WAR NEVER ENDS – FROM BAD TO WORSE
Atop the Roof
Sarada doesn't know what do with herself, a wave of emotions pass through her, from realisation to resentment all within a second. This man who has dropped out of the sky, who has emerged from nothingness has put fear into her entire village. That alone wasn't enough though, he had to target the one person that she absolutely wouldn't tolerate. She grits her teeth. 'As if…'.
Tao Ma's eyes fix on Boruto for a moment, before switching to the left and fixing on her. His pupil's move back and forward in an inhuman manor. He's completely crazy but in spite of his mannerisms he seems to have his wits about him. This is perhaps what is meant by an evil genius.
'After all that has happened…'. Sarada's mind is filled with images of the dead. Of her sensei and of her parents, of the Naruto from the present day, of Hashirama who had given his life to protect them. 'After losing so many people in this life of mine, I won't lose Boruto too'.
"No matter what" she declares aloud, "I'm not going to let you take him. I would never let you take him, not Boruto".
A cackle, a menacing cackle, Tao Ma is at it again.
"You won't be able to stop me".
He slowly lifts his hand, the wispy grey substance stemming from his fingertip once again, this time heading for Sarada.
The 9th Hokage has seen what this can do, she has witnessed this power being used to kill Hashirama and knows that she cannot stand up to it herself. In a way nothing has changed, she is still just as weak as when Boruto almost killed her. She throws her body sideways, not hesitating in the least against such a mighty opponent.
As Sarada's sideways momentum continues, her eyes widen to even wider widths. Her rinnegan tracks Tao Ma as he dashes towards his catch of the day. The pace with which he approaches Boruto is enough to strain even the rinnegan. People shouldn't be able to move this quickly.
'Fast' Sarada notes.
Before the 9th Hokage can land, there is nothing she can do without risk of hitting Boruto. This man is just too fast.
Tao Ma brings his hand back before slamming it into the Shadow Hokage's gut.
As the blow hits the blonde shinobi, the air is expelled from his lungs. He slumps, inconveniently straight into the grasp of his enemy, of Tao Ma.
Tao Ma was, of course, aiming for this, his sloppy appearance not reflecting in the quality of his work. As he feels the Uzumaki slump into his shoulder he grins wildly at Sarada before taking a run and leap to the next building.
He is running away with Boruto.
Sarada won't allow this. Not after everything she has been through. She knows that Tao Ma is faster than her but she is a shinobi, she must have more tricks up her sleeve than he does. Additionally, the untidy assailant is carrying a man on his back, there will be a notable reduction in speed.
She pursues them towards the edge of the Hidden Leaf Village. As the walls come ever closer a deathly grip tightens around the heart of the last Uchiha. Every second that passes, the situation is getting worse. Boruto's condition is not much better. While he is starting to regain some feeling in his muscles that punch was something else. Never has he experienced such debilitation from a single attack before.
As Tao Ma leaps from one rooftop to the next, a lightbulb illuminates in the brain of the Hokage, a plan that Boruto will instantly understand and cooperate with. She pulls a kunai from her back pocket and throws it to her partner.
The Uzumaki clansmen catches the kunai before quickly infusing it with some chakra and throwing it skilfully into the air ahead of them. This is not a plan that Tao Ma could possibly see through, even if he knew of their abilities. This is a plan that can only be executed by partners who are perfectly in sync with one another. In Tao Ma's brain, this kunai is clearly going to miss.
Sarada makes use of her unique rinnegan powers, increasing the gravity experienced by the kunai enormously.
As it falls rapidly down towards Tao Ma the plan comes full circle. As it stands, such an attack won't do much damage, not to a man as fearsome as this. However, Boruto took that into account, with a quick burst of chakra and a solitary hand sign, the kunai transforms into a flying rasengan, a power he first used to save the newly arriving historic Hokage.
Just as it looks like Tao Ma has not noticed the incoming attack, he stops, allowing the rasengan to drop down before his face. He must remove their hope, otherwise they will continue to pester him. He creates a mass of grey energy in the shape of a hand and destroys the rasengan with it.
Far from destroying their hope, he just enhanced it. The grey energy created a blind spot, a shinobi as talented as Uchiha Sarada was never going to miss that. She flies at him from the former blind spot, now he has no energy to defend himself, she can get a direct hit.
While at first this appears to the Hokage as an opportunity, that is more false hope. As she approaches Tao Ma he swings his fist violently through her chest. The moment he does it, he can feel that something isn't right, this isn't Sarada. With a poof of smoke, the shinobi's ploy is revealed, that was a clone.
As Tao Ma casually jumps to the next roof, Sarada dashes from one end of a roof to the other, leaping as hard as she can to catch up to her fiancé and his captor.
