Enma-daiō
In the shadowy chasms of Yomi, Naraka, where the whispers of the deceased stir the air, Enma-daiō, the King of Hell, presides with an iron will and an inscrutable gaze.
Born from the depths of Izanami's curiosity, after the first humans started squabbling, he was destined to be the arbiter of dead souls, a role he embraced with a solemn dedication that bordered on zeal.
To himself at least, Enma-daiō's fairness is undisputed. He judges each soul with an impartiality that some see as both admirable and terrifying. Yet, beneath his calm demeanor lies a hint of cruelty, an unforgiving nature that adheres rigidly to the ancient laws.
He is the embodiment of cold, uncaring justice; a notion as harsh as it is unyielding. Souls who, by the whims of fate, were forced into lives of sin find no leniency under his gaze. They plead, at times, how they plead, recounting tales of circumstance and desperation, but Enma-daiō turns a deaf ear. In his court, the law is absolute, and even the most pitiable soul must face the consequences of their earthly deeds.
Once, Enma-daiō was of the kami, a respected deity within the celestial hierarchy. Ages passed, however, and kami can be fickle. Now, he dwells in seclusion, falsely believed by the dead to have been a man once, a lone sovereign of his shadowed realm, a realm that is both his prison and his kingdom. It was Susanoo-Arashi's neglect, during the time when Enma's domain was accessible to the other kami, that permitted his ongoing existence..
A dead soul, after all, can only hold lesser faith. Let Enma feed on scraps like the craven dog he is.
The weaker kami whisper of him with a mix of respect and wariness, but they keep their distance. The King of Hell no longer seeks their counsel or company, finding solace in his own unassailable sense of duty.
Enma-daiō, King of Hell, remains intricately linked to the Pure Lands. He alone holds the key to the judgment that allows mortal souls to this realm of bliss, a paradise that shines all the more brightly next to the dark horrors of Naraka.
This connection is a cruel irony; he is the gatekeeper to a peace he himself will never know, forever bound to the shadows. He harbors no affection for the mortals whose fates he governs, yet it's under his watchful gaze that they are guided toward redemption. Those souls, having endured the purifying fires of Naraka, emerge cleansed. Only then, if they are found worthy under his stern judgment, may they ascend to the Pure Lands, a realm of peace forever out of his reach.
In his eyes, one is said to see the cold light of truth, a truth that offers no comfort, only the certainty of judgment.
In the heart of Yomi, Naraka, amidst the cries of the damned and the silent prayers of the hopeful, Enma-daiō sits upon his throne.
KINGS OF HELL
Orange was all Karin saw.
Orange. This was a world ablaze, not with the mere flicker of fire, but with the fury of an inferno. She never had had the displeasure of remembering this sort of place, because she had been sentenced to the cold realms.
Orange, and perhaps it was a good thing that Sakura wasn't here, after all. Her wife could hide it well, but to Karin at least, her discomfort usually was obvious. The very same discomfort was upon Yoisen's face as her sword cleaved through a silhouette of fire and blood, too. But she was older, much older, and perhaps that made it easier for her to set it aside.
Orange. The armies of Enma-daiō surged like a living sea of flames. Their armor was aglow with embers and their eyes burned with a fierce, unyielding light.
Orange, they moved as one, their forms shifting and flickering like the tongues of a wildfire. The air was thick with the scent of sulfur and ash.
Karin ducked under the swing of a great, mighty club. The ground beneath her feet cracked as the weapon met it. Yet another Oni. Of course.
Karin didn't think she was the vengeful sort. No, this was more Sakura. Or Hanabi. Or Ino… Or Yoisen. Or Naruto.
…Perhaps there was a pattern there. But Karin didn't come to hell to wax poetry about her lovers' many qualities and flaws. They came here to topple a king, after all. Now, if that meant she could find some satisfaction in slamming her knuckles into the Hells' guardians… then so be it.
'Well, let's see whether this holds today.'
Karin drew upon her chakra, shaping it into Earth, compounding it with itself.
"Steel Release…"
It held. And she was the first to be surprised by that notion — Yoisen, far away as she was, on the other hand, didn't seem to be. The liquid metal shaped itself into a ball.
There was no time to waste, of course. Karin tensed, harnessing her formidable strength, her muscles coiling like a predator.
Then she kicked the sphere.
The Oni's surprised expression was the last one on his face as the metal ball went right through him.
The dense orb weighed heavily, like a small moon. When the ball met the seething surface of the lava, it did not pause or float. Instead, it tore through the molten rock with a brutish, unstoppable momentum. The lava was shattered like brittle glass under the might of the falling ball. Fiery splatters erupted around it.
Steel reacted interestingly with Karin's affinity for chains, of course.
With a shockingly abrupt finality, the orb exploded. This explosion was not one of fire and smoke, but of innumerable chains, lethal tendrils of iron bursting forth.
They were an extension of her will, answering to her chakra only, trained to avoid certain patterns of chakra. In spite of the deadly whipping, none of her chains ever hit allies — anymore. Sakura's abilities had made her the perfect candidate to perfect Karin's technique with. And there it was, a near perfect army counter.
More of the fiery creatures rose, and Karin's fists and chains mercilessly slaughtered any that got in her way. Conceited as it might sound, none of these felt remotely dangerous to her, as she was now, full of energy. It was like fighting an army of Jōnin. Or Kage, maybe, depending on what the difference actually was.
...Perhaps that was the Jūbi talking.
Karin sidestepped a wave of flame, crouched under a molten sword, cut through a wave of fire with a Water Rasengan-enhanced chain.
The Shikome arrived next.
Eight of them rushed at Karin. At first, she hadn't been sure what she was dealing with. They were creatures like something dredged up from a dark pit of mythology — haggard and wild, with eyes that burned with a malevolent light. Somewhat like a mother-in-law, Naruto would likely say, if Ino was around to react.
