WAR NEVER ENDS – THE RESULT
The Battlefield
Three more shockwaves blast through the group, each knocking over a few more people than the last. This is a group of might warriors. The most powerful individuals from Clyde and Lara's forces combine with the Hidden Leaf shinobi from this world. Together they all watch on as the battle between Naruto and Hashirama rages on. Each time their fists connect, the group is reminded of its own hopelessness. The ground before them tremors and the thin vapour in the air can be seen shifting towards them, and as the tremendous force hits them they feel it acting in their chests against the beating of their hearts.
Amongst this elite group, the captains know that this battle is going too far. The battle doesn't exceed moral boundaries, quite the opposite, they fully understand the viewpoint of Hashirama and Boruto. However, the world itself tears every time their fists connect. Something like this isn't supposed to happen, that's why people like Lara and Clyde are put in charge of invasions. The pocket worlds can only withstand so much power, the fabric that holds them together is far weaker than in their home world. If Naruto or Hashirama, or if Sarada or Boruto were to increase their power any further then it would spell Armageddon. This quaint little pocket world that has survived the full might of the military would be torn apart by its own power.
"Incredible" Hiruzen says as he does his best to support the weaker shinobi around him, "Truly incredible".
Nearby Kakashi is also doing his best to protect the weak. Where possible he takes the injured into his other world using kamui, sending medics away with them. A lot of people can barely endure being so close to this fight at full vitality, doing so injured is virtually impossible.
Kakashi contemplates the possibility that the impact is being felt back in the Hidden Leaf too. "I've never seen a battle like this before" he says to himself, "Every single impact, every attack, every spark of energy; I can feel them all".
Minato's speed is incredible, yet as he follows the movements of Naruto and Hashirama he cannot help but feel inferior. It's not just how fast they are moving, it's the speed their minds are working at as well. While he may be able to match that speed if he burst forward as fast as he can, he wouldn't be able to match their mobility, nor their manoeuvrability. In a straight line their speed may be equal, but Naruto and Hashirama would be able to prepare attacks, manipulate their energy and even talk at the same time.
"If any of us were to try and help we would simply get in the way" the 4th Hokage explains to his distraught family. "Their speed, their power, it is not at a level we can reach".
Hinata knows that he is right, as much as it hurts her. It has always been like this and while she dislikes that fact, she is prepared to accept it. Naruto will always be the peak for them, the one who walks at the head of the village, getting stronger and stronger so that he can protect them forever. She wishes that she too could obtain that sort of strength but resigns herself to a fact she has long since accepted. Naruto is simply the best among them, demonstrating an unending resolve and a talent for finding ways to overcome the impossible. It is not a status that can be pursued by the majority, only those who have destiny on their side.
She is about to lower her head and pray when something changes within her.
Hinata's eyes glaze over.
She begins to walk forward, ignoring the shocked looks of the people around her.
The shockwaves don't force her backward, the explosions don't force her to flinch, the energy does not intimidate her. She simply continues forward.
"Hinata" Kushina calls to her, "What are you doing?".
Sheer recognises the affect instantly. 'She's changed, just like before'.
Hinata is oblivious to the calls of Naruto's mother. Deaf to the world, she continues to put one foot in front of the other, walking hypnotically towards the battle between the 7th and 1st Hokages.
"Hinata, you can't go that way" Minato says as he runs after his son's fiancée. "If you get any closer you will…".
Minato's plea is interrupted by a sudden onrush of water divine energy. With a tremendous power, Hinata's raised right foot kicks the ground hard and she propels herself toward Naruto and Hashirama, cutting through the air as Naruto had done previously.
Himawari is stunned as she flies away. "Mother…".
"What incredible speed" her grandfather adds.
Meanwhile Naruto, oblivious to the happenings nearby, attacks his former friend. He reforms one of the truth-seeking orbs into a staff of concentrated-chakra. He waves it forward, firing three of his orbs forward, coating them in thick 'life' energy as he does so.
A thick wooden vine stretches from the palm of Hashirama's hand. Grey wispy 'death' energy swirls around it as it propagates away from him. When it is long enough, he wraps his hand around it, giving it a quick twirl left and right to acclimate to the weight. He twists wrist three times, masterfully spinning his new weapon to knock all three truth-seeking orbs away. However, during this defence he is distracted just long enough to create an opening, not for Naruto, but for a third party.
