A/N: This story is rated M for mature content and may not be suitable for children.
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Chapter 6: Three Way Battle
Naruto vs Sukuna vs Mahoraga [Shibuya]...
Naruto and Sukuna clashed in a series of punches and kicks. The blonde jujutsu sorcerer was not all that surprised by how physically strong the king of curses is, considering he's possessing the body of Yuji, a human with a superhuman body. So when they were exchanging blows, Naruto quickly realized he was at a disadvantage.
It was only thanks to Queen's ability to cancel the curse energy that protected him from taking any serious damage.
"Where is all that confidence you had earlier," Sukuna exclaimed with a wicked smile as he punched Naruto in the gut.
"Don't get carried away, you bastard," Naruto replied as he grabbed Sukuna's hands, Queen's fist, covered in her curse energy, slammed into the King of Curse's face, sending him flying.
Naruto knew that if he didn't act fast, he would lose the battle and maybe even his life. So he summoned his other Cursed Corpses, specifically Rook and Knight, his shield and sword.
The two cursed corpses attacked Sukuna to keep him busy, so the blonde could come up with a plan. From what he saw earlier, Sukuna didn't only have his invisible slash attacks; he was also able to somehow replicate the Volcano Curse Spirit's curse technique.
It's usually impossible to use more than one curse technique, as they can fry your brain. However, Maki once mentioned a student in her class who travels and can copy curse techniques.
Naruto was unsure if Sukuna could copy Curse Techniques and bring them to the highest level, or whether his original Curse Technique wasn't the invisible slashing attacks as people had thought.
The Uzumaki watched as Sukuna fought his Curse Corpses with ease, Knights were launching a hail of blades at the King of Curse and he just used his Slash Attack to cut those blades into pieces, thankfully Rook's shields seemed to somewhat protect them from Sukuna's attacks.
Then there is another big problem, Naruto turned his head to see Mahoraga speeding toward him, the Shinigami with the ability to adapt to any phenomenon.
"Troublesome," Naruto said to himself, and Queen, who was by his side, looked at him in amusement.
"What is the plan," Queen asked. "I don't think we can beat both Mahoraga and Sukuna at the same time."
"I don't have a plan, but I want to buy time for everyone to evacuate the area." Naruto stated. "We aren't going to stick around here much longer. Maki and Mai are almost far enough away."
"So we're going to run away," the queen said with a frown on her face. She was a proud being and the idea of retreating from an enemy was almost unimaginable.
"That's not how I'd put it, but yes," Naruto replied. "This battle has no meaning, and I don't think we can win as we are now."
Naruto summons Pawn and has her get ready to battle Mahoraga long with Queen. Naruto plan to have Sukuna fight Mahoraga then the blonde will make his escape from the area before Sukuna could use his domain expansion.
Naruto knew that the only way Sukuna could defeat Mahoraga was through his domain, that was the main reason Naruto didn't want to fight the King of Curses right now. The blonde knew that his domain was inferior to Sukuna's, so he wouldn't win if they fought.
"Pawn promote yourself to a queen," Naruto ordered. "Queen get ready for battle."
Naruto called back Rook and Knight who were keeping Sukuna busy to conserve curse energy. At the moment, he would need only Queen and Pawn.
Mahoraga made his presence felt on the battlefield as the shikigami rushed at the blonde, like a raging bull, destroying everything in its path.
"Let's move," Naruto stated, using Pawn's ability to "Flash" them out of harm's way. That's why Naruto decided to use Pawn. With its ability, they can instantly move around at high speed.
Mahoraga was on them in a few seconds, but Pawn used Flash to make them once more. It was a game of cat and mouse, but Naruto knew eventually the Shikigami might adapt some ability to counter Pawn's ability. However, that would not be an issue as long as he had Queen.
The Uzumaki was also keeping his eyes on Sukuna, who was lazily watching their battle with Mahoraga. It seemed as if he were waiting to see who would win; then the king of curses would fight the victor.
"Queen, we're going to have to do that," Naruto said to his most powerful Cursed Clone.
