BACK TO SCHOOL – THE ENDANGERED VILLAGE

A Village, West of Mars' Home

Ming Dai leads the exhausted Uzumaki family right up to the border of the village. They are all dragging their feet at this point he notices, they have probably been doing so for quite a long time. He has been absent on this journey, occasionally checking to make sure they haven't been followed, but mostly thinking about his and Naruto's master. He is dead, to call it a blow would be an understatement. Their chances of defeating Furst have been lowered dramatically. Only one person can help them to recover from those odds now.

Dai wriggles his shoulders, moving Naruto's head from one to the other as the soreness hits home. They are here now, the longest short journey of their lives.

Dai makes them wait when they reach an arc of small stones in the ground, recognising that this marks the border of the village and they shouldn't cross it without the permission of the mayor. There are lots of little villages like this, miles from anywhere, most of them have only survived with help from divine energy experts, many of those experts go on to become mayors of these villages. A consequence of the fallout from the last war, some became aristocrats, some remained soldiers, and some retired to a civilian life.

The elderly mayor of the village runs over, the lengthy sleeves of his long robe slowing him as he hastily makes his way towards them. Alongside him runs a small boy, his legs moving so quickly so that he can keep up with the much larger man.

"Why have you come to my village?" the mayor asks abruptly.

"Well hello to you too," Kushina snaps, "Why are you being so unwelcoming?"

"You've just come from a direction where there is nothing for a very long way, you don't have supplies so clearly crossing a long distance isn't a problem. That means you move fast, you're strong, but you're too young to be aristocrats without being somewhat famous, particularly you two," the mayor says, pointing to Dai and Naruto, "You are clearly on the run from the imperial guard, this village wants no part in it."

"Are you here to fight the empire?" the boy asks excitedly, "That's so cool!"

"Silence," the mayor barks, "Do not use that language if you value your life."

"We do intend to fight the empire," Dai answers.

"Then you are mad fools and I can't afford to keep you here," the mayor says, "If I let you stay without telling anyone I know that we will all be killed as a punishment. I cannot let that happen."

Kushina groans in disapproval but she understands. It may actually have been a short time, but it feels like ages since they first came to this world, all the while harbouring aspirations of rebellion. For those who know her son he brings hope, hope where there has been none for many years, but the majority do not know him. People like the mayor have gone years without even having a taste of hope, they have spent the majority of their lives living in fear. People like the mayor have grown too afraid to dream of freedom.

"Don't you think somebody needs to stand up to Furst?" Himawari asks.

"Don't say that, or at least keep your voices down, there is no knowing who may support him in the village."

"Point me at them," the excitable boy demands, "I'll teach the snitches a lesson."

"Please ignore him, he's just a boy and he gets very easily excited."

Dai steps forward, Naruto still on his back, "Listen, you clearly aren't a great supporter of the emperor yourself, in that case it's in your best interests to help us."

"What makes you think that?"

"Because, whether you realise it or not, this group stands the best chance of removing Furst Jonas from the throne of homeworld."

The mayor has to restrain himself from laughing. This group, the exhausted woman who has grown too tired to complain anymore. The wary man who has given up on his own actions. The child, looking around for someone to guide her. The charismatic young man whose only choice is to run away. The unconscious fool, so incompetent that he has been unable to retain his wits during what may be his final moments. He is quick to judge them, the people who crossed the moors and got this far right to the edge of the next biome, the people who ran away. He has no idea of just how serious Ming Dai is being.

"Nobody can stop Furst," the mayor sighs, "You would be fools to think otherwise."

"Are you afraid of him?" Minato asks.

"Am I afraid of him! Am I afraid of Furst Jonas! Yes, you bet your life I'm afraid of him," the mayor yells, raising his voice for the first time, "Around these parts we idolised the man this boy never got to see. We idolised Endou Akashi, but we were scared of him. We saw Endou Akashi fight, we saw what he could do, what no other human could do. We watched him fight off battalions from the dark dimension single-handedly, we saw him save villages and crush hordes, we watched him win the war! Then Furst just killed him. So yeah, I'm afraid of Furst Jonas, aren't you?"

Himawari lets it sink in and confirms it to herself

Of course, they are all afraid of Furst, how could you not be?

Isn't that why they are doing this, because they are scared?

"You know who else Furst Jonas has killed," Dai says, "He just killed Muto Sora."

