Thrall
The use of Amenonuhoko, the Heavenly Jeweled Spear concealed deep within the Earth's mantle, was a move marked by the kami's characteristic arrogance.
This spear, designed to ascend through the heavens, acted as a powerful conduit for divine power, allowing the deities to access the earthly realm.
However, this method harbored a singular, overlooked flaw.
This oversight, seemingly minor at the time, was the possibility of a mortal hearing the divine call.
Such a person, with a vivid memory of that pivotal moment, joined forces with a psychic, keen to assist in interpreting the celestial message, and a very long-lived woman. Both were only all too willing to assist in the task.
Trivial to the kami, at that time. Uzumaki Naruto, after all, was destined to become Agehachō-Yosei's thrall.
Or so it had been believed.
ECHOES AND WHISPERS TO REACH THE VERY HEAVENS
"For your sake, I do hope you know what you are doing."
The words came out of Kaguya's lips, stern and clipped. Her face held a hard expression, and if not for the slight concern visible in her eyes, aimed at only one of them, they might have been sure her words were just a formality, devoid of genuine worry.
But there it was, the faintest glimmer of fear, betraying the stoicism she projected. Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, mother of all chakra, cared for a mere human again.
"We don't." Toru shrugged. "We never did, actually, but we're decently strong, by now."
Kage gave her a thumbs up and a goofy grin. "Don't worry, space grandma—"
"I do not worry." She cut him off sharply. "And do not call me space grandma, you insolent child."
"It will be fine." Orochimaru assured her, in his casual manner. It seemed to appease her more than anything anyone else could have said. "Merely a necessity."
Naruto stood at the forefront, his presence commanding the group's attention, exuding quiet confidence. With a shrug, he clenched his fist. His eyes briefly flickered to the seal emblazoned on his shoulder — a flawless work of art, crafted by Yoisen, Karin, and Ino's combined efforts.
"More of a test than anything, in truth." Naruto simply said.
"A test?" Kaguya asked. "A test?! I do not understand what manner of foolishness you are speaking of, but—"
"Your concern is appreciated, but unneeded, Lady Kaguya." Yoisen said, hand resting on the hilt of her sword. "This is mere vengeance. An old friend."
Kaguya stared at her, even as Jinsuke nodded in empathic understanding. "…I was under the impression this was about necessity." She hissed.
Yoisen nodded slowly. "Yes, that is exactly what I said."
Sakura, next to her, snorted a laugh. If Ino was amused, however, she didn't show it much. Karin and Hanabi were going through the last rounds of warming up, which probably looked like a peculiar case of domestic violence to the outside eye.
Luckily, there was no one else but them here, in this scorching desert.
Which was the entire point in asking Kaguya about using her dimensions —she wasn't necessarily a very pleasant sort. Usually wasn't, even. Except in Orochimaru's case, but this was a topic only Yoisen was willing to touch upon.
Sasuke nodded at Kaguya, arms folded. Naruto was tempted to tell him he was becoming more and more like Jinsuke, but knew what sort of answer to expect. And not just because the man in question was also here.
("Whose fault is that? I have to deal with your shit all the time. Anyone would become more dour.")
Kaguya gave Orochimaru a last glance. The supreme confidence he showed was enough for her, perhaps. Or she was yet another person who didn't want to be caught in the crossfire of their entourage.
"I will leave you humans to take care of this matter, then." She said, somewhat disparagingly.
"Right." Sakura nodded, motioning for her to leave with a dismissive wave of her hand. "If we needed you to contribute, we'd have to ask you to eat another Momo or three. And we have no time for that today. Plus it's kinda disgusting."
There was an angry vein pulsing on Kaguya's forehead.
"Sakura…" Toru sighed.
"What?" Sakura asked loudly. "It's true. She'd barely qualify for the big girls league otherwise. Where is she at? 50…? 51 points?"
"51." Toru confirmed. "That's enough for Tier Zero."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Just wait until the power creep kicks in and Tier Zero starts at Gama."
"Don't be rude to him." Toru said. "I know you only say this because he's my friend."
Hanabi chuckled, and it conveyed more mockery about that peculiar topic than anything she could have said. Karin elbowed her in answer.
"Do you care to prove your claim, perhaps?" Kaguya asked tightly.
Sakura grinned. "I'll fight you anytime. Let's see how your lesser quality Byakugan fares against my Kamui—"
"Kakashi's." Toru said at the same time as Sasuke.
Sakura groaned. "Don't start again. Besides, it's the coolest guy's—"
"Shall we?" Naruto asked, rubbing his temples.
With a last, scathing glare at Sakura, then at Hanabi (who did, in fact, have the superior Byakugan, and smiled at her genially because she was well aware of it), followed by a long look at Orochimaru, Kaguya retreated through the cracks of Amenominaka's ability.
She would then warp back to the Celestial Ring, where the remaining Ascended humans were waiting, as a contingency.
"Good." Naruto said, sighing, glancing at Orochimaru. "Man, that Ōtsutsuki has a terrible attitude. Figures you'd go for that one."
Orochimaru ignored him.
"Right?" Sakura asked, shaking her head. "If I didn't want not to ruin my own personal dimensions…" She let the sentence hang in the air.
Each of them slowly quieted down.
"Naruto." Sasuke said.
"If you're all ready." Naruto nodded. "I think both of them, together, is the only way they are likely to come at all."
"If they choose to come." Orochimaru added.
Naruto shrugged. "Well, perhaps they won't. But if they do…" He grinned ominously. "They'll probably be the last to do so willingly. It will be a good example, so let's not waste it. Ino? Time to hide everyone."
"Consider it done."
"Echo of the Thunderous Heavens."
"Whisperer in the Shadowed Gale."
To Naruto, the sounds themselves were mere noise.
The meanings of their names, or rather, a rough approximation in human language, were gleaned from the fragments of ancient legends Yoisen had recovered.
The kami answered the call.
Not simply because they were more or less obliged to. Not truly because of the fate of Agehachō-Yosei, with whom they were supposedly allied.
Rather, it was because they were, before anything, kami.
…
When Fūjin-Yami and Raijin-Kaminari manifested, their arrival was marked by a cataclysmic collision of light and sound. The offering, substantial in itself, consisted in chakra merged with the celestial energy favored by these beings.