And so Karin dubbed them Shikome. They were strong, much stronger than even the Oni were, in spite of their thinner frames. They fought erratically, unpredictably. They moved with a frenzied, nearly desperate energy, clawing, biting and striking with a single, unifying purpose: to drag souls back to the depths from which they were deemed to come.
Karin watched as they swarmed toward her, chains whirring to life around her. With precise, fluid movements, she met their onslaught head-on, her chains slicing through the air, severing limbs and heads with ruthless efficiency. There was a certain rhythm to battle. A deadly dance she was very familiar with.
A Shikome made the mistake of getting close enough.
Instead of the chains, Karin's hand flashed forward, seizing one of the hag-like creature's heads before it could react. A flicker of surprise crossed its grotesque features, mirrored by Karin's own shock as a creeping chill enveloped her hand. Ignoring the cold, she thrust the creature's face into her knee with brutal force. Gripping it tightly, she never gave it a moment's respite. She pulled the creature through a storm of rock shards she conjured from thin air, ensuring each jagged edge kissed flesh.
Then she let go of it, throwing it as far as she could. Liquid metal bubbled as it encased the first of the eight witches. It would erupt into chains whenever enough presences were nearby.
Another Shikome threw itself at Karin.
Gravity reversed.
The hag was pulled up much faster than intended, and Karin's leg slammed heavily into its face. Gravity reversed again, and both of them dove into the lava. A layer of chains wrapped around Karin, shielded her from its deadly burn. The Shikome tried to fly away from her, letting out a terrible shriek as it did. Karin's chains kept it from doing so.
There was a flash of lilac light in the sky, and a needle-like arrow escaped Hanabi's bow, stabbing through the Shikome's heart with impossible precision, carrying its body to the depths, where even its reinforced body wouldn't manage to hold. Karin gave a thumbs up that she knew her wife would see, even from kilometers away. "Nice one!"
She glimpsed a wrathful face at the edge of her awareness, before a massive fist slammed into her.
Or rather, before her chains automatically reacted, erupting, rising and stopping it, mere meters away from her face.
A Niō guardian, formidable as the legends foretold — that wasn't something Karin could simply punch through. Yoisen had said they might face them, but even she hadn't been so sure.
Not being able to punch through them was only a minor setback.
With a deft flick of her left hand, her summoned chains constricted around the guardian's colossal fist and tilted its massive frame forward, into her range. Karin readied herself, feet planted firmly on the ground, eyes narrowed.
Her fists met impossibly tough skin — if it could be called that.
Left. Right. Goodnight.
An uppercut, charged with the raw force of Earth, surged upwards. The Niō guardian's head snapped back, an ancient force meeting the unstoppable fury of Karin's strike.
"Mantle. Beating of the earth, cradle's call." Karin chanted, weaving a mere two seals. "Earth Splitter."
The floor underneath her, which was mostly lava, trembled.
With a deafening crack, it burst open. Or rather, it shattered, a fierce chasm ripping open beneath the Niō guardian. The creature, staggering from her blows, plummeted into the abyss as the ground continued to split, racing outwards to the horizon, one kilometer at a time.
Many more fell into the great rift before lava filled it entirely. Karin could only think of it as a grotesque, gory cake mold being placed into an oven.
She ducked narrowly under a clawed hand. Then jumped back, only to find a Shikome hiding within a shadow. With a midair twist, she rolled out of the way of a deadly red ray. In the next instant, she fell upon the creature, ending its chimeric life with a single punch.
Flicking the blood, the ichor away, she cartwheeled backward again, summoning a path of chains with a single touch of the lava encased corpse.
Ah. There were five of them, now.
Crouch. Roll left. Twist left. Right. Duck. Spring back. Pivot right. Leap up. Slide forward. In between. Dip. Spin right. Vault over. Duck again. Zig right. Twist back. Sway left. Jump back.
There. Her fist slammed into a Niō guardian's gut, splattering the Oni behind it with its insides. She grabbed another's arm, throwing it over her shoulder and into the one currently jumping toward her.
Karin jumped back. Three followed.
Mid-air, flying backward and having no momentum because of it, she delivered a devastating right hook, the impact veering one of her pursuers off course. Snapping its neck, too.
Not too shabby for someone ranked fifth in Taijutsu, she thought.
…Which was definitely better than her rankings in Genjutsu. Or Kenjutsu, but as for Taijutsu, maybe all the speed training would pay off someday. Not everyone could have unparalleled mastery over Lightning, over Wind, possess a teleportation jutsu, one to speed themselves up, or be willing to use Fire to propel themselves.
Ah. Speaking of…
There was a flash of orange and white, close to a massive elbow. Blurring, dashing around with blazing speed, dancing a deadly ballet around the behemoth's limb and slashing at everything in reach before returning to her original location, nearly invulnerable as she did so, Yoisen severed the guardian's arm off entirely.
"Apologies!" She called out. "Those few got further away than expected!"
Beneath her, the ground blazed with her own flames, propelling her movements with supernatural swiftness, her faith in her swift healing unwavering. Her presence alone implied her triumph over a fair share of guardians.
Karin had expected no less from either Hanabi or her.
Beneath the statue-like creature, Karin's chains sprung like vengeful serpents, ensnaring its feet in an iron grip, pulling it down into the lava, like they had drowned so many already. In water, usually, but today was a strange day.
Then, cleaving the air with barely a hiss, a lilac shard of light arced across the sky, rending the colossus in two. That was good.
However, the enemy's numbers were growing, an unending tide. That wasn't.
"Well, if you're here…!" Karin grunted.
With hands clasped, Karin summoned a vast reservoir of chakra.
Dark shadows rose above the sea of fire as she reached skyward to heavens that weren't there. The cavern's ceiling trembled, contorting to her will.
They formed spheres.
Not so far off, Yoisen's hands danced through seals, her incantations a whisper lost to distance. But Karin knew the words. She felt them. Cursed, purplish flames grew around each stone sphere.
"Six Paths: Meteor Storm!"
The first meteor struck with the wrath of an ancient god, or perhaps a new one, singing a song of destruction. It kissed the lava, and the world erupted, sending plumes of molten rock skyward.
