Let's do this!
Broken Angel
Chapter 57
"Narumi?" Minato sputtered in disbelief.
Riley's reply was to grin, as Kurama slammed his hand into the earth sending a shockwave rocking through the village.
"Let's dance, old man!" Riley shouted with glee, as she spread her wings, unfurled all five of her tails, and flared her power.
Hundreds of ninja felt themselves freeze in terror as Riley's overwhelming power slammed into them. Kurama's power may have been greater but they knew that his power came from him being a bijuu. Riley was, to their knowledge, a human being. And yet, her power was greater than any human, any of them had ever seen.
"Narumi… why…?" Minato muttered in disbelief.
Riley's only reply was to chuckle. Then, with a flourish, her hand-scythe appeared in her hand. Without much ceremony, she dashed at Minato aiming to take his head off.
Minato was in his own world. He was stunned beyond all belief. It was only his natural reflexes that saved him as he suddenly back-bended out-of-the-way of Riley's slash.
He quickly flashed a few meters away and turned to face her. By that time, she was on him.
If it wasn't for all his training in recent months, Minato would have lost his head. Riley was fast and agile as she lashed out with scythe and fist and foot. Minato blocked her strikes with his signature kunai and dodged away from her physical strikes, knowing that she could easily end him, if she managed a hit.
"Narumi… Why are you doing this?" Minato cried out as he blocked another strike and held himself in place.
"Are you really such a fool that you need an answer to that?" Riley replied as she kicked forward, her strength easily pushing Minato back. He quickly flashed a short distance away to avoid a follow-up strike.
"Minato-boy! Focus! She'll kill you if you don't focus!" Ma shouted at him from his shoulder.
"This is your eldest daughter, right Minato-boy?" Pa inquired. Earning a nod, the elder toad let out a sigh.
"Come on, you wart covered bastards, let's step this up a bit. Show me the strength of the toad sage arts!" Riley yelled with a grin as she flexed her power and let out a blast of fireballs from her hand.
A dozen fireballs shot from her hand. They started small, but each quickly swelled to the size of a house and barreled towards Minato. He quickly flashed to the opposite side of Riley as the ninja behind him threw up mud walls to block the large fireballs.
In a flash, Riley whipped out her wand. She quickly fired off dozens and dozens of spells. Multicolored lights tore through the air, each one aimed right at Minato.
Minato recognized many of the atrocious curses that were flying towards him. He had seen them used before by the dark wizards he had killed during Voldemort's last reign.
He knew that if any of these curses hit, he'd be seriously screwed. These were Bone Breaking, Skin Melting, Organ Liquifying, Organ Rupturing, Bone Obliterating, Blood Boiling, Castration, Torture and Killing, Curses.
Luckily for Minato, Riley's skill in the use of these spells had nothing to do with the speed they moved through the air. One thing about magic that benefited him at this time. She made up for it however by loosing about three dozen of them every second, causing the air to rapidly fill with hundreds of glowing lights.
Minato had to keep his focus as he dodged the spells, even as he heard screams of agony erupt from behind him as his ninja were hit by some of the deadly curses.
Minato knew enough about the Unforgivables to know that they could only be used on someone you truly hated or at least believed you hated. At that moment, he ceased trying to speak to her and went on the offensive.
He brought his hands together right as the toads on his shoulders did the same.
Minato let loose with a torrent of wind, while Ma fired out a large ball of water. Pa did the same and all three attacks pierced through Riley's barrage of spells and headed right towards her.
Minato's wind style ninjutsu, accelerated the two balls of water, causing them to fly towards Riley at insane speeds.
Riley just watched the blast of wind and the two spheres of water shoot towards her with boredom. Her eyes were so keen that the only thing that moved quickly for her, was Minato, using the Hiraishin.
She paid little heed to the two large spheres and with a gesture, she blocked all three attacks with Shinra Tensei.
As the two spheres of water burst when countered by Riley's attack, she began walking towards Minato. His eyes never left her, even as the sound of metal flying through the air, hit her ears.
She activated Kamui as dozens of shuriken came rushing at her, courtesy of a team of Anbu rushing to aid their Hokage.
With a smirk, Riley fired a dark purple curse at the head Anbu. The man in the white cloak was hit in the chest by the speedy curse and in no more than a second his whole body exploded in a shower of blood and guts.
Riley heard his squad swear in shock and disbelief as their captain exploded.
Riley simply let out a content sigh. The Body Bursting Curse. One of the most deadly and powerful of the dark arts. The only reason it wasn't an unforgivable was that it wasn't well-known. She only knew it from Voldemort's memories. And besides him, the two of them were probably the only people in Britain whom could use the curse and were probably part of a very small group that even knew of its existence. Hell, Sirius was a master of the dark arts, and he'd never seen the curse used before. He knew it existed but not its effect.
