The Warrior that Shined

by Blue Flame33

After the fourth shinobi war ended, Naruto enjoyed a life of peace. But as time went on and his friends began getting married, he started to feel almost lost in life. His dream of Hokage didn't even appeal to him anymore. In another space and time altogether, Raiden begins his search for warriors to defend Earthrealm. These two would create a destiny neither could foresee.

6. Chapter 6 - The Battle for Earthrealm

Here's chapter six! Hope you enjoy it! Please review if possible!

Disclaimer: I don't own "Naruto" or "Mortal Kombat," they belong to their respective owners.

The Battle for Earthrealm

With Sonya, on Base

"Jax has apprehended Quan Chi in the Netherrealm, we have him being transported to a maximum security prison as we speak. Jax thinks D'Vorah will show up in the Netherrealm, so he's going to remain there until further notice," Spoke Sonya Blade over Cassie's phone, "What's the update on your end?"

After having Jax take care of Quan Chi's revenant army and immobilize him, Sonya gave an update to her daughter's team. It was imperative everybody was caught up with the events currently happening. It was then she decided to update her daughter's team.

Seeing that it was now her time to speak, Cassie responded, "We've been using Naruto's Sage Mode to try and track her life force. We traced her all the way to the Makeba Cliffs but then it went cold from there. It was fading too rapidly for Naruto to get a grasp on it, probably because we were hours behind where she was."

"Fuck…" whispered Sonya, but just loud enough for Cassie to hear.

Not wanting her mother to be discouraged, Cassie continued, "But Jacqui thought of a new plan. She's begging to re-calibrate her smart-comm to track D'Vorah's pheromones since she has such as unique physiology. We don't know if it'll work, but it's the best we have for now."

"And how long would that take?" asked Sonya.

Cassie, looking over at Jacqui, saw her friend hold up two fingers. "It'll probably take around two hours to get everything in working order."

Feeling frustrated, Sonya blurted, "We don't have two hours! We're already hours behind her as it is!"

However, this was when Sonya came to a realization. She needed to do better, for her daughter. She couldn't make a promise to treat her better moving forward and disregard it right away.

Taking in a deep breath, Sonya continued, "...I appreciate the hard work you're putting in, all of you. But we don't have the time to waste right now…." Sonya then closed her eyes in concentration, "Instead, bring your team back here so we can re-group and assess the situation together. I'll have one of my officers connect to your telecom and breach a portal back here."

"Yes ma'am, understood. We'll see you soon. Cage out." Cassie said.

The conversation between both individuals then went dead as both parties ended the signal.

Pocketing the phone away, Sonya heard two sets of footsteps walking up behind her. Turning around, she noticed it was Kenshi and Johnny Cage, both with smiles.

"How's Cassie's team going?" asked Johnny, desperate for an update.

"They're coming back here for a re-evaluation. I need them here so we can assess the situation as one and go from there," responded Sonya.

Kenshi then spoke out, "General, it seems we have a visitor," he then gestured out with his hand.

Looking to where Kenshi indicated, Sonya saw Hanzo walking towards the group. He stood a few feet in front of the General before bowing in respect.

"General Blade-" began Hanzo, "-it is good seeing you again."

Sonya, looking confused, began to speak, "Likewise Master Hasashi. I apologize but nobody told me you were arriving."

Hanzo, not wanting to beat around the bush, got straight to the point. "I heard you have Quan Chi in your possession. He is mine."

Sonya, seeing where this was going, shook her head. "I can't have that happen Master Hasashi. Raiden needs Quan Chi so he can free the other revenants under his control…" Sonya then noticed Hanzo gave her a blank look, almost like he didn't care, "...Kung Lao, Liu Kang, and the many others trapped there. You would have them stay like that, forever? Like you once were?"

Again, Hanzo simply repeated his intentions, "I am here only for Quan Chi. Nothing else matters."

Sonya could only look on in disapproval as Hanzo was operating on revenge. She could tell that Hanzo's hate for Quan Chi was making him ignore all other factors being considered.

"I can't hand him over to you Master Hasashi. I'm afraid you're going to have to leave empty-handed."

Seeing no other option, Hanzo brought his left hand up and snapped his fingers loudly. This was the signal for many Shirai Ryu warriors to spring behind a shipment container and rush the base.

Hanzo then stared into Sonya's eyes, "Do not worry, General. They are only ordered to wound, not kill. I only want Quan Chi under my possession. Please, step aside and let me grab the sorcerer. I wish you no harm."

Sonya, along with Kenshi and Johnny behind her, settled into a battle stance. "Sorry, but it doesn't look that way to me. One more step and I'll have to put you down Master Hasashi."

Knowing there was no other option to obtain his vengeance, Hanzo withdrew his sword and charged Sonya. Both Kenshi and Johnny Cage were double-teamed by different Shirai Ryu warriors. It seemed Hanzo had discussed strategy before his attack, only showing how determined he was to get Quan Chi.

Hanzo began his assault on the General by slashing at her multiple times. Sonya, being extremely agile and fast, dodged a majority of these blows. However, there were two slices that did land on the mother of one.

Hanzo had slashed across Sonya's left forearm and right leg. They were barely deep enough to draw blood, but Hanzo made sure to hold back on his power. He did not wish to maim or kill the military-trained warrior.

Seeing she needed to gain distance, Sonya cartwheeled backward and began firing from her two pistols on her tool belt. This caused a rain of firepower to be shot at the ninja, but he sliced each bullet with his sword.

After noticing the General take a quick gap to reload, Hanzo pounced. He put away the blade on his back and delivered a leg kick to Sonya's midsection.

Sonya blocked the blow and shot back with a cross to Hanzo's face. The Shirai Ryu clan leader ducked under the attack and palm-striked the underside of her arm to cause it to jerk upwards. After the arm was launched up, he struck with a vicious jab to her side. He followed this up with a punch to her ribs and a kick into her stomach. This caused Sonya to lean over in pain.

Wanting to finish this as soon as possible, Hanzo then side-stepped around the hunched-over General and gave a final overhead strike to the back of her head. This landed the General on the ground, groaning in pain.

Commanding two nearby clan members, Hanzo ordered them to carry the General to safety. He did not wish to harm the mother any longer than he did.

"Master Hasashi…" spoke a Shirai Ryu clan member, emerging from the chaos around them, "I have found where they are keeping Quan Chi. The documents I obtained say he is being transported in that shipping container over there."

The Shirai Ryu member then pointed over to a large shipping container with locked doors. Thanking the warrior, Hanzo began walking to the captured sorcerer. He was glad he strategized this moment out before launching his attack, each one of his Shirai Ryu clan members had a purpose in this bout.

Hanzo then stood in front of the locked container that held Quan Chi on the other side.

"Finally, after all these years, my vengeance WILL be answered…" thought Hanzo with a smile.

Quan Chi had killed his wife and child, along with the people in his clan. He had only found out his misplaced anger in Sub-Zero after Kuai Lang had shown him the memories from Sektor's mind many years ago. All those years, wasted, hating the Lin Kuei when he really should have been angered at Quan Chi. No more would he allow the sorcerer to breathe, not if he could help it.

After hearing the fighting die down behind him, Hanzo looked over his shoulder to see Johnny Cage, Sonya, and Kenshi on their knees with rope binding their hands. He did not want them to interfere while he would execute the sorcerer.

Prying open the container's doors with his strength, Hanzo saw a bound Quan Chi. After yanking him by his arm, he walked a few feet before throwing the sorcerer on the ground. Hanzo then called over two of his clan members now that the fighting was over.

Hanzo walked around the downed Quan Chi before he gave his orders, "Untie him."

Not wasting a single moment, one of the Shirai Ryu members came over and sliced off the rope holding Quan Chi's arms. He then walked back to his previous position, away from his Grandmaster.

The sorcerer then stood up on his knees, he would have to play his cards right if he wanted to survive. After only seeing Hanzo pace around him with his arms behind his back, the sorcerer decided something needed to be done.

Seeing as this could be his opportunity to escape, Quan Chi began to speak, "Scorpion, listen-"

A sharp punch smacked Quan Chi in the mouth, causing him to hit the ground and taste blood, "THAT IS NOT MY NAME!" shouted an enraged Hanzo Hasashi.

Hanzo then grabbed Quan Chi by his clothing and brought him close to his face, "That is the name of a tortured soul YOU took advantage of!"

Hanzo then spoke in a low, serious whisper, "...you killed my precious Harumi, my beautiful Satoshi. Their deaths were caused by your hand..."

"I tried to-" Quan Chi's rebuttal was answered by a backhand slap to his face. It was strong enough to jerk the sorcerer's head to the side and bust his lip.

"You misdirected my anger for years. I dedicated my life to years of worthless anger, all because I hated the wrong man," Hanzo then looked at Quan Chi with pure, unbridled fury in his eyes.

Without missing a step, Hanzo grabbed the sorcerer with both hands and pushed him onto his feet.

"Now you will feel my wraith! FIGHT!"

Quan Chi, still feeling dazed and stumbled, tried his best to raise his arms. It did him no good in the end.

What Kenshi, Johnny Cage, and Sonya witnessed was not a fight. It was a brutal beatdown. Each blow Hanzo delivered was with precision, power, and speed. Every counter, strike, and attack that Hanzo placed upon Quan Chi, was with the utmost hate.

"Wow…. He's really kicking his ass…" thought Johnny Cage with a grimace at seeing the gruesome scene before him, "...But I can't really blame him. I'd probably do worse if I was in his position…" pondered Johnny, thinking about his daughter.

Hanzo gave an uppercut that actually managed to knock one of Quan Chi's teeth out of his mouth. Before he could fall backward, Hanzo grabbed the sorcerer and gave a sharp knee into his stomach. Coughing up blood and spit, Quan Chi expected he would die soon if this kept up.

Not wanting to let up, Hanzo then threw a hard elbow into Quan Chi's nose which bent it at an angle. A trickle of blood was running down the sorcerer's nostril, joining the trail of blood from his busted lip given earlier on.

Hanzo then grabbed Quan Chi's arm and yanked him around, forcing the sorcerer's back to him. Master Hasashi then placed both of his hands under the sorcerer's arms and yanked backward. Hanzo had just delivered a German Suplex onto the hard concrete of the military base.

CRACK!

Hearing a sickening snapping noise, Sonya, Kenshi, and Johnny had their respective faces of disgust. They could handle gore, but Hanzo was enjoying himself torturing his opponent. They were wondering if their longtime ally had finally snapped in his anger.

Quan Chi groaned into the ground as he felt exhausted and beaten. Blood was slowly pooling onto the concrete from his open wounds. After being flipped onto the ground, his neck landed at a weird angle which caused the noise to be heard. He even began to dry-heave on the ground, it honestly looked like a sad sight for the sorcerer.

Hanzo, not caring if Quan Chi's neck snapped or broke, walked over to his downed enemy. Whatever bone that was broken in his neck might kill a normal man, but he knew the sorcerer was made of sturdier stuff. He would endure.

Feeling it was time to kill the sorcerer, Hanzo grabbed his sword located upon his back. He let the blade slowly run across his back to make his point, Quan Chi would fall by his blade.

Just as Hanzo released his sword and prepared to strike, he heard a commotion. Turning around, he saw a dark portal opening for a few moments and a figure walking out. The figure would then turn out to be D'Vorah.

Looking around, D'Vorah landed her eyes on the fallen sorcerer, "Quan Chi!"

Angered that somebody would interrupt his retribution, he charged at the insect woman.

D'Vorah, surprised at this, brought out the tendrils on her back and began slicing at Hanzo. The Shirai Ryu Grandmaster deflected these attacks and even managed to slice off one of the tendrils. Unfortunately, the other tendril managed to pierce his chest and retracted immediately after.

"AGH!" grunted Hanzo, as he fell to his knees in pain.

Running past Hanzo, D'Vorah propped the sorcerer upright on the concrete. His lip was busted, he had blood running down his nose, and his head was drooped to the right, most likely caused by the German Suplex.

Despite all of his injuries, Quan Chi remembered his one task at hand. With a strained whisper, he spoke to D'Vorah, "Amulet… give me the amulet…"

Nodding her approval, D'Vorah retrieved the amulet stored on her person and reached out for Quan Chi to take it. None were ready for what happened next.

SPLUCH!

A spearhead appeared and erupted from Quan Chi's chest. D'Vorah was taken aback and fell onto her but in surprise. Quan Chi, with wide eyes, gargled his shock.

"GET OVER HERE!" shouted Hanzo in a deep tone.

Master Hasashi then dragged Quan Chi over to his position and held him up by the chain. He had his sword ready in the other hand.

"For the crimes committed against the Shirai Ryu, it is my duty as Grandmaster to reclaim our vengeance. I deprive you of humanity and damn your soul for eternity, Quan Chi!" spat out Hanzo.

With his piece said, Hanzo brought down the blade aiming for Quan Chi's neck.

Quan Chi, on the verge of death, reached out with both hands. D'Vorah, understanding what he needed, tossed the amulet at the sorcerer. It would be a battle of time whether it would reach him or not.

As the amulet raced to Quan Chi's awaiting hands, so did Hanzo's blade to his neck.

With whatever strength remained, Quan Chi started casting the spell that would free Shinnok from the amulet. This was his final moment to shine.

"Ooray… hrak…ler…ni…boi…ja…ere…ah!" finished Quan Chi, just as the amulet landed in his palms.

This was the exact moment Hanzo's sword sliced through the neck of the beaten sorcerer. With a rush of blood, Quan Chi's head fell onto the floor. Hanzo then yanked his spear out of the dead sorcerer's chest.

No longer being supported by Hanzo, Quan Chi's body fell as well, landing beside his decapitated head.

Sonya wrinkled her nose in disgust, "What a savage way to go out...," she thought. The blood, tendons, muscles, and bones were visible from the cut made by Hanzo.

Hanzo then spoke, "Your debt is paid, Quan Chi. I hope you enjoy rotting in the Netherrealm for eternity."

D'Vorah stared in shock at the dead sorcerer, did his spell not work in time?

Almost as if answering her question, a bright pink light emerged from the amulet. It had fallen from Quan Chi's hands and rolled a bit to the side.

The rush of energy instantly brought forth bad memories to Johnny Cage, "Oh fuck! That's Shinnok's energy!"

Sonya, also sensing the danger, looked at the guards posted behind them. "Set us free! This situation has just gotten a lot worse!"

Not knowing whether to follow their Grandmaster's orders or deal with the situation, they choose to free the bound warriors.

A few seconds later, after holding their breath, each of Earthrealm's warriors saw their old foe return.

Once forming and setting his feet on solid ground once again, Shinnok picked up his amulet and smiled. Looking around, he noticed some familiar faces.

Hearing a shout behind him, he saw Hanzo charging with his sword. Not wanting to bother with him at the moment, Shinnok blasted him with energy that expelled from his amulet. Master Hasashi was then launched backward into some boxes, and knocked unconscious.

Turning his head to the other side, Shinnok saw the other warriors charging at him as well. Once again, he used the amulet to knock them all backward. None of them arose from the blast.

D'Vorah, wanting to make herself known, bowed before Shinnok. "This One is pleased to witness your return, Lord Shinnok."

"Hmm… so it seems that Quan Chi found himself some reliable help for once," spoke Shinnok, looking at D'Vorah's form. He then placed his sight over the corpse of Quan Chi and narrowed his eyes.

"What happened to the sorcerer?" asked Shinnok.

D'Vorah answered without missing a beat, "Quan Chi allowed himself to be captured by the Earthrealm forces. He was sure to summon you behind their defenses. Unfortunately, it cost him his life in the process."

Shinnok gave one final glance at the corpse beside his feet, "A pity."

Hearing a groan from one of the Earhtrealm warriors, Shinnok turned his head to see an awakening, Johnny Cage.

"Ahh, Mr Cage! It seems you're still alive after these two decades," said Shinnok while looking at his old foe.

"Let's be sure we don't see any more surprises from you," turning to D'Vorah he spoke, "Bring him along."

Not wanting to risk being defeated a second time by his nemesis, Shinnok ensured he would be taken into captivity. Another portal soon appeared and many individuals walked out.

Shinnok had a pleased smile on his face once he realized it was Kung Lao, Liu Kang, Smoke, Sindel, and Kitana. Liu Kang was leading the group and they all bowed before Shinnok.

"We welcome your return, Lord Shinnok," spoke Liu Kang, "We have much to discuss."

Nodding in agreement, Shinnok spoke, "Yes. Let us be on our way, we cannot waste time. Let us reach the Sky Temple at once."

After collecting Johnny Cage, D'Vorah nodded to the group signifying she was ready to go. Each one of Shinnok's party walked back into a portal and disappeared from sight.

Soon after, another portal appeared in the area. However, this time, it would be Cassie Cage's team that emerged.

"I'm telling you the truth! He didn't see the bucket of water above the door!" Expressed Naruto, walking with his hands behind his head.

Cassie and Takeda both laughed at the prank while Jacqui shook her head in amusement. Kung Jin was busy sharpening an arrow.

Their laughter soon turned into concern when they laid their eyes upon the defeated Earthrealm warriors.

