Hey guys sorry about the smaller chapter this time around but I wanted to get an update in before the end of the months so here it is. There isn't much to say other than I had very little free time over the last few weeks and a paper on Truth vs Ideal made me have a small mental war. As many of you can tell I'm taking the romance slow in some of my more resent stories since I want to focus more on characters rather than just jumping in which was something i did in my earlier stories.
Now enjoy the battle
"I suggest you take your little underlings help general." Naruto said disguising his voice using a bit of chakra. Wind swirled around him as he prepared for yet another battle, only this time it was against this country's strongest warrior. "You're too weak to face me by yourself." Naruto taunted the blue haired woman who didn't seem to react but did narrow her eyes a bit on him.
"We'll see about that." She responded as she drew her sword and pointed it at him. Naruto vanished from his spot just in time to avoid an eruption of ice from under him. 'He's fast.' Esdeath thought to herself as she looked around the area for signs of the assassin. 'Where is he…' she thought as she tried using her sense to locate him. The ground under her shift slightly warning her to where 'Kitsune' was. The empire's strongest leaped back just as a hand breached the ground in an attempt to grab her heel.
"I got you!" She yelled smirking as she sent a large spear of Ice flying at the spot where the hand was. Much to both her and Seryu's surprise, the hand turned to molten rock and receded back into the earth. The sound of metal cutting through air reached her ears as several shurikens flew at her. Esdeath twisted her body in mid air to avoid the attack only for her opponent to appear over her and kick her down into the ground.
"General!" Seryu yelled worried for commander. Her expression quickly became one of anger as she glared at the masked man who landed in front of them without a care in the world. "I'll make you pay!" She yelled in an insane rage before a wall of ice rose to block her way.
"I said stay out of this Seryu." Esdeath voice reached her ears as she saw her leader once again up and ready to battle. The area where the masked man has struck her was covered in a plate of cracked ice on the verge of shattering. "I will not lose this battle. Trust me Seryu." She said.
"How touching." Naruto said in a nearly mocking tone. The Esdeath grinned as she looked at 'Kitsune' who looked uninterested in the entire battle. 'I guess I'm going to have to fight them.' Naruto said to himself covering up another sigh. The bijuus inside of him nodded as they saw no way out of this battle without running away at top speed which would reveal too much
Esdeath looked at him before charging in. Naruto ducked under a swipe of her sword before flipping back to avoid a lance of ice that came out of the ground towards him. The blond kept back pedalling as more spikes shot out of the ground but were too slow to catch him. "I got you." Esdeath said as a column of ice came out under him, carrying him up into the air. With a swipe of her hand Esdeath sent a massive wave of icicles at him.
"Not bad." Naruto said as he formed a giant Rasengan and used it to block the attack. "But not good enough." The blonde said as he drew a kunai and channeled his wind chakra into it like Asuma showed him. He couldn't risk using his trench knives since he knew Esdeath had seen him used them in the past. Naruto fell towards the general as the blade of wing grew longer.
Esdeath managed to bring her own sword up in time to block Naruto's attack only for the wind blade to cut right through her own blade as if it were paper. Her right shoulder started bleeding red through her clothing as Naruto's attack managed land a cut on her. Her blood quickly froze at the cut sealing it.
Naruto vanished in a burst of speed as a giant wave of spikes came at him from the ground in front of Esdeath. Esdeath seemed to be smiling now more than ever. Even though she had just gotten hurt, she seemed like she was starting to have a really good time. "You're a great warrior." Esdeath said as she formed an ice lance and used it to block Naruto's attack from the side. The makeshift weapon cracked under the force of Naruto's fist.
"You not half bad yourself." He praised as he brought up his knee shattering the weapon before he kicked Esdeath faster than she could see. "But it will take you a thousand years before you can match me." He said in false arrogance. He needed to at least act like a different person to avoid being discovered.
"We'll see about that." Esdeath said smirking at her opponent as she placed her hand on the ground. Naruto's eyes widened slightly as ground rapidly started to freeze. "You can't dodge this one." Esdeath said confidently. Regardless of how strong he was, Esdeath was sure that she could take him on.
