THE GENERALS – GENERALS VS SASUKE
South West Cheqitori
Uchiha Sasuke has been wandering Cheqitori alone, something he regretted almost as soon as he started. He knows that he was right in what he said to his best friend. Naruto is unlike anyone else he has ever met. Naruto has a talent for making believe in him, and once they do, they will follow him anywhere, almost without question. This is a dangerous talent; if Sakura hadn't believed in Naruto, she may still be alive. At the same time he knows that the world needs people like Naruto. Sasuke knows that his friend needed him and that he should have summoned the will to remain at his side and fight with him.
That is not Sasuke's main concern right now though. He is running, moving as quickly as he can while staying undetected, something that comes easy to a shinobi in this world. At first, he was aimlessly looking for his daughter, but not long after he started his situation changed. He realised something horrible, that he was being followed. Initially he was being followed by people much weaker than himself, Imperial Guard Captains by his estimation. He never bothered to fight them, instead choosing to escape their notice.
Now the type of attention he has been getting has changed. He has used the Rinnegan to gaze into the distance and he has noticed that the enemy is bearing down on him from all sides. He recognises one of these villains as General Yasmine, the warrior who Naruto and Boruto defeated before gaining access to the Hertz Compound.
Sasuke knows that he cannot defeat a general, not while he is a class 7 warrior. All he can do is run and hope that they will lose him. What terrifies him is that they are all keeping up with him. Sasuke moves quickly, at full speed the majority of fighters in this world couldn't keep their eyes on him if they tried. Yasmine is not the only one catching up with him though, all his pursuers seem to be moving at speeds just as great as the general. If his predictions are correct that means they must all be generals as well, that all the generals are chasing him down.
Sasuke tries his best to catch his breath as he reaches the top of a mountain. He looks around and for the first time has a direct line of sight to each of his seven pursuers. Unfortunately they are closer than he thought they would be. They may be at the bottom of the mountain, but they can all see him as well. They start to move quickly, seemingly following the orders of one superior general, running the perimeter of the enormous mountain at great speed.
'They're surrounding me,' Sasuke realises. 'No way out of this if I end up fighting them. I have to escape their notice.'
Normal people would give up in Sasuke's situation, but he is no ordinary shinobi. He spent years learning how to survive in the cruel shinobi world before he and Sakura navigated Homeworld alone. He is a member of a team known for finding ways to achieve the impossible, and if he has learned one thing from that team it's the value of never giving up.
Sasuke uses all of his sensory prowess and he finds a way out. 'Spacetime' energy can be used for a great many things, but it is not easy. Before now he has not used as he knew it would draw the attention of the generals, but now things are different, all eyes are already on him and he needs to get out of the spotlight.
Sasuke waits until the generals are in position having completely surrounded him at the foot of the mountain. Then, when they all begin to ascend towards him, he gathers 'spacetime' energy on his hands and claps them together. He vanishes before their very eyes.
The generals reach the top of the mountain and can see no sign of Sasuke. They all look to Safura for an explanation. They are right to believe in her, she is usually several steps ahead of her opponents.
"Couldn't have gone far with that much 'spacetime' energy," Safura remarks, "But I wonder, why can't we see him. Nero, Yasmine, we are near your border, aren't we? This area is famed for having caves isn't it?"
"My-my-my, you think he's hiding down below?" Yasmine asks.
"If he went up above, he hasn't come down yet."
"Tell me that we're not going to search the caves one-by-one," Nero says.
"No need," Safura says. "All we need to do is make some waves. Alaa, your sound energy will be useful for that. Pour as much energy as you can into the ground. Collapse the caves."
Below ground Sasuke waits, hardly daring to breathe as he hopes beyond hope that the generals will give up on their search. He has no luck. Not a minute passes before a deafening roar fills the cave. He clasps his hand over one ear to avoid the pain, but tolerating it alone isn't enough. After the 'sound' fills the cave the ceiling starts to collapse all around him.
Sasuke scurries through the cave, one last chance at avoiding the generals. He must find a spot where he can survive without needing his divine energy. That way he can go undetected by the generals and they may just believe that he isn't in the cave. So Sasuke weaves between the falling boulders, rolls around the fallen rocks and bats the stones away from his face. As he continues to dodge the rocks the 'sound' becomes more and more intense, rising to a level he can hardly believe. He has no choice, if he stays in the caves any longer, he will end up being crushed.
Sasuke uses 'spacetime' energy to teleport himself outside the cave. No sooner than he has done so the generals converge on his position, surrounding him.
"You did a good job running away from us, you deserve respect from your superiors," Safura says. "Reports tell me that you are Uchiha Sasuke, a close ally of Uzumaki Naruto and Endou Hinata, is that correct?"
