Naruto's eyes fluttered open, confusion clouding his vision.
As his sight cleared, he found himself perched on the battlement of a towering structure, its walls gleaming like polished metal under the alien sky. This fortress, with its smooth, unblemished surfaces, quickly seemed to strike a chord within him.
It reminded him of the Ring.
He looked down at his attire — an unfamiliar uniform draped over his frame, its details sharp and distinct, though alien to his eyes. Naruto prided himself on his keen observation, a skill that, while formidable, could not compare to the likes of Hanabi, Toru, or even Sasuke—
Sasuke.
Sasuke.
The thought of his name came with what felt like a torrent of grief. Sasuke was gone.
In his mind's eye, Naruto replayed the harrowing images: burned-out eyes, a smile stained with blood, and the overwhelming sound of thunder. White ash.
He had made a solemn promise to prevent this very outcome, long ago, and it echoed mockingly in his heart.
He had failed.
The realization bore down on him with the weight of the world. As though it chose now, of all times, to reveal its cruel truth.
Sasuke had done the impossible, had transcended what fate seemingly had had in store for him, had become more than just another vessel for Asura's will. He had emerged from the shadows of the past, and had become a beacon of hope for more people than Naruto could count. Not just his family — oh no, his family. How was Naruto to tell Hinata…? Their sons?
Naruto had promised to protect those dear to him, and to carve a path toward a future where pain and loss were but distant memories. Yet here he stood, mourning the loss of a brother in arms.
"Sasuke, I'm sorry." The words fell from his lips, a meager offering to the void that had claimed him.
No.
Not the void. No void could have claimed Sasuke.
Susanoo-Arashi had.
Why…? In spite of everything, he had sacrificed everything for them to live—
No.
Not just them.
Ino had sent him here. Wherever 'here' was. Right now, the task of killing the god seemed an impossible one—
No.
Not that. He had no time to wallow in self-doubt. Perhaps, just like Yoisen, if he managed—
Naruto rose to his feet, feeling the cold metal beneath him. Recover — recover your strength. The silence that clung to this place was a palpable force. In the distance, the horizon bled into the sky, a blur of colors that mirrored the turmoil within.
The unfamiliar stars above seemed indifferent to the trials of men, and they offered no consolation — stars above…? There were no stars in kami domains.
Where was he?
And who were these people into the distance…?
Wasn't he supposed to be within Susanoo-Arashi's true domain? Had the exhaustion finally gotten to him? Was he dead, without even reaching?
Had Ino been right after all...?
There was something familiar in the uniform he was wearing, in the fabric it had been woven of—
"What brings you here?"
That voice.
Naruto didn't turn around right away, even though it should have been impossible for anyone to sneak up on him.
"You…? Out of all people." Naruto grunted. "I am rather sure I got rid of you."
Meaning it wasn't the one he had known. From another world?
"I could say the same." The other said. "Our last encounter ended with you at my mercy. I find it... peculiar to see you here, now. Although I have seen stranger things in this realm."
"At your mercy?" Naruto asked grimly. "Does it seem to you that I am at your mercy now, little Otsutsuki…?"
Naruto had expected anger.
Instead, the response was disarmingly nonchalant, a mere shrug that belied the tension between them. "...No." The man admitted, with the slightest touch of bitterness. "Perhaps not."
Finally facing Indra, Naruto's smile lacked any real joy.
Their gazes locked, two reflections of the same tormented soul, devoid of the supernatural glow that had originally set them apart. "You destroyed your own Naruto's mind, then." Naruto said. "Of course you would."
Indra's eyes were upon him, silently weighing him down. "Is that not what you did to me, wherever it is you hail from?"
"No." Naruto said firmly, and the word hung between them with finality.
"That is a surprise." Indra said, before sitting down again. "What have you done, then?"
"Does it matter to you now?" Naruto asked evenly. "Considering you're here… You were slaughtered, weren't you?"
Indra's eyes darkened. And for a moment, he said nothing at all.
"Of course I was." Indra said, looking at him as the army mounted the wall. There was the same simmering anger in his eyes as always, but it seemed subdued. Naruto idly wondered how much time that man had spent here. "I managed to survive even your master's trap — Only to be killed because of something you have done, entirely unknowingly." He spat. "The Storm! That storm is what killed me, in the end."
Naruto's response was unsympathetic. "Forgive me if I find it hard to empathize, Indra."
Indra looked at him balefully… and only made a frustrated sound. "I suppose I cannot blame you for that."
"How kind of you."
"But that thing destroyed the world I hail from, as well." Indra said, somewhat bitterly. "Perhaps you would care more about that."
"Destroying a world is rather easy, Indra."
Indra looked at him sharply, a hot retort on his tongue. Then he stilled. "…For you, perhaps."
Naruto didn't acknowledge him.
"To think you've grown so powerful." Indra said, a hint of envy coloring his tone. "Your eyes, your chakra. In comparison, even Father — Well. It would be child's play for you to destroy me, wouldn't it be?"
Naruto didn't bother mentioning that he was at less than half of his full power, and still recovering.
"Perhaps now. It wasn't always like that."
A long silence stretched, and both of them watched the evening sky.
In the distance, men and women were walking. Or marching, rather. They were an army, this much was clear. They were not a human one, however. And in spite of the horns they bore, they didn't seem to be Otsutsuki.
"Who are they?" Naruto asked, pointing at them, not really expecting a response.
Indra's answer was vague, his attention already drifting. "It has already happened. Their fate is sealed, regardless of our actions."
He wasn't certain of their identities. But he suspected the same thing Naruto suspected. It was difficult not to, especially for someone who had lived with a man sporting similar horns to those visible on several of the figures.
"And you're content to simply watch it?"
"I do not care — nor do I have a choice. You are trapped here, as well." Indra responded with a bitter smile. "I believe you will have the time to see it, time and time again."
"I have no intention of staying with a ghost."
There must have been something raw in his voice, because the other man seemed to pick up on it.
"You must have encountered your share of phantoms, I'm sure." Indra said, and it was more curious than anything Naruto had ever heard from him.
"More than you'd think."
Silence.
"They died, didn't they? The people you sought to protect." Indra asked, although not unkindly. His gaze intensified, searching for something within Naruto. "Yes, perhaps we are alike, now. Loss…? No. That's not it. That is not what binds us."
There was a silent question in that.
"We merged." Naruto said. "Everything you knew, I know."
Indra's expression turned impenetrable, like a fortress reclaiming its walls.
Silence.
Naruto exhaled slowly, a gesture of resignation to a fact he didn't want to acknowledge. He finally decided to sit, as well.
"Sasuke died."
"I see." Indra said. If anyone would, it was him. "Did you…?"
This was such a loaded question, coming from the man, and still, Naruto knew what he was asking. Old disgust for Indra — for the dark aspects he still thought he saw in himself at times — rose again, seemingly unchanged by the years. "I didn't kill him." Naruto spat.
The other man inched away slightly. The tremor of anger that ran through Naruto faded away.
"…He sacrificed himself." Indra said, as understanding flickered in his eyes. "For your sake."
There was a pause, heavy with implications, before Indra spoke again. "To save you, then? Is that what Asura's descendants have come to?"
"Sasuke." Naruto corrected with emphasis, grounding the name in reality. "His name is Uchiha Sasuke."
Their conversation dwindled into silence.
"I've met him, too." Naruto said, after a long while. "The Sage."
This time, Indra whirled around. A storm was brewing in his eyes, as he looked at Naruto sharply. "What?"
"He came to see us, Sasuke and I." Naruto said. "Years back. After we rose to lead humanity."