"If I can't dodge then I'll stop it!" Naruto said as he jumped into the air and pulled his mask up a bit. Using some of Son Goku's chakra Naruto unleashed a wave of magma from his mouth. Esdeath frowned a bit as the extreme heat from the molten rock melted the ice she was forming. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to survive contact with the attack Esdeath.
"Weissschnabel!" Esdeath yelled out as she placed her hands together before creating several more icicles which rapidly shot at Naruto. The blond stopped is attack and substituted himself with a rock before the attack reached him. "How many abilities can one guy have?" Esdeath said in an oddly excited tone as 'Kitsune' replaced himself with a rock.
"More than you can count." His voice echoed right next to her ear. The general lashed out with a kick only to hit nothing but air. "Time to take things up a notch." Naruto said as he entered his base sage more. Esdeath didn't know what happened but she could tell that the battle had just become much harder for her.
"I guess I'll do the same." Esdeath responded as she ran at Naruto much faster than before. Naruto's eyes widened slightly as she managed to hit him in the abdominal. Ice rapidly encased his body in less than a split second. Esdeath was about to shatter the frozen Naruto only for the ice to spontaneously turn to steam and exploding outward. "Another power." She muttered but grinning and excited that the opponent just seemed to get stronger by the second as he revealed a new power.
"I guess you can say I'm a talented man." Naruto said as he walked out of the steam. He was thankful for having access to the Boil release that could be used by the Gobi Jinchuuriki. The sudden increase in speed on Esdeath part had taken him a bit by surprise since he never expected her to be able to reach speeds that neared some of the Kage.
Esdeath just smiled as she leaped at him again. Naruto dodge her barrage of slashes. It seems that she was no longer holding back against him, still she was leagues away from nearing either his or Sasuke's speeds. Naruto caught her ice blade once again and pulled her in close enough to knee her in the gut hard enough to force her cough up blood. Once again ice started to form on him only to be evaporated by his boiling chakra.
Cocking his arm back, Naruto built up steam in his arm before punching at Esdeath at close range. The General tried coating herself in her ice to negate the impact but the steam caused the ice to evaporate nearly instantaneously. "General!" Seryu yelled as her leader was sent flying back at near breakneck speeds. Her Teigu suddenly grew rapidly and bit her arm.
Naruto looked over to see her left arm replaced by a new massive gun. "Eat this you fiend!" She yelled as she fired round after round of shells at him. Naruto was far too fast for to even land a single hit as he blurred out of the way of her attacks.
The Uzumaki vanished from her sight before he appeared right before her. Seryu couldn't help but take a step back as a vision of a massive fox with nine tails coming out of it's tail bone growling down at her. "Calm down." the masked assassin said as his eyes turned red with thin slits for pupils. "Kurama." Seryu couldn't help but drop to her knees when the beast roared shaking her world.
"Ha! You showed her!" Shukaku yelled out laughing like mad. Naruto and Kurama couldn't help but smirk at how easily that had managed to break her spirit with their killing intent.
"What are you monster!?" She yelled as Naruto kicked her in the side of the head sending her tumbling back. The dog like Teigu attempted to assist it's master only for Naruto to jump over it. "Die!" She yelled shooting him while he was in the air. Naruto looked bored as he substituted himself with a rock. "What!?" The former guard yelled before Naruto appeared over.
"Take this!" Naruto yelled as he slammed his heel into her stomach. None of her defences stood a chance against the sage's raw power. Seryu screamed in pain as he insides were crushed under the force of Naruto's attacks.
Koro roared as it rapidly expanded in size and charged at Naruto with it's mouth wide open. Naruto yawned as he jumped out of the way of the attack. "Sit dog!" He yelled as he grabbed it by the leg and threw it into one of the surrounding mountains.
"Seryu!" Esdeath said frowning that she may had lost another member of her team in a single night. This would make their mission to defeat Night Raid much more difficult. The fact that whatever Kitsune and Taka's goals were aligned with Night Raid's only made it worse for them. She silently cursed the Prime Minister for giving her such weak allies.
