Article IV: Rule of Subtle Influence
Kami can discreetly affect the physical world from their plane, particularly when invoking their domain-related powers. Inari-Kitsune, for instance, can create minor illusions and induce confusion in people without physically manifesting.
Contributor: Uchiha Jinsuke
"It appears Kami can subtly affect our world from their plane, especially through their domain-related powers."
Meeting of the Multiversal Council
February 12th, Year One of the Unification
Projection Set In Imperial Palace's Tomoe Room
Safe, R-Encrypted Copy
PRESENT
[…]
Arrivals:
Killer Bee, from World #5304 (Mai's Note to K,N: A world where the Jinchūriki allied to destroy Akatsuki, on Killer Bee's lead. Recruited by Toru-sama, who told me to take it up to you both in case of trouble.)
Uzumaki Naruto, from World #5304 (Shizune's Note to K,N: Killer Bee's partner in crime. Sometimes dubs himself N, but it seems to be sarcasm. Recruited by Toru-sama.)
Killer Bee, from World #07 (Shizune's Note to K,N: Recruited upon Kage's suggestion and approved by Toru-sama.)
Gaara, from World #07 (Shizune's Note to K,N: Recruited upon Kage's suggestion. Toru-sama disagreed vehemently, at first.)
[…]
Killer Bee (#5304): […] Why don't we just bomb them, bro?
Uzumaki Naruto (#5304): Damn it, Bee! We talked about this already. We can't just bomb the kami.
Killer Bee (#5304): It worked on Akatsuki, though.
Killer Bee (#07): And the moon, too, don't forget the flow, we made it right, changed the fight, a victory in sight.
Uzumaki Naruto (#5304): I think I'm going back to Konoha.
Gaara (#07): We can't just ignore a problem, hoping it will go away.
Uzumaki Naruto (#5304): Who said anything about ignoring? I'm just saying that brute force isn't the only […] solution!
Killer Bee (#5304): Yeah, sometimes a good ol' bomb is the solution!
Uzumaki Naruto (#5304): That's exactly the [problem], Bee! We need a strategy, not just [throwing bombs at things]!
Uchiha Toru (#01): Did you guys know that you were always my favorite?
Uzumaki Naruto (#5304): Yeah.
Gaara (#07): We must think, not just react. Consider the consequences of our actions.
Uchiha Toru (#01): […] Can't say the same of you, however, Sandman.
Gaara (#07): Did you say anything?
Uchiha Toru (#01): Nothing at all.
Killer Bee (#07): So what's the plan, man? What's the groove? How we gonna make our move?
Killer Bee (#5304): Alright, alright. No bomb, got it. But when it comes to the showdown, it's the rhythm of the fight we gotta blowdown!
"Get out of the Robot, Sara—… Shinji!"
Ikari Shinji was having a shit day.
Well, the bad days had started months ago, when his father had recalled him to Tokyo-Three. After three years of complete silence.
And knowing the man as he did, he had known for sure it wouldn't be a happy homecoming.
He had been proven right, time and time again.
And things had only become more disastrous, after that first meeting.
Angels, creatures from outer space, seemingly out to destroy Earth.
Evangelions, robots… No, man-made androids (hopefully), whose sole purpose was to fight these monsters.
And he had been chosen as one of the pilots.
Shinji didn't want to be here. He didn't want to be anywhere, in fact. He would rather be left alone.
Shinji didn't want to die. But if a car, an Angel… or Asuka were to kill him… Well, perhaps it wouldn't be the end of the world.
There he sat, submerged in liquid within the machine's entry plug, poised for another round of combat. He felt the same fear, the same apprehension. The same desire to run away.
The communication link opened.
"Shinji?" That was Misato, the operations director. "The target is coming in from the east. Are you ready?"
"…Yes."
"You and Asuka will have less than a minute of battery power. We will place you straight in the Angel's path — I'm sorry."
Shinji just nodded tiredly.
"…Okay."
Asuka was screaming something through the comlink, but Shinji knew this tone. And he didn't have the patience to listen to her goading today.
"I'm ready." He just said.
"Deploy the AT Field as soon as you're out." Misato said. "And remember, you have less than a minute—"
"We'll finish this in less than thirty seconds." Asuka boasted.
"Launch!"
His Eva was propelled through the launch exit; the world was a blur of rails.
The two Eva flipped through the air, seizing their Progressive Knives.
As they had been warned, the Angel was there, waiting in the distance. Its lumbering form — which was likely a misdirection — drawing closer to the city.