Still… if more people knew there was a spell that could literally cause a human body to explode, I think many more people would be pushing to outright ban its use. Even still, it's effects were a good moral breaker.
After a few moments, Riley started to fire off much more sinister spells. The kind of spells used to maim and torture people, such as the Twisting Limb Curse, and the Skin to Bone, Curse. Both were just as unpleasant as they sounded.
Even as she focused on Minato, she was never unaware of what was going on in the immediate vicinity. A large group of about fifty shinobi was closing in around her. It seems, that roughly five hundred had decided to stay with their Hokage while the rest went to fight Kurama, who was taking his time with the village, swatting down one building at a time, taking immense pleasure in the act. Several squads broke from the rest and chose this point to attack while Riley's back was turned.
Even as Minato continued to dodge away from her curses, she sensed a contingent of Leaf ninja surround her. She never took her focus off of Minato as she waited for them to make their move.
Meanwhile, Minato watched her intently as he dodged the lethal curses. He could see that her focus was solely on him, but something in his gut told him that she wanted him to believe that. There was this maniacal twinkle in her eye. It was then that Minato noticed about fifty ninja surrounding her. At that instant, he realized that they were walking into a trap.
"NO!" Minato shouted to his comrades as they closed in on Riley. A few dove towards her, while others rushed. With a smirk and a flourish the whole area vanished in a sea of black and orange flames.
Minato watched in anger and horror as fifty of his men, his comrades, vanished in a burst of Fiendfyre.
Minato and the elder toads, stared in silence, at the sphere of black and orange flames. A few shinobi made moves to try to quench the flames with water style ninjutsu, but Minato stopped them with a gesture. While not impervious to magical water, Fiendfyre was purposefully difficult to put out. They'd just be wasting their time and energy trying to extinguish it.
Minato stared into the flames for several moments. He knew he couldn't lose focus on this fight. If something was forcing Narumi to do this, he'd figure it out later. She was surely strong enough to take what he could dish out, so he just had to focus on fighting her. If he won, then he could worry about finding whatever was controlling her. He knew, that something had to be. There was no way, she would do all of this on her own.
As he stared into the flame, he started to see a figure appear. He spotted the black outline of an angel in the flames. He felt the cold fingers of fear grip at him, as he stared at the figure. Right now it was just the blackened outline of an angel, wreathed in flame. Many of the shinobi felt a stillness enter the air, and many felt the instinctive need to run.
The figure stared right back for several moments, before it's eyes flashed red. Then with a third red flash in the center of it's forehead. The figure burst from the flames, dashing towards Minato at sound breaking speed.
The two clashed blades at speeds few around them could follow. Minato and Riley were blurs of motion as they delivered strike after strike against one another.
The two mighty warriors dashed across the battlefield, diving through streets, jumping on buildings, dancing across training yards, the two were nothing more than blurs, only pinpointed by the loud metallic clang of their blades as the flew through the village.
The fighting just continued to grow more intense, Minato was using every ounce of his power to try to beat Riley back. His sage powers were at their peak, and his team work with the elder toads was phenomenal. Against any other opponent, their teamwork and unity would have given them the edge. Against Riley however…
Minato flashed behind her, Rasengan in hand, only for Riley to activate Shinra Tensei, and send him flying back. She turned to charge, right as a squad of about ten Anbu appeared around her, slashing out with their blades.
Riley quickly countered them. Lashing out with her hand-scythe and her tails, she cut through them like a knife through air.
"Fuck!" Minato swore loudly, as Riley literally ripped one of his anbu in half with her tails. Another jumped behind her, intent on stabbing her in the back, but her spacial awareness was so keen, that he might as well have just run at her from the front, screaming at the top of his lungs.
Before he could deliver his strike, Riley spun around and caught him with gravity. The man floated in the air for several moments, as Riley smirked up at him. Then with a smirk still on her face, four of her tails shot forward, each one grabbed one of the man's limbs. She pulled him close with her tails, and charged up a Rasengan.
Riley heard Minato flash behind her, intent on saving his comrade, he had his own Rasengan in his hand and was aiming to drill it into her back… again. Before he even got close, Riley activated Limbo: Border Jail. One of her shadows immediately caught Minato's wrist, while another delivered a bone crushing kick to the face, sending him flying back.
With a chuckle, Riley turned her attention back to the Anbu she held. With unparalleled speed, Riley thrust the Rasengan up into the man's stomach. Her tails pulled him down towards her, as the spiraling sphere, drilled into his stomach, causing a spray of blood and organs.