Each subsequent meteor hammered the roiling lava with fury. The gargantuan cavern lit up with a haunting purple that blended eerily with the orange, painting a picture of apocalypse. The ocean was seemingly fighting back, hurling its fiery essence into the air in futile defiance.
But as many as died, even more came.
The horizon brimmed with approaching shadows, in fact; a legion thirsting for battle.
If anything, Hanabi relished the fray, her arrows falling down like a tempestuous, divine judgment. She had always been more of the shoot first, question later type. Today, she could afford to let loose.
So could Yoisen. As the very same light arrows cascaded from the heavens and chains erupted from the earth in a relentless assault, she wove through the maelstrom with quiet grace, her blade an extension of her will, finding every crevice, every vulnerability, and exploiting it with ruthless efficiency.
Their dance lasted for a short moment; their dance lasted forever.
More and more were summoned in answer.
Until they were too numerous to fight head-on. Karin could feel thousands and thousands close by. Many more, behind.
"Girls, now." Hanabi commanded.
With a determined nod, Karin slammed her fist into the molten rock beneath her. Simultaneously, Yoisen, with a fluid motion, drove her sword into the ground beside Karin, her grip reversed for added force.
Fire — Earth.
As deeply synchronized as they were, courtesy of Ino, there was no need for words. Their chakra blended together.
As Karin withdrew her hand and brought it up high, Yoisen's sword pierced deeper, toward the depths, they multiplied Fire-Earth with Fire-Earth of their own.
"Eruption Release: Tsuchigumo!"
A beast with a body of cooling rock and veins of flowing magma rose from the lava, innumerable legs stabilizing its body over the deadly flows…
"Six Paths: Breath of Life."
A flash and pale light was all the warning anyone got before Hanabi materialized from nowhere. Letting go of a large amount of her own chakra, Hanabi gave the creature true life.
The Tsuchigumo stirred, its eyes glowing with newfound sentience.
Out of all the creatures they could have summoned or birthed here, only the monstrous spider possessed the mental fortifications necessary for their purpose.
It jumped, clearing a massive distance in a single leap, holding on to the impossibly high ceiling, hanging upside down.
The hordes below, of course, followed.
'Ino, get ready.' Karin called. "Yoisen, I'll cover you."
"It is appreciated."
Yoisen stood atop the monster, her silhouette etched against the backdrop of a world ablaze. The air around her was alive with the dance of flames. Fire was a path she had walked, she had communed with its primal essence.
Fire, the great destroyer.
The heat was oppressive, the flames around her hungry and wild, but Yoisen remained calm.
She raised her hands, her fingers tracing ancient symbols in the air, each movement precise and deliberate. Yoisen's hands then gathered in an odd configuration. A heat haze of chakra grew around her.
The fire roared in agreement.
"Shinjutsu: Void Ember Fortress."
A dome of pure gold came to life around them, shimmering with inner fire. The fire was not wild, was not destructive. Controlled and purposeful, it was a barrier that stood as an obvious show of mastery.
Fire, the great preserver.
Golden flames sprang forth, encircling the dome.
It was a simple thing, hardly worthy of notice, when compared to the hellscape of chakra below.
Hanabi smiled. She powered down, only keeping her Mangekyō active, and her faith in the jutsu was obvious.
Karin took the time to breathe and restore herself as well. She didn't bother with inner layers of protection.
Down under the barrier, far below, a horde of hell warriors appeared. Greater Oni, hulking and fearsome, stepped forward with a ground-shaking thud.
Shikome weaved through the ranks, their eerie forms and relentless nature clearer now — Karin could feel their malevolence, its disturbing echo in the air.
Standing steadfast, the Niō Guardians radiated a sense of unyielding duty. Above, mighty dragons, soaring; their majestic forms casting vast shadows over the battlefield, their roars filled the air.
Gaki drifted among the chaos, and so did their haunting hunger. Karasu Tengu swooped in, their sleek forms slicing through the air with martial grace.
The barrier prevented any of them from closing in.
Neither could their flames, their weapons, their spells. Not while Yoisen stood channeling.
A voice boomed across the battlefield. It resounded, seemingly with the authority of the heavens.
"Mind Weavers, form the assault vanguard!"
Portals of dark light opened. Masked men and women stood behind the veil that separated both realms. Elite psychic troops that belonged to the Ring, and more than a few among them had been trained by Ino herself.
The horde turned, an infernal sea of malevolence, to face them. While the three other women were shielded, the newcomers weren't. Hellish fires gathered in between hands, paws, between fangs.
The faceless Mind Weavers only turned icy eyes on them.
Karin felt her skin tingle faintly. There was a power gathered there, a great one. As it should be — they likely had been sitting still for a little while now.
"Mind Weavers, direct!"
The portals of dark light opened wider, and Ino, clad in dark purple battle gear, became clearly visible, now. Her eyes seemed to be gleaming, and they held the same coldness as any of the others. All of that iciness was directed toward the troops below.
Troops who were now throwing themselves upwards, toward the opened portals.
"Mind Weavers, break them!"
With a mere order, the first rank of Infernals disintegrated, a psychic wave obliterating their essence.
The next instant, the first Oni started imploding. Followed by guardians.
The second wave faltered, their orbs of fire uncontrollable, erupting into a cataclysm of flame and flesh.
The third ranks turned against each other; friend became foe, foe became something they didn't notice anymore.
Their sheer numbers were turned against them in mere moments.
Calling it a chain reaction would be a fair thing, and it wasn't long before a large portion of the cavern was full of torn remains.
Hanabi noted all of it almost absentmindedly, as she continued her search, eyes peering impossibly into places no one had reached before.
"Any particular reason you look worried?" Karin, focused on the task at hand, asked Yoisen as the carnage continued. She had seen the advanced version of the Shinranshin jutsu before, hadn't she…?
Yoisen continued to stare at the broken remnants of the armies down below, who now were doing their best to teach themselves apart. And she thought of who had made them do so.