"Oh fuck!" exclaimed Cassie, running to assist her mother.

Naruto then ran alongside Cassie to help with her mother, while everyone else on the team ran to help different people. Naruto also summoned clones to prop up the fallen Shirai Ryu and Special Forces members littered around the area.

Naruto helped Cassie get her mother into a sitting position. Cassie then had fear in her voice as she spoke, "MOM! What happened here? Why can't I see Dad anywhere?"

Sonya, desperately wanting to answer but feeling too weakened to do so, only groaned in response. It was then they heard an explanation coming from behind them both.

They turned around to see Kung Jin and one of Naruto's clones holding up Hanzo Hasashi. He was bleeding from D'Vorah's attack and was holding his side in pain.

Hanzo then spoke, "The Sky Temple. They have taken your father to the Sky Temple…" Hanzo then let out a violent cough, "Shinnok has kidnapped him. It was my blind anger that allowed for this to happen, for Shinnok to get free…"

Cassie then shouted to the Grandmaster, "You fuckin asshole! You're telling me you caused all this! Huh!" hot tears of frustration were running down her face, "My mom's barely breathing and my dad's gone, all because you couldn't control your temper!"

Hanzo simply nodded, allowing Cassie to vent her frustrations upon him.

Naruto then tried to help Cassie seeing as her emotional state was running wild. She was becoming violent and needed to see reason.

"Cass-" began Naruto, a nickname he picked up while they were traveling in Outworld, "-I'm sure there are parts to the story that we're missing." He then looked over to Quan Chi's corpse, "Let's see what Hanzo has to say first."

Cassie, just wanting her dad back and her mother to be okay, lashed out at the wrong person. To her, it felt like her world was crashing down. She may never see her father again and her mother couldn't even form a sentence.

The memories of both of her parents were flooding in her mind. She remembered her father winning a carnival prize she wanted as a young girl. She also remembered getting promoted by her mother during a ceremony for the Special Forces.

On the verge of an emotional breakdown, Cassie yelled at the wrong person, "You don't know what it feels like to have parents, Naruto! So quit acting like you understand my pain!"

Naruto, taken aback by Cassie's words, blinked in surprise. They were both cracking jokes a few minutes ago, and now Cassie had said some hurtful things to him. He was so stunned, he didn't know what to say.

"No way Cassie, that was just uncalled for," spoke Jacqui, not agreeing with her friend's words.

Even Kung Jin, who didn't like the blonde at first, nodded. "That wasn't necessary."

"Ouch… that one must sting deep…" thought Takeda, feeling sorry for his shinobi friend.

Cassie, seeing everybody's disapproving looks at her, looked to the ground and nodded. They were all right. Just because she was freaking out didn't mean she had to take it out on Naruto, especially when he was only trying to help.

Cassie looked up slightly at Naruto, "I'm sorry for lashing out Naruto. I was just freaking out and didn't think of my words. I apologize."

Naruto, not trusting his voice, just nodded in response.

Wanting to help clear the air, Kung Jin spoke up, "Let's get everyone here to safety. We need to discuss with Master Hasashi what happened. We also need to discuss our next course of action."

Takeda joined in as well, "He's right. If we want to stop Shinnok and get Mr. Cage back, time is of the essence."

Everybody nodded and began helping whoever they could. They would need a plan of action before going after Shinnok.

In the Sky Temple

Master Bo' Rai Cho was sitting on a stone bench and took a swig from his canteen. He currently resides within the Sky Temple.

It was another day for the Drunken Fist Master, except there was something in the air. He could feel a disturbance of some kind.

After putting away his canteen, Bo' Rai Cho turned to his right, hearing a crack of lighting. Seeing his friend Raiden appear, he stood up and welcomed Earthrealm's protector with open arms.

"Raiden! It is good to see you again, my old friend!" spoke Bo' Rai Cho, with a large smile on his face.

With a quick greeting and a bow, Raiden spoke, "It has been years, Master Bo' Rai Cho. I am glad to see you once again."

Master Bo' Rai Cho responded with a laugh, "Many years it has been! Counting birds and watching clouds can only entertain a man for so long!" laughed the old warrior.

"So, what brought you to the Sky Temple my old friend?" asked Bo' Rai Cho.

"I believe it was the same thing that brought you here as well, Master Bo' Rai Cho," said Raiden.

"Hmm… I see." Bo' Rai Cho then closed his eyes in thought, "You also fear Shinnok's return?"

Raiden just nodded in response.

Master Bo' Rai Cho continued, "Then this is crazy timing my friend, because I've been trying to contact you! But I could never get ahold of you."

"I was deceived. I went to investigate if Shinnok's amulet remained imprisoned, but I was transported to many strange realms. It was only after I had disabled the trap I was able to come back," said Raiden.

"Speaking of many strange realms, I've received word you have taken on another student. A pupil by the name Naruto?" asked Bo' Rai Cho.

Raiden chuckled, "I do not know if 'student' is an accurate representation, however, he is a defender of Earthrealm. He has gained my trust and has the experience needed to fight alongside us. I believe you would like him, Master Bo' Rai Cho."

Raiden then felt faint and shook his head, "It seems the many realms I was sent to drained my strength more than I thought. I must retire to the Jinsei Chamber to recover."

Raiden then started walking deeper into the Sky Temple, with Master Bo' Rai Cho following right beside him.

"Do you have a good idea of where Shinnok's amulet is? Or how close you are to finding it?" asked Bo' Rai Cho.

"I do not. But once I have recovered my strength, I plan to speak with General Blade and devise a course of action," said Raiden.

"If only Shinnok was destroyed in our last conflict!" said Bo' Rai Cho with a frown, "If only there was a way to finish him off for good…."

After a few more seconds of walking in comfortable silence, both warriors arrived at the door to the Jinsei Chamber. With a quick wave of his hand, Raiden unlocked the entrance. Both fighters walked inside.

Seeing the massive amount of energy centralized in the center of the room, Bo" Rai Cho spoke with awe in his voice, "Such magnificence! It makes me wonder if this is a gift of the Elder Gods themselves!"

Raiden then spoke, "Once done rejuvenating, I plan to capture Quan Chi to release the souls he has under his control," Raiden then turned to his long-time friend, "If I am able to do that, I can free those he has damned. Including our prized pupils."

Bo' Rai Cho spoke in shock, "Seeing Kung Lao and Liu Kang restored? That would be wonderful! I did not think it was possible!"

Raiden nodded, "It is possible, only if Quan Chi remains alive."

Bo' Rai Cho was about to speak before Raiden beat him to it, "… My biggest regret was losing the souls of our allies to the Netherrealm forces. Seeing Kung Lao and Liu Kang fight against us in such a demented state… broke my spirit. I saw them both as my sons…"

Taking a moment to gather himself, Raiden then finished his speech.

"Please, protect the chamber while I gather my strength," asked Raiden.

Bo' Rai Cho gave a firm nod in response.

With no words left to say between the duo, Raiden entered the vortex of energy inside the Jinsei Chamber while Bo' Rai Cho stood guard at the entrance of the Sky Temple.

Raiden began floating in Earthrealm's energy, meditating as he rejuvenated. As minutes passed and Raiden slowly gained his strength back, he began to think. "… Were my premonitions warning me about Shinnok? Was I correct in being cautious?…" It seemed like a lifetime ago when he went in search of warriors to defend Earthrealm.

Many more minutes passed before he thought again, "… Did fate bring me Naruto to redeem myself for losing my students? Is he my second chance at guiding those to the light?…"

Before he could lose himself in thought again, Raiden heard a shout from above. Opening his eyes and looking up, he saw his lifelong friend being smashed into the ceiling. The force was so great, it caused a small hole in the roof of the Jinsei Chamber and showed the Drunken Master in pain.

With another yell, Bo' Rai Cho was yanked away from Raiden's sight.

"Master Bo' Rai Cho!" exclaimed Raiden, in worry for his friend. Putting his meditation on pause, Raiden ran out to help his friend from whatever was attacking him.

Running out of the chamber, Raiden stumbled upon a very surprising sight. The revenant army that was once under Quan Chi's control, was now attacking the Sky Temple. The most shocking sight of all was that Shinnok was leading the group. To the side, he could see D'Vorah holding an unconscious Johnny Cage.

They all stood around Bo' Rai Cho's fallen form, angering the thunder god.

Shinnok then spoke in a taunting manner, "Your friend has been defeated. Once he succumbs to his wounds, I will have his soul."

Raiden fired back, "You will not succeed! His power is beyond your corruption!"

Shinnok then looked to his party and said, "Immobilize Raiden, but do not kill him. I want him to watch Earthrealm fall around him and imprison him as he did me."

Shinnok then began walking past Raiden into the chamber along with D'Vorah. Raiden tried to intercept the duo, but the revenants surrounded him, preventing pursuit.

Raiden said in frustration, "Do not assume yourself victorious, Shinnok!"

Shinnok laughed, "I have already won, Raiden. Or does your delusions cloud you from the truth?"

Just before he was out of sight, Shinnok turned over his shoulder and said, "You claim your fallen friend is beyond my power, yet, you thought the same thing about Kung Lao and Liu Kang's souls. But where are they now?" He wanted to give one final strike to the warriors' heart. He then disappeared into the Jinsei Chamber along with D'Vorah. The doors shut violently behind him.

With no warning given, the undead warriors attacked the thunder god.

Kitana struck first, swinging her battle fans in hopes of slicing Raiden's muscles. Instead, Raiden dodged each strike and grabbed both of her hands. With each hand immobilized, Raiden pulled Kitana towards him and gave her a nasty headbutt.

Not wanting for her to recover, Raiden then followed this up by placing both hands on either side of Kitana's head. He then channeled a large amount of electricity through her skull which ended with the Edenia falling onto the ground.

Next up was Smoke, who charged Raiden with a spinning backkick. The thunder god then grabbed his leg and held it firmly. This left Smoke vulnerable as he now had one leg captured while the other leg was his only means of balance.

Raiden, seeing this, delivered his own leg kick at Smoke's hamstring. He made sure to put enough force behind it to bruise the muscles. This kick forced Smoke to fall in pain as Raiden released the other leg. To finish off the revenant, Raiden charged his fist with electricity and smacked Smoke in the face. This final strike knocked out the warrior.

Looking up, Raiden saw Sindel launching her hair at him. After blocking two whip-like attacks from her hair, Raiden caught the third and yanked Sindel towards him. The pull was strong enough to make the mother fly off of her feet and land beside Raiden's.

Raiden, once again, charged up electricity. He channeled it in his right foot before giving a brutal stomp to Sindel's face. This boot stomp caused the Edenian mother to fall unconscious.

Not noticing Kung Lao sneak behind him, Raiden was hit with a dropkick. Falling on his face, Raiden quickly sprang up to prepare himself.

Knowing he would have to fight one-on-one instead of two-on-one, Raiden looked for Liu Kang. After seeing him a few feet behind Kung Lao, he decided to fire a large concentrated blast of electricity at him.

"Ada-ba-de-sai!" with his quick shout, Raiden launched his attack at Liu Kang. It hit its target with perfect accuracy and left the fire warrior spasming on the ground.

This would allow Raiden time to fight Kung Lao on even grounds. He would have to be quick, the effects would soon wear off on Liu Kang.

Kung Lao, not caring for Liu Kang's state, walked towards Raiden with hate in his eyes.

"It does not have to be this way!" pleaded Raiden.

Kung Lao responded, "It does because you allowed my murder to happen! Shao Kahn may have killed me Raiden, but you were the one to doom me to my fate!"

Not wanting to exchange words anymore, Kung Lao struck. He threw two hooks on each side with neither connecting as Raiden blocked both. Kung Lao then delivered a flipping kick to Raiden's skull, which he once again blocked.

Wanting to connect a hit, Kung Lao feinted a leg sweep. However, as Raiden prepared to block the attack, Kung Lao sprang up and delivered a knee to the thunder god's stomach.

"Oof," said Raiden, having the air slightly knocked out of him.

Pushing Kung Lao back with a blast of electricity, Raiden decided it was time to be on the offensive. Kung Lao fell onto his back but quickly jumped back onto his feet.

Kung Lao, not wanting to give Raiden the advantage in the fight, ran towards his old mentor. Raiden then threw two lighting bolts, which Kung Lao jumped over and ducked under respectively.

Kung Lao gave a quick shout and delivered a flying kick with his right leg.

"Good…" thought Raiden, as Kung Lao fell into his plan. After catching Kung Lao's right leg, he slammed the fallen Shaolin warrior into the ground.

Not wanting to let Kung Lao catch his breath, he raised his palm high into the air and brought down a beam of lighting. It was so strong, it knocked Kung Lao unconscious and raised smoke from his burned clothing.

"You deserved better, Kung Lao. I regret not doing more for you," said Raiden, over his fallen student. He expressed the sorrow he felt in his eyes.

"Wa-tah!" announced Liu Kang as he delivered a flying dragon kick to his old teacher's back. Raiden' sensing the approaching danger, used his instant teleport to disappear.

Reappearing behind Liu Kang, Raiden delivered a flurry of strikes to his opponent's ribs.

Liu Kang, wanting to even the odds, lit his body ablaze and returned fire. Both fighters were aiming for victory.

Backflipping away from his old mentor, Liu Kang spoke with a snarky tone, "Still having visions Raiden? Or did my death satisfy your curiosity?"

Raiden responded, "The visions are gone, but the impact remains. I've always held great guilt from that day, Liu Kang. You did not deserve the fate handed to you."

Liu Kang yelled back, "You do not get to feel sorry! You murdered me, killed me, damned me!" He then lit his fists on fire.

Raiden, after seeing Liu Kang was about to attack, gave his final comment, "I cannot change the past Liu Kang, but I want to preserve your future!"

"LIES! ALL OF IT!" shouted Liu Kang as he pounced upon Raiden.

After many moments of hand-to-hand combat, it was Raiden who came out superior. After ducking a left hook, Raiden smashed Liu Kang's face into his fist. He then did his signature 'electric fly' move where he tackled Liu Kang in the air while shocking him.

After smashing into a nearby stone pillar, Raiden back-flipped while Liu Kang groaned in pain. Not wanting to let his rival arise once more, Raiden grabbed Liu Kang by his shirt and raised him high. As he held his prized pupil, he began shooting volts of electricity out of his hands.

Liu Kang, fearing his defeat, knew he could not stay awake much longer. In a final act of defiance, Liu Kang reared his right fist back in fire and swiped at Raiden's shoulder. The blow connected and it forced Raiden to stumble back in surprise.

Looking at his shoulder, Raiden saw the attack left a deep gash with blood beginning to leak out. It was the only serious blow he had sustained from all of the revenants attacking him, showing a testament to Liu Kang's strength.

Looking back over to his old student, Raiden saw Liu Kang slumped over the stone pillar and knocked out. This would finally give him the time needed to confront Shinnok.

As Raiden walked into the Jinsei Chamber, he felt something was wrong. After prying open the doors, he walked in to see Johnny Cage wrapped up in a net of some kind from D'Vorah. He then saw Shinnok beginning to enter Earthrealm's life force.

Not wanting to let Shinnok have his way but also not wanting to abandon his ally, Raiden shot a fierce concentration of electricity that knocked D'Vorah a few feet away. It was only strong enough to keep her down for a few minutes, but he hoped Johnny Cage would be able to use this time and escape.

Walking towards Shinnok, Raiden spoke, "Remove yourself from the Jinsei Chamber at once Shinnok! I will not allow you to corrupt Earthrealm's life force!" A few steps later, Raiden activated his power of lighting in preparation to attack.

Shinnok, looking over and seeing an approaching Raiden, simply activated his amulet. A large, bony hand sprung forth from the ground and entrapped the thunder god. He smirked in satisfaction.

"Augh!" gasped Raiden, as he became immobilized by Shinnok's hand. It was draining him of his power.

"I have not yet recovered enough of my strength to fight Shinnok… it doesn't help that I wasted a majority of what I did recover by fighting his puppets outside…" thought Raiden in agony.

"Watch closely Raiden, as I corrupt your realm and all who reside within. It will be a glorious day indeed!" exclaimed Shinnok in sinister glee.

No longer wanting to wait, Shinnok entered the vortex of blue energy swirling around him. Once situated, he felt it rush into his body. At the same time, he emitted his own dark power into the Jinsei.

"Elder Gods help us!…" thought Raiden in worry, his worst fear coming to life.

Soon, Shinnok began to morph into something hideous. His complexion changed to a dark gray and yellow lines appeared around his torso. His skin cracked and expanded to include a set of claws on his hand and horns on his head.

His feet also underwent the same change. Alongside the cosmetic changes, Shinnok grew much larger in size. His power also skyrocketed thanks to Earthrealm's life force feeding it continuously. His prized amulet acted as a belt buckle, firmly placed under his stomach.

The blue hue of Earthrealm's energy soon changed into a dark red and shot out into the sky, creating another hole in the ceiling. The energy expanded for miles, upon miles, upon miles, until the entire sky went from blue to red. Soon, everybody would notice the change.

