Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This is fanfiction, after all.
Crescent Moon Palace, Land of the Moon – April 21, AK 22
Hanabi walked hand-in-hand with her husband to the Crescent Moon Palace. They had told their servants to have the day off so they wouldn't get involved in what was inevitably about to be a dangerous ninja battle.
For the last few days, she had acted as Naruto's scout as she spied on the palace from the end of her range of her Byakugan. Naruto had explained that distance was to throw off sensors who would be able to feel her using her chakra. At a distance of ten kilometers away, they could pass it off as a training exercise, which they did do as she spied on the activity in the palace.
Naruto had used his sensory abilities of his Sage Mode to supplement the information she gathered. Hanabi had insisted that the only person with an active chakra network was the large man who had left the island, but Naruto had countered that by staying that skilled sensors are able to shut their chakra network down and make themselves appear as if they were civilians.
Hanabi had been suspicious because Naruto seemed too know too much about the situation, but didn't say anything. The more she pushed, the more he would pull back and that wasn't a good way to improve their relationship/marriage. She would have to give him time and space to trust her.
They were now nearing the palace grounds.
She was about to turn her Byakugan on at that moment, but Naruto shook his head.
"Don't. Not yet. The moment you use a technique unique to you or your clan at close range, your identity will be compromised"
Hanabi didn't like it, but she nodded. That last comment had all but cemented the fact that he knew who was behind this. He had admitted to going to customs, but ninjas rarely used their actual names. So just how did he know who the enemy was?
And he seemed particularly wary, almost scared even.
Just who was it that could make Naruto Uzumaki scared?
Or was he scared for her?
She frowned. She wasn't some dead weight. Even against an S-rank threat, she would be able to provide enough support for Naruto to take whoever it was down. As long as she wasn't the one taking the lead in fighting, she could be of use.
They slowly entered the palace grounds. To not alert anyone, she and Naruto were still wearing formal clothes and pretending to be a young couple in love visiting the king. It annoyed Hanabi that her clothes were going to get trashed but there was little she could do about it. She would just have to compensate by buying at least ten new sets to replace this one robe.
That thought brought a small smile on her face. Even if she fully satisfied her curiosity about the whole experience of shopping, there was still something amazingly fulfilling about the idea of spending her husband's money.
"Yo! King Michiru!" Naruto said in a flippant tone as they entered the throne room. "I have something I need to tell you and Queen Amayo!"
Hanabi did not miss the slight widening of the king's eyes. Crap! She thought. That's not a good sign! Naruto instantly motioned through hand signs when the king frantically interrupted. "Naruto, don't! No ninjutsu, Naruto. This is the palace hall. I can't afford to have you use dangerous techniques that might hurt me, my family, and everyone else."
Byakugan! It didn't matter if the enemy knew she was using the technique. They were already caught and the enemy probably had made preparations in advance. Naruto had been right. The enemy did have a skilled sensor. They had already lost the element of surprise from the very beginning.
Hanabi quickly filtered through everything she saw with her eyes and found what she was looking for.
"Naruto," she whispered, "The woman with the glasses has what appear to be twenty guards around her. Each of them are wearing some sort of armor that's preventing me from seeing their chakra flow." That was, no doubt, efforts to reduce her fighting ability. The woman in the glasses must know a sealing expert knowledgeable about the the mechanics of the Byakugan's vision. "The queen and the prince are locked up in the basement with no guards. I can see that there are seals all around the room that were probably put up this morning. I can't be certain but the patterns look similar to those on an explosive tag. The seals have chakra flowing through them and appear to be active."
"No guards?" Naruto asked.
Hanabi frowned, but nodded. It seemed that the enemy was going to use the explosive seals as leverage. But at this range, it was impossible to send a chakra signal to trigger the seals. Just what was the hell was the enemy thinking?
Naruto nodded and instantly turned gold. The light was so intense that she couldn't see the chakra flow and only saw a bright yellow light.
This level of chakra is simply insane! Hanabi thought as she took a step back. Just how much chakra does he have? And his aura is suffocating!
"I've been waiting for you, Naruto Uzumaki," the red-haired woman said as she entered the hall with her twenty armored soldiers. "I wanted to let you know that I was able to detect the Hyuuga using her Byakugan over the last few days. I could even tell that her Byakugan was directly towards this direction at times." Hanabi's eyes widened. It was one thing if she sensed the chakra used while the Byakugan was active. But to know which direction she was zooming in on? That kind of sensory ability was almost unheard of! Just who was this woman? Even now, her chakra flow appeared to be like a civilian's. Not even the Fifth Hokage and Sakura Haruno were able to manipulate their chakra flow to that degree. "King Michiru, initially, I had thought that there was a small possibility that Naruto was training the Hyuuga to improve the range of her Byakugan as she practiced looking in multiple directions. That was why I had spared your family. But as they are here now, I am assuming that you gave them some sort of message. So as I warned, the lives of your son and wife are forfeit. You were not supposed to obtain outside help."
From the growl she heard from her husband, she knew that he was familiar with the redhead.
Very familiar.
"Hello, Karin."
"Hello cousin," the girl calmly replied. Hanabi looked disbelievingly at Naruto. This woman was his cousin? Since when did he have living relatives? It explained everything, however. That was how Naruto had known that there was a sensor. That was why he had been so on edge.
Hanabi blinked as the woman undid the block on her chakra system and saw her reserves rise rapidly. Hanabi gasped. While it was nowhere close to what Naruto had, the woman had larger reserves than Hanabi did.
Karin gestured in her direction, "It looks like you picked up something nice, Naruto." Hanabi narrowed her eyes at being referred to as an object. "Not bad. Probably makes up for your deficiencies in intelligence and perceptiveness. You probably wouldn't have figured out we were here without her Byakugan."
Naruto laughed mirthlessly, despite having his intelligence questioned. "You've become quite the daring girl, Karin. Since when did you become bold enough to insult a stronger enemy when Sasuke wasn't around to protect you? Don't even try to bluff on that. Hanabi and I scouted the entire island. He isn't here to protect you. And apparently, neither is Juugo."
Hanabi's eyes narrowed at the names. Naruto hadn't been worried because of this woman in front of them.
He had been worried because of Sasuke Uchiha...
One thing was clear. She could not run away from this battle. She had to stay to give her husband every bit of an advantage as he could get. The Byakugan was by no means a perfect counter to the Sharingan, but it could definitely see chakra flow and detect when genjutsu, Naruto's weakest skill, was being used.
Even if it killed her, she had to stay if Sasuke Uchiha somehow showed up.
Crescent Moon Palace, Land of the Moon – April 21, AK 22
"I have grown much stronger since then," Karin said scathingly. "Don't underestimate me."
Despite her strong words, however, Karin was on the verge of a mental breakdown. The amount of chakra her distant cousin just called out was ridiculous. Was it hundred time more than what she had? Or was it a thousand times? She couldn't tell. She was an Uzumaki and had massive reserves, but she felt like her reserves were a drop of water compared to the ocean of chakra Naruto had.
She now understood why Naruto had received the nickname of "The Golden Sun of Konoha." His chakra was enough to completely overwhelm her senses. It was so overwhelming that his chakra shroud was giving off a brilliant light instead of the light glow that even the most chakra intensive techniques produced.
Even with twenty men backing her up, it would be nowhere near enough to take him down in a fair battle.
"Karin, you have a minute to bring out the hostages before I tear you apart."
She smirked when she heard that. If there was one thing she knew about Naruto, it was that he was extremely soft at heart. She, on the other hand, had seen horrors working for Orochimaru and did not have such weaknesses.
