Hey everyone, thank you for coming to look at this re-vamped story! This was originally a prompt for a reader who won a contest. They wanted a story with Naruto paired with Fem-Shikamaru who used his Wind affinity and had good chakra control. Thus, The Death Flash was born. Only problem was that didn't quite hit the prompt in my opinion, so I've tweaked it some and hope you enjoy. Shoutout to DemonicHellfire, who gave me the prompt.

If you'd like to consider supporting, feel free to become a patron. You can find my pa treon by typing in the pat reon web domain and adding /rinnetaicho or by going over to my AO3 profile of the same name and copy and pasting the link in my bio.

Well, without any further delay, on with the story!

Arc I: Beginnings:

Chapter 1: The Blade of a God

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– February 1st, 997 A.S. –

Dust choked the air as the earth shivered. Mighty trees snapped under the foot of a mighty beast. A behemoth tanuki bigger than a mountain, a menacing tail swayed behind it. Black marks swirled across the beasts skin. Thump … thump. Each step was like the heartbeat of the earth. Animals fled before the fierce beast. The ground shivered. It's chakra was immense and malevolent. Like an oppressive, oily wind.

Naruto Senju's skin crawled as he beheld the creature. Whether from anticipation or anxiety, he couldn't tell. The wind whipped his blond hair about his face, cold blue eyes regarded the beast. Shukaku really was a formidable creature.

'Bah, that runt isn't impressive. We can wipe the floor with him Naruto!' Kurama's ominous voice growled in his head.

Naruto snorted at Kurama's scathing retort. For a massive nine-tailed fox, it was surprisingly childish. He could practically picture the giant orange creature pouting from behind a set of golden bars.

'Tch, speak for yourself Kurama. Some of us can't demolish mountains with a swipe of our tail.' He answered. His reply got an unimpressed grunt from his tenant. From across the immense distance between them and Shukaku, a distorted voice cried out. It's noise so twisted you couldn't distinguish gender, or if it was really human.

"Well Naruto Uzumaki, where is your bravado? I thought you were some kind of wind god!" They sneered.

Naruto gritted his teeth. He wracked his brain to decide what to do. There were several possibilities. A water jutsu might weigh the sand down enough to make attacks effective. Though it would need to be very massive. He could go all out with Kurama's chakra and try to tank through to the medium. The risk there was he might get swallowed up by the sand that composed Shukaku's body. Gruesome images of crushed corpses filled his mind. He'd seen firsthand what that sand could do. No … there was only one good option. 'It seems I don't have any choice. Even if it's not complete, I'll have to use the armor. Kurama, lend me some chakra'.

An answering grunt from the fox rumbled through the chambers of his mind. Naruto felt it's burning energy course through his veins. Every cell in his body was vitalized by the vile, hate-filled energy. His hair spiked up and fangs jutted over his lower lip. Sweat beaded his brow as he focused on controlling the immense power, adding his own into it. Even with this small amount he could feel the influence. The anger, a desire to rage and maim. He had to fight through it.

"Alright, let's do this." He muttered to himself. His hands became a blur. Naruto went through nearly every hand seal of the twelve basic signs. Over and over, an endless chain that flew past fifty hand seals. The technique he was trying was ridiculously complex. It was also highly dangerous for himself. He'd need every seal to help control and mold the chakra. On the hundredth seal, Naruto finally stopped with his index and pinky fingers touching and extending up into points. The bird seal.

"Wind Style: Wind Armor Jutsu!" He yelled.

Whooooo …

It started slow. Merely a whisper of a breeze amongst the leaves. A haunting cry like a demonic owl. Branches clattered about as the wind picked up. Before long an intense gale built around Naruto's body. Hazy white streams of chakra and wind encased him from head to toe. Every few seconds he'd feel the sting like a paper cut as the armor slashed him. Just as quickly Kurama's chakra would repair it. The smell of coppery blood swirled about him in that localized tornado. Finally he felt he was ready.

"Let's see you deal with this, Number One!" Naruto growled.

He thrust his hands towards the ground and let loose two powerful jets of air. The air blasts threw him into the sky. Naruto shot up like a rocket, high above the trees. Even higher than the massive form of Shukaku. His blue kimono shirt whipped about in the vortex that surrounded him.

Naruto reached to his side and unsheathed the sword at his hip. The metal rang high and sharp as it slid from the sheath. A wickedly gleaming straight blade with a single edge and a beautifully rippled pattern. The wind of his armor climbed up the length of the blade and engulfed it as well. He finally reached his peak.

For a single moment Naruto hung in the air.

Shukaku stared at him. Massive sickly yellow shuriken-like pupils in pools of darkness regarded Naruto wearily. With every ounce of control he had, Naruto channeled a huge amount of Kurama's chakra into his blade. Howling winds covered the blade like a miniature tornado. The contained energy was immense. The blade glowed white, cracks traveled along its length. It wouldn't last much longer. He either struck now or he wouldn't get the chance at all. Naruto's hand trembled as his sword vibrated from the whirlwind. Every muscle in his body tensed. In one smooth motion he lifted his weapon, then brought it down.

"Wind Style: Divine Wind Blade!" He gasped.

With those words, he let loose his control. A twisting, tearing blade of wind soared from his blade. An arc of white wind of massive scale. The forest was rent asunder. Debris flew into the air and fell like rain. Bits and pieces of wood and rock bombarded the land. Then the blade finally reached Shukaku. It tore into his enemy, and the world was engulfed in dust and sand.

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Well I hope you enjoyed that. I know it's a little short but this was the best opening point for me.

I want to shoutout my patrons who support my work.

⸻ Patron Shoutout Wall ⸻

Odin Darkfeather, Garim, Neil Tucker, Chillz90, Kit Arashi, CrusaderMoya, MK3Kratos, Kevin Lopez.

Anyways, that's all for now.

Until Next Time,

RinneTaicho, Signing Off!