Hello, everybody, and welcome to another chapter of The Trials of Destiny! Took a while, after hearing one of my favorite fanfiction authors died, but I've got my mojo back, so it's time for another good chapter! Good or bad news depending on how you look at it, but I only have to go two days per week for my final semester, which starts on Monday.
Anyway, enough with my rambling, let's get on with the chapter! Gotta resolve that cliffhanger I left you guys on last time, after all!
Umm, edit... PLEASE let me know in PM if there is a duplicate part in this chapter. FF's editor reads a word count of over 350 words more than the Word document, which I know isn't right.
Chapter 17: The Angered God
Tuesday, April 28, CCY 3381
Sasuke wasn't surprised to see a Rasengan form in Naruto's hand. Žiara had previously been given a secondhand account of Naruto's changed viewpoint in the span of the many subjective years he'd trained under her, and so did he. The main difference being his viewpoint shifted more toward Naruto's old viewpoint, but with the added effect of his past experiences, while Naruto's had shifted to a more cautious perspective, tempered with a healthy amount of distrust to people he knew little about due to his own childhood. Sasuke briefly thought about that. Guess that's irony for you. Other than our experiences, we've now completely switched places.
Sasuke promptly prepared his classic Chidori to counter the Rasengan, and the two jutsu clashed. Both of them jumped back at the precise moment the two jutsu exploded in a shower of chakra. Sasuke immediately pulled out his handy chokuto and Naruto palmed two kunai, before the two shinobi charged at each other silently. No expression was present on either's face; they simply stared at their opponent, but no killing intent was present whatsoever.
Right after the initial blade clash, the Death God appeared beside Žiara. "WHAT IS THIS, ŽIARA?"
"No idea, they just started fighting out of the blue. Though it doesn't look like they're putting all the force they could into their attacks. I think they're sizing each other up right now.
Shin nodded, but he was using his Death's Gaze to stare into the two shinobi's souls. After a moment, he nodded and shut off the flow of necrotic energy to his eyes. "THAT IS FALSE. THEY ARE BATTLING IN AN ATTEMPT TO UNDERSTAND THE OTHER'S CHANGES. A FORM OF SOUL-SEARCHING, IF YOU WILL."
Žiara nodded. "That does make sense. From what I could gather, Naruto's ability to win over the hearts of those he fought relied on an ability the old gods called Stare of Eternity. It's an extremely rare ability that manifests in beings, mortal or otherwise, only once every few thousand years, in periods of great distress or when a revolutionary change is about to happen. The Stare literally allows the user, when under extreme duress, to fully understand another's life and experiences as if they'd lived it themselves, allowing them to speak to others' desires and goals in the most primal way someone who hasn't experienced those things themselves can."
Naruto disengaged from the blade clash, throwing both kunai to the ground where Sasuke would have been, and wordlessly forming the handseals for Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu. Sasuke saw Naruto flying through the handseals, but he didn't expect the jutsu to have enough velocity to already fill his vision in only a fraction of a second. He threw his chokuto to the side with all his might, then right as the fire would have consumed him, he used Amenotejikara to switch places with his sword. He immediately cast a line of ninja wire to reclaim his sword, and just in time, as he held the sword up to block another kunai strike. Naruto didn't stop there, summoning a… peculiar clone next to him. Peculiar in that it somehow had a life of its own, as if Naruto had split his own being to create the clone. Naruto even staggered for a fleeting moment before moving to join the fight.
Sasuke countered by summoning a Shadow Clone, but it proved to be useless, as the clone was almost immediately set upon by the Naruto clone and destroyed. Both versions of his former rival now stood and stared at him impassively.
"I'm not going to bother asking how you returned, because I know there are things way beyond even Sensei's comprehension. So instead, I'm going to ask: why?"
Sasuke briefly stopped – and to his surprise, Naruto did as well – because he could tell this one question was more loaded than their entire history. Naruto had clearly developed a dislike for him in the vast timeframe he'd trained, and honestly, looking at his old self, Sasuke couldn't fault him that one bit. Hell, if he were in Naruto's place right now, he'd have brutally murdered the old him. The twisted boy cloaked in darkness and fueled by revenge without concern for the rest of existence was a part of Sasuke's life he now wished had never happened.
"Ask your sensei. She's the reason I'm here in the first place."
Naruto's eyes shot to Žiara. "Žiara-sensei, is that true?" Žiara nodded after a couple seconds. "But why? I don't understand, when we left our world, Sasuke was the last person who was deserving of a second chance…"
"That may have been true then, but first of all, you were too trusting to others. You opened your heart far too much, and as such, it wounded you, time and again. You no doubt remember all the training we spent diminishing that part of your personality because it had developed into a defense mechanism. And second, I'd have dragged Sasuke to Hell myself if I'd had proof he was too set in his ways, but I could see he still had a chance to change. And the same way I helped you unlock your power, I helped him unlock his, and at the same time, it strengthened him. His experiences were holding him down like chains, but with my help, he finally cut them down. He's accepted that everything that's happened until now has brought him to where he is now, and that this is just the next step of his journey."
Naruto's adversity slowly dissipated, and he sat on a rock that suddenly appeared out of the ground, holding his head. "Dammit, you know it's going to take a lot of time to get used to this."