"Do you see me now, Raiden? As I absorb your realm's power?…" Shinnok then laughed manically, "There is no one capable of destroying me now! Not even the Elder Gods!"

Raiden, despite his defeated state, spoke confidently, "No Shinnok, you are wrong. Even now, as I lay trapped, there are those who come to defeat you. There is one among them you cannot handle, and when he arrives, your power will be for naught!"

Shinnok just shook his head in amusement, he assumed Raiden went mad with fear and couldn't accept the truth. It didn't matter to him, soon Raiden would be imprisoned for eternity.

Shinnok had bathed in Earthrealm's life force and formed into a monster that held no remorse for others. He would enjoy breaking down Raiden's realm.

With Cassie's Team, Minus Naruto

Cassie, Takeda, Jacqui, and Kung Jin were inside a fighter jet, flying towards the Sky Temple. They had left base not too long ago and were the only troops able to take this mission.

However, if one were to notice, there was one member missing. A member who since joining the team, managed to cheer up each person in his own way. He really brought a certain uplifting atmosphere to the whole team. Now, it was gone.

"We'll be landing at the terrestrial entrance in fifteen minutes, from there, we'll enter the Sky Temple," spoke Cassie.

Everyone just nodded their understanding, not really feeling like talking.

After what Cassie had said to Naruto in anger, the entire squad didn't feel right. Even after apologizing and Naruto accepting her apology, it left a bad taste in everybody's mouth. Having your team captain personally insult a member was never a good thing.

After awakening, Sonya had decided to stay back on base along with Hanzo and Kenshi. Together, they would all make arrangements to solidify their forces. After learning about what Cassie had said, Sonya decided it would be best if Naruto stayed behind to help the efforts on their end.

Sonya didn't want personal complications to arise on the team, not when it was pivotal. Naruto didn't put up a fight and agreed to stay behind. However, he did give Jacqui his own personal Hiraishin kunai in case he needed to be summoned. He even gave one to Cassie, despite what she said earlier.

He would've given one to Kung Jin and Takeda as well, but he only had two. Both men decided the girls should get them instead.

Cassie, knowing why everyone was basically ignoring her, decided to break the ice. She took in a deep breath and said, "Listen, everybody, I fucked up. I shouldn't have said those things to Naruto when he was just trying to help…."

She then sighed and said, "I know I apologized to Naruto, but I also wanted to apologize to all of you. It was unfitting of me to do that and as team captain, I know better. If you no longer want to serve on this team after we complete this mission, I wouldn't hold it against you." Cassie then looked around her as she awaited their responses.

Kung Jin was first to speak, "It wasn't right what you said Cassie, especially after he was just trying to help."

Cassie nodded in agreement.

"...But…" Kung Jin then continued, "I can respect someone who admits when they're wrong. I'm just happy you were mature enough to admit it."

Jacqui then piped in, "You were in the wrong Cassie… but you showed some character by apologizing. I won't hold it against you, but you need to make it up to Naruto. He's helped us every step of the way and to be treated like that, it isn't right."

Cassie, knowing her friend was right, didn't object at all.

Finally, Cassie looked at Takeda. Seeing as all eyes were on him, Takeda took a deep breath and began, "It wasn't cool the way you said those things to him, Cassie…." he then stared his captain in the eyes, "...But if Naruto's okay with forgiving you, then I can be too. Just know, it's not my trust you have to earn, it's his."

Knowing that all of her teammates were more comfortable after letting out what they thought, Cassie smiled. They were all right, she didn't have any reason to say that to Naruto.

She just felt like her world was collapsing all at once and feared for the worst. After hearing Naruto speak, Cassie just said the first thing that came to mind. She would need to make it up to the blonde.

Kung Jin, seeing that everybody was okay with each other now, spoke up, "Now that we're all on the same page, let's get back on track for the mission. We have to-"

Kung Jin was then interrupted when a large cloud of red vapor swooshed by the jet they were flying in. Shinnok's corruption had spread far and wide.

Being to shocked to say anything, Kung Jin could only think to himself. ". ..By the Elder Gods…what happened?…"

Feeling the jet shake back and forth, Jacqui decided to land the aircraft, "We're experiencing too much turbulence and one of our systems is damaged. Everybody take a seat and buckle up, I'm going to have to land her."

As the pilot of the aircraft, Jacqui expertly landed into the nearby clearing to asses the damage sustained.

After landing, each team member walked out and looked around the jet. Seeing it was unusable for now and that time was of the essence, Jacqui decided to inform her team.

"She's taken too much damage-" Jacqui gestured to the jet, "-so we're going to have to travel by foot. If I'm looking at my map right, we're only about ten miles south of where we need to be."

Cassie, who was looking into the control panels, agreed. "She's right, the shock-wave completely fried our electrical systems. We're lucky Jacqui managed to land this thing while she could."

Knowing they had to be quick, each squad member began running towards the terrestrial entrance. However, just as they began their trek, a portal opened deep into the forest. As they looked, they could see Kotal Kahn emerge along with his warriors. The only people missing were Ferra and Torr, courtesy of Naruto's lifelong wounds.

"Kotal's here? Why?" asked Takeda.

Jacqui looked at him, "Probably looking for the amulet he thinks we stole."

"We have to explain the situation to him! Surely he could help!" spoke Kung Jin.

Just then, Kotal was able to spot the Earthrealm team minus their blonde ninja. He felt feelings of anger and rage bubble up at the sight of these Earthrealmers who he believed stole the amulet from them.

Not wanting them to escape his wraith, Kotal spoke, "Charge! Execute them all!"

With a resounding yell, each one of Kotal's fighters charged at Cassie's team.

"Well it doesn't look like they'll help us!" shouted Cassie, "Make a break for the woods! The deeper we go, the harder it will be for them to track us!"

Once nodding, each squad mate ran deep into the woods with Kotal Kahn's group following close behind.

After a few minutes of nonstop running, each of the Earthrealmers hid behind trees, awaiting Kotal Kahn to catch up. Once he did, they overheard him speaking with his people.

"Ermac," began Kotal, "Do you sense them?"

Ermac nodded, "We do, but the forest is full of souls. We cannot track them down but be warned, they're close."

Reptile used his own sense of smell before responding, "He's right, we can smell them. Ssstay on guard."

Out of sight, Jacqui began signaling to her teammate with hand gestures about when to launch their attack. Once they received confirmation from each one, they were ready to commence.

After Kotal Kahn and his group walked a little deeper into the forest, the Special Forces team decided they should put their plan of action to work. They had discussed what to do beforehand as they were running into the woods.

Hearing a loud explosion behind him, Kotal turned around to see many trees fall upon his men. They had fallen because Cassie had thrown multiple grenades from her position, not that he knew.

Jacqui then used her arm blasters to shoot balls of energy into even more trees. This too caused many of Kotal Kahn's men to die by crushing.

Kung Jin then fired many supercharged arrows into the branches of trees in hopes of confusing the enemy and occasionally fired at a soldier. As for Takeda, he would dash around in the shade of the forest and occasionally snag one of Kotal Kahn's men with his metal whips. He would keep this up until they were all dead.

"We are under attack!" shouted Kotal as he looked around the forest for his attackers, "Prepare yourself!"

Reptile was the first to break away from the group as he scurried deep into the forest, following his sense of smell. He cloaked himself to stay invisible and eventually located Jacqui Briggs hiding behind a tree. Smiling, Reptile decided to launch his attack.

With a quick spring, Reptile landed on Jacqui's back and prepared to swipe her neck. Thankfully for her, Jacqui prepped an arm blast and shot the Outworld warriors in the face. This knocked Reptile onto the ground and removed his invisibility.

Looking around for her friends, Jacqui noticed Takeda was battling Ermac while Kung Jin was fighting Erron Black. As for Cassie, she was taking on Osh-Tekk after Osh-Tekk, so she would be busy for a while. For now, she was on her own for this fight.

"Jacqui Briggsss," spoke Reptile as he slowly stood up, "You will be another felled by my hand!"

"And you'll just be another fashion accessory when I'm through with you, snake-skin!" shouted Jacqui.

Reptile then slithered along the ground as he approached Jacqui. Seeing this, Jacqui delivered a ground pound with her enhanced gauntlet.

The ground pound was so powerful, it managed to launch Reptile into the air. Jacqui then followed up with a cross to Reptile while he was in the air. This hit was also charged from her gauntlets.

"Urg!" gasped Reptile as his back slammed against a nearby tree. Shaking off the damage, he once again rushed Jacqui.

This time, Reptile launched a bile of acid to Jacqui's face. After dodging it, he fired two more which were also dodged. Ducking and dodging was Jacqui's specialty.

Feeling frustrated, Reptile stopped firing his acid and instead launch his tongue out to wrap around Jacqui's throat. Before it could land, Jacqui grabbed it with her right palm and smirked.

"Oh boy, you just made the wrong move…" thought Jacqui with a grin.

Yanking the tongue to her, Jacqui delivered a brutal jab into Reptile's face. The jab had enough force it launched him back, which Jacqui counteracted by yanking his tongue back again. This was almost like a gruesome version of Paddle Ball.

After having enough fun hitting her opponent in the face, Jacqui gave a powered-up left hook into Reptile's jaw. This made the Outworld resident fly and slump against another tree. Barely standing but determined, Reptile decided to attack once more.

"...Gotta give it to this guy, he's fiercely loyal to Kotal. Fighting until the death it seems," thought Jacqui as she was honestly impressed with Reptile's resilience.

Jacqui was not wanting to deal with this fight anymore. Just as Reptile was close enough to strike, she released a huge amount of energy being held within both gauntlets. At such a close range, Reptile didn't have enough time to dodge and took the blast head-on. He hit his third tree but this time, he was not getting back up.

"Looks like the third time a charm…" thought Jacqui as she left the scene.

Looking over to her teammates, she noticed Takeda had finished off Ermac while Kung Jin was in the process of helping Cassie. She looked a little deeper into the woods and noticed Erron Black's unconscious form, signaling the second time Kung Jin had defeated him.

Running over, she also helped Cassie and Kung Jin deal with the Osh-Tekk warriors around them. Takeda soon joined them as well.

After defeating the nearby Outworld warriors, Kotal emerged from the dark of the forest holding his Macuahuitl in one hand.

Kotal prepared for a fight but Cassie spoke abruptly, "We don't need to fight Kotal! We're not with D'Vorah!"

Jacqui then backed up her friend, "She's right! The situation is a lot worse now!"

"I do not care, I will kill you all!" shouted Kotal Kahn in return.

Feeling frustrated, Jacqui spoke once more, "Shinnok is free! He's infecting Earthrealm with his power and now we have to stop him!" seeing Kotal's disbelieving look, Jacqui pointed at the sky, "… I mean look at the fucking sky! It's clear Shinnok is at the Sky Temple!"

Kotal took a step back and assessed the situation. After taking a closer look, Earthrealm did look darker than it usually did. Its normal blue sky was now replaced by a dark maroon.

"By the heavens, Shinnok is free! Earthrealm is beyond saving!" stated Kotal in disbelief.

"No, not if we band together to stop him!" said Takeda.

Kotal shook his head, "It is too late for your realm, but mine can still be protected…" he then raised his Macuahuitl in the air, "… I will satisfy him with your deaths. This will give me enough time to raise my own realm's defenses…"

Kotal Kahn was Outworld's emperor. This meant that his people came first in his mind. If that meant dooming Earthrealm to their own fate, then so be it. Kotal Kahn then commanded his nearby troops to surround Cassie's team.

Slowly getting trapped as they were surrounded, each member of Cassie's team tried their best to cope with the situation.

"Fuck!" thought Cassie, just as her gun ran out of bullets. She then patted herself down for any remaining ammo only for her heart to sink, "I lost Naruto's kunai throughout my battles!"

She tried to look around for it but could not see it. It honestly could have fallen out at any moment she was in the forest.

"Well if I die, at least I die with people I trust," thought Takeda as he prepared for a final showdown.

"I'm aiming to take down at least thirty before I die! Can't let Takeda show me up!" pondered Kung Jin, trying to make light of his possible death.

Jacqui was reaching into her vest in order to retrieve Naruto's kunai before she saw Kotal Kahn freeze in front of her. Knowing what that meant, she let out a large smile.

Soon enough, many of the other Osh-Tekk warriors were frozen in place. A loud charge was heard which revealed many members of the Lin Kuei clan charging from the forest. These clan members fought Kotal Kahn's personal entourage with ferocity, they were defending their realm.

It was then that Sub-Zero revealed himself as well, with a smile on his. The ice blast launched at Kotal Kahn was powered more than usual, ensuring the emperor would be trapped for a while. He had been charging it up while waiting in the forest.

"It seems you all stood together, as one." spoke Sub-Zero with a smile often seen on teachers when content, "I am proud of you all. It seems my lessons were not wasted after all."

"Well, after kicking our ass, we kinda had to improve," said Takeda sheepishly.

This earned a chuckle out of the Lin Kuei Grandmaster.

Kuai Lang then began to speak, "Go on, assist those at the Sky Temple. I will deal with Kotal Kahn's forces and send him back to Outworld… although…" Sub Zero then craned his neck to look behind the group, noticing many fallen fighters, "… it seems you made my job a lot easier."

Kung Jin snorted in amusement from the Grandmaster's comment.

After reminding them to be safe and alert, the Special Forces team nodded their thanks and went on their way. As they left, Sub-Zero looked over his shoulder for a final comment.

"Cassandra Cage…" Hearing the authoritative tone, Cassie stood still. Showing it was alright for her team to keep moving forward and that she would catch up, the others sprinted off.

"… I heard from your mother about the unsavory comments you made towards Naruto. You know I despise those that treat their comrades badly, and your words carried a punch to his heart…"

Knowing he was right, Cassie didn't retort and waited for Kuai Liang to finish.

"...However-" he then gave a small grin, "-I despise those that cannot admit their wrongs just as much. You are young and you will make mistakes, but learning from them is critical to improve. Make it up to your comrade when this is over, you'll be thankful you did…" reminisced Sub-Zero, thinking of the time he extended an olive branch to Hanzo.

He knew a lot about making amends, even if those conflicts were lifelong grudges. That's why he wanted to give Cassie this small speech. He had wished someone guided him at that age, so he would do so for the young Sergeant.

Shooting a thumbs-up and smiling, Cassie nodded before going after her team. They would need to reach the Sky Temple soon, Shinnok's influence was spreading too rapidly.

Hearing a slight crack, Sub Zero turned to see that Kotal Kahn was slowly managing to free himself. The ice-encased around him was cracking too fast for it to hold much longer.

"What a persistent thorn in Earthrealm's side…" thought Sub Zero while cracking his neck in preparation for battle, "… No matter, I will just have to push them out and back to Outworld…"

It was now the Lin Kuei's duty to ensure Earthrealm's safety, and Sub Zero would not fail his allies.

Along the Sky Temple's Entrance

Cassie along with her squad crouched low behind a brick structure, barely covering their forms. They had finally managed to travel into the Sky Temple but had to hide as they noticed Shinnok's minions conversing among themselves.

Peeking over their cover just slightly, Takeda was able to see the revenant group along with D'Vorah speaking in a circle.

"Johnny Cage made a valiant attempt to escape while I was entrapped from Raiden's power," started D'Vorah, "But his weakened state allowed me to capture him once more, this time, in much more firm netting."

"Bastard! Now I know they have my dad!" thought Cassie in anger.

"Good," started Sindel, "Now how is Shinnok's power coming along?"

D'Vorah turned to the mother and answered, "It will not take much longer before Shinnok's influence over the Jinsei is irreversible."

Kitana then spoke, "Once Lord Shinnok is finished, the invasion will commence. We will not delay."

Liu Kang nodded, "Agreed. Once the invasion is underway, the realm will soon fall apart."

Hearing two people approaching their position, Liu Kang looked over to see Kung Lao and Smoke walking towards them.

"Report," commanded Sindel, feeling impatient.

Kung Lao then spoke up, "The portal to the Heavens is still blocked off via Raiden's wards. We cannot get through to it." Smoke nodded in agreement.

Kitana shook her head in disapproval, "That is intolerable. We must continue to the Heavens after Earthrealm has fallen, it is commanded by Lord Shinnok. The Elder Gods will soon follow."

Wanting to fix this situation, Liu Kang gathered Smoke and Kung Lao once more, "Let us go once more, I will help this time."

With that being said, all three members walked off to the portal in hopes of breaking down the barriers placed.

"…No fucking way!" whispered Kung Jin in shock as he looked at his teammates, "… You're telling me Shinnok is powerful enough to destroy the Elder Gods? Just from absorbing Earthrealm's energy?"

"Looks like it's a lot more powerful than we thought," whispered back Takeda, also in surprise.

Cassie turned to her team and spoke in a hushed whisper, "We cannot let that happen! If Shinnok succeeds, it'll be the end of everything we know!"

"Agreed!" said Jacqui, keeping her voice low, "If Shinnok can wipe out the Elder Gods from his power boost, then we need to stop him as soon as possible."

Then we need to strike now before their other members come back!" stated Takeda, while trying his best to not be heard.