The Anbu screamed at the top of his lungs as Riley drilled a hole through his stomach.
By the time Minato pulled himself to his feet and refocused on Riley, her arm was fully through one of his Anbu. With a careless shrug, she tossed the corpse of the man to the side, discarding him like trash.
Minato, couldn't understand it. He couldn't understand why this had happened. Sure she had been neglected, but just because her parents ignored her, doesn't mean she should have turned out like this. Perhaps the angel was actually real, and it had possessed Narumi somehow? Maybe it was controlling her. I mean, how else could she have wings and tails?
"Minato-boy, that move she just used against us… I didn't see anything. It wasn't like her gravity attack." Pa toad noted.
"I know… she hit me with it once before. I have no clue what kind of ability it is. We'll need to be careful." Minato replied earning a nod of agreement from the two elder toads.
A loud roar shook the land as Kurama ran a clawed hand along an entire section of the street, destroying a dozen buildings in seconds. Hundreds of kunai, shurkien and jutsu were flying up at the fox, but without their leaders, the shinobi were incapable of launching a coördinated strike against the massive bijuu. Without coördination, their attacks were little more than pinpricks, to the mighty fox.
"Minato-boy, we need to do something about the fox! The Leaf forces can't handle it on their own!" Ma shouted at him.
"I know." Minato replied as he flashed through handsigns, "Summoning Jutsu!"
In a massive poof of smoke, Gamabunta, Gamahiro, and Gamaken appeared. The toad chief and the two warrior toads stood like titans over the battlefield.
"Bunta!" Minato called down from his position atop the chieftain's head.
"Lord Fourth!" Bunta replied as his eyes locked on the Nine Tails. It didn't take a genius to know why they had been summoned.
"I need the three of you to hold off the fox. Can you do that for me?" Minato asked.
"We'll try!" Bunta replied as his two warriors gave nods of agreement.
"Good luck, Bunta-boy, Ken-boy, Hiro-boy." Pa stated. Minato quickly hopped from atop Bunta's head, his focus back on Riley. The three toads shared a look before dashing towards Kurama, who had turned to focus on them.
"Let's teach this giant furball a lesson!" Bunta shouted.
"Right!/Right!" Both warrior toads replied.
"Come at me you amphibian bastards!" Kurama roared, surprising many of those around him, that he could actually talk.
Most shinobi could only stand and gape as the three giant toads did battle with the massive demonic fox.
"We have to hurry Minato-boy! If we can't put her down soon, the Leaf will be flattened by Fox!" Ma toad, cried out.
Minato nodded and went on the offensive.
Dashing at Riley, with insane speed, Minato fired off three of his signature kunai. Flashing through hand signs as they flew, the three quickly became a thousand.
Riley's response was to literally copy Minato's actions. Both quickly began to dodge the wall of kunai that flew towards them, and after a few moments, the two were left standing in the middle sea of kunai. Half had tan handles, and half had red handles, but they were all of the same design.
"Minato-boy… those are like your kunai. Could she know the Hiraishin?" Pa toad asked with a bit of worry.
"Oh, she knows it alright. I had hoped that it was only part of her illusion, when I saw her use it against the Kazekage. It seems that I was wrong. This will be a battle of speed. If I can't outpace her… I'm dead. This battle will be determined by the one that makes the right move. And makes it one, one-hundredth of a second faster." Minato replied, as he remained focused on Riley.
Even over the sound of chaos, Riley could clearly hear Minato as he spoke to the toads. She nearly laughed out loud. If she had been human, then Minato would have been correct. But even if he somehow managed to outpace her, he'd never win. Nature energy hurt more than regular magic, but unless she literally stopped what she was doing and let him use all of his power on her, without her healing herself, she knew he couldn't win. She just had to watch out for any seals. She had her Limbo clones out and around her just in case.
Hundreds of shinobi gathered around the edge of the sea of kunai. They watched in fear, as the two mighty warriors suddenly vanished in yellow and blackish red, flashes.
Suddenly the field filled with those flashes and the load sound of blades clashing filled the air.
-At the Hospital-
Hashirama moved like a ghost through the hospital. The doctors had pretty much abandoned their patients when the fox appeared. The first time he attacked, they could be brave, because they didn't know what the fox was capable of. This time… no. Anyone who wanted to live needed to run. Out of the hundreds of medical personnel who worked in this building, only a couple of dozen were brave enough to stay.
