WAR NEVER ENDS – PRESS THE ADVANTAGE
The Battlefield
The single sensation overwhelms the battlefield, just as it did previously. Many captains turn to look, the downed colonels twitch, the generals all look too. It is divine energy. The energy is unlike what they felt previously, it doesn't have the chaotic nature of Lara's nor the serenity of Clyde's. It is an emotional energy, an energy that almost moves all who feel it to tears.
Clyde is amongst those who look. He knows that direction. His headquarters, that is the source of the energy. He felt one before that he could have sworn was Sheer's. This one is new though, unrefined but powerful. Whoever's divine energy this is, it's someone he has never met before.
'This feeling, this power is just like…'.
Lara also cranes her neck. This shouldn't be possible, sensing such a strong energy here. Amongst Clyde's forces only he has an element on par with her. Not even Peterson or Sheer would be capable of summoning strength like this. This energy, in some ways, is stronger than her own. If it is not the energy of one of her followers, nor one of Clyde's there are only two possibilities. It could be one of Tao Ma's associates, though the two energies feel drastically different. Or, it could be another local, who understands their power.
'I sensed some weak power from that direction a few moments ago. This one is completely different though… completely different'.
Clyde grins. "If the energy is coming from that direction I can work it out Lara. I know who this energy must belong to. A local, a woman named Uchiha Sarada".
Lara's eyes are different from before; it only lasts a few seconds but Clyde notices it all the same. All people are the same when confronted with this kind of wondrous sensation, they stop becoming warriors and, for a moment, become adventurers and dreamers. According to her personality, there should always be malice in those eyes, hatred, bloodlust but no. Clyde understands that he misjudged her personality, or perhaps misjudged human nature itself.
"A local managed to achieve power like this?" she asks.
"You still don't get it? I guess I will have to be clearer" Clyde laughs. "The locals in this world are different. I don't know why but their potential is so incredibly different that there must be a reason. That's why I am willing to fight for them, because it is this world that will change everything".
"Different?". Lara looks between the trees, between the struggling shinobi on the ground and between those that have already achieved victory. Indeed, this should be impossible, locals shouldn't be able to win, not against her forces. These victories would likely become part of legend in the military, a force of locals whose power couldn't be fathomed.
"Lara. It's not too late to change your mind. It's never too late. You still have time to see this place. You can still learn about these people" he says, flying slightly closer to his rival. "Call of your attack, be the leader that the military needs. You can lead us back to our world and we can fight alongside them".
"It does seem like they're different, the people of this world. They have a talent that others don't. And even in these circumstances, the fire in their eyes does not die".
"That's right. There is hope here. If we fight together with these people we can…".
"I don't care".
Clyde stops in his tracks, pinching himself to make sure he heard right. Unfortunately, he did, upon inspection he can see all the malice he has always seen in her. That moment of calmness was only an instantaneous miracle.
"You misunderstand my intentions, Clyde. The talent in this world fuels me just like your own talent does. The greater their power the stronger I will feel about it. I want to pain this world red with blood, both yours and theirs".
Clyde screws his eyes shut remorsefully. He wonders what he was hoping to do. Did he really expect to change Lara's outlook on killing because of a pleasant source of divine energy? He tells himself that such a naïve idea was stupid, that there is no way it would work. Why would anyone try that in the first place? Of course, it's stupid he realises, he has acted stupidly this time for the same reason he always has; because of somebody he admires.
He opens his eyes and clenches his fist tightly. Keep fighting, never give up, that is the way forward.
"These people being talented will make my victory even more historic" Lara explains, gathering golden 'light' in each of her hands, "So, shall we continue?"
Within the blink of an eye she has disappeared and reappeared right before Clyde, contrary to her previous attempts to attack from the rear. She then throws three punches towards his face. The first connects satisfyingly, a right to the upper-half of his face, potentially damaging his eye. The second follows suit, this time catching him in the jaw, sending a shooting pain through his entire body.
The pain seems to wake Clyde. He dodges the third punch which skirts past the right-side of his head. His hand reaches out to the side and catches Lara by the wrist. She may be a prodigy but she is not an experienced teleporter like Minato, she cannot react in time.
Bang! He slams the bottom of his fist into her upper-arm, not once but twice before she manages to escape, teleporting to his rear.
With their backs to one another, each knows what the other is thinking and is only too happy to answer in kind. They each opt for an open-palm strike, summoning a spiralling reinforcement barrier up the length of their arms. Golden 'darkness' and 'light' coating the two warriors hand.
As they turn and slap their hands into one another a shockwave crosses the battlefield.
While even the mightiest warriors stumble as a result of the shockwave, Clyde and Lara don't move, bolted to the same spot from which they made the impact. Neither will budge, their pride and ego denying them the right to do so. This is not only a fight for Clyde's subordinates, like Lara, he wants to win because of his pride. He wants to sleep at night knowing that he has finally beaten her.
"The locals of this world don't need to worry, Lara" he says.
"Because no matter what, I am going to defeat you".