"You've been training for a million subjective years, Naruto-kun, I'm certain you can handle this. You'll adapt like you already have so many times before."
"It isn't that simple this time, and you know it. He tried to kill me, so many times, and now that I'm not the idiotic, hyper-idealistic child I used to be, I can't just let that go."
Žiara was suddenly directly in front of Naruto, momentarily startling him. She put one of her hands behind his head and rested her forehead on his. "Sasuke may have done that in the past, but this isn't the Sasuke you once knew, just like you aren't the Naruto he knew, and neither of you are the you you once were. This is just another hurdle that must be jumped over. How many of those have you jumped over now?" After a few seconds, Naruto realized it wasn't a rhetorical question, and started pretending to count on his hands, rapidly tapping his fingertips for a few seconds.
Žiara chuckled when she realized the game Naruto was playing, her angelic laugh making Naruto smile again, before she spoke again. "You see my point, though, right, Naruto? You've been through so much in your life, but every time life tried to hit you, you threw a fist right back. You never back down, even when faced with insurmountable odds." She leaned into Naruto's ear and started whispering. "Keep this a secret, but Hagoromo-chan even thought, briefly, that had Zetsu not become the newest thorn in your side, you might have actually defeated Madara."
3%
Naruto's eyebrows shot up in surprise, but he successfully held his tongue. Žiara leaned back and finished speaking. "But the point of that is you never give up. If you were to back down, you'd be saying all the things you've had to face in your life were for nothing. You always throw a fist right back, and that's what makes you the perfect student, and an even better friend. Now it's time for you to do what you've always done best. Besides, we have somewhere to be~!" Žiara finished in a sing-song voice that just made Naruto stare at her, completely enraptured, for a moment, before he schooled his features once again.
Sasuke didn't fail to notice his expression, though. How close are those two? I guess I wouldn't know, if what I've heard about the million-plus years training thing is true.
Žiara motioned to Sasuke as Naruto walked beside her. "Hope you don't mind if these boys steal five million souls, Shin-kun!" She conjured a portal and dragged the two men through it, and it snapped closed behind her.
Shin's eyes widened in shock and extreme anger when he registered Žiara's flippant remark, and quickly put two and two together to get four. "DO WHAT?! YOU BETTER NOT BE DOING WHAT I THINK YOU'RE DOING, OR I'M GOING TO DESTROY THAT WHOLE PLANET!" Of course, it was too late for anyone to hear Shin's scream of boundless rage, but he cared not. Even if he couldn't have Žiara's head on a pike for what was about to happen, he would at least take the heads of those two brats she insisted on training. He immediately summoned the Reaper Scythe, and sliced a hole in the dimension and directly into Convergence, jumping through as the rift sealed itself closed behind him.
"You know when he shows up, he'll just stab all of them and send them right back to… wherever souls go when they die," Sasuke remarked as he formed the ram seal and undid the Infinite Tsukuyomi. "I just realized something… why didn't you become trapped? You don't have a Rinnegan at all."
"Don't know, but does it really matter? Now we've fixed the whole issue of leaving our whole world to or, we're going to have to keep an angry god from turning the planet into scrap and space rubble." Naruto shot back, gathering all the nature energy he could. "I can feel my connection with my summons again, but considering we're about to fight literal Death, I'm sure they won't be of much use. I'm trying something now to see if they can hear me, because while they won't be able to fight in the upcoming battle, they can still lend their support." Gamabunta-sama, can you hear me? It's Naruto.
Gamabunta jumped fifty feet into the air, right out of his hot spring, completely shocked to hear Naruto's voice. "Brat, is that you? Your chakra dropped off the face of the planet a whole week ago. We thought you'd died."
I did, but that's a story for another time. Right now, I need your help to contact the other summon clans. Something big is about to happen, and I'm going to need all the natural energy I can reasonably get my hands on without harming the planet.
Gamabunta's eyes narrowed, his giant tobacco pipe slowly slipping out of his mouth. "Brat, why do you sound so serious? In fact, why are you so respectful? What the hell happened to you?"
Naruto sighed. I promise I'll explain later, but… to put it in terms a five-year-old could understand, if Kaguya somehow showed up again, she'd be second priority.
Gamabunta noticed Naruto's tone shift to a more serious and somber nature. "You're speaking as if the damn planet's going to be destroyed." It was meant to be a half-joke, slipped in to bring some much-needed levity, but instead, Gamabunta became very worried he'd hit the nail on the head when Naruto didn't give any hint of responding. "Brat?!"
If I can't get support, it very well may be. There was no uncertainty, only a cold smoothness in the delivery of that one sentence that shook Gamabunta to his very core.
Gamabunta sighed. "I'm assuming you're talking to me through some kind of telepathic link, correct?"
Considering we're having this conversation, yes, and I'd have to say it was a success.
Gamabunta nodded. "Okay, I'll get Mama and have her contact them. If what you say is true, you should be able to speak to them directly, but be warned, there is one clan that will not stand in to assist, the dragons. They have a solemn duty which they take very seriously, and have secluded themselves to the point their former homes are no more."
Any help is better than nothing. Besides, the dragons have been out of touch with us mortals for millions of years now. It's not like they'd help, even if they wanted to.
