April 13th 2002:
Melted lumps of snow were scattered across the surface of a secluded area in the small nation of the Land-Of-Snow. Rivers of water had formed. Multiple snowflakes plummeted down upon the ground.
Heavy tension permeated in the air between three individuals—Naruto Uzumaki, Ryomen Sukuna, and Doto Kazahana. Koyuki Kazahana had hidden herself behind a large chunk of ice to view this encounter.
Sukuna and Naruto had entered animalistic stances suited for combat. Instead of underestimating these two, Doto took on the stance of someone who was well versed in various styles for battle.
Miles away from this isolated sector, Kakashi Hatake and Sasuke Uchiha had engaged the members of Doto's team in one last fight. Fanged teeth clenched, Naruto decided to make the very first move.
Snow crunched underneath from where Naruto stood. Doto raised his fore-arm, smirked at Naruto in fascination, and parried a multitude of well-placed blows. Red eyes glared at him, flickering even brighter.
"Such raw anger you have for me!" Doto screamed, taunting his opponent in this battle. "But that anger won't be enough!"
Relentless and determined, Naruto head-butted Doto's nose, grabbed him by the wrist to disorientate his entire stance, and smacked his knuckles into his chest-plate. Doto could feel his entire body shake.
Unable to retaliate in time, Doto saw Sukuna appear behind him. Dismantle was launched into his back. Doto staggered forward from the impact of the slash—but managed to block off Naruto's axe-kick.
"What formidable team-work." Doto mixed his hands together into a hand-sign in the blink of an eye. "Wind-Style: Divine-Hurricane…"
Naruto's crimson eyes watched the wind around them pick up in intensity. "Damn it! I didn't think he could use this type of technique."
Unworried about the hurricane created by Doto, Sukuna roundhouse kicked his hip and hurtled him towards Naruto. Composing himself, Naruto clutched Doto's head and smacked a knee into his nose.
Dismantle dispelled the enormous hurricane in the sector. Sukuna rushed at Doto, four vermillion eyes glinting in twisted joy. Naruto was less excited than him, intent on defeating Doto on Koyuki's behalf.
Claws made from condensed wind surrounded Doto's gauntleted hands. Naruto blinked at his stomach after it had been stabbed in the middle. Sukuna knocked an elbow into the side of Doto's head, grinning.
Having rolled into one of the pillars of ice in the area, Doto repositioned himself onto his feet and smirked. Not even a second later, red bubbles of chakra touched Naruto's wounds and healed him.
Intrigued by this development in the battle, Doto thought. "What potent and terrifying chakra! Who are these two boys? I wonder about that..."
Spiderweb was applied to the terrain beneath them, spreading more and more cracks across the ground to destabilize Doto's footing. Sukuna blurred at the man, then reached a hand out for his shoulder.
Adjusting itself to the durability of Doto's shoulder-pad in an instant, Cleave obliterated it into small chunks of metal. Naruto body-flickered above Doto and the heel of his foot went downwards.
Sukuna held onto Doto by his other shoulder and drove a knee into his jaw. Stunned, Doto coughed out wads of blood onto the pristine snow.
A backhand to the face propelled Naruto into a huge wall of ice. Sukuna separated himself from Doto, mouth twisted in mockery. Doto stepped forward, appeared next to Sukuna, and kicked him away.
Rubbing the top of his head and the section Naruto had hit, Doto chuckled at the reincarnated child as he rose to his feet. More and more intrigue glinted in Doto's cold eyes. "How strong are they…?"
In a flash of intense movement, Doto approached Sukuna. Four crimson eyes widened in amusement before a Dismantle was buried into his chest-plate. Doto flipped across the air, grunting in irritation.
Recovering from the brief sensation of pain Doto had given him, Naruto intercepted him in the air, pressed a foot into his abdomen, and hurled him into the ground. An extra cob-web of cracks was formed.
Sinking into the unmelted snow around him, Doto smiled. "That technique is like an invisible pulse of destruction. I can't even see it."
Doto murmured. "He had to touch my shoulder-pad to break it—so I assume that's a different technique."
Returning to his feet, Doto used Medical-Ninjutsu on himself to clear up the bruises on his body. Sukuna rushed at him, arm pulled back for a merciless punch. Doto swept his leg forward.
Sukuna was propelled backwards—but remained uncaring of how much damage he would receive from this battle. Naruto sprinted onwards, snarled at the man, and karate-chopped his head.
Swinging himself towards Doto in a blur of movement, Sukuna utilized the second impact of Divergent-Fist and launched him backwards. Doto steadied himself, grinning like a psychopath. "Bravo, you two!"