Indra seemed to be at a loss for words. Disbelief and wariness warred on his face. "You — Did you…?"
"No. We did not fight." Instead of telling him the entire story, Naruto offered his palm.
The Moon seal. He would understand its implications.
A heavy silence fell upon Indra, and his eyes were a tumultuous sea of emotions.
"…Are you here to mock all of my failures, then? That thing's latest trick..?"
He sounded like a man entirely defeated. Knowing him as well as he did, it was all too easy for Naruto to understand why. And a few words would have been enough to shatter what was left of Indra's spirit.
"No." Naruto's voice was a tempest contained, his words edged with a sharp cold. "You deserve far worse. For what you've done. For Yoisen, too."
The name hung between them like a verdict. Indra, taken aback, faltered, his mask of indifference cracking under the scrutiny of Naruto's accusation.
"Yoisen…?" The word escaped him as if unfamiliar. "Not Shachi…?" Confusion flickered across his face, quickly replaced by a realization. He had always been an apt reader of men — aside from when that person was himself. "You…? Well, that is a surprise."
"It's also none of your business."
Naruto didn't bother telling the man he could smite him where he stood.
Indra knew it already. And this eternal damnation was likely worse than anything Naruto could conjure. For someone like Indra, seeing that his return to life had only made everything worse, seeing what he could have become, was punishment enough.
"All my mistakes, and you…" Indra trailed off again, before conceding. Trying to reframe everything in the only way that made sense to him. "…I suppose I was not strong enough, then."
"Or perhaps." Naruto countered. "You sought the wrong kind of strength. I didn't face all my battles alone."
Indra made a frustrated sound. "You will fight alone — that is our nature. That is when we are at our best!" He was nearly shouting, now. "Those are nothing but empty words. Easy ones for you to say, when you—"
"I would have died a long time ago without them." Naruto countered. "And each of them is more than strong enough to stand on their own. We simply choose not to."
"You are deluding yourself!"
Naruto only shrugged. "Who are you talking to?"
No answer came.
"You are right about one thing, however." Naruto admitted. "There are some things I can only do when I fight on my own."
Fragile triumph, in Indra's eyes. "You see—"
Naruto met his eyes. "That is why I trust them to give me that space when it is needed."
The other man said nothing.
"We each have our roles to play." Naruto finished. "And none of them is of lesser importance. We are greater than the sum of our parts."
Indra remained silent, yet his eyes conveyed a hint of surrender, or at least the closest thing to it Naruto had ever observed.
"You used to wonder." Naruto said neutrally.
A humorless laugh escaped Indra. "No point in pretending otherwise with you, is there?"
"What you knew, I know."
A long silence stretched out.
When Indra voiced the question that had haunted him, his voice barely rose above a whisper.
"What does it mean to wield power? Is it for dominion, or is it for protection?"
That was a question the Sage had asked Indra, on one fateful day.
To rule, or to protect?
Naruto offered no reply, allowing the silence to envelop Indra's question, to make it linger, to make it haunt.
"I think I lost sight of its meaning." Indra admitted, his demeanor one of utter defeat. "The answer was always clear. Asura... Perhaps he was right." His voice faded, the admission leaving him visibly shattered. "I…"
Some truths were beyond words.
"That is your answer, then." Naruto just said, and it was as true as a clear stream.
"Not yours?"
"What does it matter?"
Their gazes met once more, locking in a moment of profound understanding.
"The answer Sasuke and I found is more of a middle ground." Naruto decided to say. "We realized that aspects of both paths were needed. And forged a third one."
In Indra's eyes, there was a dawning, or perhaps the realization that came with the high cost of his actions, at long last.
"...I am already gone." Indra finally said, his voice thick, before turning toward the army. "Soon, I'll be nothing more than what they are."
A remnant of sorts.
Naruto saw the beings clearly — they were a memory, just as the stars above. They were a race long ago sundered by the hand of the kami, their distinct presence unmistakable.
"I am aware of that too."
"But you…" Indra stared at him. "You are something else, are you not?"
"I still live."
"What are you here for, then?" Indra asked, but he already knew the answer. "Uzumaki Naruto."
The Storm rumbled.
Into the distance, the humanlike warriors were channeling power. Something that was closer to shinsei than chakra. With a dreadful roar, the Storm unleashed its fury, and in but an instant, there was silence. They perished, leaving nothing but the echo of their defiance.
The next moment, the memory started again.
The very same men and women readied themselves for the very same battle they had lost against Susanoo-Arashi again. It must have happened long ago, Naruto thought.
These beings had faced their fate and lost.
He could do the same.
Some of the turmoil inside receded.
"I couldn't save Sasuke." He admitted, his voice carrying his unresolved grief. "I cannot save you from this either — nor do I particularly want to." It was a harsh truth, one that revealed a glimpse of vindictiveness Naruto seldom allowed to surface.
The other man had expected it, too. Naruto could feel it. Indra had already been swallowed by the kami. Naruto continued.
"All I can do is offer you the same mercy you offered me once — death."
It wasn't much, and still, it was more than the other man had expected.
Indra, with a grimace devoid of joy, accepted. "A relief I welcome."
"There's one thing I came to do, however."
Interest piqued, a sinister smile crept across Indra's face, his eyes locking onto Naruto's with anticipation.
"I came here to destroy Susanoo-Arashi."
Indra's reaction was unexpected; a laugh, free and unburdened. "Kill that monster for me, then!"
Naruto had regained enough strength, had always been swift — except in the moments when it truly mattered, he reflected. He opened his eyes, and his swords materialized in his hands, unlike his armor, which did not, for he now was a soul. For the same reason, he wasn't able to wield the divine weapons.
He let his chakra soar, casting away the darkness; it rose, like a thousand shards of light.
KIN/LIGHT AND SHADOW
Those were terrible odds, Sakura thought.
Sasuke was dead, and she forced herself not to dwell on it now, because she would have all the time in the world to cry about it and blame herself for this entire mess, if they survived. And perhaps…
Sakura took a deep breath and divided her focus, setting aside the grieving, tumultuous part of her emotions for the moment.
Orochimaru was not someone Sakura was worried about too much, right now — his healing technique, she supposed, had not been seen entirely by the kami. He had split in two entirely, and these two halves had become a myriad of small snakes, slithering away at great speeds, doing their best to avoid the unending thunder that had resumed already. Half of them carried Karin away, with care most people likely didn't expect from the man. Good, Sakura told herself — Orochimaru was a master of evasion. If anyone could find a way out of this sort of hole, it was him.
Hanabi and Ino were a different sort of problem. Yoisen had disappeared with them, but no place was safe. Sealed-off realms, whether any from Sakura's Rinne-Sharingan, or the Kamui realm itself, were not an option — these could be breached by Susanoo-Arashi, she was certain of it. The same thing went for any of Yoisen's created realms. When the other woman came back, hopefully she would do so with a temporary solution. In the meantime, it was up to Sakura to at least give them all the chance to survive and heal up.
Sakura easily understood where Toru had gone — she could not expect anything else, considering his mental state. He and Naruto were — hopefully, if Ino's technique had worked — within Susanoo-Arashi's true realm.
But that meant that right now, Susanoo-Arashi's output was nearly as high as it had been before, and that she was alone to fight him on this side.
She sheathed her useless sword away, and wondered which one of the divine swords was less likely to fry her alive, before discarding the idea. Better to play to her strengths.
The heavy rains had resumed, along with the thunder. And Susanoo-Arashi's Ocean, too: water was rising again.
Good.
Water was the only weapon she needed.
Water. The hole Sasuke had died in was full of it, now, long after his flames had been extinguished. Could Susanoo-Arashi use his Divine Territory again...? Even with Naruto and Toru seeking his soul? If not, how long would that respite last? Should she have gone inside herself…?
