Chapter 49 One on One

Naruto could not believe it as he circled around the best swordsman in the world with his own white Aldhard steel long sword out and ready. Mifune circled as well however, his hand rested on the hilt of the longer of his two swords just waiting for a moment to strike.

"Who are you?" inquired the head General of the Land of Iron, the face mask as well as the total body armor prevented him from identifying Naruto on the spot.

"I could ask why the General of the land of Iron is down here in the Land of Animals?" asked Naruto as he made his voice as deep as possible to throw Mifune off to who he really way.

"I hear fear in your voice," stated Mifune with a slight smile as he dashed forward and with a quick move of his hand his sword came up in a blinding flash of light. Naruto raised his sword just barely making it up in time to block Mifune's sword from striking the armor around his neck. While the armor had protected him from arrow strikes but this was Mifune's famous chakra covered sword. Mifune then moved to strike Naruto's knee, once again, Naruto beat Mifune's strike with his own sword. Naruto's confidence was building as he launched his own attack in a way the old Samurai wasn't expecting, he let one hand go of his two handed long sword and balled his gauntlet right hand and balled it into a fist and he tried to punch the old samurai general. Years of training and combat had taught him how to take a punch but an Aldhard gauntlet was very different then a steel one. Naruto's punch sent Mifune reeling backwards his mouth full of blood and a few of his teeth loosen.

Mifune raised a hand to his cheek as he spat out one of the few real teeth he had left out of his mouth spitting out a fair amount of blood. The armor felt stronger than normal steel but yet his enemy could move in it as a high rate of speed.

"Tell me what kind of armor is that?" inquired Mifune as he spun the sword around in his hand "Infinite armor or maybe chakra armor?"

Naruto said nothing as he gripped the bottom of his two handed sword, while he could fight one handed with this sword he preferred using two, it gave him more control and strength. Mifune took his silence as an answer before launching a renewed attacked with his chakra covered blade. His blade was legendary across the world having been Mifune's own grandfather sword who had been the greatest samurai of all time. It had been reformed from when it shattered in Mifune's hand during his battle with Hanzo. Once the sword was reformed Mifune used it to end countless S ranked ninjas lives which only added to the sword's legend. Mifune's sword slashed upwards, Naruto didn't have time to raise his sword to block it so he brought one hand up and the sword struck the steal covering his forearm and to both his and Mifune's amazement the sword bounced off the Aldhard as a small chipped flew off from the sword while Naruto's forearm guard remained unharmed.

Mifune's kept the attacks coming blocking Naruto's attack with ease, Naruto blocked Mifune's own strike as best he could however it was clear that while Mifune was the better swordsman but Naruto's armor was better. Whenever Mifune's own sword would strike Naruto's armor sparks would appear as the two steels clashed or chips of metal would fly off. It was becoming clear that Mifune was becoming frustrated and his old muscles were growing tiered. He was striking blow after blow against Naruto's armor but he could not get past the armor and the few glancing blows his enemy did hit was cutting through his own armor with a strange ease.

The invasion forces and the samurai forces where standing around watching the sword fight between the two leaders, somewhere even cheering like it was a sporting event. Each of them had the same reason to make this fight last longer to allow more time for their respected armies to get into position but at the same time, they both needed the fight to end fast. It had become clear that Mifune's age was getting to him as he slowed down and his sword was not coming up as high. Naruto felt he needed to end it fast because while he armor was protecting him from Mifune's multiple sword blows the complitice effects where effecting him. His head was spinning from the sword blows to Naruto's helmet and he was sure at least one of his ribs was broken.

Rage was building up inside Mifune since his opponents metal plates stopped everything he threw at it and when he hit the chainmail around the joints would give but not brake. He put both hands on his sword before swinging with all his strength at his enemy, he would end it with one strike.

Naruto raised his sword as the sound of breaking steel filled the air as the legendary sword that Mifune used broke into multiple pieces against the strange white steel of Naruto's sword. Mifune's eyes widened as he watched the sword that his ancestors had used since the founding of the Land of Iron break like glass into a shower of steel. He dropped the sword as his hand dove for his second short sword but as he tried to pull it, the white sword came down just as his own sword came up.

It was over in an instant as red blood came flying off Naruto's sword as it cut through Mifune's armor from hip to shoulder as if it was made of nothing more than paper.

