AFFLICTIONS AND ROYALS – A PLAN FULFILLED

North-East Seblix

Naruto power-transfers to both legs and throws himself towards the bunker. Sabine creates a chain from golden 'chaos' energy and throws it towards him. The Hokage's One True Sense lets him see this coming, he twists his body at the last moment, evading the attack. However, the chain then clashes into a collection of beasts and guards, tying them and spinning them around at great velocity. One of these guards hits Naruto and knocks him back from his path and towards Sabine.

Didier uses golden 'leadership' energy to form a pair of arms. He strikes Sabine twice forcing her to take a single step back. He walks forward but steps on a golden 'chaos' trap left by Sabine, this causes some of his energy to fly in all directions, hurting both friends and foes. Not perturbed he steps forward again before jumping at Sabine. The Queen of Ewoa grabs Didier by the tail, swinging him over her head and painfully into the ground.

Sabine runs back into Naruto's path. He is still using Detonation Martial Arts to enhance the power of his legs. He throws himself left first as a feint, then to he throws himself to the right. Sabine falls for the feint, running to her right, but the stone she stepped on to move herself in that direction is forced back into Naruto's path, holding up for a second. Sabine uses that second to run back into his path and strike at the rebel.

Princess Emilie leaps through the air, tackling Naruto to the ground and out of the attack's path. She then turns, standing over him protectively as Sabine turns once more and looks to attack them. Sabine steps forward, but once more Didier tackles the Queen away from the Beast Princess and the rebel.

Sabine may love the chaos of the battle, but she has had enough of the Beast Kingdom's interference now. She slams her hand into the ground, throwing an intense cloud of dust up and into King Didier's eyes. He tries to act on instinct and successfully bites Sabine's shoulder, but the queen laughs maniacally. She punches up into Didier's gut, lifting him off her and forcing him to release his bite. When he is air-born she kicks him in the side, sending him scuttling back along the ground. Emilie tries to fill the void by dashing at Sabine, but the queen kicks her aside with even greater ease.

Once again, nothing between her and Naruto. But this time Didier is blind. Wuying grins. Working with Sabine has proven to the greatest decision of his life. He is treated with the same importance as the upper ranks of the Imperial Guard, and he will now be given some of the credit for eliminating Uzumaki Naruto. He has picked his allies wisely, and that ally made the perfect choice of whose power to seal.

Nearby Nadia smiles, it seems that Sabine's information has let her down again.

Sabine walks towards Naruto but she is hit by a rock, putting her on her back foot. She is surprised to see that even while he is blind Didier is still attacking her. She doesn't know how this is possible. Didier is blind at the moment. He may have tremendous beast instincts, but even he should struggle to fight so proficiently with his eyes closed. So, how does he do it? It is information that she lacks, but information that Nadia has always valued.

'The King's Eyes,' Nadia recalls. 'Didier is a class 9 warrior, naturally he has a divine ability. I've always been jealous of his ability. It gives him intelligence gathering powers superior to my own. The King's Eyes, those who accept him as their leader are designated as his subordinates, and he can see everything they can see. And in this battle that includes the rebels.'

Fighting with an out of body view is incredibly difficult. Even when that out of body view is crystal clear thanks to eyes of those like Uchiha Sasuke and Endou Hinata, it is not easy. Indeed, Didier's instincts cannot compare to Hannah's, but he is still the Beast King. With much practice, he has learned to fight while viewing his body from the eyes of another.

Didier kicks a stream of stones towards Sabine, continuing until he runs out of projectiles to throw at her. The Crazy Queen has become angry, swearing that the Beast King has stopped her for the last time. With no more stones to throw, Didier dares to engage Sabine one last time in melee combat. He charges at her, watching from over his own shoulder thanks to the instructions that Nadia has just given Sasuke.

Didier pounces towards Sabine and sinks his teeth deep into her arm. For anyone else it would be a game-changing injury, but she doesn't even react to the attack. Instead she has formed her energy into a golden 'chaos' blade. She waited until Didier's body blocked anyone else from seeing what was happening and drove the blade into his abdomen. She sighs, the Beast King has forced her to use more of her energy than she would have liked. However, as his grip on her arm loosens, her Super Healing divine ability kicks in and begins to fix her arm. Didier drops from her down to the ground, this time he will not be getting up again.