Hinata rushes Hashirama, first punching him in the liver and then twisting to kick him in the centre of his torso.
The only one more shocked than Hashirama is Naruto. Looking forward, he double-checks that he isn't seeing things. Hinata is the woman he loves, he is certain that he would have realised if she suddenly became so strong. He can sense the element of 'water' from within her but is certain that it shouldn't make this much difference. He questions his own knowledge of divine energy before wondering how such an increase in strength is possible.
Hashirama bounces back along the ground, mirroring vertically several times as he looks at his assailant. He too wishes to contemplate how Hinata could possibly be responsible. He discards the thought of doing so, knowing that he doesn't have time for contemplation and debate, for now he has two mighty opponents to fight against.
He bounces one final time, this time controlling his trajectory by gently tapping the ground with his elbow. Mid-air he creates a bow in his left hand, an arrow in his right, and with a grip of that arrow, tightly pulls back the string. He waits until he reaches the peak of his bounce, aims accurately at Hinata and waits until the bow string is released before finally exhaling. He has just sent 'death' in Hinata's direction.
Hinata's eyes return to normal.
"Wh… where am I?" she asks.
Spotting the arrow heading straight for her, she closes her eyes.
A hand hits her forcefully in her shoulder, knocking her to the ground. Of course, it is Naruto. While she falls to the ground, a mild pain in her shoulder from his strike, he endures the full brunt of Hashirama's attack. The power of 'death' starting to creep through his body as the arrow nests firmly in his shoulder.
"Naruto!".
The 7th Hokage desperately summons the power of 'life' to his shoulder and his hand, simultaneously healing his wound as he pulls the arrow from his flesh. He shouts as he heals himself. One of the most pained shouts Hinata has ever seen from him.
"Naruto, you're hurt".
He pays her no attention. No hard-feelings or grudges exist between the two, even after this unfortunate incident. Of course, he wants to speak to her, he wants desperately to make sure she is OK, to go home and tend to each of their wounds. He dares not avert his gaze though, for it is fixed on Hashirama. Especially now that Hinata is here, he cannot miss a single one of his opponent's movements, otherwise she could well die.
Nearby, Sarada transforms her body from its human form into one of pure light. Using the powers of her rinnegan to forge her body into a comet before flying at Boruto. Neither has noticed the change in pace of the nearby battle. Likely neither can even sense what is going on, for they are each so absorbed in their own emotional battle.
Boruto also concentrates the power of his eyes. He uses the tenseigan to fire several golden wheel reincarnation explosions in Sarada's direction. Firing again each time one of his attacks is successfully dodged. Even with his certainty that he is acting as he should, he can't help but wince every time he attacks. In such a short period of time they have been as close and a distant as possible. They have endured the weight of one another's decisions, acted for the sake of one another's safety and selflessly attempted to hold back those who would stand in the way of what they think will be peace. They have broken down every obstacle, save one, each other.
Sarada, having dodged the reluctant golden beams, arrives before Boruto and returns to her human form. She throws punches and kicks as quickly as she can. At first, she tries to rely on the weaknesses she has experienced from Naruto when she trained with him but sees within a second that Boruto doesn't share these weaknesses. Then she switches to her father's fighting method, only to see that Boruto is even more familiar with these methods than she is. Frustration then gets the better of her, as she puts more and more force into each punch her speed decreases. She begins to groan in anger as her own training fails her.
As the last punch is thrown, Boruto realises that it is Sarada's weakest yet. He wouldn't even need to use the tenseigan to dodge this attack. He slips sideways and counters, throwing a punch initially towards Sarada's throat but changing his mind at the last moment. Hitting her in the underside of the chin.
Sarada lifts a short way into the air before falling down and landing on her back.
Boruto steps forward, launching a group of five kunai towards her. He wonders if he should use the technique he developed to transform the kunai into rasengan. His hesitation costs him though.
By the time Boruto has made a decision, Sarada activates another of her rinnegan's powers. Strengthening the gravity around her, she forces the kunai to fall down into the ground just before they reach her. She pushes the ground behind her to slide forward along the floor on her back. She reaches Boruto, running up his body by first stepping on his thigh then his torso. Finally, she kicks him in the face, using it additionally as a springboard so that she can flip backward and land on her feet.
They pause as they stand opposite one another, they both know the weakness they have shown. They both know that they are holding back, that they are being polluted in this fight by something in their heart they cannot control.
