DECLARATION OF WAR – THE SACRED SWORD
The Tower
Neptune, feeling that his odds are diminishing every second that Naruto's group remains, runs towards the portal. He doesn't look back at any of his competitors, stepping into the green whirling divine energy. He disappears from the realm they currently inhabit and shifts into the gap between, ready for the most challenging push towards another portal yet.
"Are you worried that he's going to outrun us?" Mana asks.
Naruto looks to Hannah who confirms with her instincts that there isn't much chance of Neptune being the one to reach the sword first.
Nevertheless, there is a degree of common sense that must be applied here. They all agree that since they are fine physically, they should advance into the portal as well, limiting Neptune's chances. On the off chance that he is more competent than he appears, they don't want him to be the recipient of a significant power boost. The Sacred Sword must leave this tower with one of them.
They step into the portal one after another. First Hinata steps in, moving as quickly as she can in pursuit of Neptune. Next Hannah enters, the most carefree amongst them about the whole situation. With only Mana and Naruto left, the former wishes the latter good luck and steps into the portal. Naruto, having let everyone else go first, takes a deep breath to gather himself, and enters the portal.
When Naruto enters the portal, he arrives in a world entirely red as he did on previous occasions, but this time it is different. There is no substance obscuring his vision of the other portal this time, it is just a straight line. There are no foes ready to strike him, at least not any he can defeat with the One True Sense. Oddly enough it appears that this is the easiest challenge to get through yet.
Taking a first step forward, Naruto's view of this challenge is immediately changed. The resistance to movement here is many times greater than on the floors below. He activates his 'life' cloak and chakra cloak, drawing out as much energy as he can to push forward. While he is able to keep moving, he realises that this would have been too much of a challenge for the others in his group. Maybe his father could have handled this but that would have been a push.
Naruto hopes that the others are able to progress through this pressure as well as him.
Mana struggles more than anyone. A class 6 golden 'lightning' user, she got higher than anyone else of her class in this tower. Getting this far was already a struggle and it was only through force of will that she was able to hide her difficulties from the others. Now she questions if that is going to be enough. It is a long way to the portal at the other end of this dimension and each step is harder than the last.
If she can get to the other end it will be fine, Hinata can take care of her from there.
It is Hinata who she keeps pressing forward to help. Her reaction towards Naruto is bad news, it is a new dimension to her life that won't go away. She was never ready to become the ruler of Homeworld. They all thought that her father would rule forever and that the early stages of her training were just a formality. Hinata has a lot to learn before she is ready to take the throne, and she needs to be there to help her through those lessons. If she isn't there, then she worries that there is nobody Hinata will turn to.
Hannah struggles less than her comrades. Her instincts tell her the best way to move, as they always have done. Miraculously this allows her to avoid the majority of the resistance that the others are feeling. Hannah listens to her instincts, assuming that there is some sort of invisible foe attacking her in the air. Clyde's daughter remains unaware of how much the others are struggling as she moves swiftly towards the other portal.
She thinks about the Sacred Sword. Would she take it if she had the chance? She doesn't feel strongly about it and had just assumed that it would be going to Naruto. Now that Princess Hinata is their ally, do things change? Princess Hinata said that she would be taking the sword for herself; does Naruto intend to go along with that? Should she be aiming to deliver the sword to Princess Hinata?
Hannah eventually decides she should help Naruto to get the sword but is not too worried about what will happen. She is confident that she can prevent Neptune getting his hands on the sword. She knows that her sensei will take care of the rest.
Hinata is struggling to move through the mysterious resistive force. Her determination is not lacking though, from the moment she realised her identity she knew that this was inevitable. The only way that she will be able to stand up to Furst is using this sword.
The situation with Naruto worries her, but the situation with Furst is many times worse. Since Endou Hinata returned he has haunted her nightmares. He did the impossible when he defeated Endou Akashi. Furst Jonas defeated the strongest warrior Homeworld had ever seen, he announced himself to the world as a class 10 warrior. The only one to ever do so.
The princess is not delusional about her odds of victory. Even if everything goes according to plan, even if they emerge from every skirmish with a favourable outcome, she probably still won't be able to defeat him. The man who sits at the top of this world has a mind like any other, a power like any other. He has been preparing himself to rule reality his entire life and he does so with help from the most brilliant people in Homeworld.
What Hinata doesn't realise is that across the world, there are people just like her who worry about this fight. Across Homeworld, many people have run simulations of the battle in their mind, and they share her ambitions. The rebels all know that defeating Furst is unlikely, but they will all try anyway. If she could see all of them, she would see the potential they have. This is a generation of warriors who may one day be ready to take on Furst and his royals.