This time, there was no hint of amusement in the demeanor of either deity. Raijin-Kaminari's eyes burned with a rage that was palpable, while Fūjin-Yami's lone eye shimmered with a stormy intensity.
The thunder didn't just rumble; it exploded, searing the very heavens.
The wind didn't just howl; it screamed, a maelstrom of untamed power.
The arid heart of the desert, the void that was this place, seemed to have no bearing on their immense power. A heavy silence fell, broken only by the deep, resonant sound emanating from the kami themselves.
Naruto, unflinching, gazed upwards and addressed the sky. "It's been a pretty short time for you two, hasn't it?" His voice, steady against the elemental fury, cut through the tumult.
There was, however, a touch of amusement to his voice that neither of the kami truly cared for.
"Uzumaki Naruto!" One kami's voice thundered, a celestial indictment. "You dare summon us…? To face us, alone?"
"You will rue your arrogance!" The second deity echoed, their voices merging into a divine cacophony.
"Alone...? Not exactly." Naruto said evenly. "I think you vastly overestimated your sensing abilities."
Of course, neither kami were entirely used to the concept of a human hiding from them. Neither were they used to being entirely in the dark about their schemes.
Things, however, had changed a lot in just the span of a few months.
And so, they didn't expect the ten shadows that came out of Naruto's own, hidden from even Fūjin-Yami's cursory glance thanks to the seal on his shoulder. A trap, set up by humans this time.
Risky, considering Fūjin-Yami's ability, but waiting in the shadows for long had never been the plan.
Naruto, unfazed, summoned white lightning to his odachi, its ethereal glow dancing around him.
"Round two!" He declared, his laughter piercing the storm's roar.
Raijin-Kaminari, the storm deity, manifested its displeasure with a growl, as a formidable arm extended from its serpentine form. "This will be your last."
It was when Uchiha Sasuke intervened, his patience frayed thin. Whether it was a rekindling of the true shinobi way — jumping people, preferably with superior numbers — or something deeper… didn't matter.
Neither he, Yoisen, nor Toru, held anything back when they shaped the massive beast of incandescent flame that slammed into Raijin-Kaminari's side with incredible force.
The immense chimera, wrought from pale flames was a true horror, something of raw power, primal fury. And it distorted the air around itself, glassed the desert underneath itself.
Thunder coursed through the air, courtesy of Raijin-Kaminari.
It gathered in a shield around the deity, in time to shield it from the worst of the flames, in spite of Naruto's efforts at wresting control of it.
Sakura came soaring through the lightning, a pink trail of light, and entirely untouchable.
Watery wisps rose around her as she flew up, equally intangible as she was, shaping themselves into a weightless left arm, then a massive blade.
Mere divine lightning didn't stop her. In fact, it didn't even slow her down. The great arm went through the thunder with nary a sound, and the Kamui Blade went through the kami entirely, splitting it in two.
Raijin-Kaminari roared.
The kami didn't bother preserving its strength, this time. It had more than enough power to stay in this realm for a while. Its body flickered, as cosmic power rose, painting it in shades of gold.
Raijin-Kaminari's body warbled, like static, before it disappeared entirely. In its place only stood a massive storm cloud, a serpentine tempest of lightning and thunder.
Its most eldritch form, or perhaps its truest.
Spears of lightning rained down from the electrified heavens with a violence, an unending barrage of power that forced the small group into dodging.
Sasuke, his Sharingan eyes ablaze with concentration, moved with a fluid grace, each movement calculated and precise — Itachi's brother, in truth. Toru, eyes narrowed in focus, didn't exactly mirror his movements, as he was faster, with his Mangekyō power. There wasn't too much added flair, for once, however. He focused on efficiency, as well. And their synergy was obvious in their coordinated efforts to evade the relentless assault.
Yoisen took to the air, her experience in flight surpassing both Sasuke and Toru. She darted and weaved through the barrage, her movements a blur against the sandy backdrop.
The sand around them was thrown into chaos, swirling and rising with each impact. The air was heavy with the smell of ozone and scorched stone, and the sounds of the storm's fury mixed with the hiss of sand turning to glass.
'Ah, fuck.' Sakura called. 'The guy's become intangible.'
'It isn't that fun when it happens to you, is it?' The answer came from Hanabi.
They had accounted for something like it. Even as she laughed, Hanabi warped to the Hiraishin (Thundering Wind) tag upon Sakura's lower back — the world's most useful tramp-stamp, according to her.
It took some coordination, with Sakura being intangible, of course. With another hand seal, Hanabi warped her away entirely — she was much more vulnerable than she was, Kamui aside.
As she readied herself, she forcefully reminded herself that her alternate sister's ramblings about her eyes being called Reincarnation Eye probably held no truth.
In her ultimate state of power, Hanabi stood surrounded by ethereal lilac chakra, roaring like a flame. Perhaps it was fitting that the Mangekyō Sharingan and the Mangekyō Byakugan seemingly countered most of the other's strengths, she thought.
In the same breath, she began chanting in preparation for a jutsu, softly. Using two of them at the same time was not something she enjoyed. It felt like looking left and right at the same time, but without the advantage of mystic eyes.
—Whisper of the gale, hidden force of the sky—
Hanabi slammed her hands together. A Truth-Seeking Orb broke.
"Six Paths: Forced Incarnation!"
It was the same way Hanabi usually fought Sakura—
Nothing happened. The universe responded with silence. No grand manifestation of power, no shifting of the cosmic scales — nothing. In that dreadful void of response, the kami's laughter, cold and mocking, filled the space.
Then came the punishment — a torrent of golden lightning, from the most sinister of sources. It struck Hanabi with the fury of the deity, coursing through her veins like liquid fire.
And she was at the epicenter of it. Her strong Wind nature barely shielded her from the worst of it, if it did at all.
Every nerve in Hanabi's body screamed in agony, just as she did, pain that threatened to overwhelm her senses. It felt like an assault on her spirit as well.
Ah. The kami was attempting to possess her through its lightning, then.
Amidst the unbearable pain, a spark of defiance still glowed within her. She let Wind rise, dispelling the attempt. Better that she handled that mess.