"Grandfather!" yelled Katsumi as he watched his grandfather fall backward with blood pouring out of the cut. Standing over him was the black armored figured multiple deep cuts could be seen in the metal but yet it showed no sign any major damage. Gripped tightly in his chainmail hand was his grandfather's second sword, it was clear from the way he held the sword that Mifune was attempting the nearly impossible task of hitting the narrow eye slot in the man's helmet. A small amount of blood was dripping off the blade and unto the ground showing that the armor had given but it was too late for the Samurai General.

"Finish it." coughed Mifune as he looked up at the figure which had killed him. The man took a knee beside him, pulling out a smaller knife from his belt. The knife was known as a finishing knife and was used to end someone pain, the white knife was razor sharp as the stranger pressed the white blade up to his neck.

"I ask that you do not harm my grandson?" asked Mifune weakly.

"As long as he doesn't fight back, your grandson will not be harmed and he will be allowed to bring your body and sword home to be buried with your ancestors," stated the man before whispering into Mifune's ear "It is the least I can do for protecting me during the war from Madara while I trained with Killer B."

Mifune's eyes widened as he saw the silted blue eyes through the slits in the helmets eyes. For a moment he couldn't believe who was standing over him.

"Nar…" started Mifune before Naruto placed the knife through his neck and cut the major blood vessels and spine ending the life of the most legendary samurai in the world.

"Grandfather!" yelled Katsumi again.

"Fire!" yelled samurai archers on the wall as they unleashed a wave of arrows down toward what they saw as the invaders. Arrows bounced off the Aldhard armor of the ninjas a handful getting stuck in joints but most just bounced off.

"Fire!" yelled someone to Naruto's left as his own archers fired back downing a handful of samurai archers on the walls. At the same moment, the ninjas which had gathered behind Naruto moved forward to take the gate in a rush.

"Seal the gates!" yelled a booming voice as the metal portcullis dropped sealing the gate leaving the ninja force and a handful of samurai outside the walls. However even with the gates sealed, it could not keep the ninja force out as they used the same trick which got them over the harbor walls. They formed earth jutsu stairs and stormed the walls, the samurai drew their swords but their swords where no match for the Aldhard armor. Soon archers gained the walls and started firing down on the massive samurai army trying to move through the small gate.

"Stand your ground!" yelled one of the few samurai who had been left outside the walls when the portcullis was dropped. He and the dozen other samurai including Katsumi stood in a half circle with swords out all of them knowing there was no escape as their enemy moved closer their own weapons out.

"Stop!" yelled a voice as the man who killed Mifune walked forward toward the group of samurai "You are all from the Land of Iron correct? Here on some kind of diplomat visit?"

"Yes." Confirmed the oldest samurai

"If you put your swords away you will be allowed to return home to the Land of Iron," offered the leader "Your general needs to be lied to rest in his homeland."

"You will just let us go?" asked the leader stunned by the move.

"Yes, we don't have any issue with you. If your general had done the same we would have let him go as well." explained the armored man.

"Sir, these men wouldn't do the same for us." snapped a masked ninja clearly angry.

"I know." stated the man "But if they put away their swords and do not raise a hand then they may return home, I only wish their general had done the same."

"Very, well." confirmed the older samurai as he put his sword away, it took a few moments but soon all of them including Mifune's own grandson put their swords away. It took them a few moments for the samurai to gather up their fallen general and place his broken sword on his bloody chest and with a small guard they moved through the city and hopefully a ship that would take them home.

Once they were gone Naruto walked up the earthen staircase to the fifty foot high curtain wall which formed a defensive ring a quarter of a mile out form the half-finished castle. Beside him, the archers where raining arrow fire on the samurai forcing them back from the wall and back toward the castle however 20,000 men didn't move back that fast into a small area. From this location, Naruto could see some samurai sealing the far gate, which lead outside the walls. A few of the samurai guards on the wall where even falling back toward the castle leaving the walls which were no swarming with enemies back to the walls of the castle.

"Fools." said Naruto with a slight amount of pain in his voice "They should be heading out not sealing themselves in they cannot fit 20,000 men inside the castle and they do not have the food to feed them all."

"If you were half dressed, hung over from an all-night party and unarmored with arrows falling on you from walls 75 feet above your head you would run to." Offered a voice he knew well as he turned to see Temari standing there her hands crossed over her chest. She had her mask off as she studied the battlefield with her own eyes. Naruto followed suit as he reached up and took off his own facemask only to see the inside of the mask covered with blood and the mask itself dented in the corner. He reached up and touched his face only to see blood on them when he pulled them away.