Would Naruto have been better suited to fight the kami outside, the same way Sasuke had been, when compared to her?
…No.
Her Yin was not strong enough for her to try to reach for his soul. A single Rinne-Sharingan that was more or less hers now didn't fully bridge that gap. Toru was pushing it already, and he had been born with some advantages she didn't have. Without Naruto as the kami's main target, however, it would have been a suicide plan for even Toru. Sakura doubted it would have stopped him, right now. In any case, she was needed here.
Sakura exhaled slowly.
They needed her.
"Moonlit sky."
Besides, as she stared at that twisting beast, up in the air, she couldn't lie to herself:
She wanted to kill Susanoo-Arashi with her own hand. And it was rather personal.
"Where tides collide."
What did it matter that she had to fight alone, for a few moments? She had done this for years. She must have gone soft.
"Shinjutsu." Sakura intoned, staring the god in the eye. He hadn't wrestled full control of the ocean yet, it seemed. "Abyssal Maelstrom."
This technique, she had designed for use against the kami himself. Of course, back then, they hadn't known what his ability truly was.
From the palms of her outstretched hand, a faint blue light shimmered, growing in intensity until it burst forth in a blinding arc towards the heavens.
The ocean responded to her call. And in spite of herself, she was almost surprised by it — it had been summoned by the kami. Waves, larger than any that had ever graced the long gone Earth, rose with a primal force.
They converged upon her command, spiraling into a towering vortex that blotted out the horizon. The swirling waters, imbued with Sakura's will, transformed into a colossal whirlpool, centered around her.
Within moments, the landscape around them had changed.
Land and sky became insignificant against the backdrop of the spiral of water that now dominated the battlefield.
Susanoo-Arashi was the master of the Ocean, of course. His control over water itself was nearly unparalleled, because of it. But she had seen the way the kami took to anyone challenging him. If nothing else, it would require him to focus a fair amount of his power upon her.
Besides, she thought with a grin, he wasn't immune to physical damage.
The others were out of the range she had narrowed to its minimum — about two kilometers.
Arcs of water, barely visible to the eye, swept through the defined area with indiscriminate wrath. They normally sliced through buildings, people, and beings of divine essence with equal ferocity. No distinction was made. That went for her, too, and it was a technique she only used in conjunction with Kamui active — on herself — for a reason.
Attempts to flee only intensified the jutsu, as the slicing waters met anyone with even higher fury at the pillar's edge, ensuring none could escape. To prevent any teleportation jutsu, she wove in a sealing field into the barrier as well.
It was a rather strong jutsu, she knew, one whose maximal range (a few dozen kilometers) was massive, whose destructive strength, which was more than sufficient on its own, could dig into a planet's mantle until it burst entirely… and could also be increased through Kamui.
In spite of all this, right now, Sakura had no hope that it would fare particularly well against Susanoo-Arashi, and so hadn't bothered using it before.
Also, the others had been rather close.
With nothing to lose but her own life, Sakura threw herself into battle, letting her chakra output rise to its maximum, unleashing her full strength. Horns jutted out of her forehead with a violence, along with the all too familiar pain.
It happened instantly, endlessly. Her attacks, the near-infinity of them, were precise. Each one sliced through the thick, scaly hide of Susanoo-Arashi's body, if it could even be called that, with a surgeon's precision. Then deeper, reaching a microscopic level.
The serpent was diced, its body carved into segments by Sakura's relentless assault. Blood, dark and viscous, spurted into the air, raining down like a macabre downpour. The water under Sakura's range turned slick, painted with the ichor of the kami.
The dragon's body seemed more organic than it had been before. Was it a good sign…?
Yet, as fast as Sakura's attacks landed, the severed pieces of Susanoo-Arashi's body continued to move, to twitch and squirm. Before her eyes, and faster than it should have been, the serpent's wounds healed. Segments previously severed fused together with a grotesque vitality, the gashes sealing as if they had never been there.
No matter how furiously Sakura attacked, no matter how deep her strikes cut, Susanoo-Arashi's body regenerated with a horrifying speed. The more she wounded him, the faster he seemed to heal, until the area became a picture of endless, gory renewal.
Susanoo-Arashi roared, and thunder fell.
Sakura blurred into motion. Her control allowed her that much — she didn't see much point in a technique that left you an immobile target — and her maelstrom followed, keeping her as its origin point, its center.
The next instant, she barely managed to twist out of the way of the kami's body, thanks to her large wings.
How she hated that beast.
But she had expected not to be able to destroy it so easily. As powerful as her technique was, it didn't compare to the heights reached by Naruto and Sasuke's combined jutsu from before. It also paled next to the one they would never get to use — Shinjutsu: Twin Luminaries Covenant, or whatever other name they should never have allowed Naruto to choose. But killing him was not her goal right now — not truly.
Now, to figure out Susanoo-Arashi's power and what he had meant before. That was what Sakura thought as she dodged another of the kami's wild charges.
("You seem surprised. None of your attacks ever came close to ending me. I merely gave you the impression I was limited to manifesting a single form.")
Her Kamui was active, certainly, but he could bypass it already. Sakura only kept it on to avoid getting killed by her own technique — the same technique she had to turn off in the area around herself at any moment she thought one of the kami's attacks might reach her. Her mind raced as fast as her feet. Orochimaru and Ino had chosen the worst time to get themselves out of the fight, really.
Because in spite of the games she enjoyed to play, and in spite of what Toru might think on most days, Sakura was an analytical fighter, first of all. As Orochimaru could attest to, any formerly weak ninja had to be, if they intended to live past thirteen.
And there were a few things she had understood.
One. 'Invulnerability': Susanoo-Arashi's ability to emerge nearly unscathed from attacks that were lethal spoke of an exceptionally high level of defense and regenerative capability. This, on its own, meant that conventional attacks were mostly ineffective against him, or possibly that he existed in a state beyond physical harm and was only using these bodies in order to enhance his adaptation to all phenomenons. This invulnerability could stem from his essence being dispersed across multiple forms or dimensions, making it impossible to fully destroy him without targeting all manifestations simultaneously.
Part of this, at least, had to be true. This was what she had transmitted to Ino, back when the Mind had still been active.
Two. Multipresence: The kami could manifest in more than one form, indicating an ability to exist in multiple places at once. It fit with the first point, too. This could be interpreted as a form of omnipresence within certain constraints, such as proximity to his power source or within a domain he controlled, such as the Ocean. Hopefully. It raised questions about the limits of his spatial abilities — whether there was a maximum number of forms he could maintain and how far apart they could be. The main factor, Sakura supposed, as well as the bottleneck, was likely his output.
Three. Summoning Powers: The emergence of this new creature following the destruction of the first, that Naruto and Sasuke probably had blown apart, could imply that Susanoo-Arashi had the power to summon (or create) new forms endlessly. The creature she was now fighting, after all, was nearly identical to the previous one. The smaller warrior which had appeared, nearly unnoticed until the last moment, meant that he could split his consciousness or power among multiple bodies, each capable of acting independently but linked to his will.
Four. Psychological Impact: Beyond the physical implications, his ability to manifest in multiple forms at will was a strategic advantage, allowing him to mislead, confuse, and demoralize his opponents. It definitely had worked here, Sakura thought. It suggested that the kami was a tactical fighter, as Karin had figured. Fighting him required opponents to discern which manifestations were the most strategic to target — if any.
