Titania and The Hunter
Chapter 19: Damnation In the Rain
Anime news: The guy who drew up Gintama is taking over the characters designs! Last year I said I hoped the series pulls a Gintama, had no idea I was foreshadowing it! Which means we won't have anymore more of the animation flops we had near the end of the series before it went on hiatus! Also, I'm really, realllllly hoping they can show blood now. Don't know why I want that, just always put me off that they can take such damage but never bleed. And if they start bleeding, that means they can show the most recent manga stuff without having to censor it too bad.
And then in manga news: Natsu. Lisanna. Mira. Elfman. Jellal. And Erza...oh god Erza.
Also, even considering all the crazy stuff I've written, I still think this may have been one of the darkest things I've ever written so far. So...fair warning.
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The Damnation army was one of the most vile and feared independent guilds in the history of Earthland. They had recruited the worst of the worst from every corner of the world. They had committed crimes and acts of violence that terrified most anybody that heard them. Just the mention of their name would cause most people to run away to safety and escape their brutal methods.
But even for all these criminals and bastards of society, they were frightened of 'The Tyrant King Alexander Sorrento' more than anything else.
This was a man who stole a prototype of one of the strongest weapons in magical society from the government and wiped an entire town off the map.
He escaped capture from the joint forces of the Magic Council and The Royal Guard and left nothing but mangled corpses to be sent back home.
He waged war on the guilds of Fiore and the other nations of Earthland and still walked away a free man.
Legal and Dark Guilds were all the same to him if they stood in his way.
And if that wasn't enough to affirm his position as leader, he taught one of the strongest, most forbidden spells he had ever learnt to almost a dozen other potential mages and just used them to defeat two men.
They didn't even have the guts to call him out on killing almost a hundred of his fallen subordinates just to take the shot.
Sorrento stood there silent and unmoving as he looked over the damage he had done. 11 Abyss Breaks, all fired simultaneously at the same target, left irreparable damage to the landscape. The mountain side and forest were no more, nothing left but grey ash and dust.
Like a scar on the face of the world.
The black clouds over their heads started to rumble and cry. A storm started to settle over miles of land as lightning sheared through the sky. Sorrento just kept his focus on the destruction he caused while everything around him just faded out of mind...
"M...er...
"Ma...r...
"Jii-chan!"
Sorrento was shaken out of his stupor when his 3rd Division General yelled at him. He looked back at the much younger woman behind him, "Wh-what? What's wrong?"
Marika and Uvogin walked forward with concern covering their faces. Uvogin stepped forward, "Master, the fight's over. I...don't think there is anything left for us to search for."
Sorrento looked back over the scarred earth he had made, "Yes...I believe you are right."
Marika looked up at the large swordsman, "Should we...gather who we've got left and make a retreat back to our bases?"
"No!" Sorrento said as his daze faded and he looked at his two most loyal followers with persistence, "We must take our raid on Fairy Tail while we still have the element of surprise."
"Jii-chan we can't do that! Our forces are beaten and injured! We aren't at full force right now! If we just take the time to gather our resources again and heal our injured, we can attack the guild again with no problems."
Sorrento turned towards his Generals and shook his head. "No. This has to be today. Fairy Tail is loyal to each other, following their comrades to any fight as long as they can still move. And if we wait any longer, the Council and Kingdom will hear about the raid and attack us as we heal. Our men can still fight and we can personally take care of any of the Mages that pose a serious threat."
The two infamous Generals looked from their leader towards each other with uncertainty to his plans. Until his wrinkled old hands rested on their shoulders, "Marika...Uvogin...this has been the shadow cast on my life since I made that mistake fifty years ago. I can't make up for that mistake and I can't ask for forgiveness. All I can do is try to put it behind me."
He looked between them with a pleading look, "Please...help me bury my sins."
The two S-Class criminals looked between each other before steeling their resolves and nodding their heads. Marika turned towards the assembled army, "All right maggots! On with the plan! We're taking Fairy Tail tonight!"
Some of the men started to argue and mummer about the decision before Uvogin roared and caused them to jump back in fear. They started to scramble towards their magic four-wheelers around the hill range. The black clouds over their heads started to shake and rain started to pour down on them intensely.
Marika drove in with their personal car with Uvogin jumping in the back. She popped her head out of the window, "Jii-chan! Hurry up! Let's go!"
Sorrento ignored the rain and took one last look at the battlefield where he had finally ended his fifty year grudge with Hashirama. The purpose he had obsessed himself with for so many years...the man he had hunted after for so long...and it was over. He should have been excited and happy but he felt so...
Empty.
He bowed his head in respect to his old enemy before jumping in the back of the four-wheeler, "Marika! Go through the forest! We're taking the other path!"
Every four-wheeler started to drive off before the damaged mountain was left barren and lifeless. Not a single member of Damnation was left.
The downpour started to wash the ash and dust down the hill. As the grime started to wash away, it sunk to reveal a small trench in the middle of the blast zone. And after most of it washed away, it passed to reveal a feeble, broken wooden semi-dome.
It crumbled to ruins to reveal several mangled, disfigured corpses that were ruined by the mass magic attack. Some of them were missing body parts, others had entire sections of their body blown away to reveal the bone and tissue underneath.
The bodies started to jostle around and topple over as something struggled to push them up. The bodies fell off the injured blond and the white-haired man on top of him.
Naruto grabbed his chest, feeling a few of his ribs had cracked and maybe broken because of the force of the blast. His right arm was singed with most of his sleeve burnt off because of the intense heat. The skin on the outside of his legs was shredded and had blood seeping down them.
He looked around at the damage caused by the unstoppable magic attack and couldn't believe he was still alive. Before everything was covered in a blinding light and creeping darkness, he remembered the old Damnation man creating a magic circle with almost a dozen other people. And for one of the few times in his entire life, Naruto felt sheer hopelessness in the face of that man's determination to kill them.
But just as he thought it was the end...just as he thought he was going to die...
Hashirama dove in and tackled him to the ground. Several Damnation members followed to tackle them and finish the fight there. In an instant the old Hokage raised several wooden barriers to protect them. But the moment the Abyss Breaks impacted against the shield, most of them evaporated into dust.
If they weren't underneath the blast, shielded by more than a dozen other people and guarded by several Mokuton walls then they would have instantly been killed.
Naruto anxiously looked around for evidence of any more of the Damnation army still around. He breathed out in relief when he saw they were no longer being targeted by the powerful criminals. He grabbed Hashirama's shoulder and started to help him up, "C'mon Hashi-Ji, they're gone now. We've got to warn every-"
Naruto felt a warm sensation press against his hand when he touched the old man. He slowly raised his hand and looked at the crimson blood stained all over his hand and arm. Horror struck his face before he slowly looked down at the man resting against him.
He finally noticed that he was lying in a pool of blood pouring out of the stubs that were once the elder Senju's legs. They had been completely blasted off and only the uneven bones were left coming out as blood sputtered out of them. His entire back was shredded and burned, revealing the furthest points of his spine out of his back. And he was lying against Naruto, unmoving.
Naruto's heart went cold, "HASHI-JI!"