Shinji steeled his nerves. He—
There was a flash of light, not far from the angel.
The pale blue glimmer rose in what looked like watery wisps, rose and rose. And then a four armed Tengu stood next to the Angel. More of the wisps seemed to emanate from its gigantic pauldrons.
The Tengu howled at the sky.
Blue and orange light coalesced in front of his mouth, in what Shinji could only compare to a strange Godzilla imitation.
It compacted itself.
Then more light.
It compacted itself again.
Shinji thought the air seemed… heavier around him.
More light. It was compacted, too.
Then, silence.
Asuka shouted something at him, and forced his head — the Eva's head — down. A shrill sound, and an ominous buzzing were the only things Shinji could hear, besides the screams in his comlink.
There was a flash of white light, something so bright that it made the shadows seem as though they had been painted upon the real world.
Something shot forward, from the Tengu's mouth.
Something so fast that only the remnant of superheated steam it left in its wake allowed Shinji to see it had blown past the landscape at all.
The world and its colors… seemed to melt around the Angel.
Some of the smoke cleared and only the Tengu was left standing.
Shinji could only stare.
Where there had once been mountains was now nothing. They had been vaporized.
Asuka's confusion echoed his own.
"…What the hell?!"
And then the Tengu turned to face them, seemingly staring directly inside at…
(The worst part was that he could tell.)
Not at the Eva.
At them.
…
Shinji screamed when he saw a woman appear inside the entry plug he was in.
The Eva shut down immediately, leaving the plug dimly lit; only the backup lights were on, and their reddish light was terrifying today.
And then there was light, coming from her.
Shinji could only continue to let out a horrible scream, pushing and pulling helplessly at the Eva's induction levers. Nothing happened.
The woman's eyes were fixed on Shinji with a piercing intensity, her expression unreadable. She broke the tense silence with a question that sent shivers down his spine.
"Are you the one responsible for slaying a god?"
What.
"W-Who are you?!"
The woman's gaze seemed to bore into his soul as she scrutinized him, her expression betraying no emotion. The silence stretched.
"I am Yoisen, a human from another plane of existence. The god I speak of is one that could be such as the one we defeated in battle just now… only much more powerful."
Shinji's mind raced, trying to make sense of her words.
"N-No — We defeated other Angels before, but that's it."
The woman's golden eyes were fixed on him. "Nothing more…?"
"No!" He said quite shrilly.
"Are you lying, perhaps?" She tilted her head. "I have only come to seek answers, you will not be harmed."
He tried to recall the sort of event she was referring to. But his memories of the battles felt hazy right now, blurred by adrenaline and terror.
He was wondering, now. Could he have truly slain a god? Was this woman here for revenge or something more? Her eyes plunged into his and memories flashed by—
"…You were telling the truth, then." She nodded." So be it."
"I — I've just been trying to protect the people I care about — I'm so sorry —"
Her eyes softened.
"Worry not, child. You will not remember this encounter, if it helps."
She waved her hand and Shinji fell asleep.
…
"Found anything interesting?" Sakura asked.
Yoisen shook her head. "No. On your side?"
"Not much. The girl barely knew anything useful at all." Sakura shrugged. "The big wigs had some ambition, though. The one with glasses wanted to reunite with his dead wife, which might sound very moving and all… but he was pretty shitty. Anyway, they're reunited now. Permanently."
Yoisen let out a soft sigh.
"Well." Sakura shrugged. "Considering they were supposed to be the people who knew about what was going on, I guess we're done."
"…Nothing else?"
"There were also some guys who wanted to fuse themselves with robots to become pseudo-gods. Or melt humanity into some weird state of non-existence. Nothing too important."
"Are you certain?"
"More than sure, I'm Sa... — Yeah, that was the whole thing." Sakura nodded. "Are we leaving?"
Yoisen paused.
"I suppose we could take care of these remaining 'angels' before we leave, could we not?"
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Sakura grunted. "Again?! Do we look like a charity?"
…
Apparently, they did.
Sakura roared as her Susanoo pulled at both of the Angel's extremities. A satisfying tearing sound rang out as the thing's flesh gave out, and the spectral construct was soon drenched in a waterfall of blood.
…
The gleaming barriers these forsaken beings emitted was as annoying as ever.
Yoisen didn't let that prevent her from reducing the Angel to cinders, of course.
…
Yoisen watched in stunned disbelief as the Susanoo began eating the Angel's brains.
It wasn't anything she had seen before — and something she probably wished not to see again.
