DECLARATION OF WAR – BEWARE THE PIT
A Temple, West Aturia
There is a temple in the mountains of West of Aturia. A temple that very few people know about, covered in snow and hidden near one of the highest peaks in all of Homeworld. This temple is said by the locals to hold many great secrets that the weak cannot possibly hope to obtain and that the strong are afraid to.
Naruto looks at the door to the temple, large and heavy. Clearly this temple was made by those who control divine energy, built so that only the most powerful of them could enter. Never in his life has he seen such a large monument. It is in keeping with the other enormous buildings that litter Homeworld, like the Imperial Palace and the Military Academy.
He came to this temple following a lead given to him by Yuuki Terukatsu. The Leader of the War Council by now should have evacuated all those who wished to leave Taigai. He should be sending out word to his allies to rally those who would fight in preparation for their conflict against Furst. This is wartime now, but the rebellion is very much the underdog with nobody who can stand against the royals right now and Uzumaki Naruto their only hope of reaching that level any time soon.
"Why don't you knock it down?" Ming Dai suggests.
Naruto knows the implication. Ming Dai still thinks Naruto's divine oddity requires a lot of practice. He's not wrong. Against General Rana it was of little help, not even getting him close to defeating her. Generals mark the point at which things will be different for him, at which his skill level will need to increase so that he can keep up. So far, the people of Homeworld have demonstrated a lesser dexterity to those of the pocket-world, but those who stand at the pinnacle of class 8 are different, they are just as skilled as their shinobi rivals.
Naruto uses his divine oddity to power-up his right arm before punching the door down. He concentrates hard to send auxiliary 'life' energy down the length of his arm after doing so, minimising the time for which he is injured, but it's hard. He still takes several seconds before the pain is gone making it a largely impractical technique for long drawn out fights. He will have to get better before he fights against a general again.
Naruto remains with the team he was in before. He begins to search the temple with Ming Dai, Himawari, his parents and his little sister. It's an enormous area to search but with his grasp on the One True Sense and Himawari's Byakugan they make quick work moving from front to back. They were told by the Leader of the War Council that they should find a scroll in the depths of the temple which points to a great power.
Naruto estimates from the numbers of steps that they have taken they are roughly halfway into the temple. That is when something terrible happens, they run into a trap.
An enormous boulder is released from a catch above, falling to the ground with a weight clearly enhanced by divine energy many years ago. It falls towards Himawari and Naruto rushes to save his daughter. He uses his divine oddity to power-up his leg, but the second he does so he is overcome by pain and finds himself unable to move.
Fortunately, Minato is quick to react to the situation. He uses the Flying Thunder God Technique to move to his granddaughters side, take hold of her hand and teleport the two of them out of harms way. As the boulder lands on the ground it bounces, much to Naruto's surprise, as if it were programmed with a consciousness, an inherent will to kill any intruders.
Ming Dai uses his tremendous 'strength' energy to destroy the boulder before it can cause anyone any harm. He looks at Naruto's leg which he is still trying to heal. As he feared that divine oddity is more harm than good right now.
Ming Dai checks on Naruto to make sure he is OK to continue. The 7th Hokage confirms that he is, and they continue onwards to the centre of the temple.
"Naruto, are you OK?" Kushina asks him. "It's just that something doesn't seem quite right with you. Are you distracted?"
Naruto knows that his mother is right. There is a source of pain that he has not addressed since he came back, a pain that still haunts him from the day he began to meditate on his element. His wife is always lingering at the back of his mind, her absence more haunting to him than any enemy could ever be. It is a pain that he will likely never overcome, that he will just have to learn to endure. There are countless others who have felt this same pain, yet he must keep moving forward, to do anything else would be disrespectful to her memory.
"I'm fine mom, just a little bit distracted is all," he answers, "This divine oddity is tricky to use, I'm sure I'll get better with practice."