"What's going on, you pesky toad? Why are you dragging us into a damn chakra call?"
"Be quiet, Aoda. This was Naruto's request, and he's under the belief the planet's going to be destroyed." Of course, one could easily hear Aoda's jaw snap shut.
Thank you, Gamabunta-sama. Summon clans of our universe, I request all your able and willing support in the coming trial. Earth is under threat by a rampaging god, and the only way we have a chance to hold them back is if we work together. I request you gather all the natural energy you can and send it to Earth so I can use it to help hold them back.
"Naruto-kun, if I may ask, do you know the name of the god who is threatening Earth right now?" Katsuyu asked.
Shin, the God of Death. It didn't take long for the entire gathering to turn into total chaos, but after a few minutes, it settled down.
"I and my clan shall support this Naruto in his efforts." Hikigane, the leader of the Raven clan, cast his vote, starting the process. After a few minutes, the vote had been decided, and the only two clans who would not support Naruto were the Owl and Cat summon clans, neither of whom had a summoner currently living on Earth and hadn't in the last thousand years.
Thank you, to all the summon clans who have lent me your support. Call on me whenever I am in this realm, and if I am able, I will assist you. The connection was cut on Naruto's end, and Gamabunta immediately hopped off to gather the others of the clan.
Naruto opened his eyes, nodding to Sasuke, who nodded back and finished undoing Infinite Tsukuyomi. Right as he released the handseal, the two could feel Sakura and Kakashi approaching. Both turned to the two as they arrived, Kakashi slightly winded. Of course, while the two men may have changed, Sakura did not, and she was immediately upon the two of them, checking for wounds and other superficial injuries. Sasuke placed a hand on her shoulder and slowly pushed her away.
Naruto looked to Kakashi. "Kakashi, please take Sakura and the rest of the population as far away from here as possible."
Kakashi's eye crinkled in thought. "Why, Naruto?"
A hole in the dimension was torn open by a five hundred foot tall black scythe, and the screams of those aware enough of their surroundings to realize the Death God was among them quickly filled the atmosphere. Naruto and Sasuke cast an annoyed glare at Shin as he ripped his way into the sky above them. "WHERE ARE YOU, MORTAL BRATS?! EVEN IF I CAN'T HAVE ŽIARA'S HEAD, I'LL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO TAKE YOURS AS COMPENSATION!"
Naruto turned back and flatly stared at Kakashi. "That is why," he drawled in a carefully smooth voice.
Kakashi promptly grabbed Sakura and ran for the hills, intercepting any panicked shinobi he found, as Naruto and Sasuke turned to Shin. The very moment their eyes firmly settled on the angry god, his hollow, soulless gaze rested on them. A wicked sneer appeared on his lips as if out of thin air.
"Susano'o, now!" Sasuke screamed, jumping a quarter-mile up into the air, barely avoiding a swing of Shin's soul-stealing scythe. Naruto summoned his small Susano'o immediately, the golden, ethereal Roman centurion armor appearing to cloak his form in bright light. Sasuke promptly summoned his own, an apparition twice his height that had a compact version of the Totsuka Blade in its right hand, as well as a magatama-braided kusarigama in its left.
Naruto immediately had to draw all six of his chokuto with the arms of his Susano'o, and Sasuke sling his kusarigama and put the Totsuka Blade in front of him, but even the combined defensive power of eight Susano'o-powered weapons wasn't enough to stop Naruto and Sasuke's arms to nearly go numb with the sheer force that the Death God struck with.
The two staggered back instinctively, and used their new position to throw off Shin's scythe, though barely. Of course, it did no good whatsoever in the end, as Shin's massive taper-pointed boot sent them flying back a whole mile, their Susano'o armor almost completely shattered.
Naruto struggled to get up, but Sasuke was already up, and grabbed Naruto's hand, pulling him up into a supported stand. The two looked at each other, and though the question was already answered, Sasuke asked it anyway.
"Combine Susano'o?"
"Combine Susano'o."
The two locked hands and summoned their chakra at the same time, and a massive sunset-colored Susano'o appeared. It had two layers of armor, the first being Naruto's Centurion armor, the second being a single-piece ethereal mesh net with the color of Sasuke's Susano'o. Eight massive arms grasped six equally massive chokuto, the Totsuka Blade, and what was now a whip instead of a kusarigama. Naruto and Sasuke stood in the chest area of the Susano'o, Sasuke's Rinnegan and Naruto's EMS spinning rapidly as they prepared to do battle with someone who more than likely far outclassed them.
Naruto brought up three of the chokuto to block Shin's scythe swing, but quickly realized his mistake when the scythe bypassed his sword defense entirely and knocked Naruto right out of the Susano'o, removing Naruto's part of the construct.
Sasuke cursed, forcing himself to reform the Susano'o with his chakra, and Naruto's weapons and the extra appendages disappeared entirely. Sasuke looked over at Naruto briefly and found a part of his soul trying to leave his body. "Damn, he got hit with an instant-kill blow? I'll need to be really careful here."
Sasuke quickly unfurled the Susano'o's wings and flew several miles into the air, but the intended purpose of gathering intel on Shin's abilities and power was made moot when Shin cracked a half-mile radius of earth by jumping straight to his height. "Damn!" Sasuke brought up his kusarigama, which had reverted back from the whip created with part of Naruto's chakra, and managed to dodge the tip of the scythe while wrapping the chain of the kusarigama around the blade to stop its motion.