Sakura, or rather the Susanoo, gave her a thumbs up, too.
It was horrifying.
…
Sakura let out a tired sigh.
"Well, that sucked." She muttered. "Space again, really?"
"We can go away, now." Yoisen nodded, wiping the goo off from her blade.
"How did Hanabi even fuck it up so badly…?" Sakura grunted. "This had nothing to do with our objective. There were no—"
"…I suppose the creatures might be seen as cosmic gods here." Yoisen said patiently.
Sakura growled.
"Whatever." She said. "Let's get out of here."
Tokyo-3 saw its strangest morning since the Second Impact.
It all happened over two days.
The insidious plots of Ikari Gendō and SEELE were brought to light and their grand designs of inducing the Human Instrumentality Project had apparently been thwarted overnight.
The last of the mysterious and destructive Angels were confirmed eradicated.
Rei said something about choosing the path of selfhood, affirming her desire to exist as an independent being rather than a replaceable entity, and Shinji was not entirely sure what she was talking about, as of now. It sounded great, however.
And it inspired him, somehow.
With his dad seemingly gone, while there was a part of him that would always wonder what had happened to him, and what it had to do with this blurry memory of a white-haired woman…
There was also a huge weight off his shoulders, too.
Ikari Shinji decided he might give life another chance after all.
Misato emerged as a pillar of strength in the wake of this chaos. With Ritsuko's help, they took over NERV, and vowed to safeguard humanity.
Misato and Kaji got married two years later and filed for divorce one year after that. They never actually split, however.
As the morning sun bathed the city in its warm glow, Shinji, looking out at the horizon... found a reason to smile, to hope.
It was a morning filled with the promise of peace and the optimism of a new beginning.
Also, Asuka went to therapy.
The Others
Dearest Friend,
I trust that this letter finds you well.
As always, I am eager to hear of the latest happenings in Umi and to learn from the worldly changes.
Today, I write to you with news of the astounding technological advancements that have been achieved in the world we have just departed from.
As I pen this letter, I cannot help but marvel at the ingenuity some of these societies have made, and I believe you too will be intrigued by these innovations.
One of the most notable developments is the widespread implementation of artificial intelligence in the form of supercomputers.
Unlike other computers, these three were built with personalities, often leading them to reach different conclusions when presented with the same issue.
Advancements in virtual and augmented reality have transformed the way the people from that world interact with their surroundings and with one another.
[…]
I must confess that I always suspected you to be a skilled cook, and your recent account has only served to confirm my intuition. It is now the early hours of morning, and rather than returning to slumber, I find myself ruminating on the delightful dishes you have described.
I can almost taste the potatoes, flavored with butter and garlic, and hear the enticing sizzle of the meat.
Perhaps I am simply hungry.
Reflecting on my present company's… culinary tastes, and the purely transmuted diet we've been subsisting on, I am filled with frustration.
Tomorrow, wherever it is we find ourselves, I am resolved to procure a meal from a fine establishment, and enjoy it.
Naturally, Sakura has the liberty to hunt and consume her preferred fare; one must acknowledge that there exists a limit to the quantity of meat and herbs a lady can appreciate, however.
[…]
I eagerly await your response, and I hope that you continue to find wonder and inspiration in your surroundings, unchanging as they currently might be.
Until your next correspondence, may your heart remain light.
Yours sincerely,
Yoisen
…
"Glasses…? Sakura asked dubiously.
Yoisen didn't startle. But that she hadn't heard the woman come meant that she had been too engrossed in what she had been doing.
Sakura tilted his head. "I never noticed."
Yoisen put her glasses away. "I used to have poor eye-sight and… Well, I suppose it is only a strange ritual I never grew out of."
"…I mean, you had a thousand years, so by now I guess it's a bit too late."
"Likely."
Sakura laughed. "You put them on when you write, then?"
"I put them on when I write, yes." She smiled.
"A letter, though…" Sakura said, somewhat curiously. "Why don't you just go to the Den? You could use the bond to reach across from there."
Yoisen looked away.
"…I am not particularly fond of sharing my thoughts. I keep the link slightly open, in any case."
Sakura shrugged.
"Glasses to write…" She repeated to herself, seemingly lost in thought.
Sakura opened her mouth again—
"I do not believe glasses might help you with your writer's block." Yoisen said.
Sakura closed her mouth.
"And… speaking of eyes." Yoisen began. "Shouldn't you turn your Kamui ability off at some point, perhaps…? Rinne-Sharingan or not…"
Sakura laughed. "And then what? Get killed in my sleep when a bomb drops?" She shook her head. "It's on at all times when I'm outside of Umi."