He grabbed the old man and lowered him back so that Naruto could get a better look at him. His face was going pale and his eyes were almost shut. Naruto carefully shook him, getting no response. He panicked and started tapping against the Senju's cheek, "Hashi-Ji? C-come on, open your eyes."
Slowly, Hashirama's eyes started to open again to reveal weak, hazy brown eyes. They slowly blinked before they caught sight of the fearful blond looking down at him. He turned his head towards the frightened whiskered boy, "N...Naru...to..?"
Naruto had a uneasy smile when he heard the old man wheeze out his name, "Y-yeah, yeah old man I'm here."
Hashirama slowly rotated his eyes around the area to see nothing but dead bodies and grime in the middle of the downpour. He swallowed, "Are...are you...okay?"
"Me-yeah. Yeah I'm fine. Thanks to you." Naruto gave a weak laugh as Hashirama smiled at his condition.
"Good...that's good..." The old Senju tried to sit up but found himself unable to stand up. "I guess...I got hurt pretty bad...cause I can't even feel it anymore..."
"Y-yeah..." Naruto said as he looked over the damage the old man had sustained, feeling blood seep through his hands as he held the man up. He smiled down at him, "But this ain't too bad compared to what we usually deal with, right? Like remember when Erza and Mahiro beat us up because we didn't change Koyuki's diapers? Th-that was pretty bad, hehe."
Hashirama chuckled at the reminder of that old memory. Before he coughed and blood started to coat his chin. Naruto's eyes widened in horror and he summoned the Sky sword into his blood-soaked hand, "It's all right Hashi-Ji! Just stay still!"
He pressed it against the injured man's body and sent his magic through the blade, causing it to emanate a low emerald glow. He waited for the magic item to take its effect and heal the broken man...but...
It was barely working.
The blood was still flowing and the wounds were still open.
Naruto's eyes shrunk in horror as he came close to hyperventilating. He looked over the blade and the injured man, "Wh-what's wrong? Why-why isn't it working?!"
Before the realization hit him again. Hashirama only had chakra, and he already had this similar problem years ago. Hashirama gave a weak smile and lowered his head a little, "I don't have any magic Naruto...and magic healing like that won't work for someone like me..."
"Fuck!" Naruto tossed the blade away and held the man again, "F-fine! Then-then let's just head back home! Baa-chan can heal you! If she could put me back together then I'm sure she can fix you! Just wait, I'll-"
Hashirama gripped Naruto's arm, causing him to stop and look down at the bloody man. His eyes were faded and weak and he wasn't even looking up at the blond. He took his time to gather his strength again, "Naruto...I'm...I'm sorry for all of this..."
Naruto felt a lump in his throat, "N-no Hashi-Ji! If you didn't try to protect me-"
"I was going to die here anyway Naruto...fighting these people alone would have been too much...even for me..." He struggled to lift his head and smiled at the blond, "So thank you...for being at my side...until the end..."
"No!" Naruto defied loudly, "No! You'll be all right Hashi-Ji! Everything'll be fine!"
"Naruto...I know...this is a hard decision...but I need to make a request..." Hashirama swallowed some of the blood pooling in his mouth, "Protect them...watch over everyone...the kids...Markarov-Dono...Koyuki...Mahiro and Erza...it's hard but...someone needs to watch out for them...and I know you can protect them...like you always do..."
Naruto's entire body was ridged as the old Senju's voice started to weaken until it was barely a whisper. He wanted to assure the old man in his arms that he would make it back home and be able to see everyone again. But...he just didn't have the heart to lie anymore.
Naruto just nodded his head, "Yeah. O-okay Hashi-Ji. I promise."
Hashirama gave a faint smile and tightened his grip on the boy's arm, "Thank you Naruto...for giving me another chance...and helping me find the light again..."
"Thank you..."
Hashirama's hand went limp and fell off Naruto's arm. Naruto felt a chill go through his back as Hashirama's head fell forward and his eyes slowly shut. He just looked down at the unmoving man in his arms and choked a little.
He gave a weak chuckle and grabbed the man a little tighter, "H-hey...Hashi-Ji, that ain't funny. That's a bad joke. C'mon, wake up."
He didn't get a response.
Naruto shook him a little more, "Seriously, c-c'mon, wake up."
Nothing.
Naruto sat their with the dead body in his arms, ignorant of the storm overhead that drenched him. Tears started to form in the corner of his eyes before they started falling on the body of his old comrade. He held the deceased man in a hug and cried. He took the burnt cloak off his back and placed it over the man he had honored and cherished like family. And threw his head back-
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
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The convoy of Damnation members drove through the grass-lands towards the town over the range. One of the cars had several members who were looking out the window at the clouds overhead. One of them sighed and adjusted in his seat, "I can't believe we are going straight to fighting that Fairy guild. Can we even manage to fight them now that we've lost so many of our guys?"
"Stop worrying. We still have more then three times the numbers of people in our group than them and we can still fight." Another one of the group added as he was focused on healing a bruise on his arm, "Plus Uvogin-sama is traveling with the 3rd General and the Master to flank the Fairies from the side. Most of them will be dead so we won't have to worry about sustaining any more damage."
"Yes but I hear that the guild has dozen of talented and skilled mages. And their master is a Wizard Saint just like Sorrento was back in the day. We have to prepare for casualties and-"
"Hey guys?" The driver of their four-wheeler called out to the group inside the wagon, "I think something's up with the stars in the sky."
One member looked at the driver like he was speaking gibberish, "You idiot, you can't see the stars. There a storm, the sky is covered."
"Then what the hell are those lights in the sky?"
They looked up to see dozens of sparkling lights shine underneath the storm cover. The lights shined even brighter for a moment and started falling towards the four-wheelers.
"Starlight Raining."
Light started impacting over the mass area of the plain, destroying and wrecking dozens of the four-wheelers used by Damnation. All of the forces not affected by the attack exited their vehicles and looked at the damage, "What the-"
Instantly, a silver-winged angel appeared in front of them with a sword in each hand and several floating behind her. She looked up at them with pure unbridled fury in her mismatched eyes...
"Circle Sword!"
The vehicles were cut up along with every criminal she could reach. From behind her, a tall shadow ran as fast as he could and jumped up in the air. He came back down and punched the ground beneath him, using his Crash to destroy everything around him.
Another man came forward and clapped his hands together, creating lighting between his hands. He jumped up and dropped down on one of the four-wheelers, destroying it and sending out an electric pulse in every direction.
After the destruction settled, the members of Damnation pulled themselves out of the wreckage to get a better look at their attackers.
A tall shirtless man with bright orange hair and a vicious scowl on his face.
A muscular blond man with a lightning bolt scar over his right eye with sparks appearing all over his body.
The blond woman looked at each member of the despicable criminal militia in complete contempt as her Light magic caused her body to shine.
And finally, the scarlet-haired girl in the silver armor was doing everything she could to hold back from cutting every bastard and whore in front of her to pieces.
And walking down the middle path between all of these incredibly powerful mages was a short man in a funny hat. His eyes were covered by the edge of his hat, "I thought it was too much that you would come all the way to our town and detonate a bomb. Normally, we would try to avoid conflict with all of you...but, you threatened one of our family. And now..."
Makarov started to slowly get bigger and bigger until his Titan magic made him the size of a large building. He glared down at them with pure white eyes, "You fucked with the wrong family."