He tried to use his leverage to pull Shin toward him and execute an attack, but he severely underestimated Shin's strength, and was pulled toward the man so fast, he had to deactivate Susano'o to prevent the chakra construct getting ripped in half by a punch moving faster than the speed of sound.
Sasuke managed to land on the scythe and used his Rinnegan to cloak his feet in the Susano'o armor to prevent his soul getting ripped right out, and quickly ran down the length of the eighth-mile-long curved blade. Right as he began running down the handle, Shin threw his other fist at Sasuke, who had to jump up and manifest his Susano'o wings to dodge the sound-breaking punch. He used that advantage to jump on the outstretched fist and continue running up the appendage.
Sasuke internally smirked, knowing that the Death God couldn't do anything to stop him at this point without chopping off his own arm. However, a tick mark quickly appeared on his head when Shin stopped him by doing just that, his arm falling off at the elbow. Right as Sasuke fell within the area Shin's arm would have been, Sasuke was forced to manifest a condensed Susano'o to save himself from being in the path of instantaneous regeneration.
A few seconds later, Sasuke opened his eyes inside the metallic-like flesh of the Death God's internal system. He tried to flex his chakra to stretch the system, but it didn't even flinch. "Damn, looks like I have no choice." He locked on to the fading energy of Shin's detached limb and flexed both his Rinnegan, using Amenotejikara to replace himself with that severed limb.
Shin growled and cut his now mangled, unusable limb off a second time and instantly regenerated a new limb once the old one fell to the ground as Sasuke manifested Susano'o and threw his katana high into the air, far above the two's heads. Shin took a single cursory glance at the rising blade, then scoffed and swung his scythe at Sasuke, who used the flat of the blade to block the tip of the scythe and threw the kusarigama to the handle of the blade.
Sasuke locked his stance down in an attempt to hold Shin in place, and this time, the maneuver succeeded, though only marginally. Shin overcame Sasuke's effort with a mighty heave that broke off Sasuke's kusarigama chain, and the god stumbled back for a brief second, before growling and moving to attack again.
Hagoromo, Hamura, Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor and the Nine stepped out of the Convergence portal Hagoromo and Hamura combined their chakra to make, and Celestia and Shining Armor whistled at the sight before them: numerous mountains turned into plateaus, the remnants of a vaporized lake, and the remnants of two large statues resting in a destroyed swath of land six miles wide.
It only took a moment for the group to notice Sasuke's chakra flaring wildly, and they looked to the east, in the direction of the risen Moon, to find the man battling an unknown entity that was obviously agitated for whatever reason.
Before any of them had a chance to move, they found multiple people fleeing the battle, some heading in their direction and some in others. Žiara quickly appeared in front of them, and she looked a little tired and agitated. "Hagoromo, Hamura, about damn time the two of you got here. I need help getting the people of this planet to safety."
"Who is the entity that Sasuke is currently engaged in combat with?" Hagoromo asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Shin."
Hagoromo palmed his face, and Hamura let out a high-pitched squeak. "The literal Death God? By Eternity, are you insane?!"
"Calm yourself, brother. It seems Sasuke has things handled, for the most point. Which begs the question, what is Naruto's current status?"
"Recovering from being hit by the tip of the scythe." Hagoromo cursed under his breath, a move that shocked the Nine and made Hamura start laughing his ass off. "Alright, everyone, new plan: the current priority is to retrieve the citizens of this planet. Split into every cardinal direction and locate stragglers. Pull them to safety, by force if you must."
"Right!" The entire group split off into several directions, their main goal established, as the battle continued, unabated, several miles in the distance.
Naruto got up, dusting his haori off briefly. "Dammit, he got a cheap shot in. Guess I have to go back to basics now." Just then, the natural energy from various corners of the galaxy converged on Naruto, and he feverishly worked to balance it with equal amounts of his own. Hagoromo's chakra inside him had since been assimilated by Naruto's training, so there was no need to worry about an imbalance.
Once he finished, he conjured up his Susano'o and entered Sage Mode, but when he did, he could feel that – other than Susano'o being in the mix – there was something different about the natural energy he was using.
It then occurred to him that his chakra level had reached such an insane peak, it had purified the nature chakra entering his system, and he was now under control of not just nature energy, but the very essence of life itself.
He manifested Six Paths Sage Mode on top of the Susano'o, and the resulting chakra explosion destroyed everything in several miles' radius around him. He found the Susano'o had now entirely dissipated from his frame, and instead, he was wearing what appeared to be an avatar of himself, just scaled to the proper size of a Susano'o. A gigantic golden staff with a spearhead at its peak rested in the avatar's right arm, and on its left a giant shield with the kanji for Sun emblazoned in its center. Behind Naruto's actual self, the nine Truthseeking Orbs had reappeared.
Naruto felt much stronger than he'd ever felt, but he wasn't sure if this was going to be enough to stop the Death God from destroying the planet. Either way, standing around with this new power wasn't going to get anything done, so he took off in the direction of Sasuke and Shin's battle.