"Yes." Yoisen said, somewhat amused. "I have noticed. Are you not worried that I might stab you during our next night back home, then…?"
"Of course not." Sakura snorted. "Do I look like I'm blond and perpetually reading your mind?"
"I suppose not, I am still alive."
"In any case, it's easy — I used to have to do it manually before." Sakura said, shrugging. "Using the Jūbi chakra to preserve my eye, I can just keep Kamui running around the clock."
She gave Yoisen a confident grin.
"...As you say."
The Chosen
"Hello, my beloved." The red-haired man called, in the middle of battle.
The two women had done their best to not to make a big mess of their arrival, certainly… But even then, he was taking the new arrivals surprisingly well.
Too much, in fact. Sakura tilted her head. "…What did you call me?"
"Do not kill him as well, please." Yoisen called, before Sakura did something irreversible.
"I don't think we have any use for that sort of man." Sakura shook her head.
The red-haired man weaved in between the gigantic insects's pincers, with the grace of a dancer. His sleeveless, pink jacket fluttered in the breeze after him.
He swiped his sword, almost lazily, and an arc of blue light followed. A shockwave of mana, reaching out for the beasts.
The man laughed.
"Demon Fang - Demon Fang!" He grinned to himself, calling the name of his technique. A wave of mana followed each time. "Damn, I must be a genius! — Double Demon Fang!"
…Twin waves, now. Before he could get any more satisfied with himself, jets of water and fire erupted, consuming the monsters, as well as some of the trees. And the rocks.
The red-haired man Zelos stopped.
The women, whose hands were still extended… were undoubtedly responsible for the destruction.
"…Yes? Can I help you?" He asked cautiously.
"Perhaps." Yoisen nodded patiently. "We are looking for the man who vanquished a god."
"Name's Irving Lloyd." Sakura finished.
"Nah, I'm Zelos." The man said, then paused. "Oh, looking for someone, then. Āvingu… Roido? Sorry, I don't think I met the man."
"Lloyd Irving, then?" Sakura muttered. This Translator wasn't perfect. "I know you put names in the wrong order."
"Roido Āvingu…? Roido… Roido…" Zelos squinted in concentration. "Wait, you mean Lloyd?"
"Who else?"
"Well, I wouldn't know, with that sort of pronunciation—"
Sakura scowled and he inched back.
"…Nevermind." Zelos muttered. Then, with more countenance: "Heh, forget it, doesn't matter." He drawled, with a dismissive wave of his hand. Then, with a cheeky grin and a glint in his eye, he added: "Oh, Lloyd? Yeah, we're tight. BFFs, you could say."
Yoisen stared. "He is trying to obscure the matter."
Sakura raised her hand again.
He cowered.
"Speak." Sakura ordered.
Zelos smirked — he looked a bit hesitant — and spoke. "Hey, we totally rocked it and saved the world together, y'know?"
Sakura sighed and her Rinne-Sharingan spun once, making him spill the beans right away.
He rambled about saving the world, mostly.
With a chuckle, Zelos added: "But as for offing a god? Nah, we didn't do that. Mithos was just some immortal half-elf. Seriously, don't come after me for that one!"
"…Elves?" Sakura asked.
"You're mispronouncing — All right, all right! — They're like humans with pointy ears and a knack for magic. Oh, and they've got this weird obsession with nature and stuff. With an extra dose of arrogance, if you ask me! Half-elves are cool, though."
Zelos blathered some more, but it was obvious there wasn't any more information to be had here.
They left soon after, leaving the man to wonder what happened in the last five minutes. He shook his head and resumed his journey back to Meltokio. His darling hunnies were waiting.
Grim Reaper
The guy, who was seventeen at most, stared at them blankly.
"That guy isn't a redhead." Sakura muttered. "Karin is a redhead. He has orange hair."
"I believe it still counts." Yoisen replied calmly.
The orange-haired young man appeared unimpressed. "I can see you, you know." He said, glaring at them.
Sakura blinked. "Well, of course you can. Why couldn't you…?"
"Because you're a spirit—" He began, before stopping himself. "…Aren't you? You're flying."
"What of it?"
A vein seemed to bulge on the young man's forehead. "I don't know who you are, but... get out of my window."
"Of course." Yoisen nodded politely. "We're just going to require some information first—"
Yoisen saw the incoming kick and leaned out of the way; he went through Sakura. The young man was good, though, and he recovered his balance quickly.