"…No." Yoisen said. "No reason at all. I… will open the barrier for Ino."
As though she could hear her thoughts, Hanabi snorted.
"…Please focus on finding the source of Enma's connection, Hanabi." Yoisen said. "If it even exists."
"Of course."
Enma-daiō, King of Hell, stepped toward Uzumaki Naruto.
Slowly, carefully.
Uzumaki Naruto, Deathless, did the same.
Slowly, carefully.
Like two predators eying sizing each other up. And finding the other wanting. Enma saw a human who had bitten off much more than he could chew. Relatively powerful, certainly.
Uzumaki Naruto seemed to take all of the King of Hell in with a single glance. And his eyes turned disinterested, once more. If anything, he was looking past him, already.
Enma bared his teeth in a silent snarl. The time for thought was long gone. Especially now, with his domain under attack.
Fire and blood gathered, a brilliant lance of ghastly power.
With a bellow that shook the foundations of Naraka, Enma swung his massive axe, an embodiment of his rage, of his power, determined to obliterate the insolent mortal before him.
Uzumaki Naruto threw himself under it with practiced ease, sliding along the fiery ground. Enma raked his claws against the very air, and five red marks shimmered into life.
The ground beneath him, ablaze with Enma's hellfire, didn't seem to hold the other man down.
The quintet of burning trails composed the Sigils of Binding, ancient symbols that sought to latch onto their target's soul and rend it apart.
Uzumaki, aware of the impending danger, shifted with precision. His form blurred, a mere electric shadow weaving through the onslaught of fiery sigils. With each graceful dodge, the distance between him and the snarling demon king fluctuated; proximity, evasion, proximity—
Enma's command over the underworld was absolute, and he tapped into its forbidden depths. Chains, forged from the bones of betrayers and the tears of the forsaken, burst from the ground. They writhed like serpents, each link cursed with the anguish of the damned, seeking to ensnare Uzumaki and drag him into an abyss from which there was no return.
"Chains, now?"
Uzumaki Naruto, his gaze still infuriatingly serene, anticipated their trajectory. He leaped, spun, and twisted, his body a conduit of thunder. Turning the deadly dance into an art form. The chains, unable to grasp even a thread of his cloak, clattered uselessly back into the earth.
Enma stared without making a sound.
"So." Uzumaki Naruto said casually. "How do you want to do this?"
With a bellowed incantation, Enma summoned the Hellfire Tsunami, a wave of infernal flames, a cataclysmic force that consumed everything in its path.
The air crackled with the heat of a thousand suns, the very atmosphere alight with the fury of the King of Hell.
Enma could swear he saw something divine.
But it was a mere sword being swung. Whatever it was that Uzumaki did, it was too fast to be seen.
But it cut right through the torrent, splitting it in the middle.
With the barest shift in stance, Uzumaki met the falling waves that sought to fill the hole. He moved with what seemed an intuitive understanding of them.
A sigh came through. "Bureaucrats."
As the flames subsided, Uzumaki stood unscathed, untouched by the hellish onslaught. It took Enma longer that he would have liked to understand two things:
One. The battle wasn't going well for him.
Two. He had been grabbed in a powerful hold. Uzumaki Naruto's hand was still firmly wrapped around the King of Hell's heavy brow, coursing with lightning, as he dragged him through magma.
He was grinning, Enma was nearly sure of it.
The King of Hell was then thrown unceremoniously.
Uzumaki's left hand tensed, flying through seals with practiced ease, faster than a thought. White lightning crashed into Enma from seemingly every direction, sending him staggering.
With a roar of rage, Enma stood up to his full height, slamming his foot down—
On nothing.
An electrified sword slammed into his flank, slicing through toughened flesh like butter.
It was beautiful, this dance of blue, white and purple. Something nearly divine—
Enma whirled around and his axe cleaved through Uzumaki's face… No. Through nothing but a lightning remnant that made the King of Hell spasm painfully.
And then, there was a rising kick.
He thought it was one, at least. It sent him soaring high up in the air. Uzumaki was already above him, wreathed in purple light. An axe kick came directly down on Enma's face, burying him into the lava that was his domain.
Enma came out of it, roaring.
He leaped away, like a cornered beast, when he noticed how close he was.
"Now." Uzumaki Naruto said, and his footsteps echoed in the cavernous hell. "I'm sure Hanabi keeps on insisting it's an incomplete technique. I think it's enough. And you never answered me, so I'll have to decide for you anyway."
A snarl seemed to have been carved into Enma's face.
Uzumaki Naruto let go of his ōdachi. Half of its deadly blade buried itself into the molten rock.
Uzumaki's hand lifted. Enma tensed, readying himself for the mortal to pull an artifact from thin air.
Time stretched, long, languid and tense.
Uzumaki showed the uncomprehending King of Hell three fingers, splaying them wide for him to see.
"A warning is only fair." Naruto said softly. "I'm going to end this in three moves."
Enma blinked.
Rage resumed with a violence.
The mortal, however, was gathering untold amounts of power. Enma's very realm trembled.
The fury soon left him, or rather, it became only startling clarity:
The only recourse was to match it, to harness every shred of his infernal might.
Uzumaki's power continued to rise, breaking past what Enma had thought possible from him.
The air around him didn't break, it quivered. It was the promise of an imminent thunderstorm, an invisible maelstrom gathering.
A blinding explosion of light erupted from him, spiraling outwards, the living embodiment of a lightning storm, with a supposed mortal at its eye, commanding its fury.
For a moment, Enma felt uneasy.
He quashed the doubt beneath the weight of his resolve.
Then, with a ferocious roar that shook the very hells, he summoned forth a torrent of fire and blood. It rose like a primal scream from the magma, a furious conflagration that blazed with his wrath.
Their auras seemed to clash.
The sky overhead darkened as a colossal whirlpool manifested; colors that words could scarcely describe swirled within its depths — electric blues melded seamlessly with haunting purples, while scintillating reds and oranges collided with flashes of brilliant white.