Sasuke's chokuto flew toward its intended destination, behind the Death God's back, and as soon as it got within feet of the Death God's backside, Sasuke used Amenotejikara to switch with it, appearing behind the Death God's back and slapping a custom-made, adjustable input explosive seal that held ten times Sasuke's current chakra level from many years of adding the chakra on Shin's back.
Sasuke brought his chokuto back with his ninja wire, and threw it far behind him as Shin turned around. Sasuke manifested both Susano'o arms and gave the Death God two middle fingers. "Boom." He switched with his chokuto right as the seal detonated, causing a massive explosion that made Shin stagger and deafened anyone within a five-mile radius.
As Sasuke landed on the ground below where he'd switched with his chokuto, Naruto flew by overhead in a massive white construct that seemed to be constructed in its own image. Sasuke's eyebrows rose for a moment before he manifested Susano'o and flew after Naruto.
Naruto landed on the ground in front of Shin, Sasuke right behind him, and held his staff in a defensive manner, ready to engage in another round of combat with Shin. "So why exactly are you trying to attack us for something our sensei did?"
"YOU PROVE IT IS NECESSARY SIMPLY BY RESISTING! IF YOU WERE OF REPUTABLE STATUS, YOU'D HAVE STOOD ASIDE LIKE ALL MORTALS DO!"
"Status? Please. Status has nothing to do with it; you saw someone do something that goes against your nature and your duties, so you took it as a personal slight, and now you're labeling scapegoats instead of tackling the root of the problem."
Shin growled in rage and swung his scythe impossibly fast at Naruto's head. Naruto quickly dodged the swipe and retaliated by pushing Shin back with the butt of his massive staff, causing the god's construct to stagger backward for a moment, before quickly recovering.
Shin went in for a wide slash, but Sasuke appeared in front of Naruto, manifested Susano'o, and stopped him, blocking with both his katana and defle3cting the attack, allowing Naruto to slam his staff into the ground to jump over Susano'o, bring it back over his head and slam Shin into the ground, though the Death God barely budged from the attack.
Sasuke cross-slashed with his katanas and blocked the Death God's resulting kick to the torso, allowing Naruto to shed his form for a moment, dash behind the two, jump up and attempt stabbing Shin's enlarged form, but Shin had expected the maneuver. He quickly ducked under Naruto's attempted offense, and sent the flat of his scythe slamming into Naruto too fast for him to dodge.
Naruto managed to summon a part of his avatar briefly to mitigate the damage, but the colossal blow still knocked the breath out of him, sending him flying into a cliff at the territorial edge of the Land of Earth.
Kakashi and Sakura were shocked when Naruto came flying into their general area at nearly the speed of sound. The resulting shockwave from Naruto eating several metric tons of dirt and stone nearly caused and earthquake on its own and blew the two experienced shinobi off their feet.
They quickly hopped down toward where he was, embedded in the side of the cliff, and helped him out of it. He briefly nodded in thanks, before realizing it was Kakashi and Sakura. He'd been so focused on the battle, he'd forgotten completely that Kakashi and Sakura, beside himself and Sasuke, were the only ones not trapped in Infinite Tsukuyomi when they battled Madara.
"Kakashi, Sakura. Thank you for your assistance. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to ask you to step back. Head to what's left of Konoha and regroup with Hagoromo-sensei and my group. The rest of the Allied Shinobi Forces are being directed there as we speak."
Sakura formed a slight tick mark on her head, seemingly unaware of Naruto's power. "What the… you can't just talk to Kakashi-sensei like that, Naruto-baka!"
"Sakura, I'm not the Naruto you remember. I don't scream to the heavens my desire to be Hokage, I'm not the most unpredictable person on the planet, and I'm certainly not innocent like I used to be. I have blood on my hands now, blood that, until this very day, I haven't been able to wash away. I'm an entirely different person, a more powerful person, but most importantly, a wiser one. No amount of shinobi training from any generation will be able to eclipse the knowledge and clarity I have now. In a way, I turned into what Sasuke was supposed to be had Danzo never been in the picture. The both of us have changed. And unfortunately, we're only here on a visit.
"We may have been born on this world, but its roots no longer chain us down. Out there, past the edges of the sky, past a place where no human being has ever reached, lies an infinite expanse of mystery and uncertainty, but more importantly, of life. Life that cannot fight for itself the way us shinobi can. Many civilizations did not rise by the help of similar gifts as we have, and they are under threat by dark forces from across the universe, the darker parts of the Otsutsuki Clan being only one of them. Sasuke and I have gained power that eclipses entire armies of shinobi on our own, but more importantly, we've discovered our true heritage, one that places upon us roles and paths that we cannot avoid. Our fates now rest in the stars themselves, and we cannot remain on this world any longer. Once this battle is concluded, we will leave, and we will likely never return.
"Sakura, as the last remaining member of the strongest three-man shinobi team to ever exist, I'm placing the job of protecting the world from its own threats upon your shoulders. It is one that cannot be taken lightly, so you have to tread carefully, because the lives at stake will look to you for guidance and resolution. However, I know you can do it. You started one of the weakest kunoichi to ever graduate and become a Genin, but through your own hard work, you turned that weakness into unparalleled strength and surpassed the entire kunoichi world."