Everybody nodded at his words, their best chance at victory was right now.

Cassie then turned to her team and prepared a count of three. Once she was on one, they would all jump over their cover and fight these undead warriors.

Before she could count to one, Jacqui placed a hand on her shoulder and stopped her. Seeing what was wrong, Cassie turned her head to face her friend.

"Look, Cassie, we all heard what D'Vorah said about your dad and we know you want to save him…" Jacqui then squeezed her friend's shoulder gently, "…So for once, let us handle the hard stuff. We'll take care of these chumps, you focus on helping your dad."

As to confirm her words, Takeda and Kung Jin gave their own silent approval by nodding.

"Are you guys sure? I don't want to leave any of you behind! Besides!-" Cassie then looked into her friend's eyes with worry, "-What if those other fighters come back? You'll all be outnumbered!"

Takeda shook his head with a smile, "Then it's a risk we'll gladly take for our friend. Go out there and save your dad, Cassie, 'cause I know you would do the same for me."

Looking around her squad and seeing their approving looks, Cassie felt touched.

Feeling determined, she responded, "Okay, I'll go in and save my dad. I'll also get my first shot at Shinnok, just don't keep me waiting. I don't want to die, I haven't outranked my mom yet," finished Cassie with a joking tone.

Knowing they were ready, each member emerged from their cover and set off for their task.

Hearing rustling, Sindel and Kitana turned around to see three warriors charging them while noticing another running off to the Jinsei Chamber. They cursed silently, if only D'Vorah hadn't walked off only a moment ago.

Not wanting Cassie to interrupt Shinnok's rejuvenation, Sindel decided to take charge.

"Stop her!" commanded Sindel, pointing at Cassie.

Kitana, following her mother's orders, began to intercept the Special Force's captain before she too was intercepted by Jacqui.

"Sorry," said Jacqui, firing up her gauntlets, "But you're gonna have to deal with me first if you want to reach Cassie!"

Kitana, bringing out her battle fans, gave a response, "Fine by me! Prepare to have a gruesome death!"

Sindel was also busy taking on both Takeda and Kung Jin by herself at once. These fighters would prove problematic for both mother and daughter.

Cassie ran along the hallway leading into Earthrealm's life force. She kept her head down and only had one thought in her mind, "…please be alright… please be alright… please be alright…"

She was thinking of both her dad and her team.

Once breaching the doors, she entered to see her father trapped in a yellow netting and Raiden immobilized in a large hand. D'Vorah, who was slowly feeding her bugs along Johnny Cage's flesh, stopped what she was doing after noticing Cassie.

"YOU BITCH!" shouted Cassie, pulling out her firearm, "GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

She fired off multiple shots into D'Vorah.

To D'Vorah's credit, she managed to block and dodge a few of these fast-paced projectiles. However, one of them managed to pierce her left leg. Shouting in pain, she never saw Cassie pounce upon her.

Now Cassie was normally much more collected while fighting. However, after seeing her father's captor forcefully put him in pain, she lost control. Everybody has a limit, no matter how calm they are.

She gave a leg sweep to D'Vorah's injured leg and dropped D'Vorah onto the floor. Feeling vindictive, Cassie dug her finger into the wound, further enhancing the pain.

"Saa!" yelped D'Vorah, feeling her wound throb in pain.

This commotion broke Shinnok out of his otherworldly trance. He had his eyes closed while bathing in the newfound power he received. Cassie battling D'Vorah had awoken him abruptly.

"Ahh, I see… it looks like Johnny Cage has a daughter…." he then smirked in dark satisfaction, "I will enjoy wiping out his progeny before his eyes!"

Seeing that Cassie had entered uninterrupted and with no opposition, Shinnok wanted to seal off the entrance. He commanded his power from within his shroud of energy to shoot at the doors of the Jinsei Chamber. This locked up the doors with his corrupted power, now nobody would interfere with his rejuvenation.

"…How will the others assist Cassandra Cage now?!" thought Raiden in worry, still not being able to move. It felt as if Shinnok was draining him of his power slowly and adding it to his own. Raiden had not felt this weak in ages.

Cassie was so caught up in her rage, that she didn't notice Shinnok's actions.

Smashing her fist over and over into the bug queen, Cassie felt resentment. She punched so hard and for so long, D'Vorah's blue blood was smudged over her gloves.

"Fuck you for hurting my dad!" thought Cassie in anger, "You'll never lay another hand on anybody else!"

The opponent she was currently smashing into had caused her team so much hassle. From stealing Shinnok's amulet, to help set him free, to her part in destroying Earthrealm, and even kidnapping her father, Cassie didn't particularly feel any mercy at the moment.

Smack after smack after smack landed on D'Vorah's face. The force behind each blow made her head bounce upon the floor. She had long been unconscious.

Hearing her dad groan into consciousnesses, Cassie left D'Vorah behind to check up on her dad. She had left the Outworld resident with a busted lip, blackened eye, bleeding nose, and bruised face. A few minutes more, and D'Vorah's head would have caved in.

"Dad! Dad! Can you hear me?" asked Cassie, desperately trying to tear the netting away from Johnny.

"Hey… pumpkin…" said Johnny in a raspy and weak voice, "… I'm glad you're helping me… but go to Raiden first… get Shinnok… they're the bigger… priority…"

Johnny could barely even see straight, he knew he wasn't of much use. After his failed escape attempt when Raiden entered the first time, D'Vorah had hit his pressure points which kept him subdued much longer.

"But-" before Cassie could continue, Johnny interrupted her.

"It's okay… I'll be fine… but get Shinnok, he's the bigger issue…" Looking into his daughter's eyes, Johnny finished, "I love you…"

Getting teary-eyed, Cassie didn't notice what Shinnok was planning.

"Hmm… I am not finished with my rejuvenation, but I am more than enough to kill Johnny Cage's offspring…" thought Shinnok, slowly exiting the Jinsei.

Usually, Shinnok would act cautiously and would plan his moves accordingly. That was the entire reason he was even in the position he was now. However, one thing began creeping into his mind, complacency. He didn't realize this would be his biggest weakness either.

Having the entrance sealed, trapping the thunder god, having his prized amulet, and stealing a majority of Earthrealm's life force had made the fallen Elder God assured of his victory. He believed he could enjoy it a little longer before all life was wiped out.

Walking down the steps alongside the Jinsei, Shinnok approached Cassie as she was contemplating her father's words. Not wanting to wait any longer, Shinnok spoke with a booming voice.

"What a touching family reunion!" spoke Shinnok with a taunting tone, "It is a shame that after I am done, there will be no family line to speak of!"

Cassie turned her head and laid her eyes upon one of the more hideous sights she ever had. Seeing Shinnok's corrupted form left her feeling disgusted.

As Cassie digested Shinnok's presence, she couldn't help but feel… scared.

How was she supposed to take on AND defeat a fallen Elder God who had gotten a major power boost? She was just a young adult who was enlisted in the military. There was no special ability or power she could use in this fight.

However, despite feeling scared and powerless, Cassie didn't give up. She got her heart, strength, and determination from both parents. If she died in this fight, she would make sure she went down fighting.

After not hearing Cassie retort for a few seconds, Shinnok gloated, "What's the matter? Are you finally realizing the overwhelming difference between you and me?"

Looking over her dad one final time, Cassie walked up to the fallen Elder God and said, "No, just thinking of different ways to kick your ass!"

Despite feeling scared, she would show bravado for as long as she could.

Cassie ran up to Shinnok and shot two quick hooks to either side of his face, which were blocked nonchalantly. In a quick follow-up, she jabbed into his stomach, which he once again blocked with only his forearm.

Cassie winced in slight pain, it felt like she was punching a straight brick.

Wanting to throw him off guard, she immediately switched her stance and delivered a backflip kick in his jaw, similar to what Sub-Zero had done to her once.

This only managed to tip Shinnok's head up with no visible sign of injury. His body didn't even move like it was made of stone.

Realizing something, Cassie was in disbelief, "… He let that hit connect! Just to test my strength!"

It was true, Shinnok had let Cassie hit him. He had the strength to block and the speed to dodge but allowed it to connect. Complacency once again took root in the former Elder God's mind.

Shinnok could barely feel Cassie's hits, a mosquito would do about the same damage as she did. His body was much, much more durable than before.

With a smile, Shinnok gabbed Cassie by the neck and held her up with one hand. The swipe was so quick, that Cassie blinked and missed it.

After a quick punch to her jaw, Shinnok threw Cassie across the Jinsei Chamber's floors, making her roll until she stopped. Feeling dazed, Cassie looked up to see Shinnok standing with a cocky smirk.

"Watch closely, spawn of Johnny Cage!" Shinnok then propped his hand forward, "As I rend your father's flesh to dust!"

Without wasting a moment, Shinnok then shot forth a beam of his red energy. It connected with Johnny's trapped form, causing him to scream in agony.

"You bastard! Get away from him!" Not thinking clearly, Cassie rushed once again at the corrupted deity.

"I have no trouble killing you first!" Shinnok then switched his energy from harming Johnny to launching at Cassie's approaching form.

"By the Elder Gods, NO!" thought Raiden, worried the Special Forces Sergeant would be killed instantly.

Seeing the swirl of dark energy heading towards her, Cassie just closed her eyes and braced for impact. Imagine to her surprise when nothing of major significance happened.

Opening both eyes, she looked down and noticed a slight green hue emanating from her body. She instantly knew it was the same power that was once wielded by her father.

Looking at each hand in shock, she could only think of one thing to say. "Holy shit, my father wasn't making this up! It actually runs in the family!"

Shinnok, instantly recognizing the energy that once defeated him, narrowed his eyes.

"Your father's power will not prove advantageous for you! It will change nothing!" spat Shinnok, feeling angered at seeing this form once more. "I will not be defeated the same way twice!"

Cassie, feeling her will to fight come back stronger than ever, charged forth.

The fight almost felt like a complete turnaround, almost.

Each hit actually moved Shinnok around and she could see him acting much more cautious than he did before. The only problem was that she didn't know how long this power would hold and Shinnok seemed to be planning something.

As Cassie threw hit after hit, she felt great. Her attacks were doing damage and Shinnok was not landing as many hits as she was, but there was something her instincts were warning her about.

Shinnok, taking blow after blow, was hiding his smirk.

What Cassie had not realized, was that Shinnok was slowly absorbing her energy from each hit that connected. He could not normally do this, but bathing in Earthrealm's life force granted him many new enhancements.

He needed more time to experiment with all of his new capabilities, and this was proving to be his first. As he absorbed Cassie's energy slowly, it also allowed him to build up a resistance to it. The more Cassie hit him, the more he could absorb.

This also meant he could take Cassie's energy and add it to his own, making his attacks much more potent. He could only imagine what would happen if he had completed his rejuvenation process.

After a few more minutes of kombat, Shinnok had completed his task. While Cassie still had her energy, he had built enough of a resistance to it that he could no longer feel the power behind each blow.

Waiting for Cassie to deliver a flying kick, he grabbed the limb and slammed her into the ground hard. He then stomped her chest three times, ensuring she would be immobilized for now.

Cassie felt the air leave her lungs as Shinnok delivered his third foot stomp.

"What the hell!?" thought Cassie in pain, "How did he go from taking damage to tanking my hits?!"

To make his point even further, Shinnok brought his foot back and slammed it into Cassie's ribs, nearly breaking them. Being in excruciating pain, Cassie then rolled onto her hands and knees, nearly vomiting.

Shinnok then looked down as he loomed over his enemy's daughter. Feeling it was time to finish the fight, he announced, "It seems you no longer have the capabilities to fight me. Be honored you lasted as long as you did."

Wanting to end her life, Shinnok raised both hands above his head and channeled a large amount of dark energy between his palms. It eventually concentrated high enough it started to create a sphere that became dark maroon in color, swirling around violently.

Cassie could only look up with wide eyes, believing her death was imminent.

"Goodbye!" said Shinnok in twisted glee.

With Cassie's Squad

Minutes after Cassie had run off into the Jinsei Chamber, the rest of Cassie's squad fought for their lives. If they lost here, all of Earthrealm would be beyond saving.

Kung Jin and Takeda had excellent teamwork as they battled Sindel. Neither one would let her rest or gain an opening, they were tiring her out.

Takeda rushed the former Edenian queen and swung a left hook into her midsection. This was blocked by Sindel with a grin.

As this happened, King Jin side-stepped his opponent and reached for his bow. Grabbing it with sturdy hands, he reached down and smacked the Edenian mother along her hamstring. The hit was hard enough to make her buckle her leg.

Takeda then smashed his fist into her jaw, which jerked her head to the left. He then also threw another sharp hook in the other direction, forcing her head to the right.

These two blows forced her to fall onto the ground. Kung Jin, seeing this, shot two arrows at her form. He was aiming at her shoulder, hoping to immobilize the undead queen.

Sindel, not wanting to get overwhelmed, used her hair to smack both arrows away. She then grabbed Takeda with her hair and launched him to the side.

With a quick turn of her head, she let out a loud scream.

"AIEEEE!" shrieked Sindel, causing visible sound waves to appear. Her vocal cords were her weapon.

This scream reached Kung Jin and caused him to cover his ears as his head was ringing. Closing his eyes in pain, he fell to his knees as the yell rattled his skull.

Sindel, seeing her opponent was on his knees, closed her mouth and prepared to slit his throat with her heel.

YANK!

With a harsh tug, Takeda used his metal whips to grab the empress from behind and launch her away from his comrade. She had completely forgotten about him in the heat of the battle.

Helping Kung Jin up, both strategized on how to take her down.

Sindel shook her head as the pain slowly faded away from being thrown across the Sky Temple. She then saw Takeda rushing in.

Feeling a smile appear, Sindel once again let out a shriek at the approaching ninja, "AEEEEE!"

However, this time, Takeda kept running forward. He was not fazed in the slightest.

Takeda had ripped up a large portion of his headband while speaking with Kung Jin and stuffed the material in both ears. He was prepared for any of her Banshee screams.

Giving a hard right hook, Takeda jerked Sindel once more as his fist connected to the side of her face. This caused her to place her palms on the ground to steady herself.

Sindel didn't notice an arrow flying right at her until it was too late. It pierced through her right hand and grounded her to the floor.

Kung Jin smirked in the back, "… Another shot with perfect accuracy…" He had charged up the arrow with extra energy to ensure it would hold her tight.

Taking advantage of this, Takeda unleashed hit after hit into Sindel's face, smacking her around. Sindel couldn't move much due to Kung Jin's arrow connecting her hand to the floor.

To finish off the former queen, Takeda gave a shout and delivered a hard overhead strike. This caused the undead warrior to let out a quick spittle of blood and fall onto the ground. The blows had finally added up and Sindel hit the ground, knocked out.

Kung Jin then ran up to Takeda and smiled, "Looks like we can work together, and pretty damn well at that!"

Takeda nodded, "Got that right!"

As for Jacqui, she was getting the upper hand on Kitana. At first, when their fight began, Kitana gave her a few slices from her battle fans.

Thankfully, Jacqui was no novice in a fight and adjusted accordingly. Waiting for the right moment, she smashed her fist into one of Kitana's battle fans which shattered it. It had cost Jacqui perfect timing and storing a lot of energy in her gauntlet, but it was worth it.

The unexpected move surprised the Edenian while Jacqui just smiled at the development.

Fighting with only one battle fan was much harder for Kitana, but she made do with what she had.

Kitana raised her leg high into the air nearly at a ninety-degree angle, showing her flexibility. She then brought it down hard, aiming to use her heel as a weapon.

Jacqui was able to block this blow with both forearms to absorb the shock. She pushed her hands upward to get Kitana's leg off of her.

Stumbling back, Kitana was unprepared for Jacqui to fire an energy blast into her face. This disoriented the princess momentarily.

Jacqui then jumped forward to give a Superman punch into Kitana's face. The blow was hard enough that it even made Jacqui's fist ache in slight pain from the power behind it.

This punch caused Kitana's head to sway to the side. If somebody looked close enough, they would see a blood stain begin to grow under her face mask. Jacqui had made Kitana spit out blood in the attack.

Not giving up, Jacqui ducked low to hit Kitana upon her midsection multiple times. Delivering left and right uppercuts into her torso.

Kitana would swing her battle fan at Jacqui, only for Jacqui to duck and roll around her arm. This would then result in Kitana taking another blow to her midsection. It almost mimicked the peek-a-boo style of boxing Jacqui saw on TV when she was younger.

She had practiced the style in the boxing gym she attended and thought the princess before her would be the first victim of the strategy.

Learning to wait and counterattack from Sub-Zero really changed her style of fighting. She wanted to prove she had come a long way.

Kitana would swing which would result in Jacqui ducking and attacking. This cycle occurred over and over until Kitana could no longer bear the pain in her ribs.

The pain in her torso was unbearable to the point Kitana had to take a knee. Getting constant shots from a powered-up Jacqui Briggs was not favorable.

After taking a knee, Kitana was unprepared for Jacqui to charge up a left hook and smash it into her face.

To finish her combo, Jacqui performed a spinning roundhouse kick which connected to the Edenian's jaw. This caused Kitana to crumple to the floor and not move, thoroughly knocked out.