"How bad?" asked Naruto as Temari turned her gaze toward her friend and Kage.

"A pretty good cut above the eye and it is still bleeding," explained Temari as Naruto looked out as the archers spread out over the walls preparing to fire on anyone who came near the wall. "You may want to see Sakura, she should have set up a medical camp and I can handle things here easily enough. We have gained our objective and gained the wall, we do not really need you here. You went toe to toe with the best sword fighter in the world and won."

"I didn't win, the Aldhard armor won." Explained Naruto as he pulled off his chainmail gloves to reveal a deep cut across his palm where he had caught Mifune's short sword. "It appears that Aldhard armor isn't full proof."

"Nothing is full proof now go see Sakura before you bleed out." ordered Temari to her Kage who simply laughed at the idea of bleeding out from such a small wound before walking down the staircase on his way back to the beach. Through the streets he walked, a few of the civilians where daring to look out the windows now as squads of archers and foot shoulders moved to secure the last two areas of resistance in the two castle.

"Well todays plan went well." noted the Kyuubi "We have gained the walls and now we can hold the samurai back in their castles until the main body of the knights arrive in a few days. Arrows will hold them back along with those high walls."

"That is the plan," answered Naruto as he passed by a group of samurai who had fallen with flights of arrows sticking out of their armor. For a moment he wondered why so few ninjas used archers but then again jutsu are able to stop arrows and unless the archers are in a safe position like on a wall then they would not get off more then two or three shots before a decent ninja could close on them. Naruto was pleased to see that no homes where burning and there was no sign of looting. He could already see that members of his ninja core where taking up positions on rooftops to ensure law and order, these where mostly chunin and genin since the jonnin and ANBU where on the front line.

"Lord Onikage." said a few of the ninjas down to him as he passed. Naruto waved back and stopped in a few places for a report but the masks over their faces made it almost impossible for him to know people on sight. Suddenly his smile disappeared as he saw a member of his ninja force being carried away on a stretcher with a sword sticking out from the side of her armor where it had failed. The ninja had a white cloth draped over her face.

"My ninjas." thought Naruto sadly as he wondered how many people would be coming back home in body bags.

Hundreds of miles, away Sasuke Uchiha sat on top of a large pure black horse as he rode beside the leader of the Golden Phoenixes Drake Eastman on his own golden stallion. The cavalry unites where they were at was already miles away from the burning forest where the 2nd samurai division burned alive.

"At the rate we are going we should reach the capital in four to five days, with the foot coming in a day or two later." noted Drake "And then we will end this."

"Until the Northern ninja nations descend upon you for being allied to us." noted Sasuke as Drake nodded his head.

"I know, but we have a few years before that happens. Enough time to rebuild and rearm." stated Drake "And if we use the Aldhard steel we will be ready."

"What about binding the wounds from almost a decade of war?" inquired Sasuke

"Having an outside threat is possibly the best way to unite the knights together, these outsiders who want to use us to destroy those who have saved us will not be welcomed here." Stated Drake as Sasuke's eyes narrowed, aside from a few wide rivers and some coastal mountains the land of animals was either rolling hills or forests with no natural defensives. "I know what you are thinking that we have no defenses aside from our walls."

"True." admitted Sasuke

"Tell me how often do you northern ninjas fight a man on horseback?" asked Drake

"Not often but a ninja on foot is faster than a man on horse." noted Sasuke

"In short distance yes, but not in the long wide fields of our land." stated Drake "And when they come we may not be able to defeat them. One on one but we will make them bleed so much that any army they send here will be spent when they reach the mountains on your borders, then together we will crush them together."

"I see." stated Sasuke, Shikamaru was working on a plan to defend the land of animals but at the moment he had so many things on his plate at the moment to formalize the plan.

"Are you ready to see you leader?" asked Drake

"No, he will not like the news I have for him." admitted Sasuke

Flashback

"Sasuke what do I do?" inquired Karin as she tried to stop the bleeding from the deep gash on Konohamaru arm where a gap in the Aldhard armor had opened. The gash cut halfway through the young man's arm cutting major blood vessels. Already the young man was turning white from the lack of blood and his breathing all but stopped. Karin had ripped off Konohamaru's armor to try to stop the blood but for all her skills she was more a research scientist not a medic.