With a tremendous effort, eventually all five who entered the portal in the crystal room exit from the gap in space.
After stepping into the portal, they arrive in a room made of a diamond-like material. Naruto gives the floor two quick stomps to see if he can break it, but he doesn't even make a dent. He imagines that this must be even harder than diamond. For the first time since entering the tower he can see outside, there are balconies around the room.
The other four are also here. They are each equally spaced, standing in front of five different portals. These portals are around the outer wall of the room with an opening to a balcony between each one. The wind makes it clear that they are high up now, probably right at the top of the tower.
The room has been designed cleverly, there are mirrors spaced around, each redirecting the light from the outside, focusing it on one point in the middle. There lies a small structure which holds within it the item they all came here to take. This is the top floor, and in the middle is the sacred sword.
Dozens of little groups of divine energy begin to pop up through the floor. They then rest atop the diamond-like surface, flickering viciously. The five know that these are traps, that this is the last protection the sword has. Whoever can make it through here without triggering these traps will gain the power in this situation.
Naruto is the first to move, rushing forward with his divine oddity. He gains an immediate advantage. Then he has to slow down, to concentrate on avoiding the traps.
The others quickly catch up to him, running up to the traps and then slowing their pace to match his. Only one of them is able to move unperturbed through the traps, and that is Hannah. Her supreme instincts allow her to dance through them with no difficulty at all. If she were to try and take the sword for herself, this would be easy. She isn't interested though, she stops and looks at her sensei's progress, hoping to help him.
Naruto's progress is good, second only to Hannah's. That is exactly what she wanted.
Seeing Naruto's progress, Neptune feels threatened. Getting that sword is probably his only chance of getting away from here in one piece. He gathers golden 'darkness' energy in his hands and blasts it in Naruto's direction.
The energy doesn't hit Naruto but one of the traps around him. That trap detonates and begins to draw in energy from the surrounding traps. It also draws Naruto towards it, bringing the 'life' energy from his body as he gets closer. Naruto now appears to be truly out of the race.
Neptune's progress is slow, Hinata is ahead of him but thankfully he receives some help from an unexpected source.
Hannah runs in front of Hinata and begins exchanging strikes with her. Hinata does her best to land a hit on her opponent but is unable to do anything. If she knew about Hannah's perfect instincts, the princess would realise that Hannah is avoiding firing back by choice. Hannah is just here to delay Naruto's wife, not to harm her.
Mana tries to intervene on Hinata's behalf, but Hannah easily deals with her. She flicks 'light' energy in her direction delicately, so as to avoid pushing Mana into one of the traps. It is after this that she runs away from the duo from the former imperial household, running quickly around the sword to get in Neptune's way.
Naruto tries to break free of the trap but there seems to be no escaping its insatiable hunger. No matter what he tries it keeps pulling him towards him, as well as the surrounding divine energy. This gives the 7th Hokage an idea. It may seem that this trap is a bottomless pit, consuming all the energy that it can found, but surely that pit must have a limit. He begins to destroy as many traps as he can, throwing 'life' energy haphazardly in all directions, creating a dangerous series of explosions.
The others work hard to avoid the explosions.
Hannah makes it to Neptune's front and begins attacking him. He is easy to slow down and she has no reservations about hitting him. Unfortunately, the countless explosions hide something so well that even her instincts cannot detect it. A 'fire' attack from Princess Hinata, not lethal but just enough to push her off balance. This opening is exploited by Neptune who lands a powerful blow to Hannah's head, leaving her grounded for the moment.
With most of the traps detonated, Neptune and Hinata are left to compete in a straight dash for the sword.
The trap around Naruto's leg is now bulging, he gambles on it only needing a bit more energy to detonate. He unleashes as much divine energy as he can through his leg.
The trap explodes!
Naruto is sent flying towards the sword much quicker than Hinata and Neptune. It's now just a question of whether he can close the distance in time.
As Naruto moves at high speed, Neptune and Hinata both come to within reaching distance of the sword. They extend their hands and stretch.
As Naruto approaches the sword, he closes his eyes. He has a choice to make. A choice that will impact the future of Homeworld, potentially altering the course of more lives than he can count. However, there is something just as important to him at stake here. His wife's soul.
Naruto reaches the sword before Hinata, but he doesn't take it!
Naruto flies over the top of the sword, using his momentum to take Neptune down.
Hinata takes the sword!
As the sword is taken all the remaining traps disappear. In what Hinata thought would be a climactic moment everything goes quiet. She raises the sword aloft, feeling energy surge from it and combine with her own. There is an increase in something in the back of her mind, something she can't place her finger on. She guesses that the divine energy link up between her and the sword may have affected the chemistry of her brain, but she doesn't question it too much.