"Never heard of them."
The incredulous looks tell Sasuke that his bluff hasn't worked.
"Neck-length dark hair, pale skin, one eye red with a unique oval pattern, the other purple with a circular pattern. Missing one arm. Adept with 'spacetime' energy despite having arrived in Homeworld a significant time after his fellow pocket-worlders. Said to be a quick thinker, a thorn in the side of the Imperial Guard in Aturia and Cheqitori. Also a suspected close associate of both Uzumaki Naruto and the Crown Prince. This is almost certainly Uchiha Sasuke," General Dodi says.
"Thank you, Dodi," Safura says. "Now it is time to make your choice."
"Choice?"
"I'm going to give you two choices Sasuke. First choice you agree to cooperate with us and take us to Uzumaki Naruto so that we can eliminate him."
"And the second choice?"
"General Alaa has been looking forward to fighting in this war and so far, the opportunity has not yet presented itself. If you will not come with us peacefully then we will fight you and we will keep you as our captive. From what I understand of your friend, if he thought you were in danger, he would come."
"… I will not cooperate with you," Sasuke says.
Safura smiles. "Very well then, General Alaa, you can finally have your fun."
Sasuke watches as General Alaa begins to walk around him in a circle. A gold and silver uniform, as oppose to Safura's gold and red uniform, denotes Alaa as having the rank of general. His arms are exposed and muscular. His hair and beard, while not lengthy, are very bushy, the latter revealing only the excited smile of a man about to enjoy a good fight. Alaa's eyes are a dark shade of green and clearly show the excitement contained within.
The Shadow Hokage's initial assessment is that Alaa has the stature and physique of a warrior. Barely noticeable ripples that have yet to stop show Sasuke that this particular warrior uses 'sound' energy and must have been the one to collapse the cave previously.
'No sense in waiting around, Amaterasu!'
Black flames fly in Alaa's direction. Flames that the general easily dodges by shifting his body to the right. Sasuke throws his sword towards Alaa. Alaa sees this coming but is unworried. Sasuke begins his slowed-time punch, a strike with explosive power despite its much-slowed movement speed. Alaa prepares to knock the sword off its course, but then he moves.
Sasuke activates his divine 'spacetime' cloak and throws his punch. Alaa has been teleported right in front of him, he has swapped places with Sasuke's sword. The strike connects before the general has a chance to activate his golden cloak, a punch effectively from a warrior using energy one level greater than him. His overconfidence seems to have cost him.
Rana holds her head in her hand. "What an idiot!"
"I can't believe he fell for that," Odion says.
"Don't worry," Safura says. "He activated his divine ability right at the last second."
Sasuke is using his full class 7 divine energy, Alaa should only be using class 6 energy without his cloak being activated. Yet Sasuke needs no sensory prowess to feel the grip of Alaa's hand on his fist. His opponent struggled but he caught that last blow.
Alaa's smile has grown much larger, his eyes much wider. There is a madness in his gaze as his eyes rise to meet Sasuke's. This is his divine ability, Berserk Switch. In exchange for a partial loss of his self-control, Alaa's speed and power increase explosively. Sasuke has only known one ability to increase strength more than this, and that is Naruto's divine oddity.
When Alaa's golden cloak manifests and his battle class raises by two levels to class 8, the dynamic of the battle changes completely. Sasuke couldn't overpower him before, now he doesn't stand a chance.
Alaa kicks Sasuke back along the ground, watching him tumble down the mountain. Sasuke monitors his opponent with the rinnegan, astonished to see that Alaa was chasing him the second after the kick landed, and that the general is catching up. Alaa runs past the shinobi and kicks him again back in the other direction. The general does this four times before growing bored, finally letting Sasuke slump to the ground.
The attacks do not stop, while the Berserk Switch is active Alaa cannot stop even if he wants to. The relentless assault will continue until the Berserk Switch deactivates itself or until someone stops the general, nobody is going to do that.
The situation is bad, Naruto and Boruto had to work together to take down a general. If he is going to survive this battle, he needs to find a way to defeat one all by himself, and he needs to do it quickly. He contemplates techniques, but this is no time to come up with a brand-new technique, he can only do it by combining his existing powers. He tries to draw inspiration from the fights of his past. His mind goes to one person, his brother Itachi. In this situation Itachi would doubtless have a clever way of using the Uchiha's unique powers to escape damage.
Sasuke has an idea!
The next time Alaa charges towards him the Shadow Hokage quickly puts himself on his feet. He looks at the charging general and focuses on his Rinnegan. His Rinnegan has always given him some space-time powers, but if he enhances those powers with his divine energy, he can pull off a perfect evasion. Sasuke concentrates a fraction of his divine energy on his rinnegan and waits.