It took several moments, but Hashirama finally arrived at his destination. He stood outside Tsunade's hospital room, he knew what he had to do. He couldn't let her continue to suffer. He knew she wouldn't want to live life as a cripple. Letting out a loud sigh, Hashirama steeled himself and entered the room.
Main power was out, but the hospitals back-up generators were still on. A loud continuous beep filled the air.
Hashirama walked over to his granddaughter's bedside. She was strapped down by many machines, her whole body was bandaged, leaving little of her to actually see. Her heart was still going but the sight in and of itself was a pitiful one.
"Oh, Tsu-Tsu… you look terrible." Hashirama stated with a sad smile as he touched his granddaughter's cheek. He fondly remembered teaching this woman how to gamble when she was just four years old. That had been the last time he had actually seen her when he was alive.
It took many moments of staring down at the once proud woman, now strapped up to multiple machines before Hashirama could finally let a tear or two fall from his eyes.
"Be at peace now. My dear. Look after your family. Hopefully, the other part of me will look out for you on the other side." Hashirama whispered as he placed a hand over her chest, and channeled chakra into it. Within a second, the machines around Tsunade began to blare, as her heart stopped.
With that done, Hashirama removed all the wires and needles from her body and sealed it into a scroll. He would bury her with her family, in the old Senju homeland not far from here. With that done, Hashirama stood in quiet contemplation for several moments before letting out a sigh and wiping the tears from his eyes.
Finally, he dashed out the window and moved to join up with Madara and Kushina. Now just wanting to get this fight over with.
-Back with Riley-
To those that were watching, it almost looked like a light show. Two flashes here, 'clank'. Two flashes there, 'clank'.
To those around, the speed of this fight was nothing short of unbelievable. The sea of Hiraishin kunai were spread out over about a three hundred yard area. The flashes were here, then there, then here again. The clanging of blades occurred so quickly, at points it was almost an unbroken sound.
Suddenly a massive wind tore through the area. Minato and Riley appeared in front of each other. In Minato's hand, a nature energy infuses Odama Rasengan. In Riley's, a technique she hadn't used in years. Gale Release: Rasendori.
The two techniques slammed into each other in a spectacular clash. The whole area shook, as powerful winds, and black lightning whipped around the two warriors. Both held firm in place. The Fourth Hokage looked to be entirely focused on Riley, while Riley had this manic smirk on her face.
After a few moments of a deadlock, Minato brought up his other arm with a Hiraishin kunai in it. He held it right next to her attack and muttered something under his breath.
Riley watched in amazement as the space around her attack bent inward. She noticed that Minato was no longer pushing his attack against hers, and her attack was sliding forward into some sort of hole in space.
The second her hand and jutsu vanished into the hole, Minato canceled his space-time ninjutsu, causing Riley's attack and hand, to separate from her body and vanish to somewhere else.
Now missing her hand and attack, Minato was free to slam his Rasengan into her gut.
Riley was sent flying back from the impact of the sphere, she flew about a hundred yards before halting herself in a burst of power.
In the distance a massive explosion tore through the city as her hand and Rasendori reappeared and the technique exploded.
Minato's eyes never left her, even as Riley glanced down at her missing hand in annoyance. The Dementor King had taken the brunt of the attack, so Riley's only injury was her severed hand. Focusing on it for several seconds, blood, bone, and flesh quickly reformed and within a moment, her hand was fully healed.
"She… rebuilt her hand… so fast..." Minato gaped. Not even Tsunade could do something like that. Riley's arm had been missing from about the wrist, and she had just reconstructed it, in about ten seconds.
"Now that was what I call using your head, old man. Let's see if you can keep it up. Time to step it up a notch." Riley stated, just loud enough to for him to hear.
"Step it up? You mean she was holding back?" Ma toad stated with worry.
"This isn't good." Pa toad agreed.
"Alright, you two… listen up. I have a plan..." Minato stated as he gestured for his anbu to attack. He knew they'd probably die, but he needed them to distract Riley so he could set up his plan.
Thirty Anbu went rushing towards her, each yelling out in complete defiance of her power. Riley glanced at them, the glee in her eyes would have made anyone think she was utterly mad.
With a laugh, Riley dashed into the crowd. Utilizing, Taijutsu, Hachimon, and her Limbo Clones, Riley slaughtered the group in less than ten seconds.
Even as Minato quickly rattled out his plan to the elder toads, he couldn't stop himself from grimacing as thirty of his comrades were torn limb from limb. Riley fought with unmatched skill. Her tails whipped around her, slicing, stabbing, and grabbing anyone in their way. Her fists, and feet, crushed bone with each strike. Any jutsu that was sent her way was returned with interest, by the reddish mist that kept appearing around her. And then there were some, that just went flying. Hit by the same invisible force that kept hitting him. Minato wondered if perhaps she had some invisible ally helping her, or if she was using gravity to aid in fighting. Regardless of what it was, his Anbu were torn to pieces in seconds.