Naruto turned to Kakashi. "Kakashi, Konohagakure will need your wisdom, experience, and guidance. I am unsure what it will be worth to the village, but I am giving you the Hokage role I should have had. Tsunade is likely ready to step down at this point, and the only shinobi that can sit at the throne is one that can maintain the peace, and one who does not have their sights set on conflict and war. Tell the village I formally recognize you as Sixth Hokage."
Sasuke's impatient, pained shout snapped Naruto back to the matter at hand. "Naruto! I can't hold off Shin-sama for much longer! Wrap it up!"
Naruto chuckled lightly. "Don't worry your ugly bandana, I'm working on it. Well, guess it's time to try out that new jutsu I've been testing." Naruto raised his hands into the stormy sky, and a multitude of lightning gathered above him. He thrust his hands down and pushed Kakashi and Sakura away, and the lightning turned into a pillar of white death that struck Naruto. He infused the lightning with his own chakra at the point of contact, and the lightning spread around his body to form a suit of white ANBU armor. This jutsu, the Enhanced Lightning Armor, wasn't a strength or ability multiplier, and it didn't enhance his reflexes or general combat efficiency; rather, unlike the Third Raikage's jutsu, the entire purpose of this jutsu was speed.
Naruto had been working on something similar to Kakashi's Lightning Blade, but nothing worked at his level of power because he moved too fast with any enhancements for the movement to be controllable, even with his six-tomoe Sharingan, and he hadn't been able to complete this jutsu until he'd manifested his Awakened EMS, which allowed him a great enough degree of depth perception and vision enhancement that he was able to pull the jutsu off.
Naruto called upon the slowly dwindling life essence running through his veins and formed his avatar, and the lightning adapted its shape, calmly but firmly influenced by the will imbued in his chakra, to the gigantic construct. Soon, the avatar was covered in a thinner adaptation of the same ANBU armor Naruto had just worn. Time for the hard part.
Naruto gathered as much chakra as he dared using without shattering the land around him, and gathered as much of his seven inner chakra energies as he could – which wasn't much at all; he'd only recently discovered the seven points of mental and physical stability that allowed any being to exist, and no matter how tough his training, it seemed the chakras were as difficult to adapt as the Eight Gates were to learn – and did two things.
First, he directed his regular chakra and some of the lightning of the ANBU armor to the feet of the avatar, preparing for a massive boost of speed. That wasn't the difficult part, though.
The final step, by far, was the hardest. In order to manifest any amount of the seven inner chakra energies on the outside of one's body, enormous control and a state of emotional tranquility was required. The control, Naruto had in spades, thanks to his over one million years of training inside his various environments. The tranquility, he had almost absolutely none of. True tranquility was a state that was nearly impossible to achieve for someone of Naruto's particular character and experiences, and when it did, it was only for five fleeting seconds. To any normal shinobi, in the right situation, five seconds was a lifetime, but in a large-scale battle like this, with an entire planet on the line, it might as well have been an instant.
It took several seconds, but Naruto found the peace he was trying to achieve, and Kakashi and Sakura were shocked when a special version of the Rasengan they'd only seen once ever made a re-appearance. "Rainbow Rasengan," Naruto whispered.
Naruto only had a couple seconds to do this, so he activated the final step of the jutsu, and took off in a burst of speed so fast, Kakashi couldn't even see it. "Sage Art: Lightning Style: Ominous Step of the Thunder God!"
Sasuke's precognition was the only warning he received as to Naruto's reappearance on the battlefield, and he quickly set up a maneuver that forced Shin to backpedal for a moment. However, that moment was all Naruto needed. He slammed into the Death God's back with a rainbow of spherical destruction twenty feet wide at ten percent the speed of light, and the two combatants flew across the sky, from the Land of Wind to the Land of Frost and the massive ocean to the abandoned continent on the other side of the planet. Only once they were nearly at shore were the nearly horizontal movement of the two combatants halted, by the force of slamming into a mountain at fifteen times the speed of sound. The mountain crumbled under the extreme force imparted upon it, and Shin grunted in pain, dropping his scythe as he crashed to the ground of the beach next to the roiling ocean.
Beside the extreme drawbacks of manifesting the Seven Chakras outside the body, there had been one other major perceived flaw in the Ominous Step of the Thunder God. Naruto had taken it for a simple test run in the Realm of Six Paths, moving at roughly one hundred kilometers per second, the speed of the leader stroke of lightning, and discovered the technique had astronomical recoil. He was lucky he had his Uzumaki healing factor, because the force of accelerating almost instantaneously from a near-dead stop to lightning speed instantly exhausted all the natural energy he'd gathered for the task and ripped all of his limbs clean out of their sockets and nearly off of his body altogether. He'd spent the next five hours laying on the ground, his limbs slowly reseating themselves into their proper positions.
Accelerating almost instantaneously from a dead stop to thirty thousand kilometers per second drained Naruto of every chakra source in his body, destroyed the avatar and ripped his left arm and right leg completely off. They weren't regenerating, which was to be expected, considering the strain of the sudden jump to sub-lightspeed and the resulting backlash had also done extreme, almost irreparable damage to Naruto's chakra network.