"Nice one." Sakura praised, grinning. "What's your name?"
"Are you for real?" He asked, sounding dumbfounded. And a little excited too, honestly. "You creep on me, and now you want my name?"
The two women exchanged glances.
"Yes." Yoisen nodded. "That was it."
The young man scoffed. "…Kurosaki Ichigo." He said with complete confidence. "Substitute Shinigami. And no matter who you guys are, Hollow, Shinigami—"
"Have you, by any chance, killed a god?"
Only silence answered Yoisen.
"…What?" Kurosaki Ichigo blinked.
"Have you, by any chance—"
"No." He said, scowling, now guarded. "What the hell do you mean, a Shinigami? I haven't killed any. You can tell this to your bosses."
Yoisen and Sakura glanced at each other again.
"The wording was clear, though." Yoisen said, sounding doubtful. "And before you say it again, he is a redhead."
"Well then, how do you explain—" Sakura began.
Then she stopped.
Then, seeing Yoisen's raised eyebrow: "Oh, come on." Sakura groaned, slapping her forehead. "Don't tell me we arrived at the wrong time."
Kurosaki Ichigo stared.
"We might have to come back at a distant point in the future." Yoisen nodded. "Perhaps not today, though, this tends to make quite a mess of things."
"Well, yes of course." Sakura shrugged. "We can just warp somewhere further away first… Or send the B-Team." She grinned.
Yoisen shrugged, unconcerned about the details.
"So." Sakura began, looking at the teenager. "Need any help?"
She pointedly ignored Yoisen's slightly amused — but not entirely surprised — glance. That was the problem with helping people, everybody looked at you weird for it.
"Help?" Kuroaski scowled. "With what? Everything's good."
"Never mind, then. Congrats, kid." Sakura grinned. "At some point in time, you're likely going to kill a god. And then you'll get to meet the others, I suppose."
"Wha—"
"Don't mess up!" Sakura cheered him on.
They disappeared.
The Lands Between
With a soundless roar, reality burst open again and spat out the two women, closing shut right after.
Because they seemingly lost their ability to channel chakra.
They hit the surface of the water from pretty high up, and there was nothing so soundless about their arrival. It felt like slamming into a brick wall. One that decided to rush up your nostrils.
"What the fuck—"
"Keep your temper under wraps." Yoisen called.
"Has telling anyone to calm down ever worked in not making them angrier—"
Yoisen ignored her and began swimming toward the far did her best not to get dragged down by the weight of her sodden clothes. Adjusting for it was a pain.
Things were a bit strange here, and Yoisen didn't mean the shipwrecks they passed.
There was something observing them.
And there were only so many things it could be. Not necessarily the kami themselves, but something of the cosmic sort nonetheless.
Yoisen and Sakura swam to the shore hastily.
…
"This is pretty bad." Sakura said, as they set to drying up their clothes near a small fire.
"Admittedly." Yoisen replied graciously.
"Are we trapped in a kami realm, right now…?" Sakura asked. "The talisman is showing unusual readings. It doesn't feel like a kami, but there's something."
Yoisen mulled it over, taking a long look at their surroundings. They were sitting in ashen-looking grass. There were tree trunks growing out the earth haphazardly, but they seemed foul, rotten. Putrid things that looked like eggs grew upon them like moss, and the very air seemed stale.
"…I don't think we are in a kami realm." Yoisen said slowly. "Or at least, I cannot think of one so directly associated with rot."
"Great." Sakura said, with a healthy dose of sarcasm. "Perhaps we just discovered it, then."
Yoisen hid a quick smile. "I believe it is something else. Of godlike nature, likely, but not the ones we know."
"Once we get home, I'm going to beat the shit out of my wife. What kind of shitty prediction was that…?"
"Well, we'll have to get there first." Yoisen said evenly.
"Yeah, yeah." Sakura muttered. "First, immediate threats… self-protection… resources. I know the drill."
"I would hope so, by now."
"Did you say something, number six?"
"I would not dare."
"Oh, you."
…
Following a long night of restless sleep in a cave, the two women continued on their journey.
They traversed broken roads beneath gnarled trees.
Bizarre, canine-like beasts lunged at them, but whether the women could access their chakra or not, the things were easily dispatched. Yoisen drew a line, however; there would be no eating these rabid looking creatures.
"I don't see the problem." Sakura said dubiously, pushing the dead thing with her foot. "Sure, they look somewhat…" Black blood oozed from the fallen creature. "…Corrupted."
"…Is that not enough?"