"Oh? But the moment you move, the hostages will die."
"Don't be ridiculous," the Hyuuga girl remarked. "You have no guards posted around the hostages. There's no one to kill them."
"Foolish girl, all I need to do is to twitch my finger and the explosive seals on the room itself will go off. Don't think I came here without making preparations. Like I said, I felt you using your Byakugan for the last few days. I made some contingency plans in case you were to storm this palace."
There was a pause. Naruto's wife was a Hyuuga. She would be able to tell that the threat was not a mere bluff.
"You're too far out of range," the Hyuuga girl tried to argue, "A chakra signal can't be sent that far."
"Then attack me and find out!" Karin dared with a smirk. The Hyuuga immediately tried dashing forward. Karin grinned and made a hand sign. She motioned to her men to protect her and was about to activate the explosion when she saw a golden flash sweep the Hyuuga girl away. Karin lowered her hand and tilted her head at her distant cousin. Naruto had definitely become a lot more cautious and wiser over the years. It seemed that he didn't simply rush into things anymore.
"Smart move, Naruto. I didn't expect you to be so reasonable."
Naruto ignored her. "Hanabi, Karin isn't lying. You should have been able to discern that Karin was telling the truth with your Byakugan as well. Even if you kill Karin, I'm sure she has set up measures for her men to set off those explosives as well. Do you think you can kill all of them before the hostages are killed?"
"But that's impossible!" the girl protested. "There's no one in the vicinity of the hostages to set those seals off in an explosion."
"You can't kill Amayo and Hikaru! They've done nothing wrong!" the king said in despair. "Take me instead!"
Karin rolled her eyes. What an oaf. If the king really wanted his family free, he should have obeyed instead of calling for help.
She stared at Naruto. He stared back. They were at a standoff.
Karin could feel a drop of sweat rolling down the side of her head. While she would most certainly die if they attacked, she could survive long enough to kill the hostages. While it wasn't a favorable trade-off for her in her opinion, they didn't think so. It was the real reason why she had kept the hostages alive despite King Michiru sending Naruto a request for help somehow.
Still, Karin had to play this carefully. It was a calculated risk to bring all her men with her. It was as Juugo said, while Naruto's chakra could be taken away, she herself was not too experienced in using the Gelel flux. And despite her reserves, she was never really a strong fighter. So she had brought every single one of her men to protect her if Naruto managed to stand and fight for a few seconds after the nullification barrier went up. For now, she would be able to hold Naruto with the explosive seals in the room where the hostages were.
Karin grit her teeth as she felt the seals she placed around the palace slowly charge up. She still had to stall for more would have started earlier but that would have tipped Naruto off from the very beginning. Juugo was much more skilled at using the Gelel flux and would have charged the seals already, but she had to manage with what little skill she had. It would be around ten more minutes before all chakra in the palace would be nullified.
She had to bank on Naruto valuing the lives of the hostages and not attacking.
"Hanabi," Naruto said suddenly, "Take King Michiru and leave. On your way out, free the advisors from the genjutsu and have them leave the palace as well. Evacuate everyone."
"What?" the Hyuuga girl asked, "Why?"
Karin frowned. What was Naruto playing at? Wouldn't it have been better to order the girl to save the hostages?
"I'll be able to sense where you go even if you leave this palace," Karin declared. "Don't try to send her a message to save the hostages. Naruto, you're already familiar with my techniques. You know I'm able to sense anything using chakra around a twenty kilometer radius."
Naruto fixed her with an appraising look before nodding. "Well, since you have your hostages, you shouldn't mind if I send out my wife and the king. I heard you got married to Sasuke and even have a child. You should understand my feelings for my wife. I don't want her to get caught up in this."
Karin wasn't sure how he even knew that she was married to Sasuke and had a son with him. It had been the right choice to send Itachi back home with Juugo. In any case, however, Naruto was right. She did understand his feelings. Of course, that didn't mean she would simply indulge him.
"What?!" the king sputtered. "What are you saying, Naruto? We have to go save Amayo and Hikaru!"
"King Michiru," Naruto explained in a dangerous tone, "my deepest apologies, but please do as I ask." Karin saw Naruto look towards her again. "Karin, I can't back down, but at the very least, I don't want to get my wife involved."
"No! Naruto! What are you talking about?" the Hyuuga girl forcefully said. "We have her outnumbered! We have the advantage here!"
Nine minutes.
"If I say no?" Karin asked, trying to draw it out.
Naruto shrugged. "Then I'll kill you. Feel free to kill the hostages."
Karin took a step back when she felt his killing intent wash over her. She knew it was mostly a bluff, but there was a different feel about his chakra. While he didn't want the hostages to die, he valued the life of his wife much more. If it came down to it, he really would let her kill the hostages if it meant saving his wife.
She growled. She didn't have a choice.
Eight minutes. Still, maybe she could use this situation to her advantage. An evacuation took time. Naruto would not make a move until his wife, the king, and all the advisors were out of the palace. She could chase them down later after she killed Naruto. She couldn't allow anyone with knowledge of their operation on the island to leave the place alive. But Naruto didn't know that.
"Sure," Karin agreed. "They can leave. But if they pull any fast moves, I'm going to kill the hostages."
Naruto nodded. "Hanabi, look, Karin is using chakra to remotely activate the explosive tags. That means there's nothing we can do to save the hostages right now. I rather you not get involved in the battle here. I am asking you to trust me to fight and win against all odds. Take King Michiru out before thinking of anything else. We need to minimize the number of casualties."
Karin smiled as the girl tried to refuse.
Seven minutes and thirty seconds.
"Look, Hanabi, listen to me, damn it!" Naruto shouted. "If you love me, then get the hell out of this room. NOW! Leave the fighting to me!"
The girl quickly picked up the protesting king and started to leave.
Karin felt their presence leave the main hall. Karin stared at Naruto as the Hyuuga girl rounded up all the advisors and servants and left the palace. The girl was incredibly quick, even summoning a couple shadow clones to speed up the process, but it still managed to take a significant amount of time.
During that time, no words were exchanged between the two of them.
Two minutes.
Karin felt the chakra signals moving away from the castle. At the rate that they going, they would be around a half a kilometer away after this battle was done. She would be able to catch up and eliminate them before they called for more support.
"You know," she said with a smile, "there was no point in doing that. After I've killed you, I'm going chase after them and kill them. Sasuke ordered that no one was to know of our operation here."
Naruto nodded. "I could care less about what Sasuke wants. But do you mind explaining how you're going to do kill me before going after my wife and King Michiru?"
Karin raised an eyebrow. It didn't seem that Naruto was worried at all. Did he have some kind of plan?
"Why should I tell you anything?"
"Because I'm bored," Naruto drawled out. "We've been standing here for eight and a half minutes doing nothing. We might as well start a conversation. I can't kill you because of the hostages and you can't kill me until you do whatever you're about to do. Since I'm not in a position where I can move to attack you, you might as well tell me to make the time pass faster. And besides, you're stalling for time. I might as well let you stall some more."
One minute.
Well, it wasn't like Naruto would be able to do anything. So she could afford to indulge him. And as he said, she was stalling.
"Sure, but you have to tell me your own plan to get out of here. I highly doubt you're just going to let me kill you," she responded.
Naruto nodded. "Sure," he smirked. "I guess I can tell you. But you first."
Fifty seconds.
