Chapter 23: Naruto vs. Vallen

Naruto glared at Vallen. Vallen had destroyed the Sand Village, Gaara's village, only to get his hands on his power. Now he wanted to do the same to Naruto's village, and Naruto wouldn't let that happen.

"I have a proposition for you, Hokage," said Vallen. "You give me what I want and I promise your village will not be destroyed, as long as you swear loyalty to me."

"I will never make a deal with the likes of you. You can forget about your chakra, too. There's no way in the world you're going to get your hands on it."

"Well," Vallen sighed. "I tried the easy way. Now I'll just have to do it the hard way. Wind Style: Air Bullet Jutsu!"

Vallen puffed his chest and exhaled a massive blast of air. Naruto jumped out of the way and formed a Rasengan in his hand. Vallen stared at the attack, as if uncertain of its origin. Naruto suddenly vanished, but he appeared in front of Vallen and slammed the Rasengan into his gut. Vallen was sent spiraling into a nearby building.

Naruto smirked. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. Vallen emerged from the crater his body had formed in the building. He was no longer puzzled.

"I knew I had seen that jutsu before. A man named Jiraiya used it. Did he teach it to you?"

Naruto said nothing.

"No answer, huh? Okay, so no talking then. Guess I'll just kill you." Vallen pulled a kunai from his pack and charged toward Naruto. Naruto pulled his own kunai and moved to meet Vallen. Their kunai clashed with a resounding ring. The two immediately broke apart. Naruto formed a Rasengan, while Vallen was doing hand signs. Naruto charged at Vallen, who finished his hand signs and sent a beam of air at Naruto. Naruto teleported away and appeared to Vallen's side. Vallen was surprised. How did he do that?

Naruto slammed the attack into Vallen's face, only for Vallen to vanish in a puff of smoke. Naruto realized that this was a Shadow Clone and then began searching for the real. As Naruto turned to look around, he noticed that there were now twelve Shadow Clones coming after him. He formed his own Shadow Clones to match Vallen's. The clones began to melee each other and after a few minutes, all were gone. The real Naruto continued to search for the real Vallen, but to no avail.

"Wind Style: Typhoon Devastation Jutsu!"

Naruto turned behind him in the direction of the voice as a giant typhoon touched down. He ran to avoid it, but he couldn't get away. The typhoon sucked him up and spun him around. Naruto had an idea and immediately summoned thirty Shadow Clones around the area. Each clone emitted chakra as if it were forming a massive Rasengan. The chakra spun opposite the typhoon, weakening it. The typhoon soon disappeared, and Naruto landed on the ground on his feet. Then he sent his clones out to find Vallen. It wasn't long before they found him. Vallen took his kunai and began to chop through each and every clone in his path. What surprised Naruto was that, even if the clone was six feet away, Vallen was still defeating it. It was as if the kunai had become a massive sword. Then Naruto realized the truth. Vallen was using his wind chakra to extend his weapon, much like Asuma had.

Vallen had defeated all of the clones, and he charged toward Naruto with a look of determination. Naruto decided it was time to end this. He formed hand signs and sent a multitude of leaf shuriken at Vallen, who used his enhanced kunai to slice them out of the air. Naruto had used the spare time to create a Rasenshuriken, which he now threw at Vallen. Vallen threw his kunai into the ground and stuck his palms forward to intercept the attack. Naruto frowned. What was he thinking?

The jutsu struck Vallen's extended palms, but instead of exploding, it was sucked into his body.

"What?" cried Naruto.

"You fool," said Vallen. "You used a wind-style jutsu on me. I have only wind-type chakra. That's the one kind of jutsu I can absorb." Vallen began to laugh.

Vallen was now bored with Naruto. That last mistake had taken all of the fun out of the fight. Vallen was ready to get his chakra. He picked a special jutsu from his arsenal and began forming hand signs. Naruto caught the movement and created a Rasengan, intent on stopping Vallen from using the jutsu, but Naruto was too slow. The moment he had formed the Rasengan, Vallen finished his hand signs.

"Wind Style: Great Cloud Spear!"