"Not really, no." Sakura shrugged. "But they're going to be useful anyway. They were powered by some sort of energy, and my eye picked up on it."
Yoisen's eyes had as well, but perhaps there were things only the Rinne-Sharingan could see.
Sakura continued. "My chakra is still there, and yours too, from what I see."
"Yes, trapped inside of us."
"I think I figured out how these animals used it to move themselves — It's not so different from what we do. The trick is to balance it out with this external… energy source, then."
"Are we dealing with another wizard world, then?" Yoisen asked.
"Sure seems like it."
…
As twilight descended, the sun surrendered to a crimson dusk.
Something was roaring, far away.
Unwilling to spend a night under the stars, the two women practiced using their chakra in these strange conditions, making their way towards the distant castle.
A man — hopefully human — was proclaiming something. At first, the words were utter gibberish to Sakura, and Yoisen's comprehension of this particular language was tenuous at best. Some words she could recognize, some were entirely foreign.
Sarada's gift proved itself to be working, and they started to decipher the message.
Sakura nodded in appreciation for her only apprentice — for the time being — and they began listening in.
"—Champions, welcome! The stars have aligned! The festival is nigh! General Radahn, mightiest demigod of the Shattering, awaits you! Champions, prepare for battle! Defeat the General, claim glory, and grab that Great Rune! A celebration of war! The Radahn Festival!"
…
Starscourge Radahn howled at the sky.
He was gorging on corpses, enemies and allies alike.
Afflicted by the curse his devious half-sister had cast upon him, his sanity had long since forsaken him, leaving him a prisoner to his own madness.
He barely registered the dozens of armored men advancing toward him.
Radahn readied his bow, the purple light of his magic shimmering. Volley after volley of arrows flew, piercing armor, horses, and men alike.
Some managed to draw closer to him.
Radahn dodged their blows with an ease that had surprised many. Gravity reversed around his favored swords, which were huge slabs of black steel. He seized them with a crazed grin.
The massacre began then.
…
"So this massive red-haired man defeated a god, then…?" Sakura asked, staring at the ongoing butchery in the sands.
It was the stuff of nightmares, truly.
And Radahn definitely looked the part of a god-slayer. He was at least thrice as tall and wide as a large man. And… he was riding on the back of a scrawny looking horse. A back that should have broken a long time ago, from what she could see.
As Sakura looked more closely, her left eye deepening in color, she discerned a gravitational force at play.
"…I suppose that's the howling we heard in the distance, too." Sakura mused.
"Shall we intervene?" Yoisen asked.
"In our state?" Sakura blinked. "…Sure, if you want to take his massive sword to the back of the head."
Yoisen smiled. "I believe I know you, by now. You were considering it."
"…Yes." Sakura admitted. "But I also thought it would be rude not to let these guys try what they came here to do, in any case."
She paused, her attention drawn to a figure in a black cape. "Wasn't that guy here before? I thought he was dead."
"He was." Yoisen confirmed.
"Well, not anymore, then." Sakura said, intrigued. "Huh."
And so they watched, fiddling with their chakra, eyes trained on the battlefield below, as the clash between the monstrous Radahn and the seemingly unkillable warrior in the black cape began to unfold.
"Let's see what this immortal can do, then."
…
Not much, apparently. He got killed by Radahn again.
…
And he came back.
Radahn killed him again. And again. And again.
…
"…What would it take for you to stop?" Sakura asked him, curiosity piqued after witnessing the man die roughly twenty times in a row.
The Tarnished did not answer. Instead, he hurled himself at Radahn once more.
"He's pretty strange, this guy." Sakura muttered to herself. She asked around for his name.
Yoisen had already gone back to the castle to ask more information about this world and its gods. Sakura… was too intrigued, by then.
…
"Go, Tarnished!" She cheered him on.
The Tarnished came close to landing a hit on Radahn this time. Almost.
…
"…Are you still here?" Yoisen asked.
It had been a few hours.
Sakura shook her head. "Of course I am. You should have seen the last fight. I haven't seen such a dogged run since that other Naruto in the Chūnin Exams." Then she glanced at Yoisen, her expression becoming more serious. "I have a decent control over my chakra, by now. Did you find anything?"
Yoisen's frown was barely perceptible. "Yes. However, there is not much consensus on what this particular world's "Outer Gods" — that's what they are named — are. Cosmic entities, stars, incarnations of nature... or perhaps a combination of all these."
"Not very helpful, huh."