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The three Generals of the criminal militia looked at the battlefield from their post in the forest range. The three strongest members of the pseudo-guild had planned to drive through the forest that continued on all the way to Magnolia so that they could ambush the famous legal guild.
Let the subordinates rush and attack the weaker members while the Generals take out the S-Class mages.
But they had never anticipated, in any scenario, that the S-Class mages would come to them and fight.
They watched as the gargantuan sized master of the guild swiped his hands and crushed a dozen of their men in a single attack. Marika looked at the fight in amazement, "Wow! I've heard the rumors but these guys are awesome! They're taking out our guys like fodder."
Uvogin gripped the massive sword on his back in anticipation as he watched the skilled fighters fend off his men. He smiled viciously as he spotted someone that caught his eyes, "So that's the Ace of Fairy Tail, huh? Gildarts Clive. Hehehe, I always wanted to kill someone famous like that."
"You sure you can? I bet he would just plant his hand in your gut and-" Her head was cut off before she could finish before it floated in the air and reattached itself to her neck. She looked over at the tall man and stuck her tongue out at him before looking down at the fight, "Me...I kinda want to try myself against that little red-head. She's so cute, and looks like she's got a ton of energy...I wanna break her. I bet her screams would be like an exciting melody to keep me going."
Uvogin took a step forward before he looked at the massive man destroying the area around him, "But that big guy is the master of the guild. Which means he's a Wizard Saint. And despite my eagerness, I'm not all that fond of facing an angry Wizard Saint after killing his lackeys."
Marika looked back and smiled at the old man leaning against the four-wheeler, "Jii-chan?"
Sorrento opened his eyes and looked at the Fairy mages fight over the entire grassy plain. He uncrossed his arms and walked forward until he passed his companions. He clenched his fist and released ripples of Shock magic off of his hands. He furrowed his eyes towards his enemies, "They came all the way here to find us...it'd be rude for us not to say hello."
Uvogin and Marika smiled at that. They started making their way towards th-
*BOOM*
They were shocked by the loud bang and turned around to see their four-wheeler as nothing more but blazing scrap metal. A silhouette in the center of the large fire was facing them, hidden by the intense flames.
Sorrento's eye widen when he felt a familiar but fundamentally different intent being aimed at him. His eye deepened and he couldn't find his voice. He thought it was too easy. That everything he had aimed for in the last fifty years was so quickly resolved that there was just no chance it was really over. He was almost...
Relieved.
He took a step forward, "Hashirama?"
The fire separated to reveal the whiskered boy with a red and sky blue sword in each hand. The fire he had separated had grown and spread far enough that it started to burn the trees around it. The blond slowly stepped forward until he was several yards away from the disgraced former Saint.
The boy's eyes were out of sight due to his ragged hair shadowing them. His clothes were torn and burnt from the fighting. His injuries were still open and he had blood stains all over his clothes. And the sheer cold presence he was exuding was like nothing he had ever released before.
Uvogin looked at the boy who had survived the powerful blast and didn't know what to say. He narrowed his eyes, "That...can't be possible."
Marika was actually very impressed that the little boy that interfered with the fight was the one to survive. She just wanted to rush him that instant and break him piece by piece. Ooohhhhhh~, she was getting excited already.
Sorrento stared at the unknown man he had seen stand by Hashirama's side in the fight not more than thirty minutes ago. He glared at the young man, "Boy...what of Hashirama? Did he survive like you?"
He didn't get any sort of answer from the Fairy Mage. He grew impatient, "I asked you a question. What happened-"
"He told me..." Naruto drowned out in an empty and cold voice, "Hashi-Ji told me...about how much he regretted what he did to you. How he had spent years thinking of ways he could have changed things or stopped what happened in Tonewa from ever happening again. And all he wanted to do was apologize to you. For everything he did wrong."
He just gnashed his teeth and gripped the swords in his hands even tighter, "But now he can't..."
Sorrento noticed how he said that and came to the realization that his old foe was truly gone. He slowly closed his eyes and shook his head, "It doesn't matter. We can try to apologize and make up for what we've done but the sins of our pasts are etched into us for the rest of our lives. And they will stay with us even after we are gone."
He looked back up towards the inconsolable blond boy, "I'll go down as 'The Tyrant King' that parents will tell their children of like a horror story. And Hashirama will always be the fool that tried to change his world but only helped destroy another. That won't change, even now that he's-"
All Uvogin and Marika felt was an insanely loud explosion before a barrier of wind nearly threw them off their feet. The boy had instantly disappeared from one position, cratered the very ground he had sprinted off of and rammed his sword with the intent of killing the old former Wizard Saint.
Sorrento had immediately reacted by raising his hand and catching the sky blue blade's tip between his fingers. He moved his head out of the way as a massive gust of wind shot out and shredded half a dozen trees to splinters. Leaving only a thin scratch on his wrinkly old face.
Naruto gripped the red sword in his hand hard enough that fire started to form over its blade. He snarled his teeth in pure disdain for the leader of Damnation, "He wanted to ask for forgiveness. But it's useless to ask it from someone like you. You're too far gone. He wanted to help you but..."
He slowly looked back up and locked his eyes with the old man. But that confidence, bravado and will he showed fighting alongside Hashirama was gone. Now his blue and brown eyes were different. They were icy. Ferocious. Determined. Unwavering. Like something he would see in his Gernerals' eyes when they were focused on killing their target.
They were eyes of a killer.
Eyes of a demon.
"...But no more. No more second chances. No more mercy. You aren't leaving."
Just as Naruto was about to follow through with a second attack, he felt the intent to kill being aimed at his back. All his training and experience helped him react by ducking under the wide roundhouse kick that was aimed at his skull. And then jumped over the insanely quick blade that tired to mutilate his legs.
In between the two attacks from the furious Generals, Naruto used his chakra to push off the ground and gain distance from the powerful criminals. But the moment he turned back around, the hulking swordsman already had his sword back for a full arc swing.
Naruto parried the heavy strike with the two dragon swords before he had to bring them back to guard from the returning strike. He struggled to block the overwhelming speed and power from such a bulky sword as sparks flew in every direction. But Naruto did not falter. He put as much strength as he could in blocking the huge sword as Uvogin continued his barrage.
Naruto sensed the other General appear behind him and prepare to pierce him in the back with her hand. He reacted and used his Armor to coat his torso in a dense magic field. But even with the powerful shield of magic, her strike dug into his back and made a little blood spill out between his teeth.
Uvogin used this chance Marika gave him to cleave the Fairy Mage in half. But the blond boy lifted the sky blue sword up and used wind to try and deter the massive sword.
Which didn't change the power and speed it already gained and completely shattered the Wind Dragon sword to pieces. Naruto used that chance to activate the Fire Dragon sword and with his Wind chakra, created an intense ball of fire around him.
Marika and Uvogin jumped back from the inferno before it jumped in the air and dispersed, leaving the boy to land on his feet. He looked back up at them with the same cold eyes and gripped the Fire sword with both hands.
The Third Division General of the Damnation army lowered herself into a long martial arts stance and faced the whiskered boy. The Second Division General held his massive sword up in his own defensive stance in front of his Guild Master. And the First Division General just walked over to a tree and watched as the fight commenced.