"You two have impressed me enough!" Doto flared his chakra to intimidate the two of them. "I will no longer hold my strength back!"
Unimpressed by Doto, Sukuna snorted to himself. "Why the hell do all of the people I have to fight prattle on about so much random crap?"
Much more animated in his response, Naruto growled. "Who the hell cares if you stop holding back? We'll still be kicking your ass, Doto!"
In a fraction of a second, Doto appeared in front of Naruto and stabbed his wind-made claw into his chest. Looking down at the dangerous injury, Naruto tasted the blood that coated his tongue.
Removing his hand from Naruto's chest, Doto widened his eyes before he was kicked in the solar-plexus. Naruto touched his injured chest, a miasma of vermillion chakra restoring his flesh to normal.
No longer seeped in surprise, Doto laughed. "Incredible! I punctured the left portion of your chest and you were able to heal yourself!"
"You alright?" Sukuna asked his friend. "That red chakra of yours has a pretty powerful healing-factor. You should use it to your advantage."
Naruto smacked his blood-stained lips together. "I'm fine, thanks. Don't worry about me, all I want is to beat the crap out of Doto!"
The tension between the three of them sky-rocketed once again. Naruto glanced at Koyuki in the distance to ensure she was safe, nudged Sukuna on the shoulder, and vanished in a burst of speed.
Following Naruto from behind, Sukuna disappeared in a blur and charged at the armoured man. Doto's arms blurred through the air, parrying a number of blows and kicks.
Doto trapped Naruto in a one-armed head-lock, planted his palm onto Naruto's stomach, and stabbed him for a third time. Once released, Naruto spat a large chunk of blood in Doto's eyes and fell downwards.
Having his vision obstructed for a minute, Doto wiped off the acidic blood in his eyes in disgust and felt himself being upper-cut in the jaw. The second impact of Divergent-Fist snapped Doto's head backwards.
"Heal! Heal! Heal!" Naruto chanted to himself like a madman. "I can't let Doto win! For the sake of Koyuki and this land, I refuse to lose…!"
Confident Naruto would heal himself, Sukuna lashed his leg out and front-kicked Doto in the abdomen. Channelling more cursed-energy throughout himself, Sukuna empowered his muscles and body.
"You sure this is your full strength?!" Sukuna laughed in Doto's face. "Sandayu told me to be careful of you! I don't think there's any point!"
Doto moved his entire head forward, head-butting Sukuna's nose. Blood poured out from his nostrils. Unconcerned about himself, Sukuna directed a second deluge of cursed-energy into his muscles.
Annoyed at the reincarnated child, Doto sneered in mockery. "Sandayu is a fool! He believes my era will end! But it shall not!"
Wounds healed enough, Naruto tackled Doto, threw him into a frozen boulder, and watched lumps of ice fly upwards from the impact. Sukuna wasted no time whatsoever, launching a Dismantle forward.
Proving its outrageous durability, the metal that Doto's armour was constructed from endured the slash-based attack. Sukuna smirked, rolled one of his shoulders, leaned forward, and then disappeared.
Naruto clicked his fanged teeth in irritation, vanishing alongside his friend and forging onwards to beat this man once and for all. Lurching to his feet, Doto mixed his hands together into a type of hand-sign.
Bullets created from wind were directed towards the two of them. Sukuna's shoulder was stabbed by one of them while Naruto's whiskered cheeks were grazed by three. They remained unrelenting.
"How pathetic!" Sukuna mocked the man, ignoring his damaged shoulder. "You hide behind that Chakra-Armour without shame, huh?"
Positioning himself in front of a fatigued Doto, Sukuna landed a manji kick on his stomach before rising to his feet and blocking a punch. Sukuna's feet dug into the ground from the strength in Doto's strike.
Red bubbles of chakra escaped Naruto's slashed cheeks. Doto turned around—but was unable to react in time and was elbowed in the nose. Sukuna's other hand reached forward, touching Doto on the arm.
Cleave then obliterated one of the vambraces Doto had been wearing. Sukuna had poured all of his concentration into the task of destroying Doto's Chakra-Armour and planted his palm on the second vambrace before it was shattered.
Naruto drew out more chakra from his seal, channelled it into his fists, and clashed them against Doto's gauntleted knuckles. Unable to withstand the Kyuubi's chakra any longer, the gauntlets shattered.
"I should be able to use Ninjutsu since so much of his armour is broken!" Naruto cast a few hand-signs. "Wind-Style: Burst…!"
Pushing his clawed hand into Doto's chest-plate, Naruto released a powerful pulse of wind from his palm. However, much to Naruto's shock, a purple barricade materialized around Doto to neutralize it.