"The academy…"

"Yes, Muto Sora was my master," Dai explains, "He gave his life so that we could get this far, ask yourself why he would do that."

"Why should I believe you?"

"I imagine a man in your position can tell a lie when he hears one."

The mayor huffs, the young man is right, he has the aura of someone who is telling the truth. In that case Muto Sora has fallen, and the world has taken one step closer to darkness.

"Please, just until my dad regains consciousness" Himawari begs, "Then we will be on our way."

The mayor nods, "Very well, I'll help you, but you have to promise me that you will make sure the village is safe."

"We promise," Minato says.

"Wahoo," the young boy cheers, "We're going to help the-"

The mayor clamps his hand over the boy's mouth.

"Don't worry, I'll keep this one quiet," the mayor says, "You just make sure nobody finds you."

"Will do."

"OK, in that case there is a subtle place in the village, it would be best you take shelter there. Please, follow me."

King Max's Palace

King Weiss Max sits in a comfy chair in the very heart of his palace, right next to the fire, he strokes his distinctive grey beard as he contemplates the mysteries of his recent experiments. Given the misfortune he has endured there is no way of knowing if they have been a success, if they have failed. Given Hannah's escape, he doesn't know if he should be hoping for success or not. She is a dangerous creature that beast-like girl. Someone who cannot be defeated by those on her level, or at least that was his theory. It is possible that she will become a class 9 warrior of she goes uncaught, the same level as the royals. If that happens, will her invincibility within her class persist, will she become the most powerful person beneath Furst?

There is a knock at the door, interrupting Max's thoughts.

"Enter," he says.

General Rana enters. General Rana is the imperial guard general who answers to Max. She broke through when she was 35 years old, mastering the element of 'space' just like the deceased teacher Juan. Her senses weak and untrained she still wears the glasses she did when she was just a normal human, the tips of which bury deep into her distinctive purple hair. Even at this late hour she wears her uniform with a smile, sleeveless marked silver and gold to denote her rank, only below Head General Safura.

"Hello, my king, I seek an audience with you to discuss matters that affect the entire empire," Rana says.

"You already have an audience, sit down Rana."

Rana bows slightly before walking over to the seat next to Max's own and sitting in it. It's comfy, she has a similar one in her quarters at the imperial guard headquarters. However, even in this comfy fireside position her smile is just a mask for the fear she hides. Max is a terrible king. The others intimidate their subordinates all the time, that is what all royals do, but Max is different. Weiss Max has an arrogance about him, he believes that he is better than his subordinates because he is stronger at the moment. He lacks Swen's apathy, Nadia's charm and Petra's leadership. Max is a king only because he is useful to Furst, if he were left to his own devices he would just be a very lonely, very powerful man.

"I have come with urgent news," Rana says, "One of our informants has found Uzumaki Naruto, he's in a village."

"In this country?"

"Yes my king, he has come to this country and is hoping to hide until he has recovered," Rana explains, her gaze fixed on the flames, "I gather that he was temporarily kidnapped by the mercenary Mars but that things didn't work out, what should I do?"

"Isn't it obvious, surely even you can work that out Rana, send some of your imperial guard captains after him," Max orders condescendingly, "I want to dissect Naruto myself, to find out what secrets his body holds, but the emperor is so keen to control his fate. I don't understand his paranoia, as a scientist he should recognise that the probability of his defeat is low."

Rana contrasts Max and Jonas often. They are both very powerful, they are both scientists but they work in different ways. Max takes pleasure in his status but lacks the will to sustain it unsupported. The emperor is different, he seamlessly takes control of every situation he is in, he bends others to his will as if comes naturally to him. Even though he has a natural charismatic superiority, Furst works harder to maintain and sustain his power, to grow it each day and to always be stronger than before. The emperor also seems not to take pleasure in his high status but considers it his right, he is not cruel, he does not flaunt his authority in the face of others, he simply has it because it is useful. Status as a god is the only thing that Jonas yearns for and nobody else would have the will to pursue that goal, but he does. Max is a terrifying and harsh man, Furst Jonas is no man at all, he is a machine, built to consume more and more, to accumulate power endlessly and to strip all hope from his opponents.

"I suppose even if the odds are low, he could still be defeated," Rana says.

"True enough, but even Endou Akashi never truly posed a threat to him, I don't see how this young could be any different."

