THE FOUNDRY – CLASS 8
The Hertz Compound
They may have their various shinobi tricks and their fancy divine oddities, but a divine oddity is only a single technique. Over her life Yasmine has learnt many techniques to increase her effectiveness in battle. These techniques helped her to survive many gruelling battles in the past. She has every reason to believe in herself, and yet there is something in the back of her mind calling to her, telling her that this time is different.
The general feels a dampness on her brow. She didn't think she had any 'water' left on her own body. When she lifts her hand to wipe her brow, she recognises that this isn't 'water', it's sweat. For the first time in such a long while, an opponent is making her genuinely nervous.
"Do you want to go first?" Naruto asks.
"After you old man."
"So cheeky."
Yasmine steps back as she sees Naruto walking forward. There is a look of renewed confidence on his face. Her mind tells her that this is to her advantage, that the senior Uzumaki is overconfident due to his recent boost in power. Her instincts are telling her something very different. Her instincts scream that she should be afraid.
Naruto powers-up his leg and leaps at her.
The 7th Hokage strikes and Yasmine only just catches his fist in time. For the first time she understands the incredible power of a divine oddity now that she is experiencing it from within her own battle class. Given the sophistication of their other techniques, there is no way that Naruto should be close to the pinnacle of class 8. The strength of this blow makes her realise just how close he is to reaching her own level. Or maybe, he has gotten even stronger than she is.
Having barely blocked the first attack, Yasmine is stunned to see that Naruto is already using his divine oddity again. This time he powers-up his other arm. She moves to block but trips at the crucial moment, noticing remnants of yellow 'fate' energy around her foot. Naruto was the one who made her trip! With Yasmine defenceless he strikes her in the gut. A powerful direct hit from his divine oddity.
Yasmine is sent bouncing back along the ground, the speed of her rotation beyond her ability to control it. Even as she spins, she tries to think of a counter strategy. If an opponent can hit as hard as that, can move with such power as that, she needs to find a way to inflict passive damage upon him. She knows of such a way, but it will force her to switch to a defensive style, and to abandon any thoughts of using concentrated defence or attack. She must rely upon the regulation battle principle and concentrate.
Yasmine finally gets back to her feet and tries to initiate the regulation battle principle. Before she is able to start her counterstrategy though, she notices an attack coming from the right at the very last second. She tries to block it, but she is too slow as a rasengan once more takes her from her feet. It was Boruto. She didn't even see when he began to use his Death Mask. His use of it was even more proficient than before, giving her barely any time to respond.
Boruto moves the Death Mask, at first confusing Yasmine. Then the cheers from behind him make her understand. The others hadn't noticed his presence until he removed it, they didn't know who attacked Yasmine. With that first pair of attacks, the two of them showed off their class 8 powers. Naruto and Boruto brought a lot of hope to some of the most important people in the rebellion, people who will be able to tell this story to others. Their main focus is no longer the battle, but instead the recruitment drive that will follow it.
Yasmine at last starts using the regulation principle. Now she can only hope that her strategy will be enough.
Naruto smiles to Yasmine. He holds his arm out confidently and powers it up. Energy yellow and white is shining from it, signalling that it will explode imminently. The Shadow 9th Hokage laughs before reusing his Death Mask, disappearing from view. They are taunting her, showing their intentions because they believe there is nothing, she can do about it.
Boruto kicks Yasmine in the back, exactly where she predicted he would. He propels her forward straight into the path of his father.
The second Yasmine is in the air, Boruto cries out in pain. It is a momentary pain, but not an unjustified one. His arm was momentarily heated to such a degree that it is still smoking now. He tries to call out to his father to warn him, but it is too late, Naruto's punch is already locked in.
Naruto knows what happened mid-punch, but he doesn't have the ability to stop a punch using his divine oddity, it is too quick. He can feel the electricity in the air, radiating from Yasmine's skin. She's coated her body in an ultra-fine layer of 'water' and 'lightning'. Anything that touches her is bound to be electrocuted painfully. What's more she is using the regulation battle principle to keep this passive defence up constantly.
