BACK TO SCHOOL – A MAN TO BELIEVE IN
The Village
The mayor and the boy stand next to the mechanism, trying their best to think of something to save their new friends before the imperial guard arrive, but there is nothing, no way to move this giant block of stone, not with the resistance that appears every time a mighty warrior tries. The mayor has priorities, he must protect the village no matter what, but he still wants to help them if he can. He was a fighter in the last war, one of the many subordinates of Endou Akashi and he wants to see the world free just as much as anyone else.
"Look," the boy shouts as he points into the village.
The mayor looks into the centre of the village to see various villagers backing off and making a path. Five people are walking straight through the middle of them. Four of them he is familiar with, the hard working student of Muto Sora, the young woman fighting for her families safety, the husband and wife struggling for tomorrow. He is not yet familiar with the fifth man though, he who is clearly walking at the head of this group.
The mayor initially feels anger at their foolishly walking through the middle of the village. Now their location will definitely be revealed. However, this man in the middle in the orange clothes, he is different. The mayor prides himself on being able to read people, on forming accurate first impressions. There is something different about this man in the middle though, this Uzumaki Naruto. The way he holds himself, the way the others are holding themselves around him. He is a man who could stumble upon a hundred year old problem and solve it within days. He is someone who changes things.
When they arrive before the mayor Naruto waves a cursory hello to the village leader.
"What do you think you're doing walking around in the middle of town?" the mayor eventually snaps, "If King Max didn't know you were here before he will now."
"He doesn't sound very pleased to see you," Kurama remarks.
"I can see that thank you," Naruto responds, before speaking aloud, "Mr Mayor, Dai has explained the situation to me, I am here to move your weight and activate the village's defences."
"Oh that again," the mayor rolls his eyes, "It's a broken mechanism, nobody can move it fast enough."
"I can."
The mayor hesitates, once again seeing something Naruto. He's seen countless warriors who speak confidently when it's all been bluster. This man though, this young man said those words and not one was a lie. He begins to doubt his own judgement, the odds of this young man being what he seems to be are so incredibly long. If what he is saying is true, he may well genuinely be the world's best hope at dethroning Furst Jonas.
The mayor sighs, "I'm sorry, I've got to protect the village before anything else, so when the king's forces get here I'm going to have to hand you over to them."
"Don't doubt my dad," Himawari says, "He's different to anyone you've ever known."
Minato agrees, "That's right, I don't know much about the dark dimension, but I'm guessing if anyone can pass this test its Naruto."
"How can you cast doubts on his abilities after having met him a few moments ago," Kushina adds.
"Just give me a chance OK?" Naruto asks.
The mayor waves again in the face of their words. If there is one thing he is not doing it's doubting that there is something special about Naruto. Nobody has given him a feeling like this ever before. However, if there is something wrong with him, if this is all just an illusion it is incredibly dangerous. The mayor has known people who cast this sort of illusion before, an illusory hope that summons everyone to your side. This is the worst sort of charisma, the sort that causes other people to lay down their lives for you, to believe unwaveringly in every word. This man is not a commander at all, he is a true leader.
"I have seen the most talented aristocrats who visited this country try and fail to move that weight," the mayor says, rationalising the situation, "The people from the dark dimension all failed, why should you be any different when even Headmaster Sora's direct pupil couldn't do it."
"I was also Headmaster Sora's direct pupil."
"You will say anything to try and bring me around."
"He's too scared to believe in you Naruto," Kurama says.
Naruto sighs before closing his eyes. He transfers his mind into his inner world and calmly looks at the stone tablet between himself and Kurama. He reads the inscription on it, the word 'life'. As he opens his eyes a translucent white form of divine energy manifests on the tips of his fingers.
"Do you recognise this energy type, have you ever felt it before?"
"Yes, you're strong," the mayor remarks, "Get to the point."
"My point is that this is 'life' energy. This is the same energy that Endou Akashi used. Does that name mean anything to you in this village?"
