AFFLICTIONS AND ROYALS – ELABORATE PLANS

Local Imperial Guard Headquarters, Ewoa

Elliot knocks on the door to Alaa's office.

"Enter."

Elliot opens the door, stands to attention and salutes his superior officer. He is just as diligent and formal as he was with his previous leaders.

"Ah Elliot, it is good of you to visit, please have a seat," Alaa says, gesturing to a chair. He waits until Elliot is seated before continuing. "We used the information you provided us with to locate General Clyde and his fellow traitors. After a short delay we have re-established contact with the attack squad we sent, I believe you can work out what happened."

"Clyde is very competent sir," Elliot explains. "Since his days of harvesting pocket-world energy he has become significantly stronger. He has acquired and begun to learn from a manual, further to this he has acquired the divine ability that belonged to Lara, allowing him to teleport. There are few even among the Imperial Guard who are a match for him."

"That is why I sent a guardsman with 'explosion' divine energy. I made the plan very clear; if Clyde could not be defeated this colonel would use a concentrated attack on him. The chances were that Clyde would not survive such an attack."

"Yet he did sir?"

"The attack was never completed. The colonel in question tells me that a trio of pocket-worlders with strange powers arrived. He was not familiar with the woman's power but he lists the two men as using 'ink' and 'darkness' divine energy. Anyone you are familiar with colonel?"

"I believe I am sir. There was only one 'darkness' user among the pocket-worlders when I left their group. For a time he administrated their governing body known as the Circle. His name was Nara Shikadai. Shikadai was part of a team used for special missions, they had unique tactical skills. The other two attackers sound like the members of his team, Inojin and ChouChou."

"Why didn't you tell us about them before?"

"They never travelled with us. When Lara was allied with Naruto they attempted to fracture the alliance but failed. After that they were excommunicated from our combined team by Naruto. Then we encountered them once during what was supposed to be the first attempt to defeat the emperor, that was before we went to the academy. Since then I have not seen any of these three."

"If they tried to fracture your alliance why did they save Clyde?"

"I couldn't say sir, but I suspect that their loyalties have changed once again."

"Should we be worried about them?"

"Even if they all reached their full potential their power would be nothing for the Imperial Guard to worry about. However, this man Nara Shikadai was a tactician who has protected his village many times. He is to them what Queen Nadia is to us, the brain that they all rely upon. Right now he is incapable of countering her strategies, but if left for long enough he may start to rival her."

"I don't believe we need to worry about that colonel. That will be all."

Elliot leans forward and rests his right elbow on the table. He also places his left-hand palm-down on the table and begins to tap his fingers, rhythmically contracting his thumb. This surprises Alaa immensely, Elliot seldom behaves in such an informal manner.

"Sir, permission to ask a question."

"Very well."

"Why do you believe in Nadia?"

"That's Queen Nadia to you colonel."

"My apologies sir, why do you believe in Queen Nadia?"

"After the last war—"

Alaa pauses his story when he notices that Elliot is still tapping his fingers and contracting his thumb. The colonel lifts his right hand from the desk and motions for the general to continue with his story in spite of the noise. The general finds this distracting, but in light of Elliot's otherwise exemplary service he continues.

"After the last war there was a civil war in Seblix as you know. Before the war started, Emperor Endou was in command in theory but he didn't want to be a dictator. Imperial policy was that he would rule Okarin as if he were king, and he would make policy suggestions to his royals, but he wouldn't make rules for them. Aturia, Ewoa, Gavaria, Seblix, Cheqitori and Fayoth were all self-governed. But of course, he was Endou Akashi, when he saw the civil rights struggles in Seblix he couldn't stand still, he wanted to make sure that all people were treated fairly.

"For a long time the oppressed planned their own rebellion, which of course Endou wouldn't oppose. However, the rebellion was brought forward when Yoshida Mana discovered that rest of her clan had been… eliminated for planning to participate in that rebellion. Mana quickly understood 'lightning' and rushed to confront a local representative of the king. She wasn't ready of course; she was only in her twenties when she broke through and lacked the combat experience of the pocket-worlders. That day Endou intervened and saved her.

"Endou took Mana and trained her alongside his own daughter, but the King of Seblix was not pleased with his intervention. The Tyrant King as he was known told Endou that he would not tolerate this, it quickly became clear that his intention was to accelerate action against the rebellion. Of course Endou was in a difficult position now, he could either change his mind and go back on his promise to let the kingdoms self-govern, or he could get let the injustices in Seblix continue.

"However, Endou was lucky. He was approached by a strategist from the rebellion who herself had a transcendent element. This strategist apparently served with distinction during the war. That strategist was of course Hirsch Nadia. She told Endou not to get himself involved any further and promised that she would steer the rebellion and free Seblix. The story goes that she told Endou, 'have faith in me and I will make sure that the people of Seblix are free'. Though I suppose even she couldn't stop Emperor Furst from revoking the non-interference policy.