'I won't reach him like this' she tells herself as she stretches her hand forward as far as she can, 'Come on Boruto, stretch!'.
Inspiration hits Sarada, she can control gravity. She exerts her influence, using gravity to pull Boruto in her direction as hard as she can. He follows suit, using the attraction powers of his Tenseigan to pull Sarada towards him.
Both 9th generation leaders use their full power.
Both 9th generation leaders stretch as far as the can.
Both 9th generation leaders reach with their fingertips.
They come within an inch of one another before Tao Ma lands and pulls away from Sarada.
With this landing, he is now outside of the village.
'No, no, no, no' Sarada screams in her head, there is no way she can beat him in a foot race, try as she does.
As they get further into the country and away from the hidden leaf, hope starts to dwindle for Sarada. Her despair peaks as she spots Tao Ma's destination, a group of black caped warriors, dressed like those surrounding the village and humming a universal tune.
"Hm Hmm Hmmm".
The raven haired kunoichi draws her final kunai, "You can't take him!" she screams as she launches the weapon in Tao Ma's direction.
The kunai bears down on the captors back and just as it seems it will hit him, he disappears, along with all his followers. A portal appeared to take them away from this place.
More importantly, they took Boruto with them.
"No way…" Sarada murmurs.
Boruto is gone!
The Hidden Leaf Village
Tobirama and Kakashi are stood together on what looks like an average street in the revamped village hidden amongst the leaves. This however, is the closest vantage point that Kakashi could find. The slight incline of the street may not look like much to the average Joe but the slight incline is enough to observe most of the village when combined with Kakashi's Mangekyo Sharingan.
While Kakashi scours the village for action with his Sharingan, Tobirama stands arms crossed and waits for a report. "What do you see Kakashi?".
"They definitely aren't normal" Kakashi remarks of the newcomers, stood outside the village but not attacking. "I wouldn't say they are from this world but…".
"But?".
"They don't look like anyone we have seen from Clyde's world either".
Kakashi's correct in his observations. While this group maintains a common appearance, it is not so regimental nor so immaculate as the uniforms kept by Clyde and his followers. They all wear black, with either a cloak or cape dangling from their back but other than that their clothing differs. Different sock heights, different types of trousers, different shoes, some not wearing shoes at all. If this is supposed to be a uniform it is not enforced very strongly.
With a flash of gold, the 4th Hokage, Namikaze Minato arrives. "Kakashi, what are we dealing with here?".
"I honestly don't know Minato sensei" the 6th Hokage answers as he relaxes his shoulders slightly. He is more comfortable with Minato here. How could anyone not be more comfortable with Minato here? The 4th Hokage's laid back nature and cheerful demeanour are qualities he purposefully invests himself in to keep people calm. "These people are strange" Kakashi continues, "They are unlike anyone we have seen before".
Two more members of the circle approach, running as fast as they can, Shinki and Tsunade.
"Here you guys are…" Shinki skids to a halt and looks in the same direction as the others. Clearly the newcomers haven't opened hostilities, yet.
"Have you seen my grandfather anywhere?" Tsunade asks.
"I don't know where my brother is but he doesn't seem to be within range" Tobirama notes as he taps the floor with his fingerer, "I can't teleport to him with the flying thunder god".
"Neither can I" Minato declares with a shake of his head.
Hiruzen is the next to arrive, knowing in the back of his head that it is best they all be together should any important decisions need to be made. "I can't sense Lord Hashirama's chakra anywhere".
"What has happened here?" Shinki shrugs to nobody in particular as he takes a few steps towards the village walls. "They are just stood around the village, doing nothing".
"They don't seem to pose any immediate threat" Tobirama explains the deductions he has made from Kakashi's observations, his eyes still fixed to the village walls, "It's like they aren't here to attack. It's like they are here to stop us from leaving".
"I still don't like it though". Tsunade paces back and forward. "Their presence here is menacing and uncomforting". The people of the Hidden Leaf Village are truly in the mouth of a lion, waiting to see whether the big cat is still hungry or not.
"Keep an eye on them Kakashi".
"I will, but I feel I should address another issue here" the silver-haired Hokage announces, "Did any of you guys see the pursuit across the rooftops".
"Pursuit over the rooftops" Tobirama starts, his gaze shifting for the first time as his arms drop to his sides, "You didn't say anything at the time".
"I had only just got here and nobody else had arrived" Kakashi recalls the series of events, "I had only just got here and I could barely follow it with my eyes. Someone had Boruto though, someone was carrying him out of the village".
"Boruto?" Minato steps forward.
"Sarada was chasing after them" Kakashi looks over his shoulder at his teacher, "I haven't noticed them returning since".