"Stand aside." ordered Sasuke as Karin looked up at him stunned at the order.

"This is Konahamaru you know what he means to Naruto." stated Karin as Sasuke nodded his head and closed his eyes as he pulled a black combat knife with ten inches of cold Aldhard steel. Karin's eyes widened as she jumped back just as Sasuke opened his eye and instantly the black steel became covered with Amaterasu. Karin was amazed as the Aldhard knife held its form as the black fires of hell danced up and down the blade. With one quick strike, Sasuke brought the knife down on Konoharmaru's cutting his arm off from shoulder to armpit. The black fire burned through the flesh stopping the blood flow.

"You stopped the blood flow but he is still on fire!" yelled Karin as Sasuke dropped the knife which was now melting and ran though hand signs. When he finished a light mist of water began to fall and that small amount of water put out the fires of hell.

"Give him a blood pill and then we will just have to wait and see if he makes it or not." stated Sasuke as looked down at Konahamaru, if Konahamaru lives or dies was all in his name. They could give him blood piles to rebuild his blood supply but nothing much more than that.

End Flashback

"The boy still lives, how I am not really sure." Explained Sasuke as he readjusted in his saddle, he knew that either way Naruto would not be pleased, Konahamaru had originally been assigned to Neji but had transferred to his command.

Back in the land of Granite a single train was moving forward toward the city of Nadeji, sitting in one of the lead cars was Shikaku Nara and a small team of older jonnin from Konohagakure.

"Look at those walls," stated a jonnin in shock as he pointed to something that Shikaku Nara had noticed long ago. The cities walls which rose around the none ninja village of Nadeji was the equal of any walls he had seen from the ninja villages. It was at least seventy five feet tall with three ten steps cut into them allowing people to patrol on three different levels. Each of the walkways had merlons with slits for arrows, he could also see towers raising above the third level in equal distance around a large gatehouse where the train was heading. Aside from the walls around the city, he could see another shorter wall rising around the harbor where only two levels of walkways around the harbor. Rising behind the walls were multiple buildings with a domed building looming over the smaller buildings. Behind it all shooting out in the distance where two towers and judging from the cables running between them it was a bridge.

"For a so called slum city it sure doesn't look like it," added another Jonnin as they neared the gatehouse and passed under the walls and into the city itself. The streets where clean and the rainwater was draining from the cobblestone streets. Even with the rains people where moving in the streets going about their business, children were playing in the rain and people with bags in their arms.

"It looks like a thriving village," added Shikaku as the train came to a stop at the station however the tracks keep going on toward the bridge. "And they have been busy building."

"Sir what do we do first?" asked a jonnin

"First some food then we start our search." answered Shikaku without adding "For my son."

While Shikaku Nara was stepping off the train, Naruto Namikaze sat down inside a large hotel ballroom. The ballroom had been taken over by Sakura's medical core and the wounded were gathering there to be treated.

"Naruto." said Sakura as she saw her love sit down on a long bench along with the rest of the wounded she rushed toward him.

"Sakura-chan I am fine just some flesh wounds." calmed Naruto his wounds had already started healing do to his natural demon chakra.

"Still, let's have a look at you." ordered Sakura in a tone that allowed no argument as she studied him with a medical eye. "You're breathing seams a little off as well as your eye tracking."

She reached into her pouch and pulled a small flashlight before shining it into Naruto's deep blue eyes.

"Take off your armor," ordered Sakura as Naruto started undoing the multiple different straps that held his armor on.

"How bad?" asked Naruto both of them knowing that he wasn't asking about himself.

"29 dead or will be dead shortly three times that wounded." reported Sakura knowing that the hotel's freezer was now half-full of dead bodies. "Most of the wounds are small, arrows getting pasted the armor. If we didn't have the armor our casualties would be at least three times higher."

"Then how did we lose 29 people?" inquired Naruto as he groaned a bit as he tried to lift the armor over his head.

"Most of them didn't have Aldhard armor or a strap broke somewhere." Explained Sakura as Naruto nodded his head knowing that Tenten had to rush to get as many Aldhard armor done as she did "And two of them where stupid enough to take the armor off in a fight."

"I see." said Naruto as he placed his hand to his side. "Hard to breath."

"Well on top of the cut above your eye and palm you have a concussion and likely a broken rib or two." reported Sakura as she felt Naruto's ribs counting the breaks "Make that three ribs, how did you get them?"