"You can already see how this fight is going Sarada. You know that I will win if this keeps up" Boruto says, mocking confidence. "Let's just stop this fight".
She shakes her head.
"Do you remember my family's curse?".
"Uchiha Obito felt regret, he atoned for his sins and begged his best friend to become Hokage in his place".
"Uchiha Madara felt regret, in his last moments he admitted that to me".
"And you know better than anyone how my father felt regret".
"Yes" Boruto confesses. "Your father spent the rest of his life regretting what he did. The only things that kept him going were his sense of duty, his love for Sakura and his love for you".
"Then tell me, tell me what he asked of you at the end".
Boruto knows exactly what Sarada is talking of.
"He asked me to look after you. He didn't ask me to look after the 9th Hokage, nor did he tell me to look after the Hidden Leaf. He asked me to look after his daughter, Uchiha Sarada".
"Boruto, abandon this path, or you will end up with more and more regrets".
The two of them have been linked by more than their own destiny. Boruto and Sarada have been linked by the destinies of their parents and their teachers as well. They have become the point where generations of tension and differences will finally culminate. Their closest link in amongst the thousands of them, are their parents. Sasuke and Naruto, not only parents to the duo but teachers as well. It leads Boruto to wonder, he knows what his father thinks about this, but what would Sasuke think of his path. Would he agree? Would he understand?
"There is a difference between my former master and I, Sarada. That difference is you" the shadow Hokage declares. "I may tread the line that separates good and evil, but I will always have friends to stop me from going too far".
As he says this, Boruto uses a golden wheel reincarnation explosion to lift dust from the ground between himself and Sarada. He uses the dust to conceal his approach as he dashes towards his opponent.
As the two come together, they both land a strike.
Boruto strikes Sarada's head protector.
Sarada strikes Boruto's heart.
They each hold their fists in position, certain that they are striking the true weakness of the other.
"Boruto, it's already too late for that. You have already gone too far" Sarada says.
Naruto, with his back to Hinata looks on at Hashirama. He watches as he creates a group of at least ten kunai, each one constructed from the element of 'death' that he has mastered. Naruto knows that attempting to endure such an attack is suicide, it is far better to simply dodge. However, he cannot do that because of the one who is stood behind him. He must stand tall and defend them conventionally. He must wait for the perfect moment before every action and reaction.
Hashirama throws one hand forward, gesturing as if he has telekinesis, throwing each of the kunai forward.
Naruto, staff in hand, coats his weapon with 'life'. Thanks to his sage mode he can sense what is around him quite well, but he still feels it somewhat lacking in this situation. Hashirama, being a sage himself, knows how to counteract those senses. The 7th Hokage wishes that he, like his children, had some sort of visual dojutsu to help him. He takes a deep breath, waiting for the moment when the first 'death' kunai arrives.
The first kunai arrives. Naruto predicts the exact path that all the others will take, gambling his fate on his own calculations. The first kunai he hits by swinging his staff, projecting it like a baseball into another of the kunai. Two down. The next four he knocks from the air in two motions, finding the perfect centre to position his hand at to knock two from the air at a time. Six down. Next, he rolls his arms forward, paddling like a kayaker and neatly using the ends of his staff to knock two more kunai from the air. Eight down. Now it is the last two. His previous calculation is slightly off, so he has only one way to block the incoming attack. He drops the staff and catches the two projectiles with his hands.
Success.
Naruto blocks all ten 'death' kunai.
Even Hashirama is slightly surprised by his enduring the frontal onslaught.
Naruto immediately drops the two kunai, crossing his fingers to create a single shadow clone.
'A mistake' Hashirama instantly realises.
The clone takes hold of Hinata and leaps away as fast as it can. He must get Hinata away if he has any chance of winning this fight.
While Naruto knows this, unfortunately for the blonde shinobi, Hashirama does to. The 1st Hokage cringes and his muscles tense as he realises what he must do. This is a tactic he never wanted to resort to, especially against Naruto. He steadies his heart and tells himself that it is absolutely necessary, that the end will justify the means. At last, he combines his specialties of wood and 'death' and launches a spear at the retreating clone.
Clones cannot control divine energy. The few shinobi who have mastered elements realise this while the others don't. That elite group, including Minato, all look in horror as they realise what is about to happen. The clone cannot possibly defend against that attack, nor can Hinata.