Five. Power Source: Susanoo-Arashi had hinted, a few times, at a massive power source. One that could not be brought into this realm fully. Whether it was true or a bluff was another question — although Sakura tended to believe it likely was. It raised questions about the nature and origin of his power… and whether there were ways to cut him off from this source to weaken him. That part, at least, was up to Naruto and Toru, now.
Six—
'Fuck, he's fast!' Sakura thought as she weaved under another furious tail whip. 'I'll have to go with what little I know, then.'
The plan was simple: force his attention upon her.
Make him split his output further. That way, there was less of a chance that whatever it was he had sent after the others would catch up to them. More of a chance that Naruto and Toru would stand a chance within — assuming similar rules applied there.
Simple; not easy.
Sakura didn't have the advantage of having eight strong fighters with her to split the kami's adaptation speed, either. No, all she had here were her own techniques, nearly all of them Susanoo-Arashi knew about already. Tricky.
Genjutsu, she didn't dare use.
Not just because she thought that hers were likely not to work, but because Toru might need some margin of maneuver. Which meant limiting Susanoo-Arashi's exposure to the Sharingan's forms. If she fucked that up for him just to buy herself some time, well…
Then again, she might need it. Facing that beast on her own was the sort of challenge she wished upon no one. Susanoo-Arashi kept her on the ropes; she was constantly weaving and dodging and pushing and pulling and shortening the distance and lengthening it and staying ahead of death by a hair's breadth, doing her best to survive and waiting for an opening she was getting less and less convinced she would find.
Survive.
The only reason she could think at all was that one of the first things she had learned under Kurenai was splitting, a technique used for both weaving layers of Genjutsu and clarity of thought during a fight.
Something all of them had learned by now, of course, but something she had refined to what she felt was a decent level—
YOU SEEM RATHER ANGRY, WRETCH.
Sakura blinked, and only realized the kami hadn't addressed her in a long while then. She hadn't missed it.
DOES THE FATE OF YOUR FRIEND TROUBLE YOU THAT MUCH?
'He doesn't have the right to mention Sasuke.'
Sakura clamped down on her instinctual bout of rage, casting it with the rest of her emotions.
"Not really." She said out loud, wishing it were true right now. "I was just thinking that it took you forever to manage to kill even one of us."
HEH HEH…
Sakura weaved under yet another stray arc of wind, silently thanking herself for spending so much time practicing with both Hanabi and Orochimaru.
"Facing any difficulties with Naruto?" Her question, laced with mock curiosity, hid a deep-seated apprehension.
Sakura, more than anyone, understood the gravity of Susanoo's inner realm.
HARDLY. I FIND DELIGHT IN DISMANTLING YOUR PATHETIC ATTEMPTS.
"Ha! To me—"
In an instant, Sakura's Susanoo materialized, absorbing the brunt of the kami's assault — thunder from above, wind from below. She barely held her ground. "To me..." She coughed out, blood speckling her lips as she summoned Water to mend her wounds, shifting parts of her body to aspects of the element. "...Your words sound like mere excuses. You're weakening."
JUSTIFICATION…? The dragon mused, sounding entirely at ease. Sakura's Susanoo threw an arc of Wave Release — Water layered with Water — and the kami simply ducked under it. Ducked.
By now, her Shinjutsu, normally murder in water form, was seemingly doing no damage to him at all. But he had taken the time to avoid this attack.
Leaping back, she formed a one-handed seal, layering Water into her technique and compounding them together.
Her Shinjutsu shifted its elemental composition to Wave.
When her attack met the kami, it sliced through — but it lacked the devastating impact she had hoped for. Instead of faltering, the kami spoke through the cascade of energy.
YOU HAVE WITNESSED MY REALM, HAVE YOU NOT?
In spite of herself, Sakura shivered. The kami noticed it with amusement.
DO YOU BELIEVE THESE TWO WILL FARE ANY BETTER THAN YOU DID?
A familiar surge of worry pricked at her, but Sakura suppressed it as she had countless times before. Years had passed, and they had grown significantly stronger.
"I can guarantee it." Sakura said, with confidence she didn't feel. Switch, switch now, keep pressing, keep pushing. Water and Fire — Boil Release.
She switched her Shinjutsu to the deadly element. It should have seared him alive. It barely singed him. Who did she have to thank for that, Sarada and her Steam…? "Susanoo, I think you underestimate them. That will be your undoing."
She tried another combination — Water and Wind to form Gale Release — but the results were similarly underwhelming.
Doubt crept in. Was it even worth attempting Cloud, Rust, or Blood Release? Each was a composite that depended heavily on Water, her primary element. Maybe Blood Release could be effective, considering the organic nature of the kami's current form…
OH? Susanoo-Arashi asked. ARE YOU NOT INCLUDING YOURSELF ANYMORE, ALREADY?
Yeah, she hated that thing.
He always seemed to know exactly where to press to make her bristle… or shrink.
"Doesn't matter who finishes the job." Sakura snapped at the god. "You won't manage to kill me before they destroy you. Not without your domain."
Susanoo-Arashi laughed.
DO YOU THINK ME THAT FOOLISH…?
Did he…?
YOU ARE USING WATER TO FUEL YOURSELF.
'Ah. Damn.' Sakura thought to herself, never letting it show. 'He got it, then.'
Chakra Flow Inversion. Something she had developed, but that the others couldn't quite manage efficiently. Typically, shinobi learned to mold their chakra into basic nature transformations.
Sakura had turned that principle on its head: the technique allowed her to draw directly from natural elements to fuel her chakra. As long as there was water around her, preferably in liquid form, she had power to use. In a way, it wasn't unlike using nature energy, if more specialized. She had based it upon the principles she had learned from that one Tsunade, long ago. Worth giving a Rinnegan away.
I SUPPOSE YOU BELIEVE THAT IT IS RATHER CLEVER OF YOU. Susanoo-Arashi mused.
"Thanks." Sakura bristled.
THE SAME WAY YOU BELIEVE KEEPING ME OCCUPIED IS CLEVER.
She tensed inwardly, even as threw herself away from the rampaging god once more. And she knew exactly what the kami meant — or who, rather.
THEY CANNOT ESCAPE ME. AND THEY HAVE NOWHERE TO RUN.
...Great. Just great.
"Diving into a kami's soul?" Toru raised an eyebrow, his arms folding across his chest as he leaned back. The traditional chair beneath him floated, defying gravity, holding him aloft as if by some unseen force — his own. "No. No, thank you."
Ino exhaled a weary sigh, her gaze fixed on some distant point as if searching for patience. "It was only a theory."
Sasuke's voice cut through the tension, as calm and measured as ever. "No one stopped you from proposing we simply keep the kami occupied with gacha games, Toru."
Toru huffed. "Amusing them into a state of complacency or death isn't the worst idea we've discussed. Really, 'nuking the realm of gods?'"
Orochimaru simply shrugged, a faint smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. "My counterpart presumably had the best intentions. Besides, if the plan were feasible, I'd see no reason to object."
Naruto, who had been quietly observing the exchange, finally spoke up. "The mere existence of Tomoshishi tells me that not all kami are like the ones we encountered."
Toru's frown deepened. "…Wow. I'm not sure if that's speciesist or not."
Sasuke, with a hint of dry humor, added, "When in doubt, assume it is."
Sakura scowled. "What's your problem?"
"My mother is still asking me what you meant about 'Uchiha moods', at that dinner." Sasuke frowned. "That's my problem."
She sighed. "How many times do you want me to apologize for that?"
"…Once would be nice?"
"Please." Yoisen intervened, the voice of reason. "Back to Ino's suggestion."
Ino nodded patiently. "Thank you, Yoisen — They are idiots."