"When I killed Mifune." reported Naruto as Sakura's head snapped up not sure she had heard him correctly. "Yes, I killed Mifune and if it wasn't for the armor it would have been the other way around."

"Well thank God for the armor," said Sakura as she kissed him before moving to heal the wounds.

Thousands of miles away from the land of Animals a lone figure waited in a small room with a cup of coffee in his hands. The man was tall and abnormally thin with a short black beard on a pointy chin, he was dressed in his best cloths.

"Daimyo please follow me." came a voice as a woman dressed in a business pants suit entered the room with a clipboard in hand.

"Thank you." Answered the man as he followed her across the marble hall lined with tall pillars toward a large office, where two men sat waiting. Like the entrees hall the floor here was made of black marble with a white sound note engraved on it.

"Daimyo of the land of Honey." Announced the woman

"Thank you Dee." said one of the man the former Daimyo of the land of Granite. With that the woman turned and left leaving the Daimyo alone with the two heads of the banks.

"I was under the understanding that I was going to speak with the head of the Bank." noted the Daimyo as he looked toward ash gray haired man with a pair of glasses over his dark eyes.

"For a loan of this size I must have the leader of the land of Sound, Daimyo Kabuto sign off on it." explained the bank manager who actually held no power because of the time release poisoned controlled by Kabuto. "Please sit and explain why you need this loan."

"Well, as you may not know my lands survived a harsh winter this year." explained the Daimyo

"Everyone had a harsh winter this year," countered the banker owner.

"True, but a large part of our income comes from our honey protection and our hives where damage." Explained the Daimyo as the banker owner nodded his head "We require a loan to rebuild our hives."

"These seams to be a large amount of money for to rebuild some bee hives." noted the Banker Manager

"Well my wife." started the Daimyo only to fall silent as Kabuto raised his hand.

"What he does with the money is none of our business what matters is what he agrees to for the loan," stated Kabuto as he placed the terms for a loan down, the daimyo simply nodded his head. A life of wealth had spoiled him and he paid no mind to interest rates and what happened should he fail to pay the loan. He left the bank of the sound with a smile and a jump in his step not realizing what he had signed.

"What a fool." Laughed Kabuto

"His nation is small and has no ninja village, we don't gain much." stated the manager as Kabuto grinned as he pushed up his glasses.

"No we have gained a lot, this is just the first step and did you not notice my demand to have control over half of the honey output should he fail to pay us back." Stated Kabuto

"Yes, what about it?" asked the manager

"The Daimyo of the land of Lightening is a huge fan of honey so when this small Daimyo fails to pay us back. We will gain control of that and we can drive up the price and drive him into coming to us for a loan," explained Kabuto as he looked at the bar of gold on the table, they had brought it out to show the Daimyo. He studied it for the first time and saw a strange seal on it. "Is this one of the gold bars from when you sold your nation?"

"Yes." confirmed the Banker Manager before rolling his eyes "If I had known about the gold on that island I wouldn't have sold the nation to that Ino woman."

"Ino?" asked Kabuto as he tilted his head a bit.

"Yes, I sold it to some young woman named Ino." explained the Banker as he carried on and described the rest of her party, with each word Kabuto smiled even more.

"So that is where they are hiding," laughed Kabuto as the Banker tilted his head.

"Who?" asked the banker

"The demons." explained Kabuto with a grin.

"My God, we must inform the other daimyo so that they can be crushed." stated the Banker as Kabuto shurged.

"Must we?" replied Kabuto in a tone that meant he was not going to say anything. "The way I see it that the ninja nations will find out sooner or later and the longer the delay the more time the demons have to prepare their defenses."

"You want the demons to take over the world?" asked the Banker as Kabuto laughed.

"The demons don't have the numbers to do that and once they are found the ninjas will throw everything they have at them and what does that mean?" asked Kabuto as the banker smiled.

"That the ninja villages and the Daimyo will need money to buy supplies." laughed the Banker "And we will supply that money at a high enough return for us to gain total control over them all."

"All without drawing a drop of blood." confirmed Kabuto with a smile knowing all he had to do is wait and collect wealth and power.

Well I hope you liked this chapter and the fight between Naruto and Mifune, I wanted to stress that while Mifune was the better swordsman Naruto's Aldhard sword and armor was what allowed him to win. Now until next time I hope you keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75.