The smile never left Riley's face as she got the last Anbu, a captain, in a headlock. She then gave a sharp twist and tore his head from his body. She gave the severed head an inquisitive glance, before dropping it on the ground. She then turned back to Minato and started to approach him.
Her walking quickly turned into running. After a few moments, Minato flashed through handsigns and slammed his palms into the ground, right as he did, the two toads jumped into the air. "Sage Art: Frog Call!" The two toads shouted.
The two released massive sound waves from their mouths. The wide area attack, slammed right into Riley, forcing her to a stop as she felt her inner ears burst.
As she was held in place, Minato launched his attack. "Sealing Art: Nine Hexagonal, Suppression Seal!"
Black and red lines shot across the ground connecting to some of Minato's signature kunai. The lines quickly formed nine hexagons. One in the center, and one connecting to each side. Riley was in the center of this formation, still stunned by the toads.
"Seal!" Minato shouted as he activated the seal.
Right as he spoke, Riley's hands shot out and a shockwave of gravity shot in every direction. The seal diagram on the ground was destroyed, preventing Minato from activating it.
In a flash Riley's wand appeared in her hand and she fired a sickly green curse at one of the two toads. The female toad was struck and fell to the ground lifeless.
"MA!/MA!" Minato and Pa toad, shouted in horror.
With her other hand, Riley summoned Pa toad to her. He flew right into her hand. "Nice trick," Riley whispered as she held the small toad by the throat.
"You'll pay for this!" The toad shouted defiantly, only for Riley to chuckle, and snap his neck.
"DAMMIT!" Minato screamed with fury. With a flash, he was on her, Rasengan in hand. The jutsu slammed into Riley's chest, only to be stopped by the cloak. Minato felt his energy pouring out of him, as Riley just stared at him with a smile.
She was currently using the Rinnegan's ability to absorb chakra, and it was working to masterful effect.
Minato felt even more of his energy vanish and he knew he needed to stop. He quickly flashed about a hundred yards back and focused his attention on his daughter.
In the background he could see the Nine tails, it had one of it's massive hands wrapped around Bunta's blade arm, crushing it with it's massive strength, while the beast's massive jaws were biting into Bunta's shoulder. Minato sent a worried glance around for the other toads, only to see Hiro lying against the mountain with his stomach torn open and his organ spilled out. Not far away was Gamaken's corpse, his head have been crushed and burned by the Fox's power.
Seeing Bunta about to die, Minato made a dash for him, only for Riley to appear in front of him, and drive a leg into his gut. The force of her strike caused him to fly back. He landed about thirty yards back and shot to his feet. Just in time for the Toad chieftain to let out a painful cry as the Fox grabbed his other arm and tore away a massive chunk of flesh. It only took about five seconds for the massive toad chieftain to bleed out.
"NO! NO!" Minato cried out.
With a mighty roar of triumph, Kurama dropped the toad's body and flared his power. Red chakra spilled out over the entire area consuming dozens of city blocks in a skin peeling miasma. Tens of thousands screamed out in agony as they were enshrouded by the blood-red chakra. Their skin began to blister and peel off as the fox's energy consumed them.
Minato felt hatred swell in his heart. He was angry now. Beyond angry. But it was a little to late.
Minato heard the sound of someone flashing to his right. He spun around, kunai in hand, he aimed it right for her eye. He no longer cared about preserving his daughter's life. He'd kill her for this!
Before his blade could pierce her flesh, Riley activated her intangibility. Minato's strike passed right through her. Before he could attack again, or retreat, Riley's hand shot forward. A palm strike to the chest sent Minato flying back, as all the breath left his lungs. He saw Riley dash towards him, a monstrous grin on her face. He tried to flash away, only to suddenly feel a burning pain in his chest. Glancing down, he spotted a seal on his chest.
Minato's eyes widened in horror. In that moment… he knew that he had lost.
Utilizing Minato's own signature technique, Riley started to flash around the man, using the many kunai that littered the ground.
With each flash, she lashed out, with her fists. Strike after Strike slammed into him. To those watching, it almost looked like Minato was awash in red and black light. Riley flashed around him at insane speeds, without his own Hiraishin, the man was powerless to stop her.
Within seconds, Minato's body was broken and battered. His right arm was broken, many of his ribs were shattered, and every bone in his left foot was crushed.
He felt his blood pour onto the ground. He tried to raise a hand to create another Rasengan but he was stopped when Riley appeared in front of him, wand pointed at his chest.