By the time she lowers the sword, she is not sure how much time has passed.
Mana is tired and is nursing the wounded Hannah. The two of them wait by the wall next to one of the balconies. Sat on the edge of that balcony is the man who helped Hinata to take this sword. There can be no question that if it weren't for his contribution today, she wouldn't have got her hands on this. She exchanges a look with Mana to confirm that she and Hannah will be OK before joining Uzumaki on the balcony.
Hinata deactivates her Byakugan and sits with him.
"Thank you," she says.
"It is no problem."
"Can I ask why? With this sword you may have been able to beat Furst one day."
Naruto shakes his head. "I need you far more than I need any sword."
"Aww," Mana cries from nearby.
Hinata looks back at Mana, giving her a clear wordless warning. Be quiet!
"Can I ask you a question?" Naruto says.
"OK."
"Why are you so strong? I know I'm not very good at numbers, but even if you have a golden 'fire' cloak, you shouldn't be this strong. Your uncle taught me the maths behind it, and he was a good teacher. Where does your power come from Hinata?"
"Did my uncle explain why Furst was so strong?"
"I think so but—"
"I'll explain," Hinata says. "Furst created divine abilities during the war against the Dark Dimension. Normally they give you a boost of one battle class and grant you a unique power. He doesn't have a unique power though; do you know why?"
It is a long time ago that Headmaster Sora sat down Naruto and the other pocket-worlders. He explained to them at the time the story of Furst Jonas and how he got so strong. This was the main reason, his divine ability. It is not like normal divine abilities, it is a one in a million exception, a broken divine ability. The makeup of the power is wrong. Usually that means that it would be worthless, but there is one exception. Sometimes, when the chemistry is just a bit wrong, the divine ability does not grant you one level increase, but two. Furst used his world-beating knowledge to procure such an ability.
"His divine ability, it's special."
"Yeah, when he took over Homeworld he was thought to be the only person with such a power," Hinata explains. "But that's no longer true. Now there are two of us with a special divine ability. There is Furst, and there is me."
"So when you broke through in the pocket-world and understood 'water', that's why you became so strong?"
"I don't remember these events, but that is probably why you saw what you saw. When divine energy began to return to my body, a dormant power woke from within me."
Naruto scratches his head with his hands. Logic puzzles aren't one of his preferred pastimes. It seems to him that what Hinata is saying makes sense though, that is why she was always so strong. There is one more thing that doesn't make sense to him though, something that Headmaster Sora told him while speaking about the powers of this world.
"Your body is from our pocket-world," Naruto says.
"Yes."
"But our bodies are different than Homeworld's. Sora said that we can't use divine abilities or manuals. Why are you able to use one?"
"I don't know."
That surprises Naruto. It is the truth though. Hinata is well aware of the mechanics of divine energy and divine abilities. Pocket-worlders cannot use divine energy. She has spent much time since her awakening trying to work out how her divine ability has remained with her in spite of having a body from the pocket-world. She understands that divine energy follows her soul, but the energy from this ability should be stuck inside. The best theory that she can come up with is that someone in the Imperial House did something in the final days to let this happen. There were many strange powers in the palace at the end, anything is possible.
Despite the confusion it has caused her, Hinata is grateful that she has retained this power. Without it she would not stand a chance against Furst. The heavens have blessed her with an opportunity.
"May I be straightforward with you?" Hinata asks.
"Yeah."
"I never expected to be in this position when I was growing up. I am where I am now because we were desperate when Furst took the throne," she reveals. "It is no accident that I have powers from both the pocket-worlds and Homeworld. I gained this strength because it was necessary. It was all a big rush at the end, so I don't understand how I got these powers, but now that I have them, I intend to use them. Having an expert in pocket-world power may prove useful in the future."
"I'm not going anywhere Hinata, I'll be your expert for as long as you need me."
"When the pocket-worlds are safe you will exit from this war."
"No chance."
"Did the other me find that stubbornness an attractive quality?"
"I like to think so."
Hinata activates her Byakugan, intending to take this moment to experiment with her pocket-world powers a bit more. She sees something that even Naruto's One True Sense cannot detect though. Right at the bottom of the tower, where their allies are awaiting, an Imperial Guard squad is about to attack.
"They're under attack!" Hinata says.
"We need to get down there then."
Mana walks over with Hannah, "I don't suppose there are any pocket-world techniques that can help us get down there."