The mayor smiles, now he is convinced that this young man is just a trickster. 'Life' energy is one of the double-transcendent elements, only mastered by one person in the history of Homeworld. He is sure that this boy couldn't have mastered such a complex energy, that he could never have escaped from Furst for so long if he had. Akashi was Jonas' greatest adversary; any reminder of that opposition would be treasonous to the emperor.
"As if I was going to believe that's 'life' energy," the mayor scoffs, "Just because I don't recognise it doesn't mean it's something that good."
"I believe you," the young boy shouts.
"Thanks."
Minato twitches and quickly looks behind him, confirming that the enemy is near. He also realises that with the one true sense Naruto must have realised this a long time before he did. That means that Naruto has been making this calm argument despite knowing how close danger was.
"The imperial guard are getting close," Minato says, "It's now or never Naruto."
"Then I have to hand you over," the mayor says, reaching for Naruto.
Dai's hand bursts forward, powerfully taking hold of the mayor's wrist. Their eyes meet and the mayor instantly gauges that Dai is seriously willing to attack him if he tries to prevent Naruto from doing this.
"Naruto, push the block now!" Dai says.
Naruto walks calmly to the weight and places his hands on it, positioning himself in a comfortable pushing position. The mayor interprets this not as the actions of a calm man but as time-wasting. He throws his arm out to the side, demonstrating his full power for a moment as he breaks free of Dai's grip. He storms towards Naruto, determined to show himself to be on the imperial guard's side before they arrive.
But then Naruto walks forward.
The weight moves!
Not just an inch or an agonising slow forward push. Naruto is walking forward and the weight is moving with him.
"That's impossible," the mayor says, stopping in his tracks. "I've seen world-changing geniuses try and go much slower than… oh my god."
The doubt is erased instantly and the mayor realises that it is all definitely true beyond doubt. This young man was discovered by Muto Sora. The headmaster sacrificed his life to save him, his direct pupil tried to do the same thing. That energy he felt just now really was the same as Endou Akashi's, it really was 'life'. Additionally, the way Naruto held himself, the way the others responded, the hope he brings it's all real. He really does have a potential on par with the emperors of this world.
"Is it hard?" Kurama asks his host.
"If it was easy I wouldn't be going to slowly," Naruto replies.
"Do you see what we're talking about now?" Himawari asks the mayor.
The mayor nods. "Defend the village. Defend the village! We can't let the imperial guard get their hands on him no matter what!"
The boy smiles widely and cheers, the village is standing up to the empire.
"You heard the mayor," Dai says, "Let's go and hold off the imperial guard."
The mayor, Dai, Himawari, Minato and Kushina all head to the border to repel the imperial guard, leaving just Naruto and the encouraging boy. He pushes for all he's worth. Happily, he's worth a lot more than it appeared just a few moments ago.
At the head of the imperial guard charges one of the many colonels who was too weak to be promoted to a general, but for this group he would be more than a match, if it were not for the recently turned mayor. Not everyone from the last war continued to fight, there are plenty of experts hidden in villages like this and Naruto is lucky to have stumbled into such a village.
"It is Uzumaki," the colonel says, "He's trying to activate the village's defences, stop him at all costs."
The colonel himself didn't account for the mayor's power, nor that he would be siding with these outsiders. The mayor rushes into his path, a thunder clap following as he does so. The mayor's hand clad in golden 'lightning' energy slams into the colonel's chest. He grabs hold of the colonel's silver and bronze garment, lifting him a short way into the air before slamming him powerfully down into the ground.
The colonel has had more combat experience and is certainly in better practice than the more. He grabs hold of the mayor's elbow, locking his arm in position as he kicks towards it, attempting to break it. Ming Dai jumps in, using his 'strength' powers he just about manages to block the colonels strike and save the mayor. The mayor uses this opening, striking the colonel and loosening his grip on his arm. The moment the two powerful warriors are disconnected, Dai kicks the colonel, creating separation between him and the rest of them.
