Yo..

The first update of this year...and we are starting it with a bang. I know you guys were waiting for this chapter, but my exams were going on so this chapter was not posted earlier.

I just need a little help from my readers...I want your views on a topic.

I've got the story planned out (even the end) and I have noticed since the war arc has started people are liking Naruto's development.

My question is which Naruto do you like?

Option 1: The kind and gentle Naruto, one who inspired everyone.

Option 2: The Dark Naruto that was born due to this cruel war, whose hatred is growing everyday.

Enjoy the chapter...

Chapter 24

Pain to the World

A pair of blue eyes watched in despair as the person most dear to her currently lay dead on the floor. The sorrowful rain that poured down from the dark sky was mixing with her tears that fell freely from her eyes.

She felt a pain in her chest as a heavy lump formed in her throat. She saw one of the girl clinging fiercely to the person and her sobs echoed in the entire area as the rest of her comrades watched the scene regretfully.

"Armin.."

(Flashback : 3 Years ago, Boot Camp)

Mikasa was sitting on top of a mountain, she had just finished her training and was now watching the sun rising peacefully in the sky.

"MIKASA!"

She heard her name being called, and looked to her right and saw her friend heading towards him.

Armin had a cheerful smile on his face, that made her chuckle. Armin and Naruto were the only family she had in this world.

These two really looked after her in Blacklight, and encouraged her to fulfil her dreams.

"Moron," thought Mikasa amusedly, as Armin tripped over a stone and fell flat on the ground.

Armin just gave her a sheepish smile, and dusted off the dirt from his uniform. He then hurriedly ran towards her, and sat beside her at the edge of the mountain.

"What's wrong, Armin?" asked Mikasa curiously,

Armin got a small excited smile on his face, and he took out a small book from his pocket.

"Naruto was hiding this,…" said Armin in a mischievous tone

The raven haired beauty looked at the book closely and saw it had the title "The Tale of a Gutsy Ninja", she frowned a little as she didn't like to take someone's personal thing without their permission

"Armin….you should not take things from Naruto without his permission," scolded Mikasa in a motherly way,

Armin just pouted on hearing that, and gave her a defying look.

"Yes, mother….now can I say something before Naruto finds me and kills me for taking his book," said Armin sarcastically

Mikasa just gave a tired sigh, her friend really was stubborn.

"What is this book?" asked Mikasa patiently

"It is a book about a peaceful shinobi world," said Armin excitedly

"A peaceful shinobi world?" asked Mikasa in surprise, never in her entire life had he heard of such a thing.

There were books on ninja wars, villages, porn but not one like this.

"Yes….it seems Naruto really likes this book, as he was hiding it from the officers, maybe his father gave him this book as a parting gift," said Armin with a smirk

"Armin we are not supposed to have any personal belongings…..the officers will give all of us detention if they find out about this," warned Mikasa urgently, however Armin just gave her a relaxed smile.

"Forget all that…..this book says that all the shinobi nations fought wars for decades but one day….they all united," said Armin happily

"United?" asked Mikasa in shock

"Hai….a hero named Naruto brought peace to the world…by joining all the villages and made one big nation," said Armin proudly

Mikasa started laughing loudly on hearing that, which made Armin frown,

"No way…..a silly guy named Naruto can bring peace," said Mikasa playfully

Armin gave her a harsh glare, and looked at her with determination...for the first time Mikasa saw how vehemently he believed in Naruto.

"We can do it too…..You, Naruto and me, all of us together would bring peace to this world," said Armn with determination

Mikasa's eyes softened on hearing that, unlike Armin and Naruto she didn't think peace was possible, but both of her frends believed in that dream so she believed in their dream too, as they were her closest friends.

"Is that so?" asked Mikasa with a small smile

"And there's more too in this book…..flaming water, frozen earth…so many different people living together, it even has a snow country in it like in our world, I'm sure such a world is more beautiful than the one we live in," said Armin excitedly

"A peaceful world, huh…" said Mikasa in wonder,

Armin looked at her with an innocent smile on his face.

"This is a secret between us okay? We will surprise Naruto by achieving this dream," said Armin proudly

Mikasa gave a nod, showing she accepted the promise. Maybe they really could make such a world,

She watched silently as Armin slowly got up and was now looking at the rising sun in the sky.

"Mikasa...don't let Naruto go down a path he would regret. I don't know why but looking at him, his power...I truly believe he can change this world. From now, you have to look after him," said Armin seriously, and Mikasa was really surprised to hear this.

"Armin..."

"This nation is so beautiful...in the past I used to hate it and the people in it as no one understood the pain in my heart. I was such a crybaby back then..." said Armin nostalgically, bringing a small smile to her face.