The vortex seemed like a bridge, connecting disparate dimensions, warping the rules of time and space around its chaotic swirl. Blue seemed to take over slightly, encroaching upon red.
Flickers of arcane symbols and ancient sigils dance sporadically within its depths. The atmosphere surrounding the vortex was thick with Yin energy, a pressure that weighed heavily on Enma, and part of this energy, in particular, didn't feel like Uzumaki Naruto's power.
Enma felt the same uneasiness return.
Enma braced himself, mustering his infernal energies. His form radiated with dark flames and demonic might, and he squared his monstrous shoulders, gripping his axe tightly.
"Unleash your fury, then! Come at me with all that you have, UZUMAKI NARUTO—"
The electric aura disappeared.
All of the power that Uzumaki Naruto had built up was gone.
For a single, treacherous moment, Enma thought that the mortal had messed up. That his body had simply been unable to hold the power. What he was sure of was that the man was now vulnerable. Even then...
The same uneasiness.
Uzumaki Naruto laughed.
As if coming from a far, far distance, Enma heard a deep rumble.
It couldn't be. The Wheel of Samsara was safe.
No.
It couldn't be, could it…?
Naruto only smiled.
He hoped it was a placid smile. Because it was a stark contrast to how he felt about this place. Perhaps Yoisen and Karin could not remember it fully, if at all.
But he had been truly alive for all of it. He could.
"The moral judge of karma…?" He asked the stunned Enma evenly. "That's a mantle you wear proudly, don't you? All I see is another jailer of souls. Someone who had the opportunity to grant peace to anyone, or the rest of oblivion, but instead chose to condemn anyone with regrets to an endless dance within Naraka, within the cycle of Samsara.
"Without ever telling them why they're here at all. A child playing a cruel game of which only he knows the rules, under the pretense of fairness."
The veneer of calmness had faded from his face rather quickly. But then again, finding and breaking Enma's connection to the mortal realms had been their main goal in coming here. He was mostly done.
His shattering facade of calm gave way to righteous fury.
"Sixteen hells, each a grotesque gallery of torment!" He declared, his voice a thunderous crescendo.
Enma's eyes fell upon him. Naruto could remember his dread, coming here for the first time. Not today. The King of Hell's ancient voice boomed. "That is this place's purpose! To instruct—"
Naruto cut through his words like a scythe. "And what enlightenment does this place grant anyone? How is this... this world of pain supposed to help?!"
"Even the harshest suffering is impermanent!" Enma's form was a towering inferno of divine conviction.
"That's your idea of a lesson?! To be trapped here, for a period proportional to their karma…? Thousands, millions, billions of human years before the chance of rebirth?!" Naruto roared. "All under your vigilant gaze, Enma!"
"That is right, I suppose you don't need me to explain that notion, do I…?"
There was fire in Naruto's stomach, but he pushed it aside.
"Enough." Naruto said dismisively. "I knew I wouldn't get anything from speaking to you. I only came here to offer trapped souls liberation from you."
"For your own interests."
"Hardly."
The air between them crackled.
"Without the Wheel, the cycle will break, and chaos will reign upon the mortal worlds." Enma's voice thundered, reverberating through the darkened void like a tempest. "Not yours, perhaps, but other realms'. You meddle in affairs far beyond your understanding."
"That's always been your refrain." Naruto countered. "I think I see it clearer, now."
"You don't." Enma said snidely. "You only see the surface. The Wheel is... was the great balancer, steering souls through the crucible of suffering, refining them for their ultimate ascension."
"Suffering was your method, never the mandate." Naruto stepped forward. "I offer you another option."
He saw the flicker of understanding in Enma's eyes.
"Circumstances in life will matter. No punitive hells, and only an immediate chance at rebirth for the worthy. Eternal slumber or an actual wish to change for the better for the rest. A desire to be judged again." He said. "That is the very essence of your soul's ability, isn't it…? Yes, I think you should fit this role admirably." A dark smile played across his lips. "How would you like it?"
Naruto motioned with his hand. "Picture it. The great Enma-daiō, my very own Wheel of morality."
Ah. That did it.
Enma roared.
"Your words are empty!" The King of Hell spat. "And you're vulnerable. Do you think I do not realize there is a delay between successive activations of your technique?!"
Naruto smiled, remained unfazed. "That much is true."
Enma pointed a massive finger at him. "I will obliterate you before the next."
"And yet here you are, stopping to have a chat with me." Naruto chuckled lowly. "Your priorities are all messed up."
Enma's laugh was a low, menacing rumble, full of dark confidence. "You've stepped into the lion's den, little fox, and no amount of cunning will save you now."
Naruto knew, from the feeling in the air, that he couldn't simply appear out of here. Then again, he hadn't intended to do so.
Enma's hand rose.
Something shimmered into existence.
A spectral entity, shrouded in an ethereal cloak, materialized before Naruto. There was something haunting about its form, about the knife clenched between its ghostly teeth.
Naruto's gaze sharpened, a sense of recognition dawning. This entity stirred memories of vulnerability, blood, and the acrid scent of smoke. Something about… foxes?
The new entity smiled with a hollow gaze, taking its place next to Enma.
It grinned, something not quite like a voice resonating like the distant echoes of a forgotten crypt—
In a fluid motion, Naruto's hands rose, channeling a surge of power.
Black lightning crackled around his sword, a manifestation of immense strength. With a swift, effortless gesture, he released the bolt. It struck the being with ferocious intensity, reducing it to mere wisps of smoke.
Strike first, ask questions later. Sakura and Hanabi's motto.
"Who was that…?" He wondered aloud.
The answer didn't matter.
Enma was waiting. Ah, no. He was standing entirely still.
"…What." The King of Hell growled. "Did you just do? Do you even understand—"
"I thought you were about to kill me." Naruto said, his stance relaxed. "Well, that's two moves, already."
"How dare you?!" The air crackled with the residue of his power. He hefted his axe, a monstrous silhouette against the swirling chaos, his power pulsating like a storm about to break.
The domain around Enma expanded, a suffocating shroud of malevolence.