—with the swiftness of the storm—
She was Uzumaki. And she was Hyūga, too. It took more than this to keep a strong woman down.
That Hanabi's first attempt at forceful incarnation failed did nothing to dampen her spirit. Sakura kept finding new ways to make Kamui work. There were several ways for the intangibility to remain inviolable, after all.
Sending things elsewhere was Kamui's ability. What usually differed was the where. Sakura, thanks to her time spent inside a kami, learned to adapt the how, as well.
And thus, Hanabi had been forced to learn a few tricks as well. Prompting Sakura to do the same.
A good rivalry, even among wives (perhaps especially among wives), pushed one to new heights, supposedly. It could be called a virtuous circle, if one squinted enough.
Hanabi, blinking her short lapse of focus away, brought her hands together again. Another Truth-Seeking Orb broke.
"Six Paths: Forced Incarnation!"
The same dreadful silence, laden with ominous foreboding. The others kept weaving around the kami's mighty attacks.
Raijin-Kaminari was getting faster as it went, she was sure of it. And there was no telling where the limit was. Which meant they had to go for the finishing move right away.
The kami laughed again.
Without warning, the second torrent of golden lightning struck. It was a terrible thing, even more ferocious and unforgiving than the first.
This time, the lightning seemed to carry with it the weight of the kami's scornful amusement.
The pain was nearly indescribable. It felt as if every cell in her body was being torn apart and set ablaze simultaneously. The lightning ravaged her, a relentless storm intent on breaking her very being.
Hanabi's furious screams melded with the crackling energy, and her hands were nearly stuck together as her every part tensed.
Twice? Twice was nothing. It wouldn't even prevent her from chanting, unresponsive as her jaw felt.
She forced her hands apart and slammed them together again. A Truth-Seeking Orb broke.
"Six Paths: Forced Incarnation!"
Something shifted. Her impossibly sharp eyes caught it right away, of course. One of Toru's Susanoo's hands held on to part of the cloud. Raijin-Kaminari was still lightning, but it was tangible lightning, now.
And so was the god forcefully made flesh again.
—rise and converge.
Hanabi didn't bother waiting any longer. Stamina meant nothing if they died here and there. Her chakra flared at her maximum output. And she finally completed her chant, roaring.
"Wind Release: Cloudpiercer!"
Raijin-Kaminari, in this pure Lightning in-between form, was very vulnerable to wind, of course. And Hanabi was still at the center of its cloudy mass. When the kami heard the high-pitched keening sound, it was too late to dodge.
The Cloudpiercer struck with the precision and force a divine spear, appearing green to Hanabi's eyes.
And true to the jutsu name, the clouds were torn asunder in a spectacular explosion of wind energy.
She made sure to direct the pillar of Wind toward the heavens — where it would either disappear or possibly destroy this dimension's boundary wall.
By then, Hanabi had already appeared next to Karin, breathing slightly harder. Next step. Most of their plan, after all, hinged on keeping both kami entirely disoriented, and unable to get a solid read on them.
The major flaw to that being that they didn't know what the kami were capable of, either. But they didn't intend to find out.
Karin, Naruto, Kage were already engaged in a fierce, close-range battle with the other kami, Fūjin-Yami. A six-armed, white and gold Kurama avatar held on to the kami using gold chains, and was currently doing its best to pull it down to the ground, to which its legs were anchored.
All the while, Naruto rode the dragon's back, fighting off endless hordes of shadowy forms, dodging deadly arcs of wind on his way to its head. White lightning struck as he moved back and forth in a dance of death, sword cleaving through the darkness.
Once. Twice. Thrice.
Ino and Orochimaru were dashing around down on the sand, weaving in between falling, rising beams of shadow that neither dared to even touch. Casting binds, jutsu in preparation.
How Ino could do that while keeping all of their minds so tightly interwoven that it felt like one, Hanabi didn't know. Almost as though she had heard her thoughts, Ino lifted some of Hanabi's fatigue, simply dispelling the mental aspect of it.
'Burn that Raijin down!'
Hanabi leaped away from Karin, putting as much distance between both of them as she could.
The next instant, where Hanabi had been just moments ago, the fiery beast collided with the saturated air around Raijin-Kaminari, which was full of Wind chakra. There was always something fairly apocalyptic about seeing wind and fire blend together at this intensity.
The shockwave that resulted from the collision nearly lifted Hanabi off her feet, far away as she already was.
The explosion, initially a chaotic burst of energy, was swiftly and masterfully contained by Sasuke. Into something that may or may not look like an approximation of a wolf. Hanabi knew how much strain something of this magnitude had to put on his eyes.
And speaking of eye-strain… Jinsuke was not going to have an easy job, either.
Very soon, then. Ino signaled to Hanabi that the moment was nearly right.
'Wind, now!' Someone roared.
From Orochimaru's back, two additional pairs of arms emerged, an unnatural and terrifying extension of his will. They moved with a disturbing accuracy, indicative of countless hours honed in practice.
These new limbs wove signs flawlessly, a dance of thirty fingers enabling the simultaneous casting of many jutsu at once. This spectacle of multitasking surpassed even the late Sarutobi Hiruzen's abilities, transcending the limits of a single chain of jutsu. With three pairs of hands, and an Asura Path-enhanced brain, Orochimaru could conjure up to nine jutsu simultaneously… or focus his prowess into three exceptionally potent ones.
Nine wind jutsu, all at once, was what he chose to do today. It certainly had sounded like a wonky idea when Toru had proposed it — wind to fight off the kami of wind, really…?
In any case, Hanabi would have a front-seat view of the display of fireworks.
Her eyes allowed her to follow the three hands, and she recognized each technique: Galeforce Blade, Tempest Vortex, Whispering Winds of Eld, Dragon's Breath Gust, Stormcaller's Fury, Invisible Stalkers' Whirl, Skyshatter Blast, Winds of the Warp, Ascension of Courage.
It was worth noting that half of them, Orochimaru had either invented or stolen from somewhere, she supposed. But he had taught her, so it more or less balanced out.
If that hadn't been enough… Hanabi knew, from Naruto, that Orochimaru was now looking into the ability to form additional mouths to add chanting to that potent mix.
Orochimaru's horrifying display of elemental prowess sheared the very air around both Naruto and the kami. Naruto dropped the Lightning component of his shield right away. And Fūjin-Yami greedily took hold of the winds, of course.