"And I was a a tomboy who used to beat the crap out of bullies.." said Mikasa jokingly, but was surprised when Armin bent down and gave her a warm hug.

"Thank you for being there for me...for defending me and for staying by my side. Can you promise me one thing?" asked Armin warmly,

"Hai..."

"Never abandon Naruto...no matter what"

(Flashback end)

"ARMIN!"

Naruto's shoulders slumped in defeat when he heard Mikasa's anguished cry in the entire area. All of this was his fault, only if he had not allowed Armin to go then this wouldn't have happened.

"So this is your Mangekyo Sharingan?" asked Baku curiously, and Naruto just gave him a harsh glare.

"How do you know about these eyes?" asked Naruto dangerously, and he heard the old man chuckling.

"Gaki...I was the most trusted Anbu of the Second Hokage, I know all there is to about the Uchiha clan...so what Tobirama-sama said was true. You Uchiha are really sensitive.." said Baku in a disgusted tone, he expected a spat from Naruto but none came.

"Am I supposed to care?" asked the young boy coldly, and this surprised Baku.

"You have changed...I see you are no longer a cry baby and have gained control over your emotions," commented Baku slyly,

"Even if I have grown stronger nothing has changed...I was wrong about everything, due to my decision 3 of my friends are dead today. Their deaths are on me," said Naruto regretfully, his eyes glared at the Jinchuriki before him who were about to attack.

He noticed the rest of the 1st company had arrived on the battlefield along with Baku...and he understood just what happened tonight.

"A Bait, huh?" asked Naruto sharply, and a small smile came behind Baku's mask.

"You're quick...yes, I sent your squad here while fully being aware of the danger I was sending you in. I wanted information about everything...we didn't have any intel on how many soldiers were guarding Shuri Castle. The information I gave you was hoax...however I didn't expect these two Jinchuriki to be here...but thanks to the sacrifice of your men we are fully prepared now and can capture this castle while defeating these two beasts!" said Baku proudly,

"Were my men mere tools? To be used and sacrificed for your goals!" yelled Naruto loudly as his eyes glared murderously at Baku.

"SILENCE...every shinobi is a tool! You better get this into your thick skull!" warned Baku flatly,

"Kagami-jiji you are wrong. Shinobi can never be protectors...after all what can a tool do?" thought Naruto sadly,

"Now step aside...you are running low on chakra. I'll handle these two with the rest of the company...get your men to safety. That's an order!" said Baku quickly as Han took a step forward.

However his eyes widened in shock when a monstrous burst of chakra erupted right beside him...and he saw Naruto's entire body engulfed in flames.

Just how much chakra did this boy possess? Even for an Uchiha, he was far too strong.

"So, you're set on doing this..." thought Baku tiredly as his commander took a step forward, and his Mangekyo glared at Roshi.

"You'll shorten your life if you keep on fighting...do you want to die, fool?" asked Baku harshly, however Naruto just gave him a harsh glare.

"I will never forget Armin's pain!"

For a moment Baku could sympathize with the boy, there was a lot of pain behind his words and the veteran Anbu commander knew Naruto would never forgive himself for Armin's death...and this was the way he would be extracting his revenge.

"What is he doing?" asked one of the soldiers in fear, the entire ground started shaking.

Even the two Jinchuriki were curious as to what the hell was going on...but they knew the boy in front of them was out for blood.

"If you don't want to die...then don't fucking get in my way. THIS IS MY ORDER!" yelled Naruto loudly, and many of his soldiers took a step back as he gave them a threatening gaze.

Naruto's wooden claws shifted back to normal as he stepped in front of Roshi, the man just looked at him curiously.

"Do you hate me?" asked Roshi flatly, but he never received an answer from his opponent.

Baku jumped beside Naruto and gave him a harsh glare...but the boy never flinched. It was as if he didn't care if he lived or died.

"I'll take the other one...just don't screw up," said Baku seriously, and Naruto just looked at him in anger.

"Fine"

Baku jumped towards Han and soon the two shinobi started engaging each other in a fierce battle. However Naruto and Roshi just continued looking each other in the eye.

"Let's do this"

As soon as those words left Naruto's mouth hundreds of shuriken were fired by him which flew straight towards the Four Tails Jinchuriki, the same gesture was shown by the man as he too started firing his own weapons which started collided with Naruto's shuriken.

Genma watched in fascination as Naruto and Roshi started engaging each other in a fierce shurikenjutsu battle...however it seemed Naruto had the upper hand, as a few of the shuriken started grazing Roshi's body.

Roshi shunshined right in front of Naruto and sent his right hook straight at the boy's face, but his opponent easily read his movements and evaded the incoming attacks as he tried to give a roundhouse kick to Roshi.

"Not enough" said Roshi calmly, as one of his tails grabbed Naruto's leg quickly as the boy hissed in pain.