Meanwhile, captains from the imperial guard charge into the village, swarming it. The villagers all hide indoors as Kushina does her best to tie down the thankfully lower level captains. If the most powerful captains had been part of this squad her adamantine sealing chains wouldn't have even been able to slow them down.
Himawari monitors the battle with her byakugan. "Third building on the right, flanking manoeuvre," she calls.
Kushina reacts, tying down the captains attacking from behind the building. Meanwhile Minato uses the flying thunder god technique to rapidly teleport between the many attackers. Handling more than any of the other defenders, he strikes them all with a single blow. Eventually, he strikes one of them and sees that it has significantly less effect than it has had on the others, evidently this is one of the stronger captains, so he must focus.
Minato steps back, creating a rasengan that spins not just in one axis but in many as he adds his own twist on his preferred technique. This is the rasen-bomb developed while defending the village against invasion. He throws a kunai forward to fool his opponent into expecting teleportation but he doesn't bother. The 4th Hokage drives the rasen-bomb into the powerful captain, pushing back one of the most powerful people attacking the village.
The colonel gets to his feet and charges at the mayor once again.
The mayor's muscles tense as he prepares for a blunt force attack.
The colonel smiles, 'Rookie move, clearly this guy hasn't done any serious fighting in a long time,'.
The colonel creates a blade of 'glass' and sharpens it with his energy to the utmost. He takes two large steps, one veering him to the left, the other veering him to the right, moving just fast enough that the mayor can't follow with his eyes. If the mayor had the necessary battle experience, he would be able to avoid this attack, but he doesn't, this is the colonel's battle to win. He launches himself at the mayor.
Dai steps in again, kicking the colonel as hard as he can in the chest, drawing on all the 'strength' he can to drive the colonel away.
The colonel stops, 'This kid is different though, he's powerful and he's got a lot of experience doing this.'
Dai makes sure that the mayor is OK before picking him and throwing him at the colonel. The colonel starts in surprise as the mayor hurtles towards him. The two inevitably clash, tumbling along the ground as the mayor finds himself ending up above his enemy. The mayor throws punches at the colonel repeatedly, striking again and again holding back none of his class 7 divine energy.
The colonel tries to strike back but just as his strike is about to connect the mayor disappears from in front of him. The mayor reappears a few moments later and continues to strike. Minato helped him to avoid the attack using the flying thunder god technique.
However, despite their best efforts, as was always going to happen, one of the captains slipped through. She lands next to Naruto and the young boy.
"The kid!" Kurama yells.
"Dad!" Naruto screams.
"Don't!" the captain says, holding her hand out, "I'm not going to stop you."
Naruto pauses, he can hardly believe it, she's going to help them?
"Well keep pushing you idiot," she continues.
"Push, push, push!" the young boy urges.
"You heard them, push!"
"But why?" Naruto asks.
"Because you're just what Homeworld needs. A man to believe in."
Naruto starts to push again, just a few meters left and he is starting to get used to this. Just a few seconds to go and the village's defences will be activated. The defences that couldn't be activated by Ming Dai, that supposedly even Endou Akashi himself couldn't activate, Naruto is doing it.
"Do it!" the captain yells.
Naruto gives the final push, putting the weight over a pressure panel. The panel lowers and an enormous shield appears around the village, made from translucent white energy, evidently based off his own 'life' energy. However, the energy has been magnified, many times more powerful than his own, it strikes at all the enemies who approach it.
Near the edge of the village, the mayor approaches the new shield and looks at the colonel on the other side of it. They share a look as they realise what has happened here. This is the first victory for normal people over the imperial guard, ever. There is a reason that Furst fears Uzumaki Naruto, and his worst fears have been realised.
"I guess you won't be requiring the protection of the imperial guard any longer," the colonel remarks.
The mayor nods, "The time of Furst is coming to an end, the time of Uzumaki is just beginning."