"That is not what I said—"
The artificial intelligence responsible for recording and cataloging their discussions, Y.U.M.E.K.O. — Yielding Universal Memory & Enhanced Knowledge Organizer — a sophisticated system designed to manage the vast amounts of information generated by their planning, hummed thoughtfully.
"I am opening file SA-42789 for discussion." It said, dimming the lights slightly as the central projected display came to life. "Should I invite the usual participants?"
"Nah, no need." Toru said, after considering it. "Thank you, Yumeko."
"As you wish, Lord Toru."
"…Please do not call me that. I'm not thirteen anymore."
"I was instructed to."
"By whom?"
"I was told not to tell you that."
Toru's nostrils flared.
"I remember you saying soul invasion was off the table." Karin remarked. "Ino."
Ino nodded, her expression serious. "And it remains so. Gaining a soul more powerful than a kami's is out of the question, Hanabi."
"Understood." Hanabi responded, curiosity evident in her voice. "So, what's your plan?"
Ino paused, gathering her thoughts. "With your help, I think we might be able to map the essence of the kami's soul."
"Might?" Sasuke stressed.
"It's the most solid promise I can make." Ino offered a wry smile. "Because we'll have to do this during battle. Direct observation of its true form would significantly increase our chances — and witnessing a full manifestation would be best."
Silence.
"Right before he kills us, then." Toru summed up.
At that, Karin's foot connected with his shin under the table, eliciting a sharp wince from him. "And if direct soul engagement remains off the table?" She asked.
"We will not resort to that." Ino explained. "But understanding its soul's structure could allow us to find a way to weaken it. I could help you target it."
"But that's not all you had in mind, was it?" Naruto asked her bluntly.
For a moment, Ino remained silent.
"…No, you're right." She admitted. "Theoretically, I could try to use myself as a bridge to get another soul to 'collide' with his. Except that means I wouldn't be able to reach there myself. And this would mean using Soul Manifestation — not Incarnation, Hanabi. This approach would require incredible precision and a soul immensely strong in Yin, which makes it seem kinda far-fetched."
Sasuke folded his arms, his face etched with doubt. "…Sorry, but I don't think I am the best choice for it. Matters of the body and Yang, sure, but this…"
There was silence. If not Sasuke, whose soul was strong, through sheer maturation…
"I do not think I am well suited for it either." Yoisen admitted. "Neither Yin nor Yang. Although I am willing to try."
"No." Ino said firmly. "It would be a terrible idea."
…It meant that everyone was thinking of one person.
Sakura couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, we're so fucked! Naruto's Yin is shit."
"My illusions are shit." Naruto shook his head, a hint of amusement in his voice. "But my Yin strength is another story — arguably one of the greatest in the world, in fact."
"Argue, then." Sakura nodded. "Mister 'my genjutsu is Kage-level at best.'"
"This is really not the insult you think it is, Sakura."
"If it were me…" She folded her good arm. "Well, I suppose not everyone's grandpa can come back from death to give us magic boons."
"Please leave Kage and Jinsuke out of this." Toru butted in, but his eyes were upon Ino, and dreadfully serious. The two men in question began to argue over each other and over him, too.
"It's not going to happen." Ino stated dismissively, even as Yoisen attempted to steer the conversation back to its course. "We're not pursuing this plan. Just planning for a way to damage its soul from the outside."
"Too dangerous to dive in?" Karin asked.
"Way too dangerous." Ino confirmed. "Who knows what the inside of that kami's soul is? — That's a different thing, Sakura — Besides, none of us are ready for this. Not me. Not Naruto."
Toru shrugged, and the intentness Ino had felt from him seemed to relent.
"Well… We're not doing that, right?" He said, too casually. "And Naruto still has a few years to prepare anyway, does he not?"
Toru was five when he asked his father why Shisui didn't have a mother.
"She is dead." Father answered tersely. "Before you were born."
Toru frowned. "How come she died? Was she old?"
For several moments, his father was entirely silent. "No." Uchiha Shūhei said at last. "She died because that is the way of the world. You shouldn't worry about this. And you should not ask Shisui about this either."
But that wasn't an answer Toru liked.
"…Is it because she didn't want to be his mother?" He pushed. "Like Mother doesn't want to be mine?"
…
"Out!"
…
"So that's snow?" Toru asked.
His mother didn't answer him. Instead, her face seemed to scrunch up in that terrible expression she sometimes got when she looked at him.
"Is this snow?" He asked again, his voice smaller this time, tinged with this ache, the familiar feeling of being ignored.
His curiosity about the snow was genuine, as it was the first time it had made its appearance in Konoha in years, but so was his longing for her to share this moment.
But the room remained silent, save for the soft patter of snow against the window. His mother turned away, her body stiffening.
Toru turned back to the window, his small hand pressed against the cold glass. Outside, Konoha was a wonderland of white, but inside seemed just as cold, right now.
The snow continued to fall.
…
"Get out!"
…
Her hands were warm, usually.
Even though she had never seemed to enjoy holding his, they were warm. Today, they were cold.
They had played tag with Sasuke an hour ago, Toru thought absentmindedly, as he tried to get some reaction from his mother. Even the disgust she had not fully shown before today would be better than this. And she probably didn't mean what she had said last anyway.
Tag was nice. They had laughed a lot. They always did.
Right now, Father was smiling. His eyes weren't, however; they seemed lost, like they sometimes were.
Blood pooled beneath his mother's cold hands, staining the floorboards and his own. Time seemed to slow, allowing him to see everything with unprecedented clarity. The moment seared itself into his memory...
…
"Out!"
…
"What are you thinking about?" Akemi asked, tracing a finger over his collarbones.
About a reason not to kill myself, was what he was thinking. Should I just go ahead and do it, or watch some cartoons instead?
But it wasn't the answer she wanted. He hadn't known her for long, a grand total of two weeks, but he didn't think these were the sort of things you were supposed to say out loud, no matter when. Even had she been a ninja. Besides, he assumed everyone thought these thoughts, from time to time.
Although he supposed not everyone, when they closed their eyes, saw blood and broken glass. Smelled smoke and burning grease. That even here, in her arms, he was still watching his mother die, cursing him. Fallen comrades, their bodies burned by his own hand to protect their secrets.
"Eh, not much. You?"
…
"Out!"
…
"—what am I supposed to think?!" Toru exploded.
Naruto didn't answer, because there was no good answer to that. When Toru looked at him, seeing past the room he himself had wrecked, it was difficult to recognize the boy who had once done everything in his power to avoid his first kill.
"That the end justifies the means?" Toru continued. "That just because we're all bathed in blood, it's fine? That I can just overlook the fact that Shisui can't even look us in the eye?"
"No."
"That — That was Kakashi!" Toru's voice cracked.
"I know."
"Am I supposed to just — to just…"
"No." Naruto said, slowly, sorrowfully. "You're not supposed to do anything, Toru."
…
"I said… get out!"
…
"I knew I'd find you here." Sasuke said, atop the World Tree.
Toru, his gaze fixed on the horizon where the light died, felt a chill creep up his spine. This, just like these other moments, was no illusion. He could recall that day.
But he had had enough, already.
"Am I dead?" He finally snapped. "Is this some twisted afterlife?"
Sasuke's response came with a nonchalant shrug, his figure blurred at the edges as if not entirely present. "Think of it as a space between dream and reality, perhaps."
"Oh?" Toru's reply was harsh, bitter. "What's next? Am I going to see my happiest dream until I succumb—"
"All these years of training, all the people you've lost." Sasuke began, his voice a soft, dangerous whisper. Extending a hand towards Toru, he smiled. "Deep down, you've always yearned to return, haven't you? To a time where you could believe you would eventually get your mother's love, where your best friend had not become your teacher's murderer—"
Toru slapped Sasuke's hand away.
