DECLARATION OF WAR – NARUTO VS HANNAH
West Aturia
"How?" Hannah asks, "How were you able to —"
Naruto strikes Hannah's head after taking a single step with his divine oddity this time, making way for the second blow. He powers-up his left arm, slamming his elbow down into the rear of her right leg. He brings Hannah down onto one knee and creates a rasengan in his hand, thinking that for the first time he has a chance to hit a final attack on his opponent.
Of course, without Naruto's divine oddity he can't finish things off, Hannah destroys the rasengan with her combination of 'light' and 'dark' energy. She uses the next blow to strike Naruto in the chest, pushing him over onto his back. To even her surprise, she follows this up by leaping backwards in retreat. Her instincts are acting entirely differently now. Naruto has become the first opponent that she has been forced to take seriously.
Naruto gets to his feet and dusts off his black and orange clothes.
Hannah tries again.
"I'm asking you how you were able to—"
Naruto powers-up his arm, grabbing a kunai, coating it in 'life' energy and throwing it at Hannah as hard as she can. Thanks to the distance between them she is just able to dodge this kunai, but as Naruto uses his next power-up to push him towards Hannah, she knows that there is no way she will escape the incoming blow. She punches forward. Naruto counters her punch with his own, powering-up his arm as he does so. As their fists slam together, Naruto's continues to move forward, and he pushes Hannah back along the ground once more.
"Stop, stop, stop!" Hannah yells in frustration, "How? How did you suddenly get so much stronger? How are you able to use that power three times?"
"You know, before it really hurt when I used this power. Now it tickles in comparison."
"You're lying."
"Care to test it?"
Hannah does. She is convinced that when Naruto uses his power, he still feels pain, so she designs a scenario to test it. She runs at him with a moderate pace, her instinct immediately beginning to calculate the counter he will most likely make. Her predictions are spot on, and with his third use of the divine oddity he aims a blow towards her head with his leg. She dodges this and strikes the back of his leg as it passes over her head. It's a powerful hit, and a clean one.
However, Naruto moves back away from their latest scrap. He doesn't even wince. As he says it's as if he feels no pain at all.
"How?" Hannah asks for the fourth time.
Naruto smiles. "My divine oddity won't hurt me anymore. All that matters is the timing, I need to heal myself straight away. 'Life' energy is enough for that. It's the reason I'm still alive."
"That's impossible! It's absolutely impossible!" Hannah declares, "People do not master divine oddities with a moment of inspiration. That cannot happen!"
Hannah is proven wrong yet again. Naruto moves rapidly to the left, then rapidly to the right. He attacks from behind her by using his divine oddity to enhance his movement yet again. He presses a 'life' rasengan firmly into her back, knocking her forwards. It is only through Hannah's determination and skill that she manages to flip forward and stay on her feet.
Hannah looks back, determined that she will see some moment of hesitation in Naruto's eyes, some hint of the bluff. He is unwavering though, as determined as she has ever seen anyone, as confident as anyone could ever be. To be like this is in his nature, she has determined that much, but if there were a fraction of self-doubt within him her instincts would detect it. There is nothing! Naruto's power is for real.
"Nobody can move divine energy with such skill! You'd have to move it internally and externally at the same time. Nobody can do that and not let it affect their style!"
"You're right," Naruto admits, "But, what if I were to receive help from somebody else? What if someone else could use my divine energy?"
"Nobody can do that! Even if they could, they would have to know your every thought inside and out. They would need to have seen every move you have ever made!"
"I have someone like that," Naruto reveals, "I have a partner in my inner world. We haven't always seen eye to eye, but he has been with me from the very beginning. He knows my every move, my every thought. He probably knows what I'm going to do before I even do it."
"A partner?"
"His name is Kurama, and when I detonate divine energy to power-up my limbs, he moves it to heal me."
"That can't happen! That's too much of a coincidence!"
Naruto begins to move yet again; he darts around initially unpowered and then begins to use his divine energy. He takes to moving around in bursts of threes without attacking, using his first two dashes to try and unnerve Hannah. Even though her instincts are seeing through this most of the time, there is no way for her to counterattack in time without Naruto changing his strategy.
Hannah watches as Naruto darts around, settling on a counterattacking strategy. She can only react to what he does at the moment and can't take the initiative until her instincts have perfectly acclimatised to his style. This is perhaps her instinct's only weakness; it can't see through things that have never happened before.
Naruto starts to attack. Sometimes after the first use of his divine oddity, sometimes after the second. He bursts forward into the middle of the circles he runs around Hannah. He strikes her once or twice with powered-up arms and then he runs away again. This is his ideal position, a method by which Hannah cannot counterattack.