The two of them turn their back to one another and walk in separate directions. This will be the first of many such splits in the world's most powerful people. There are those who will cling to the man of unbeatable logic, born to become a god, to pursue power using every means available to him. There are those who will cling to the man who hope refuses to abandon, who never gives up no matter how desperate the situation, who always moves forward.
Naruto's allies come flooding back to him.
"You really did it, congratulations!" the mayor says, "I never thought I would see that mechanism activated."
Himawari hugs Naruto, "Thank you dad, that was amazing."
"Yeah, good job," Dai says.
Naruto smiles and looks at the captain who is still there with them. He suppose it makes sense, the imperial guard and the military can't be all that different, they are under the command of the emperor after all. Still, there are differences, the imperial guard have many privileges that the military are deprived of. What they share though, they share with everyone in the world, all except for one person. They do not have freedom, not yet anyway.
"The shield should react to your commands," the mayor points out, "Why haven't you judged this woman to be our enemy?"
"Because she let me do it," Naruto explains, "She could have stopped me but she let me do it."
The captain nods, "It's as I said before, I think the world needs someone to believe in again."
"Well, I'm sorry that I didn't believe in you before," the mayor says, "It seems that the world finally has that person again."
Dai smirks, "You changed your tune very quickly."
"How could I not? I've seen warriors who stood at the top of the world try and fail to move that weight, but you, you did it so quickly Naruto. You undoubtedly have the highest potential of any fighter I have ever met and I've met a lot."
Naruto nods his head, "Thank you Mr Mayor."
"It seems that Headmaster Sora was right to believe in you, to sacrifice his life for you."
Naruto is ashamed by his memories of this day. He has lost so much, most of the losses he isn't aware of yet and it still hurts. Although their student teacher partnership was short lived, he was sad to lose Sora. Then there is Hinata. He may have pushed the pain to the back of his mind for a while for the greater good of defeating Furst, but now that he is calming down the pain is returning. She has been there for him ever since he came to the future, but now he will have to go forward without her, without Boruto, without Sarada, without so many people he had depended on.
"I don't know if he was right to sacrifice his life," Naruto admits, "There have been to many sacrifices in the name of this fight already."
"There will be more," Dai says glumly.
"Yeah, I know, but I'm going to keep that number as low as possible."
"Quite right."
Naruto takes a deep breath, "That's why I'm going to meditate on my element again."
A sadness descends upon Naruto's colleagues, but it is different to last time. They are not sad that he is abandoning them, that he is running away. They are sad because this means they may not speak to him for years, that he may never re-emerge from his meditation at all. 'Life' is one of the hardest elements to understand, only one man has done it before, there is no guarantee that Naruto has enough to experience to do the same.
"Are you sure that this is the time?" Himawari asks, "Are you sure you're not just running away again."
"Yeah, I'm sure," Naruto says, "Once I awaken from this round of meditation I will be a class 7 warrior.
"Once that happens, this war can truly begin."
Author Note
Hi All,
This is the final chapter of part 8 entitled "BACK TO SCHOOL".
I appreciate that it has taken me much longer than usual to get through this part of the story.
I am going to try a new planning method to get part 9 out quicker if I can.
Hopefully that means that I will be uploading another chapter before too long.
Thanks as always for all your support,
Cbehrills
Element Levels (Following Request)
Some element levels are recorded below. I am sure you appreciate there have been many so I won't be covering all of them, and there are some that have yet to be revealed which I am not going to spoil.
If more questions come in I may come back and update these details below.
Normal Elements
Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind, Earth, Glass, Poision
Transcendent Elements (1 Battle Class Higher than a Normal Equivalent of Equal Understanding)
Light, Dark, Hot, Cold, Strength
Double-Transcendent Elements (2 Battle Classes Higher than a Normal Equivalent of Equal Understanding)
Life, Death, Creation, Destruction, Enhancement, Mind, Psychic