########Hunter########
In Magnolia, the danger from the bombing had started to subside. The civilians had all run into Kardia Cathedral in the center of town until it was declared safe for them to come out again.
On the edge of town, the Fairy Tail guild had a tense atmosphere around it. If you looked inside, you would see the worried, conflicted and concerned face of each and every one of the members' faces.
"DAMN IT! LET ME GO!" Natsu roared as he tried to squirm out of Elfman's iron lock and flailed his legs around.
"Natsu! Calm down!" Lisanna tried to calm him down while she held a frightened Happy in her arms, "Master told us to stay here while they are gone!"
"How can we just sit here and do nothing?! Mahiro and Erza ran off because Hashirama-jichan and Naruto disappeared! And Jii-chan, Gildarts and Laxus followed them!" Natsu said with a dire need to move in his eyes, "We need to help them!"
Elfman struggled to keep him in place, "We can't Natsu!"
"Why not?!"
Macao looked at the boy like he was an ignorant child, "Master told us to stay because we would only get in the way!"
Wakaba stood out of his seat and glared at Macao, "That's never stopped us before!"
"You idiot! Are you going against the Master's order?!"
"I'm going against the idea that we should just leave them alone out there!"
"That's it!" Gray yelled as he started walking towards the door, "We have to follow after them! They'll need all the help they can get!"
"No Gray!" Cana screamed as she grabbed his arm to stop him, "If Jii-San only called out guys like Laxus and Gildarts, this would be too much for us!"
"Naruto and Hashirama-jisan are out there! Erza and Mahiro can't find them! Our family is out there by themselves and we're just sitting here with our thumbs up our asses!"
"Do you really think we all just want to sit here?! We want to be out there too! But Master told us to stay here and protect the town from anymore more attacks just in case!"
The guild started to break. Members start to argue and yell at each other. Everyone had their own view about what to do while their master and the S-Class mages were out there doing whatever it was that was taking so long.
Sitting at one of the tables with her arms around her knees, Levy silently sobbed. Her shoulders were shaking and there were tiny tears coming out the side of her eyes, "It's happening again. Just like before. All of it again."
Mira was ignoring all the infighting happening around her. She was just staring out the guild door as the rain poured outside. Every fiber in her being was yelling at her to run through the street, past the town and join up with Erza and the others.
But she had Koyuki safely held in her arms. Mahiro left her with the job of protecting the little girl while they were gone. And that was the most important thing she could do right now. They left her here to protect the guild and the town. And she was going to do whatever she could to fulfill that wish.
Koyuki looked out at the stormy grey clouds and worried about everyone that fought around her. Her eyes watered a little, "M...Mama..."
########Hunter########
"AAAHHHHHHHH!"
Naruto swung the sword with as much force as possible, creating a huge arc of fire that scorched the ground it hit. He kept swinging it out and adding to the already massive forest fire that surrounded them. But no matter how fast or how big he made the flames, it was all in vain because he couldn't hit his target.
"Ahahahaha! C'mon kiddo! Where's all that anger and certainty you had before?"
Marika teased as she laughed and flipped over the blond boy's attempt to cut and burn her. She was just chuckling as Naruto desperately swung his sword out until it was nothing but a red blur. But the experienced martial artist just kept stepping back and avoiding the sword by a hair's breadth, smiling at the poor blond.
Naruto grew even angrier at her playful demeanor in their fight and gathered his Wind chakra into his legs. He spun and kicked at her descending form, sending two fast waves of sharp air at her falling body. The Justu impacted, slicing her apart and destroying the trees standing behind her.
But Naruto was shocked to see the body parts flying in the air before connecting again and reforming the woman who playfully stuck her tongue out at him, "Hehehe, gotta try a little harder than that."
Uvogin just shook his head tiredly. This woman sure loved to play with her prey before she finally got around to finishing up.
Naruto gritted his teeth and dove forward, slicing through the woman but just getting angrier when she put herself back together. He even increased the flames around the blade but she just widened the separation to be just out of reach. He swung and he swung as hard as he could as she laughed wholeheartedly at his attempts.
She was just fucking toying with him.
Naruto made a wide slash at her neck but instead of letting it cut her, Marika just leaned back. And the playful look in her eyes turned fierce, a horrible smirk growing on her face. She tensed her muscles and swung her arms in, impacting on both sides of the blade and actually shattering the steel. Naruto was left in stunned shock until Marika stepped in and started landing fast and devastatingly strong blows against the left side of his body.
Naruto felt blood come up in his mouth but didn't let it stop him. He used his prosthetic to block her punch long enough to grab the hilt of his black sword and slice her from hip to shoulder. And as the severed body floated in front of him, he put his Armor around his fist and attempted to cripple her but she just jumped back and watched as he completely destroyed the earth beneath him.
He didn't waste a second as he dove through the dust cloud, yelling at the top of his lungs and slicing through the woman with the Kokuryū blade. But it still didn't add up to anything.
Marika decided to stop playing around and closed her hands into strong knife-hands. She twisted her hands and threw them into his chest, feeling her fingertips dig through his skin. She had stunned him as she kept her Nukite attacks up, piercing into his flesh and feeling some of his blood drip down her hand.
Naruto kept the pain down and pulled the black sword up, slicing the woman straight through the middle. But even though she was split in half, she was still standing and smiling like a sadistic monster. She pulled herself back together and side-kicked him in the gut, feeling the boy's stomach rupture a little from her powerful strike.
Naruto's eyes widened and blood poured out of his mouth, flying backwards before rolling on the ground. Marika just laughed again as she watched the injured boy struggle to pull himself up to his knees. She started skipping towards him, "You're actually a lot of fun! Super strong! Always have something up your sleeve! And you're still ready to play even though your gut is probably feelin' like mush right now. But hey, I think this little playtime is about over now, huh? Soooooo~, I think I'll start by breakin' your legs. And then I'll move up to every bone in your arms. After that-"
Naruto yelled and pulled out a shining white sword from his Requip space. He skewered it through the side of her head to shut her up, piercing through her temple and literally separating her eyes horizontally. Everything was silent for a moment as Naruto was breathing heavily and had his eyes shadowed by his hair.
Even though there was a sword in her head, it didn't do anything to intimidate Marika. She just had a rather bored look on her face and sighed dissapointedly, "Are you still trying? Hasn't it pierced you thick little head yet? My Break-Apart magic means I'm not hurt by your swords. And I'll dodge every punch you throw at me. You. Can't. Hurt-"
Before she could finish, the sword started to shine a little through the heavy rain. Marika stopped her teasing when she noticed this. Uvogin was surprised by what was happening and Sorrento immediately realized what was going on. But before either of them could tell her to run, Naruto lifted his head and gave her the same cold stare...
"Shine."
A brilliant, shining white light covered their eyes. It was like the sun had appeared right in front of them. It was so bright that it hurt to keep looking at it. They closed their eyes to keep from accidentally going blind until the light finally faded away and they saw the results.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! MY EYES! MY EYES!" Marika screamed as she covered her face with her hands, blood coming down her cheeks from where the intense light scorched the inside of her eyes. She stumbled back and screamed at the top of her lungs, "OH GOD IT HURTS! IT HUUUURTTTTTTTTTTSSSSSSS!"