He flicks his spare hand upwards, a rain-like spray of small golden 'darkness' flakes squirting from his fingertips.
This would be child's play to Lara, had she realised what he was doing immediately, but it's too late. She hasn't.
The spray is only a cover, a smokescreen which Clyde attacks directly through. A large bludgeoning punch connects straight to Lara's chest.
As distance between the two warriors opens up she feels an enormous frustration. Their power should be equal. Her abilities should be superior. Her knowledge, her talent, they have always been measured as greater than Clyde's. He should have no qualities that make him a superior fighter to her. So how can he continue to fight like this?
'Clyde' she shouts in her head, refusing him the satisfaction of seeing her flustered, 'Of all the blood I am going to spill, yours will be by far the most satisfying'.
Elsewhere on the Battlefield
Just after recovering from the shockwave, Georgia refocuses on the source of energy she felt moments prior. "What… who is that… who could do this?".
A doubly transcendent element. Incredible, completely unthinkable for a single local, let alone more than one. In sensing this though, Georgia, like her comrades, is at a disadvantage. Only a single one of them has encountered Naruto since arriving in this world. That was Colonel Elliot after his battle with Dan. However, not even he experienced the shinobi's power, it was already too late to fight so Naruto instead opted to protect the children. That is why she cannot know, she cannot imagine that this situation is possible, because she has never seen a local transcend two levels.
Minato can picture this though. He is overjoyed by it. "That's Sarada" he yells internally, "That can only be Sarada".
"Yeah" Kurama agrees happily.
"Sister, this power, it's incredible, just what is going on…".
"I…".
Martin too is at a disadvantage. He is the only one of Clyde's colonels not to have experienced Naruto's power. That, in a way, is his punishment for retreating. In an attempt to escape danger, he has blinded himself to an army full of hidden talents.
Georgia begins to feel the same fear that her brother felt. This world shouldn't be possible. A doubly transcendent element amongst the locals, that just wouldn't happen. She never bargained on going up against someone like that, else she would have taken her brother and ran as far as possible. Retreat isn't possible now though. Neither Lara, nor Clyde will permit her escape from the battle. Then there is an individual more troublesome still who will not let her leave. Her brother's previous victim… Minato.
"Hey" he yells, with a smile.
A smile on Minato shouldn't be this intimidating. Could destiny be working in reverse today?
"I'm running rather low on stamina now" he announces carelessly, "I hope you two don't mind but I have to end this fight rather quickly".
Georgia is only too pleased to hear her prediction come true. She knew from the start of this fight that Minato could only go for so long. His speed may be incredible but it also has its drawbacks.
"Indeed, you are running low on stamina yet I am completely fine" she boasts, her previous fear alleviated, "You must understand by now, a monkey could never defeat a ruler".
"You're wrong, I've already seen someone do it before". Minato smiles, floating opposite the siblings. "That person is my son and he's more incredible than you will ever know. Yet, while I am proud of what he has done I am also chasing after him. That's why I will use him as my inspiration as I finish you".
Minato takes hold of several kunai and throws them perfectly into the air above the two siblings. The kunai, in their relative position, form a circle. Slowly, gravity takes hold and the circle descends towards the heads of the poison siblings. He could decide any one of these points as location.
'He could teleport to any one of those weapons' Georgia quickly assesses, 'I have to be on guard in every direction'.
"Martin, nets".
"Yes sister".
The colonel begins to form small poisonous nets, similar to the ones his sister used to attack the village. He is under no illusion that such a defence could stop someone as powerful as Minato, however, it might slow him down a bit.
Minato stretches his right hand out. With a whirl and a screeching sound, a blue ball of energy is born into his right hand. This is a rasengan, enhanced by the 'wind' divine energy he has been blessed with.
'Naruto, I created this technique but your revolutionized it'.
The rasengan starts to spin on its axis, changing into a rasen-shuriken. Minato has long since mastered the rasen-shuriken created by his son. That had been the easy part of this technique. He had been preparing for the captained-six contest when he first thought it up. He realised that there might be a way to improve the rasengan further still.
From a distance his student Kakashi watches admiringly. 'That's right, Minato sensei, it is time for the creator to show that technique's true nature'.
'Naruto. It is time for this to become my technique once again'.
The axis for the rasengan's spin splits in half. It now spins on two perpendicular axes. It seems unremarkable at first but this is in fact an incredible achievement. Minato is already a revolutionary. Things quickly escalate though, for then two axes become four and four become eight. The numbers increase until every perceptible angle is covered. The rasengan is now spinning on every axis, expanding to look more akin to a giant rasengan than a rasen-shuriken. Only the colour is brighter, closer to a brilliant white than blue, like the blades of the rasen-shuriken.
This is Minato's technique. He is the master of the rasengan. This attack is his alone.
The kunai have fallen to the right height, now level with Martin and Georgia's chests.
'Now where will you teleport, pathetic monkey?'.
Minato doesn't even consider it in depth, opting to teleport to the right of the brother-sister duo.