Sasuke appeared in a flash with his Rinnegan teleportation and manifested Susano'o. He looked at Naruto, and spat out a string of colorful curses. "You idiot, you'd risk killing yourself just to keep this planet safe. Well, guess I can't blame you."
Kurama's head snapped up, and she rushed to Minato. She'd detected Naruto's chakra spike to absurd levels, then almost instantaneously drop to borderline non-existence. "Please tell me you have a Flying Raijin marker on Naruto."
Minato nodded. "Of course I do."
"I'll give you the chakra, but we need to get to Naruto now. He just performed a suicide stunt to try taking Shin-sama out, and he's not far off from dead."
Minato's eyes shot up in alarm. "Tsunade, I need you over here now!"
"How much chakra will it take to teleport to where he is now?" Kurama hastily asked.
Minato tried locking on to Naruto's chakra signature, and found it rapidly fading. It was already down to the level of an average chunin. More importantly, though, it was half the planet away. "I… I can't reach that far! I'd kill myself trying!"
Kurama frowned as Tsunade approached, followed by Žiara. "Minato, is something wrong?"
"Naruto's nearly dead, but I can't teleport to him because he's on the other side of the planet. The chakra usage and strain would kill me."
Žiara spoke up. "I can briefly provide my own divine essence to assist you. Take my hand." Minato did so, and Tsunade put her hand on his shoulder. A second later, the three disappeared in Minato's trademark yellow flash.
A fourteenth of a second later, the three landed next to Naruto's bloody, dismembered, motionless body. Naruto's chakra signature – rather, what was left of it – was fading, fast, and Tsunade needed to start emergency operations yesterday to have a chance in hell of saving him.
Tsunade took an extremely quick diagnostic scan and cursed, a tear falling from her eye. "This damage is almost irreparable. I… I don't think we can save him."
"Nonsense," Žiara shortly said as she kneeled next to Naruto's unmoving body. "Tell me exactly what I need to do."
Tsunade quickly, but thoroughly, instructed Žiara on what damage to repair first, what damage was second or other priority, and what could be left for Naruto's healing factor to take care of once he was no longer knocking on the door.
The entire time Žiara worked, she internally prayed for Naruto to pull through this. He's far too strong to let his own efforts explode in his face. Naruto-kun has been fighting not only forces we can't seem to understand, but his own emotions and past. And bar our current situation, here and on Earth, he's come out on top every single time. He has to come out on top here, he simply has to!
After five minutes of grueling work, even after the chakra network was repaired to the point it could start fixing itself on its own, and after all Naruto's wounds had been closed or cauterized, what little traces of his chakra remained were still fading away. Tears started to fall down Žiara's face, as the mounting horror of what she believed was her own failure registered.
"I… I've done all I can… but it wasn't enough… You… You can't die… Naruto…"
Tsunade forcefully shoved Žiara out of the way, Minato collapsing in front of Naruto beside her, and the two placed their hands over Naruto's chest, pumping all the chakra Naruto's borderline-collapsed system could handle. In the end, they were able to keep his chakra, and thus his lifeforce, from fading away, but it was a close affair. Naruto wasn't going to wake up for who knew how long, and Minato and Tsunade had very nearly paid that price with their lives, because they'd strained and exhausted their chakra to such a degree that both now collapsed next to Naruto, managing to remain conscious for a fleeting few seconds before going still, their bodies falling into a coma.
Žiara dried her tears, which had now become tears of joy, and took the three comatose shinobi into Convergence, destination Earth.
Sasuke growled in annoyance and pain as he endured another incredibly strong attack from Shin's scythe, his Susano'o quickly falling apart, and Shin followed up with a kick fast enough that Sasuke wasn't able to dodge it in time, and the attack blew him right out of Susano'o.
Sasuke crashed to the ground, panting from severe chakra exhaustion as he tried to form a defense against Shin, but he didn't need to. Shin had been transfixed on Žiara's form, crying on the ground a couple minutes before, and realized something was amiss.
Shin dispelled his scythe. "BE GRATEFUL, MORTAL. I HAVE DECIDED NOT TO REAP YOUR SOUL TODAY. BUT IF YOU OR YOUR GROUP INTERFERE IN MY DUTIES ON SUCH A SCALE AGAIN, NOTHING WILL SAVE OR PROTECT YOU FROM ME." The Death God quickly slashed open a portal to the Realm of Judgment and disappeared.
Sasuke fell onto the ground, panting heavily. It would be a few hours before he was able to move. He wasn't at risk of dying like the others, but he'd strained his chakra network and his Susano'o badly enough that blood leaked out of his eye sockets as the Rinnegan slowly disappeared and his onyx eyes took their place.
And that wraps up Chapter 17. Being completely honest here, this one was a doozy to write. I knew what I wanted to do with the fight scene, but I didn't know how to do it, and it shows. On top of that, about halfway in, the chapter got completely away from me, and turned into what you've just finished reading.
I'm dropping information on the Seven Chakras used in this chapter (and which will be used in later chapters) here, so if you haven't heard of them – or have but don't know what they are or how they're different from one another – then read on.