They continue to move towards the centre of the temple when they encounter a long downward set of steps. They follow it down for what feels like hours, down into a darkness only illuminated by some makeshift candles Kushina creates using 'fire' energy.
Eventually, at the bottom of the stairs, they see it, a scroll, light emanating from its surface, floating a foot above a pedestal. Annoyingly there is a short climb as the scroll is atop a small mound of rocks.
Ming Dai walks up to the scroll and tries to take it, but the scroll seems to have some resistive power, pushing him back as he tries to grab it. Even with his magnificent 'strength' energy he is unable to move forward to grab it. As Terukatsu hinted, it seems that whoever put this scroll here didn't want the power it described to be taken by anyone unworthy. Ming Dai considers using his true power for a second, but thinks better of it, he never wants to use that power under any circumstances. Instead, he invites Naruto to try.
Naruto approaches the scroll and reaches for it. Naturally because of their elements he has less physical strength than Ming Dai while they are both class 7 warriors, but he does have a trick up his sleeve, his divine oddity. He lines himself up and powers-up his right arm, firing it towards the scroll at great velocity.
It comes at the cost of pain and injury, and it is not without a struggle, but with his divine oddity Naruto is able to grab the shining scroll from the top of the pedestal. The second he removes it the shining stops and it becomes fragile. This scroll is just ordinary paper in his hands.
When Naruto examines the content of the scroll, he is slightly surprised to see that it is written in the same modern language that both his pocket-world and Homeworld share. He had expected that the scroll would be from the ancient times before Homeworld was united under one banner, in a time where it was unlikely there would be a common language. Additionally, the writing on the scroll is not very neat, seemingly written by someone without much talent for calligraphy. Naruto imagines that he could have done a better job himself.
"So, what's on the scroll?" Ming Dai asks.
Naruto continues to read it or try to at the very least. Parts of it seem to be written in riddles. Other parts are written as if they were addressed to someone specific. It seems like something he would have written to give to one of his family members as a hint. Nevertheless, Naruto believes that after a minute or so he has understood what the writer was trying to convey.
"It talks about some kind of sacred sword," Naruto says.
"A sacred sword?"
"Well I think so, it actually calls it the sacred sword of great power. I always thought that something written on a scroll hidden at the bottom of a temple would have a more important feel about it."
Ming Dai begins to smile. It seems that the old legends his master told him about were true. There really were such items as the Sacred Sword in the past.
Naruto continues to read. "It says that there is a sacred sword north of here. It speaks about a tower full of challenges through which only a worthy warrior can ascend. At the top the Sacred Sword awaits that chosen individual."
Upon hearing this story Ming Dai insists that they all begin to move North immediately. He knows tales of this Sacred Sword and if there is one thing which he is certain of, they cannot let this weapon fall into the wrong hands. There are people in this world who have too much power already, who it would be catastrophic to give more. In the hands of the emperor, the sword would make him unbeatable. In the hands of a royal, the sword would throw the empire into a civil war.
The group makes their way out of the temple without any further incident. After some time, they emerge back into the snowy mountains of West Aturia where they see sunlight for the first time in several hours. With their exit made they begin to move North, travelling in bursts assisted by Minato's teleportation. Long periods of walking are best avoided in this part of Homeworld. If you suffer from exhaustion on these high peaks you are unlikely to ever descend them again.
When they stop for a moment, Himawari gets the chance to ask Ming Dai about this Sacred Sword.
"So, you know about this sword?"
"Yes, Headmaster Sora spoke to me about such weapons several times when I was young," Ming Dai recalls. "It is said they go by many names, divine sword, sacred sword, almighty sword. They are from the old legends of Homeworld, from stories he was told as a boy. Most people thought of them as bedtime stories for children, but some people believed them to be real. Luckily for us, the emperor doesn't believe in it.