"Using his face, now?" He growled, long past his boiling point. "I thought you were supposed to be the strongest of them all. I saw nothing from you but cowardly tactics and deception — the sort I would use!" No answer came. "And your constant grandstanding, too. While you pull shit like this." He spat.
Sasuke only smiled softly. "What are you talking about, cousin…?"
There was no patience left in Toru. Not today. Not with Sasuke—
A translucent teal light rose from Toru.
The Susanoo arm lifted, pointing its finger. A shard of teal light, no larger than one of its fingernails, blasted off. It soared through the air with ungodly speed and buried itself into Sasuke's face.
There, it detonated with terrible power, shattering his skull and painting Toru's face red.
"Out — of — my — fucking — way!" Uchiha Toru snarled.
Toru's gaze ignited with a fearsome crimson glow, and from his form burst numerous teal limbs, unleashing torrents of chakra in a wild, omnidirectional assault. A tearing sound resonated through the air.
Suddenly, he was submerged once more, enveloped in icy water that stoked the fires of his rage even higher. With a defiant roar, pushing his eyes even further, he propelled himself towards what he believed was the surface, with speed unmatched.
Breaking through the surface, he soared through the air and fell back onto a shore. The water, though icy, refused to freeze; it adhered to his skin with a chilling grasp.
Drawing breaths that cut through the cold, he rose to his feet. The ordeal was not unlike his time in the domain of Inari-Kitsune.
Before him stood a monolithic mountain, a solitary, daunting sentinel in the vastness of the furious ocean—
Next to him, a shadow moved.
One that looked like some of the Storm Warriors that Toru already fought today. In spite of the sudden appearance, Toru remained unflinchingly still.
Without so much as turning his head, a single teal hand — ethereal and surging with potent chakra — materialized. With a swift, decisive motion, it crushed the shadow entirely. Regardless of its nature or intention, that thing was shattered instantaneously, leaving no trace behind.
With a low growl, Toru set his sights upward and began his ascent.
Namikaze Naruto watched as they buried his father.
Or rather, as they lowered a false corpse, made to look like him, into the ground. Ninja like his father couldn't simply be buried.
The sun hung low, casting long shadows that seemed to stretch out in sympathy towards him, the same way these people tried to talk him through this. As though there was anything to say.
The golden hues in the sky reminded him of too many things at once, and he almost decided to run, here and there.
Namikaze Minato could not be dead.
His father, the hero of the Hidden Leaf, could not be laying still on a table, for hungry medic nin to dissect. The villagers, each wearing expressions of shared loss, murmured their condolences, their words blending into a meaningless drone. Naruto barely heard them.
His focus was somewhere else—
Namikaze Naruto never had the time to notice the flash of deadly blue.
…
Uchiha Naruto stood at the edge of the cliff, the wind tousling his dark hair, and his eyes, a deep crimson, reflected the early dawn light.
The Uchiha compound lay in ruins behind him, a dark reminder of the night when everything changed.
He was the sole survivor, spared by fate… or perhaps something darker. The village whispered of his lineage, of the power that coursed through his veins, a power he had yet to fully comprehend or control.
As the sun broke over the horizon, igniting the sky in shades of orange and red, it mirrored the fire within him.
His family's techniques, their legacy, it all rested on his shoulders now. The weight was immense, threatening to crush him, but Naruto was an Uchiha. And Uchiha did not falter; they burned brighter.
He closed his eyes, the Sharingan spinning as images of that night flooded back. He could see the assailants, feel the heat of the flames, hear the screams of his family. It was a memory that fueled him, a constant reminder of the path he had—
Uchiha Naruto never had the time to notice the flash of deadly blue.
…
Hyūga Naruto, under the watchful gaze of the moon, meditated.
His Byakugan, a gift and a curse, lay dormant behind his closed eyes. It wasn't his, not truly.
He was a paradox within the clan, born without the eyes that saw too much—
Hyūga Naruto never had the time to notice the flash of deadly blue.
…
None of the lives he saw, past, present and future mattered.
This time, all of them were visions projected by Susanoo-Arashi's ability, and souls that had been trapped for far too long to ever escape. Most didn't have Indra's consistency; most were remnants of worlds already gone, swallowed by the kami. Some were simply constructs meant to ensnare him.
And there was nothing the kami didn't use, it seemed.
The first time it happened, back in Kumo, was different. This, he was nearly sure of. And even now, he couldn't explain what had happened then. Had it been the kami's power? His own burgeoning Rinnegan ability, long before he even knew about it…?
Both, resonating together?
No matter what it was, Uzumaki Naruto could not bring himself to stop his killing, or even to slow down.
He had faced several of these divine bastards already, and become all too used to anything that could be used being used against him.
Wrapped in the True Lightning Armor, he cut through the endless visions.
He raged across realms, across visions, covering surreal distances with every pulse of his heart, cutting through lifelike constructs and trapped souls alike, and if anything, his murderous speed seemed to increase with each step.
No matter what he saw, no matter who or what he had to cut down, from the easiest targets to the hardest, he didn't stop.
Before him loomed a towering mountain, solitary and daunting.
A shadow rose; it fell with a twist of his hand.
With a silent scowl, Naruto set his sights upward and began his ascent.
To call it a pyrrhic battle was an euphemism, Sakura thought.
She moved with lightning speed, having discarded her Shinjutsu already. There was no point in it, not when it did no damage at all, and especially not when the kami knew she was only trying to delay him, not when it possibly gave him even more of a chance to get used to her chakra.
If it could do that in the first place.
Perhaps that bastard was getting into her head, because she was becoming even more paranoid than usual — although it usually served her well. With a grunt, Sakura flew through smoke. Dark tendrils of lightning followed after her, and the smell of ozone and brine replaced that of burned flesh.
There were cracks through the sky, all throughout its pitch darkness. Susanoo-Arashi was destroying this realm. Sakura was stalling, and she thought it was a valiant effort. She couldn't kill the kami, not truly, and she knew it. What she could do, on the other hand, was cheating death a little while longer.
She spun, entirely on instinct, as the kami's blade cleaved through the air.
Goddamn it.
It had grown an arm again, and that one carried a weapon again. That changed things a fair amount, and Sakura cursed once more, for good measure.
She warped away, in spite of her earlier reservations — hoping that the kami couldn't simply cancel her technique entirely. No. No, he probably couldn't. He had managed to land a few blows on her already, and her own Shinjutsu would have killed her if it was the way his power worked.
The kami pursued her, laughing, sword drawn.
The weapon flashed through the air, cutting into her instantly raised Susanoo's flank but missing her. He stuck to her, and in the end, she didn't dare to use any sort of teleportation jutsu up this close.
The sword rose again, and Sakura's Susanoo created a shimmering one to defend from the swing—
It shattered, and Sakura let her guardian fade away entirely, let herself fall through the air, narrowly dodging the massive weapon.
She leaped off a platform of Ice, flipping forward in a graceful motion and letting loose a handful of explosive tools, too small to be seen. They did nothing but obscure the kami's view of her. Then, she threw three high-frequency knives, her personal favorite. Only one managed not to bounce off the beast's thick skin, but she considered this a slight victory already. Some of the beast's shinsei was greedily sucked into the weapon, an infinitely small amount of it that made no difference to his impossible reserves, and then the weapon shattered entirely.
That was the problem with relying on heavy hitters, Sakura thought. The moment they were out of the picture, all that was left was her.
…Or perhaps the problem was that she was fighting a god in the first place—
Thunder rose.