They will die!
Naruto puts himself in the way again. This time being hit in the back by the spear.
"Naruto!".
Despite Hinata's scream, the clone continues to take her away, refusing anyone permission to get closer to the fight. As the situation gets more and more desperate, the original body needs them out of the way more urgently than ever.
Hashirama screws his eyes shut as Naruto falls to his knees. He feels horrible, having to do that. He knew that Naruto would get in the way, he slowed his attack deliberately enough to guarantee that he could. He never wanted his attack to kill Hinata, nor to kill Naruto. His objective here is just to put the 7th Hokage down for long enough to execute his plan. Things never go as well as you expect though, it's never as easy as you want, especially when working against Naruto.
Hashirama approaches his fellow Hokage, falling to his knees so they are on the same level.
"We were friends Naruto!".
"I was sure you would at least here me out, you would at least let me defend my village against these people".
"They came here, and they made life hell for everyone, yet you aren't fighting them, you're fighting me".
"I came here to save people".
Naruto and Hashirama have been through a lot since arriving to the future. The second they arrived enormous expectations fell on their shoulders. The two greatest Hokage to have ever lived. Together they battled Peterson, almost giving their lives to defeat him. Together they were unable to do anything as Sasuke was forced to attack the village and Madara was resurrected to counter him. They were the last two standing during the captained-six contest. And while their philosophies differed, they were united in a desire to protect the village. They were brought closer together again when their pupils decided to marry. Yet despite having endured so much together, despite becoming friends, they are fighting. It seems like their destiny is to fight against their friends for their entire life.
"It's because you're my friend" Naruto explains while struggling to his feet.
"It's because you're my friend that I have to fight you here".
"I have seen a friend go down this path in the past and I know that Mito wouldn't want that for you".
Hashirama gets to his feet, still opposite his injured adversary. "My wife died so that we could remove this threat".
"Your wife died for you! So, I'm not going to let you live a life full of regrets".
Naruto concentrates his powers of 'life', once again removing an enemy weapon from his body. An enormous pain accompanies every millimetre that he pulls but he does it anyway. He must win here, for himself, for Hashirama, for the entire Hidden Leaf.
The shinobi, alongside their foreign allies, watch as Naruto struggles to his feet. Many find themselves in tears as they see him struggle. On and on, it seems impossible to break his will. However, it's his determination, unwavering regardless of the circumstance, that makes it so much harder to see him this way. It doesn't matter to them that Hashirama regrets using the tactics he did before, they are cheap, unworthy of a man who claims to be a Hokage. As they watch the events unfold, it becomes clear to them where their loyalties lie; Uzumaki Naruto is their Hokage.
Hashirama pushes his fists together, separating them slightly as he channels death into the gap between them. It's pure, dense divine energy. Likely, this is the purest energy to have ever graced this pocket world. After a few moments, Hashirama has finished preparing his attack and it reveals itself as a grey cube shape. This is not a wispy substance like Hashirama's other attacks. This is clearly something different, something much stronger.
"Remember that it is you who decided that we must fight" Hashirama says.
Naruto creates a mini-tailed beast bomb in his hand, doing his best to concentrate his 'life' energy on it. His pain hinders him, but he still gives it everything he has. There is no other choice, this is the moment that will decide everything. Their fates. The villages fate. The invaders fate. The fate of the entire world.
"No, my friend, you made that decision".
They each wait a moment. There is almost a serene moment as they look at each other, perhaps for the last time.
Then, they move.
They run forward and slam the cube and sphere together and a huge wave of raw divine energy spreads from the contact point.
Even Boruto and Sarada, previously absorbed completely by their fight, stop to look at the impact. This is unreal, something even they cannot achieve.
Clyde and Lara rush forward, combining their powers to create a combined barrier of 'light' and 'darkness', the only thing that saves those behind them from death. Surviving this much divine energy would be impossible for them, especially for the shinobi who cannot use it themselves.
As the blast passes over them, they have a quick count of the people around them. It seems that nobody died as a result of that blast. Clyde and Lara managed to save them, at least from that.
Next, they turn their attention to the result of the battle.
Hashirama stands, his eyes tired and aged, his body a picture of pure exhaustion as his last reserves of divine energy and chakra leave him.
Uzumaki Naruto falls first to his knees, then onto his chest.
The terrifying result becomes clear.
Hashirama has won!