"Chakra nullification. Soon you won't be able to use chakra in this palace at all. I'm slowly charging up a barrier around the palace," she explained with confidence. "Don't even think about moving to stop me. I know all about your speed in your Kyuubi Mode. All I need to do is twitch my finger. Even if you kill me, my men can also detonate those seals."
Forty seconds.
She saw Naruto raising an eyebrow. "Chakra nullification?" Karin smirked as the blond snorted. A pathetic attempt at a bluff. "What makes you think that you're surviving this, Karin? You seem a bit too confident, don't you think? I'm not going to die just because you have hostages. Sure, I won't make a reckless move, but if it comes down to it, I'll just let you kill them and save my own life."
"You're lying. Isn't it something like your nindo to be an idealistic fool?" Karin frowned when Naruto smiled mischievously. That wasn't what Naruto would have done years ago. But now, he was casually talking about letting hostages die. Did he change that much or was this a bluff?
Thirty seconds.
Either way, she needed to stall for just a bit longer. It didn't matter how much Naruto changed. Once his chakra was taken away from him, he would fall like a sack of bricks.
"Yeah, well, it doesn't matter at this point. I have an awesome plan." Karin raised an eyebrow. He actually had a feasible plan, even after what she just told him? "I just won't use chakra then." Karin mentally snorted. What a fool. Naruto didn't understand. He was still an idiot after all these years. Even taijutsu wouldn't work once the seals were activated as taijutsu required chakra to enhance muscle strength. There was a chance that he could move for a few seconds, but that's what her men were there for. "And your explosive seals won't work either so you won't be able to hold that over me."
Ten seconds.
Karin rolled her eyes. Ones the nullification barrier went up, there would be no need for those hostages.
Three.
Two.
One.
Activate!
Crescent Moon Palace, Land of the Moon – April 21, AK 22
Hanabi quickly ran as quickly as she could away from the palace with the king, the advisors, and the servants. Surprisingly, with the king shouting orders, it hadn't been too difficult to evacuate everyone from the palace. Plus, it appeared that the king too shared Naruto's disgust for slavery and kept the number of palace workers to a bare minimum. And of course, the advisors, being nobles, were extremely quick at moving when their own lives were at stake.
Still, there had been too few people in the palace. Even the king had been surprised and had asked people if workers had taken the day off.
There was nothing to worry about though. She could see throughout the entire palace with her eyes and saw no one in there except Naruto and the enemy.
Hanabi thought back to what she had once told Naruto: To love means to trust. Unconditionally.
Hanabi sighed, knowing that she had let herself be manipulated by her husband. She did say she would trust him. Even though that didn't mean that she should do whatever he says, for now, she would believe that he knew what he was doing.
Hanabi's eyes suddenly widened when she discovered that she could no longer see inside the main hall of the palace. What the…?!
The entire place was suddenly looked dark as if it had been removed from space-time itself. She turned off her Byakugan and looked back to see if the entrance to the main hall was still there.
"Heavens!" King Michiru cried out while on her back. "What is that?"
Hanabi merely stared at the green hemi-spherical barrier that had gone up around a large portion of the palace. It was about hundred meters wide in all directions and didn't seem to be impeded by objects; it appeared as if the green light simply went through the buildings. She activated her Byakugan again only to see the entire region completely disappear from her view.
It's almost like that time with the seals! Those chakra nullification seals!
Instantly a jolt of fear passed through her. She had to get back to Naruto. Even someone as strong as Naruto wouldn't be able to fight without chakra. She was about to head back at full speed when she was suddenly reminded of his words.
What was it that Naruto had said?
"…I am asking you to trust me to fight and win against all odds."
Hanabi frowned. Those words had sounded strange at the time he said it because the odds looked heavily in his favor. Naruto had at least a hundred times more chakra than that Karin girl and Sasuke Uchiha was nowhere in the area. Furthermore, it had been within the realm of possibility to take all twenty-one enemy combatants out with Naruto's speed. She herself might have been able to deal with one or two of them. The fight should have been completely in their favor.
But the chakra barrier removed all of the advantages he had. She looked up at the barrier. It was clear that Naruto was familiar with this Karin girl. Did Naruto already know that Karin had a chakra nullifying ability? Was that why Naruto sent her out with the king and all the advisors?
What else had he said?
"Hanabi, look, Karin is using chakra to remotely activate the explosive tags. That means there's nothing we can do to save the hostages right now."
"Look, Hanabi, listen to me, damn it!" Naruto shouted. "If you love me, then get the hell out of this room. NOW! Leave the fighting to me!"
Her eyes widened. That was it! He trusted her, meaning that he didn't send her out just because he was worried about her. He was telling her to go save the hostages! Because chakra no longer worked in the area, the hostages were no longer in danger. Nor would that Karin girl be able to sense her while she was inside the barrier.
Hanabi swept the area with her Byakugan. Sure enough, the area where the hostages were was outside of the chakra nullifying area. It didn't seem like the barrier extending into the basement where the hostages were.
She turned to the king. "Your Majesty, I'm going to need your help to get your wife and son out. Naruto told me in…um…code to do so. Because of that barrier, your wife and son shouldn't be in danger of exploding and I can see from here that there are no guards. But we're going to have to avoid entering that barrier. Do you know another way in?"
There was a long pause as he stared at her carefully. She could tell he was upset with having to leave the palace when his wife and son were in danger. But he was willing to listen to what they had to say since they were his only chance at getting his family out safely.
"Alright," he finally said, "I gathered that you can see everything with your strange eyes, but I think it'll still be easier following someone who knows these corridors in and out. I'll come with you."
King Michiru ordered his advisors to stay put and told them that he was going back in, despite their protests. Hanabi smiled as she looked at the scene. It seemed like the king was a natural coward, but meeting Naruto had given him enough resolution to constantly challenge himself each day and face his fears head-on. Even now, the knowledge that Naruto was fighting gave the king strength to believe.
Crescent Moon Palace, Land of the Moon – April 21, AK 22
Karin found herself flying back through the air before hitting the marble wall.
She didn't understand it! How did Naruto just hit her that hard? As expected, the golden shroud of chakra had disappeared, but he didn't look fatigued in the least like the others they tested the nullification barrier on.
"You shouldn't be able to use any chakra," she panted as she got up.
"Neither can you and you're moving perfectly fine," Naruto said with a smirk.
Of course, I can, you idiot. I'm touching the Gelel Stone and it's feeding energy into me. How are you standing without an external source of power?
That reminded of her of what Naruto had said a few minutes ago.
Shit! I can't sense anything out of this barrier! My Mind's Eye of the Kagura won't work! Nor can I detonate those seals. Crap, I got too hasty because I thought I could take care of Naruto in a few seconds. I have to send some of my men back.
She had made a grave miscalculation and had gotten overconfident because of the nullification barrier. And without the hostages, she had nothing to use as leverage.
Still she couldn't send too many of her men back considering that Naruto was somehow able to fight. Quickly coming to a decision, she ordered her men. "You five, go back to where the hostages are. The rest of you, attack him! Prevent him from getting to the hostages!"
Naruto managed to knock two out before the other fifteen of her knights managed to block Naruto and stop him from stopping the last three from escaping. Still, it had been a close shave. Naruto was moving incredibly fast even without chakra.
Karin drew back as Naruto summoned thirty clones seemingly without any hand seals.
Impossible! He couldn't have used chakra AND he didn't use hand signs. What the hell is going on?
Her men started randomly swinging their Gelel-flux-coated blades at the random clones only to have the clones fade away a split second after contact.
"I see. They weren't shadow clones," she muttered. "They were just something similar to afterimages." She growled at her distant cousin.