As expected.
'Now?' Hanabi asked.
Ino gave Hanabi the command. 'Now. Switch — Fire with Naruto.'
Hanabi slammed her hands together, summoning the people fighting off Fūjin-Yami to herself, aside from Naruto.
Even from here, without turning, Hanabi could read Jinsuke's lips:
"Amenotejikara."
The massive fiery beast and Naruto switched places instantly, even though they were kilometers apart.
And the sky turned blinding white.
…
There was something relatively impressive about Jinsuke's power.
Hanabi could admit as much — even though she was half-convinced she could probably manage a workable imitation of it, with the right conditions.
As for the kami…
Wind beat Lightning, of course.
The fact that they had chosen to attack Raijin-Kaminari, instead of Fūjin-Yami, with their strongest fire users, was not a mistake. It had been done in order to get the other kami to defend itself against another type of attack, wielding wind.
Fire beat Wind, of course.
When the pivotal moment came and the Blaze Release: Shiranui detonated along Fūjin-Yami's back, the kami was entirely unprepared.
This time, nobody even bothered to try to contain the white fire. It was a lost cause.
The flames poured over the kami of wind and shadows with irresistible strength, and Hanabi had to admit she was impressed.
'Look at it burn!' It was probably Toru.
Fūjin-Yami roared in pain as it became divine tinder.
And whether it was because it couldn't become intangible at all — or because the transformation would leave it even more vulnerable — Fūjin-Yami didn't attempt what its kami sibling had done.
Even as the god of wind and shadows burned, even as Hanabi and Orochimaru poured more deadly Wind essence into the most terrible fire she had seen… Naruto wasted no time.
'Switch targets!'
With speed that was entirely his own, he reappeared above Raijin-Kaminari instead. And his leg, enhanced with the bright light of five elements combined, slammed into the mighty dragon of thunder.
The sky erupted, scales and flesh breaking under him, divine blood erupting like a purple fountain, covering him. The strike itself had injured Naruto's leg nearly as much as the beast.
The dragon only managed to drop a short distance before he was caught by a purple Susanoo's rising kick — that one was Jinsuke's. Raijin-Kaminari soared back up. Naruto healed his leg to something usable again, even as he gathered speed and the seven elements.
The kami went down as Toru's own teal Susanoo drove a double axe handle into the great maw, breaking fangs as well as its own fingers.
Then it went up again, when Sasuke decided it was his turn to bounce the god around. He kicked it with both of his Susanoo's legs. Naruto flipped through the air, spun, thick purple blood pouring down his face, ringed eyes gleaming, and driving his sword straight into the great kami's head. Dark thunder flashed.
Sakura, her expression set in a fierce grimace, grasped the falling beast with the formidable grasp of her Susanoo's six ethereal blue arms. Three arms firmly gripped near the creature's head, and the other three clasped tightly near the thrashing tail. Planting her legs firmly, she exerted an immense force, applying Tsunade's half-decent strength trick to the spectral giant, muscles straining under the intense pressure. She pulled, pushed with the strength of a hundred men, and their voices, too. How she pulled.
Raijin-Kaminari burst apart at the seams, drenching the white sands, the glassed fields in thick, viscous blood.
Raijin-Kaminari snarled and turned into lightning itself again.
'Once more!'
Hanabi saw the words, focused as she was on the other kami.
'Amenotejikara.'
Hanabi and Naruto, who had begun to fall through the dragon's now incorporeal head, exchanged places again.
Hanabi knew the drill and slammed her hands together, summoning even more chakra this time. A Truth-Seeking Orb broke.
"Six Paths: Forced Incarnation!"
The cloudy, serpentine creature became physical once more. Yoisen appeared on its back, a hand holding on to a barbed spike that jutted from its back, holding a golden rope that coiled around the large being. She propelled herself forward, driving her sword into Raijin-Kaminari's body and dragging it through its scales as she went, cursed flames following her blade.
There was something nearly gleeful in her eyes. Whether it was because of pyromaniac tendencies or her personal vendetta against the kami didn't matter much to Hanabi — Uchiha were also like that.
With her other hand, she was applying bindings, of course.
Raijin-Kaminari released a burst of wild lightning, forcing Yoisen to jump away from its body. Even as she did, she was struck by the thunder several times in less time than it took to blink. It wasn't a pretty sight, but she managed to move still. She was forced to focus her chakra into a shield around her, to forcefully speed up her healing.
Sakura used that moment to slice through the god again, with a blade long enough to bisect its length. There was no doubt that the kami would eventually adapt to her Kamui strikes, but for the time being, it certainly hadn't.
Raijin-Kaminari was neatly cut in two, and in order to regenerate its physical form, it let go of its attacks once more. Its baleful eyes were full of thunder as it did.
Toru's Susanoo came at the kami with a furiously fast fire punch barrage.
But Toru himself wasn't in it; the spectral giant was moving on autopilot, acting out the instructions that he had given it before leaving.
And as the kami swiveled to dodge the attacks, his eyes finally met Toru's, who had thrown himself in front of the beast in a burst of speed. The Rinne-Sharingan whirled, forcing the kami to follow its pattern, weaving intricate illusions. "Uchiha Clan Hidden Rinne Sharingan Art: Celestial Mind Weaver's Enigmatic Lullaby!"
There would be no dominating that being, but that had never been the plan.
No, they had simply intended to slow Raijin-Kaminari down.
Yoisen fell back upon its spine, with none of her usual grace, nearly impaling herself on a jagged spike. The kami managed to slowly break the Rinne-Sharingan's spell. Its massive head reared around, and it prepared to release a bright surge of thunder at its own body, aiming at the white-haired woman—
Only to meet Sakura's eye, who had warped next to her. Her Rinne-Sharingan spun, as well. "Bitch, slow down." She growled the instruction, at maximum chakra output.
The great kami slowed down some, and the potency of its attack diminished.
Instead of killing them outright, it shattered the reinforced, energy-absorbing wall of wind both women summoned. And the shock still was enough to push them to the brink of consciousness. Hanabi watched the entire display with worried eyes, but most of her focus was on the kami itself.
Toru's Susanoo punched the dragon's jaw upward.