From her precarious position atop the ocean's surface, Sakura had braced for an assault of Water, an element that was — more or less — within her purview of defense. The kami's strategy forced her to adapt swiftly. Executing a cartwheel, she manipulated the water in the air into a makeshift slingshot, propelling herself into the sky.
This maneuver, though ingenious, only set her on a collision course with another of the kami's lightning strikes.
Her Susanoo rose instantly, preventing her from being obliterated, and just in time to block the falling sword, which forced her to stand atop the water once more. She felt several of its ribs, and perhaps vertebrae, shatter under its massive weight.
Lightning exploded through her, coursing from the water below her.
MEDIOCRE. Susanoo-Arashi laughed. AN ETERNITY WOULD NOT SUFFICE FOR YOU TO BECOME INTERESTING.
Sakura pushed, wheezing, pouring every ounce of her strength into her Susanoo.
WHY DO YOU NOT TRY USING THAT DISAPPEARING ART ONCE MORE, THEN?
He was taunting her, that bastard — baiting her, as though she didn't know it would be a terrible idea. Especially with their energies so deeply entwined.
SLOPPY. Susanoo-Arashi laughed. YOU MEET YOUR DEMISE HERE.
Sakura gritted her teeth. Her determination ignited her chakra, burning fiercely within as she accelerated its compounding. "Actually…"
Water was Water.
With a tactical surrender to gravity, Sakura let herself, as well as her Susanoo, fall through them.
The god blinked, and the irresistible force he had been pushing upon her to crush her tilted him forward.
Then, emerging from the depths like a tempest reborn, her Susanoo's third fist ascended. Transformed into a physical construct of heavy water and altered, compounded chakra, it delivered a crushing blow to the serpent's underbelly. It definitely was enough to distend its stomach. Five fingers unfurled into ten serrated blades, buzzing and sawing, tearing through divine flesh as the ocean itself turned a dark crimson with the blood of a god.
Sakura's laughter rang out, a sound tinged with madness even to her own ears. "…I thought I'd make you look like shit in front of your little kami friends!"
Susanoo-Arashi snarled, twisting and moving away from her.
"Adapt to this too, then!" She roared. "I'm going to cut you in little pieces and eat all of them if I have to!"
DO NOT GET THE WRONG IDEA.
Sakura blinked.
Susanoo-Arashi's output diminished…
THIS IS NOT A FIGHT YOU CAN WIN.
…Because he had split it. Five more shapes exploded out of the water.
All of them were bearing multiple arms, multiple swords, and she knew that her advantage — fighting one on one, where she could use weakling surprise tactics that the kami could not expect or see — had been negated entirely.
'Well, fuck.'
The valley of the mountain had become a place of smoke and fire.
Toru snarled, narrowly ducking under a thunderous sword.
Lightning broke the air, striking where he had been a millisecond before. It was difficult to make out anything. There was some sort of fog to these mountains. He was nearing their top, but there were so many of these damnable Storm Warriors. He was wasting precious time, precious strength here.
And then, a flash of blue into the distance.
Piercing the blackness like a lance of light.
For a moment, Toru's eyes almost couldn't believe it. His overactive imagination combined with his Sharingan's predictive ability. He could almost see that future spooling out: each of them, believing that the other was yet another illusion, snarling, throwing themselves into the fight with everything they had; himself, using Sukuna-Donyoku to steal the illusion's speed, matching it for a few moments, before it would reveal it had more in reserve; Toru's life, ending upon that familiar blade. The mists, fading away and Naruto realizing Toru was as real as he was, that he had killed him…
But that didn't happen.
That future shattered, because although Naruto met his eyes and they communicated everything in the span of a hundredth of a second, from his disbelief, frustration and slight relief at seeing him, he didn't stop.
Naruto continued to cut through the darkness as he rose, paving the way forward, surrounded by arcs of lightning that struck in every direction.
That was good.
Because Toru had met Naruto's eyes, and relayed the message that way, the same way they hadn't used in years, back when they were basically children — through an illusion.
The message Toru had relayed was not just a promise of support, although they could flow through the same forms with practiced ease: Crimson Crane Cascade, Twin Dragon Whirlwind, Willow's Whisper Strike, Echoing Phoenix, Shadow Serpent Coil. All of them, Toru knew as well as Naruto did, although he normally didn't rely upon swords — he was more than willing to make an exception, today.
Toru knew them well: he had meticulously honed his skills, had learned these forms for himself and only then copied Naruto's own. Alongside everyone else's fighting styles, as well. Kakashi had taught him well, perhaps too well. It made him a dangerous teammate to have; a perfect shadow. A complimentary one: it all meant he could switch seamlessly between patterns, between perfect mimicry of the others and his own blended style, throwing off any enemy, leaving them vulnerable to a surgical strike. Or his equally dangerous illusions, which were his first resort — and more than enough, usually.
Should these deceptive tactics prove insufficient, his Susanoo could surge from seemingly nowhere, an ethereal, human-sized limb appearing from Toru's chakra, anywhere within his range, to grab and crush, hold and slam, seize and tear, punch through.
No. Toru was a perfect shadow.
But it wasn't the message he had relayed to Naruto. He knew what his friend must have thought, knew what they must all have thought, on the other side — that he'd lost himself to rage, to Sasuke's—
Perhaps they weren't entirely wrong about that, either. Even now, if he stopped cutting his way through these wraiths, he was afraid of what he would find, on the other side of this startling clarity that told him he had to destroy the kami at any cost. No, they were not wrong.
But it wasn't the message Toru had relayed to Naruto. Silently, because the kami could possibly hear. That one had been rather simple, and of crucial importance:
'I think I figured his technique out!'
They were slower, these warriors.
Susanoo-Arashi had split in power in six. No, seven, likely. And because of it, each of his incarnations were slower.
He had to be fighting Naruto and Toru, by now. His strength was likely divided further, because of it. That was what Sakura figured as she weaved in between the attacks, Rinne-Sharingan pushed to the limit of its predictive ability.
She narrowly sidestepped a blade, and from the shadow of a wave, another warrior emerged, stabbing upward with deadly intent. Twisting around the weapon and wishing she could use Kamui, she retaliated with a vicious strength-enhanced punch. Tsunade's technique was proving to be about as useful as ever, because the six-armed being did exactly what she would have done: it avoided it.
That was just common sense.
All of her midrange attacks were out of question, because they had adapted to them already—
Something detonated, and even as her hearing became nothing more than a high-pitched whine, she flipped backward, before being forced to duck under another sword strike.
She dropped to the ground, lashing out with a foot sweep, Susanoo leg extending to trip one of the five things she was fighting, gasping for breath—
Thunder struck her again. This time, she lost enough of her control to find herself underwater.
Sakura continued to struggle, gasping for breath. One of them grabbed her throat, pulling her deeper underwater. His other arms seized each of her limbs and she cursed. He had one more arm, and it was the one holding the sword above his head.
'That's it.' She thought in a surreal moment, watching it happen in slow motion, even as the brine stinged her eyes. The cold was creeping in, already. 'I can't fucking—'
There was a flash of golden light.
And then a flash of heat, followed by a ripping sound. Something went through the back of the Susanoo-Arashi who held her. With his power split to such a degree, it was enough for the thing to drop her. Sakura rolled, twisting in the water to figure out which way was up.
As she swam up, forcing her chakra through her body to heat herself up, Sakura managed to see white hair and a blade.
'Yoisen?' She realized. 'If she's here—'
Metallic chains pulled her up. Sakura struggled to her feet, shrugging off the effects of her near-drowning experience. Her surprise at seeing more white hair, she couldn't dismiss, however.
Karin.