Queen instantly knew what her master meant and had a wicked smile on her face as she saw him summon his king piece. Unlike the other piece, the king piece wasn't humanoid; it could amplify the power of others, and that's what Naruto was going to do with Queen.
A dark, violent aura surrounded Queen as her body started to transform. Her body, which looked the same age as Naruto, began to mature into a woman in her prime. Her horns also grew twice their size.
"That felt good," Queen exclaimed as she launched herself at the incoming shikigami. The two clashed in an explosive deployment. Naruto could see Sukuna watching the battle with interest. This was perfect.
Naruto didn't know if Mahoraga could adapt to Queen's ability that cancels out curse techniques, which should include the shikigami's adaption ability.
Queen seems to have the upper hand as Mahoraga couldn't harm her. Besides her ability to cancel curse techniques, the curse corpse was physically strong. He would compare her to Tsunade from his previous life.
"Now then shall I see if I can get Yuji to wake the fuck up" Naruto stated as Pawn flashed them in front of Sukuna. Rook and Knight were re-summoned by his side and ready for battle.
"So you want to fight brat," Sukuna said, making Naruto laugh because he remembered how similar Kurama had been when they first met.
The King of Curse didn't take it kindly and attacked the blonde with his curse technique, an invisible blade flying at Naruto. However, Rook stepped forward and took the attack with his shield.
"It seems that your attacks are really powerful," Naruto stated as he saw the damage Rook's shield took. Rook's shield is powerful enough to tank attacks from special-grade attacks.
"Well, I guess I'll have to give him an upgrade," Naruto stated as he summoned his King piece and used it on Rook, Knight, and Pawn.
The power of the three curse corpses skyrocketed as their appearance changed slightly. Rook lost his armor, becoming more muscular and using a shield. Purple energy swirled around him. He was shirtless, wearing only pants and shoes.
Knight armor also came off, but her sword remained. However, they changed too, as they gained veins that pulsed with power. She had on a small kimono.
Pawn's clothes didn't change all that much, but her spear had become smaller. Now, however, it felt as if it were exploding with power.
Sukuna looked at the lineup with a wicked grin; he fired another barrage of invisible blades, but to his surprise, a purple barrier shaped like a cube stopped them.
Next, Knight attacked Sukuna with her sword, and the King of Curses dodged the attack and retaliated with his curse technique. However, Knight cut the invisible blades with her sword and cut Sukuna's right hand off.
"Now this is interesting," Sukuna stated, having already regrown his hand and continuing the fight with Rook and Knight. "I wonder how long you can keep using that power."
There it is: the weakness of his king piece; it burns through his curse energy like nothing else; the king of curses can see that instantly.
At most he can only manage to keep using the king piece for a few more minutes, but that's okay; he was just buying time so that enough people could escape out of the city. The blonde knew she could save everyone if she kept Sukuna and Mahoraga at bay for long enough.
"It seems so that it will look longer now," Naruto stated as he glanced at Queen fighting Mahoraga; it seemed his guess was correct: the shikigami can't adapt to his Curse Corpse ability.
His other pieces were holding their own against Sukuna, granted the King of Curses didn't have 100% of his power.
"I wish I could be out there fighting too," Naruto said to himself as he wanted to clash with Sukuna and Mahoraga but he had to fight this battle smartly. "If only I hadn't to worry about saving others."
"Why do you care if ants die," Sukuna asked, the curse spirit must have over heard him even though he was in battlefield "You will never become stronger if you keep holding yourself back for the sake of others."
"Maybe, but I refuse to become someone like you, who is hated by the world and is empty inside." Naruto replied, knowing from his memories of his previous life that people who live like Sukuna are never really happy. "Besides, one can never be truly strong unless they have something to protect."
"You are wasting your time. You know you can't defeat me. You used up most of your curse energy trying to save people you don't even know." Sukuna stated, feeling that Naruto's curse energy was almost gone.
"You're right, but I still have to try. If I let innocent people die when I could prevent it, I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror. ," Naruto stated with conviction.
"I didn't think you would be a fool like the brat (aka Yuji)," Sukuna said as Rook, Knight and Pawn started to disappear because Naruto's curse energy was almost gone.