"Oh…?" Naruto asked slowly. "Are you sure you really want to do this…?"
"You cannot withstand my full might within my own realm." Enma said, low and angry. "Not without your own to shield you."
"No." Naruto interrupted, a razor-sharp edge creeping into his tone. "I was asking whether you really wished to seal off any potential prying eyes?"
Enma, in his fury, barely halted. "What does it matter now?"
Naruto's lips curled into a knowing smile. "No… perhaps it doesn't matter much." He conceded, his hand moving to the hilt of a blade unseen. The air shimmered; light and shadow.
"Let's call it a test drive." Naruto's eyes locked onto Enma.
"Born of the divine Amenonuhoko…"
As the battle raged on and the cavern echoed with the fury of war, Ino watched, her eyes sharp and focused.
Her own eyes, that was. Even filtered through Hanabi's mind, the visual input she received from her wife never made any sense — at all.
Not the colors or the shades and tones she perceived that didn't exist in a normal, Rinnegan-enhanced spectrum. Not the disorienting angles from which she perceived all things within her massive range, seemingly from nearly infinite viewpoints at once. Not the fact that there seemed to be a fourth, perhaps even a fifth dimension to the world when she did. Not the impossible precision.
Any of these aspects, taken alone, would have been enough to make Ino's brain feel as though it was working past its limits.
And all of them, together…? Yeah, no way. There was a reason Ino prevented Hanabi's vision from reaching any of the others when she synchronized them all.
That was without factoring in the odd bursts of future sight that Hanabi sometimes got. Those… Ino kept fully detailed in a file that was under frequent review.
How Hanabi handled it remained a mystery to Ino. How she handled it while moving as she did was a miracle.
Because the speed at which Hanabi killed legions of the ever-rising armies, down below, was something else. She was a hurricane of movement Ino could only perceive through her thoughts. There was an impossible grace to her every movement, she knew it well, although she didn't quite manage to see them in the first place.
Yoisen, on the other hand, Ino could usually see. And perhaps her grace as she flowed through forms was infuriating, like the woman herself usually was. It wasn't entirely surprising however: she had a lot of time to practice. Give Ino a thousand years or so and she had no doubt she'd be up there too. Although that also meant another thousand for the other woman, technically.
But she supposed it at least lent some credibility to Toru's new, enhanced list, as a pretty shitty silver lining. There were levels to these things. The two women fought at a similar enough level to belong to the same stupid tier. Karin lagged slightly behind, and it was something Ino could almost quantify in the numbers of fallen foes she had run through.
And unfortunately, that left her slightly behind, too. Large scale attacks were all good and well, especially against swarms of more vulnerable foes, until the moment came where she and her Mind Weavers were too exhausted to go on and she had to step upon the battlefield herself or retreat.
Today was such a day. After crushing the minds of wave after wave of the legions of Hell, Ino arrived by the others' side, temples already pulsating.
Together with Hanabi and Karin, they had located the Wheel. Naruto, that charming brute, had summoned enough raw power to seemingly level a world, and they had redirected it. Like one would redirect lightning to a rod that happened to be a sword they had prepared beforehand. Although the Wheel had been within a separate realm, they hadn't faced Nagato, years ago, only to be tricked yet again by a god who fought hiding the source of his power someplace else.
And so it was done. Adding their own power to it, the five of them had summoned a true eldritch storm and destroyed the Wheel of Reincarnation. Good job, heroes. Quite a productive day. Time to go home and eat something that wasn't coffee, get a nice head massage to counter hours of sitting still. Perhaps even get an almighty tyrant to do something nice for her, for once.
Karin, the closest amidst the chaos, danced a deadly ballet of destruction below; she was a whirlwind of chains and raw power. But even she, indomitable as she seemed, couldn't face the unending tide alone. Especially not as tired as she was.
That was why Ino went down to join her.
She underestimated the strength of their foes, however. Five minutes later, and she was fighting for her life, on the razor's edge.
An ungodly screech tore through the air, a sound of pure malice and hunger. Another Shikome, more ferocious and cunning than the rest, lunged from the shadows, its claws aimed directly at Karin.
The attack was sudden, a blur of motion aimed at her unprotected back.
Ino lunged through shadows.
…Ah. That was a bad idea, in retrospect.
She only caught the faintest shift in the air, the slightest disturbance that spoke of impending doom. Time seemed to slow as she leaped forward and out.
There was something with her, down within the shadows.
More of the Shikome, rising with her. Ino fell out of the darkness with a curse, and already felt as though she had been torn to shreds. Her right arm was a ribbon of flesh, and she felt too mentally exhausted to even exert a strong mental push to seize the creatures. Fire, then?
"Ino!" Karin shouted, her voice cutting through the cacophony like a beacon. The warning was clear, urgent.
Ah. Ino realized it now. She had reacted on instinct when she saw Karin seemingly in danger, as though she couldn't handle herself. As though such an attack would have managed to do much to her. Stupid of her, really, she thought.
Karin spun around, her eyes widening as she saw more shadows rise around Ino. But it was too late for her to react, too late to summon her chains to her defense. She tried anyway.
Just as the Shikome's darkened claws were about to tear through Ino, there was another shift to the air.
An unusually strong spirit-forged weapon, strong with the essence of fire, cut through the air nine times. The blade, to Ino's senses, shimmered with a light that was both ethereal and fierce, a contradiction that embodied its wielder's nature.
The blade was driven forward, intercepting the last of the Shikome's attacks with a force that sent shockwaves through their general area. The creature let out a howl of pained rage as the blade pierced through it, carrying a fire so pure, so devastating that it consumed even a hellish creature in just a moment.
The blade wielder didn't stop there. With a fluidity that spoke of years of training and thousands of battles fought, she twisted her body and kicked the split remains of another creature away, sending it hurtling into the latest abyss that Karin had conjured. The Shikome's scream was a fading echo as it fell, its body disintegrating into ash before it even reached the lava below.