"It is said that these items can boost one's power. This was in the days before divine manuals and transcendent elements, back when the world was inhabited by class 3 warriors. The only way to get ahead was to use these weapons. That was in theory how the first class 4 warriors came into being, using these weapons. It is said that once one warrior owned the full set, and that he became a ruler wherever he travelled. All that matters now is that it might be able to make us stronger."
Several Days Later, West Aturia
The wastelands. A barren desert where temperatures are higher than you could imagine. A barren realm with barely any life for miles. It is fortunate that they stocked up on food and water while venturing through the mountains.
The gradient between the two environments is unnaturally quick. Himawari experiments with it, running back and forward a few steps, switching between the mountainous cold and the desert heat. They will have to move through this inhospitable zone if they are going to find the tower spoken of in the scroll, if they are going to find the Sacred Sword. So, without further delay, they begin to head to the north.
After several hours of travelling, they find a break in the desert, something unnatural. A pit, deeper than they can see and with no light more than a few feet down. It is like divine energy is eviscerating the light as it enters, like someone has created a most hellish place in the middle of the desert. Divine energy drips in the pit, energy silver and green, more abundant than could hope to be achieved by one person. Clearly this pit was created on purpose, probably years ago by many warriors.
Naruto guesses that the pit was originally created as a prison, and that the 'space' and 'time' energy were added later during the war against the Dark Dimension. Before that there were no transcendent elements. The pit is definitely older than that though, perhaps it is even natural. It seems bottomless.
"This is a 'space' and 'time' trap," Ming Dai explains, "During the war some people used pits like this to trap their opponents. Down there, time will flow very slowly, and it will be deeper than it would look, even if you could see the bottom. Whatever you do, don't fall down there, otherwise you will never escape."
Naruto indeed is wary of Ming Dai's warning to stay away from the pit. However, he detected something far worse with the One True Sense not long after witnessing it. He could feel something nagging behind him, hiding behind the overwhelming signature of divine energy. He smells it particularly and feels the faint vibrations of people beneath their feet, dampened by the dunes on which they stand.
Naruto turns around to see who has approached.
It is Shao Chin, and he has brought a couple of guests with him. A young woman and an owl.
This is Hannah.
The others in Naruto's group turn around to look at her too, recognising her from the brief description Clyde gave but mostly by the owl floating over her shoulder. This is the one with the unbeatable powers given by her instinct, the one trapped into a life beyond control by the terrible king who created her in the laboratories.
"Is that him?" Hannah asks.
"The blonde gentleman wearing the ridiculous orange costume," Shao Chin answers, "Yes that is him."
Hannah steps forward ahead of Shao Chin, a big grin on her face.
"Hello, you must be Uzumaki Naruto. I hope you will be the one who is finally able to defeat me. Your student greatly recommended you for the task."
Naruto's student. He identifies straight away that only Sarada could be identifying as his student. He doesn't know how much time has elapsed since Hannah bumped into Sarada, but it is still a relief to hear about her. It seems that the last Uchiha was able to survive after fleeing from the academy. That probably means that the villagers are OK as well, a great relief to himself and Minato as Hokage.
"You must be Clyde and Lara's daughter," Naruto says, "It's good to meet you."
"My mother is dead," Hannah reveals. "I couldn't control my divine ability. The voices of my instinct screamed into my ear and I couldn't resist them. I watched as my body moved on its own, as my mother lived out her final moments. I don't want to do that anymore. I want someone to beat me, to make me stop."
Naruto sees that this is true from the look in Hannah's eyes. She's just a child really, cursed with the body of an adult and the mind of an undefeated beast. She has been striving for freedom from the moment she has born but is unable to take it for herself, instead she is relying on others. Naruto can't truly empathise with her. When he has needed other people's help there has always been someone there for him, helping him along. Naruto became the Hokage with the help of countless others. Hannah can't even choose what to do in spite of others help.
"Have you killed any others?" Naruto asks.
"There was the aristocrat with the teardrop tattoo," Hannah reveals, "There were the three pocket-worlders with her. The man with the spiked black hair, the large man and the woman in purple clothes."