Naruto hesitates as he feels Didier's lifeforce become much weaker. Sabine uses this opportunity to run into his path. Naruto looks back at Didier, using his new powers to monitor the strength of his lifeforce from afar. Thankfully it seems that the Beast King will be OK, but now that is the least of his problems. Queen Sabine is standing in his way.

The only hope is that Didier has taken enough of Sabine's energy for him to defeat her. He power-transfers his Detonation Martial Arts to both arms and strikes her continuously. It is a non-stop flow of strikes and blocks. Sabine counters using only her arms to attack as well, she is surprised and excited by the strength of Naruto's arm, almost as powerful as a royal. If it were not for her Super Healing powers she may be worried about the damage that he is doing to her. However, since they both have remarkable recovery rates this is a true battle of attrition, and her power advantage means that she is sure to win.

Naruto power-transfers to his legs and tries to leap backwards. Sabine predicts this accurately and steps forward at just the right moment, striking him and just clipping his chest, forcing him back just a little bit faster. When Naruto comes to a halt he feels remarkable pain, even golden 'life' energy is slow to dull it.

"Hey Kurama, do you have any ideas?"

"Keep fighting!"

"There is no way we can win like this. Nadia said that we could defeat her, was she lying?"

"That doesn't matter now, all we can do is fight. So fight Naruto. Fight!"

Sasuke sees the hopeless situation Naruto is in. He wishes he could get free to help but he is currently occupied with a squad of guards himself. In between blocking a pair of attacks he looks at Nadia who is still watching the fight from behind. He sees her reach into her pocket and withdraw a royal-grade communication stone. There is still a smile on her face. That can only mean one thing. This is all still going according to her plan.

"Beasts of the sky," Nadia says with the communication stone. "Are you ready?"

Suddenly dozens of beasts fly up above the battlefield. They spiral inward around a central point, gradually organising themselves into a formation with the small and nimble birds at the front and the large birds at the back. The birds at the front fly slightly lower than the ones at the back, pointing downwards towards the ongoing fight between Naruto and Sabine.

Naruto power-transfers to one arm and one leg. He creates a golden 'life' enhanced Rasengan and leaps at Sabine. He pushes the Rasengan towards her but misses as she dodges skilfully to the side. He dissipates the Rasengan, power-transferring to both arms and begins to exchange strikes with her again. If he cannot outmanoeuvre her with his speed, he has only one choice for how to continue with this fight. Nadia knows this.

Naruto and Sabine continue to exchange blows for ten seconds before the former receives a message.

"Naruto, back now!" Nadia says.

Naruto leaps backwards. An army of birds dives over his head, attacking in ranks. Line after line of them dive towards Sabine, gathering their divine energy beneath them and releasing at her like a bomb. It is one mighty beast attack, when all this energy combine, it hits Sabine and wears her down. However, as she is worn down the power she can contribute to her Super Healing divine ability decreases.

"Forward!" Nadia says.

Naruto power-transfers to both legs and leaps forward. He power-transfers to both arms and begins to exchange blows with Sabine. Meanwhile the birds return to the sky and start getting back in formation. Naruto and Sabine's exchange of attacks continues for seven seconds this time before Nadia's miracle happens. For just one moment, Naruto's speed eclipses the fatigued Queen Sabine's, and he lands a strike to her shoulder. It is just one moment, but it is a clean hit before they return to blocking each other's attacks.

"Back!"

Naruto leaps back.

"Dive!"

The birds dive from above, hitting Sabine in ranks with their combined attack.

"Forward."

Naruto and Sabine exchange attacks for five seconds. Naruto breaks through her guard, landing three clean strikes before she starts to block again. Neither he nor Kurama can believe what is happening. With Nadia's plan and the Beast Kingdom's numbers they really have the upper hand against the most powerful royal.

"Back!"