Still, creating afterimages should have been impossible. Much less ones that still had some level of tangibility like the afterimages that Naruto had just thrown out.
She looked towards her distant cousin. The real Naruto had his eyes closed as if he were sensing the air itself.
It seemed almost as if he was using this as a training session. Does he have some ability to sense objects around him? Karin frantically thought in panic. The situation is just getting worse and worse.
Naruto kept weaving in and out between the swings without even trying and smashed his fists into her knights. It didn't matter how they attacked him. The front. The back. The side. From below. From above. He just seemed to know where everyone and everything was.
Three of her knights went flying through the air after Naruto hit them. They hit the walls hard and didn't move.
"Tch. Don't just stand there! Keep attacking him!" Karin shouted at the rest of her men.
Her knights attacked with renewed fervor, but were sent crashing to the floor when Naruto waved his hands in the air.
"L…Lady K…Karin!" one knight gasped out. "W…we can't b…breathe."
Karin frowned. Judging by how the armor was being dented, something heavy was pressing them against the ground.
She clenched her fists.
"My three men should have arrived by now. They'll be back with the hostages soon and if they find me dead, then they'll kill the queen and the prince. You don't want that, do you?"
Naruto completely disregarded her.
Karin grit her teeth. She would have to fight until her men brought the hostages back. She instantly drew more energy from the Gelel Stones in her pockets and coated her entire body with Gelel flux. No matter what strange power Naruto had, it couldn't be as strong as the Gelel flux.
"Gelel Release: Rapid Gelel Fire!" she cried as she jumped up in the air and showered him with energy beams, not caring if she hit her soldiers.
Naruto faded away just like his clones had. She quickly turned around. Usually ninjas tried to blindside their enemies. If Naruto had disappeared from her vision, the only place he would attack, especially in a no chakra zone preventing underground attacks, was her back.
Sure enough, when she turned around, that's where he was.
He didn't attack her, however.
She jumped back in fear away from him.
"You know," he drawled with his arms folded. "I'm fought a Gelel flux user before. You don't seem nearly as experienced with using the Gelel Stones as Temujin was."
"Tch. So you know about that fool?" Karin sneered. "Sasuke killed him and then conquered the entire continent before running experiments on how to take advantage of the energy from the Gelel Stones."
She created a sword made of pure Gelel flux and charged at him. She roared in frustration as she swung over and over again only to find him dodging quite easily. Dodging was probably not even the right word. It seemed like he was taking a walk in the park as he sidestepped each of her swings.
"Fascinating," Naruto remarked, crossing his arms again. Karin was furious but she lowered her blade and deactivated it. She had no chance against him. "I would say that I'm really interested in finding out how you're using the Gelel Stones without being of royal blood, but I'm guessing you used Orochimaru's DNA splicing technology using Temujin's body."
Karin grit her teeth in frustration. He wasn't anything like the exuberant and naïve boy that she had me over six years ago. Now he was incredibly intelligent, observant, and strong.
"My men will be back with the hostages," she spat out, more to convince herself than Naruto. She tried a bluff that even she thought was ridiculous. "I can also detonate the seals by using the Gelel flux. It won't be as effective, but it'll be enough to severely hurt them."
"Really now?" Karin didn't like the smirk that appeared on Naruto's face. "The last time I checked, those seals required chakra, chakra that we can't use right now. And since I know that any Gelel flux technique need to be directly in contact with a Gelel Stone or a user who has Gelel Stones implanted in his or her body to activate, there's no way you can activate those seals with Gelel flux. As for your men, my wife is heading over there as we speak. My sensing techniques don't require chakra and I can sense her moving through the palace to intercept your men."
"Impossible!" Karin yelled. "I felt her leaving the palace. You didn't even order her to go after the hostages."
"Of course," Naruto said calmly, "We're ninjas. We don't need to say things outright to understand each other. Hanabi isn't an idiot. She knew we were powerless as long as you had the hostages under your thumb. But my wife is more than smart enough to figure out that once this chakra-nullifying barrier went up, you lost your ability to detonate those seals. It seems like you haven't had too much practice in an actual fight using the Gelel flux. You're still used to using chakra for everything. Otherwise, you wouldn't have made such a crappy trap that required use of both chakra and the Gelel flux. Quite an amateur mistake you made there. And to think that someone like you called me an idiot."
Karin could try taking down the barrier in order to regain advantage, but Naruto would kill her the moment he had his chakra back. Naruto would be able to reach her before she brought her hands up to blow up the seals. He knew that and she knew that.
She looked at her unconscious men. And her men were no longer present as deterrents either. Before Naruto was probably unsure whether or not he could kill twenty-one people before one of them twitched their fingers. But it was clear from his expression that he was confident that he could kill just one person in time easily.
And what Naruto had said about her skills was true. She was technically only trained to genin-level before she joined Orochimaru. She did gain the rank of chuunin as an Oto ninja, but that was more for appearances than actual skill. Her sensing skills and medical skills were easily among the best in the world, but her fighting skills, tactics, and stealth were all genin level. She hadn't put too much thought into making this trap and neglected to make contingency plans upon contingency plans.
Karin began to panic. She didn't want to die.
Maybe she could get him to walk away.
"This chakra-nullifying barrier covers the entire area," Karin tried bluffing in a confident voice. "If your wife enters the barrier, she'll just end up being easy prey for my men. While you're able to fight without chakra, I doubt she is able to. You should probably go help her."
"The diameter of this barrier is about a hundred meters," Naruto said with a knowing smile. "I already had intel on your abilities."
"No way! There's no possible way you could have known!" Karin shouted in shock. "We've only use this technique in battle twice."
Naruto nodded. "I'm guessing that you used it once against King Michiru's ninjas and I know that you used it once before on a spy to your lands."
Karin gasped as she remembered the intruder that Sasuke had cut down a few months ago. "No way! He was your comrade?! That strange guy who looked like Sasuke? He survived? You're bluffing! He was still alive when we left him out to die, but every single vital organ was pierced in some way."
Naruto's killing intent skyrocketed. "And yet," he said dangerously, "somehow I have information on your activities. And you didn't think to check for other spies as well. I didn't just send one." Karin's heart froze at that. There was no possible way. She would have sensed another spy. No one but a sensor could mask his or her chakra signal and sensors were rare to find. To think that Naruto had a sensor loyal to him! Naruto went on, "You currently have five thousand men, each fitted with a third generation Gelel seal on his or her armor. Your third generation seals only repel chakra and protect the user from damage but doesn't nullify the opponent's chakra. On the other hand, this current area of effect seal you have activated is a fourth generation seal that does take way the opponents ability to use chakra but requires time or multiple people to charge it. That was why you were stalling for time earlier," Naruto listed out. "Shall I go on?"
Karin started sweating at his cold tone. Her knees were shaking just from the killing intent he was releasing. The killing intent was greater than what Sasuke let out. This Naruto wasn't just smart, he was dangerous. She needed to somehow make it alive. She needed to warn Sasuke. If everything was on schedule, Sasuke should have gotten the message from Juugo by now. He would be able to space-time ninjutsu to save her. She just needed to hold out for a bit longer.
Flashback
Karin frowned. "What power could threaten the power of the Gelel Stone? The stone itself is powered by spirit of nature itself. It'll take time, but we'll even be able to perfect the fuinjutsu we created to prevent the usage of chakra within a certain radius. You know as well as I do that chakra is the lifeblood of any ninja. Even the bijuu would be powerless facing this."