Hannah's instincts are miraculous though. It takes longer to reach the state where it can counter a three-use divine oddity than a two-use, but it gets there. She sees through his attack for the first time, avoiding two strikes from his powered-up arms and gripping him by his arms. She wrestles him to the floor and tries to manipulate his arms, getting him into a position where she can avoid his attacks. She is feral, tussling with him forcefully and wildly.
Naruto does manage to break free of Hannah's grip, but eventually she grabs him again. She makes use of their proximity to hit his abdomen with her elbows and to minimise the impact of his divine oddity. Eventually, for every powerful blow that he lands on her she lands two such similar blows on him.
It is staggering to Naruto how quickly Hannah adapts. A child in an adults body, she adapted straight away to his divine oddity the first time she saw it. His new method of fighting was useless against her. When he emerged from the pit, he half expected that he would be able to beat her, but she was barely pushed by his new abilities, forcing him into a retreat. Now, although it has taken much longer, she is keeping up with him at three uses. He cannot imagine just how intensely her brain is going.
Naruto begins to try and work out how he is going to overcome this situation. Hannah will quickly go past him again at this rate. He has to find something, some trick that she won't be able to work out, something that she hasn't seen through yet.
However, then Kurama sends a message to Naruto.
"Hey, Naruto, guess what?"
Kurama passes his message along.
"What!" Naruto is stunned.
The 7th Hokage's eyes snap open to start with, but a smile quickly comes to his face. This is amazing, Kurama is simply too amazing.
"It's over Naruto," Hannah says, "I wish you had found some way to win, but it looks like my instinct is just too quick for you."
Naruto rushes towards Hannah. Powers-up the right leg. Powers-up the left leg. Two successive steps, he runs at her at full speed. Powers-up the left arm, strikes towards her as quickly as he can. She raises both arms to block, combining 'light' and 'darkness' energy masterfully to block his full power blow. However, he is not done. He then powers-up the right arm and hits her powerfully in the chest.
Hannah is sent back into the nearby dune. Naruto buries her within it. Her head comes up and she coughs sand down onto the ground beneath her. She looks up at him in shock.
"Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!" Claude perks up excitedly, "Did I just see that, did I really just see what I think I did!?"
"Yeah," Minato nods, "He just did it four times in a row!"
Hannah realises now that she is wrong. It took her all that time to work attune herself to the three-use divine oddity. However, with each extra use it takes her longer and longer to fathom her counterattack. Naruto and Kurama seem to be improving their timing at a uniform rate though. In other words, given what has already happened, by the time she has worked out how to fight back, they will have already started to use the divine oddity five times in quick succession.
Naruto and Kurama are improving faster than she is!
She can no longer catch up to them!
"He can do it! He's going to do it!" Claude yells happily. "He's going to win."
The others are every bit as jubilant. For the first time in this entire fight, their belief in Naruto is more than just blind faith. Now the evidence is right in front of them. The way the fight has moved suggests he is going to win! The smart money is now on the 7th Hokage! Their tension lessens, their anguish dies down, their anxiety is relieved! With every passing moment, the fight swings more and more in favour of Naruto.
However, there are two of them who are still not smiling.
Hannah is not smiling.
Neither is Naruto.
Naruto bursts forward using his divine oddity. His timing is now so varied, so perfectly in sync with his original fighting style that even Hannah cannot predict when he will use his full power. He strikes three times unanswered. With his third blow he knocks her off her feet again. Her divine ability barely allows her to absorb the blow.
An unfamiliar feeling begins to set in for Hannah, and that feeling is pain. This is the first time that her muscles have ached. These are the first punches that have ever rattled her bones. This is the first time she has ever struggled to move her body having sustained wounds in battle.
As Hannah's back hits the ground she sighs.
"It looks like it's finally happened mom. I have finally found someone who can save me. I've found someone, who can defeat me in battle."
Naruto and she clash once again. The former emerges from the struggle victorious once more. Now every such struggle feels helpless for Hannah. She has never found her instincts to be unreliable before, but that is now what they are proving to be. They were silent voices, always screaming the correct course of action at her, forcing her to obey. Now, they are but a timid whisper, stuttering as they try to guess what is coming. They are scared children, just as she is.
"I'm so relieved," Hannah says.
"Then why aren't you smiling!" Naruto yells at her.
She starts. He is right, this is supposed to be her great moment of freedom. Everything has worked out just how she hoped. She has found the perfect person to defeat her, someone who won't misuse his privilege to order her around. At one point she was certain that this was her dream, a dream that would never come, a wish she would be wishing forever. Now that it has come, why does she feel the same way she always has? Why does she still feel sad?
"You must have some fighting spirit hidden away," Naruto shouts. "You've finally found someone who can fight on your level. Don't you at least want to win?"