The clouds above now began to move together and condense. The clouds moved and shaped themselves as a giant spear. The spear was pointed straight at Naruto. Vallen raised his hand into the air and moved as if he were throwing a spear. The clouds responded to his movement and flew toward Naruto, but Naruto already had a plan. He waited until the spear was only a few feet away, then he flashed away from the attack, reappearing before Vallen, and slamming the Rasengan into his gut.

However, instead of flying away, Vallen stood there, taking the attack. Surprised, Naruto looked down to see that Vallen had constructed armor out of air. Naruto's Rasengan had never actually touched Vallen. Vallen grinned, then pulled a kunai from his pack. Naruto immediately cut the Rasengan and tried to move, but something was holding him. He turned to see that the clouds had formed some type of clone and were gripping him tightly. He turned back to Vallen, who was now preparing to dig the kunai into Naruto's heart.

Naruto decided the only thing he could do was stand completely still, and wait for the attack. He waited, and allowed the chakra of nature to flow into him. He felt himself grow stronger, and become one with nature. He could feel those around him. He could feel Kakashi, who was being helped by Zane. He felt Shikamaru, who was currently unconscious and fading fast. He tried, but he could barely feel Tai, which worried him. Mammoth, Zir, and Lady Death were all dead.

Naruto felt an impact on his chest, and when he opened his eyes he saw that the kunai had broken. Naruto's chest, however, was unscathed.

"You!" spat Vallen. "You are one of that old fool Jiraiya's apprentices. I'll kill you!"

Naruto was surprised. Why did Vallen get so mad when he saw Sage mode? Vallen was now forming hand signs. He had to get free of this clone. He suddenly had an idea. He concentrated hard. He envisioned a Shadow Clone forming behind him, and it did. The clone slammed a Rasengan into the back of the Cloud Clone, destroying it. Now Naruto could take down Vallen. He used his Orange Flash Jutsu to appear before Vallen, who had raised his arms into the air.

"You think you're so strong? Now witness my power as I obliterate this puny village!"

Suddenly, Naruto felt sick. He was so close to Vallen. One more step and he could kill him, but something was wrong. Naruto slowly turned to see that at least a hundred twisters were about to touch down on the village. Even with an army of his Shadow Clones, there was nothing Naruto could do to stop it.

"Ultimate Jutsu: Nature's Wrath: Winds of Destruction!"

The twisters touched down. The sick feeling Naruto had grew worse. He watched as his village was devastated. There was nothing he could do. How had this happened? This was his village. He had sworn to protect it. Now, he had failed.

Naruto jerked around toward Vallen, allowing the Nine-Tails chakra he had kept to seep in. His eyes now reflected the mixture of Sage and Nine-Tails chakras. He formed a massive Odama Rasengan in his right hand and used his Orange Flash Jutsu to get in behind Vallen. Vallen was not expecting this, and was unable to defend himself as Naruto slammed his supercharged Rasengan into his back. He was immediately thrown into a nearby pile of rubble.

Vallen was angry now, and began to form more hand signs. Naruto glared as the clouds responded to his jutsu. The clouds enclosed Vallen and created armor. Vallen now appeared to be a massive warrior. His size was greater than that of Mammoth. Vallen formed a cloud sword and charged at Naruto.

Naruto, fueled by his anger, unleashed a jutsu he had promised to never use.

"Forbidden Jutsu: Ultimate Nine-Tails Devastation!"

Naruto immediately began to glow red with chakra. First, one tail grew from his back; then another, and another.

Vallen had now stopped his charge. He was confused by this jutsu. He felt a sinister force coming from Naruto. What was happening?

Naruto now had four tails, and a fifth was forming. He roared at Vallen. Vallen noted that it sounded as if a beast were taking over. A beast that was in immense pain. He didn't know what was happening, but he had to stop it. He continued his charge toward Naruto, who was now forming a seventh tail.

Vallen grinned inside his armor as he approached. A few more steps and the beast would die.

!

Vallen's armor was disintegrated and he was thrown as an explosion rocked the area. Vallen had used the wind to cushion his fall, and he glared through the smoke to see what had happened to Naruto.

Through the smoke, he saw the silhouette of something massive. Nine tails were now swaying in the air, and it had glowing red eyes. Vallen wasn't sure what to call this feeling that was now rising up in him. He had only felt it once before, when Hashirama was sealing him away. Finally, the word came to him. He was afraid.