"Shouldn't one of us go after Boruto?" Shinki questions.
"No" Tobirama, perhaps the most tactically aware amongst the group, refutes this suggestion. "Sarada is already pursuing him, if she can't handle it there is no way that we can".
"But if we all worked together…".
"Calm down Shinki" Tobirama barks, "You are the 2nd Hokage".
"Boruto is the shadow Hokage, even if Sarada weren't with him, he can handle himself". Hiruzen explains this and places a hand on the shoulder of his sand counterpart, "In this dire situation it is our responsibility to protect the village, understood?".
Shinki removes all other thoughts from his head. Of course. His duty is what it always has been. Protect the village. "Yes, Lord 3rd".
"That goes for all of us" Tobirama says as he points around the group, "Boruto is a friend to all of us and even a relative to some but our first responsibility is as the Kage of this village. We protect it until the end".
All of them nod. They understand how important their job is. They all accepted it after all.
The following silence is broken by Kakashi, "Something is about to happen" he declares as he stares at those on the other side of the wall like a miser at a valuable golden coin. "They're starting to hum".
They are doing just that. Each of them mimicking Tao Ma's movements from when they first arrived. Each of them spread their arms wide, as if welcoming an incoming sunset or a long-lost child. Gradually, the humming increases in volume, penetrating so far into the village that even the most central of civilians can hear it.
"Hm Hmm Hmmm".
It's enough to reduce some children to tears. While the tune itself doesn't contain any sort of menace, the connotations of it are intimidating. It clearly links with a power or a ritual, something beyond their comprehension, something beyond even the Hokage. The villagers have seen too much power already, they have already experienced too much terror and this only builds on it.
One of the warriors in a black cape places his arms down by his side before slowly, systematically raising his arm from his hip, inch by inch. His hand a closed fist, raises further into the air, until his arm rests at a forty-five-degree angle.
That warrior, opens his fist!
As his fist opens a wave of sound storms over the Hidden Leaf.
VROOM!
A rushing sound.
With that sound, the warriors are gone.
"They're gone" Kakashi declares confidently.
"All of them?".
"As far as I can see" the 6th Hokage nods, "Every last one of them is gone".
"Minato, your close with the Hyuuga clan, can you arrange a search" Hiruzen questions his successor.
"Yes, I will ask them to search the entire village. I'm sure that nothing can slip through their net".
Just as the golden flash is about to disappear, a hand grabs his wrist. His student's hand.
"Wait" Kakashi orders, his eyes now pointing to the distant sky.
"Have you spotted something Kakashi?" Tsunade asks fearfully.
"… it's a General".
A woman arrives, flying high above the hidden leaf. For some of the older villagers it brings back terrible memories, not of the invasion from recent years but of another from many years ago. The invasion of Pain. This General is floating high above the village just like he did so many years ago. Back then it was Uzumaki Naruto who saved them when he earned the title 'Hero of the Hidden Leaf'. Unfortunately, Naruto is not here now, the situation is perhaps more desperate than even back then.
This General has a plan look about her. She is slightly below average height with a near-permanent judgemental look on her face. Her well-kept blonde hair comes down to the tops of her shoulder blades. Her uniform is tidy but not as immaculate as Elliot's, her sleeves slightly too long for her short arms. Appearing in her early thirties, her green eyes are alive with the light of her emotions as she lays eyes on the village she has come to see specially.
"So, this is the establishment the monkeys have formed" she snorts, "Pathetic. Clyde, you have allowed them to become pathetic".
She looks around the various facilities of the village and sneers. This is not up to her luxurious standards. Even as part of the military where she is often subject to battle and conflict, she is used to more comfort than a place like this can provide.
"You have allowed these people to stagnate" she declares disdainfully, "That will be your undoing Clyde, that will be your undoing".
"Damn" Minato curses, "This is the worst".
"The situation isn't that bad" Tsunade counters, "We are all stronger than we were during the contest. As far as we can tell, she is only a normal General, any of those four could put up a fight against her".
"Those for, you seem to be forgetting something Tsunade" Hiruzen says.
"Sarada pursued someone out of the village" Shinki recalls, "Boruto was being carried by that same someone. He was taken out of the village".
"I can't find my brother" Tobirama adds as he once again places a finger on the ground and searches for Hashirama. He still has no luck. "I can't even sense his presence, I have no idea where he has gone".
"Then there is the worst thing of all. Naruto is not here" Minato finishes.
"We're being attacked at the worst possible moment" Hiruzen claims.
Kakashi stares at the village doom floating overhead and does what Sakura did the last time the leaf was in this situation. Calls to Naruto.
'This is bad, where are you Naruto?'.
'The village needs you…'.
'Naruto!'.