Uvogin panicked, "MARIKA! GUARD!"
Marika lowered her arms, blinded from the horrible pain and unaware of the situation coming towards her. Naruto had clenched his left, metallic fist as tightly as he could. All of the strength he could gather from the demonically enhanced arm he had gained from Kurama's chakra was put into it. And he even had it completely coated in the Armor he had trained with for so long.
His punched the 'Dissembler' so hard in the face, she had immediately become imbedded into the ground. Naruto yelled as he followed through and dug her head even deeper into the earth, causing a massive crater to form that spread out several yards in every direction. Uvogin and Sorrento looked at the dust cloud that had appeared from the boy's surprise attack on their comrade.
Naruto walked out of the cloud, his left hand dripping with the blood from the woman he had just brutally put an end to. Even though he still had blood over his chin and his injuries had not healed, he still had the look of pure hatred in his eyes. He gripped the black blade in his hand even tighter and started marching towards the Second General.
Uvogin was seething with anger as he picked his massive blade up again and held it out towards the oncoming boy. He growled, "You. Little. Fucking! CUNT!"
########Hunter########
"UWOOOOHHHHH!"
Makarov yelled as he dug his massive fist into the ground and threw more than a dozen men off their feet by the sheer air pressure. He didn't stop and continued to send a barrage of punches to beat the members of Damnation down.
Gildarts ran through the crowd, holding his hand out and complete destroying any attempts the soldiers had taken to put him down. He jumped up and kicked several man away with just one kick. He spun and punched another, sending them flying back into a bigger crowd. Even when some of the criminals got past his attacks and cut him with their swords, they were in shock to just see their prized weapons being reduced to nothing more than scrap metal.
Erza jumped through the air and changed from her Heaven's Wheel Armor to her Purgatory Armor. She landed and cracked the ground, dashing forward and holding the massive spiked weapon over her shoulder. She yelled in desperate anger and knocked men three times her size off their feet.
She couldn't control herself anymore. The scarlet-haired Mage was completely overcome with anger. She ran out here in her fastest armor, ignoring all the bells and warnings in her head that said it was too dangerous. Just hoping she could save her best friend and the old man she looked up to before it was too late. But the moment she saw this army coming towards them...away from the spot the Damnation member swore they were holding the ambush...
All of her hope just died.
And now she just wanted to extract her pound of flesh from these men before the fear completely took her over.
Erza Scarlet, her hair wild and eyes full of untamed fury, was angrier than she had ever been. She grasped the giant bat in her hands as tightly as she could and yelled at the top of her lungs, "AHHHHHHHHH-"
########Hunter########
"HA!"
Naruto struggled to keep on his feet as he skidded back from the unbelievably powerful sword swing. He jumped back when the fast swordsman appeared right in front of him and completely uprooted the ground with his slash. The massive swordsman just kept disappearing and reappearing wherever Naruto might have had an opening.
The only thing keeping the boy alive was that he was using his Kokuryū to block the attacks. But even that felt like it was slowly breaking his arms.
Uvogin had his sword propped on his shoulder and smiled at the panting boy, "I can't believe someone like you has the Kokuryū blade. That's a priceless artifact; not to mention one of the strongest swords in the world." But the muscular man just smirked and grabbed his sword with both hands, "Let's see just what it takes to make that thing break."
Naruto panted a little bit more before he leveled himself and took his own sword stance. He slowly let his magic cover his body, an aura of Armor covering his entire being to make sure he was ready for the fight about to happen.
The atmosphere was tense between the two men as the only sounds they could hear were the falling of water and the battle happening thousands of feet away.
Uvogin used his Accelerate magic and appeared a foot away from Naruto.
Naruto's eyes widened before he raised his sword and blocked the swing that would have cleaved him in two. Naruto flew through the air and used this chance to gather Wind chakra in his legs. When he landed he dove forward at twice the speed and started exchanging passing blows with the larger man.
Sorrento watched as his comrade started running around the entire burning field while laughing. He crossed swords with the blond Mage periodically, creating a loud bang and sending shock waves and sparks in every direction.
He had to commend the whiskered boy for his noble effort. If this was against one of his other subordinates they would have been soundly defeated moments ago. And blocking Uvogin's strikes and speed was no easy effort. But just like so many other people he had seen before...
Their limit was soon approaching.
Naruto was moving as fast as he could with his damaged body. He felt like his legs were going to give out at any moment and actively stopping the urge to throw up more blood from his stomach injury. But the man known as 'War Blade' didn't even seem winded.
He watched as the huge man smiled and disappeared again. Naruto turned around to stop him but he already vanished again. The man was getting faster and faster, after-images appearing all over the empty clearing from his quick movement.
Naruto saw one of the dozens of Uvogin run towards him and knew he was the real one. Naruto lifted the black blade over his head and dropped it down, cutting through the man's chest.
But it was just another elaborate after-image.
Naruto was left completely open as the hulking man appeared behind him with a sly smile on his face. He held his massive Decimator sword at his hip and looked at the back of the boy, "Peek-A-Boo."
He made an upward slash and left a deep gash over the whiskered boy's back. Naruto stumbled forward and felt an agonizing pain wash over him. He fell forward onto his knees and tried to keep from screaming out in pain.
Uvogin was actually surprised that attack didn't sever the boy's spine. Hmmm, perhaps that little magic aura thing he used was stronger than he thought. It must have just stopped his blade short of leaving irreparable damage to his back.
But the 'War Blade' decided not to dwell on that.
He lifted his massive sword over his head and brought it down on the injured boy. He felt the ground crack underneath his feet and just knew he had ended the fight.
Until he saw the Fairy Mage with the black blade over his head just in time to stop the attack. And he was even gripping the sword with his prosthetic so tightly his fingers had dug into the extremely tough metal.
"Let go of my sword!" Uvogin tried to pull the sword out of the younger man's hand but struggled because of his immensely powerful grip. He pulled back and forth, making the blond boy stumble a little on the ground but still never let go of the sword. "You little shit! I said let! It! Go-"
Naruto let go of the sword, making Uvogin lift it high in the air and stumble a little from the loss of resistance. Naruto spun on his knees, held his black blade out and sliced through the huge man's unguarded knees.
Uvogin fell backwards after his legs were severed below the kneecap. He felt the blood shoot out of his open wounds and coat the muddy ground in a crimson red. But before he could scream from the grievous wounds, he looked up to see Naruto standing over him with his eyes becoming nothing but white dots in a black surrounding. The fire spreading in the forest burned behind him as he held the Kokuryū over his head.
Uvogin lifted up his massive Decimator sword to block the attack before it could hit him.
But Naruto brought the powerful blade down faster and stronger than he ever had before. He sliced through the huge sword like it was nothing, landing on Uvogin's collar bone and pushing it all the way down to his waist.
The experienced swordsman felt the blood spew out of his large wound like a geyser. He felt all the strength in his arms escape him and he dropped the broken sword's handle onto the ground. His eyes stayed wide open for a moment until they grew too heavy to hold up anymore, falling backwards into a combination of mud and blood.