"Made you look!" Toru roared in glee, as he met Raijin-Kaminari's eyes again. "Bitch, slow down!"
And the great kami slowed down.
'Slow enough!'
'Bind it!'
'Chains, now!'
Raijin-Kaminari felt the danger immediately, in the form of Karin gathering large amounts of chakra, but this time, Hanabi managed to prevent the being from becoming intangible before it happened.
"Got you, you piece of shit!" Karin declared, thrusting both hands out, as her chakra rose.
The sand under her seemed to ripple as a wave of power went through, in concentric rings. White chains erupted then, innumerable and aimed at the skies.
It was a great, terrible rattling sound that Hanabi hoped she wouldn't have to hear again.
"Heavenly Binding Chains!"
Burning bright with divine power, they wrapped around Raijin-Kaminari cleanly, constricting with such force that the flesh beneath them paled. With a ferocious roar, Karin gathered all of her strength, yanking the colossal beast from its lofty heavens down to the unforgiving earth.
'Bring it down!'
Raijin-Kaminari snarled when it slammed into the sands.
Someone laughed through the bond — it sounded suspiciously like Yoisen, if a bit more unhinged. Sakura jumped off the beast and watched the great desert plume rise.
Yoisen, somehow still stuck to its back, weaved signs with her right hand. The seals along the dragon's body lit up with a blue glow. Karin's chains tightened even more. For the time being, the combination proved to be enough to keep it restrained.
'Where wind?'
'Please, wind.'
'Restrain it!'
Hanabi forced her remaining Truth-Seeking Orbs into the god's furious maws, channeling powerful Wind chakra through them. In doing so, she forced the being to focus on what defenses it could muster while being bound so tightly.
So did Orochimaru, with three pairs of hands firmly held in the Bird seal.
Toru, Sasuke and Kage's clone approached, as well. Only then did Yoisen throw herself away from the beast.
Wind rose from the Hokage, melding with the Truth-Seeking Orbs to form nine drills of blinding light; contained hurricanes that his golden arms drove into the fallen beast.
'Shields?'
'Contain.'
Barriers, the strongest Yoisen could manage rose, shielding the humans from the worst of it. It wasn't enough, of course, as no Shinjutsu truly could be completed without a touch of divine essence. Only Ōtsutsuki Shibai had supposedly managed otherwise.
But still, they more or less held, even when the twin Uchiha released plumes of billowing flames through the openings Sakura and Yoisen provided for them.
"Do you believe mere chains can hold me?!" The kami thrashed as the fire coursed along its body. "I, who stand in the full light of the heavens?!"
Already, it was trying to rise again, to soar to the heavens it belonged in. For a moment, it even seemed as though it would reach. Karin was straining from the effort, rivulets of sweat pouring down her brow as Raijin-Kaminari flew—
The chains tightened and the kami slammed into a brutal grapple.
Yoisen shook her head, and there was definitely something vindictive in her eyes, Hanabi could see it.
"It is already over for you." Yoisen declared. 'Hopefully.'
And true to her word, the more the kami struggled, the more their combined binds tightened around its body.
The kami snarled in clear fury. "What is this? Another attempt at playing with thunder?! Futile! Agehachō-Yosei was tricked, Susanoo-Arashi was tricked! Not I!"
But its binds seemed inescapable.
There was, the humans had surmised, only one reason for something like the Oath to have come into fruition.
The only thing able to face off a kami was another kami. The new chains had been crafted with this simple concept in mind: divine chains to bind, even temporarily, something that was divine.
Around the kami, flames danced with a life of their own, a relentless inferno that threatened to consume its form. The kami, in its rage, focused its immense power, channeling it into maintaining its physical form, each effort an act of defiance against the fiery onslaught. Becoming intangible was impossible for it, anyway. And fleeing...
Hanabi kept her eyes firmly on the downed beast, and that was where she kept most of her focus, too — such things were relative, with the Byakugan.
'Slam, now?'
Ino drew closer. When she nodded toward Sasuke, he stomped down, and chakra exploded off his body with a searing heat.
His eyes burned bright with the power of the Sharingan, and a colossal wooden shape with thousands of hands rose, its two main hands clasped, as if in prayer, just like Sasuke's hands were.
"Susanoo Sage Art: True Thousand Hands!"
Pink light wrapped around the rising statue, shrouding it in a cloak of blazing chakra, a glorious spectral armor. These massive hands slammed down upon Raijin-Kaminari in a rain of open blows that perhaps echoed its thunderclap, but certainly not a prayer.
Now, they only had to weaken it sufficiently to tear it apart.
It was a relentless effort. They grasped and sliced and burned; tirelessly. Over and over again.
…
Naruto and Kage were engaging the other one, and Orochimaru supported them from a distance.
Fūjin-Yami's single arm dragged through the air, carrying a dark blade. Kage, who was the slowest of them, right now, twisted out of the way of the blades, but didn't manage to avoid the encroaching darkness entirely.
The kami was swift. Even more so when Kage was momentarily slowed in his movements. It brutally reversed its course in a fluid, lethal motion.
Its tail, a whip-like extension covered in sharp scales, struck Kage with a resounding snap, sending him spiraling through the air, buffeted by razor-sharp winds.
Kurama's form manifested around him in a burst of gold and white light, shrouding him from the worst of it.
Kage still wasn't able to react to the one blade that managed to slip through his rising avatar, and it caught him in the throat. A testament to his mastery of Wind, he still managed to mitigate what would have been a lethal blow, although the damage was significant: blood was pouring out, much too fast.
Gasping, with a hand clutched to his wounded throat, he began the arduous process of healing. His survival hinged on his ability to keep his head literally attached to his body.
Naruto forced Fūjin-Yami to keep its attention on himself, disadvantaged as he was when it came to facing a being of pure Wind with Lightning. But mere added danger wasn't worth not using the highest levels of his Cloak. At least intermittently.
He eschewed the more volatile Lightning Repudiation for now, mindful of the unpredictable nature of his foe.
His odachi clashed with the kami's invisible wind blades, chakra flowing through the weapon to neutralize the brunt of the assaults.