Sasuke shook his head. "I'm not certain, but I can feel it in my blood. The Uchiha blood is borne for battle and I felt it roar in anticipation while on the main continent. I know at least Naruto Uzumaki will not have sat around for over six years doing nothing. He will have found a way to fight even if we drain every bit of chakra from his body. I would never underestimate him."
End Flashback
Karin dodged a lazy swing from the blonde although she knew that was only because he let her dodge. She tried jumping away but found herself slammed into the ground by an unbelievable amount of force.
She soon found herself completely surrounded by water, which quickly solidified into ice. "Shit, how are you doing this?!" she screamed as ice started to cover her entire body. "You're not supposed to be able to use chakra, much less have a bloodline ability like ice manipulation!"
It didn't even appear as if Naruto was trying. If Karin had to be honest with herself, Naruto probably could have finished the battle a minute after it began. Her instincts had been right. He had been using the entire fight as practice.
But it was her fault. She had forgotten. This man. This man was Sasuke's rival. She never should have underestimated him. She should have fought him as if she were fighting Sasuke.
"Be glad that I'm not out to kill you," Naruto said with a drawl. "You're just an appetizer. I'm just waiting for the main course to arrive."
As she felt her consciousness drifting away from the cold, the last thing she saw was the space around her warping and ice shattering as someone grabbed her and repeatedly shouting "Karin!"
Sasuke…
Crescent Moon Palace, Land of the Moon – April 21, AK 22
Hanabi swiftly ducked and sidestepped the swipes from her enemies, not overlooking the green energy humming around her as she dodged. She had seen them leave the barrier and come towards her direction. Immediately telling the king to get behind her, she took out her one of her two fans, mentally thanking Naruto for the weapons.
Her Gentle Fist would likely be useless, although she would have to test that out to make sure. But at the very least, she could still use her sharp fans. The metal armors appeared to be sturdy, but her Byakugan told her the joint areas were weak and unprotected. She would attack those points. And by no means were her fans weak as they were made of the strongest possible metals and were coated in diamond dust, making her fans extremely sharp and durable. She would have to thank Naruto for his incredibly useful gift.
Long range first to confirm whether chakra and by extension, her Gentle Fist, would work.
"Water Release: Burst Whip," she intoned as a long water whip emerged. She whipped and swung the water rope towards her enemies and found that her whip rebounded. Her Byakugan told her that there was some odd green energy that repelled the chakra. However, the chakra did not dissipate.
The results showed that chakra might work after a certain point. That meant two things. (One) Enough chakra would allow her to break through that energy. (Two) Too much chakra pushed against the strange energy would cause the resulting mix of energy to detonate.
Chakra would have to be her last option. She pulled out her other fan and opened it elegantly. Her hands and Gentle Fist wouldn't do much so she might as well hold weapons in both hands.
She ran towards the enemies, jumping and flipping and kicking. While chakra couldn't pierce the odd green energy barriers, the force of her blows did and the two knights she had just kicked staggered back.
She swerved around a swipe from the third knight and swung upwards elegantly at his elbow joint with one of her fans and then swung her other arm at his waist between the upper and lower plates to slice with her fan.
"AAHHHHH!" The knight cried as blood spurted from his two wounds. The man was fortunate. If she had been using wind chakra, he would have lost his arm.
Not that it mattered. She was going to kill him in a few seconds.
Still following the momentum of her last swing, she turned gracefully to avoid the blood and with one of her now closed fans, she slammed the man in the back of the headpiece where it was weakest.
Thud!
"One down," she said in a stoic voice.
She could tell that the other two were hesitating. She could see fear. Fear meant weakness.
She jumped in between them and twirled with her fans as she spun. Blood spurted out from the side of their necks as she ducked then hopped away, again to avoid the blood. They fell to the ground with their hands on their necks and died after a few seconds.
"King Michiru," she said as she snapped the fans shut and used a water technique to let the blood drip off of her fans. She turned to the shivering king who was looking at her as if she was a demon. "I believe your wife and son are in the next room over."
"Y…yes," he stammered. Hanabi was tempted to roll her eyes. She couldn't have looked that scary. Her entire battle style was like a graceful dance. She hadn't even gotten any blood on her clothes! She had used her speed and agility to quickly dodge the spurting blood. She did admit that she strayed from the Hyuuga philosophy of minimizing exterior injuries, but it wasn't like she had much choice. She didn't want to risk using her Gentle Fist style and accidentally have an explosion in her face. She would much rather stay alive than follow to some philosophy she didn't really believe in. Especially now that she was an Uzumaki.
"Let's go save them and then rescue my idiot husband back in the main hall."
At the mention of Naruto, the king steeled his eyes and nodded. Hanabi was still confused about that. First, it was back when they were outside the palace and now this. What did Naruto mean to the king that the king would suddenly regain his courage at the mention of his name? There were still too many mysteries where Naruto was involved. Naruto seemed to have such a positive effect on those around him.
Hanabi wondered if her life was touched in the same manner as well.
She looked at her fans and smiled.
Yes. Naruto did change her life. In more ways than one.
Crescent Moon Palace, Land of the Moon – April 21, AK 22
"Long time no see, Sasuke," Naruto said with a bright smile that he knew fooled no one. The killer intent in the air was palpable to both of them. "And I see that you brought some friends." Naruto gestured at Suigetsu and Juugo. "But you're not the only one with backup."
Naruto raised his hand.
The orange-haired girl appeared blinked into existence. She was wearing the black cloak he wore as Kokuten which blocked both sensors and the Byakugan. "Lord Naruto?"
He kept his gaze on Sasuke and his friends. "Did you get them out?"
"I was able to evacuate most of the people before Lady Hanabi began. It seems like your newest seals did their job well. It didn't seem that Lady Hanabi was able to detect at all."
Naruto nodded. At close range mode, the Byakugan would just see an empty spot in space. However, to a Hyuuga using the default mode and the long range mode, the cloak would render the wearer invisible to the Byakugan.
"Are you done, Naruto?" Sasuke said as he finished crushing the solid ice covering Karin. Sasuke gently handed the unconscious girl to Juugo.
As expected, Sasuke had teleported to the area. Naruto's calculations had been on the dot. It had been based on information that Sai had almost died for to obtain. Naruto made a mental note to thank Sai again.
"Ready when you are," Naruto declared as he settled into a fighting stance. "Sasame, it might be too much to ask you to take on both Suigetsu and Juugo, but I need you to keep them out of my way."
"No need for that," Sasuke turned to his two subordinates. "Don't get involved. There," Sasuke smirked, "your pretty mistress won't get hurt."
Sasame shifted uncomfortably next to him. Naruto's anger flared. "She's not my mistress, you bastard. Maybe you like to toy with girls' emotions, but I don't."
Sasuke didn't lose the smirk on his face, "Then where's your wife? Why isn't she standing next to you? I heard that your wife was an elite, yet you choose to have another woman stand next to you."
"I don't need to explain myself to you, you prick."
"I guess I pushed a button there, dead last."
Naruto froze before laughing at that. "Dead last," Naruto kept chuckling. "It's so funny that even after all these years, you use that same insult you did when we were twelve years old. Tell me, Sasuke. How does it feel when you're eating dirt because of this dead last?"
Naruto released a wave of physical energy and crushed Sasuke to the ground with a pillar of super-compressed air.
Sasuke fell to the ground but slowly fought his way up as he covered himself with the Gelel flux. Naruto kept tried to increase the pressure, but Sasuke was able to fight off the pressure. "I see you managed to find a new power. But you're not the only special one here! As it always had been, I...I...I am more special than you!" he roared.