"Ha ha ha, so I am a fool huh? I'd rather be a fool all my life than someone who lives without any meaning." Naruto said to the King of Curse. "You must have lived a lonely life waiting for your death."
"I never once felt lonely," Sukuna answered. "Now die."
As soon as the word left the King of Curse's lips, he activated his Curse Technique, intending to cut the now-powerless blonde into pieces. But before his attack could hit, Naruto disappeared, and in his place was a new figure.
The new figure was a beautiful woman with green hair and eyes. She took Sukuna's attack and was cut to pieces. Instead of dying, she split into vines and escaped underground.
"That was the brat's plan," the King of Curse said to himself, "Well played."
Sukuna didn't have time to ponder on the escaped figure as Mahoraga was in front of him, ready to cut the King of Curses in half.
Naruto reappeared outside Shibuya with Maki and Mai looking worried as they had been waiting for him to arrive so they could escape, with one last glance at the city, the blonde and his lovers swiftly left the area to avoid getting caught up in the battle between Mahoraga and Sukuna.
Fast Forward [Two Weeks Later]...
Kyoto Jujutsu High...
Just like Naruto predicted, Sukuna had destroyed Shibuya, but because he stalled for time, many people were saved as they evacuated the city when the destruction began.
Yuji, Sukuna's vessel position as a sorcerer had been revoked, and an execution order was placed for him. Masamichi Yaga was given the death penalty for some bullshit charges, but Naruto knew it was just a way the higher-ups were abusing their power to find out how to make curse corpses.
The only reason they didn't come after him is that he is a special-grade sorcerer. While he didn't defeat Sukuna or Mahoraga, he returned from battling them unharmed, so the higher-ups don't know the extent of his power and wouldn't attack him prematurely.
"Well, the shit really did hit the fan," Naruto stated as he trained with Mai and Maki.
"Focus more on fighting blondie," Maki said as she used her speed to get behind Naruto but Pawn appeared and deflected her fist with her godlike speed.
Mai started firing bullets at the blonde, one after another, but Rook blocked them. She loaded some special bullets that could penetrate curse energy and fired them. The bullet went through Rook's shield like a hot knife through butter.
"You two are getting stronger," Naruto stated, "but not strong enough."
The Uzumaki stated as he went on the attack, he got into a fist fight with Maki, who held her own but was slowly beaten by the blonde as he used his curse energy to enhance his muscles like the way Tsunade used to do with chakra, now that he didn't have a bijuu inside him messing up his control, he could use the technique without any issues.
It didn't take long for Naruto to bring Maki to the ground, with her hands broken and a bruise on her face from an earlier punch.
"One down," Naruto stated as he dodged a barrage of bullets, "and one to go."
Naruto kicked off the ground, leaving a crater, and he was in front of Mai in an instant. The young woman tried to defend herself with a knife, but it was knocked out of her hand and she received a chop to the making her lose consciousness.
The blonde Uzumaki dumped Mai on top of Maki. Naruto didn't enjoy going so hard on his girlfriends, but with the way things were going, they needed to get stronger sooner.
"I am going to get you for this," Maki said with unconscious Mai on top of her. "You didn't have to hit Mai so hard."
"You really are a doting sister, your arms are broken and you are worried about Mai." Naruto teased the woman. "This kind of training is necessary now; we have to be able to watch each other's backs."
"Do you think the higher upside will make a move against us?" Maki asked, knowing that the higher ups were corrupt. So if they could overthrow the others for themselves, they would.
"No, they wouldn't make a move just yet," Naruto stated. "But I get the feeling that there is more going on than we know, and we will need every ounce of strength we can get."
Silence fell upon the three as the future looked dark, but Naruto knew that no matter what came, he would be prepared for it.
Chapter End...
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A/N: This chapter was basically to show that while Naruto is powerful, he knows that in an all-out fight, he would lose to Sukuna. But he could have beaten Mahoraga. Next chapter begins with the Culling Games and Tengen gets introduced. Like and comment. Until next time, take care.
A/N: Check out my Pa-tre-on under username SaintGreenz for early access and exclusive content.