Naruto leaps back. No longer needing instructions, the birds dive, hitting Sabine with everything they have yet again. When they are done Naruto leaps forward, breaking through Sabine's guard after only one second. He manages to hit her seven times unanswered and even manages to take a step forward. Sabine takes a wild swing at the 7th Hokage but he ducks beneath it. Naruto recognises the opening, he creates a golden 'life' enhanced Rasengan and hits Sabine with it, this time connecting with his target.

Sabine is forced three steps back and the birds get ready to dive again. Sabine makes a crucial mistake, looking up and anticipating their attack. Instead Naruto power-transfers to both legs and dives forward, skidding along the ground he hits her leg with a Rasengan, taking the Queen of Ewoa down to her knees. Naruto quickly gets back up, power-transferring to both arms and attacks Sabine continuously. He hits her again and again, but she has no answer for his attacks, no defence that she can mount.

Hinata can scarcely believe what she is seeing. Only her father has ever defeated Sabine. Is Naruto going to be the second person to do it?

Sabine has only one option left. She reaches into her pocket and uses her own communication stone.

"Wuying! Seal his powers!" she says.

"Queen Sabine I—"

"Do it!"

Wuying rushes forward, grabbing the much more powerful Naruto by the shoulder. He uses his Energy Sealing divine ability to lock away Naruto's powers. Of course this still leaves Naruto with his chakra-based powers, still a class 3 warrior but much weaker than before. However, both he and Sabine have failed to realise the true consequence of his actions.

They have reduced Naruto to a class 3 warrior, but even with chakra he is dangerous. Sabine doesn't have enough energy left to use her Super Healing divine ability. Naruto's Truth-Seeking Orbs are an attack much easier for her to endure, but he continues to attack. He attacks furiously with all the energy he can spare, determined that he will make this royal fall before him. He has resolved to defeat her in his mind.

But Naruto too has overlooked something.

There is a genius behind them.

'I win,' Nadia declares in her mind.

As Wuying seals Naruto's powers, Nadia's full class 9 energy returns to her!

Nadia begins to walk forward, now the battlefield is hers. Guards run at her trying to stop her from progressing, but that is impossible. She activates her golden 'mind' cloak and swings her hands out to the side. Battle has never been her strong point, but it doesn't need to be here. Compared to these guards her strength is overwhelming, she casually throws her energy at them to supress them easily as she marches towards the front of the battlefield.

'You are all such fools. You really should have seen this coming. Sabine, from the moment you took Swen hostage I knew you had no intention of releasing him honourably, defeating you became my only option. Did you think I brought Uzumaki Naruto here as part of our deal? Ridiculous, I brought him here because he had just cured Fauna Blight in CheoCho. A man like him, it was obvious that his next step was to try recruiting the Beast Kingdom.

'That was an open invitation for me. There was one significant hurdle to earning their trust, Hannah. Hannah's instincts would tell them if I intended to deceive them. So I gambled on my ability to steer our conversations in the right direction, and I swore to myself that no matter what they asked I would tell the truth. That's exactly what I did. I never once lied to them, they were just asking the wrong questions, my questions.

'With my own powers gone I needed to find somebody who could defeat you. King Didier, the Beast Kingdom, the rebels, working together I knew they could all do it, but only if they followed my instructions. The plan was simple, first I would send the Beast King after you and I would send Naruto in the other direction. I knew that while Naruto was distracting you Didier would wear you down, he did his job splendidly.

'Then I organised the birds to attack you repeatedly, and I just let Naruto hit you as much as he could with that strange power of his. Defeating you in a battle of attrition is almost impossible, but I assembled the only team who could and I forced you into a situation where you had only one way out. You had to stop Naruto attacking you, and there was only one person who could weaken him as required, Wuying.

'But you were foolish to overlook the consequences of your actions Sabine. When you were finally at your weakest you desperately tried to weaken the opponent in front of you. You forgot about the limitation on Wuying's power, he can only seal one person's power at a time. When you sealed Naruto's divine energy you released the most dangerous opponent of all, me!

'You have left a battlefield of injured and tired soldiers, but I have no injuries, no fatigue. You have left a battlefield where I am free to decide who lives and who dies, where I have all the power. Every last one of you has been playing into my hands this entire time, and you have left a situation with only one possible victor. And that victor, is me!'