Keeping watch of this exchange, Sukuna grinned. "That explains it! The source of that chakra-nullifying barrier is in that chest-plate…"
"It also explains why Doto's chest-plate is so durable! Though, I had been able to damage it last time when they had captured Koyuki."
"He must have used a stronger metal when repairing his chest-plate this time." Sukuna cupped his chin. "Regardless, I can still destroy it!"
Naruto was persistent, throwing an onslaught of punches across Doto's upper-torso to inflict harm upon him. Growing annoyed, Doto jumped away from Naruto and landed next to a large wall of ice.
Blindsided, Sukuna raised both of his arms to redirect the icicle tossed in his general direction. Doto grabbed a second icicle, spinning it in his rough hand and hurtling it at Naruto to kill him.
A long trail of blood leaked out from Sukuna's gashed arms. Indifferent to all of his major injuries, Sukuna entered the stance of a martial artist, felt out the cursed-energy in his system, and blurred forward.
Slashing his claws into the icicle and scattering it into lumps of broken ice, Naruto wiped off the blood coated over his lips. Sukuna settled himself on Doto's shoulder, lashing his hand out to activate Cleave on the temple of Doto's head.
Gathering wind into his hand, Doto manipulated it into the form of a longsword to stab into Sukuna's eye. Leaping off of Doto's shoulder, the reincarnated child grunted while Naruto landed next to him.
"I feel like Sandayu's assessment of Doto's strength was wrong." Sukuna pondered to himself. "Doto is strong—but not that fearsome."
Fists clenched in concentration, Sukuna hummed. "He's protecting his chest-plate from what I've seen—so that kind of confirms my theory."
More bubbles of red chakra leaked from Naruto's wounds. "His damn Chakra-Armour is still working! How? Sukuna destroyed most of it…"
"I will admit this much!" Doto held himself at an impressed position. "You two brats are formidable foes! Even if you can be irritating."
Applying Medical-Ninjutsu onto himself, Doto restored his damaged body to normal. Naruto clicked his teeth in annoyance, gandered towards Koyuki, and readied himself. Sukuna remained focused.
"Unlike Doto and Naruto, I can't heal myself." Sukuna sighed. "It sucks that I still haven't grasped the use of Reversed-Cursed-Technique…"
Doto shoved his hand into a frozen boulder behind himself, ripping out balls of ice and hurling them at his two opponents. Realizing this was some kind of distraction, Sukuna fired a Dismantle into all of the ice.
Elbow raised, Naruto had somewhat managed to hold off a chakra-enhanced punch from the armoured man. Teeth clenched, Naruto pushed Doto backwards before Sukuna axe-kicked his head.
Lifting his head and flinging Sukuna's foot off of it, Doto turned to the four-eyed boy and upper-cut him in the jaw. Sukuna's head rattled a little from the blow—but he withstood it and flicked his hand down.
Having noticed the strange gesture, Doto positioned himself to ensure that the Dismantle would hit the back of his armour rather than the chest-plate. Three seconds later, cracks had formed in its metal.
Since the armour had been exposed to the chakra of the Kyuubi for so long, the cultivated durability of its metal had waned over time. Sukuna had thrown three more Dismantles into Doto's back, grinning.
Doto maintained his dangerous position—but the back of his armour shattered into several pieces of metal. Increasing the power of his wind-made claws, Doto tapped his chest-plate and smiled to himself.
"Sukuna!" Naruto yelled at his teammate. "We can't let Doto heal himself anymore! I'm not sure how large his chakra-reserves are!"
In agreement, Sukuna nodded. "You're right. If Doto keeps on healing the injuries that we've given him, then we'll be back to square one…"
Determined to end this battle more than ever, Naruto plunged his clawed hand into the unmelted snow underneath him. Fountains of snow had emerged all around him, blocking off Doto's line of sight.
A low breath of pure excitement escaped Sukuna's mouth. Doto swung his hand in a horizontal motion, scattering the snow in the air. Sukuna charged cursed-energy into his fists, vanishing in a blur.
"You can't hide from me, you fools!" Doto performed a hand-sign, puffing out his chest and roaring out a torrent of wind. "Just try it!"
Dismantle had been able to split the torrent of wind into two separate directions. Moving into Doto's guard, Naruto pressed his knuckles into his chest-plate and could feel one of the last pieces of armour shake.
Naruto then flipped onto his hands, extending his foot forth and bashing it into Doto's chin. Blood streamed out from the man's lips. Sukuna followed up on the onslaught, driving an elbow into his neck.
Flipping back onto his feet, Naruto stabbed his claws into both of Doto's shoulders to keep him in place and spat a second chunk of blood into his eyes to impede his vision. Sukuna's hand reached out.