Naruto bows his head; he recognises that description. Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Hannah killed them. No, that isn't fair, she was forced to kill them by her divine ability. It would be more accurate to say that King Max killed them when he cursed Hannah to live this way.
"If you need me to defeat you so badly, I will," Naruto answers.
Naruto launches towards Hannah, throwing a series of strikes in her direction. She dodges each of them easily, with the agility that he expected of her hearing about her abilities. He tries several tricks, from shuriken to rasengan, smoke bombs to sage mode but nothing helps her to hit her. It is in very quick order that Naruto realises that striking Hannah will be no mean feat, and that her instincts are everything he imagined they would be and more.
Both Naruto and Hannah activate their divine cloaks. His 'life', hers 'light' and 'darkness'. Their power shakes the air as they collide against one another, bending it left and right in a whirlpool of divine energy. All this time Naruto is only planning for one thing. While he had expected a bit more success with his initial series of attacks, all he really needs is one blow to land. All he needs is for one strike to hit powered by his divine oddity.
The moment comes, he strikes above Hannah's head deliberately, causing her to duck slightly. Naruto powers-up his left hand and aims an uppercut towards Hannah's head, his arm accelerating many times faster than it has at any point in the fight so far. There is no way she could know about the speed or power of the incoming blow. Naruto plans to knock her down with this and then finish her off with the life-gathering rasengan.
But it doesn't work.
Hannah dodges his divine oddity attack, just as she has done everything else. All it takes is a slight movement of her feet and she avoids the attack altogether.
Naruto is immediately stunned, not even General Rana was able to avoid his divine oddity when he attacked directly, but Hannah avoided it completely. He appreciates now why nobody has been able to defeat her. Her reactions are inhuman, her fighting style one that nobody has ever combatted before. She is impossible to prepare for.
Naruto watches a tear fall down Hannah's cheek, startling him.
"I was told you were a great fighter, but you're not much better than any other class 7," Hannah says sorrowfully, "I guess that means I have no hope."
Hannah's counterattack begins. She strikes Naruto on the head three times unanswered before pushing her palm into his chest, striking him with the power of a great bear and knocking him backwards.
Under normal circumstances Naruto would say that he is not giving up, he would try to find a miraculous way to change the tide of the battle and to defeat Hannah. Right now, that's not possible though. He looks up at the sky above and realises that he is falling at incredible speed. As he spots the green and silver energy around him, he knows that he has failed, he realises what is happening.
He is falling into the pit.
A trap that may hold him forever.
Who will defeat Hannah now?
In Response to lovebolito's Question
About tailed-beast mode
If Naruto were to use tailed-beast mode he would recieve a slight power up.
However, on the level Naruto is now fighting at the loss of manouverability would likely be more of a hinderance than the power boost would be a benefit.
Thanks for reading.
In Response to m'j doom's Question
About a mimic divine ability
I don't see where there couldn't be a mimic divine ability.
If there were one in my plans I couldn't say anything.
Of course, there was the Dark Dimension's "Crown" which allowed the bearer to use any element with the exception of double-transcendent ones.
One was used by the Empress of the Dark Dimension, the other was found and used by Headmaster Sora in his battle against Furst Jonas (this one was destroyed in that battle).
Thanks for reading.
In Repsonse to S's Question
About the life-gathering rasengan
The life-gathering rasengan doesn't draw more energy from people than it would be natural for them to exert, so it can't be used to harm people in that way.
It's a technique Naruto invented but it could be used by others in theory.
However, other energy types are far less abundant, so if Minato used a wind-gathering rasengan, it would far less effective.
Thanks for reading.
In Response to tarunfiction1's Question
About the three Kurama's different types of energy
Currently no Kurama has any comprehension of divine energy, but their hosts do.
Naruto: 'Life'
Minato: 'Wind'
Tobirama: 'Water'
Of course, there could be future developments relating to Kurama and divine energy.
Thanks for reading.