Naruto released his technique and he jumped back. He weaved in and out the dozens of green tendrils that Sasuke shot out from his green shroud, using the Spirit Field to guide his movements. Channeling spiritual energy, Naruto manipulated time around his body and slowed it down so his movements would become relatively faster. Naruto took out his Star Staff and struck at Sasuke who blocked it with his Kusanagi Sword.
Naruto smirked as Sasuke leapt into the air to put some space in between them. Idiot. Naruto manipulated the air around them to thicken to slow Sasuke's movements through the air and then manipulated the water particles to rapidly freeze around Sasuke's body.
"Checkmate," Naruto declared as ice-covered Sasuke dropped to the ground like a rock.
"Sasuke!" Juugo cried out, setting Karin down on the ground and getting ready to fight.
"Hey, calm down," Suigetsu drawled, while shouldering his sword. "Sasuke's got this."
Sasuke struggled against the thick ice as Naruto race forward with a kunai. He raised his spiritual levels to the maximum he could to increase the time dilation around his body. He used as much physical energy as he could to activate his body to increase its speed. He wasn't nearly as fast as he was with the Kyuubi cloak on, but he was still incredibly fast.
Naruto calculated the distance in his head. From this distance, it would take 1.1 seconds to reach Sasuke. He had thought about shadow stepping to Sasuke, but while disappearing was instantaneous, it took a full second and half to reappear. At this distance, it was faster to attack directly.
I have to take out his Sharingan. That's the source of his strength. He won't be a threat to the world if I manage to take out even one of his eyes. That will permanently lock away his ability to use Susanoo which requires both eyes and either Tsukuyomi or Amaterasu depending on which eye I get. At this point, I don't care which one it is.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Naruto."
Shit! Naruto's eyes widened as he felt a huge surge of energy and shadow stepped away. Black flames passed the area he had just been standing.
A second and half later, Naruto reappeared next to Sasame who took a step forward and got in a defensive stance in front of him. Using physical energy, she manipulated the dirt below the palace to rise up and spin around them as protection, much like how Gaara's special sand did for him. Naruto could tell with one glance that she had hardened the dirt clumps flying around them to the point that even Amaterasu wouldn't burn through them immediately.
Still, as extra precaution, Naruto placed his hand on Sasame's shoulder and prepared to shadow step them away in case Sasuke decided to fire off another round of Amaterasu.
Sasuke used the time he just bought to burn through the ice encasing him with Amaterasu.
"You can use your Sharingan while using the Gelel flux? How unfair. The law of nature and life just don't seem to apply to you ever. You always manage to pull something out of your ass without working for it." Naruto had recklessly charged because he thought that Sasuke wasn't able to use the Sharingan while under a chakra nullification barrier. However, it seemed like Sasuke figured out a way to replace chakra with the Gelel flux completely. That wasn't good news at all. "Oh well, I guess it was too much to hope for anyway. After all, you wouldn't be the same cheating, thieving son of a bitch if you didn't have the Sharingan," Naruto growled out.
"Why you!"
Naruto ignored Sasuke's outburst. "But it doesn't seem like you can use genjutsu in this barrier," he said matter-of-factly. "I know a bit of how the Gelel flux works. You have to be in direct contact with the Stone. Unless you touch me to inject the Gelel energy into me, you can't place me in a genjutsu even if you do have the Sharingan. Just letting you know, I have much more I can use, while you've already used one of your two trump cards."
Sasuke looked furious at having to use a powerful technique so early in the battle and even more so that Naruto had figured out a weakness in Gelel flux techniques. "I don't have time to fight you right," he growled as his eyes flickered towards Karin before landing on Naruto again. "I'll back off from the Land of the Moon. You have my word that I won't return here. But I'm warning you. This is a one time thing. Next time, don't get in my way."
Naruto laughed mirthlessly and glared at his former friend. "Why shouldn't I? You're only going to throw the entire world into chaos."
"Chaos?" Sasuke repeated, before shaking his head. He gestured to Juugo and Suigetsu to gather all their soldiers. Sasame, however, did not drop her technique. "It's justice," he hissed. "The great villages defile the sacrifices their best and most talented have made. The kages parade themselves around as heroes when the true heroes are dead!"
"Don't fool yourself into thinking that you're doing something noble, Sasuke," Naruto said in a cold voice. "We both know that this whole hissy fit of yours is about Itachi and your clan. You couldn't care less about anything else. Don't try to make your pity party out to be something grand like justice. Fighting for justice is fighting for those who are weak and can't defend themselves. You're just fighting for yourself."
"I'm fighting for the dead, Naruto," Sasuke insisted angrily. "The dead are defenseless as well. I don't expect you to understand. I, however, will not stand and watch my brother's sacrifice be trampled into the ground."
"Your brother sacrificed himself to cover up your clan's treachery," Naruto snapped back.
"They only rebelled because they were ostracized!" Sasuke yelled, losing his temper. "They willing sacrificed their pride to be the Senju clan's dogs for years! They were willing to compromise and share their own power with the rest of the village, yet they ended up being seen as evil. The Uchiha were every bit as instrumental in Konoha's success as the Senju. We had spilled our blood in three World Wars and still Konoha screwed over my clan and forced them to rebel." Sasuke paused as he took in several deep breaths. "But even after that, the Uchiha sacrificed again. My brother decided to save Konoha at the expense of my clan. For a time, I was fine with that fact. But when the war ended, even when the truth was exposed, Konoha decided to cover it up again and branded my brother as a traitor!"
"But your clan's status as a noble clan was cemented."
Sasuke shook his head. "That should go without saying. Konoha should apologize to the spirits of my dead clansmen AND recognize the tremendous sacrifice Itachi made. I'm going to get the entire world to understand that fact."
"Right, you want to have your cake and eat it too," Naruto said sarcastically. "But Sasuke, I hope you know that it's going to be a pretty small world around you after your little campaign. No one's going to follow your logic at all. You're going to end up having to kill quite a lot of people if you want everyone to agree with you."
"Don't make me out to be a monster, Naruto," Sasuke said in a cold tone. "I'm not going to slaughter innocents. I'm only going to kill those who dishonored my family. You kill in the name of Konoha. I kill in the name of my clan. I see no difference. Look around you, dead last. Are you satisfied with what the great villages are doing? They're just amassing power and crushing the weak and the poor, the people you so love. They're the ones enslaving the people. You're just standing there doing nothing but following along. You, by association, are just as guilty for being a part of that system of corruption and evil."
"Perhaps," Naruto admitted, not letting Sasuke know about his real plans, "but I do what I can to stop the corruption wherever I go. I fund orphanages and shelters. I adopted kids of my own. I don't extort or threaten people like you do. I vowed to protect Konoha as long as I'm a ninja there so I kill on my missions and I kill criminals to protect the weak, but I don't kill people just because they oppose me in the pursuit of my dream of peace. There's a difference in killing out of duty and killing for selfish gain even if you can justify that killing with other reasons. Such subtlety may be lost on a bastard like you."
"Oh, look, someone learned a new word," Sasuke spat out derisively. "Naruto, you're still that idealistic idiot after all these years. You're just making excuses for your inaction. You're just rationalizing why you're not stepping forward to change the world. I...I refuse to be like you." Sasuke turned and placed his hands on Juugo and Suigetsu who had gathered all seventeen soldiers that had been in the room. "I'm leaving here today because I can't afford to fight a full-powered battle with you right now. I would unnecessarily weaken myself and get my allies hurt. But I'm warning you. When I come for Konoha, if you get in my way, I'll kill you."