Ino, who was unnervingly still, looked at Yoisen. There was a mix of emotions she wasn't sure how to define running through her mind. That would come later, she knew. Karin, seeing it all happen, nodded in relief, before turning back swiftly to her own battle.
Yoisen, her breathing steady despite her obvious exhaustion, merely nodded.
"…I think you just missed your chance to make it look like an accident." Ino breathed out.
Surprise passed through the other woman's eyes, before it was replaced by wry amusement.
"This wouldn't feel very satisfying." Yoisen admitted. "Perhaps another time?"
Ino tried to speak, but her body was on fire. Had she been poisoned, perhaps…? She would have to heal herself, in any case. She dragged weary eyes open.
Yoisen was holding her hand out.
"…Thanks." Ino croaked out, grabbing it.
"It's what we do." Yoisen said, her voice calm but carrying an unyielding resolve. "We protect each other. Don't we?"
"...I suppose so."
Healing fires spread from Yoisen's hand, and Ino welcomed their slightly (more than slightly) painful burn, her own resolve reigniting.
"...I'll support you this time, then." Ino said. "A direct tether. Come close."
Yoisen smiled slightly. "…Don't go digging around too much."
Ino snorted, forming a tangible connection as a slightly blue wisp of light emerged. She sensed Yoisen's healing factor intertwining with her own, amplifying it. Their chakra merged, enhancing each other's strength and speed, making both of them more formidable.
Together, back to back, they turned to face the horde, a united front against the darkness.
The battle was far from over, of course.
But she could feel the other woman's strength, Fire meeting Fire. She knew that many things she could do, Ino couldn't. And the opposite held true, as well. Perhaps they could help each other out, just for today.
"…You really went easy on me last time, did you not?"
Yoisen turned to face her, in slight surprise. "I could say the same."
They moved in perfect synchrony, a near unstoppable force. Yoisen would dart forward, sword flowing through perfect forms, striking with surgical accuracy, unleashing powerful blasts of flame, destroying, protecting. Ino would use her mental prowess to anticipate attacks for both, counter them whenever there was an opening. As one would strike, the other would defend, their energies interlacing, amplifying. And when Yoisen's flames roared, Ino used the distraction to infiltrate the minds of their foes, turning the tide fully in their favor.
Together, they cut through swathes of them, each move leading seamlessly into the next; two temporary halves of a new whole, fire and mind united against the legions of hell.
Proof that even the most unlikely of partnerships could form a bond of battle.
Less than two minutes after the two of them began truly fighting together for the first time outside of training, they managed to reach Karin.
Less than five minutes after the two of them began truly fighting together for the first time outside of training, the ceiling of Enma's domain shattered into shards of white light.
There was only one thought racing through Ino's mind, as she watched her husband remove his sword from the King of Hell's gut.
'I'm pretty sure that qualifies as a god, after all.'
Enma/Plans
"...and that's going to be our plan." Naruto concluded, pointing at the projected board behind him. He read the words again, for good measure. "Beat him, split him."
Orochimaru sighed and left the room.
"I like it." Hanabi nodded.
"...Will Enma continue to pass judgment?" Sasuke inquired with more than a hint of skepticism.
"Yes." Naruto said. "But fairly, this time. Once we're done, that is. There's an innate aspect to him that we can make use of. Something he can't resist. There won't be any more torture down there, however. Instead, a purgatory awaits sinners until they've redeemed themselves or opt for eternal slumber."
"If it doesn't work?"
"Then, plan B." Naruto shrugged. "We put a puppet ruler of Hell in place."
"Are you not planning to usurp hell's throne when you descend?" Toru probed.
"I'm not intending on dying or staying there at all." Naruto said irritably. "And perhaps when I do die of boredom, in countless millennia, reading one of your comics, I will choose to sleep. It's not like people from the Rings will have to go through this, anyway. Only the ones from worlds parallel to our original one."
"Isn't he a bit too powerful to be controlled…?" Sakura questioned, her brow furrowed.
"If at full power, perhaps." Ino acknowledged. "But his power is tied to his role and dominion. Once we fragment him, his strength will fortify the Soul Realm, not dominate it. He'll become a cog in the machinery."
"Can he… rebel or regain his old position?" Sasuke pressed, his skepticism more evident. He glanced at Naruto. "We've had some trouble with that, in the past."
"No." Hanabi replied firmly. "The very essence of his being will be altered. He'll be bound by new laws, ones that even he can't break. His self-awareness will still be there, but his dominion will be effectively nullified."
"What if someone tries to free him, then?" Toru asked, eyes narrowed.
"Orochimaru's not even going to be here." Karin said easily, eliciting a chuckle from Toru.
"The binding is going to be intricate, beyond just physical or even spiritual." Naruto said. "Intertwined with his core and the realm's fabric. Unraveling him would mean unraveling the Soul Realm itself. Pretty difficult to do, considering it has been reinforced countless times. Besides, he's lost his allure. Shall we?"
Enma/Present
Hanabi watched as her husband juggled the King of Hell's soul in his hand.
The armies had stopped rising the moment Enma was defeated, the moment all that remained of him was this compact orb.
HOW COULD THIS BE?
Naruto shrugged. "You guys' fault for leaving dangerous toys around."
ARE YOU PROUD? The soul asked, sounding as though it were gritting its nonexistent teeth. A CYCLE OLDER THAN HUMAN HISTORY ITSELF, BROKEN—
"Pretty sure you're lying." Hanabi said, taking the time to analyze Enma's soul. It was rare for them to have any time at all with them. It was rare for them to see any kami in the open by now, as well. "Or just exaggerating."
Ino and Yoisen moved closer. That Ino was not currently glaring at her surprised Hanabi some. Karin grinned at them, but hid it when Ino glared at her instead.
"Shall we go or do it here?" Karin chose to ask.
YOU SHALL DO NO SUCH THI—
In this weakened form, it was all too easy for Ino to erect a sound barrier around the soul.
"You're welcome." She said.