But the man was alarmed when the Naruto in front of him disappeared in a mass of crows and the next second Roshi was sent sailing in the air as someone emerged from the ground right beneath him and kicked him hard.

Roshi quickly regained his balance and jumped away from his opponent, as he gracefully landed on the ground, he saw the boy in front of him was panting heavily.

But more than that he was profusely bleeding in both of his eyes...even from the small hole in his Phoenix mask, Roshi could clearly see the boy was crying tears of blood.

"What is he up to?" thought Naruto suspiciously as he saw Roshi performing a unique set of hand seals.

However Naruto also performed a set of hand seals of his own...despite Shizune's warning of not using Fire Style, he knew he had no choice but to use it. Using Water Style against Jinchuriki was useless as their corrosive chakra would protect them...and a thick fog would be formed when water connected with such chakra.

And Naruto knew his sharingan would be pretty much useless in the mist...and without that he would be severely open to attacks.

"Yōton: Shakugaryūgan no Jutsu (Lava Style: Scorching Stream Jutsu)"

Naruto was alarmed when a giant wall of lava was fired from Roshi's mouth and it burned anything that came in his way.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu(Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu)"

A giant fireball was released from Naruto's mouth and it collided head on with the incoming lava attack. Both the flames stared fighting each other as hot steam flew everywhere. Many of the Blacklight had to jump away in order to save themselves from these disastrous jutsu.

Izumo was alarmed when Roshi's attack started overpowering Naruto's fireball and it was looking really bad. But the boy was a little intrigued when he saw Naruto's sharingan moving again.

"Amaterasu"

A dark vortex of black flames formed behind Naruto's fireball and to Izumo's surprise it started overpowering Roshi's lava like it was nothing, and in mere moments those black flames consumed everything and headed straight for Roshi.

"Yōton: Shakugaryūgan no Jutsu (Lava Style: Scorching Stream Jutsu)"

The red haired man fired another wall of lava but the result was the same as those black flames destroyed that attack too. Izumo quickly ran towards Naruto as he fell on one of his knees.

"Captain...are you all right?" asked Izumo worriedly, as his friend started coughing violently and a handful of blood came out of his mouth.

"He's at his limit..." thought Izumo worriedly, and tried to pick Naruto up but the boy resisted again.

"Give me your chakra pills..now!" said Naruto tiredly as he cleaned his hands that were drenched in his own blood.

"Captain...we'll take it from here. Don't risk your life like this...your chakra is at its limit," advised Izumo worriedly, but his friend just shaked his head in negative.

Izumo noticed the blood leaking from his eyes...but more than that he saw the broken look in his eyes.

"Wolf..., I've already lost Armin and Kotetsu...I cannot risk your lives right now. Just give me your pills!" said Naruto calmly, and before his friend could resist he quickly slipped his hands into Izumo's pocket and before the boy could stop him, he quickly ate them.

The sound of footsteps was heard and both the boys were shocked when they saw Roshi emerging from the smoke...and his body was covered in Lava.

"He's not dead?" asked Izumo in shock, but he soon saw a body burning in black flames a few meters behind Roshi.

"Don't underestimate him...he substituted himself with a dead Iwa Anbu at the last moment just as I collapsed and lost control of my flames. He's tough," said Naruto cautiously, and quickly stood up.

"AHHHHHH"

Both of the boy's were quite shocked when lava fireballs rained down from the sky and quickly struck down 4 Blacklight troopers who were near Roshi, as another clone of Roshi landed right beside him.

"A shadow clone...shit.'Suiton: Hahonryu (Water Release: Rapid Crasher)'

Naruto was a little surprised when Izumo fired a large water wave straight as Roshi...but as he had predicted the water didn't even hurt the man, instead more steam flew in the air as Izumo's water attack collided with Roshi's lava armour.

"It will take a lot more than that...young shinobi. Prepare yourself!" said Roshi fiercely and was just about to jump.

He was surprised when several wooden spiked emerged from the ground and pierced his legs. Even his shadow clone was destroyed in an instant.

"Roshi...this is no ordinary boy. He has Mokuton and the sharingan...be careful," warned Son Goku flatly, and before Roshi could even reply the Biju quickly cut the link.

The Four Tails Jinchuriki was now truly taking this boy seriously.

(With Baku)

Baku quickly caught Han's right hand and jumped in the air as the man tried to give him a leg sweep. The Blacklight commander flipped high in the air as 3 of Han's tails tried to stab him in the chest.

"Raiton: Shichu Shibari(Lightning Release: Four Pillar Bind)"

Baku quickly formed 4 huge pillars around Han and before the Jinchuriki could escape lightning was released from those pillars and started burning Han.

"Doton: Yomi Numa(Swamp of the Underworld.)"