As she looked over, she witnessed Kung Jin and Takeda celebrating their victory over Sindel. It seemed they both finished their opponents around the same time.

Hearing a shout, each member of Cassie's squad looked to see Liu Kang, Smoke, and Kung Lao running at them. It seemed they had returned and witnessed their comrades defeated.

"Welp, one-on-one for each of us!" said Takeda, entering a battle stance, "So, who wants who?"

Kung Jin pulled out his bow and readied an arrow, "I guess I'll take my cousin, Kung Lao."

"I'll take on Smoke," said Jacqui as she prepped her gauntlets for another fight.

Takeda let out a deep sigh, "Great, that leaves me with Liu Kang, the chosen one."

Kung Jin shot an arrow at Kung Lao's charging form, only for the warrior to open a portal underneath himself and reappear behind his cousin. This surprised Kung Jin, but they both began to fight hand-to-hand.

Jacqui shot a blast of energy towards Smoke as he ran, but he also disappeared within a puff of vapor. He reappeared beside her while launching an overhead strike. Barely blocking the blow, they both began to fight.

As for Takeda, he reached behind himself to pull out his metal whips in preparation to fight Liu Kang. Once within arms reach, he shot out his whips only for Liu Kang to smack them away with his own nun-chucks. It was now a battle of dominance between both warriors.

After a few minutes of having their respective fights, Jacqui realized they were losing. Despite the improvements in their fighting capabilities, the simple truth was that they were getting tired.

They had battled Kotal Kahn's forces in the forest and dealt with the two undead warriors earlier. They just didn't have the stamina needed to keep fighting for long.

On the other hand, the three revenants were fully rested from their battle with Raiden. They were in much better condition to fight.

Kung Jin hit the ground with a thud, wincing in pain as he groaned. Looking down, he saw a slight gash where his cousin's hat had sliced through his lower midsection. He was able to dodge before it could have further caused damage.

As for Takeda, he was on his last legs fighting Liu Kang. The warrior before him just had too much battle experience to overcome him as he was. After accidentally overextending one of his whips, Liu Kang used his nun chucks to wrap around the whip and pull Takeda to him.

With a harsh leg kick, Takeda's jaw smashed into Liu Kang's awaiting leg. This caused him to fall backward onto the Sky Temple's floor.

As for Jacqui, she was holding up the best out of the trio but not for much longer. Her peek-a-boo style was working excellent against Kitana but not as well against Smoke.

Smoke was light on his feet and could angle himself out of Jacqui's range when needed. This threw Jacqui off more than once as Smoke's footwork was much better than her own. He also stayed out of her punching range, preferring to strike with long-distance jabs and quick blows.

Using his ability to disappear, Smoke reappeared beside Jacqui to kick her in the side. He then once again did the same thing but to her other side. It was all too quick for Jacqui to react.

Finishing off the Special Forces Specialist, Smoke reappeared behind her before striking her lower back. This sent off a sharp pain into Jacqui's spine and forced her onto her knees.

Placing his hand around her neck, Smoke smiled in satisfaction, "Do not worry, we'll be sure to collect your soul, and you can join us as your father once did…"

Smoke then began squeezing around Jacqui's neck, placing her in into a chokehold.

Jacqui was punching and trying to pry Smoke's hand away from her neck, but the bastard was too determined to choke her out. Kung Jin was too wounded to help and Takeda was nearly unconscious, she was on her own.

"I'll be damned if I die here!" thought Jacqui as she was slowly losing oxygen.

With an epiphany, Jacqui remembered her ultimate weapon, Naruto's kunai. Reaching into her vest, she retracted the kunai and tried to stab Smoke's arm. While it did bury itself into the revenant's arm, he just chuckled.

"I've been in life-and-death battles for too long young girl," spoke Smoke as he nearly choked out his opponent, "My pain tolerance is too high for a simple knife to make me let go."

SMACK!

CRACK!

Smoke didn't really understand what happened. One second, he was choking out the Earthrealm warrior. The next thing he noticed, he only saw dark. This implied he had been knocked out, but how did it happen so quickly?

"UGGGH!" gasped Jacqui, leaning forward and breathing in hard. After giving a few violent coughs, she opened her eyes.

Standing there, with his hand out for her, was Naruto.

Before Naruto arrived, he had helped organize Sonya's forces. He made sure to also assist Hanzo with his duties and bolster Earthrealm's defenses.

After being yelled at by Cassie with such hurtful words, Sonya decided it would be best to have some time away from each other. While he had forgiven his friend, it really did hurt to hear her say such foul words. Especially after he told her in such a private moment that he didn't have parents.

Naruto was actually in the middle of discussing what to do with Kenshi and Sonya before he felt his kunai being triggered. Not wasting a second, he left a clone behind to explain why he suddenly disappeared.

Once he arrived, Naruto came upon a scene that boiled his blood. Smoke was choking out his friend and she looked to be on the verge of passing out. These examinations happened in less than a second.

Deciding he needed to quickly put an end to this, he jumped into the air and sent a flying kick into the side of Smoke's skull. He witnessed the warrior let go of his hold and fly through the air until he smashed into a nearby stone pillar. He then slumped onto the floor and was out in an instant.

He then noticed two other fighters standing over his other friends. Moving a high-ANBU speeds, he disappeared in a blur of speed.

Naruto then grabbed Kung Lao and Liu Kang's skulls in either hand. With a hard push, he slammed both of their heads into each other. They both crumpled like a sack of potatoes.

He then summoned two clones to help Takeda and Kung Jin while he attended to Jacqui.

"You… are…" another cough rattled out of Jacqui, "… a… life-saver…"

Smiling in response, Naruto just helped her up and began healing what he could. Naruto's clones had already propped Takeda up and another was in the process of closing Kung Jin's gash.

Jacqui then chose this time to catch Naruto up to speed on the current events going on. She gave a quick summary of everything he missed out on, from Kotal Kahn's invasion to their recent battle. She even mentioned that Cassie ran inside the Jinsei Chamber to save her father and battle Shinnok.

After hearing everything, Naruto looked to his team and said, "Then let's go help her, she doesn't need to fight Shinnok alone!"

Kung Jin, finally able to stand due to Naruto's healing capabilities, piped in, "I agree, let's go kick his ass!"

As they ran to the entrance of the Jinsei Chamber, they realized the doors were shut. Naruto was about to try and pry them open before he heard something that made his heart sink.

"It seems you no longer have the capabilities to fight me. Be honored you lasted as long as you did."

While it was muffled beyond the doors, he heard it well enough. The problem was that it was not Cassie's voice that said that.

Making a split decision in fear for his friend's life, he ran up the side of the wall planning on breaking through the ceiling.

He managed to reach a part of the ceiling that had a massive hole so he looked inside to feel his face twist in anger.

There stood Shinnok with his hands raised above a downed Cassie, preparing to end her life.

Turning to the side, he saw Raiden trapped by a skeletal hand and Johnny Cage was trapped in some sort of netting. D'Vorah was nearby and seemed to have had her face beaten severely. This entire assessment took about two seconds.

He then heard Shinnok's final comment.

"Goodbye!"

Neither Shinnok nor Cassie were prepared for what happened next.

"ODAMA RASENGAN!" (Big Ball: Rasengan)

Naruto had launched himself like a bullet at low-Kage speeds into Shinnok's side. One moment he wasn't there and the next he slammed his sphere into the fallen Elder God's ribs. A loud crunching noise was heard for all.

"What strength!" thought Raiden, never witnessing something like that before. But he also cracked a smile, glad that Naruto could assist Cassandra Cage in taking down Shinnok.

And to think, Naruto was able to do this while being a human. Raiden wasn't even sure if there was a demi-god that could do what Naruto was able to do.

"ARHH!" yelled Shinnok, feeling immense pain. Whatever struck him was strong enough that he also lost concentration in his own attack, forcing it to dissipate.

The force behind the technique was great enough that it launched the fallen Elder God into the side of the Jinsei Chamber and created an outline of his body into the stone.

Cassie looked to see Naruto deadly serious, the most she had ever seen him since meeting the shinobi. He looked ready to kill Shinnok if it came down to it, all for her protection.

Naruto didn't take his eyes off Shinnok despite the individual currently immobilized in the stone wall. He couldn't take any chance.

Naruto then spoke, "Are you alright, Cass?"

Cassie, smiling at the unexpected use of her nickname, responded, "Yeah I am now… but what took you so long, whiskers?"

Cassie wanted to give them a nickname for so long to the blonde-haired shinobi. She had pondered sunshine, golden boy, and even sunspot, but decided on whiskers for now.

Naruto, despite the very serious situation they were in, had his face drop. He didn't expect this to come out of Cassie right now.

Cassie just laughed at seeing Naruto's expression. He always managed to make her laugh even when he didn't mean to.

Naruto then summoned many clones for many reasons. One of them ran to the entrance in order to allow others to enter. Another clone helped Johnny Cage get free from his bindings and began healing the father.

A third clone apprehended D'Vorah and placed a paralysis seal on her body, she wouldn't be getting away this time.

A fourth clone tried to free Raiden, but it unexpectedly popped. When the clone reached forward to pry the hand away, an invisible cloak of Shinnok's energy lashed out at the clone forcing it to dispel.

"It seems I'll have to wait on freeing Raiden for now… I'm assuming Shinnok needs to be defeated before I can reach him…" thought Naruto, getting the memory from his clone that popped.

Naruto then said to Cassie, still not taking his eyes off of Shinnok, "Get your dad free and get him to safety. We should have those entrance doors opened soon so that backup can arrive and transport you all to safety."

Cassie, who didn't even notice the doors were locked to begin with, nodded.

"But, what about you? What are you planning to do?" asked Cassie in worry for her friend.

"Don't worry about me," said Naruto, "I'll take care of Shinnok and beat him to the ground. The only way we can free Raiden is by defeating him, so I'll be sure to get the job done."

"No!" said Cassie in immediate disagreement, "That's suicide! He literally just absorbed an entire realm's life force! An entire realm! You'll be killed!"

Naruto thought back to Kaguya when she attacked his world. He remembered thinking she too was unbeatable until he pulled it off. There was nothing impossible in his books.

"Believe it or not, I have experience fighting god-like beings," said Naruto, thinking of Madara, Pain, Itachi, and Kaguya. Each one of these individuals had given him a run for his money at one point or another.

"… Listen Cass… I know this might not be my world…. But…" Naruto then spoke with his heart, "… I've come to treat it as my own. The people I've met here are just as important as my friends back home. So please, Cassie, let me protect my friends…"

Cassie, seeing how important this was for Naruto, reluctantly gave in.

"Fine, but after this you owe me one! Or else you'll get bathroom duty for the next month!"

Chuckling at their inside joke, Naruto nodded. Giving one final look at her savior, Cassie stood up and ran to her father. She wanted to be by his side once he woke up.

Shinnok soon emerged from the hole in the wall caused by Naruto's attack. He stood up and stared angrily at the blonde.

Naruto also narrowed his eyes, noticing a key detail, "...He's already healed from my Rasengan…"

It was true. Being so close to Earthrealm's life force allowed Shinnok to draw upon its power when needed. It also helped he had some power stored away from absorbing Cassie's attacks.

"I cannot afford to take this warrior lightly. It seems the rumors of Raiden obtaining a new defender were true…" pondered Shinnok while preparing to smite the fighter before him.

Both fighters stood in front of each other, visually sizing up the other.

Shinnok then gathered as much power from the Jinsei as he possibly could. He also made sure to drain more of the life force in the thunder god for his preparation against the blonde.

"He's channeling way too much energy!" thought Naruto in surprise, "I need to get him away from here, and fast!…once I'm done, I'm sure Raiden can figure out how to reverse Shinnok's influence…"

Not wanting to give his opponent any more power, Naruto teleported in front of Shinnok. When he had hit the fallen Elder God with the Odama Rasengan earlier, he had made sure to tag Shinnok with his Hiraishin seal. He used his free hand to do this in a split second, and he would make the most out of it.

Now in front of his opponent, Naruto made a risky move. The Sky Temple was thousands of feet into the air. So with determination in his actions, Naruto grabbed Shinnok in a bear hug and launched them both out the side of the chamber.

Naruto made sure to coat his own body in protective chakra so as to not cause himself massive injuries as they broke through multiple layers of hard stone.

Cassie took a few seconds to think before stating, "What the fuck!"

Who just smashes through stone and purposely falls to the Earth, especially when that fall is thousands of feet? Only the world's most unpredictable ninja that is.

Once on the other side, both began falling due to gravity taking hold of them.

"Do you really plan to survive a fall of this height, mortal?!" shouted Shinnok, not feeling much from bursting through the stone. His power coated much of the damage that would have occurred otherwise.

As they fell down to Earth, Shinnok tried to wiggle and squirm out of the blonde's grasp, but it was air-tight. Shinnok could not free himself from the hold.

Naruto then twisted his body until both individuals were heading straight for the ground, head-first.

As the wind rushed past them at high speeds, the sound was deafening. Shouting to his enemy, Naruto said, "I hope you like this move! I learned it from a close friend!"

"Shuyona Renge!" (Primary Lotus)

Both parties began to spin at high speeds while coming closer to the ground. The speeds were so high, it began to disorientate Shinnok.

While Rock Lee may have needed a gate or two to be opened in order to use this move, Naruto had developed it in his own way. While he could open his chakra gates, something he learned from Might Guy after the war, he didn't need to for this.

Instead of opening a chakra gate, Naruto used the environment to his advantage. Since his best elemental affinity was wind, he channeled wind chakra as he spun around. This enhanced the effect on his enemy.

It also helped that the winds brushing past them only added to Naruto's technique, creating a bigger and bigger tornado from their exchange.

As the ground came into view, Shinnok began to panic.

"What is this technique? No mortal should be able to hold me for this long! Not when I'm this powerful!"

And Shinnok was right if it was any other normal mortal containing him. But instead, it was the war hero Naruto Uzumaki.

Shinnok had tried to channel his energy into his palms and slam it into Naruto's hands, but they didn't even budge him. It managed to rip his skin and expose the muscle underneath, but Kurama had already healed the damage moments later.

"Oi, Naruto…" spoke Kurama, fully awake for this battle, "…Let's cut loose a little! Give this man hell!"

It wasn't every day you got to fight a super-powered deity in Kurama's opinion. This would be the most exciting fight after Kaguya. He wanted to be awake and possibly lend his support if needed throughout the battle.

"You got it Kurama!" thought back Naruto, totally on board with his friend's logic.

A massive tornado formed between both fighters until the winds were at 70+ mph in wind speed. This was hurricane-level speeds and it was increasing each second.

Naruto was going to hurt this bastard for all the pain he caused.

Once they were about to impact the ground, Naruto would pull off one of the best strategies he's had in any fight.

Pulling out a Hiraishin kunai from his weapon pouch that he made while on base, Naruto prepared himself. At high-Kage speeds, he threw the kunai into the ground and instantly teleported to it.

These speeds were so high and so quick, that Shinnok didn't even realize he was momentarily free.

After teleportation to the kunai, Naruto summoned three other clones. However, these weren't any regular clones. Naruto poured enough chakra into each clone that they could be classified as S-Rank ninja on their own.

His already massive chakra pools were expanded by gaining the full power of Kurama during the war and going on regular missions over these past three years.

These three S-Rank clones barely made a dip in his chakra. Thank goodness he had great Uzumaki genes that helped with this.

Still moving at high-Kage speeds, each clone as well as Naruto brought up their hands for the next move.

While all of this was happening, Shinnok was still traveling downward at hurricane-level speeds. This is just how fast Naruto was operating. It was almost like Naruto was traveling so fast, that Shinnok moved in slow motion.

"Ninpo: Shisekiyojin!" (Ninja Art: Four Crimson Ray Formation)

An instant red-colored barrier rose around the hurricane that enveloped Shinnok. This barrier curved at the top to avoid the winds flying up and damaging anything nearby.

Naruto knew his attack could destroy nearby natural life or even the Sky Temple itself, so he wanted to limit the environmental damage as much as he could. Plus, because the barrier erected would contain the attack, it would just bounce back onto Shinnok.

The blonde was only able to learn this technique after seeing it be used in the fourth Shinobi War and learned it from Hashirama and Tobirama Senju after they had a few moments alone together. With his knowledge in fuinjutsu much more advanced now, he could erect the barrier alongside three clones.

With the ground being an inevitable option, Shinnok crashed with a loud bang.

Being outside the barrier allowed Naruto to see the fireworks. Shinnok impacted the ground so hard, he crashed into the ground with a loud bang. The many wind blades sliced into the fallen Elder God.

The attack was further enhanced when the sharp wind bounced back from the barrier and landed on Shinnok once more. This happened over and over for about twenty seconds, due to the constant bounce back.

His tough skin was shredded and his eyes could not keep up with the attack. There was too much going on at such as high speed, that he felt like a chew toy being spat around.

Once the high winds settled down Naruto summoned one more S-Rank chakra pool clone. He made the clone take his place and opened the barrier to walk inside. As he walked towards Shinnok, he heard the fallen deity groaning from the damage sustained.