"Crucio." Riley hissed out and Minato instantly collapsed and started to scream.
Riley held the curse on the bleeding man for ten whole seconds. Watching him scream and struggle was probably the greatest thing she had ever seen. All of her rage and pain was poured into that ten seconds. All of the years of abuse and all the stupid shit this man had done to her. It all poured into this one spell.
Once the ten seconds had passed she finally let up and stood over him.
Minato's body continued to tremble, the pain of the Cruciatus Curse was too much for him. The fourth Hokage writhed about in agony, his broken bones made his struggling even more painful.
Riley couldn't possibly describe the feeling of seeing him in such a state, so beaten and broken. Seriously, not even sex made her this happy. He was beaten, broken, crushed. And now… lying before her, nothing more than a wiggling, writhing, pitiful little thing, Riley could finally let the past die.
"Well fought, Minato. But it's over. You lose." Riley stated with a smile as she stepped up to him and rolled him onto his back so that he would have to look up at her.
Minato was still convulsing. He felt blood pour from his mouth, Riley's original barrage of punches had most definitely ruptured several internal organs. Even still, through all the pain, he managed to speak. "Even… though… Y-you've won the battle. We… will… win the war."
"No one will live to see tomorrow, Minato. There isn't going to be a war. It's all over now." Riley replied as she knelt next to him.
"The world… will know what happened here. They will… unite… to kill you…. Ralael…" Minato gurgled out.
Riley stared down at him, a smile still plastered on her face. But it suddenly started to fade. To Minato, it almost looked like she was actually thinking about that statement. Like she was running it through her head.
"The world… will make you pay… for this. You may… have… won… some small victory… but you'll lose… in the end. You are a monster… the people will… stop you..." Minato rasped out as he felt life begin to leave his body.
"You know what… you're right." Riley replied as she reached a hand out over Minato's chest and channeled healing chakra through it. Not enough to fix him, but enough to keep him from dying just yet. While she was doing that, she sent several messages to her allies. She needed to let them know of a few changes to the plan.
With her other hand, she used medical chakra to sever the nerves running to his arms and legs. By the time she was finished, Minato was a quadriplegic. He was still going to die… just not so quickly, and now, he couldn't fight back.
"What… are you… doing?" Minato wheezed out as he felt his arms and legs go numb.
"You were right, Minato. After this… the whole world will unite to face me. So… I need to do something about that." Riley replied as she gently rolled his head to the side so that he could see a large contingent of his shinobi racing towards her.
She elegantly rose to her feet and turned to face them. Minato was forced to watch as Riley rushed at them and tore them apart. In the meantime the Fox let out a mighty roar and literally began running circles around the village, crushing it beneath it's feet. It was obvious that Riley intended to finish the rest of the village off quickly.
Minato watched for a minute, then two. Then five. Then ten. Finally he saw the fox stop it's running and look around the village. Almost every building had been crushed. Fire raged in all corners of the once mighty village.
The army that Riley had faced was quickly slaughtered. A sea of corpses surrounded her as she stared at the fox with a smile on her face.
Suddenly, Minato spotted the fox nod and then vanish in a poof of smoke. With that, Riley created some sort of Wood Clone and then turned and raced off.
The clone turned to him and walked over. All the while, pulling up it's hood and spreading it's wings, taking on Ralael's full angelic form again.
"What… Are… You..." Minato tried to ask again as the angel stood over him.
"Making you all martyrs." Riley had answered as her face vanished behind shadow. She stood in silence for several moments, before she floated down to the ground and knelt over him.
She placed a hand over his chest and raised it up, she looked like she was about to punch his heart out. Before she could strike though, she was hit by something that sent her flying.
Minato watched, and his eyes widened in disbelief and then… terror. Someone landed in front of him. They were dressed in black armor, and a black cloak with the word 'Hud' on it. This person turned and glanced down at him. He recognized those eyes instantly and he felt terror well in his gut. He was angry… enraged… but there was nothing he could do. He knew, almost instantly what his words had led her to come up with. Staring down at him, with those purple Rinne Sharingan eyes, was Riley.
She was dressed in her armor as a legionnaire. Even though he couldn't see her face, he could tell from her eyes… she was positively grinning.
She quickly took her eyes off of him and turned back to the Angel. The two rushed at each other, and the angel, or in this case, Riley's wood clone, delivered several powerful strikes, that pushed Riley back, but it quickly became obvious what Riley's plan was.
As he lay there, Minato felt like he wanted to scream. Even as blood bubbled out of his mouth and prevented him from talking, he felt the rage billow out from within him. She was going to fake her own death. He had given her this idea. He knew it.