Before Han could even defend himself a deep mud swamp was formed right below his feet...and he found a lot of his chakra was being absorbed in the mud, as he slowly started sinking in the mud.

However Baku was not surprised when a loud explosion occurred inside the small dome as dust and debris flew everywhere. He quickly had to dodge as one of Han's tails emerged from the ground.

"As expected it will take much more to take down the Five Tails Jinchuriki" thought Baku tactfully,

"Futton: Kōmu no Jutsu (Vapour Style: Solid Fog Jutsu)"

Baku quickly became alert when a giant mist started forming all around him...but seconds later he was shocked when his uniform started melting.

"Steam!"

Baku cursed his luck as he felt some parts of his skin burning, even his eyes were hurting and he couldn't see a damn thing.

"There is no choice...I'll have to summon him right now!" thought Baku urgently and performed a familiar set of hand seals.

His opponent was strong and had shocked him by capturing the Blacklight commander in this deadly steam. If it was any other shinobi, he would have been dead by now...but Baku could endure pain, and he just had the right weapon to deal with this beast.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)"

"GUAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

(With Naruto)

Naruto and the others watched in shock as the ground split into pieces and a giant entity emerged slowly from the ground. It's tails flowed freely in the air and slowly everyone could see its rich brown fur.

But the most terrifying thing about this animal was that it had 3 heads...and was leaking streams of fire from his mouth.

"It can't be...it's impossible!" said Izumo in shock, the poor boy couldn't even believe what he was seeing.

As the mist started disappearing, Naruto hazily saw a person standing on top of this 3 headed dog...he strained his eyes and was shocked when he realized it was none other than Baku himself.

In front of the Blacklight commander was Han...who was equally shocked by the appearance of this summon.

Even Roshi freezed in his place when he realized just what creature the old man had summoned...he wouldn't lie, this was probably going to be the toughest battle both of the Jinchuriki had been through.

"A dog?" asked Naruto curiously, he had seen Sakumo using dog summons. Even if they were strong, Naruto doubted they would hardly be able to help in such a fight.

"It's no ordinary dog...I can't believe the supreme commander can summon Cereberus," said Izumo in a terrified voice, and he saw Naruto realizing just whom they were seeing right now.

"The Guardian of Hell?" asked Naruto in an astonished tone, he knew the commander was strong but he never imagined him to be the master of such a ferocious beast.

In ancient mythology, it was mentioned that this was the creature that was entrusted with the task of preventing the dead souls from leaving the underworld. It was said to be the greatest fire summon, even the phoenix could be killed...but this dog was said to be immortal.

He was quite surprised when Mikasa landed right beside them and the look in her eyes was murderous. Soon, she was joined by Genma, Anko, Hana and the entire 1st company.

The next second Naruto felt the ground shaking badly and his eyes widened in shock when both Han and Roshi started transforming.

The young teens eyes widened in shock when in place of Han, there stood a tall white horse that was 100 feet tall. It had two sharp horns, the ends of its horns, hooves, were light brown, with some of the same-coloured spots before the brown areas of its horns and hooves. It also has red markings under its dark blue-green eyes. and its five large tails flowed freely in the air.

The next moment in place of Roshi stood a red-furred and green-skinned monkey, with a body-build of a gorilla. It has eyes with yellow irides and white pupils, spike-like protrusions along the length of its tails, elongated blunt fangs, and two long horns curving upwards on its forehead like a crown. It's four large tails flowed murderously in the air.

"Kuso..." cursed Genma frustratingly,

"Are they the tailed beasts?" asked Anko hesitantly, for once even she was wary of her opponents. She could take on hordes of enemy but a Biju was another story. It could easily wipe all of them out in an instant.

"Retreat!" said one of the Blacklight in fear, and took a step back in fear,

But before more of them could retreat a firm voice echoed across the entire castle!

"Ghost Company, prepare for COMBAT!" said Naruto murderously, and his voice stopped the fearful troopers from falling back.

The sharp sound of a tanto being unsheathed was heard in the entire castle as one by one every Blacklight trooper took out their weapons. Baku watched proudly as the entire company stood united behind Naruto...and were ready to face the Four Tails.

He looked at the Five Tails in front of him...and steeled his resolve as his summon just growled angrily.

Naruto's sharingan glared at the giant red monkey in front of him...and he took a deep breath. This was for Armin, Kotetsu and Aoba...

"ATTACK!"

The real battle had just began as 100 Blacklight troopers jumped towards the giant tailed beast...

Author's Notes: End of chapter.

I got some free time and was able to write this chapter, the second and most important part of this battle will be featured in the next chapter.

I'm sorry for the delay, but recently my account has been hacked. So I'm trying to solve this problem with the technical experts.

Enjoy the cliffhanger!