From below, the colonel in charge of the Imperial Guard squad is excited. Taking credit for the capture of this group would be the highlight of his career. If he is clever, he can hand them over to the king directly, skipping his feuding colleagues in the Imperial Guard. He receives the official assessment of the enemies battle strength from one of his comrades. Amongst those at the bottom of the tower the highest battle class is 6. This is going to be easy for him.
At this point he notices something from above. It looks like an enormous cord, extending down from the top of the tower. As the cord gets closer, he realises that it is actually a chain of people, each holding the person below by the ankles like an acrobat. Whoever is at the top of the chain is clearly very strong. At the bottom of this human chain four people descend. When they descend to a height from which they can safely drop, two of them take the lead, dropping to protect the class 6 warriors behind them.
Michel and those with him rush over in excitement. They had thought they were in serious trouble, but now it seems like their fortunes have been reversed.
The Imperial Guard are suddenly faced with a deadly combination.
Endou Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto.
"That's her isn't it?" an imperial guard says, "That's the new Princess Endou."
"And that man with her, that's Uzumaki Naruto," another says.
The Imperial Guard inch backwards with exception of the colonels who have led them here. This was potentially going to be the biggest moment of their careers; they knew who was here. Now that they are being faced down though, things have changed. Taking on Uzumaki Naruto, that is possible for a colonel. Taking on Endou Hinata, that is possible for a colonel.
Taking on a Hinata-Naruto team though, that is entirely different prospect. Especially when the princess is wielding the Sacred Sword from legends.
The colonels share glances, seriously considering it. Are the odds in their favour in this fight? Against two class 7s, they should be confident, but the little voice inside whispers to them, reminding them of the stories.
The daughter of Endou Akashi.
The student of Muto Sora.
The woman born to inherit the empire.
The man born to liberate the people from Furst.
Hinata is surely one of the fiercest class 7s around, having both a genetic edge and some of the best training Homeworld has to offer. Naruto is equally as intimidating. This is the class 7 warrior who stood up to General Rana in a straight-up fight, who incited the War Council to declare war, who defeated a class 7 when he was only a class 6.
Their mind is made up.
"Retreat," the colonel in charge says.
The others are happy to accept the order, especially since they didn't have to give it themselves. For today their opponents have won on reputation alone but tomorrow they may not. This is an oversight on their part though, they do not realise how this story will be told across Homeworld.
This is the day that the Sacred Sword stopped became real.
This is the day Endou Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto united against the Imperial Guard.
This is the day the Imperial Guard ran away.
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)
Namikaze Minato (6) = Wind (3) + Shinobi (3)
Claude (6) = Flight (3) + Manual (3)
Neptune (7) = Darkness (3) + Transcendent (1) + Manual (3)
Endou Hinata (7) = Fire (3) + Divine Ability (2) + Shinobi (2) - Also has water (1)
Yoshida Mana (6) = Lightning (3) + Manual (2) + Divine Ability (1)
Himawari (?)
Kushina (?)
In Response to Guest's Question
About what would have happened if the Hokage never time-travelled
That's a really interesting question.
Off the top of my head the series of events would be as follows:
1 - Clyde would have eliminated the entire pocket-world, including Hinata
2 - Lara would have went after Clyde when she obtained her divine ability to prove her superiority
3 - Depending on when Hannah/Lara bumped into one another, one of them would have killed the other
4 - Sora would never have sacrified himself
5 - Homeworld would remain under Furst's control
Thanks for reading.
In Response to S's Question
About if Naruto will get any special abilities due to his breakthrough
I couldn't possibly stay without giving away spoilers.
Sorry, I always feel bad when I have to give that answers.
Thanks for reading.
In Response to taranfiction1's Question
Regarding shinobi's dependence on Naruto
The majority of them will depend on Naruto, but some are OK without him.
The members of the circle were mostly OK without Naruto.
On the subject of pacing, I plan chapters in advance so I have to keep a set number of specific events in them.
If I were to put more narrative events in each chapter, I would have to write more words or sacrifice description.
I don't want to sacrifice description and I don't have time to write any more words.
I have already planned part 11, but part 12 will be much faster paced.
I will try and take your feedback into consideration.
It's always good to have constructive feedback, so thanks for that.
Thanks for reading.
In Response to sarada chan san's Questions
About what inspired my choice of names for original characters
The answer is mostly uninteresting, I tried to apply a different nameset to each group:
German: Jonas and the Royals
Chinese: Civilians
English: Military
Arabic: Imperial Guard
Etc.
The only one that's worth noting is that the Endou/Muto family have japanese names.
I gave them this nameset with the thought in mind that Hinata's presence in the pocket-world would impact the nomenclature of that world.
Thanks for reading.