Yasmine deliberately contorts her body to minimise the impact, and to extend the contact time. This maximise the damage to Naruto. By the time the exchange is finished, nobody is undamaged. While Yasmine has taken most of the damage, she still has another two regenerations at her disposal. Even with their recovered energy, surely Naruto and Boruto can only go for so long.
When everyone is apart once again, Yasmine tries to talk her way out of the situation.
"Surely you both see how this is going to go now. You can't keep up this assault against me, you won't survive it. You may be able to beat me once more. Perhaps even twice more. But three times, you are going to lose. Lucky Three is too much for the two of you."
"We'll attack you from afar," Naruto says.
"No-no-no. You know you can't hit me from long range, I'm too quick. Yep, speedy Yasmine. If you are going to hit me, it has to be from up close. Once you get as close as you need, there is no way I am letting you go unaffected. I'll give you another chance since things have gotten so tense, leave! We can end today without any more violence."
Yasmine's tactical analysis is right. However, she has failed to take something into consideration. Naruto and Boruto both have a history of elaborate shenanigans, if there is anyone who can find a way around this, it's the two of them.
"Boruto, can you disguise other people's energy as well with that Death Mask?" Naruto asks.
"Moving someone around with me would be difficult. Especially someone as powerful as you. It's really not practical in a fight."
"That's fine. There is a unique attack, that only you can pull off."
Yasmine watches as Naruto and Boruto whisper into each other's ear. She doesn't know how to act now. She doesn't want to risk going on the offensive, but the longer they wait around, the more the others around them recover. If the rebel forces recover before her own it's all over for her.
They stop conferring.
Boruto smiles and puts on his Death Mask.
Naruto reaches behind his back with his left hand and holds his right hand out in front of him. 'Life' energy from the surroundings begins to move towards him. This attack is familiar to his allies and feared by his enemies. This is the life-gathering rasengan, Naruto's most powerful offensive technique.
It takes about ten seconds for Naruto to gather all the energy he needs. He grins, he hasn't made any more breakthroughs in 'life' energy recently, but the increase in his battle class made pulling the energy to him easier than ever before. He needs to score a quick win over Yasmine, and the life-gathering rasengan is the perfect way to do that.
Ming Dai realises something Yasmine does not. That life-gathering rasengan may be strong, but given his increase in battle class, Naruto should be able to create an even more powerful one. Naruto is holding something back.
A life-gathering rasengan strikes Yasmine in the back. She didn't see it coming. She is shocked to look behind her and see Boruto driving it. He endures the pain as the rasengan makes prolonged contact with her. He is doing everything he can to power it on. When the 'life' energy finally drains away, he replaces it with his own 'death' energy, pushing as hard as he can.
Eventually the rasengan explodes, driving Yasmine forward.
Smoke still pouring from Boruto's body, he ignores the pain and smiles. 'Life' is not his element; he cannot control it. However, in the life-gathering rasengan, the rasengan itself is just a transmission vector for the raw elemental power. As long as you can keep the rasengan spinning, the power will remain within. Not many people can do that with a rasengan, but these two are the son and grandson of the technique's creator. They are experts. Boruto used his Death Mask to disguise Naruto's energy, exactly as the 7th Hokage had planned.
Mid-flight Yasmine realises that there is still a life-gathering rasengan in Naruto's hand. He must have created the other one behind his back, that's why he hid the other hand. She doesn't have enough vitality left to endure another hit like that, she has to regenerate.
Yasmine regenerates.
One regeneration left of the Lucky Three.
Naruto drives his life-gathering rasengan into Yasmine's abdomen before slamming her down into the ground. He drives it just as long as Boruto did, enduring the electrical pain running through his body as he does so. He keeps going until the rasengan has no more energy left to give.
The 7th Hokage wobbles on his feet for a moment, giving Yasmine a brief hope. But he tightens his fist, he searches his energy reserves and he finds some 'life' energy. He pours the 'life' energy through his body, restoring his depleted vitality. Just enough to finish her off.
Naruto powers-up his arm and strikes.
Then, the attack misses, and a concentrated blast of 'water' and 'lightning' knocks the Hokage from his feet.