But he was too close: proximity to Fūjin-Yami was a peril in itself. Its maws opened wide, aiming to swallow him whole. They shut down around him—
Blasts of red light slammed into the deity's throat, courtesy of Orochimaru, down on a sandy dune. A cannon-like arm was still extended, smoking, even as he began weaving more techniques.
The Kurama avatar roared, even as Kage healed within its embrace, and each of its three heads released wind-enhanced Bijūu bombs.
Two of them missed the dragon, but one was enough to tear away part of its tail.
Using Fūjin-Yami's moment of distraction, Naruto, inside its mouth, let go of Lightning, doubling down on Wind and Fire instead. Quickly, before the winds could resume where he was most vulnerable. He thrust his weapon above him.
With a sound like a roar, he tore through the roof of the beast's mouth, escaping its jaws entirely, covered in open wounds. Not without turning around and releasing a great arc of blue chakra at the back of its head.
The howling winds around Fūjin-Yami didn't relent, and Naruto was starting to take more injuries than he cared for, even with his regeneration. The heat of his chakra forced the blood running down from his forehead to dry.
It was no wonder Kage had retreated slightly: both warriors were expending considerable effort to keep their wounds from overwhelming them.
Orochimaru and Kage responded swiftly to Fūjin-Yami's next attack, a sphere of green and dark light hurled towards the dunes.
A legion of snakes, summoned by Orochimaru, rose from the sands, bearing reflective shields, while the Kurama avatar coiled protectively around them, creating a bulwark of fiery energy.
Naruto, evading a slicing jet of wind, launched himself at the kami, his blade slicing through the side of its maw but failing to inflict the intended damage.
The winds near the kami's mouth were stronger, lacerating Naruto's face with four parallel cuts that threatened to penetrate his skull.
In retaliation, he summoned a fierce burst of fire, igniting the kami's winds and setting it ablaze once more.
It wasn't the first time in this battle he considered switching with either of the better Fire users. But the kami was unpredictable, its Wind strong… and there was no telling what sort of trick it had up its sleeve. It might well be waiting for exactly that—
Fūjin-Yami opened its mouth with a horrific scream.
The kami released three spheres of deadly winds.
One hurtled towards Naruto, who narrowly dodged, only for the sphere to relentlessly pursue him. The others… The two others were aimed toward Sasuke's unmistakable form, who was still busy with the downed Raijin-Kaminari. Worry rose—
'Stay.'
Naruto felt more than he saw Jinsuke gather power to his left eye; in a strategic move, the man waited until the moment of contact.
It was perfectly timed. Jinsuke used his powers to swap the detonating sphere targeting Sasuke with a distant weapon, causing it to explode harmlessly in the desert, leaving nothing but a large, gaping hole there.
Hanabi hurled herself into the trajectory of the other oncoming wind sphere, her body wreathed in a protective whirlwind, on top of the chakra cloak. Before Naruto could truly react, the sphere collided with her, erupting in a deafening explosion that resonated across the battlefield.
She withstood the brunt of the blast, managed to shield the others and rose again afterward, although very visibly diminished.
It was worth it, however: Raijin-Kaminari was still trapped. Naruto watched as the deity was methodically dismantled, its form succumbing to the flames and the fury of their attacks, over and over again. Its power was waning, and the binds, becoming more and more efficient as it did.
No, Naruto thought. He was better suited to confront Fūjin-Yami, whom he had deemed the weaker of the two, especially alongside allies proficient in Wind techniques.
And the orb still followed him, even now. He couldn't afford to move this slow.
He let Lightning flow through his body once more. Let the remaining kami try to exploit this perceived elemental weakness.
"Mongrel." Came the growl.
The kami definitely had noticed the shift, then. And it had taken note of the fact its fallen sibling still wasn't rising. Fūjin-Yami only said one word, but it was enough to convey many things to Naruto.
"You know." He began, dodging through the innumerable fists of ash-gold chakra that rained from down below, carrying some of Orochimaru's deadly Fire and Wind combinations with them, as well as some more nebulous poisons and techniques. "None of this would have happened if you hadn't come to Earth in the first place."
Naruto channeled untold amounts of chakra to his left hand, gathering it into a dark orb that he threw at the beast. Of course, the Chibaku Tensei didn't succeed in crushing the kami with pressure, but he hadn't truly counted on that. With a quick hand seal, he shattered it, choosing to exert a strong pull toward the floor, in a dark column of light that rose higher than Fūjin-Yami itself.
With his other hand, weaving through quick hand seals, he summoned a heavy sphere of water high above the desert, which exploded from the exerted pressure and rained down upon both he and Fūjin-Yami.
"We are the ones to decide." The kami said as it forcefully broke free from the pillar, and Naruto had never heard it as furious as it was now.
"Did you say anything about deicide, beast?" He asked back with a dark grin. "…I did promise you something, didn't I? Now I can fulfill it."
"Your ability will not suffice. Not with most of your numbers attempting to keep my kin ensnared."
"Who are you trying to convince?" Naruto smiled. "And if so, why did you attempt to leave earlier on? Did you think none of us would notice? Too bad it takes such a long time!"
"Simply because my sib is too proud to back down from a fight doesn't mean that I, who soar with—"
One of the Kurama avatar's curse-wrapped fists slammed into its jaws, shutting it up. Truly, when Kurama wasn't napping serenely upon the Celestial Ring's grasslands, he was a sight to behold. Especially enhanced by Jūbi chakra.
Naruto seized the opportunity. He dashed in, putting all of his considerable weight into a two-handed, rising strike.
He knew what to do.
It had nothing to do with Kumo's natural-energy-enhanced lightning arts. In truth, it was closer to the way Truth-Seeking Orbs were made.
Lightning. Wind. Fire. Earth. Water. Yin. Yang.
Black lightning crackled as it shrouded his sword.
It detonated and coursed through the kami's body when his sword made contact in a mighty blow that ruined its maw.
For a moment, the dragon's remaining eye seemed to lose focus entirely. It didn't last for long, but Naruto saw it — as close as kami could get to losing consciousness.
He didn't dare wrap himself in a shroud of something as unstable as seven different elements, even with Lightning as its strongest component, but he saw it happen all the same.
Any weakness he could exploit was one he would exploit.
Fūjin-Yami apparently realized that. The great mighty dragon turned tail and dashed toward the shadows down on the desert floor.