Naruto jumped away from the body. He could feel that she was still alive even if it was barely. He would finish her but he saw that Esdeath back into the battle and she was less than pleased with his actions. The two charged at one another each with their weapon made of their respective elements. Naruto's wind blade clashed with Esdeath's rapior of ice. "You are trash!" Naruto yelled as he put pressure on his blade cutting through Esdeath's attack.
"You defeated another one of my subordinates. Even if they were weak I'll kill you for them." Esdeath said as she barely dodged Naruto's attack. "I'll give you the grave of a true warrior." She said showing respect for Naruto's ability in battle. Naruto was a bit confused how she seemed to care for her teammates even though they lost which from what he had gathered about her meant she thought they deserved to die.
"I think you stole my line." Naruto taunted as he vanished from Esdeath's sight. "I got to say you're far stronger than I thought. I guess I can't judge you by the standards of this world or even Night Raid." Naruto said as he appeared next to her. Esdeath's eyes snapped towards where he was. A wall of ice formed between the two of them.
Her ice didn't stand a chance as Naruto's attack destroyed the barrier. Esdeath tried to jump back to get away from Naruto only for him to appear under her. Her teeth grinned together as a kick hit her jaw sending her far up into the air. "I'll end you!" 'Kitsune' yelled as he appeared behind her in mid-air. Bandages came out of his sleeves and wrapped around and angled the two of them downward.
'He got me!' Esdeath though as gravity started to pull them back towards the ground. Kitsune kicked the air sending them at the ground like a bullet. Her eyes widened as she stared at the incoming stone ground. A smirk appeared on her face, spikes of ice exploded outward piercing Naruto in the stomach.
"Don't get too cocky yet Naruto!" The Nanabi buzzed at the blond who was forced to stop his attack. The blond grit his teeth before he felt Kurama's chakra healing him rapidly. Esdeath grinned at him before kicking the air in front of her. A massive spike of ice shot at Naruto.
'As much fun as this is, if I let him get too close to me again I might die.' Esdeath thought to herself. The thought of being killed in combat was both thrilling yet at the same time she felt a sadness in her that she couldn't understand. Esdeath used her ice to lift herself far up into the air. With the wave of her hand she sent wave of spikes at him.
Naruto leaped over it only to come face to face with another large shard of ice. This one however was larger than the other ones and resembled a meteor more that a ball of ice. Esdeath moved out of the way of her attack letting it fall towards him. "Once again you impress me Esdeath. I guess I'll return the favor!" Naruto said as orange flame-like energy covered his body. "Let's see how to do now."
Esdeath's eyes widened as her largest attack so far was completely obliterated by a single punch. The cloud of ice crystals was parted as Naruto came at her at speeds she could bare see. Esdeath encased herself in a dome of ice in order to protect herself from the masked assassin only for him to charge through it. Naruto grabbed Esdeath and threw her at the ground.
Esdeath flip herself and landed on her feet. The now energy covered Kitsune landed a few meters from her. "This is the end Esdeath!" Naruto said as he charged at her.
"Mahapadma!" Esdeath yelled as everything around her stopped moving. The empire's strongest smirked before charged at the frozen assassin with yet another ice sword. "I win!" She yelled as she drove her sword at Naruto. Unfortunately for her Naruto's mask was covering his face preventing her from seeing his grin.
"Oh really?" Naruto's voice said from behind her. With that one phrase everything around them returned back to normal. "My energy stems from inside of me. Your ice before didn't evaporate because I created steam, it evaporates because the energy in my body is boiling hot enough. You can not freeze it and by extension me."
Esdeath dropped on a knee panting a bit in front of her Naruto stood looking down at her. The blue haired woman slowly stood back up with a wide grin on her face. "Incredible! Even with everything I threw at you and you're barely hurt." She yelled at him. She felt great even though she had been beaten so badly. No one had ever given her a battle like this one, most of her battles were always in her favor but to be outclassed so badly was new to her. "Kill me. I'm am weak and deserve to die." She told him staying true to her philosophy.