Yasmine has regenerated.
She has used all of the Lucky Three.
Yasmine is up, both Naruto and Boruto are down. She no longer needs to continue with her previous defensive method. She stops using the regulation battle principle and instead decides to focus on finishing her two adversaries off. She approaches Naruto and looks down at him.
"It's a pity, I gave you a chance to leave. You were a fool. Fool-fool-fool. Now it's all over for you."
Yasmine lifts her foot and stamps down on Naruto but Naruto catches Yasmine's foot!
"I don't remember either of us giving up."
Naruto slowly forces Yasmine's foot off his chest and gets to his feet. He tries to power-up his arm, but he can't. The problem with his divine oddity is the energy requirement. Using a technique like that is incredibly taxing, even for a man with his endurance.
A kunai soars towards Yasmine from behind. Just as it is about to hit her Boruto transforms it into a rasengan, knocking her away from Naruto. This gives the father son duo a chance to reunite, to stand opposite their mighty opponent.
Boruto whispers an idea into Naruto's ear and his father leaves the moment after it is spoken.
"Running away?" Yasmine asks. "You must realise that it is hopeless for you."
"I thought we would be defeating you convincingly," Boruto admits. "My father and I are strong; we always have been strong within our battle class. Together, there should be nobody on our level that we can't defeat. Just what sort of monster are you?"
"You divide your mind; your father uses the One True Sense. You're both too young given your immortality. I've lived over ten times longer than you both together. You've learnt two of our tricks, I've learnt way more. You're not fighting against colonels anymore; I am a general. My talent is similar to yours.
"The only people left for you and your father to fight are class 8s and class 9s. The generals. The royals. A couple of hidden experts. The emperor himself. The days of fighting people without talent are over for the two of you. You're not fighting the strong anymore, you're fighting the very-very-very strong."
Naruto returns with a healed Terukatsu at his side.
"Don't let her get into your head, she's a master of manipulation," Terukatsu explains. "The two of you are fighting strong opponents now, but you are strong yourselves. You both possess divine oddities. You broke through after taking so much physical punishment, of course you wouldn't be at your best. When you can fight without anything held back, you will definitely be able to take on Yasmine."
"When? You don't think I'm going to let you live, do you?" Yasmine smiles. "I've just regenerated. The three of you are hardly at your best. Do you really think that the three of you are enough to defeat me?"
"I don't know who would win," Terukatsu admits. "I know it would be close. If you fight us, there is a half chance that you are going to die. We have already gotten through your Lucky Three, I'm sure that hasn't happened in a long time. Are you certain you want to risk your life here?"
"Risk my life? You have a lot more to lose than I do, Yuuki Terukatsu."
"But we've been willing to risk it from the beginning. We always knew this would be an uphill battle, that we would probably lose, yet here we are. Unlike us, this is your first time in this conflict facing a genuine chance of dying. Are you willing to test us?"
Yasmine is not smiling anymore. She doesn't know enough about the two newcomers, but she does know about Yuuki Terukatsu. The Leader of the War Council doesn't say something like that as an empty threat, he is deadly serious. If she attacks again, the three of them will keep going until the bitter end.
'Now, what will you do, Yasmine,' Terukatsu wonders.
Yasmine shrugs. "Let's stop then. No point continuing here if I'm going to die anyway."
Terukatsu smiles.
"But I have a warning for the Crown Prince and his father. You two aren't ready for this stage. Now that you're class 8 the emperor will start taking you much more seriously. Head General Safura is going to come for you soon. Safura is not like me, she has no weaknesses, no, she has no areas where she is not excellent. When she comes for you, you will realise how strong the Imperial Guard really is, and why you never stood a chance against the royals."
With her final words spoken, Yasmine leaves. Over the following two hours, Naruto, and Sakura focus on healing the injured. It was a gruelling battle that nobody emerged from without scars, but all the same they have won. The Hertz Family Compound is theirs. Now they can finally meet the twins.
Two Hours Later, Inside the Compound's Walls
Terukatsu proceeds with Naruto and Hinata. In front of them are a duo in their early twenties. They are each dressed very well, the young woman in an expensive looking dress, the young man in a similarly expensive suit. From the looks of their neat blonde hair, appearances are important to the two of them. This isn't at all what Naruto expected, but the other two don't seem particularly surprised.