Naruto limped over the body, feeling his boots sink into the mud as he willed himself forward to his final fight. He was low on breath as he could actually feel one of his broken ribs touch the outside of his lungs. He struggled to keep himself going until he finally reached his destination.
Sorrento slowly opened his eyes again and looked up at the boy standing only a foot away from him. His eyes were still visible even through the shadow cast from the massive forest fire behind him. His eyes had grown even colder and more devilish.
He looked like a demon out of hell.
Sorrento pushed off the tree until his face was only a few inches away from Naruto's. The boy's blue and brown eyes looked into the older man's milky white and grey eyes. He narrowed his eyes a little more at him.
They didn't say a word.
They just jumped back as the ground beneath them exploded from their power.
########Hunter########
Laxus sent another bolt of pure lighting down on the gathered Damanation members as he darted around the battlefield like a bolt of electricity.
He flew through the air some more before having to turn off his magic and take a breather. These bums were nothing special for him but they just didn't stay down. Every time he would send several of them packing, another group just took their place long enough for them to be healed again.
It was a freakin' cycle of beat, hide, heal and beat again.
Laxus felt a large hand grab him under the bicep and help him back to his feet. He looked up to see Gildarts with some beads of sweat going down his face, "Need some help?"
Laxus felt a scowl grow on his face before he roughly yanked his arms out of the older man's grip. The blond Lightning Mage stood up and looked at the large crowd that surrounded them, "I don't need your help old man. These guys aren't shit."
Gildarts gave a small laugh before turning around until his back was close to Laxus', "Yeah well I'm saying we might finish this faster together you little brat."
Laxus wanted to argue with that point but he was more concerned with the hundreds of people surrounding them on each side.
"Sirius!"
Mahiro yelled at the top of her lungs and held both her hands out with a massive beam of Light shooting against the crowd. But even though she blew almost a hundred of them away, the hole just filled out with another group of the unyielding Damnation members.
Makarov shrunk to his normal size and was panting a little from how much he was enduring with his old body. He looked up at Mahiro, "Is it me or does it feel like we aren't even making a dent?"
Mahiro wiped some of the sweat off her brow as she took a deep breath, "If it keeps going like this we aren't going to be able to fight anymore. We have to stop these guys and go look for Naruto and Ojii-sama."
Makarov nodded his head and prepared to start fighting again. Until they both heard a yell and saw Erza jump over to them. She landed on her feet but immediately her legs buckled and she Requiped into her base armor. The two older mages came to her side, "Erza! Are you all right?!"
She was breathing heavily and was almost out of magic from the continuous fighting but she nodded her head and ignored the fatigue. "I-I'm fine. We-we can't stop yet."
One of the Damnation members among the hundreds laughed at their desperate situation, "You can try all you want but as long as one of us is still standing, we won't stop."
Mahiro and Erza glared at the mob in front of them until Makarov stepped forward, "We won't let you past this point. There won't be any ending in this that let's you all walk away free."
The Damnation members just laughed at that threat, "Big words coming from a tired old geezer. If we could take out that other old man than you can't be anymore challenging."
The Fairy mages that heard the criminals mock them noticed what they said. Mahiro felt her throat catch, "What...what did you say?"
Erza gritted her teeth and stood back up, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO OUR COMRADES?!" She yelled out over the thunder and rain, "AN OLD MAN AND A BLOND BOY WITH WHISKERS! WHERE ARE THEY?!"
Some of the Damnation members took a second to look between each other for the answer before they started to smirk. They looked towards the powerful mages again, "You won't find them anywhere."
Makarov and Mahiro's eyes widened when they heard that. They didn't want to believe the possibility that they were actually too late to save their comrades and family. Erza just felt like something cold grip her heart as her voice strained to come out, "No..."
"They're completely gone now. You won't even find the dust anymore."
Erza almost staggered back in shock at hearing they had failed. Mahiro gritted her teeth until her gums started to bleed. Her Light magic encompassed her whole body as she was ready to decimate the foes in front of her, "YOU-"
Makarov put his hand in front of her before she could start attacking. His eyes were out of sight from his hair and he had a cold expression on his face, "I'm giving you to the count of three...leave now and never stand before any of us again..."
One of the men just roared laughing, "Is that supposed to scare us little man? What part of this looks like you have any leverage to be making demands?!"
"One..." Makarov said as he slowly started to grow in size.
"You obviously still don't understand who you're facing!"
"Two..." The old guild master clapped his hands together.
"We! Are! DAMNATION!"
"Three..." He brought his hand out a little to reveal a ball of light between them.
"RRRAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" The entire gathered forces of the most dangerous independent guild in Fiore charged forward at their enemies. With the goal of killing, ripping apart and torturing these five people until they were nothing but broken husks of their former selves.
But the old giant just released the ball of light upon the charging masses.
And every subordinate member of Damnation present at that moment was bathed in the light of Fairy Law.
########Hunter########
Sorrento saw a blindingly bright light from the battlefield that went so far it pierced through the trees they ran past.
But that didn't matter right now.
If his men were beaten then it would just be left to him to defeat the remaining Fairy Tail mages.
Right now...his attention was on the bleeding boy that was completely focused on killing him.
"RRRAAAHHHHHHH!"
Naruto swung the Kokuryū and felt immense resistance when it impacted against a ball of Shock magic. But he didn't let it stop him. He kept swinging the black blade as hard as he could against the older mage's shield as his attacks sliced up the trees around them.
Naruto gathered his Wind chakra and released a flurry of Storm Fists at the old man. But he simply stood still and smacked all of the Jutsu attacks away with his hand. Naruto seethed in anger and stomped his foot into the ground, gathering as much Armor as he could into his left shoulder and ran in for a charge.
Sorrento lifted up his hands and grabbed the shoulder that threatened to break his sternum. Naruto pushed forward and forced his enemy's feet to skid through the ground. He desperately pushed and pushed but didn't feel the old man's hands tremble at all from his powerful charge.
'The Tyrant King' decided to stop playing around and pushed his hands up, knocking the boy off his feet. He slapped, elbowed and punched the boy in the chest hard enough to lift him off his feet.
Naruto felt his vision go blurry but grabbed the hand that punched him and threw a high-kick at his head. When the old man dodged, the whiskered boy spun through the air and gathered a massive amount of Armor into his right hand.
Sorrento lifted his hand and blocked the punch with some of his Shock. But even with the guard he had the punch was so devastatingly strong that he was sent flying back through the trees. He planted his feet into the ground to stop his fly back and looked down at three broken fingers that resulted from his guard.
He was actually impressed by that.
Naruto changed the form of his Armor to make claws, giant hands and spikes but they were all useless against the old Wizard Saint. He tried again and again to land another powerful attack until he felt the old man put both his palms in front of him and gather his magic...
"Grand Wave!"
Naruto was blown back by the massive shockwave that covered his whole body. He bounced off the ground a few times until he rolled to a halt. He felt every muscle and bone in his body scream out in agony as he tried to lift himself up again. He struggled, griping the ground as tightly as he could until finally he stood back up to-
Sorrento was already standing in front of Naruto and held the boy close to him in a one arm hug. Naruto was caught off guard by this strange gesture in the middle of his life-or-death battle but felt the support he had gained for that moment just enough to help him stand on his feet again.