Alaa strikes Sasuke, but the second of connection Sasuke disappears.
Alaa, expecting resistance to his strike stumbles forward. His stumble is furthered when a foot catches his ankle. It is Sasuke, tripping Alaa from behind. Alaa turns around quickly but not quickly enough, this time Sasuke has long enough to use his slowed-time punch, landing a firm blow to the chest of the general.
Alaa gasps for breath, clasping at his chest.
"A class 7 warrior managed to hurt one of us?" Rana says with surprise.
"No, it just hasn't fully manifested itself yet," Safura says calmly.
"What are you talking about?"
"Look at his cloak."
Safura's observation is spot on. By integrating his shinobi and his divine energy 'spacetime' powers, Sasuke unknowingly made a critical realisation about the element. The stone tablet in his inner world changed, gaining more clarity, and affording him more energy for the battle. Also his cloak's colour begins to change, becoming a golden 'spacetime' cloak.
Sasuke has become a class 8 warrior!
Alaa leaps to his feet and strikes at Sasuke with a spinning kick, aiming for the back of the Uchiha's head. Sasuke reaches back and blocks with his forearm. Of course Alaa is using his Berserk Switch power and still has a strength advantage, but the impact doesn't hurt the Uchiha anywhere near as much as before. Sasuke presses his feet into the ground to prevent a backward skid. This time as Alaa chases after him the general is much easier to follow.
Sasuke realises that he is on this general's level now!
Sasuke reaches into his pocket for a shuriken, coating it in golden 'spacetime' energy, he throws it at the charging Alaa, forcing the general to deviate slightly from his original path. Then when the general's charge resumes Sasuke concentrates a bit of that energy on his Rinnegan and waits for the moment a strike lands.
Alaa strikes Sasuke. Sasuke teleports behind Alaa and lands another slowed-time punch to his opponent, taking him down. The Shadow Hokage watches as the effects of the Berserk Switch disappear; he has achieved something huge. He has defeated a general single-handedly.
"What just happened?" Odion asks, "He just teleported behind Alaa flawlessly."
"Even I can't do that," Rana admits.
Rana is a master of 'space' energy who has had a golden cloak for years. When it comes to the manipulation of space there are very few who have ever stood on her level. She thought that would remain the case her entire life, but she has just seen what she thought was impossible. She has seen someone who can move through space more capably than she can.
"It's probably because of his pocket-world powers," Safura says. "Perhaps he can add divine energy to his own powers to produce a brand-new technique. That's what we are seeing here, the instant escape, he disappears the moment you make contact with him."
Sasuke now sees the best way out of this. If he can convince Safura that this technique makes him too dangerous an adversary, it is possible this confrontation will end without any more violence.
"Will you insist we continue now?" Sasuke asks. "You will only exhaust yourselves. This technique, the Instant Escape as you call it, it takes hardly any energy, so I can keep going like this all day. I don't need to focus on the timing, it takes effect the moment you make contact with me. It is perfect for fighting against large numbers like this."
"Your technique has weaknesses, even if you will not admit it," Safura says. "First, it is difficult in battle, otherwise Alaa would never landed that attack against you. Second, you have to redirect divine energy to your eye in order to use it. An opponent only needs to wait for your eye to be clear and then attacking you is easy."
"Do you want to test that theory?"
Rana runs at Sasuke and throws a punch towards him. Sasuke concentrates as she approaches, his Rinnegan and Mangekyo Sharingan widening for just a moment. He knows that this will work, but his opponent doesn't have a clue. Rana watches Sasuke's eyes for a glimmer of 'spacetime' energy, but there is none. This strike will surely connect.
Sasuke disappears. It's the Instant Escape technique! Sasuke appears behind Rana and lands a single strike, knocking her several steps backwards.
Head General Safura is confused now. It was obvious to her that Sasuke redirected 'spacetime' energy to his eye. For Rana who has was right in front of him it should have been even more obvious. Why did she fall for it? Why did the Instant Escape technique work on her?
"Didn't you see that coming?" Odion asks.
"I was looking right at his eye, there was nothing there!" Rana insists.
Safura frowns, "I see. You are an illusionist."
"Of sorts," Sasuke admits. "We call it genjutsu. Of course it was much easier to do back in the pocket-world. Here I can only perform basic illusions, like making you see nothing in my eye."
"Every illusion has a weakness."
"Of course, you can avoid falling victim to my illusions easily," Sasuke admits. "My illusions require you to make eye contact with me."
"I see, so your technique really is fearsome. If we want to know when you are going to use it, we have to look you in the eye. If we do look you in the eye you can use an illusion to make us think you won't use it. Impressive, even for a pocket-worlder that is a miraculous technique."