"You are foolish." Naruto said to her. "Do you really believe that you deserve to die for being weak?" Naruto asked her as anger filled his voice. "You deserve to die because of all the crimes you've committed against the people you call weak!" Naruto yelled at her. "The strong should protect the weak not make them suffer! They should form bonds with them and each other and work together not as enemies"
Esdeath laughed, "Only the strong can survive and they decide who lives and dies. Strength transcends all bonds." She said to him only for Naruto to grab her by the neck. Esdeath was lifted up so that she was staring straight Naruto's eyes which at this point were glowing red with cross like pupils.
"How could someone be so twisted!" Naruto yelled at her. "If bonds held me back then I would never have gotten as strong as I am. The only way to achieve true strength is by working with other people and making connections with them." He said to her as he lifted her up by her neck, barely holding his strength back enough to choke her to death. It was then that his eyes caught sight of a small book that was in one of her pockets.
The masked teen's hand reached and grabbed the book. 'This could help us against the empire.' Naruto thought before he opened the book. His eyes widened however as he read it's context. Rather than what had had expect the small books was filled with drawings of him and notes on how to make him fall in love with her. 'Most of this stuff is terrible…'Naruto thought as he read through all the ideas and advice that Esdeath had gotten. "Do you have any regrets?"
Esdeath went silent for a second before smiling softly. "My only regret is that I never managed to make Naruto fall in love with me." She admitted. Normally she wouldn't say such things to an enemy, but Kitsune had prove to be stronger than her. Something she respected without equal.
Naruto turned his gaze away from the book and towards Esdeath. "How do you feel about this man?" Naruto asked hoping to get at least some sort of redeeming response. While Esdeath was bad she wasn't the worst he had seen. In the face of Madara and Kaguya she was but child and yet Madara had seen his errors in the last few moments of life.
Esdeath was a bit taken back by the sudden question. "I don't fully understand." She admitted. It wasn't like anything she had felt before. Kitsune seemed to take her response into consideration.
"If I let you live then took his life in return. What would you do?"
Esdeath's face lost all emotion for a second before it morphed into a glare. "I would kill you." She said simply. She didn't understand why the notion of this man no this being killing the object of her affection in her place angered her to such an extent. The thought of it filled her with anger. Normally she would say that he deserved to die because he was weak but with Naruto, she couldn't just say she wouldn't feel anything if he died. If he betrayed the empire she would kill him and order any of her subordinates to kill him should he prove to be too dangerous at one point. But it didn't take away that in some part of her mind she would grieve for him.
'I guess she does value someone.' Naruto thought nearly laughing at how the one person see seemed to value despite being her believing was weaker than her was himself. This was starting to remind him a bit of what he went through with Gaara. The bijuus were silent as they let their jinchuuriki think about what to do now.
Images of the people he had spared flashed through his mind. The people who had turned to the side of good through him. Zabuza, Haku, Gaara, Sasuke, Nagato, Obito and countless others. Not to mention Orochimaru and Kabuto though they weren't linked to his influence.
"Sorry Night Raid but I can't just end her life, not yet" Naruto muttered to himself. It was once again another hard choice for him but with his close connection to the woman he was sure that he could change her. And if he couldn't he would end her life, he wanted to see if he could make her see reason both emotionally wise as Naruto and strength wise as Kitsune. "I'll let you live this time. You interest me General, no one else has been able to damage me this much so far. Truth be told I'm barely able to stand." Naruto said. It was true, his sage mode had just ran it's course and he was now feeling the side effects of using it. Combine that with the few injuries he had gained from his battle and all he wanted now was a nap. "If you had held on enough for a few more minutes you would have won." He said.
Esdeath let this sink in. Even if Naruto knew it was a lie, Esdeath seemed to have been fooled by it. 'So I'm not that far off from his level…' Esdeath thought to herself before she was dropped on the ground by the masked man.