"Not so much, no." Yoisen agreed. "They do not seem to be living beings. Besides, they have never been defeated at all, and I do not believe we will find much in the way of an answer here."
"All right." Sakura nodded. She stood up. "Let's move on once we can… And let's help that guy fight real quick."
Yoisen raised an eyebrow amusedly, but said nothing.
"Oh, fuck off." Sakura laughed. "It's been what… months since we last came home? I feel like that man — I need distractions too."
"…As you say, then." Yoisen conceded.
They were trapped here and noticed anyway.
"We're gonna help him defeat the bad one — that's likely the one gorging on corpses."
"That was my thought, too."
They moved confidently. Yoisen extended her hand, and dark metal clad her arms. A blade shimmered into existence. Starscourge Radahn eyed them with an expression that might have been curiosity if he weren't entirely mad.
Sakura and Yoisen began walking, slowly at first, then quickening their pace. Radahn…
Radahn howled.
He left the half-broken Tarnished to crawl away, and the smaller man was reaching for a small, golden flask with trembling fingers.
Radahn clashed his great swords together with a thunderous sound, and rock surged from the sand, glowing with purple energy. The swords were stabbed into the sand, while the rocks flew behind him, like a godly halo of earthen material.
Then he drew a massive bow, nocking an arrow of dark light.
The arrow flashed, flying at a surprising speed toward Sakura, who just kept on running.
It drew closer, closer…
The arrow zipped toward Sakura at a surprising speed. She barely tilted her head, allowing it to pass harmlessly by.
Radahn drew another arrow, and his meteors crashed around Yoisen. She spun like a whirlwind, her weapon slicing through the rocks as though they were butter, leaving nothing but molten stone in her wake. She didn't slow down.
With a powerful shout, Radahn released a volley of arrows that blackened the sky. Sakura accelerated, never bothering to fade through them. Radahn drew his black swords as she came closer. He raked them through the sands and a row of rocky stalagmites erupted, splitting the sands as if they were a great sea.
The Tarnished rolled away, nearly limping by this point. He chugged more of the golden flask's contents.
Sakura continued to accelerate, weaving like a dancer through the attacks. Without bringing her single hand up, her cheeks bulged; she released an almost continuous flurry of small water bubbles from her mouth, which exploded against the stalagmites.
Lightning crackled to life around Radahn.
Here was the man who had triumphed over the very stars. He stood tall, calling gravity to himself and the two women. The Tarnished was summoned, too.
The heavy swords raked through the sand again, coming out covered in slabs of stone. Each of them, large enough to slam a man and a half under itself.
Great spheres of purple and light rose around him, dancing like angry wisps.
The slab-blade slammed into the floor.
Dampened by sand or not, the great impact was still enough to send Sakura flying through the air. And she didn't exactly have enough control to try her hand at taking control of her flight.
She did her best to adjust her course. Yoisen swung her long sword, and a wave of reddish fire swallowed Radahn, its light making the giant's golden armor gleam.
Radahn crouched for an instant…
Dark light rose, and both women's eyes glittered with anticipation. The Tarnished staggered to his feet, and drank some more.
Radahn jumped.
Sakura could only stare. He was seemingly gone entirely.
"…What?" She muttered. "Has he gone straight through the skies or am I dreaming…?"
Yoisen didn't answer.
Because Sakura was not dreaming.
Falling out of the stars was a strange meteor. One that had caught on fire and looked suspiciously like Radahn.
And he was on a collision course… with them.
Sakura's eyes sparkled with an adrenaline-fueled fervor as a brilliant tangerine glow consumed the universe, setting everything aflame in an electrifying blaze.
The sand blew, whirled, turned to molten glass as the hulking figure slammed into the dunes.
Around Sakura, the great spectral Tengu rose up once more, watery wisps grasping at the world hungrily.
The great beings collided.
Fire! Water! Gravity!
The crimson haired warrior fell like a rock from outer space, and the Susanoo rejoiced, for it was a thing of battle. Haruno Sakura was just as eager.
And then... it was over.
Unfortunately, great fighter as he was, there was not much Radahn could do to face the two women, who were now able to exert more of their power here.
Impaled upon a long chakra blade that came from Sakura's spectral arm, he drew his last breaths before fading away into wisps of light that scattered to the winds.
In a matter of moments, he was no more than an echo, dissipating into the indifferent void.
Sakura stared, bemused.
"…Fuck." She muttered. "I guess that's it, then."
The only thing left was a golden orb that she peered through.