"Nor do I, this may be a good opportunity for you though my king."

Max leans forwards, "Oh?"

"The recent laboratory escape of Hannah has been rather an embarrassment," Rana admits, "This may be a good opportunity to get back in the emperor's good books."

Max gets to his feet and approaches Rana before gripping her by the neck. Rana has seen this side of him before on occasion, the side of him that is irrational, that is vengeful. This is the cruel part of Max that doesn't exist in Furst. She knows not only that resistance is useless but also that Max would take it is an insult so she does not move, she simply looks up at him. She is afraid, she makes no effort to hide that as she remains fixed in position, because she knows that Max wants her to be afraid.

Max releases Rana and returns to his seat.

"If you value your life or your position General Rana, you would do well not to humiliate me," he says, "You can easily be replaced by one of your colonels, I am a scientist with knowledge that cannot be replaced."

"Yes, I understand that my king."

Max looks to the table beside him and remembers the drink he poured some time ago. He raises the glass and drinks for the first time in a while, he got lost in his thoughts and forgot fluids, he always gets easily annoyed when that happens, especially with Rana. If her talent were not so good he would have replaced the smiling fool long ago.

"Tell the troops to execute Naruto," Max says.

"Execute him?" Rana starts, "But if the emperor wishes to control his fate, shouldn't the pocket-worlder be delivered alive?"

"What is his element?"

"It's 'life' my king."

"There, that is a double transcendent element just like mine, isn't it Rana?"

"Yes my king."

"Is your element double-transcendent, is that you became a general in the imperial guard?"

"No my king, my element is merely transcendent, I am unworthy of comparison to the likes of the royals who use double-transcendent elements."

Rana used to feel bitter when Max belittled her. She is a proud woman, having spent years in the imperial guard she worked hard to gain notice among her superiors. Head General Safura is nice by nature, but she is not easily impressed having liaised with royals and emperors all her life. The royals are even harder to impress and forcing Max to praise her enough to earn promotion was not easy.

"Those of us with double-transcendent elements have a tenacity the rest of you don't. We adapt to survive and change depending on our surroundings, and we are most certainly not easy to contain," Max says, "You are alleged to be the most competent of the imperial guard in this country, because of that I think very little of your subordinates. They will not be able to contain someone like Uzumaki Naruto, not unless he is already dead, do you understand Rana?"

"Yes my king."

"Then go and carry out my instructions."

"Yes my king."

Rana gets to her feet and bows politely to her royal before walking calmly towards the door. Once she's left the room she takes a deep breath, now she is in charge again, now there is nobody left to push her around. It's time to do her job, she is now the focus of the empire.

She sends out the order, kill Uzumaki Naruto.

The Village

The shack that the mayor set aside for the Uzumaki family and Dai is small with minimal facilities, but they aren't complaining, not after walking for so long, they are all exhausted and are showing it. While the others yawn though, Dai's mind is still moving. Who could have predicted this when Sora told him to go and get Naruto, to begin the evacuation? Now he is the leader of this small group, desperately hoping for his comrade to wake up, and to be OK when he does wake up.

The mayor enters with the boy, causing the half-sleeping Uzumakis to stir.

"OK, you are well hidden here for now but soon the imperial guard are likely to arrive," the mayor says, "If that happens I won't be able to protect you or hide you from them, you will be on your own, understand?"

"We can't go until Naruto wakes up," Kushina explains, "We need him awake for this."

The mayor shrugs, "Bad luck."

"I don't think you understand just how important my son is to this world."

"If I want an objective opinion on the subject, the last person I would consult with would be his mother," the mayor replies.

"Then consult with me," Dai says, standing and approaching the mayor, "It's imperative that Uzumaki Naruto be kept safe, it's the most important thing we can do with our lives."

The mayor looks at Dai, once again he detects the aura of a man telling the truth. So, the blonde man is the most important among them, even more important than Muto Sora's direct student. He looks no older than twenty-one, he is young to have broken through, to have understood an element and to be this important he has clearly understood a complex element. Regardless, the mayor recognises the look of a broken man, if this man is truly such a paragon of justice, such a threat to the empire, it's likely that he won't remain that way for much longer.

"I may be willing to sacrifice my own life for the cause, but I won't sacrifice the boy, nor will I sacrifice the villagers," the mayor says.