He felt like tearing something apart. He knew she could pull it off. The people would believe her capable of it. After all… she held eyes greater than that of the Sage of Six Paths. She had magical power, greater than that of Merlin. No one would doubt that Riley could defeat the Angel of Carnage.
The pieces all fell into place for Minato as he watched Riley and her angelic clone, duke it out. She would 'kill' the angel and save the world. Riley would be a hero. She'd be feared by all her enemies, and loved by everyone she had ever hurt with the angel's presence.
All of the enemies she had made, using the angel, would become her allies now. It was an unbelievable ploy. One that he knew she could pull off. And he'd been the one to give her the idea. Ralael may die today… but Riley, the woman responsible for all of this, would live on to become a legend.
He watched as Riley was knocked back towards him, by her clone. He felt more than saw, people step up around him.
The angel raced forward, only to stop and struggle as a black shadow rose up constricting it.
Minato glanced over from where he lay, and spotted Shikaku and his son, using their Shadow Possession Jutsu to hold the Angel in place. He spotted Choza rush by, his butterfly mode, activated as he delivered a massive chakra enhanced punch that sent the angel flying into the air.
He saw spinning tornadoes rush by as a dozen Inuzuka hit her with their own signature techniques. Tsume finished it by slamming the angel into the earth where it was then bombarded by hundreds of spells and Jutsu, compliments of the legion which had just appeared, and all the missing ninja, that had disappeared.
He felt someone scoop him into their arms, right as Riley rushed into the smoke where the angel resided, to resume their battle.
Many of legion and 'Konoha' ninja started to retreat, and Minato finally spotted who was carrying him.
"Kakashi..." Minato sputtered as he looked up at his one-time student.
Kakashi was quiet as the sound of fighting filled the air. Riley and her clone were going all out. She had filled that wood clone with nearly half of her power, to make the fight realistic.
It took several minutes of rushing by ruined buildings to finally make it out to the forests beyond. The small army stopped in an open field and Kakashi set Minato on the ground.
Minato could only stare up at his student in disbelief. Minato was no fool. He knew that all the shinobi that Riley had kidnapped in her first attack, and those that had been missing in this one, had turned on him. Kakashi meanwhile, just stared right back down. Neither broke eye contact, and neither needed to speak in order to know what the other was thinking.
It was Minato that broke eye contact first. He had spotted someone, even more familiar then Kakashi.
Not far away, staring down at him, was Naruko.
"Na-Naruko..." Minato gasped out.
"Hello old man." Naruko replied as she approached and knelt next to him. The two were silent as they stared at one another. Again, no words were needed to understand what the other felt.
"It… was too much for you… wasn't it…?" Minato whispered as he felt his energy fade.
"Yeah. It was. It's over now though." Naruko replied.
"I'm… I'm sorry..." Minato stated with a pained rasp.
"No, you're not." Naruko countered.
"You're right. I thought it was for the… best. And I still do..." Minato consented.
"And that's why you'll die today. Here… alone… We're all going home when this is over. We're going to a place where we'll be hailed as heroes." Naruko informed him.
"Even... if it's based on… a lie?" Minato asked.
"There are two sides to every story. Every hero is a villain to someone else. The whole world will see us… and Riley as Heroes and survivors. You and the Leaf will see us as villains. But… soon you'll all be dead. And when you are… we'll go on." Naruko stated as she rose to her feet and someone else approached. Two someones. One knelt next to him, and the other stood over him.
"Hello, Minato." Came a feminine voice that made Minato shudder.
"Ku-Kushina..." Minato rasped out.
"I just wanted to say good-bye. I wish we could make you a villain for this… but… it's better this way. You… and the Leaf… and all those people who died… you'll all be heroes. Martyrs, that spurred the rest of us to action and weakened the angel enough for Riley to beat it. You'll be forever remembered for your sacrifice." Kushina stated, almost sounding condescending.
Minato could only stare at her, he continued for several moments before turning to the other person next to her.
He locked eyes with the tall, dark-haired man, his eyes a cold familiar black.
Madara locked eyes with his son for the first time in decades.
Minato didn't recognize this man. He knew he was an Uchiha, from the hair and eyes, but he didn't know which one.
"I wanted to look you in the eyes, one time before you died. I wanted to see if any of my son was left in there. There isn't. I'm sure your mother will have a few choice words for you when she sees you. Goodbye Fourth Hokage." Madara stated with a snarl as he turned and walked off.
Minato could only gape as explosions rocked the land.