"I'm sorry...that you had to be involved in a grudge match between two old foolish men. But this fight, all of our fights, are over now." Sorrento said with actual remorse for the sins and actions he had caused up until now, "Perhaps if we were born under different circumstances, the misfortunes we suffered until now could have happened to some other poor souls."
"But we can't change what's happened." He slowly lifted his hand and gently place it against Naruto's chest, "So just close your eyes...and this will all be over..."
Sorrento's hand started to glow and the air around it began to ripple. He pressed into the boy's chest...
"Shock Front."
########Hunter########
Mahiro could...actually, she didn't know what to do about the scene in front of her. One moment she felt herself being overwhelmed with anger, hatred, sadness, guilt, shame and hopelessness. She was just one strained voice of reasoning away from abandoning everything she had learnt about restraining herself and massacring as much of Damnation as she could.
And then Makarov clapped his hands and bathed them in the brightest, warmest light she had ever seen.
And in an instant...Damnation was stopped.
The once threatening, vile, numerous and durable criminals were gone. All that was left looked like white husks that were frozen in time. They all had faces filled with fear and horror in their eyes. And on closer inspection, they weren't frozen but they just stopped moving.
Like if they took even one step forward then all that awaited them was punishment.
Amazing. This was the kind of man that lead Fairy Tail and earned the title Wizard Saint.
Mahiro thought that the grand magical attack was unbelievable. It had defeated everyone they still had to face and they were safe now.
And yet...these feelings of despair were still festering inside her.
She was standing right next to Erza, and they were both felt frozen at the moment. She could see that Gildarts and Laxus were looking around in shock at how the enemy forces that had surrounded them just a moment ago were now nothing more then statues of their own defeat.
Mahiro tried to say something to the short old man standing in front of them that had completely destroyed the criminal militia that struck fear in the hearts of everyone in the nation. But she couldn't make a voice to her words. The extreme change in tone and emotion was taking its toll on her.
"I had to do this."
They looked at the short old man that was looking down at the ground. He struggled to keep talking...
"If I didn't use Fairy Law...if I didn't stop all of them while I still had the chance..." His shoulders started to shake and he made a fist with his hand until blood came out of his palm, "I wouldn't have been able to stop from destroying them."
Realization slowly started to pass over Mahiro. About what she had heard before the bright light had covered the entire battlefield. And tears started to come down her cheeks.
"We have to find...something." Makarov said as his family could see tears coming down and peaking off of his chin, "They at least deserve to be put to rest properly...with their family..."
Gildarts lowered his head in a solemn guilt that he wasn't able to help them. He always boasted and showed his strength...but this was one of those moments when his power could have saved his friends from an untimely demise. And all he could do was stand here.
Laxus didn't portray any emotion from the grim news. It didn't matter to him that an old geezer and that stupid idiot had gotten themselves killed. All they wanted was Hashirama and Naruto ran in their like a fool to help. He wanted to think that this was all just another unnecessary cry for the dead...but even he couldn't shake the cold chill in his stomach.
Mahiro just stood their trying to fight back the tears. But then she saw the face of her Grandfather, smiling down at her and picking her up when she was just a little girl. The same warm, kind old man that helped raise her and take care of her after her mother died. The man that taught her how to be strong and brave, and how to use that strength for those she loved.
And then she saw the face of that stupid idiot as he smiled from ear to ear. Thinking about Naruto running through the guild, playing pranks on Natsu and Gray as they chased after him. The young man that always sparred with her and got beaten down before standing back up to keep fighting. That gentle boy that played with Koyuki like she was his own little sister and always looked up at Mahiro like a caring mother.
And the Senju woman cried. She felt her tears go down her face as the ice cold rain drenched the rest of her body. She yelled out at the heavens and punched the ground into craters.
And Erza...just stood there.
She felt a horrible sense of dread and disbelief wash over her. The same kind of pain she felt when she floated away from the Tower. The same kind she felt when she was told her parents were already gone from this world.
But she didn't want it to be true.
She knew that it was stupid and unrealistic. She knew that she couldn't just hope for something like that. She knew it would just make it more painful.
She just didn't want to believe it.
Amongst the cries, splintering ground, downpour of rain and cracking thunder, Erza heard a low bang emanate in the background. She looked to the side and her eyes widened when she saw a burning forest and smoke rising up in the distance.
She didn't know why, but the armor clad girl felt like she needed to go there. Something was compelling her to run.
So she did.
She ran right through the crowd of defeated criminals and sprinted as fast as she could to the mountain forest. Mahiro and Makarov saw her run off away from the battlefield. Mahiro reached out to her, "Erza? Erza wait, come back! Erza!"
Erza just kept running as fast as she could. As if her life depended on it.
########Hunter########
Sorrento watched as the young blond stumbled back after the point-blank attack. He was a little hunched over after he was hit but he was still standing on his legs. Until they started shaking more and more.
The black blade he so desperately held on to fell out of his left hand after he had lost the strength to hold it.
He lifted his head and reached out to the wrinkled old man. He tried to grab him...he tried to take just another step for-
Blood started seeping out of the Fairy mage's eyes, nose, ears and mouth. He coughed and more of the red liquid spewed out of his from his teeth. His eyes rolled back and he fell forward onto his face.
Sorrento looked down at the defeated boy as blood started to pool around his face. He wasn't even moving anymore...
It was over.
He had lost so much of what he had built over the decades. His closest subordinates were gone now. And most of his army had fallen at the hands of the Fairy Tail mages. Sorrento actually felt empty.
Something he hadn't felt in years.
He started walking away from the fallen child and made his way to the battlefield. If this was going to be the end of everything he had strived to make, he was going to make sure there were no more loose ends.
########Hunter########
He was surrounded by a creeping darkness.
The only thing he could see now was his arm out in front of him.
And he could hear the sounds of falling water as rain careened against his face.
He couldn't even feel the cold wash over him. He was so numb.
He was so tired.
He slowly started to close his eyes...letting the dark take over everything around him.
"Hey Naruto!"
"Come on man!"
"What's taking so long Blondie? Wake up already!"
Naruto heard a bunch of different voices call out to him. He opened his eyes again and saw his entire guild standing in front of him. Natsu. Happy. Gray. Cana. Mira. Elfman. Lisanna. Jiji. Gildarts. Mahiro. Koyuki. Levy. Jet. Droy. Hell, even Laxus was there.
"Hey, come on stupid. Didn't you promise that you would always come back to me?"
He heard Erza's soothing voice call to him from out of the darkness. He saw Erza smiling down at him like an angel as she bent over to offer her hand...
"Come on. You never let anything get in your way before. What's stopping you now?"
Sorrento stopped his march to the end when he felt a weak presence behind him. He slowly turned back around and his eye widened in shock.
Barely standing back up on shaky legs was the blond he thought he had killed. Blood was still dripping from his face and his eyes were cloudy and unfocused but he still somehow found the strength to stand back up and grab his sword.
Sorrento gave up. No more of his quick solutions. No more mercy. He gritted his teeth and raised his hand, "Why won't you DIE?!"
For the beaten whiskered Mage, everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. He knew someone was yelling. And he knew something bad was about to happen. But all he could hear...