"Then, does the village have any leftover defence mechanisms from the war?" Dai asks, "Perhaps we could use them."

"No, there are none."

"That's not true," the boy pipes up, "There is a defence thingy, the mayor is just too weak to activate it."

"Everyone is too weak to activate it," the mayor corrects the boy, "The mechanism is broken, it's not a matter of strength."

"Show me," Dai demands.

"Very well."

The mayor and the boy accompany Dai through the village, doing their best to avoid drawing any attention as they move towards the rear. Dai sees a large stone block, a cube roughly one person long, high and wide. The stone block looks unremarkable, but he notices that it is embedded within a small trench, a trench he walked here through. He thought it was a walkway but evidently he was mistaken, it was a path for the block.

"To activate the mechanism requires kinetic energy, you need to push this weigh across the length of the town," the mayor explains.

"Well then, you're in luck, my element is 'strength' Mr Mayor," Dai says, patting the senior man on his back.

"Really?" the mayor says, sounding positively uninspired.

"Watch," Dai says.

Sora's student plants his feet into the floor and gather's green 'strength' energy on his muscles. This block looks heavy but to him it is nothing, he has lifted far heavier weights during his life. He tenses and then pushes forward as hard as he can, feeling a tiny bit of give in the block. As he gives everyone he's got, after a minute has passed he manages to move the block just under a foot from the starting position.

Dai retracts the pressure from the block, quickly jumping out the way as it returns to its original position.

"What is that?" Dai asks.

"That weight is made from the materials of the dark dimension," the mayor explains, "This land was owned by them once, before Endou Akashi reclaimed it."

"But moving the weight to the end would take me days, weeks, maybe even a month," Dai says in disbelief, "Why? How was anyone supposed to activate it?"

"This isn't some ploy, it's not a game or a tourist attraction, the mechanism is just broken," the mayor says, "It absorbs your divine energy, it changes its characteristics based on who is pushing it, it reacts to your potential, not to your strength."

Dai groans, so his element is of no use at all. Still, he is the direct student of the world's most acclaimed teacher, the biological son of one of the kings of Homeworld, someone who sparred with Uzumaki Naruto. Surely his potential must be one of the highest in all of Homeworld.

"That can't be right, I'm the student of Muto Sora," Dai explains, "I've taken a potential test and I know my potential is high."

"Broken," the mayor says again, "If even you can't move it fast enough how is anyone supposed to, the dark dimension never ended up using it for that reason. It… is… broken!"

"I can move it," the boy says.

"Yes, you say that every month," the mayor groans, "Go on, give it a go."

The boy runs up to the block with enthusiasm and pushes it as hard as he can. Dai smiles, it's not even budging. The block is so large that even if there were no energy resistance the boy wouldn't be able to push it. Nevertheless, Dai is grateful for the distraction, for the naïve hope of a young man who just won't stop believing. It's like having Naruto back again, the Naruto before Furst came, before the deaths began.

"It was worth a try though, I like someone who is willing to try anything," Dai praises the boy, "But perhaps you are on to something, if it reacts to potential couldn't we just get a lot of ordinary people to push it."

"The resistance reacts to potential which is determined from your energy," the mayors says, "But the weight is innate, normal people can't move it, as you just saw."

Then the solution hits Dai like a tonne of bricks, why couldn't he see it before. This is exactly what he needed, exactly what is needed to solve not only their physical problems but their mental problems as well. This mechanism will work, this block can be moved.

Dai laughs.

"Something amusing?"

"Normal people may not be able to active it, it may be broken for normal people, but that doesn't matter right now."

"What are you talking about?"

"Mr Mayor, this mechanism is broken, it requires an unreasonably high potential that shouldn't be possible to move it," Dai begins, "But if normal people can't activate it, I know a man who just might be able to."

The mayor rolls his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous, I doubt Endou Akashi could have activated this mechanism."

Dai agrees, maybe even Endou Akashi could not have activated the mechanism. He can't do it, his master probably couldn't have done it, maybe even Furst Jonas himself couldn't do it. But he was the sole witness to his master's great lie during the potential tests.

'I know someone with a potential greater than Endou Akashi.'

He saw a potential measured that was higher than Endou Akashi.

He saw a potential measured that was higher than Furst Jonas.

He saw a potential measured, a score determined that was higher than any that has ever been recorded.

That score belongs to Uzumaki Naruto.