As Naruto stood over his opponent, he couldn't help but feel respect. Shinnok had basically taken a mini-hurricane directly to the face and was still breathing. Naruto then narrowed his eyes as he noticed the wounds sustained by Shinnok were healing rapidly, just like Kurama's chakra would do for him.

Shinnok hurt but alive, realized what was going on, "...I see!…" thought the former Elder God as his face was firmly planted into the ground, "...As long as I'm in contact with the Earth, I will constantly heal! Another ability granted from absorbing Earthrealm's life force!.."

This was another boost for him. First he could absorb energy, and now he could heal as long as he was touching the Earth.

Not knowing Shinnok's thoughts, Naruto grabbed Shinnok by his skull with one hand, picked up his body, and threw him away from the Sky Temple structure. Instead of bouncing off the barrier, a hole was opened just in time for Shinnok to fly through the air.

The four other clones then followed his prone form, ready to erect the barrier once more after he landed.

Naruto didn't want any collateral damage to fall upon the Sky Temple. Despite his barrier, he just wanted to be sure.

As he prepared to follow Shinnok, Naruto felt a slight breeze on his forehead. Placing his hand on his head, he noticed his headband was gone.

"Damn, it must have fallen off when I was spinning downwards with Shinnok…" he then patted his chest, "… Great, my necklace fell off too…"

Naruto was saddened. His own headband symbolized his status as a shinobi, and now it was gone. It could be anywhere by now, possibly even destroyed if it was caught in his Shuyona Renge.

With a huff of disappointment, Naruto dashed after Shinnok.

In the Jinsei Chamber

After the doors were pried open by Naruto's clone, Jacqui, Takeda, and Kung Jin ran inside. They needed to help their friend.

Seeing their friend next to her unconscious father, they stood by in support. Naruto's clone was busy healing Johnny Cage.

Kung Jin tried freeing Raiden, but one of Naruto's clones warned him about what would happen, which caused the Shaolin warrior to back off.

About ten minutes later, each one of Earthrealm's warriors heard footsteps rushing in. Turning to the entrance, they noticed Sonya leading a group of Special Forces soldiers.

Cassie ran up to her mom and gave her a squeeze, happy to see her again. Once the mother and daughter exchanged greetings, Sonya ordered her men to apprehend D'Vorah. The paralysis seal placed on her ensured she would not get out. It was also timed to expire in about two days, so she would be restrained for a while.

Cassie then caught her mother up on what had happened along with her teammates. The green glow she gained mid-fight, Naruto taking on Shinnok alone, and everything else.

"Then I guess all we can do is wait for Naruto to return," stated Takeda.

"How do you know he'll win?" asked Sonya, genuinely curious.

"Simple," said Takeda with a confident grin, "Because he doesn't let his friends down…"

Sonya would usually shake her head at the childish logic, but it certainly applied to Naruto.

As they chatted and D'Vorah was escorted in cuffs, the Sky Temple shook for a few seconds. They each grabbed onto something and a few soldiers fell over onto the ground.

"Damn!" spoke Johnny, barely waking up, "That kid can fight!"

"DAD!/JOHNNY!" spoke Sonya and Cassie at the same time. Naruto's clone backed up to give them room and both ladies hugged the heavily injured man.

"Ow, ow, ow!" said Johnny as he was the center of a group hug, "Watch the hair!" joked the father.

Johnny was able to hear the conversations around him for the past few minutes but had barely regained enough strength to open his eyes. D'Vorah really did a number on him and it was only thanks to Naruto's clone that he was currently awake.

Johnny saw that both women weren't going to let go anytime soon, so he wanted to lighten the serious atmosphere. Turning to his daughter, Johnny spoke, "Did you hear that pumpkin?… She called me Johnny…"

Cassie could only chuckle and wipe the tears from her eyes, happy to see her father alright.

Kung Jin felt horrible for interrupting the moment, but he had to ask an urgent question.

"Uhh.. Ms. Blade…" Seeing he had Sonya's attention, he continued, "…Did you arrest the undead warriors outside the Jinsei Chamber? We neutralized them but kind of forgot them on the floor when we ran in here…"

Kung Jin was kicking himself mentally for the truth. They were so wrapped up in helping Cassie right away that they did not properly secure the defeated fighters.

Sonya then momentarily stepped away from Johnny and went into 'General' mode, "Negative. There wasn't anybody out there when we came in."

"Damn…" whispered Kung Jin, "…I thought they would do something like that."

Just as he thought, the revenant army had escaped after their defeat. He assumed they opened a portal once more to flee and await Shinnok's fate.

Jacqui and Takeda also felt foolish as they didn't even think of the possibility.

"Don't beat yourself up over it kid," said Sonya, "They'll be apprehended soon."

Kung Jin nodded in response, forming a small grin.

Cassie then propped her dad alongside the wall of the Jinsei Chamber. Naruto finished off the healing process with a spark of Kurama's healing chakra into the man. It also acted as a way to burn off any bugs located in the warrior that D'Vorah might have left behind.

The clone also stated Johnny should be back to normal and walk fine in a few minutes.

Then, out of nowhere, each one of Naruto's clones popped out of existence. Then, each person in the Sky Temple felt the atmosphere get heavy with ill intent. This was many times worse than anything ever felt by Shinnok.

"W-what is this feeling?" asked Takeda, falling onto his hands and knees.

"I-I don't know…" responded Jacqui, falling onto one knee and sweating profusely.

Johnny Cage, currently the weakest out of the group, almost felt like fainting. The pressure around him was immense.

"By the Elder Gods… this power… it's overwhelming…" thought Kung Jin while fighting for his body to stand up, "…And we're not even near the source of it either…"

Sonya just stayed silent, standing guard near Johnny alongside Cassie. The General did have slight trouble breathing however from the power unleashed around them.

"Whatever is going on…I hope you're safe, Naruto…" pondered Cassie, also having trouble with the heavy pressure in the atmosphere.

Back with Naruto

After launching Shinnok through the air for many kilometers, the fallen Elder God eventually landed on the ground. Seconds later, he slowly got up and used his connection from the Earth to hasten his recovery.

Landing nearby, Naruto waited for the twisted Elder God to rise. He wanted Shinnok to understand he didn't need any cheap tricks to beat him.

Soon enough, Shinnok was on his feet, completely healed.

"…Let's see how he reacts when I use his own power against him!" thought Shinnok as he intended to do the same thing he had done against Cassie.

Not wanting to wait anymore, Naruto charged forward. The barrier around both opponents was wide for many miles and was being monitored by his clones. He could let loose for once.

Dashing at high-Kage speeds, Naruto blurred around Shinnok. He would smack the Elder God with his fist, blur to another spot, and do the same. It was a constant barrage of blows and attacks that the evil deity couldn't comprehend.

"UGH!" groaned Shinnok, being in the center of a punch-tornado. He was being attacked from all sides and couldn't see Naruto.

Nonetheless, Shinnok activated his energy absorption ability as he was very keen to take Naruto's power. He didn't need to keep up with the blonde, he just needed the Shinobi to make contact with his body. It was honestly a perfect situation to use it in, considering he was being attacked every second.

To his shock, he realized nothing was happening.

"What!" thought Shinnok in worry, getting another smack in the face.

"Nothing's happening!" Pondered Shinnok, receiving another blow in his lower back.

What Shinnok didn't realize is that he had no room to store away Naruto's energy. All of Naruto's attacks came from chakra, more specifically from his chakra coils. As Shinnok did not originate from the Elemental Nations or have chakra coils, he couldn't absorb anything from Naruto.

Now the fallen Elder God was getting nervous, he couldn't keep taking the damage from Naruto's barrage. He was only still standing thanks to his advanced healing factor, but even that could not keep up with Naruto's attacks for much longer.

Needing a new strategy, Shinnok built up a large amount of his vile energy within himself. Once collected, he exploded it around his body in hopes of creating distance.

Naruto, seeing the explosion of energy began to erupt from Shinnok's body, stopped his attack and backflipped mid-air to get away. He made sure to stay out of the radius of Shinnok's defense.

While he could most likely take on the attack, Naruto wasn't sure if the fallen Elder God's energy was much stronger now. His hands did take a lot of damage easier when Shinnok smacked them to get away from his Shuyona Renge. He needed to be careful, absorbing Earthrealm's life force gave his enemy a massive boost in power.

Wanting to create time in order for him to recover and think of a new plan, Shinnok began to speak, "Well done, Earthrealmer! You have pushed me the farthest out of anybody I have battled before!"

Naruto, seeing what Shinnok's game was, decided he wasn't going to allow him to recover. However, just before he was about to dash back in once more, Shinnok said something he would later regret.

"However, you are still a mortal at the end of the day with no chance at defeating me! It's too bad our battle will be the most fun I've had in ages!" said Shinnok in a taunting manner, "Once done here, I'm going to kill everybody you care for!"

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks.

Shinnok, thinking he hit a nerve, kept on going, "I'll take extra care with that blonde girl you associate with! She'll be my own fighting servant once I've killed her and collected her soul! Along with that bastard Johnny Cage!"

Shinnok thought he was doing quite well in psychological warfare and stalling. Little did he know he was just making the blonde shinobi much angrier.

Seeing as Naruto was still stuck in place, Shinnok lashed out with a red energy orb at his opponent. He believed Naruto didn't have enough time to dodge this attack given its speed and precision.

Naruto had his head down which made his bangs fall over his eyes. Without even looking up, he smacked away the attack with the back of his hand.

The red orb swooshed to the right and hit the barrier, exploding upon impact. It didn't even leave a mark on the back of the shinobi's hand.

Looking back up after digesting Shinnok's words, Naruto was pissed. He was going to make the fallen Elder God regret his words.

"You know Shinnok, that really pissed me off…." said Naruto with cool steel in his eyes, "…There's one thing I won't tolerate, and that's threatening my friends…"

After all without his friends, Naruto didn't have anybody. His family WAS his friends, and nobody would hurt them if he could help it.

"And NOBODY threatens Cassie!" shouted Naruto, feeling his chakra bubble to the surface of his body. He finished his comment with a much deeper voice than normal.

"What's this!?" thought Shinnok in surprise, "His power has just jumped up exponentially! And it's still going up!"

Shinnok then witnessed a horror before his own eyes. Naruto slightly crouched onto all fours like an animal, and a vile-feeling chakra began to coat his entire body. Slowly, the bubbles of chakra turned into a thick coat of red energy.

"Careful, Naruto…" said Kurama to his partner, completely alert at this point, "…Using this version of my chakra is powerful but you can fall to your basic instincts if you let yourself…"

Instead of the Kurama Mode or Tailed Beast Transformation that was seen during the fourth shinobi war, Naruto decided to use his old Kyuubi Cloak. This was the very same cloak used in his battle with Sasuke at the Valley of the End. He used in then during the retrieval mission, and he would use it again now.

It was also the same form he used when he believed Pain had killed Hinata and let loose.

Now why was Naruto purposely using this version of Kurama's chakra when he had already mastered the form? Simple, it was because he WANTED to.

Hearing Shinnok's words lit a fire inside the blonde. This battle was now personal for the ninja and he wanted to exact his wrath. This version of Kurama's cloak was much more savage, brutal, vicious, and sinister in nature.

It was these factors that made Naruto choose this form instead, he wanted Shinnok to suffer in this fight. Some people may call this vindictive, but Naruto didn't care at the moment.

Training with Killer Bee to control Kurama's chakra also allowed him to be in full control of this form. Theoretically, he should be able to control all nine tails of chakra emitted in this chakra cloak. He hadn't tried to use it since then given he had used his Kurama Mode instead, but now was a perfect opportunity to try it out.

On all fours, Naruto allowed Kurama's chakra to envelope him and sweep his form. Four tails swished behind him and his own face was covered until only two white holes were seen instead of his eyes. He also had a jagged smile and it was quite menacingly.

"Don't worry Kurama, I'm completely in control this time." spoke back Naruto in his mind, "Now let's give this bastard a beating!"

Shinnok was stunned into silence, looking at his enemy in caution. What was once a blonde human was now a demon of hell. The power emitting from his body was astronomical, much higher than his own.

"What kind of thing is he!" pondered Shinnok as Naruto completed his four-tail transformation, "…It almost looks like a… fox?…"

For once in his life, Shinnok felt that he had bitten off more than he could chew. Even with the Jinsei's energy, he would have trouble dealing with this transformed Naruto.

"Let's go, Kurama!" shouted Naruto in his mind, ready to pounce.

Not giving an ounce of patience anymore, Naruto launched himself at Shinnok.

The force was so great that it created a small crater from where he once was.

Delivering a smashing left hook into Shinnok's face, the Elder God flipped many times in the air as he flew. His momentum was so great, that he snapped many trees in half with his body.

Not giving up, Naruto developed a chakra hand that shot out of his body and grabbed Shinnok mid-air. With a determined gaze, he spun his chakra arm around, causing Shinnok to slam into many more trees.

Besides impacting trees at such a high velocity, Shinnok also crashed through stone from the boulders within the natural landscape.

Once he completed a complete 360-degree spin, Naruto flung Shinnok up into the air. After Shinnok had reached his highest peak, Naruto launched two new chakra arms to secure the fallen Elder God.

After he had his chakra arms on either side of the deity, he brought Shinnok down hard onto the ground. The impact resulted in a crater forming beside his body.

Shinnok had smashed through roots, dirt, rocks, and grass as he fell into the hard surface below.

Given he was very deep into the Earth, Shinnok recovered as much strength as he could before Naruto could retaliate.

Naruto retracted his chakra arms, curious to see if his opponent had survived being rag-dolled through the air.

Climbing out of the crater formed by his body, Shinnok was pissed. He had been utterly humiliated by this mortal and he needed revenge.

"I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD!" screamed out the transformed kombatant.

Summoning the power from his amulet alongside the power he absorbed from the Jinsei, Shinnok prepared an ultimate attack. He would need to pour everything into this blow if he wanted to take down the monster before him.

Shinnok placed both palms in front of himself and poured everything he had into it. His own energy, the Jinsei's energy, and the power stored in his amulet were all being focused on his hands.

Soon enough, a large red-colored vortex of energy appeared. It was so condensed, that there were small streaks of red lighting shooting out of it. It was truly a force to be reckoned with.

Shinnok's attack started to grow in size.

The energy was about a basketball in size until it grew to the size of a car. Once it was too big to be held in his palms, Shinnok raised both hands above his head and let it grow.

As for Naruto, seeing that Shinnok wanted to trade attacks, obliged him.

Tilting his head back, without responding, Naruto tilted his head back and allowed each one of his four tails to aim at his mouth. Slowly, many particles of dense chakra started floating around his face. As they floated in the air, they were slowly condensed until a dark orb of chakra was in front of Naruto's face.

Seeing the orb of chakra, Naruto opened his mouth and swallowed the orb whole.

"I remember doing this against Orochimaru when I was younger…" said Naruto, smiling under the intense layers of chakra, "However, now I have much better control over it…"

Back then, Naruto expanded like a balloon when he swallowed the chakra orb. This was due to his inability to properly control the magnified chakra. Now he was able to do it much more efficiently after mastering Kurama's chakra.

After swallowing his attack, Naruto let the chakra intensify within his stomach. As seconds passed, the chakra orb grew in power and potency.

Seeing that he was ready to finish off the blonde with his attack, Shinnok flung his projectile at Naruto's crouching form. It was about the size of a semi-truck and was going at the speed of sound from the velocity.

"Here we go Kurama!" cheered Naruto in his mind-scape.

"Give him hell, Naruto!" responded Kurama, showing a toothy smile. They then both announced the attack in Naruto's mind-scape, together.

"Bijudama!/Bijudama!" (Tailed Beast Ball)

Naruto threw his head to the side before spitting out the orb of chakra. As it flew towards Shinnok, it glowed in a bright white from the intensity.

Naruto released his attack at Mach 3, many times faster than Shinnok's projectile's speed.

While both attacks were launched at the same time, it was Naruto's that traveled faster. As the smaller chakra orb soared in the sky, the most particular thing happened.

Naruto's orb shattered Shinnok's projectile, flying straight threw it and dissipating the energy behind it. It didn't even faze from the fallen Elder God's power.

"…Impossible…." pondered Shinnok in complete shock. He could only see a bright orb flying towards him at high speeds.

BOOM!

A large white dome of chakra rapidly expanded from its contact point, which was Shinnok's body.

Thankfully, due to the barrier held by the clones, the attack wouldn't go past the boundary. The only thing that could escape was shock waves, which was much better than dealing with the collateral damage of the blast.

Naruto was really thanking himself that he contained this blast. Instead of everything being destroyed in the nearby radius, it was only Shinnok and whatever ground he stood on. He could live with that.

As the blast died down and all that was left was a deep crater, Naruto searched for Shinnok. As he walked forward, he could see the kombatant.

It was only thanks to Shinnok's recovering ability that he was even alive right now. Upon closer inspection, Naruto could only narrow his eyes at the damage caused.

Shinnok did not have a lower body, period. Everything from the amulet on his belt down, was nonexistent. Both feet had been completely obliterated.