There was silence as Minato resumed bleeding out. A medic stood over him, she looked like she was trying to heal him, but Minato knew better. She was just putting on a show, keeping him alive for the finale.
Eventually, ten minutes passed and many of the trees around them blasted apart. Riley came barreling through the ruined forest, where she hit the ground hard. Her cloak and armor were missing. One of her pant legs was missing at the knee. Her long-sleeved under-shirt was torn and tattered and the wrapping that bound her breasts was clearly visible. The only piece of cloth on her body that wasn't tattered was the headband she wore with the kanji for 'shadow' on it.
Her body was riddled with wounds. Blood poured from many deep gashes, and there were large purple blotches all over. No one in the world would doubt that she had fought the angel, and Minato could only grimace.
Riley's clone in angel form came rushing towards her. Riley quickly flashed through hand signs and a wooden dragon exploded from the ground and caught the clone in it's teeth. The dragon raced towards the village and Riley turned her head to a nearby Hyuuga.
"Is there anyone left in the village!?" Riley shouted at him.
"No! You've got everyone. The angel is all that's left." The man replied, his Byakugan fully active.
At that Riley clasped her hands together and began channeling power. Minato and the small army, watched as a black sphere appeared between her hands.
Riley held the sphere out and it floated off towards the village. Minato could see Riley's wood dragon still holding the angel in the sky over the village it was wrapping around itself, forming a cocoon around the angel to hold it in place.
Suddenly Riley let out a mighty yell, and clasped her hands together, hard.
Everyone watched in utter amazement. They all knew what the plan was, but they didn't know the specifics. Riley had sent the change of plans to Madara, Hashirama, Kurama, Itachi, and Tom, and they had organized the others. But still, none of them knew what Riley was going to do, to successfully fake the angel's death.
Out of all of them, only Kurama and Madara recognized what she was doing. This was the first time she had ever used the ability Chibaku Tensei. Or Planetary Devastation.
Riley let out a defiant yell and everyone watched in amazement as the entirety of the Hidden Leaf, rose into the air.
Massive chunks of earth, hundreds of buildings, and every piece of evidence of what occurred was pulled into the sky. And at the center of it all, The Angel of Carnage.
"Oh my… Gods..." Kushina sputtered in disbelief.
"Is this… the power of a god?" Itachi gasped.
"Unbelievable." Hashirama gawked.
"Riley..." Fleur whispered as her hands covered her mouth.
"That's…. God… oh my god..." Katie stuttered out as she dropped to her knees.
"Wow..." Was Luna's only thought.
"I can't believe it," Daphne stated with a shake of her head.
Everyone's reaction was pretty much similar. Within seconds the whole of the Hidden Leaf was gone. The whole village. The mountain, the forests, the training grounds. All of it was gone. Above them, now floated a moon. Nearly ten miles across.
Riley let a smirk cross her face. Her wood clone would use nature energy to keep the sphere afloat in the sky. It would forever stand as a testament to her power, and a prison for the angel, that she could crack open if she needed it again.
"Holy shit..." Riley muttered with a chuckle as she collapsed.
"Riley!" Her mate's shouted. They were all cloaked as Legionaires, so no one would recognize them.
"I'll wake up in a month ladies. Just tell everyone I have chakra exhaustion. Tell Arturia to meet me in the forest to the west in one hour, I'll leave a clone to act like I'm in a coma. The two of us will track down Lily and Jiraiya." Riley sent the thought to them. Inoichi had been very forthcoming with that info, so Riley knew she still had work to do.
All of Riley's mates let out sighs of relief. They had feared that such a spectacle of magic, really had hurt her.
Meanwhile… all Minato could do was stare in disbelief at the massive sphere in the sky.
As he faded from the world, as his body began to die, he felt his soul pull away from him. In his final moments, he knew… Riley hadn't just won the battle… but she had won the war too. His only hope now lay in something at the edge of thought. He couldn't remember what it was… but he knew he still had hope. So with a final gasp, the fourth Hokage died, and his soul was quickly absorbed by Riley even as she lay there, 'unconscious'.
And like that… the battle ended. It was over. And Riley had won.
-To Be Continued-
There it is. I hope you liked it. Also I hope you understood the idea that Minato had caused Riley to have. He taunted her with the knowledge that the world would turn on her, so she came up with a plan to walk away from this a hero. Yes I'll explain more next chapter, and yes, we will see what happens with Jiraiya, Lily and Naruko's other baby mama's next chapter. Also, I assume Naruko would be upset with the toads for siding with Jiraiya and Minato in all of this, some could claim ignorance, but I never specified. Maybe Riley will revive them, maybe not, let me know what you think. Anyway, JA Ne!
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