be dying today.
Clyde clenches his fist tightly before firing yet another burst of golden darkness energy towards the embracing shinobi. Not dying today, he may still have something to say about that.
This time Naruto is not busy though. He gathers life energy on his hand and knocks the golden darkness away from his child and his pupil.
Clyde starts.
"I won't let you hurt them anymore" Naruto declares resolutely. "This will be settled between the two of us now".
"The Hokage from the past".
"The warrior from another world".
"We will finish this".
Boruto maintains his grip on Sarada, refusing to loosen it for even a second. He fears that if he let's go he may never be able to hold his teammate again, that she may die the second he is not there, or that he may if she is not there. So, he clings. He clings on with all his might.
"Sarada" he whispers, "The stuff that leaked from my body before".
"I don't care" she interrupts him, much to his surprise, "I just won't this suffering to be over".
Boruto turns to look at his father's back. He may have disagreed with his approach several times since the latter came to the future. Still, Boruto feels confident looking at that back, his father, despite his age is still what he has always been.
"He will do it" Boruto declares.
"Not as my father, not as your master".
"Right now, he is not even the 7th Hokage, he is something else entirely".
"He is Uzumaki Naruto".
"Boruto" Sarada whispers, "We could still die, right? This could still be the end for us".
It is true. Naruto has shown a power on par with Clyde's, he has shown an ability to save people as well as an element that is even stronger than darkness. This may still not be enough. Clyde has lived for far longer than Naruto, he has far more experience. He has mentioned previously that he has battled many people just like Naruto, he has defeated them all. On top of that, he has seen people with low power overpower those with high power, he understands how to punch above his weight. They could still die very easily.
"I suppose so" Boruto relents.
"Then, I have to tell you something" Sarada says as she brings her mouth right up to his ear, "I...".
The General has lost all sense. Clyde fires a flurry of blasts towards the embracing shinobi. He is trying to destroy his bad-luck charm. No matter what, at this point he wants them gone from the battlefield. This is the heavens showing him that he may lose and he is in denial. He is throwing the signal away at all costs.
With two quick uses of the flying thunder god jutsu, Tobirama appears and takes Boruto and Sarada away with him.
Clyde quickly notes that all of the other shinobi are grouped together some way into the distance. A safe distance. Now the fight is truly just between him and Naruto.
The Safe Location
Boruto and Sarada finally release one another, feeling that it would be awkward not to surrounded by all of their teammates.
"Sorry to ruin your moment" Tobirama says, "Your safety had to come first".
Boruto nods, "Thank you everyone, thank you for saving Sarada…".
At this moment, he spots the strongest among them, he spots his master. Hashirama is sat on the floor with his legs crossed, his bloodied arm is cut open in several places though, if it were anybody else they would not be able to endure such a thing while sitting upright.
"Lord 1st I…".
"Don't worry about it" Hashirama waves off his students before focusing on the two team captains, "Now there is only one last matter to be taken care of".
Boruto quickly takes this point on-board, he also turns to look at the strongest people in this world. Naruto and Clyde are alone with nobody to get in their way. Peterson, Sheer, Burns, Sisto and Grace, they are all down for the count. Himself, Sarada, Kakashi, Mirai, Tobirama and Hashirama, none of them have the energy left to get involved. This is truly the dying moments of this last match, the last stretch. It is time to do or die.
"Win dad" he whispers as he clenches a fist, "Just win".