Georgia immediately stretches her hand out, creating a massive golden 'poison' net to protect her. 'To the right huh, not that it matters, there is no way that you can get through this net'.
She underestimates him though, just as she has always underestimated locals.
All starts to become clear as he calls his technique's name.
"Rasen-bomb".
He slams the rasen-bomb forward into the net, quickly snapping through its mauve coloured ropes. The siblings know that this is the end. There is nothing they can do to stop this. Their judgement has come and the one to deliver it is one they labelled pathetic and hopeless. For the sin of dismissing him, they can never repent. After all, he was never just another local, he was Namikaze Minato.
He pushes the rasen-bomb through the net and as it connects with Georgia and Martin, he clicks his fingers, detonating it in a flash of brilliant white.
The yellow-flash teleports away, arriving next to a shinobi amongst the battling forces.
As the white light finally clears it reveals a beautiful sight. Nothing but the world they have been born into. Georgia and Martin are gone, dead. Victory belongs to Minato.
The 4th Hokage smiles. "It seems that I am the master of the rasengan once again".
"Are you OK?" the shinobi asks him.
Minato is still perfectly able, quickly rising to his feet. "I won't be able to fight using their power anymore. My stamina is too low. But I can still fight, we have to press home this advantage. We have to win here, we can win here and we will win here. So, keep fighting".
The invigorated shinobi forces let out a battle cry and continue to press the attack. They are outmatched here, against the captains under Lara's command. All they can do is hold out while their leaders try to earn victory in this battle. Each time it happens, whether it be Tobirama, Tsunade or Minato, their morale increases just a bit. They sense victory approaching.
Elsewhere on the Battlefield
Elliot is blasé as he dodges to the side of yet another of Mirai's explosive attacks. The other battle has caught his attention. That's another one. Another loss.
"What an annoying woman. All she has done since coming here is boast and in the end, she was useless" he proclaims, "She lost against just a single local".
He starts to think that maybe this is bad luck. Or maybe someone important from his home world is pulling strings behind the scenes. Things like this couldn't happen normally. The first fight was two against one, a fluke could happen. The next fight, Peterson, a general level fighter participated, a fluke could happen. But that last fight featured only a single local against two people from his own world. It doesn't make sense.
"Hey" a voice interrupts his thoughts.
He immediately feels the change in air pressure and berates himself for his own lack of focus.
A small but strong fire chakra is induced and the cleverly manipulated 'wind' energy carries the flame all the way to him before detonating it. It is easy to sidestep but his opponent is learning, the pressure around him changes in accordance with his movements and the explosion turns into a chain of explosions, circling back around to strike at him again.
He does all he can to stop the attack, putting up a barrier of 'cold' energy to block.
In the time he used to dodge Mirai was not standing still. She gathered 'wind' energy at her rear and induced a difference in pressure to launch herself forward at a supreme speed. As she approaches Elliot she concentrates oxygen around her fist. When she finally reaches him, she clicks, a tiny spark of fire trickling off the end of her thumb, igniting a detonation in Elliot's face.
The normally composed general pulls his charred face from the fire. He lands a quick two elbows to Mirai's head before spinning her and kicking her down towards the ground.
The Sarutobi clanswoman uses another set of explosions to cease her own momentum. She calculates that she took a couple of tough blows but probably got the better of that exchange. If not physically, the look on his face proves that she won the mental battle. She is slightly apprehensive though, she has only understood 'wind' to the captain level. 'Wind' is not a transcendent power. Given that the others have struggled so much against normal generals, she does wonder how she is able to do so well against Elliot.
"It seems that my side has disgraced itself so far" Elliot says, signalling his regained composure by gently wiping his face clean.
"So far? Don't go thinking that our battle will be any different".
"Oh?".
"Kato Dan died to stop you having your way" Mirai shouts as she points at her adversary. "There is no way that I am going to lose here".
"Don't you understand? 'Cold' is an element that transcends a level. It is conceivable that you could defeat a normal general but myself? Something like that is impossible.
Mirai has had it with his sophistry. He is ignoring the facts as they are. "I don't understand at all. Are you saying that if you went all out you could defeat me?".
"Yes".
"Then what are you waiting for?".
Elliot ponders the question. Has he been waiting for anything? Has he really just been coasting in this battle while watching the others? Or is that just a lie he has invented to blind himself to the truth? That truth is that he is going all out already and that for some reason he hasn't won yet.
"I have been here this whole time" Mirai says while holding her arms out. "I've been fighting against you all along but you can't seem to defeat me. Why hold anything back now? Don't you have to win here?".
Elliot is angered and the temperature drops by another couple of degrees. "You may regret goading me into this?".
Mirai snorts, regret it? She is already dead set on wining.
"it doesn't matter what you say, this battle won't change between you and me. And just like the others have won their battles, I am going to defeat you".
With an explosion Mirai hurtles towards Elliot.
The same question sounds in the minds of soldiers all over the battlefield.
How is this possible? Just what is going on here?
Little do they understand that while destiny appears to favour them for the moment, something far darker and more ominous is approaching.