Its maw opened wide, aimed at Kage and Orochimaru. This time, it wasn't pushing; instead, it was trying to suck them in.
And considering how much trouble he himself had been having up close, Naruto realized they wouldn't survive long enough for him to even intervene.
"I won't let you!"
With a thunderous roar, he thrust his hand forward. Dark lightning surged from his palm, scorching his flesh and turning his sleeve into tattered ribbons. With his other hand, he pulled back fiercely, and gravity reversed.
In that instant, Naruto caught a fleeting glimpse of fear in Fūjin-Yami's single eye. The descent of the deity was noticeably hindered. The black electricity in his hand surged forward—
Raijin-Kaminari, at a distance, thrashed and let out a spine-chilling scream.
In a desperate act, it unleashed a torrent of cosmic power. This surge was not an attack, was not even aimed at the others, who stood prepared for any onslaught, including any insidious attempts at possession through its lightning.
No. None of them, Naruto included, had anticipated the kami's sudden abandonment of its defenses. In a startling strategy, it summoned an expanse of thick, dense clouds, veiling the sun of this realm entirely.
In an eerie reversal, day transformed into night.
Empowered by the engulfing darkness, Fūjin-Yami's velocity increased.
The shadow laughed as it turned into its eldritch form. An amorphous, shadowy mass with tendrils of darkness that reached out like coiling wisps of wind. Within this eerie, ever-changing shape, haunting eyes peered out from the depths of the shadows.
Out of these very same shadows, from the wind currents, weapons and barriers constructed themselves, nearly invisible. The darkness thickened until it was complete, and both these artifacts and the kami saw their speed increase exponentially.
And from Hanabi's thoughts, relayed through Ino, Naruto understood that Raijin-Kaminari's vision had not diminished any. If anything, the other kami saw even better in the darkness.
Perhaps that was the true synergy between the two gods.
With a clap of thunder, Raijin-Kaminari released a strong burst of power. Something that Hanabi understood could disrupt chakra, nullify barriers, interrupt spells, rendering opponents helpless or breaking through defenses.
And when it happened, things would turn bad.
Naruto felt the kami's power soar, higher and higher, and for a second that stretched for far too long, his thoughts went to the others. It didn't matter whether he thought he could keep Fūjin-Yami busy.
A blade of wind sliced his right arm mid-bicep. His sword fell, and he cursed — that was much faster. Fūjin-Yami laughed.
None of it mattered, in comparison to the risk the others faced. If they—
'Keep your focus on yours, for fuck's sake!'
The words echoed through the bond, like a slap. Karin held on to her chains, even as she became a lightning rod. Or perhaps her hold on them tightened, even.
One after one, each of his companions, the ones holding down Raijin-Kaminari, confirmed their resolve. Their strength.
None of them relented. They had one single mission, and they would see it through.
And so Raijin-Kaminari stayed trapped.
Naruto felt a dumb, traitorous grin stretch his lips. Why had he even doubted them…? He was long past that time. And he had picked each of them well, hadn't he…? They could handle such a measly thing as a kami was.
'…Thank you.'
Right now… The least he could do to apologize was taking care of this one.
Naruto stepped into the shadow and felt himself go through entirely, falling somewhere.
Fūjin-Yami roared its delight as he did.
There, in its realm of shadows, it was stronger than anywhere else. Its power focused entirely on the darkness; it gave life to beings that were a blend of the eerie and the nightmarish.
These tall shadows grew: some had elongated, twisted limbs, others possessed multiple, root-like appendages. Made of dense shadows, their bodies blurred at the edges, giving them an insubstantial, ghostly appearance.
Faces were mere hollows, gaping maws. These shadowy beings moved with a sinister grace, embodying the oppressive power of Fūjin-Yami in its dark domain.
The temporary loss of his weapon didn't matter. Being one arm weaker didn't matter either. Aside from the inability to form hand seals. But that was something that could be replaced. Naruto threw himself forward, chanting lowly as he did.
—Storm's breath—
His left hand found its way into a tall humanoid shape's face. Once as a palm strike, then a devastating backhand.
He slammed his right shoulder into a horned creature, twisting in place to kick another. The shadows were deepening, and whatever this domain was, he knew he was getting closer to its center. Good.
A dragon fell from above him, and he only felt its presence from the oppressive feeling it emanated: it made no sound.
Lances of darkness exploded from the murky ground, stabbing through his left foot and hooking into it. Rather than risk being entrapped, Naruto severed it himself. Even then, he weaved through the rest.
—electric heart—
He dodged what he thought was a sharp blade. All of these were Fūjin-Yami, he was sure of it. There was no looking for the kami — Naruto was surrounded by it.
The shadows multiplied, faster and faster, and he was forced on the back foot — the only one he could really step on.
He kept his chakra firmly to himself, dodging endless spikes that rose from under him, fell from above him, as he spun through the air. Faster and faster.
His left fist buried itself into a giant, and nearly stayed stuck there. The kami was trying to trap him. Better to dodge entirely.
His right arm and his left foot were healing, but not fast enough.
He ducked, and with a one-armed throw, sent a great serpent soaring into the deer-like creature from before.
More shadows.
It meant less chance for a wind counter.
Naruto let an attack hit him full-on. The one he felt was the least dangerous. Even with his chakra coiled for defense, it felt like slamming into a wall of power.
Then another attack. He was bounced around, and thought he felt something break inside. There was an explosion of power and a mighty roar.
Fūjin-Yami was on the offensive. Beasts groaned and rose, gaining more and more mass as they went. The kami was like any predator — he smelled blood and pounced.
Naruto took a deep breath.
—clash and defy.
Naruto completed the chant.
Fūjin-Yami finally sensed something was off.
The only warning it got was a dark grin. It wasn't enough time for it to react, not enough time for it to switch to Wind.
Which had been the point. Conditioning the enemy to react a certain way was basic shinobi tactics.
In a burst of incandescent light, the jutsu was released; a breathtaking spectacle of brilliance.
"Shinjutsu: Lightning Repudiation!"
The potent electromagnetic field erupted from Naruto, causing the surrounding air to ionize into a state of plasma, forming swirling arcs of crackling, superheated matter. Bolts of violent electricity danced around him.