There were only hazy memories of the half-man… half-god (supposedly, it was hard to figure out if he had been so at birth or because of of his father remarrying a god-like being) in there. And nothing about a god god being defeated. Only godlings.
And a lot of hearsay, on top of it. Nothing they could use, in any case.
Sakura sighed and kicked the orb toward the Tarnished's crumpled form.
She smiled at him, and he retreated.
"Guess we're done here, then?"
"…I still cannot manage to open a portal." Yoisen said, shaking her head.
"Artifacts?"
"None working."
"…We're going to have to wait some more, then."
And that was bad on its own.
Their options were limited; it was the towering stone fortress or the merciless, cold wilderness. The castle, ominous as it was, offered a refuge from the biting winds, so it was chosen unanimously.
Night fell, and the celestial stage was slowly dominated by a silvery moon climbing the star-speckled canvas.
Its luminous glow slipped through the veils of clouds, bathing the earth in an ethereal light.
They made several more attempts to break free from the world's constraints, to return home, anywhere.
The night passed in a solemn rhythm: the moon traced its course through the sky, and the world seemed to hold its breath to them.
As dawn broke, they ventured once more into the sands.
Radahn's presence had vanished entirely by now. There was another rising, however.
And they still had no way of getting out.
"Nothing new." Yoisen stated.
"...Something's odd, though." Sakura mused aloud, her brows furrowing in thought.
Yoisen nodded in agreement.
"That strange presence has not waned — I thought it was coming from the fallen warrior." She said, her voice laced with unease. "…It hasn't grown stronger either… But it's still there, lurking… as if waiting for something."
"Waiting…?" Sakura repeated. "But nothing has arrived after us. That means—"
It seemed as though a veil of deception had been lifted.
There were multiple cosmic presences here, not just one. This was something they knew already. Sakura had been able to confirm it, too.
According to the myths Yoisen had uncovered the previous night, there were between six and nine Outer Gods.
And it was evident that one of the presences didn't belong in this realm.
How they had missed it went over their heads. Had it been the fallen demi-god's presence...? He had been holding stars back, it seemed.
Or perhaps it simply wasn't bothering to hide anymore.
Its essence felt entirely distinct.
And all too familiar by now.
A kami, waiting. So close to the mortal plane.
A sly and evasive one, that had concealed itself by entwining its presence with those of the other celestial beings, the ones native to this world. Allowing it to remain undetected, its essence obscured by their overwhelming power.
As natural observers, kami understood the rhythms of power and manipulated them to their advantage.
This one had worn misdirection like a cloak.
This kami had been waiting, and for how long, neither woman knew.
It was well-versed in the mortal psyche, and had known that the humans would likely be drawn to this world, at some point in time.
And so, it had chosen to hide in this plane of existence, directing attention away from itself and onto the more prominent figures of the celestial realm.
Those whose presence was more noticeable, being native to this world.
In short, the kami had been there before them.
Sakura whirled around. "Yoisen!" She called, and the other woman had already realized the problem.
However, with such a strong manifestation, their portal simply fizzled into non-existence.
Again.
A chilling sensation enveloped the both of them. Sakura tried to summon more chakra, only to find she still could not warp them out of here.
Nor with the Rinnegan's ability, nor with Kamui. Nor with any other means.
"Well, shit." Sakura muttered, as the landscape changed. "So much for no interest in the rest of us. These kami don't give a shit, really."
"…Perhaps they were waiting for Naruto." Yoisen's voice was calm, but her fingers were tense.
"Maybe." Sakura steadied her breathing. "And I guess escaping might be a bit tricky, too."
Her smile held no warmth.
Yoisen, having considered and discarded most of their escape options, merely pursed her lips.
The world changed around them.
She gazed into the distance, beyond the towering trees.
At the heart of this lush, otherworldly realm lay a sanctuary where time and space had little influence. Yoisen's grip on her sword tightened; she recognized some of the patterns:
Hachiman-Yumi, the kami of war and archery.
Yoisen's attention snapped back when she felt a sudden flash of searing heat, followed by an oppressive sensation that sent shivers down her spine.
It came from Sakura.
"Sorry for not giving you a heads up." Sakura said with a humorless chuckle, a hint of eagerness in her voice. Her hair was turning pale already. "I hope you're ready."
"As much as I shall ever be, I suppose." Yoisen replied slowly, as the sound of rumbling in the distance became louder.
"Good." Sakura said. "I can't control myself on my own."
Chakra swirled through the air, thick and potent.
And then, the first arrows fell.
lensdump: i 6BWQBM : Pink+White