These words trigger something in the young Hannah. Indeed, there is something hidden away inside of her, there has been all this time. She has never gone into a fight wanting to win. She has never been on the back foot before. Naruto's words put the question in the forefront of her mind. Can she beat him? This is the first challenge that she has faced in her life. This is the first time her skills have ever been called into question. This instinct may not be what she wants, but it is part of her. Does she have to hate those instincts? Is it OK to enjoy battle? Is it OK to want to win?
Hannah gets up to her feet. She takes one deep breath and concentrates all the power that she can. Golden energy comes rushing forth, 'light' and 'darkness' as before. With her spirit fully in the fight for the first time, both sources of energy seem to come forward with a new vigour. The whispering instinct in her ear from before suddenly grows louder once again, gradually rising in magnitude until they are louder than ever before. The instinct seems different though, less like an eternal enemy and more like a friend.
For the first time in her life, she feels happiness.
She smiles!
"What is he doing?" Himawari asks, "Isn't he even trying to win anymore? Whatever he just said to her provoked her. She is back on her feet and stronger than ever before!"
"No," Claude looks on tearfully, "She's happy. This is the first time I've ever seen her happy."
Ming Dai looks on nervously. It's all well and good that Hannah has made some sort of breakthrough in her mentality, but that doesn't help them right now. She may even have found out a way for her instincts to keep up with Naruto. Everyone seems to be forgetting that if Naruto loses here, they are all going to die. If he loses here, then they will never defeat Furst Jonas and Homeworld will be enslaved for the rest of eternity.
"I want to win!" Hannah tells Naruto.
"That's good," he smiles back, "You've learnt your first lesson. It won't be many more before you are unstoppable in combat."
"You want to teach me more? Ha! I'm already unstoppable. Don't you see, that's what makes me special. This instinct is unshakable, I simply lost my calm. Now that my mind is on the fight nobody on this level can possibly defeat me!"
"It's great that you're thinking like that," Naruto admits. "But just because you're having fun for the first time, it doesn't mean that I can afford to let you win here."
"You don't have a choice!"
Hannah leaps at Naruto.
Naruto realises that the situation with the battle isn't exactly favourable to him. Hannah seems to be coming at him with more power than she ever has before. She's probably going to try and end it with this blow. She looks confident, that probably means her instinct is now working more efficiently than it was previously. He must try and find a way to put her off, something that he hasn't tried previously to this point.
Hannah closes in on Naruto quickly. She observes him for the tiniest of clues to his next move. She spots it in his body language. He is going to attempt a spinning kick. While there is no way that she can avoid all four strikes at the moment, she can win if she avoids the first one and takes him down after that from behind. There is a tiny opening, one that nobody else would think of taking, but she can take it. She is the only one who can defeat him!
Naruto times his attack with precision, waiting for Hannah to arrive before him, he lets her pass and aims his powered-up spinning kick at the back of her head.
Hannah turns on the spot. She didn't think that Naruto would let her pass, but that doesn't make any difference. There is an opening which she can take just before he hits her. She steps towards him and aims her fist at the back of his head, concentrating as much energy on it as she can. The offensive power of her strike can't compare to his, but it will hit first, she will take him down and strike down on him from above. She will win!
Then, another Naruto appears between them.
She strikes this copy of Naruto, her fist moving through him like paper. He puffs away in a cloud of smoke. Clearly a weaker copy of him made using the techniques from his pocket world.
However, the clone displaces her attack marginally. It is just enough. Hannah's strike misses.
Her eyes meet Naruto's and she knows that she cannot stop his attack anymore.
The kick lands, hitting Hannah powerfully in the head. It instantly makes her lose her balance. With her newfound fighting spirit, she remains standing on the spot, refusing to go down. But this is only defiance, it's too late now.
Naruto follows up with a second strike powered-up strike.
"Uzumaki Naruto, I'll get back up"
A third strike.
"I'll get back up and I'll definitely—"
A fourth strike!
"I'll definitely—"
A fifth strike!
For the first time, Naruto and Kurama land a fifth successive strike.
Hannah's muscles and newfound spirit fail her. She falls to the ground.
The others watch on amazed. Hannah has fallen before, but never like this. She has fallen and is hurt. This is the first time it looks like it will be a struggle to stand. Even if she does stand, the damage sustained by her is greater than by Naruto. She won't be able to last in a battle of attrition.
Claude knew from the moment he met Hannah that it would take a miracle for someone of her own kind to defeat her instinct. He stuck with her every day, knowing that she was desperate to find someone who could rescue her. It was a hopeless search, full of dark days and tears. However, all his holding on has finally paid off. Hannah is down!
Hannah, despite having fallen, tries to find the strength to stand once again. Some part of her hasn't yet accepted defeat. Some part of her is still trapped. Then she hears the sound and sees the rushing of energy.