…
The reaction was instantaneous, violent.
There was an explosive release of energy, a cataclysmic collision that seared the domain of darkness to nothingness, leaving behind only a ghostly haze of ionized particles that swiftly dissipated.
And soon, they were back in the desert.
That, too, was torn apart. The kami Fūjin-Yami tried to reform. Tried to summon its wind. But it was tearing at the seams, faster than it could recover — faster than it could summon its power.
One time.
Two times.
Four times.
Eight times.
More times, faster than it could keep track.
And Fūjin-Yami finally realized what it was dealing with.
Earth having been enshrouded by Agehachō-Yosei's domain, neither Fūjin-Yami nor Raijin-Kaminari had seen the events that surmised before its demise.
Right now, however, the kami could see what had been incomplete before:
A divine domain, wielded by a human, for battle.
In human terms, a true divine art: a Shinjutsu.
It was revolting. It was a mockery of everything a kami was.
The power intensified, lightning rising.
It wasn't like Raijin-Kaminari's power. If anything, it was closer to the most terrifying of the Greater Kami's own storms.
…It was beautiful, in a way, Fūjin-Yami supposed, as he was reduced to nearly nothing.
With a noise like the shattering of the heavens, the electric barrier faded away, shattering into a thousand brilliant shards of dissipating energy.
Uzumaki Naruto stood, face drenched in sweat, breath misting over and reflected in the cold shards of crystal-like glass that had once been a desert. But he stood, which was more than Fūjin-Yami could say.
It had lost this battle. To a human that had bared its fangs at the Moon.
Within the kami, the short-lived admiration for the art the human had deployed faded away. Cold fury resumed—
"It's over."
The words came out of Uzumaki Naruto's lips with terse finality. Fūjin-Yami did not bother answering them. In fact, it had no words for that usurper at all.
"I would have had you deliver a message to Susanoo-Arashi, had you managed to escape." Uzumaki Naruto continued, letting out a ragged breath. "But the time for that is past, I suppose."
It was true.
Already, Fūjin-Yami felt its consciousness fading. Almost like retreating within its own realm, but… different, for a lack of a better word.
Fūjin-Yami heard the next few words distantly.
("This one, first, then?" Came the question from the mind-reader.)
("It's weaker." Uzumaki Naruto confirmed.)
("Severed moonlight, casting the dusk's fleeting grace…")
(From the distance came a great, mighty roar, as thunder rose. "I REFUSE—")
(Ah. Of course Raijin-Kaminari would not accept this. Fūjin-Yami thought, and then thought no more.)
…
Hanabi saw it happen, as though in slow motion.
Something in the lightning kami's body seemingly changed.
It had realized that there truly would be no escaping this.
That the helplessness that had befallen its sib would soon overtake it too.
And so the beast, Raijin-Kaminari, howled and tried its most desperate trick. In terms of raw power output, Fūjin-Yami could not compare to itself. And so it would unleash all that it had in a great mighty strike.
Something that would destroy them all.
It didn't matter to Raijin-Kaminari if it consumed itself in the process. Not anymore.
To Hanabi, it was a premonition tinged with a sense of impending doom. She knew with a sinking heart that she wouldn't have time to warp herself away and summon the others out of harm's way.
Jinsuke wouldn't be able to use his power in time. Naruto was too far, too exhausted. Neither Susanoo would ever be enough.
In her arsenal of Mangekyō Byakugan abilities, no tool seemed quite effective enough for their defense. Perhaps it was the only true flaw she could recognize in the eyes.
Gritting her teeth and foregoing her own safety, Hanabi surged forward, channeling all her chakra into a desperate gambit, even as she saw the others try what little they could—
Raijin-Kaminari exploded.
It was a cataclysmic display. Brilliant, blinding light burst forth, engulfing everything in its scorching wave. The ground seemed to disappear under the sheer force, and she had no doubt that the deafening roar of the explosion was soon to follow.
Hanabi knew it: the maelstrom of raw power was going to obliterate everything nearby, its crackling energy painting the sky in black and white—
And then, suddenly, the world around Raijin-Kaminari warped and twisted, and it was all gone.
In an instant, the great beast, the light, the impending destruction — all were sucked into a vortex, disappearing from existence as if they had never been there.
The sudden silence was overwhelming.
In the midst of this stillness, two figures stood resilient, aside from the others' fading Susanoo that would have attempted to shield their users and anyone nearby.
Sakura, holding a small, floating orb of crackling yellow light aloft, looked every part of the warrior displaying the world's most dangerous trophy. She was pale, but not from exhaustion. Behind her, Yoisen's hand rested on her shoulder, gradually ceasing the flow of chakra that slightly amplified the Kamui through her bonded ability.
Both had been too close to the epicenter. Their bodies, from faces to feet, bore the marks of their ordeal — lightning wounds etched across their skin like a tapestry of battle scars.
Even with their wounds, their entirely ruined armor, there was an undeniable air of triumph.
As the Ōtsutsuki horn receded from Sakura's forehead (there was plenty of space for more of them there), Hanabi took note of the sheer amount of natural energy coursing through her body — or perhaps closer to cosmic, considering how she had learned to do this in the first place…?
Yoisen's gaze upon Sakura was filled with unwavering faith, a look that Hanabi had previously only observed her directing at Naruto. It was a look of complete trust and belief, and one that Sakura rarely received from others, a recognition she deserved yet seldom experienced—
"Well, what?" Sakura asked her dumbfounded audience. "Did you forget I'm back to fighting with you guys or what? Of course I'll save your sorry asses."
...Then again, perhaps her pink-haired wife did enough dubious shit to rarely warrant such faith.
Sakura, catching her breath from the exertion, wore a grin that spoke volumes.
Slowly, Hanabi began to grin, too. So did the others.
Slowly, hesitantly, they began to power down. Kaguya's personal dimension had been torn apart, and they'd have to call in a few favors to fix it, likely.
Slowly, the realization of their victory began to dawn on them. A battle as short as they had hoped, and much riskier than they had planned for. But they had won.
"Phew!" Sakura exhaled, her eyes sparkling with a mix of relief and triumph. "Killing gods isn't so easy, after all. Who'd have said?"
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i/mcm91x : "Worth it."/ Soul of Thunder