As for his upper body, Shinnok was missing chunks of his torso. There was a wide hole near his lower ribcage. One of his horns had also been torn off in the blast, leaving a stump behind.

Lastly, he had lost his left eye and right ear, both being destroyed.

Naruto could only look at his opponent, feeling pity for the state he was in. However, just as he was admiring Shinnok's fallen form, something strange began to happen.

Slowly, very slowly, Shinnok's legs were re-growing. He was also regenerating the clothing he had on before, which Naruto chalked up to some Elder God trick.

The gaps and wounds sustained were slowly closing. This made Naruto think of what was going on.

Dismantling his Kyuubi cloak, Naruto began to think of how Shinnok was healing so rapidly. To his knowledge, the Elder God did not have a regenerative ability to this degree.

After the whisps of red chakra went away, Naruto entered Sage Mode. What he sensed was surprising to him.

"I see!" Naruto thought, "It's almost like the Earth itself is giving Shinnok energy to stay alive!… this must be a result of merging with its life force…"

"But then why didn't he heal from the injuries I gave him as we flew down from the Sky Temple?…." Naruto thought hard until an epiphany hit him, "… it's because he couldn't! He can only heal when in contact with the Earth!"

Shinnok then began groaning to life, breaking Naruto out of his thoughts.

"Well! Now I have a new, more permanent strategy of taking you out!" said Naruto while smiling.

Staying in Sage Mode, Naruto grabbed the transformed monster by the horns which already regenerated at this point.

After yanking him out of the ground, Naruto spun until he launched Shinnok far into the air.

"That should be good enough distance," affirmed Naruto.

Raising his hand out to the side, Naruto decided to end this fight. Channeling his chakra, he formed one of his signature techniques. The air around him became dense and a loud screeching noise was heard.

"Futon: Rasenshuriken!" (Wind Release: Spiraling Shuriken)

In his Sage Mode state, this attack was amplified and would be more than enough to finish Shinnok off. After seeing his target, Naruto threw his attack and watched it connect.

Once more, Shinnok was the victim of a brutal technique.

Another large white dome of energy surrounded Shinnok. If he screamed, nobody could hear him over the sound of the wind attacking him. Millions upon millions of tiny wind blades sliced into his body, severing the nerves.

Shinnok was being attacked on a sub-atomic level, something he had no defense for.

Once the air-dome subsided and the attack was over, Shinnok began falling to the ground.

Naruto sprinted to catch his foe and ensure he wouldn't be able to heal anymore. Holding one arm out, Shinnok landed with a loud thud atop. His body was folded over Naruto's arm and his feet hung inches from the ground.

Finally defeating his opponent, Naruto holstered Shinnok into a fireman's carry. After making sure he was secured, Naruto could only laugh.

Shinnok was out cold, no amount of recovery would wake him up soon.

Dispelling his clones, Naruto's red barrier followed as it disappeared. Looking around the wreckage he caused, Naruto wanted to do better in the future. He never liked hurting natural life, landscapes, or anything similar if he could help it. Probably a side effect of becoming a Sage and growing up with a green thumb.

Knowing that his job was over with, Naruto was gone in a flash from his surroundings.

Everybody within the Sky Temple was concerned. They had felt a massive amount of ill-intent pressure, followed by two shockwaves. Whatever was going on, it was sure to be an intense battle.

Just then, Naruto reappeared in the Jinsei Chamber with a badly beaten Shinnok. The fallen Elder God was unconscious.

This came to a shock for all, seeing the once all-mighty Shinnok beaten soundly, was mind-blowing for them.

"No way! He did it!" thought Kung Jin in glee.

"What the fuck!" pondered Sonya in complete shock, "He kicked Shinnok's ass! Even after his power up!"

"I knew he could always do it!" smiled Cassie, feeling relieved Naruto was back.

Raiden could only open one eye due to his weakened state, but he too felt proud, "Congratulation Naruto… champion of Kombat…"

"Looks like ninja boy had it in him…." pondered Johnny Cage with a tired smile. He was glad that all of this chaos was finally over.

After throwing his unconscious form onto the ground without care, Naruto was finally able to walk over to Raiden and pry him out of the hand entrapping him. He needed to attend to the thunder god first.

"Please… throw me into… the Jinsei…" whispered Raiden, severely weakened,"…Must cleanse… the corruption…"

Understanding the thunder god's please, Naruto gently walked Raiden up the steps to Earthrealm's life force. Slowly putting Raiden into the vortex of red energy, Naruto backed off. It was now up to Raiden to reverse Shinnok's influence.

Yelling from the amount of power flowing into him, Raiden had to stop himself from being overwhelmed. The constant influx of Shinnok's power was causing major issues for the thunder god.

Everybody waited with bated breath, only hoping Raiden could reverse Shinnok's vile tampering. While Naruto did defeat the monster, it was now up to Raiden to finish the work.

Having a quick realization, Raiden shot his hand forward onto Shinnok's beaten form. He aimed to re-absorb all the energy Shinnok took in order to properly restore the Jinsei. After Raiden drained Shinnok's energy, the fallen Elder God returned to his previous form.

Shinnok didn't even fight back Raiden's attempts, he was truly out cold.

Now with Shinnok's energy absorbed into his own, Raiden fought with all his might to preserve Earthrealm.

"Ooh-takay… eshh-mon….sa… ha-la… ku-ta…. Amon-ta!" shouted Raiden in his mind, finally completing his spell.

With his final shout, the red energy in the Jinsei morphed into a light blue. This energy then restored all of Earthrealm, removing Shinnok's dark red cloud that had been created in his wake.

Those in attendance looked around their world, realizing what had happened.

Earthrealm was saved.

Raiden then stayed in the Jinsei, ensuring there was nothing he missed. He wanted to be completely sure Earthrealm's life force was back to normal.

As Raiden stayed suspended his mid-air, others began talking amongst themselves.

Naruto was swarmed by everybody, curious as to how the battle ended. So, Naruto explained everything. From when he took Shinnok out of the Jinsei Chamber, to activating his Kyuubi's form, and everything else in between.

"That's what the overwhelming pressure we felt earlier was. Whatever this Jinchuriki form is, it's extremely powerful…" thought Sonya, specifically noting this to memory as Naruto continued his explanation of the fight.

Naruto did get slightly nervous when he came to this part of the fight, fearing his friends would see him as a monster. Thankfully, they all kept an unchanging view. In their eyes, they had seen enough of Naruto's character to understand he was good at heart, and that was all that mattered.

Once they had been filled in, Sonya called for transport through her communicator. They needed to evacuate the Sky Temple and allow Raiden to finish the process. They also needed to rest, today had been hectic.

Seeing she had time to talk to Naruto now that everybody had dispersed, Cassie spoke.

"So I need to ask, how did you get back here so quickly?" Asked Cassie in surprise. One moment everything was normal and in the next, Naruto appeared with Shinnok over his shoulder.

However, before Naruto could answer her question, Cassie's expression turned into a smirk, "Wait, let me guess, the shoulder thing?"

Cassie then pointed to the seal on her shoulder she had completely forgotten about.

Naruto smiled and responded, "Yep, the shoulder thing!"

Cassie then noticed something else right away, "Also, what happened to your headband? And your necklace?"

Naruto let out a deep sigh, "I actually lost it in the fight with Shinnok and I couldn't find them either. It's a shame too, they meant a lot to me."

Cassie made a mental note of this.

Johnny, not wanting to bother the two, led Sonya a few feet away from the young adults by hand. He wanted them to have their private conversation.

"Why did you pull me away?" asked Sonya, confused by his actions.

Johnny just waved her off, "Let's just say I have a sixth sense for certain things. I think our daughter is about to follow after her old man."

Not really understanding what he meant by that, Sonya just nodded. They both then began to chat as they did before they divorced. Instead of a conversation full of insults, it was a warm speech between two ex-lovers. Their family was healing.

As her parents walked away, Cassie decided to do something bold. This was something she had been wanting to do and now they had a moment to themselves.

"Soooooo…. remember how you owe me one? For allowing you to take on Shinnok alone?" smirked Cassie.

Naruto nodded.

"Well, I'm cashing in that favor now, whiskers!" grinned Cassie.

Without warning, Cassie grabbed the blonde by his leather jacket and pulled him in for a searing kiss. Naruto, pleasantly surprised, just melted into the kiss and reciprocated. He was over the moon and Cassie's lips were so soft.

"Told ya," said Johnny to his ex-wife, with his arms crossed.

Sonya just shook her head with a smile. She could handle her daughter dating Naruto, he was a good kid.

As they witnessed their daughter confess her feelings to the shinobi, Sonya decided to speak.

"You know… after all that…you were wrong about one thing Johnny…" said Sonya with a grin.

"Hmm?" Johnny turned to look at his ex-wife, "And what was that?"

"Cassie didn't take after her father in that department…" she then grabbed the ex-Hollywood star by his own shirt, "…she took after her mother."

Sonya then delivered her own kiss upon the shocked man's lips. Not wanting to ruin a good time, Johnny kissed back with all the passion in his body. He was a very happy man right now.

"Ew gross!" said Cassie, already finished with her make-out session, "Go get a room you two!"

She shouted across the chamber in false anger, secretly happy her parents seemed to be back together.

Naruto was just too happy to respond, having a dopey smile. He really liked this new world.

The Next Day

Naruto lost track of time as he was extremely busy today.

After defeating Shinnok, Naruto wanted to go back home and fill in his friends about what had been going on with him.

Before he left, he noticed the date was October 10th on a calendar in the Sky Temple.

He was so caught up in the events going on, that he didn't realize his birthday was so soon. He found it very ironic that both times he saved a world, his birthday was right around the corner.

Raiden was able to bring him back to his realm for a short while so he could explain his living situation.

He had spoken to Kakashi and was granted leave as a Shinobi. Kakashi understood Naruto made a new life and was happy. He couldn't hold back the blonde from living his life, even if that meant leaving the village.

After speaking to his friends and teachers in his home world, Naruto explained he had a life in another realm. It was surprising to many of his friends, but they understood once Naruto explained in-depth about his situation. It helped that Kakashi arrived unexpectedly and backed up Naruto's version of events from his end.

Despite feeling sad, Naruto mentioned how he wouldn't be gone forever. He may live in the other world, but he would occasionally visit. After all, he grew up in the Elemental Nations and it would hold a special place in his heart.

But he couldn't stay in the Elemental Nations, not after he made a commitment to his new girlfriend. He had other friends now, other people to protect.

He genuinely wanted to stay with Cassie. His friends understood, after all, many of them had spouses of their own.

However, Sakura did promise to beat him if he didn't introduce his girlfriend to them, which he nodded vehemently to.

Once returning back to Earthrealm, they appeared on the Special Force's base.

He thanked Raiden for his help to travel back home and spoke to him for a while. After much contemplation, Raiden agreed to his request and went on his way.

Naruto then went to his girlfriend's house in order to spend time with her. After knocking on the front door, he saw Cassandra Cage, Cass to him, open the door.

Letting him inside, he shook off his shoes and began mentioning what he did before arriving. Mid-speech, he was caught off guard when they walked into the kitchen and the lights turned on.

"SURPRISE!" came many voices.

Cassie had led him to a surprise birthday party!

They had planned this out earlier in the morning, as Cassie remembered his birthday was October 10th from the night they spilled about their lives. She wanted to make sure his birthday was memorable.

After recovering from the shock, Naruto looked around the room. He spotted Johnny Cage, Sonya, Jacqui, Takeda, Kung Jin, Kenshi, Hanzo, Kuai Liang, Jax Briggs, Vera Briggs, and even Raiden in party hats. They were all smiling in their own way.

It was an odd sight given he was used to only seeing serious expressions from some of the people in the room, but it was a welcomed one nonetheless. It looked especially funny on Raiden, seeing a party hat secured around his normal hat.

"Wait Raiden! How did you beat me here!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Simple," Raiden said, having a smirk on his face, "I teleported here when we departed back on base."

Naruto let out a deep belly laugh from the situation at hand. Earthrealm's protector deemed his birthday surprise important enough to teleport to it.

As he took in his surroundings, Naruto could only smile in contentment. This was truly one of the best birthdays, if not the best birthday, ever. He was surrounded by so many new friends, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Lord Hokage also sent me this, he wanted to give you a birthday present as well," said Raiden, pulling out a small gift, "Apparently all of your friends contributed as well."

Before he could hand it to the blonde, Johnny Cage interrupted the exchange.

"Nah uh! No sir!" said Johnny, swiping the gift, "That goes on the gift table with the other presents! The birthday boy will have to wait!"

Raiden looked at Naruto and gave an 'I'm sorry' look, conceding to the birthday rules.

"Now!" Johnny said as he turned around, "Let's play games and eat some cake!"

"Wait hold on!" spoke Jax, standing next to his wife, "The kid's turning 21! Where are the drinks?"

Johnny then gave a sly smirk in response to his friend's question, "Oh, that's for later! When the ladies go to bed they can't get on our case!"

Vera and Sonya looked at each other, nodding at the same time. They would keep an eye on their respective partners.

Cassie just pinched Naruto's elbow out of view, warning him to not go overboard. Naruto just sweat-dropped, wondering how much alcohol Johnny Cage brought.

As time went on, it was such as good time all around. Hanzo and Kuai Lang spoke in the corner, cups full of punch in both of their hands.

Jacqui blindfolded some contestants in another corner of the room as they played blind darts. Takeda was in front with Kung Jin right behind him.

When she got to Kenshi, she gave an awkward chuckle to which Kenshi jokingly said he was already blindfolded.

Johnny was speaking with Sonya as they were looking over some movies to watch later in the day.

"I'm telling you honey!" said Johnny, "We should definitely watch Ninja Mime! Not only am I the main star, but I'm sure ninja boy will love it!"

Sonya shook her head, "No way, Johnny! We're going to watch Base Defender!"

It was one of Sonya's favorite movies growing up, which was about a military that had to defend their outpost despite being outnumbered.

The reunited couple went back and forth on deciding which movie to end the day with.

Jax and Vera, his wife, joined both Johnny and Sonya. Both couples then began an exchange of conversation.

While he didn't know Naruto personally, Jax had heard how the ninja saved his daughter. Especially with her fight against Smoke. He at least owed the kid a birthday present and showed up, and his wife wanted to attend as well.

Raiden was meditating across the room, reaching spiritual calmness as those around him continued to socialize. He just wanted to internalize his energy for something he had planned later on.

Cassie was busy trying to not laugh as Naruto entered the bathroom and had a bucket full of feathers fall on him. She had set up the prank along with her father earlier in the day. It paid off and now Naruto was smirking in amusement.

"Looks like she got you good, Naruto…" rumbled Kurama in his mind, hiding a smile.

"Oh yeah, but trust me, pal, she's just started a prank war she won't win!" replied Naruto with determination.

Naruto then ran up to his girlfriend and lifted her into the air, causing her to squeal in happiness. After tickling her for a second, he brought her back down.

"Oh no, now you're gonna get it!" said Naruto, thinking of his next prank.

"How about…" Cassie then leaned in close, "I make it up with a kiss instead?"

Naruto thought about it before nodding in false wisdom, "I suppose that'll work…"

With a giggle from Cassie, they both shared a quick kiss.

Hours later, it was time for the birthday party to move into the next session!

"Present time!" shouted Johnny Cage, catching everybody's attention.

Naruto then paused his conversation with his girlfriend. Johnny then gestured for Naruto to stand near the birthday gift table which he did.

One by one, each attendee gave their own gift to the Earthrealm champion.

Hanzo gave Naruto a brand new weapon, a katana. The sheath was completely black with orange markings running across the length. Upon closer look, Naruto saw the orange markings were actually in the shape of a fox, resembling Kurama's roaring.

Slightly drawing the blade, Naruto noticed the entire blade was dark black. The handle was also colored black but had golden markings intertwined. Re-sheathing the blade, Naruto looked at the ninja.

"The Shirai Ryu appreciate your help, Naruto," bowed Hanzo, "We hope you accept our gift."

Naruto bowed in return, thankful for his new weapon. Now he just needed to practice with it and add it to his arsenal.

Kuai Liang was up next. Holding up a cloth with both hands, Sub-Zero bent forward and presented his present.

After bowing as well, Naruto gently took the cloth into his own hands. After slightly moving the cloth away, he saw four high-quality kunai. Naruto was surprised but happy.

Sub-Zero then spoke, "I had our personal clan's blacksmith make these based on the designs from your world. You are always welcome within the Lin Kuei, Naruto."

Naruto grabbed each kunai and added them to his weapon pouch, feeling very honored by the cyromancer's words.

Kenshi and Takeda walked up next, both presenting their gift as one. Holding a small gift box, Takeda held it up while his father placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We can't hold all the credit for this one," started Takeda with a grin, "It was thanks to Cassie that we were able to craft these! She told us some things and we decided to form these from scratch. Happy birthday, man!"

Gently grabbing the box and opening the lid, Naruto let out a smile that ran across his face. He was genuinely surprised at what he was looking at.