A ball of energy forms in Naruto's hand, and 'life' rushes towards it at incredible speed.
Hannah tries to get up with all her strength but is too slow. There is no doubt now that Naruto is more powerful than she is.
"Life-gathering rasengan!"
Naruto slams the rasengan down into Hannah's abdomen. He pushes as hard as he can, feeling her resisting for the first few seconds. Then, finally his recovery time elapses, and he uses his divine oddity once again. He powers-up his arm, pushing the life-gathering rasengan even harder.
The life-gathering rasengan detonates!
Hannah's resistance stops!
Naruto stands above Hannah, willing himself to remain on his feet in spite of the beating he has taken throughout this fight. He lets out a feral scream, drawing from the last parts of his energy. When he is done, he manages to hold it. He stays standing and looks down at his fallen opponent.
Hannah cannot move!
She looks up at her opponent and feels an overwhelming relief rush through her. Suddenly, the voices compel her movement no longer.
She is free at long last!
Naruto has defeated her!
Naruto has won!
Battle Classes in this Chapter
Uzumaki Naruto (7) = Life (2) + Transcendent (2) + Shinobi (3)
Hannah (7) = Light + Darkness (3) + Transcendent (1) + Combo (1) + Manual (1) + Divine Ability (1)
Ming Dai (7) = Strength (3) + Transcendent (1) + Manual (2) + Divine Ability (1)
Shao Chin (7) = Gale (3) + Transcendent (1) + Manual (2) + Divine Ability (1)
Namikaze Minato (6) = Wind (3) + Shinobi (3)
Claude (6) = Flight (3) + Manual (3)
Himawari (?)
Kushina (?)
In Response to Guest's Questions
About a variety of subjects
I can't give spoilers on Nina. However, I have not said that she is dead.
A full-scale tailed-beast bomb enhanced with 'life' would be very powerful indeed.
Genjutsu can work on Homeworlders but the only person to use it successfully so far has been Sasuke.
Given that both Mars and Sasuke are class 7, Sasuke's Amaterasu would probably overcome Mars' fire.
They did fight in the story before briefly though at that point Mars was much stronger than Sasuke.
Amaterasu would hurt a class 8 opponent. Most attacks from a class 7 would, but they would only be so effective.
It would be roughly as effective as if end-of-Shippuden Sasuke used it against Kaguya.
Naruto currently doesn't have the tailed beast chakra natures beacause of their absence from this story so far.
If Kamui came up against a 'space' user I imagine they could dismantle it rather easily.
It would also depend on their levels of course.
In this world Naruto cannot levitate.
Flight either requires 'flight' energy, like Claude has, or wings (being an owl he has wings as well).
No reason he can't use truth-seeking balls if he chooses.
On the divine abilties Jashin was compatible with pocket-worlders because it was a broken divine ability.
Ordinary divine abilities wouldn't work.
Thanks for reading.
In Response to jenuzumaki's Question
About if Naruto gets his hand on a manual
Neither manuals nor divine abilities are compatible with pocket-worlder physiology.
Furst created all three so this was a deliberate incompatability.
Furst's Battle Class:
Furst (10) = Destruction (3) + Transcendent (2) + Manual (3) + Divine Ability (2 - see paragraph below)
It's important to note that Furst's divine ability is a one in a million coincidence.
Some freak divine abilities don't give you a power, they give you two divine energy quality increases.
Only one ability has ever been known to do this though, that ability being the one Furst possesses.
Thanks for reading.
In Response to Guest's Question
About Kurama assisting Naruto
Normally answering this would be a spoiler, but it is explained in this chapter.
So, yes, Kurama is directing some energy on Naruto's behalf.
Thanks for reading.
In Response to Karma09's Question
About the Endou family
Naturally, I can't answer that without giving away potential spoilers.
Thanks for reading.
In Response to S's Question
Aboutt the continents
In all honesty, I was quite lazy with the design.
I have drawn a map but I'm afraid there is no way to share it here.
Basically, Homeworld is one huge landmass, surrounded by a seemingly endless ocean.
It's structure is as recorded below:
Middle: Okarin (Emperor Furst Jonas / General Safura)
North: Cheqitori (King Hertz Erik / General Yasmine
North East: Seblix (Queen Hirsch Nadia / General Dodi)
South East: Gavaria (King Hoffman Swen / General Odion)
South: Ewoa (Queen Mauer Sabine / General Alaa)
South West: Aturia (King Weiss Max / General Rana)
North West: Fayoth (Queen Huen Petra / General Nero)
As for how many people live in Homeworld, I wouldn't like to put a number on it because I risk contradicting myself later.
However, it's population is many times greater than Naruto's pocket-world.
Thanks for reading.