And although she didn't seem to be in good shape, she was using the Jūbi chakra. No, because of it — Compounding was too difficult, right now. She was alive and healing slowly, her output having hit an all-time low since the beginning of the fight. Even worse, Hanabi and Ino were still unconscious, and carried upon Karin's shoulder. Meaning she couldn't fight.
Upon the sea, Yoisen was battling fiercely, sword aflame, against two six-armed behemoths.
In her case, it was sometimes harder to tell when she was using Jūbi chakra. But the feeling of searing power in the air didn't lie — she was Compounding, instead. Her movements were a blur, a dance of light and shadow, leaving Sakura in slight awe of her agility and skill. As always.
Karin, nursing the ghastly wound that seemed to have nearly split her in two, offered Sakura a grim smile. The slow healing was alarming, especially on her. "Sorry." Karin's apology seemed misplaced amidst the ongoing chaos. "I don't think I can match her pace."
Sakura only shook her head, grimacing. There was pain, racing through her own body. But she could still fight. "I didn't expect you to."
Karin's gaze drifted to the dragon soaring above.
"What is it?" Sakura asked. "I can't read your thoughts — not right now." Not with Ino out of commission.
"My bad." Karin smiled thinly. "It's not the same." Seeing Sakura's frown, she elaborated. "That dragon — it's not the one we destroyed. It just looks the same."
Sakura's suspicion was confirmed. "So, the other one is gone?"
Karin let out a helpless shrug. "That's beyond me. And the six-armed one we sent into the hole…?"
"Destroyed or trapped, likely." Sakura concluded, a heavy sigh escaping her. None of them knew for sure. "Did you manage to restore some strength…?"
"Not much." Karin admitted, and Sakura paused. "I was pursued — although Yoisen kept the worst away from us, too. Healing was all I could manage." She glanced at her unconscious wife. "…I did what I could. Hanabi should be stable, for now."
"And Ino?" Sakura prodded, seeking to understand.
"...I have no idea."
"Great." Sakura muttered. As Karin reached out, lending her own healing prowess, Sakura's wounds began to mend more swiftly. Time was slipping away — Yoisen was fighting alone. "Six on three. Do tell me if you have any more good news."
In spite of her words, she was steeling her mind, getting ready for the next engagement. What else could she do, really?
To her surprise, Karin, whose wound was still raw but getting shallower, steaming from the heat of her healing power, smiled.
"Just one." She said, and her voice filled with determination again. "It's not six on three."
Sakura couldn't really make sense of her words. "What, does that fucker have even more summons—"
She didn't have to follow Karin's finger to feel the ungodly amount of chakra building up.
"Shinjutsu." Orochimaru's voice carried over the distance, with cold clarity. "Serpentine Genesis."
Sakura came to a stop. He had healed entirely already, when even Karin hadn't. Of course he would manage. What had he spliced himself with, this time…?
From the depths, a monstrous entity emerged.
It was an eight-tailed, eight-headed serpentine dragon. One whose sheer size more than matched Susanoo-Arashi's strongest body. It was Orochimaru himself.
They moved as one, the way they usually did: with dreadful speed.
Orochimaru, now less a man and more a marvel of his own dark sciences, unleashed his assault without hesitation.
The nature of the attack, a volatile burst of greenish fire, was unfamiliar to Sakura. Amid their extensive preparations, this weapon had probably been discussed, but she couldn't remember any specific details; perhaps it was a wildcard even, the kind Orochimaru preferred to keep close, hidden from the prying eyes of caution and the lectures on the ethics of biological warfare.
This unexpected onslaught caught two of the five six-armed warriors off guard, engulfing them in its alien flames. The kami, ever adaptable, learned from this encounter, but for those two, it was already too late.
Driven by a blend of fury and determination, or perhaps ignited by the peril faced by her loved ones, Sakura sought the Jūbi chakra, compounding it with her own, shouldering the burden entirely. Meanwhile, Yoisen deftly navigated the battlefield, her movements undeterred by the now bolstered trio of shadows. Sakura, hastened by her efforts, reached Yoisen's side with unprecedented speed — slightly less than twice her usual one.
A nod and a fleeting smile passed between them, signaling a return to their well-rehearsed dance of combat. Fire and Water cloaked their blades, a symphony of elements, as the immobile Karin rained massive stones over the area, adding sheer mass to them to compensate for the fact that the element itself, as well as most of her techniques for that matter, were something the kami had already adapted to.
It took only once for Susanoo-Arashi to notice and adapt to it, but it meant that another of the warriors was gone, crushed at the bottom of the sea beneath a boulder of impossible weight.
As Orochimaru, now a draconic force within the sea, clashed with the draconic force within the sky, Sakura and Yoisen's blades found their mark, eliminating the final shadows in synchronized precision.
The kami must have decided not to bother with facsimiles anymore, because his body twisted once more, reforming into the formidable six-armed shadow fully, and landing upon the sea with a heavy crash, kicking up the waves into a frenzied storm, blades poised for battle.
This whirlwind of action unfolded in mere seconds.
About ten seconds after Orochimaru had first triggered his biologic and mechanical transformation, Susanoo-Arashi decided that, having killed Yamata-no-Orochi once before, a second time shouldn't prove to be much trouble.
The full moon dominated the night sky.
It was the detail that captured Naruto's attention first as he soared over the mountaintops, piercing a gray cloud to descend into a vast landscape.
He touched down in a field of silvergrass; an endless sea of flowers. Whispering blades bathed in lunar radiance. The air was cool, and it carried the scent of earth and steel as it enveloped him.
Thunder rumbled in the distance, a promise of storm over the distant sea beneath the expanse of mountains. Despite this, Naruto moved with a gentleness, the silvergrass rustling beneath his steps, its serenity a stark contrast to the tension knotting his muscles and the terrible anticipation pulsing in his heart.
Susanoo-Arashi made his presence known without a word.
His two-armed silhouette emerged from the field's far end, stepping into the moonlight with a singular blade in hand, his calm surpassing the stillness of the night. The atmosphere thickened, charged with orange wisps of energy as one unseen watcher observed, flying low, angry red eyes bright in the dark.
The standoff between them, two warriors silhouetted against the night, needed no words. Susanoo-Arashi understood his purpose, his readiness to engage him at his peak.
It was Naruto who shattered the silence. In order to reach this very same peak.
"Divine Territory." Uzumaki Naruto declared. "Heavenly Thunder Domain."
As if on cue, thunder crashed, mirroring the intensity of the swords that rained down, countless, embedding themselves into the silvergrass. Dark lightning wove between each blade, creating an enclosed domain that crackled with electrical energy.
And then, with a rush of motion, god and man charged.
lensdump:
i/ODksfT : Sakura and the Sea
i/OYhEwC : Toru and Naruto
Glossary:
Chakra Flow Inversion — Sakura Allows Sakura to draw directly from natural elements to fuel her chakra.
Shinjutsu: Abyssal Maelstrom Sakura's. Conjures a massive pillar of water that slashes apart anything within its constraints until nothing remains. Uses Water as a basis, and can thus be layered with composite elements.
Shinjutsu: Serpentine Genesis Orochimaru's. Allows for the direct manipulation and alteration of biological DNA, enabling healing, evolution, or creation of new life forms.
AN: Peeling him, layer after layer... A divine pincer assault of sorts, I guess!
Hopefully, I managed to make some of the weight of such a fight come across, through the length of the arduous battle itself, among other things... The characters are exhausted, pushed past the limits of their endurance, and, I suppose, perhaps you too — it's a marathon that I wanted to write as a single chapter, but then realized I would never have the time to write at once unless I took a two-months break from living...
Next chapter: A Field of Silvergrass