Naruto is running low even on chakra. He pulls back his hand, creates a Rasengan and pushes it towards Sabine.

Nadia bursts past him, dragging Sabine out of the Rasengan's path. However, she has no intention of being merciful. She lifts the powerless Queen of Ewoa into the air and slams her back down into the ground. Nadia is pleased because Sabine no longer has the power to recover from the attack. This is now undoubtedly her complete victory.

Nadia smirks. "Perhaps you would like to beg for your life, Sabine?"

Sabine laughs. "Looks like you win."

"You will use your communication stone to send a message to Ewoa. You will command your subordinates to release Swen and his son immediately. Swen's royal-grade communication stone will be returned to him and I will only guarantee your safety when I hear him tell me that he is free."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I will kill you and free them myself."

As Sabine looks up at Nadia she hears Swen's words echo in her head.

'You've made a dangerous enemy. Any other royal and you might have been able to control them, but not her. There is no trap that she cannot escape, no plan that she can't take apart. She has probably already worked out how to defeat you. Sabine, if you play this game with her, you will lose.'

It looks like Swen was right.

Sabine reluctantly orders the release of Swen and Ming Dai with her royal-grade communication stone. This is perhaps the most humiliating moment of her life. She has been defeated by supreme power before, by a man just as strong as herself who went on to become the emperor. This time her defeat did not come at the hands of a more powerful opponent, it came at the hands of an opponent who was three steps ahead of her this entire time. Even with no divine energy Nadia constructed a plan that made her look foolish. Queen Mauer Sabine is the most powerful royal, but now she feels powerless.

Naruto's eyes meet Nadia's. It has been a long time since he hasn't had divine energy. In his own world his chakra made him one of the strongest beings alive, here it means very little. He is looking at a powerful royal who has not expended any of her energy. His own energy has been sealed. The Beast King is down and will not recover for this fight. The remainder of his allies are all tired. Right now, Nadia looks very hostile to him.

If Nadia has betrayed them, how can he possibly fight back?

In Response to secret love writer
Who asks how Michel is pronounced

Believe it or not, I've never had cause to say it aloud.
As you have probably realised the Beast Clan's names are French in origin.

I believe it should be pronounced mi-shell.

I'm open to being corrected though.

If you're interested in the nomenclature I've used it's as follows:

Former Empire and War Council - Japanese
New Empire - German
Aristocrats - Spanish
Imperial Guard - Moroccan
Beast Clan - French
Military - English
Mercenary - Named after planets
Others - Chinese

Other than the former empire these were all chosen at random.
The former empire uses Japanese names because of Hinata connecting Naruto's pocket-world with Homeworld.

Thanks for reading.

In Response to S
Who asks if Energy Sealing would work on Jonas

Yes, if he were caught by surprise.

Thanks for reading.

In Response to Hestia is Bestia
Who asks if there is a map of Homeworld

I created one with an online map maker.
I would upload it here but I don't believe that is possible.

Thanks for reading.

In Response to Guest
Who asks what class Isshiki would be

Sorry, I did notice this question before, I don't know why I didn't answer it.

Truthfully I'm not certain.
If I'm honest my interpretation of chakra based powers is purely subjective for the sake of enabling this story's narrative.

If I had to guess either a strong 3 or a weak 4.

Thanks for reading.

In Response to rasengan1245
Who asks various questions

Q1: How do you get a shinobi point?
A1: There is no exact science behind it. I made it up for the sake of the story. It was mostly based on the matches from the captained-six contest.

Q2: Are some elements are stronger than others?
A2: Yes, they have different applications. Naruto's 'life' energy makes him an excellent healer. Jonas' 'destruction' energy is probably the strongest purely-offensive element.

Q3: Are the other Hokage going to be fighting more?
A3: Some, but not much I'm afraid. Sorry about that.

Q4: Could you change the story rating back, I haven't received updates since January.
A4: The rating has only changed in the last couple of days, the lack of notifications is probably because of a different issue. I'll consider reducing the rating.

Thanks for reading.