"When the Seblix rebellion was done she was a hero. She started as a mere class 7 warrior yet by the end of the rebellion thanks to her strategy she had defeated Seblix's Tyrant King. She was made queen by popular demand. After Seblix was free and everyone was given equal rights, agreements were reached to end the conflict. Nobody wanted any more fighting so the Tyrant King's senior officers would be imprisoned for a short time. That's when I met her.

"Dodi and I were working for the Imperial Guard which was much smaller at the time. We were both colonels. We were passing through Seblix on our way to Gavaria but we were captured by a few of the rebels who believed we worked for the Tyrant King. We pointed out our Imperial Guard uniforms to them but they claimed we were just using them as disguises. We were brought before Queen Nadia for judgement, and do you know what she said when she reached us?

"She said that we were part of the Imperial Guard as we claimed, she knew before we even spoke to defend ourselves. Her rebels protested but she pointed out that the wear and tear our uniforms was consistent with our body language. Who notices something like that?

"Nadia was weak, yet she masterminded a campaign to overthrow the Tyrant King. And every time someone was brought before her for judgement she correctly determined whether they were one of the Tyrant King's officers. She was praised by everyone and the emperor even performed the ceremony when she became queen, speaking about how highly he thought of her. I suppose he would be disappointed that she is working for Furst now.

"There are people with remarkable minds in this world Colonel Elliot, but there is nobody who can match up to Queen Hirsch Nadia. Nobody."

North Fayoth

North Wing Leader Akamusa Motomasa is an experienced man. A user of the transcendent 'weight' element, he has trained his entire life to reach this point. He was one of a generation of heroes that came before Endou Akashi, one of the people who prolonged the war with the Dark Dimension long enough for him to save them. Before this latest war he had believed that his days of fighting were over, yet now he finds himself in a bizarre situation. He is being pursued by a trio of pocket-worlders, and a collection of people with strange powers dressed in dark clothing.

Hashirama bursts forward with tremendous speed, overtaking Motomasa. He strikes at Motomasa, using the strength he was revered for as the 1st Hokage. However, Motomasa strikes back and uses his golden 'weight' energy to enhance the power of his fist. His counterstrike is even more powerful than Hashirama's. He pushes his opponent back a couple of steps before rolling past him. He then uses golden 'weight' energy to increase the weight of his foot and kicks Hashirama back into the pursuing pack. Finally he lightens himself and continues to run away.

Hashirama holds his arms out wide and combines his chakra and divine energy powers. He creates an enormous forest in front of Motomasa with 'death' energy leaking from the flowers in place of pollen. It forces the North Wing Leader to turn and fight his attackers. With his superior battle class he puts up a good fight, but eventually Tsunade manages to wrestle him to the ground and Hashirama uses 'death' enhanced wood to pin Motomasa down.

Not a moment after Motomasa is down, Hashirama's Hive Mind comrades make sure to stand in ready positions. If Motomasa somehow escapes this imprisonment, they will quickly capture him again.

"Who are you, what do you want?" Motomasa asks.

"I'm surprised you don't remember me from the Foundry incident."

"Ah yes, I recall now. Terukatsu exiled you from the rebellion after you engineered the death of our comrade."

"Harming Sakura was unintentional. She was a beloved citizen of the village I created. I was saddened to hear of her passing."

"What do you want from me?"

"Uzumaki Himawari attacked Sakura because of a remnant from the Dark Dimension, which is trapped in my head, it is called the Hive Mind. I want to remove that remnant," Hashirama explains. "I recently learnt of your Retrocognition divine ability. You have seen many important details about the past, knowledge that has helped you to reach your current rank."

"How could that be of use to you?" Motomasa asks.

"I want to know about any survivors from the Dark Dimension. I need their help to remove the Hive Mind."

"There were no survivors!"

Hashirama lowers his voice. "Listen, I have no desire to be your enemy. When I arrived to help with the attack on the Foundry I had just regained control of my mind for the first time in years. I want to help free Homeworld from Furst, but until I remove the Hive Mind I can't be trusted. I need your help so that I can control myself, so that I can truly help Naruto to free this world."

Motomasa glares at Hashirama, still not trusting him. Hashirama understands, and removes the restraints he has placed on Motomasa, ordering Tsunade and the others to stand away as the North Wing Leader returns to his feet.

"Please."

Motomasa sighs. "This is not public knowledge, you will tell nobody that you know this, not even Princess Hinata."

"I promise."

"During the last war the Dark Dimension vowed to fight to the end. In their mind there would be only one world that survived, one world for one people. Because we won that war, the people believed that nobody from the Dark Dimension survived, but that is not true. After their fight Endou Akashi did not kill the Empress of the Dark Dimension, he took her somewhere and sealed her.

"The location of the Empress has remained a secret. I don't know where she is. I am sure that Akashi took the secret to the grave with him. Not even Furst knows where she is sealed. She is likely to be the last survivor from the Dark Dimension. I doubt she can help you, but she is still out there somewhere."

Hashirama nods. "I had hoped for more but thank you. I will not waste this information. I will make sure that the Hive Mind can't hurt anyone else."

"See to it that you don't either."