The generals all look to Safura for instructions. How should they proceed from here? Even with Sasuke's incredible new power, they could attack him continuously. Sooner or later they would either get lucky or he would run out of energy. Defeating him is still well within their grasp if that is what they choose to do. However, is this man really so valuable? He has only one element, 'spacetime', unless he gains another element class 8 is his limit. Is it worth spending so much time fighting him just to lure Naruto?
"Shall we stop this?" Sasuke asks.
"Whatever for, any of us could defeat you given enough time. I don't require that much time though."
Safura begins to approach Sasuke. She has an eerie smile on her face, the same one that she has had this whole time. It irritates Sasuke. Safura is not arrogant nor is she malicious, she is simply calm in the face of danger, like a master educating an inexperienced pupil.
As she reaches the halfway point, Sasuke sees Safura close her eyes.
'Closing your eyes? Ridiculous! You can avoid my genjutsu that way, but you still cannot see when I am going to use the Instant Escape.'
Sasuke confidently runs towards Safura. However, he is still wary and cautious about her smile, he decides to test out his theory. Just as he is about to strike, he moves 'spacetime' energy to his eye. His fist bares down on Safura's arm and he knows that the moment he makes contact he will teleport away. Just as his arm is about to make contact, Safura's smile turns into a smirk.
Sasuke teleports away when his fist connects, resulting in no damage to himself or Safura. That is not his main concern, instead it is that smirk. Safura reacted to him using the Instant Escape technique. She didn't react at all to the obvious sound of his footsteps as he approached to attack her. She knew when he redirected the energy to his eye!
'She can sense it!' Sasuke realises. 'She can sense the minuscule movement of divine energy within my body.'
The generals all come to the same conclusion as Sasuke. Safura is capable of something they can only aspire to. She has a skill level closely approaching that of the royals. Her ability to measure divine energy moving with such precision, even in the inner world of another, is incredible.
'It doesn't matter, if she can't see she can't fight me,' Sasuke tells himself as he throws a pair of shuriken at Safura.
Safura rotates sideways, neatly avoiding the two shuriken. Sasuke tries a second time, questioning what he saw, but Safura avoids the shuriken again. The third attempt is made with the assumption that Safura can see. Sasuke throws ten 'spacetime' enhanced shuriken, scattered in a pattern that is exceptionally difficult to evade. But evade is what Safura does, acrobatically leaping through the air to dodge each and every one of the shuriken.
These are the same elite evasion skills she used against Colonel Zahra, only this time her eyes are closed!
Sasuke has seen this ability before.
"That skill… is it…"
Safura smiles. "I must admit I'm not as skilled as your friend. When I heard that Naruto had mastered the One True Sense, I knew he had found strength in area where I was weak. I don't have an elite teacher like him, but I am skilful enough to train on my own. I also use the One True Sense."
Sasuke's worst nightmare. An opponent who can fight as if her eyes were open even when they're shut.
Sasuke approaches Safura and strikes her repeatedly with his sword. Half the time Safura dodges the attack, the other half it does nothing as Sasuke's Instant Escape power teleports him to a different position. Safura sees through every use of Instant Escape, refusing to defend herself when there is no need to do so. Eventually Sasuke falls into a rhythm that she is comfortable with, and she starts to reliably predict when he will use the Instant Escape and when he will be vulnerable.
Safura waits for Sasuke to attack without using his technique. She creates a 'diamond' shield and quickly places it against his abdomen before kicking it hard. The air rushes out of the Shadow Hokage's lungs and he falls to the ground. If he has ever been hit that hard before, Sasuke cannot remember it.
With her opponent down, Safura creates a set of 'diamond' restraints and uses them to bind Sasuke's wrists and ankles.
Sasuke tries to break free but he cannot. 'Diamond' is tough, and without a run-up he doesn't have a chance of breaking it. He could use his 'spacetime' energy to teleport a short distance away, but the restraints are on so tightly he suspects they would teleport with him. With his ankles tied he couldn't run even if he did escape.
Safura has won. A total victory.
"Now we have our bait," Safura says. "It is only a matter of time before we run into Naruto himself."
Sasuke weighs up the situation. Eventually Naruto and Safura will fight. Safura is powerful, quick, and strong. The Head General has the reflexes to match up with any shinobi and is a good enough sensor to fight with her eyes closed. Her offensive powers were enough to take him down with a single strike, even in the same battle class. Safura's defences haven't even been tested yet, but since she is a 'diamond' user Sasuke is certain that they are strong.
Naruto is powerful, a dual element user and has a divine oddity, but even with all that Sasuke can't help but reach a terrible conclusion. If Safura and Naruto were to fight, Naruto would lose!