"I sense your group coming near." Naruto said as he walked away. "Farwell General"
With Sasuke
Sasuke was currently being led by the members of Night Raid towards their base. The air around them was tense as he claimed to know something crucial about one of their most dangerous enemies who was also the sister of one of their best members.
The black haired girl was sitting on one of the couches staring at her feet blankly. Leone sat next to her silent for once as she rubbed Akame's back in a soothing way. Sasuke just stared at them waiting for a response. Even if they didn't know who he was past his Taka persona Sayo, Sheele, and Leone had vouched for him since Leone knew who he was and Sheele knew he would never betray Naruto again.
"Why are you helping us?" Lubbock asked the Uchiha who turned his stare towards him. The green haired shop owner shivered at the red colored stare. Unlike Naruto who had earned his trust even if he had lied to them this man hadn't. Taka had attacked them before and nearly killed two of their members.
"The situation that Akame and Kurome are in is similar to one that I was in for a long time." Sasuke admitted but refused to go into much detail about the events between him and Itachi. He couldn't help but laugh internally how different he was becoming since coming to this world. "Naruto is currently dealing with the Jaeger . I'm sure it wouldn't be long before he finishes things." Sasuke said offhandedly.
"You're letting him take on one of those monsters without any help!" Najenda yelled at Sasuke for seemingly letting his partner face a strong enemy in her eyes due to his army of mutants. She was sure that even with their entire team they would be hard pressed to beat Stylish if he used every single resource he had.
Sasuke's eyes glowed a bit as he glared at Najenda. "Naruto is stronger than you could possibly understand. If he wanted to he could have killed you all on that night." Sasuke said coldly. The air in the room went chilled as they remembered the night when Night Raid tried to attack Naruto a failed terribly.
Akame looked up at Sasuke. "I'm going to get my sister." She said out loud for everyone to here. Her team looked at her with support for her ambition. They wanted to help their friend finally reunite her family.
"I'm afraid that will have to wait." Mine said to them. "We have a job to do right now and even if we try to take her we have no way of knowing if she will fight back and how the other Jaegers will react." The pink haired girl reminded them. They currently had a job to investigating some beats that were seen attacking the civilians around the capital.
Akame glared at Mine for a second before nodding. She still didn't fully understand the situation nor did she have a way of fixing her sister's dependence on the drugs that he had to take to stay alive. The only people with the drug was the empire and she doubted they would willingly give it up. Another option would have been to ask Naruto to help heal her like he did with Sheele.
"Mine is right Akame." Tatsumi added supporting the pink haired girl. "I know have no right to talk since I got back one of the people who I held dear to me, but we can't ignore the issue of these monsters for a mission we know only what...this man says." Tatsumi said to his friend. He felt bad for saying it but he couldn't let their current strongest member ignore such an issue for a half baked plan.
'Tatsumi too.' Akame thought to herself.
"I'll handle it." Sasuke said as he stood up. He didn't know why he wanted to help but he couldn't help but see the similarities between him and Kurome. She was just like him in many ways. Both had looked up to their older sibling but were regarded as weaker. Both of them had their sibling betray them and leave them behind, and like Itachi Akame had done it for a good cause. Lastly because of their sibling's betray both ended up joining the wrong side.
Night Raid could tell that they were just starting to scratch the surface of what they knew about the two masked men who had defeated them.
Esdeath has fall but will she stay down and accept defeat? I don't think so. I hoped you guys enjoyed the chapter, next chapter I hope to focus a bit more on how Honest see the situation since I have barely had him in the story and maybe some Naruto and Esdeath interactions followed by more on the Kurome situation.
Make sure to leave a review for me. I love hearing from you guys and don't be afraid to ask questions or PM me any concerns (I get it I make spelling and grammar mistakes...)
Also people asked me if Naruto and Sasuke would get their own Teigu...why? At full power they are near god-like in their world relative to everyone else and Esdeath the way I see it is around Mei or maybe A level. Lets not forget she dodged lighting once which is a bit slower than A can move.
Later!