To both their surprise, Tsunade runs forward from the group that Hashirama ordered back. Mitsuki yells after her and pursues her, but he cannot catch the 5th Hokage. When she reaches the two of them, she brings all her 'death' energy to bear and strikes at Motomasa.

Hashirama quickly calls on his divine energy and blocks Tsunade's attack.

He did not order this attack and there was no reason for Tsunade to believe he was in danger. This means that somehow the Hive Mind's orders to her have changed. He realises that he must have had another momentary lapse, that the Hive Mind must have broken free and given her a new instruction.

"Tsunade stop!"

She stops, much to Hashirama's relief. It seems like she is still taking his orders.

Motomasa sighs. "I see. I have already told you what you wanted to know. There would be no point in rehearsing this drama in order to deceive me. There really is something else giving orders here, isn't there."

"Yes."

"I hope that you can stop it, otherwise when you lose control for good the Dark Dimension may well cause another war."

The Mayor's Office, CheoCho, Aturia

"Everyone is accounted for," Zhou tells Naruto. "But I still don't understand what you are going to do. Fauna Blight can pass from person to person even over a long distance, it's going to be almost impossible for you to cure everyone."

"We need to make sure I can cure people in groups. These groups need to be far enough from each other to make it unlikely for Fauna Blight to pass between them. Then I will rush from group to group curing them one at a time."

"Fauna Blight can transmit almost one mile. It is not practical to keep people that far apart from each other in a city this size. Our accommodation is bunched tightly together by design."

"If we keep them a few hundred meters apart, that will at least limit the rate Fauna Blight spreads, won't it?"

"Yes I suppose so, but you would have to move from group-to-group at incredible speed to cure them fast enough. I don't think anyone is capable of that, are they?"

"I am. I have powers that let me move really fast. It should make me quick enough," Naruto explains. "Do you have any ideas on how we can group people?"

"I will ask my advisors to speak with the guards still trapped in the city," Zhou says. "There are a few grand halls throughout the city, and a couple of parks too. We could ask the guards to gather everyone in these places and you could run between them. But like I said, they are only a few hundred meters apart, to cure us fast enough you would have to move fast."

"I am probably fast enough," Naruto says.

"I don't know much about divine energy. I have seen powerful people before, maybe none like you but powerful all the same. To move that fast I understand that it takes a lot of energy. Most people don't have that kind of energy, do you?"

"Not by myself, but together with Kurama I think I do."

Zhou nods. "Naruto, I know that if you leave the empire's only alternative would be to destroy CheoCho and hope the affliction doesn't survive. But are you sure you won't leave? You are very important to a lot of people, to the rebellion. If you depart you could cure yourself of the virus and contain it in the city. You could even force your son to go with you. I want you to save my people, but are you sure you are ready to risk your life here?"

"I didn't think you would encourage me to leave," Naruto admits.

"I think the people of CheoCho would understand. Sometimes sacrifices are needed for the greater good."

"You can't sacrifice your principles," Naruto says. "The first time you do it, it's a small sacrifice to win the war. The next time you have already made a small sacrifice, what harm is a slightly bigger sacrifice? Then the war is over, but that sacrifice has been normalised, it starts to happen all over the world. Then when someone suffers there will be disagreements. When someone feels pain those disagreements will become fights. That fight will become another war and the cycle will start over again. The hardest part is breaking that cycle."

"But if you can't save us then there is no point in staying. What principle is there that says you must stay with us even then?"

"I think I can save you."

"But are you certain?" Zhou asks. "I don't know much about divine energy, but I do know about people. I see self-doubt within you."

Naruto thinks about it, self-doubt. Isn't it normal to be uncertain of your success? Maybe for normal people, but he always believed that he could change things, that is why he came to Homeworld. Now he realises that defeating Safura was the first part of a two-stage lesson. Nina wanted him to make others believe in him again, now he needs to learn something else, how to believe in himself again.

He feels that he let Sakura down when he failed to save her. Defeating Safura went some way towards restoring his self-belief, but was it a mere coincidence? Is he still the same man who has got them this far, through the 4th shinobi war and into Homeworld? Others are willing to trust him, but is he ready to trust himself again?

"Trust… my… judgement."

Naruto looks to the door to see Boruto leaning into doorframe, clutching at his abdomen.

"Boruto, if you won't let me cure you at least sit down!"

"Old man… you're not allowed… to question my… judgement," he says. "I came here because… I know that you… can save these people… so if you don't think… that you can do this… are you saying… that I was wrong… to trust you?"

"You weren't wrong Boruto. You can trust me."

"Can I believe in you?"

"You can believe in me."

"Now look at the Mayor again… tell her that I wasn't wrong… to bring you here…"

"He wasn't wrong to bring me here, Zhou," Naruto assures the mayor. "If you get people into groups and keep them as far apart as possible, I have enough energy to cure everyone. I have enough speed to cure everyone. I can cure everyone."

"Can?" Boruto says.

"I will cure everyone!"

Boruto smiles, that sounds more like the father he remembers.

In Response to S
Who requested a more detailed explanation of Fauna Blight

A more detailed explanation of Fauna Blight will be given in a future chapter.

Thanks for reading,
Me