In the birthday box, was a trench-knife variation with brass knuckle hold. It seems Cassie told Takeda about his admiration of Asuma-sensei's chakra blades. She even remembered the description and passed it forward.

Now here were his very own trench knives, formed from scratch. They were dark black in color and shined brightly.

Picking one up and channeling wind chakra in it, there was a small hum. This signaled the success of his chakra circulating around the blade. Putting them into his other weapon pouch, Naruto thanked the father and son duo.

Kung Jin and Jacqui then both walked up with grins. Kung Jin went first with his hands behind his back.

"I spoke with my Shaolin masters and they agreed to forge this for you," Kung Jin then brought his hands forward, presenting a jade necklace in a swirl pattern, "Cassie told me your clan is symbolized by a swirl, similar to a whirlpool in the ocean. So they went with this design, happy birthday bro."

Naruto gently grabbed the necklace from his friend's hands and marveled at the beauty. He could tell the jade necklace was crafted with care. The fact it was based on his Uzumaki clan swirl brought the entire thing home for him.

Giving Kung Jin a quick side hug in appreciation, Jacqui then walked forward.

"You've always been a part of Earthrealm since you've arrived. But now, you're a part of our world no matter the realm you're in," began Jacqui, "But I think it's about time we showed our appreciation."

Reaching into her battle vest, Jacqui retrieved a metal headband similar to his old Konoha one.

However, instead of his village's symbol, the metal headband had a dragon with a circle inscribed behind it.

Once Jacqui handed the new headband over, Naruto looked at it with a smile. It was a unique design and he really liked the look of it.

With his jade necklace in one hand and his new headband in the other, Naruto fastened both items onto his body. They both fit snugly and comfortably.

"Thanks guys, I really appreciate this. It means the world to me," Naruto then held back tears that wanted to come forward, "I'm happy I joined the best squad in all the realms."

Jacqui just smiled in return and wished him a happy birthday.

Johnny then walked up with Sonya in stride to the birthday boy.

Sonya went first, "I wanted to congratulate you for your service to Earthrealm." she then revealed a gold medal with the Special Forces logo upon it. It was in a clear-plated plaque.

Naruto grabbed the case from Sonya's hands and looked at the medal. Seeing his reflection in the glass case, he could only smile, "…What a long way I've come since arriving in this world…"

Sonya then explained what it was, "The medal represents bravery, courage, and appreciation from our military. However, I put a special twist by accommodating it with a promotion." Taking a deep breath, Sonya continued, "For saving Earthrealm, being there for your comrades, constantly putting your life on the line, and being on the front lines, I am proud to announce your promotion."

Sonya then let out a big smile, "Happy Birthday, Sergeant Naruto!"

Naruto was shocked, he had now been officially promoted. He now held the same rank as his girlfriend. However, if he was being honest, he had a feeling she would also be promoted soon. Which he felt she deserved.

Naruto then looked up and thanked Sonya, which she returned with a nod. He also put the gift away in a storage seal.

Johnny, seeing as Sonya was finished, spoke up, "Now I want to give you my gift!"

Johnny Cage then revealed a high-class wine bottle. "This baby is the best wine I have in my collection! Just be sure you treat her with respect when open, I've come to appreciate her!…." Johnny then whispered into Naruto's ear, "… but be sure I'm nearby when you do open it because I want a taste…"

Naruto laughed but nodded at the strange man's request.

"Also!" spoke Johnny as he reached into his back pocket, "Here's that keycard I promised a while back! It'll allow you to access our software accordingly on base and give you that room in the barracks!"

Naruto sweat-dropped at the very late 'gift' he was supposed to receive much earlier. After grabbing the keycard and placing it within the inner pocket of his leather jacket, Sonya grabbed Johnny's ear.

"You moron! You told me he already had that a long time ago!"

Johnny just kept apologizing while saying 'ow' over and over again. Johnny then looked up and said, "Happy birthday, Naruto!" before he was then yanked away to get a firm talking to.

Naruto chuckled at the sight, finding it amusing.

Jax then walked forward with his wife Vera, both having small smiles on their face.

"I know you don't know me well, but I appreciate your efforts in keeping my daughter safe kid. This is the least we can do," said Jax.

Vera then presented a handgun, a Beretta Nano to be more specific. While he may not use guns as a regular part of his weaponry, he would be willing to practice with the firearm.

Thanking both parties, they gave a smile in return. Once again, he transported the gift into his storage seal.

As they departed, Raiden began to walk up.

"My own personal gift will come later, Naruto. However, I wish to present you with the gift provided by the Sixth Hokage." Raiden then brought forth the gift Johnny Cage took away early in the party.

Opening the gift box, Naruto retrieved a scroll. Unrolling it and examining the parchment, Naruto knew what to do. He placed his palm on the paper and channeled chakra into it, causing a small poof of smoke to appear.

After it cleared, the smoke revealed three objects. One object was a picture frame of all his friends holding up a sign saying "Happy Birthday!"

They were all smiling and excited, except Sasuke who had a very small grin on his face.

Naruto was touched, he would value this small gesture for as long as he could.

The next item was a large scroll that Naruto didn't want to look through yet, as he wanted to keep his birthday rolling.

Finally, the last object was a small card that had writing on the inside. Opening it up, Naruto read the content inside.

"First off, I wanted to say how proud I am of you…

From a small child to a grown adult, I've seen you become a great man.

Your parents would be proud, and I'm sure Jiraiya is as well.

Continue to improve, and continue to be yourself.

Wherever you go, I know greatness will follow.

The large scroll attached to the gift is a modified version of the Scroll of Seals I have.

It doesn't have every jutsu on it as it is a copy, but I left a lot of good stuff in there.

I'm not supposed to do this, but I have no issue rewarding our hero.

I also want to let you know, Naruto…

…I've never had any children, but I consider you a son…

Congratulations on 21, now let's aim for 22!

Now here are a few sign-offs from your friends. Take good care of that picture frame!

Go wild and kick ass! - Kiba Inuzuka

Remain logical and cautious. – Shino Aburame

Stay safe, Naruto-kun! - Hinata Hyuuga

Keep your character, Shannaro! - Sakura Haruno

I'm still waiting for that rematch, Dobe. - Sasuke Uchiha

Fan your flames of youth! - Rock Lee

Remain sharp! - Tenten

Troublesome… don't smoke – Shikamaru Nara

Take care of that green thumb! - Ino Yamanaka

Keep being big and strong! - Choji Akimichi

Use your abilities for the best – Gaara of the Sand

Don't let anyone take your spark! - Tsunade the Slug Sannin

Keep up with your studies! - Iruka Umino

Happy Birthday, Naruto! Don't forget about us!

Sincerely,

- The Sixth Hokage…

… But you can call me Kakashi-sensei ;)"

Naruto could only smile through his teary eyes. Reading this note really made him understand how much he was appreciated. He closed the note and sealed the scroll into his personal body storage seals. He'll deal with looking into the Scroll of Seals later.

He was a very lucky person. He had so many friends.

After wiping his eyes, he looked up to see a content Cassie Cage giving him his final gift. She brought forth a charm bracelet. Upon closer inspection, Naruto realized it was meant for couples.

His bracelet had the initials "N.U." and Cassie's had "C.C." When connected, both halves of the charms on the bracelet would connect to make a heart.

Cassie tied the bracelet around his wrist and made sure it would not bother him during combat. If needed, he could always tuck it under his glove. It was bright silver in color.

"I know it's kind of corny…" said Cassie with a red blush on her face, "...But I've always wanted to do this and I wanted to share it with you…"

Naruto just grabbed her hand gently and looked into her eyes. "It's the best ever. Thank you."

Cassie smiled at seeing the love in Naruto's eyes, he really did appreciate the gift.

After giving her a hug, both individuals separated with passion in their hearts.

"Now, time for cake!" shouted Johnny with a red ear. He had just escaped from his punishment, but Sonya still had a harsh grip after all these years.

Once being sat down at the table and after being sung Happy Birthday, Naruto was told to take the first bite.

What Naruto didn't know was that Sonya had purchased a second cake in case the first one was ruined by Naruto's face getting pushed into the cake.

Seeing Naruto was not going to take a bite, Johnny came up behind the sitting blonde. With lightning-fast speed, Johnny placed his palm behind Naruto's head and tried to push him onto the cake.

"Hmph!" strained Johnny, not budging Naruto an inch.

Everybody else just sweat-dropped at the sight.

Jax then joined in, pumping up his metal arms to assist Johnny.

"Damn kid!" struggled Jax, "What's your head made out of?! Steel?!"

Kenshi also joined the two men, trying to use his abilities to command Naruto's head into the cake. All three men strained with effort but Naruto just kept his neck straight, with a bright grin.

Using chakra to enhance his body was such a blessing.

"…Oh boy…" thought Cassie in amusement, "…we're gonna be here for a while…"

After a few seconds, Naruto decided to play along and let his face smack into the cake. It splattered everywhere but it caused everybody to laugh at the funny scene.

Once he got out the new cake and cleaned himself up, Naruto sliced everybody's portion depending on their preference. He placed each piece of cake on a paper plate and used plastic utensils. It was a great time overall.

Much time passed with everybody either eating cake, playing games, or doing both.

After finally internalizing the energy needed for his task, Raiden finished his cake and threw away his paper plate. Once ready, Raiden walked up to the birthday boy.

"Are you ready to depart, Naruto?" spoke Raiden.

Naruto turned around with a mouth full of cake as Cassie was laughing at the scene.

Quickly wiping his hands and gulping loudly, Naruto apologized, "Sorry about that Raiden! But yes, I'm ready when you are!"

Raiden nodded and placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto then spoke to his girlfriend, "Don't worry Cass! I'll be back soon, just have to wrap up one final thing before we can finish off this party!"

Cassie, completely trusting her boyfriend, just nodded with a lovely smile.

Kissing him on the cheek, she then walked over to her parents and joined in on their conversation.

Feeling amazing, Naruto gave his thumbs-up to the thunder god and both disappeared in a flash of light.

Eternal Palace

Naruto stood in front of the Elder Gods as Raiden brought him here. After defeating Shinnok, Naruto remembered the promise Raiden made to him long ago.

Anything within his power that was reasonable, would be granted. So Naruto decided to take Raiden up on his offer.

After taking much time to think it through, Naruto decided on what he wanted. He asked Raiden if he could learn magic. He wanted to be able to perform the mystical abilities he had seen during his time here.

The possibility of expanding his skills was great for the blonde, especially being able to open a portal between realms. He also was excited to see if he could learn how to heal with magic and if it was easier than using chakra.

Raiden said he did not personally have the power to grant the blonde his wish, but he knew who could. They had spoken back on base after returning from Naruto's realm for a while. It ended with Raiden agreeing to his request, but explaining he would have to take him before the Elder Gods for approval.

If they agreed, the Elder Gods had the power to grant Naruto his request. Now they would find out.

As they stood in the middle, Naruto looked around the Elder Gods before him. They were in an ethereal form, many times larger than the duo.

"Wow! So these are the Elder Gods!" Naruto thought as he looked around.

"Elder Gods, I have arrived with our champion!" spoke Raiden in respect.

"Greetings Raiden." said each Elder God at once. Naruto could feel the power in their voice alone.

"Woah…. That's pretty cool…" thought Naruto in amazement.

Raiden then got straight to the point, he would not waste the Elder God's time.

"I offered our victorious kombatant anything within my power before he came to help us. The request he made is something I cannot grant…" Raiden then bowed, "… but it is possible for you to grant him his wish. I only ask for you to hear him out…"

After feeling their gazes, Raiden whispered over to Naruto, "…Make your request, Naruto. The Elder Gods are waiting."

"Oh sorry!" whispered back Naruto in embarrassment.

Clearing his throat, Naruto spoke, "Dear Elder Gods, I ask for one wish! I would like the ability to wield the magic of this world!"

"Hmmm…" said all the Elder Gods, almost as if they were linked by one mind.

They then spoke, "That is indeed within our power, Naruto Uzumaki. However, before we can grant such a request, we have one of our own…"

"Of course!" spoke Naruto, straightening himself

"We wish to see into your memories. We will not invade any personal events or private moments, only an overall summary of your life." They took a quick pause, "We must judge your character to see if your wish can be granted…" they all spoke at once.

Naruto didn't have a problem with that, he just wasn't sure if it would conflict with Kurama. Sensing his distress, the Elder Gods answered his unspoken question.

"Do not worry, Naruto. We will not cause any trouble for your partner, Kurama. Raiden told us of his existence and we promise to not harm him in any way."

Naruto felt much more relieved after hearing that. However, Kurama felt offended, hearing their words. He gave a small rant about how they couldn't hurt him anyway.

Naruto only sweatdropped at his friend's words. Leave it up to Kurama to pick a fight with the Elder Gods.

Nodding and agreeing to their request, each Elder God was able to summarize Naruto Uzumaki's life in a few seconds.

After they all spoke telepathically for a few seconds, a decision was reached.

"Naruto Uzumaki…" they began, "We have seen your life. You have struggled more often then most mortals, but you never strayed from your core beliefs. Not only have you saved our realm, but you also saved your own world."

Looking at each other for a final confirmation, they made their choice, "It is with great honor we will grant your wish."

Naruto felt overjoyed, he now had a better chance at protecting his precious people! He was also excited at learning how to make portals between realms. He was thinking of possibly taking Cassie out on a date to a realm but didn't know if that was allowed or a proper use of his powers. He would need to talk to Raiden about it later.

Each Elder God raised their left hand and chanted in a foreign language. A beam of blue energy zapped into Naruto's body from each Elder God as they chanted.

Naruto then felt a rush of power go into his body. His chakra coils didn't disappear or weaken, but instead, his body now made room for magic to flourish. He now had the ability to wield both chakra and magic, something nobody had before.

Once finished, each Elder God spoke, "We have concluded, young champion. You can know wield the magic of our realms. However, it is up to you alone in order to perform any abilities or spells. We merely granted you the ability to learn…"

Knowing that was his intention nonetheless, Naruto nodded.

"Thank you! I appreciate your kindness, Elder Gods!" Naruto then bowed in gratefulness.

Seeing as they were no longer needed, each Elder God faded out of the Eternal Palace.

Naruto then turned to Raiden and thanked him for everything. From visiting his world long ago to being with him even now.

"Thank you, Raiden. I appreciate your kindness." said Naruto, truly thankful for the thunder god, "I don't know anybody else who has a pure heart like yourself."

Raiden took the compliment in stride and responded, "Thanks to your help Naruto, the realms are now at peace. We can rest easy knowing our champion of Kombat is here to stay."

Both Raiden and Naruto then teleported via Raiden's lighting back to his birthday party. They wanted to end the day on a good note.

What neither realized, is that the words exchanged in the Eternal Palace would be contradicted, on both ends. Very soon.

OOOH BOY! WE GOT IT DONE!

I apologize for the long wait for this chapter since it took me much longer to update this story than I normally do, but I made up for it!

This is my biggest chapter yet! Much bigger than the 10k-word chapter I had in the past as this one has 27k + words alone!

I also hope you enjoyed the semi-ending so far!

But don't worry, I have future plans! So that means…

THE STORY IS NOT OVER! I WILL CONTINUE IT!

We'll be jumping into MK11 and I also have ideas for transitioning into MK1 to make this story make sense, but ideas are always appreciated!

Please, review! Let me know how this chapter was and how I'm doing overall!

Tell me how you thought this chapter ended! Was it good? Bad? Alright? I'd love to know and see what you all think!

Any thoughts on any of the fight scenes? I would love to know how to improve!

Comment on any interaction you liked or think should have gone better! Was it…

Sindel vs. Takeda & Kung Jin?

Reptile vs. Jacqui?

Hanzo vs. Quan Chi?

Naruto vs. Shinnok?

Or any other fight in this chapter, let me know what you think!

Also, I hope you liked the relationship between Cassie and Naruto! Some people have asked me to make this story a harem, but I don't really see that working.

By the way, I hope I fleshed out the Kombat Kids (Cassie's Squad) a lot better than MKX did.

I also hope you noticed the small details I put in! Like Naruto and Cassie's inside joke about bathroom duty and Jacqui having a real life peek-a-boo boxing style. Which by the way, is defeated in real life like I mentioned in her fight with Smoke.

Also, here's a quick recap of Naruto's gifts in case you want an overview:

- Kitana from Hanzo

- High-quality kunai from Kuai Liang

- Trench Knives from Kenshi & Takeda

- Jade necklace from Kung Jin

- New Headband (MK Dragon Symbol) from Jacqui

- Wine & Keycard from Johnny Cage

- Medal of Appreciation & Accomplishment from Sonya

- Firearm from Vera & Jax

- Bracelet from Cassie

- Elder God visitation from Raiden

- Picture Frame, Scroll of Seals (Modified), & Note

I don't know if anybody cares enough, but somebody gave me the idea to create a discord for this story. Don't know if anybody would want something like that or to even join it, but if so, review it and let me know! If enough people want it, I'll consider creating one and posting the link in a future chapter!

Until next time! Keep an eye out for a new chapter coming soon! MK11 is next!

Cheers!