Studying the individual chakras begins with the root chakra, called Muladhara in Sanskrit. The root chakra is located at the base of the spine at the tailbone in back, and the pubic bone in front. This center holds the basic needs for survival, security and safety. The root chakra is powerfully related to our contact with the Earth Mother, providing us with the ability to be grounded into the earth plane. This is also the center of manifestation. When you are trying to make things happen in the material world, business or material possessions, the energy to succeed will come from the first chakra. If this chakra is blocked an individual may feel fearful, anxious, insecure and frustrated. Problems like obesity, anorexia nervosa, and knee troubles can occur. Root body parts include the hips, legs, lower back and sexual organs. The colors used for this chakra are red, brown and black.
The second chakra is often referred to as the belly or sacral chakra. It is located two inches below the navel and is rooted into the spine. This center holds the basic needs for sexuality, creativity, intuition, and self-worth. This chakra is also about friendliness, creativity, and emotions. It governs peoples' sense of self-worth, their confidence in their own creativity, and their ability to relate to others in an open and friendly way. It¹s influenced by how emotions were expressed or repressed in the family during childhood. Proper balance in this chakra means the ability to flow with emotions freely and to feel and reach out to others sexually or not. If this chakra is blocked a person may feel emotionally explosive, manipulative, obsessed with thoughts of sex or may lack energy. Physical problems may include, kidney weakness, stiff lower back, constipation, and muscle spasms. Belly body parts include sexual organs (women), kidneys, bladder, and large intestine. The main color used with this chakra is orange.
The third chakra is referred to as the solar plexus chakra. It is located two inches below the breastbone in the center behind the stomach. The third chakra is the center of personal power, the place of ego, of passions, impulses, anger and strength. It is also the center for astral travel and astral influences, receptivity of spirit guides and for psychic development. When the Third Chakra is out of balance you may lack confidence, be confused, worry about what others think, feel that others are controlling your life, and may be depressed. Physical problems may include digestive difficulties, liver problems, diabetes, nervous exhaustion, and food allergies. When balanced you may feel cheerful, outgoing, have self-respect, expressive, enjoy taking on new challenges, and have a strong sense of personal power. The body parts for this chakra include the stomach, liver, gall bladder, pancreas, and small intestine. The main color for this chakra is yellow.
The fourth chakra is referred to as the heart chakra. It is located behind the breast bone in front and on the spine between the shoulder blades in back. This is the center for love, compassion and spirituality. This center directs one¹s ability to love themselves and others, to give and to receive love. This is also the chakra connecting body and mind with spirit. Almost everyone today has a hard, hurt, or broken heart, and it is no accident that heart disease is the number one killer in America today. Deep heart hurts can result in aura obstructions called heart scars. When these scars are released, they raise a lot of old pain, but free the heart for healing and new growth. When this chakra is out of balance you may feel sorry for yourself, paranoid, indecisive, afraid of letting go, afraid of getting hurt, or unworthy of love. Physical illnesses include heart attack, high blood pressure, insomnia, and difficult in breathing. When this chakra is balanced you may feel compassionate, friendly, empathetic, desire to nurture others and see the good in everyone. Body parts for the fourth chakra include heart, lungs, circulatory system, shoulders, and upper back. The main colors used are pink and green.
The fifth chakra is referred to as the throat chakra. It is located in the V of the collarbone at the lower neck and is the center of communication, sound, and expression of creativity via thought , speech, and writing. The possibility for change, transformation and healing are located here. The throat is where anger is stored and finally let go of. When this chakra is out of balance you may want to hold back, feel timid, be quiet, feel weak, or can¹t express your thoughts. Physical illnesses or ailments include, hyperthyroid, skin irritations, ear infections, sore throat, inflammations, and back pain. When this chakra is balanced you may feel balanced, centered, musically or artistically inspired, and may be a good speaker. Body parts for the fifth chakra are throat, neck, teeth, ears, and thyroid gland. The main color used is light blue.
The sixth chakra is referred to as the third eye or brow chakra. It is located above the physical eyes on the center of the forehead. This is the center for psychic ability, higher intuition, the energies of spirit and light. It also assists in the purification of negative tendencies and in the elimination of selfish attitudes. Through the power of the sixth chakra, you can receive guidance, channel, and tune into your Higher Self. When this chakra is not balanced you may feel non-assertive, afraid of success, or go the opposite way and be egotistical. Physical symptoms may include headaches, blurred vision, blindness, and eyestrain. When this chakra is balanced and open you are your own master with no fear of death, are not attached to material things, may experience telepathy, astral travel, and past lives. Sixth chakra body parts include the eyes, face, brain, lymphatic and endocrine system. The main colors are purple and dark blue.
The seventh chakra is referred to as the crown chakra. It is located just behind the top of the skull. It is the center of spirituality, enlightenment, dynamic thought and energy. It allows for the inward flow of wisdom, and brings the gift of cosmic consciousness. This is also the center of connectedness with the Goddess (God), the place where life animates the physical body. The silver cord that connects the aura bodies extends from the crown. The soul comes into the body through the crown at birth and leaves from the crown at death. When this chakra is unbalanced there may be a constant sense of frustration, no spark of joy, and destructive feelings. Illnesses may include migraine headaches and depression. Balanced energy in this chakra may include the ability to open up to the Divine and total access to the unconscious and subconscious. The main colors for the crown are white and purple.
Now that you're all caught up, I'll keep that there as a reference. Anyway, not much else to say, so I'll catch you all in the next chapter!