"Hey Naruto! Naruto, wake up already!"
The tired, exhausted blond weakly lifted his head and glared at the old Senju sitting on a log. He furrowed his eyes, "What do you want Gramps?"
"Stop lazing around you chump. Get off your butt and keep practicing." Hashirama teased as he leaned back comfortably, "You aren't gonna get anywhere if you don't keep working."
"Oh like you're one to talk!" Naruto said as he stood back up and stretched out his muscles, "You're just sitting their on your ass gathering dust like the old fossil you really are."
The old ninja had a cloud of despair hovering over his head, "I'm not the young guy I used to be all right. I get it. I'm all old and saggy and stuff now."
"Geez it's the littlest things that send you over."
Naruto placed his hands together and started concentrating on molding his chakra. As some quiet moment passed he opened one of his eyes again, "Hey, how long does it take until this stuff starts showing results?"
Hashirama looked up in thought and shrugged his shoulders, "Don't know. Maybe in a few months. A few years. In all honest there's a possibility that we never actually see any substantial development in your abili- HEY! DON'T JUST WALK AWAY!"
Naruto looked back over at the man dryly, "I'm hearing a lot of negativity in all this promised strength. What happened to 'I'll help you along the way'? 'The results are up to you'? 'The foolproof way to beat stronger enemies'?"
Hashirama clapped his hands in realization, "That's right! I forgot I was going to tell you that! Come back over here, I'll tell you everything."
"Geez even Natsu has a better memory than you."
"Okay Naruto, do you know what everyone who is stronger than you has in common?" Naruto thought for a moment but couldn't think of a connection between all the people he had fought over the years. They all seemed like different people with different powers and goals. Hashirama smiled, "The trait that people who are strong share are..."
"They can kill you easily without out even trying because you are nothing to them."
Naruto just kept staring at the old man in complete silence for a minute. Until he turned around and started walking away.
"Wa-wait! I'm not done!"
"Sure sounded like you were."
"Okay look, Naruto, would you lose to that hyper-active little pink-haired kid that can't stay still in the guild?"
"Natsu? Hell no!" Naruto tightened his fist and smiled confidently, "If he tried to fight me I'd punch that crazy bastard over the head and plant him in the ground. No sweat!"
"So you're saying Natsu isn't strong at all?" Hashirama asked.
Naruto thought for a moment before begrudgingly shaking his head, "Well no. He's definitely strong. It's just-"
"You think you're stronger and you don't believe that you have anything to worry about from someone you know is weaker than you." Hashirama finished his sentence, making Naruto nod his head in guilt.
"Yeah."
"But the truth is if Natsu got a good hit in on you, would you be hurt by it?" Naruto considered if he took one of the many punches he saw the Dragonslayer throw everyday and nodded his head in agreement. "That's the same for most of us. I can confidently say I could probably kick your ass no problem if we fought. But if you caught me off guard or got me weakened, I don't know if I would stand a chance."
Hashirama sat forward a little and looked up at the blond, "Naruto, we spend years and years training ourselves to be the strongest we could imagine. And when we finally reach that level, we take pride in our ability. Believing that no one we meet afterwards would even be able to stand up against us."
Hashirama looked off in thought, "For some of us, we don't register anyone we fight against anymore as a threat. Others put their full power into everything they do because that's the only way for them to have that thrill anymore. We might even just play along with fighting against someone who is putting their all into a fight because we just like seeing them break down."
Naruto saw the look in Hashirama's eyes before he looked back up at him, "And that's a weakness they all have Naruto. They won't consider you a real threat. They'll just look down on you like a pathetic bug crawling through the mud. And when they do, you can strike them down. It's dangerous. And a thin margin to attack. You would have to risk your life to actually land a blow on them. But in that moment where their superiority takes over, they drop their guard and they are open."
Naruto thought back to many of his old fights. That was how he beat Mordreau. That's how he caught Hades off guard. That's how he sent Àomàn flying. They all thought he was beaten...and he took that chance to finish them.
"Arrogance Naruto." Hashirama said sternly as he looked up at the young man directly into his eyes, "The Arrogance of Strength. That's the weakness that all powerful men carry. All men have it. It will be up to you to find that moment to strike."
Naruto's eyes focused again. He saw Sorrento swipe his hand covered in Shock magic and release a massive wave of power that destroyed the landscape around them. A loud bang emanated in every direction and it obliterated the ground and trees around it.
Sorrento saw the huge cloud of debris he created from his attack. And stepped back. He took a moment to see his handiwork...and smiled in relief.
Until he saw the shadow in the edge of his eye.
He looked down to see Naruto bent so far down that his knees almost touched the floor. He had taken the momentary fit of rage the old Mage had shown and dove close to the ground. He used the black blade to guard himself from the powerful attack until he arrived in the blind spot of Sorrento's damaged eye.
He gripped the Kokuryū as tightly as he could and looked up at Sorrento with the eyes of a killer. Sorrento was shocked by his quick movement and held his hands out to create a shield of magic...
*Swish*
Naruto appeared behind Sorrento. His arm out as far as it could go with the Kokuryū blade in his hand. It seemed like the world had stayed frozen for a moment...
Sorrento's upper torso fell off as the rest of his body fell backward. The black blade had sliced him completely through from his lower right ribs and up to his left shoulder. The last sensation he felt was the feeling of Naruto's blade carving through his heart.
Blood shot out of the bifurcated corpse and coated the blond boy's back in even more blood. The severed torso laid there on the ground as the light finally faded from 'The Tyrant King's' eye.
Naruto took a step forward. And then another. He just kept walking forward. He didn't know where.
He felt so empty and cold.
He couldn't see anymore.
He just had an unyielding need to walk away from the scene of his rampage. Step by step.
With only the sound of pouring rain reaching his ears.
Just like in that cell so long ago.
*Drip*Drip*Drip*
########Hunter########
Erza ran up the hill and through the forest. She felt herself being pulled towards the forest fire in the middle of nowhere. She kept running until she heard a twig snap in front of her.
She stopped in place and readied herself for whatever was coming. She glared at the darkness as the rain seeped in through the branches. Erza readied herself for anything until she saw a familiar head of blond hair make its way towards her. An overwhelming sense of relief and joy washed over her as she almost cried in joy, "Naru-"
And then she froze in fear.
Naruto was stumbling forward, open wounds all over his body. His clothes were drenched in blood. Some of it had already dried while the rest of it still looked fresh. He didn't even notice she was standing in front of him as he kept limping towards her.
His eyes looked so empty and unfazing.
She stepped towards him and held her hand out to touch him. Like she couldn't believe it was really him, "Naruto?"
He fell forward and she caught him in her arms. His chin was resting on her shoulder as she lowered them to the ground. She held onto his body and could feel the blood going over her gauntlets. She felt how cold his skin was going and how his breathing got slower and slower against her ear.
She felt tears go down her eye and she held onto him, "Naruto! Naruto stay with me! It's all right! We're all here for you! Keep your eyes open okay! I'm sorry! I'm sorry I couldn't come to you sooner but just stay awake!"
Erza got more frightened when his eyes slowly started to close. She held him close and yelled, "NARUTO!"
"NARUTO!"
########Hunter########
Done
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