"We're doing it here. Right now." Naruto smiled at them. He glanced at Karin, but saw no recognition in her eyes as she stared at Enma. In Yoisen, there was some, if that. "It's a shame Sakura and Toru—"
As he said the words, Toru appeared, followed by Sakura and Sasuke. Naruto stared at him.
"What?" Toru asked, raising both hands. "It's not my fault, actually. Sasuke and Ghostgirl were simply too slow—"
"Shut the fuck up." Sakura said.
"We at least didn't choose the worst moment to lock ourselves inside an illusion battle." Sasuke said.
"For real?" Toru scowled. "From you? You would have done the same. You just got lucky enough not to match any strong flame wielder—"
"Toru. Did you put a trigger on your name?" Ino asked slowly. "On us?"
"I didn't." Toru refuted hotly. "How many times do I have to say it? It would be dumb as—"
"That's why she's asking." Hanabi offered.
"Fuck you — The barrier here fell, that's it. I'm sure you and Naruto made a royal mess of things down here."
"They didn't." Karin said proudly. "All went well, now we only have to make that dick Enma our thrall for eons."
Toru glanced at the others. "Hanabi and Naruto were with you. Nothing ever goes right with them."
"…I nearly got myself killed." Ino admitted. Toru idly wondered whether it was too early to seem victorious, considering the matter at hand, as well as the fact that she was entirely safe now. "…But it wasn't either of their fault." Toru sighed.
Sakura paused. "…You?"
"…Later." Ino said, glancing at Yoisen, who didn't seem to react in any way.
"Later." Naruto said, raising his hand in spite of his concern. They needed to focus, right now, as cold as it sounded. There were three simultaneous sentences about him not being their boss, which he ignored.
Ino lifted the sound bubble. "Well, that's going to be a bit of a band-aid solution."
"Agreed." Naruto said. "It still beats eternal torture… or sending the worst humans into the Pure Lands. Say, would you happen to know who's in charge of them, Enma?"
I AM THE KING OF HELL, INSTRUMENT OF JUDGMENT. CHANNEL MY WRATH FOR YOUR OWN ENDS AT YOUR RISK. TRY AND USE ME AS FUEL FOR YOUR AMBITIONS, BUT KNOW THAT A SINGLE MISSTEP WILL BE ENOUGH FOR ME TO REAR BACK. I SHALL DEVOUR YOU. MUCH LIKE THE FLAMES CONSUME THE EARTH, I AM FATED TO UNRAVEL ALL—
"Thought so."
Enma/Story
As tales do, the story spread, across villages and vast cities, from north to south to east and west, by word of travelers, gossip and whispering wind. As tales do, the story morphed with each retelling.
Enma, the King of Hell, had been obliterated by the heroes, disappearing without a trace. No, he had been imprisoned within the deepest chasm of his own dark realm. It was said he had been redeemed — no, he had been overthrown and now served under a new, human ruler — no, a fair ruler, a human-made intelligence — no, he had been transformed into a monument to his own defeat, a pillar supporting the very realm he once ruled with an iron fist. Surprisingly enough for a tale, it was a version very close to the truth that was usually believed.
On a day of thunder and wind, the domain of Enma became Man's.
On a day of thunder and wind and fire and earth, Enma bent the knee to what was and wasn't familiar.
Enma-daiō swore fealty to the Emperor of the Rings and his entourage, and for several worlds, life and death were changed forever.
Enma/Present
Sakura rapped on the glass that held one of Enma's fragments. The only response was a seething glare from within.
"Now's probably a good time to tell you the Soul King died, in that other world." Sakura decided.
Naruto spun towards her, astonishment etched on his face. "What—"
She offered a sheepish smile. "Sorry?"
"Is he suffering?" Sasuke asked. "Enma."
Ino shrugged. "Not really. He's conscious, but his… rage has been subdued."
"A pity." Sakura muttered under her breath.
Naruto continued to stare at her. Then, he sighed. "Any other questions, or were the first few hundred, back then, enough?"
"I'm good." Karin shrugged nonchalantly. "Should we check whether or not he has counterparts in parallel worlds, then?"
"We should." Naruto nodded. "And a sliver of him doing the talking will serve as a helpful little reminder of what awaits them if they don't comply. Now, as far as Enma knows, it's not the case, but—"
Their discussion was abruptly cut off by a powerful surge of chakra.
Every pair of eyes snapped towards the source, widening in collective disbelief.
A heavy silence fell over the group, and it was as though time itself had paused, each second stretching out interminably. Usually unflappable, most of them were momentarily frozen, their expressions somewhere between astonishment and wariness.
The only sound that could be heard was the faint hum of chakra emanating from the newcomer.
Naruto, who was usually quick with a scathing retort or a half-assed plan, simply stared. His eyes flickered with emotions that were hard to decipher, and it was a rare sight to see him at a loss for words. The others exchanged uncertain glances, too. For a moment, there was no strategy, no forward motion — just this collective pause.
"…Really? Now, of all times?" Naruto finally muttered, shaking his head slightly as disbelief gave way to resignation. "You've always had the worst timing."
"I have my reasons. And questions."
Sasuke and Yoisen were too stunned to respond, so Naruto, crossing his arms, warily addressed the newcomer.
"…Go on, then."
"Indra." The man said. "No. Naruto."
"That's more like it," Naruto responded with a restrained edge. "Hagoromo." He said. Then, he snorted. "Considering your flair for the dramatic, I half-expected you to bring some—"
Before he could finish, the air pulsed as chakra manifested visibly around the Sage.
Naruto groaned.
The Sage was not alone anymore. Figures materialized, two unfamiliar but bearing a resemblance to Toru. Included were a former Suna shinobi, Uchiha Fugaku, and a woman who could only be Karin's mother. Present too were another red-haired couple, along with Inoichi, Hyūga Neji, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Naruto's own parents. Kakashi, too.
Many set their intense gazes on Naruto, the Sage of Six Paths among them.
"…Blackmail." Naruto finished with a flat expression. "Ah, I see. It's an intervention, then."
lensdump:
i/3wA9kZ : On Meeting the Sage