Naruto openly laughed at that. "I'm sure you'll try." Naruto just watched as Sasuke disappeared with his allies.
Crescent Moon Palace, Land of the Moon – April 21, AK 22
"Thank you, Naruto," the king said happily while sitting on the throne next to his wife and son. There was a hole in the ground in the throne room but the king already had people working to repair it. "Once again, you proved yourself to be a friend to this land. You did scare me with your statements earlier, but I should have known that it was a bluff to scare the enemy. You have my gratitude."
"Not at all, King Michiru," her husband said sheepishly, "And I'm really sorry that I scared you by telling you to leave the palace with Hanabi. I would have explained but I couldn't say anything in front of the enemy."
"Naruto dear," Hanabi resisted the urge to twitch at Queen Amayo's term of endearment. Only Hanabi could call him dear. It most certainly didn't help that the queen looked majestic and pretty in her own right, despite her older age. "What happened to the enemy?"
"Ah," Hanabi tensed, as Naruto had grown serious, "she escaped. Her accomplice came to rescue her. They used something that resembled a space-time ninjutsu which allows them to teleport to and from far distances away."
"Oh no!" King Michiru shouted. "What if they come back? They already killed ten of my strongest ninjas! They were all A-rank elites! That red-eyed Uchiha with a cloak just knocked them to the ground with one finger and then slaughtered them all. All my ninjas were helpless."
"Normally, I would admonish my husband for being so cowardly, but in this case, I agree with him. We would most certainly feel safe with you around, Naruto dear," Hanabi thanked Kami for the eighteen years of practice she had in controlling her emotions because she wanted open her fans and kill the queen at that moment, "Is there a way that you could stay with us for an extended period of time? Once you leave, we're vulnerable again."
"Well," Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "I'll be here for a month, but I can't stay any longer than that." Naruto furrowed his brows before reaching into his robes. "Take this," he said as he handed them a strangely shaped kunai.
Hanabi's eyes widened. Is that what I think it is?!
"What is this?" King Michiru said curiously. "How is a single blade going to protect us?"
Naruto smirked. "Try throwing it in any direction."
The king did and Naruto teleported towards the kunai. "Fascinating!" the prince said. "If we ever get in trouble, we can summon you here!" The prince smirked. "Or whenever we particularly want to see you as well…"
Hanabi stood there calmly but was internally in turmoil at the revelation that Naruto knew the Hiraishin. She knew he had something like the Hiraishin after the stunt he pulled to save her from Hinata's Kaiten, but she didn't think he knew how to perform the actual technique itself using a formula seal on a kunai. The stories of the Fourth Hokage using the Hiraishin to slaughter hundreds of Iwa ninjas were like legends at this point.
Naruto laughed at that. "But Hikaru, if you throw that, I'll think you're in grave danger! I might appear ready to fire an incredibly destructive technique. I'm sure you wouldn't want a scare like that. As for visiting, I'll try to visit more often so you won't resort to throwing that just to have me here."
"Aww, but you said that the last time you were here, Naruto!" the prince protested.
Naruto put his hands up defensively. "Kakashi-sensei's been a slave driver for the last few years so I couldn't visit. Blame him!" Naruto gave them a bright smile. "In any case, Hanabi and I still have almost a week left here. We'll be sure to visit everyday."
The king smiled. "Now then, I know I already told you that we couldn't afford to give you a blank check, but you knew that was me trying to tell you something was wrong. As my thanks, I'll be giving you a blank check to buy whatever you want from our kingdom's resorts."
Hanabi jumped and covered Naruto's mouth before he could refuse. She would not let Naruto ruin this grand opportunity to buy everything she ever wanted. She would not let him reject this incredibly generous offer.
She said in the sweetest voice she could muster, "We gratefully accept, Your Majesty."
Hotel Resort, Land of the Moon – April 21, AK 22
"Naruto, you have some explaining to do."
Naruto groaned. He was not looking forward to a Q&A session with his wife. "Karin's a distant cousin of mine. Her name used to be Karin Uzumaki before she married my old genin teammate."
Hanabi nodded. "She's Sasuke Uchiha's wife?"
Naruto tilted his head grimly. "I'm guessing you picked that tidbit up from my conversation with Karin and from what King Michiru said. I have contacts all over the world. I heard that they got married together while on another continent and even had a child together. I had hoped that Sasuke would finally just settle down, but it looks like he wants another fight."
"Well, aren't you stronger than he is, right?" Naruto smiled when the girl sounded a bit worried.
"In a straight up fight, I doubt that there is anyone in this world stronger than I am, Hanabi," Naruto replied. "I'm not bragging or fishing for compliments. There are a number of reasons why that that's simply the truth, but I don't want to get into them right now. But even if I'm the strongest, Sasuke comes close. Closer than anyone else. But that's not even the issue here. There are other reasons why I have to keep my guard up against him."
"What do you mean?" the girl asked with a frown. "Are you talking about that strange chakra nullification ability that his wife had?"
"Yes," Naruto scowled. "First he had his damn Sharingan, then Orochimaru's Cursed Seal of Heaven, then the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and Itachi's power on top of that, and now he's somehow taking advantage of the fact that Gelel flux can negate chakra. Every time I beat him down, he finds some way to exponentially increase his power. I wouldn't begrudge him his power except Sasuke rarely works for anything he has. It's like playing an action video game where your opponent has godmode activated."
His wife laughed at his little joke. "So this time, the 'godmode' as you call it is Uchiha's ability to negate your strength while using a completely different power."
"More or less," Naruto admitted. "But it's not just that. Despite being given anything anyone could want in life, Sasuke still hyper-focuses on the few things in his life that didn't go well. Yes, his family died, but given his reaction, you'd think that he was the only orphan in the world. And now he's trying to drag other people into this miserable tantrum of his."
"Tantrum?"
"He was angry at the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War when he didn't become appointed Hokage even after 'gracing' the village with his presence once more," Naruto add the last bit sarcastically. "So I'm guessing he's trying to rule the world by force instead. Why else would he create seals to prevent people from using chakra? Why else would he use extortion to squeeze money from King Michiru? Sasuke's building an anti-ninja army."
Still, there was something odd about the situation. Naruto frowned as he remembered the brief encounter when Sasuke had come to rescue Karin. This time, the look in Sasuke's eyes was a bit different. It didn't look like Sasuke was solely motivated by hate or anger. His eyes seemed more…purposeful.
A rational Sasuke with a radical philosophical belief would be extremely dangerous. Especially with a power like the Gelel flux at hand.
"Anti-ninja…I've been holding off on this question but how did you fight them?"
Naruto winced, and then winced again when he realized she saw his reaction. His wife wasn't glaring but he still wilted at the eager look. "Alright. Sit down first."
Naruto sighed. He hadn't planned on teaching anyone outside his inner circle his new sets of techniques, but he figured he could make an exception for his wife. She had made him happy over the past few weeks, especially with her reassurances to be with him no matter what. This would be his way of paying her back for her sweet words, even if they might not be entirely true. And perhaps, just perhaps, she might join him in his cause.
"I'm guessing this is going to be a long talk."
Naruto laughed. The girl was in for a head-spinning lecture. "Alright," he said, "tell me how much you know about chakra theory."
"Chakra theory?" His wife furrowed her brows and Naruto couldn't help but notice how cute his wife looked. He shook his head and tried to focus on the situation at hand. He could resolve his distraction problems with her later. "Well, chakra is made up of spiritual energy and physical energy and chakra is the source of all ninja techniques."