These are the Seer Twins, Hertz Theresa, and Hertz Philip.
"We have been looking forward to your arrival," Theresa says.
"Of course we already knew you were going to win," Philip boasts.
Theresa grins. "We seem to be in the presence of a famous leader. It is Yuuki Terukatsu who will forever be remembered as the Leader of the War Council."
"Royalty too," Philip smiles. "We are greeted by the empress in exile, Endou-Hyuuga Hinata, who will never defeat Furst Jonas, no matter what sacred artifacts she obtains, nor what profound techniques she learns."
They begin to speak in unison. "And lastly the pocket-worlder, Uzumaki Naruto, whose greatest moment will come not when he saves everyone else, but when everyone else saves him."
"They talk in unison," Terukatsu groans internally, "That's so…
"Immature," he thinks.
"Ridiculous," Hinata determines.
"Cool," Naruto concludes.
"You are the Theresa and Philip?" Terukatsu asks.
"I am Theresa," announces the young woman as she plays catch with an apple.
"And I am Philip," declares the young man tidying his tie.
They resume talking in unison. "We have been looking forward to meeting you, the leaders of the rebellion for some time now."
After a few stern words from Kurama, Naruto refocuses. He does have to question the talents of these two youngsters. Nobody should just accept that the future is exactly what they are told, that caused enough problems in his own world. He thinks hard for a way to test this brother-sister duo, to find out if they are telling the truth.
"How can we know that you are really Seers?" Naruto asks. "You are only twenty years old. Can you tell me something that will prove you are as remarkable as you say?"
Theresa smiles. "You are here because it is the rebels desire to destroy the Foundry, the place where divine abilities are created. Does that satisfy your nine-tailed comrade?"
Naruto recalls what Terukatsu told him about the Foundry. It is a secret, just a rumour or a legend to most. Even if there were whispers of it in the Hertz Family Compound, nobody could be absolutely certain that it was a reality. Given the strategic importance of Seers and their knowledge, there is no way that anyone could guess that's why they attacked the Hertz Compound. Theresa and Philip know everything about why they are here, not to mention the fact that Naruto is Kurama's host. Their power is very real.
"You should be careful about your beast comrade," Theresa tells Naruto. "He may be your most useful ally, but at the same time, he is harming you in a way you do not yet realise."
Philip continues. "If you want to destroy the Foundry then the first step on your journey will be going there. In order to access the Foundry you are going to need the 'key'."
"There is a key that isn't far from here," Theresa tells them. "And as luck would have it, it is not being guarded. After all, the existence of the Foundry alone is supposed to be a secret."
"Of course, that would just be the first step in a very difficult task. Attacking the Foundry isn't going to go the way any of you expect. For many of you it will change everything. I would ask if you are certain you want to go ahead with it, but we already know how you are going to answer."
The twins continue in unison. "You will go forward, regardless of the consequences, because you are Uzumaki Naruto. You never give up, you never give in. That is your ninja way."
In Response to Demon90340's Question
About if completing a divine oddity would increase your battle class
Well I can't completely answer that without giving away potential spoilers.
Sorry, I don't think I can say anything more on the matter.
Thanks for reading.
In Response to Tobito's Question
About why Sasuke and Sakura can't instantly kill every opponent by extracting their soul
I must have overlooked their ability to do that.
Though there must have been a reason Sasuke didn't use it on Naruto.
Perhaps it doesn't work on someone more than so-strong.
Sorry that I missed that.
Thanks for reading.
In Response to griffinhunter74's Question
About tailed beast bombs, and 'life' and 'death' energy
Well, just saying this will spoil my intentions, but I completely forgot about that mechanic.
There are a lot of events yet unwritten though, so perhaps now that you've given me the idea I'll write it.
Thanks for reading.
In Response to iloveffn's Question
About if Minato can travel in Homeworld with the Flying Thunder God
Yes, though his range is limited, as I assume it was in the original story.
Thanks for reading.