"Correct," he nodded. Hanabi had given what was the textbook definition of chakra. "Chakra is used in everything from ninjutsu to genjutsu to taijutsu. An undetectable amount of chakra is required for life and chakra exists even in nature. Now, the chakra in our bodies has a mix of physical energy and spiritual energy that is mixed in a ratio of one to one. Chakra, however, is not limited to pure one to one mix of yin and yang. Certain techniques do require altered ratios."
"And how does that allow you to overcome chakra nullification," Hanabi asked curiously.
Naruto frowned. The girl had encountered a situation where she couldn't use chakra and was obviously interested in learning a way to fight in case she fought another chakra nullifying opponent. Naruto had just decided that he wasn't opposed to teaching her, but he didn't want her to flaunt these techniques wherever she went. People watching her would find out about that there was a new source of power. Wars were already bad enough with chakra. With different sources of power, the wars would only get bigger and much more deadly.
Already, it seemed that the war Sasuke was planning to start would be bad enough. He hadn't raised an army strong enough to challenge any of the great villages just yet, but he was getting there. Naruto was sure that in a year or two, Sasuke would be rushing back to the Elemental Nations for whatever misguided sense of justice he had.
"Swear on your love for me that you won't reveal what I tell you to anyone."
The girl tensed but didn't hesitate when she said, "I swear. My life is with you and no one else. Not even Konoha can drive me against you."
Naruto smiled despite not entirely believing her response.
The girl seemed to unconsciously understand that one day he might have to come to blows against Konoha. Naruto wasn't sure what she would choose when it actually came down to that point, but for now, he was happy that she was reassuring him that she would stand with him.
But no one loved him that much.
Not his friends, not his teachers, not his admirers, and most certainly not the villagers. His friends liked him because he constantly worked to keep them safe. Take that service for them away, and then they would turn on him in an instant. Naruto had no delusions that his "friends" loved him for who he was. They only accepted him because he was their currency to purchase peace.
Naruto was no longer the naïve child who thought the world was a pretty place and he had long since come to the conclusion that it was just best to assume that almost everyone was out to kill him.
Even just three weeks of happiness with Hanabi had been enough to lower his guard. It was how he had overlooked the possibility of an enemy ninja masquerading as the queen.
He couldn't afford to live so casually.
"The techniques I used take that concept to the extreme. I used pure spiritual energy and pure physical energy to combat the chakra nullification. Using pure spiritual energy I can create short-lived illusions, manipulate the thoughts of others, create sensory techniques, or even temporarily stop time. With pure physical energy, I can increase or decrease the properties of objects."
"I understand the illusions and sensory techniques, but properties of objects?"
Naruto waved his hands and motioned for her to attack him. Naruto laughed when the girl moved as if she was in a swimming pool. "Haha! See, that's what happens. I manipulated the properties of air to make it denser so it's harder to move through. I can also do this." Naruto waved again and Hanabi fell on his lap, unable to get up.
"Hey! Let me up!"
Naruto snickered again and let her up. "I manipulated the properties of air and increased the air pressure right above you so it would hold you down. If I took that to the maximum level, I can crush your entire body with just air."
"Amazing," his wife breathed out.
Naruto rolled his eyes when the girl decided that being sprawled on his lap was a good thing. He indulged her and began to stroke her hair lightly.
"In normal cases, physical energy is what gives chakra is elemental nature, so what you and I manipulate in nature will only be mostly air and possibly water. Also, since it's your own body's physical energy, you will also be able to manipulate the properties of your own body. Aside from that, I don't think there's much we can manipulate. With chakra we are able to control far more objects and materials because the imaginary power of yin gives more versatility to the manipulating power of yang. But with yin and yang separated, there are greater restrictions to what we can do. The limit to spiritual energy is that it is short-lived. The limit to physical energy is that it is only possible to manipulate what is already there. I cannot create something out of nothing like I can with chakra."
"I see. So what about the other elements? Can you control them with physical energy as well?"
"This is all theory of course since I'm the first pure yin and yang user in the world. But much of what I know is self-taught. I can manipulate the properties of water in the air to become ice or liquefy it on the ground to make an opponent slip. I believe with earth you would be able to manipulate the properties of the ground to increase or decrease gravity and the texture of the ground itself. With fire, I think you would be able to control the heat so that you can burn only what you wish. Also you would be able to manipulate the light itself so you can turn whatever you want invisible by manipulating the existing light rays. With lightning, I believe you would be able to manipulate metals with magnetism."
"Some of those things, we can't even do with chakra. That's impressive."
"Maybe. This is all theoretical at this point. I can only say for sure what happens with air and water. I can use fire when I'm using my Kyuubi shroud but I haven't tested out pure yang release techniques while in Kyuubi Mode. That would require me forcibly separating the physical energy from the spiritual energy in the Kyuubi's chakra. Even after six or seven years, I haven't fully mastered the use of the Kyuubi's chakra, especially after my father returned the yin portion of the Kyuubi's chakra to me. I don't want to risk experimenting with that much spiritual energy and physical energy yet. I'm far from a master at using these techniques."
"Okay," Naruto smiled as he noticed the girl falling asleep. He continued stroking the girl's hair and rubbing her side. "And what about the Hiraishin? How do you know that?"
Naruto laughed. "It's true that I can use the Hirashin, but I rarely do. While the Hiraishin allows for instantaneous teleportation, it just doesn't have the range and flexibility that I need. I can teleport maybe ten kilometers at most using the Hiraishin. But even for shorter distances, I still need the sealing formula to be placed somewhere. My own teleportation technique does use a sealing formula for large distances, but only requires my sight for shorter distances. It much more useful. And I'm still reducing the time it takes to reappear after teleporting. Eventually, it'll become a better technique than the Hiraishin itself."
"Mmm," she murmured. "Then what about the kunai you gave to King Michiru?"
"It's not the Hiraishin; otherwise I wouldn't have given the kunai to King Michiru. If Sasuke came back with Karin again, they'd just activate the chakra nullification field and the Hiraishin, which still uses chakra, would be useless. The kunai is an application of spiritual and physical energies. The imaginary power of yin creates a hole in space-time along the path of the kunai and the manipulative properties of yang stabilize the tear long enough for me to enter and exit the hole. Because it's tied to my spiritual and physical energies, it automatically links the hole in space-time to where I am at that moment." He paused to stroke the unmoving girl's hair more. "It was a bit of a hassle to create it. I had to develop a completely new branch of fuinjutsu that dealt with yin and yang.""
Naruto got a tad bit annoyed when he saw the girl had fallen asleep. He was even more irritated when he realized that they weren't going to be engaging in certain bedtime activities that night, but decided that he didn't mind when he saw the smile on the sleeping Hanabi's face.
AN: Longest chapter to date. I thought about breaking it up, but really couldn't find a spot to do so.
Sorry. You don't get to bear witness to the fateful Naruto vs Sasuke moment just yet. This battle was only a preview of what is to come much later on. Naruto's changed quite a bit, but so has Sasuke. Sasuke's no longer the one-dimensional vengeful prick he once was. He's still obsessed about revenge and justice, and still very much a prick, but there's a bit more to him than just that. Note that he does care about Karin even if he doesn't quite love her the way he should. I want to point out that Karin was willing to damage her allies in an effort to kill Naruto. Sasuke, however, did not fight because he didn't want Karin to get hurt. That was why he left without finishing the fight. An all-out fight between them would have caused a lot of collateral damage.
I might get complaints about Karin's rather pathetic trap. Yes, it was supposed to be pathetic. We're talking about a Sasuke fangirl here; we all know how those are. Haha.