Cleave opened up a severe wound on Doto's unprotected left arm. In retaliation, Doto knocked Naruto away via a powerful head-butt. Naruto head-butted Doto a moment later.
"My left arm is useless because of that four-eyed brat!" Doto escaped Naruto's clutches, grunting to himself. "I'll have to heal myself, then."
A green glow illuminated the air as Doto flexed the fingers on his right hand and stuck them out towards the wound on his left arm. Despite the distance he had established, Doto saw Naruto close in on him.
Sukuna was faster and held onto Doto's right hand to stop him from healing and performing any more Ninjutsu. Glowering at the reincarnated child, Doto stretched his leg out to front-kick his face.
Appearing in between them, Naruto clashed his knee against Doto's leg and deflected the injured left arm aimed at his shoulder. Doto blinked at the blood that Naruto had coughed into his eyes earlier.
"They aren't letting me use hand-signs!" Doto wrenched his hand away from Sukuna, irritated. "Do they really believe they can win?!"
Rubbing at the blood in his eyes, Doto went in for a roundhouse kick. Sukuna jabbed the meanest of right-hooks into his face and laughed. A second impact from Divergent-Fist bruised his right cheek more.
"This four-eyed boy…" Doto scanned the injuries inflicted upon Sukuna's body, baffled. "This is unbelievable! How is he still standing!"
Sukuna's unique physical ability also granted him unimaginable durability. Most of the wounds he had recieved were inhibiting his movements—but the endurance of his body had helped him fight on.
Blood trickled out from Sukuna's nose, arms, and one of his shoulders. However, he cared for none of these injuries. In his mind, nothing else but the intense battle in front of him was important.
"Naruto!" Sukuna's blood-stained teeth widened into a mad grin. "Just focus on destroying this idiot's chest-plate! That's how we'll beat him."
One hand balled into a fist in motivation, Naruto grunted. "That chest-plate must be some kind of weak-spot. I'll shatter it, then!"
At the moment, Sukuna could not use either Cleave or Dismantle. Since Naruto was so close to him, he would be caught in Dismantle's range. Doto had grabbed Sukuna's wrists, stopping all physical touch.
Naruto banged his knuckles into Doto's chest-plate five times. Unable to defend himself, Doto hurled Sukuna into Naruto and leaped back. A Wind-Clone of the Uzumaki intercepted Doto, punching his shoulder.
Rolling into the fray of the battle once again, Doto extended the length of his wind-created claws to slash Sukuna's chest. Sukuna made no move to block it, instead taking the damage and sprinting at the man.
The Wind-Clone of Naruto landed on Doto's shoulder, holding him in some type of head-lock for the time being. Focusing his cursed-energy into his fist, Sukuna struck the chest-plate and propelled him back.
Dispelling his Wind-Clone, Naruto appeared behind Doto and buried his clawed fingers into the man's shoulders to restrain him. Sukuna infused cursed-energy into his arm and then punched the chest-plate.
Sukuna could feel his cursed-energy flow across his arm and into his fist. An odd sensation filled his knuckles as he buried them into Doto's chest-plate. An obsidian glow originated from Sukuna's fist itself.
"Black-Flash…"
All of the cursed-energy imbued into Sukuna's fist glowed black. In an instant, the chest-plate and the rest of the armour was destroyed. Doto coughed out an insane amount of blood, flying into the distance.
Naruto had moved himself away from Doto beforehand, somehow believing in his mind that Sukuna would pull off something incredible. Koyuki—who had been hiding—shared the same sentiment as him.
"Hah." Sukuna rolled one of his shoulders. "The metal of that bastard's armour really was durable, huh? But I managed to break it at last."
Four crimson eyes blinked at his clenched fist. "I used Black-Flash? My cursed-energy feels so much more clear and controllable to me."
Hearing a loud chuckle of insanity, Sukuna glanced at Doto. Despite having his entire armour obliterated, he remained confident in victory. A harsh cough left his bruised mouth. "I will not lose to you brats…"
"Give up, Doto!" Naruto had landed next to his friend. "You've lost! We're going to dismantle this damn era of yours, once and for all!"
Laughing at the Uzumaki in mockery, Doto returned to his feet. "That punch was powerful—but my armour took on most of the impact!"
Sukuna smirked, disinterested and unimpressed. "You keep talking and talking. If you still think you won't lose, then come and fight us."
Doto reconstructed his wind-made claws, channelled chakra throughout his muscles to enhance his physical prowess, and lunged at the two of them. Sukuna's fist then sunk itself into Doto's abdomen.
"Black-Flash." Sukuna was focused beyond belief, punching Doto towards his blue-eyed teammate. "Doto really is a dull person."
Spinning on the heel of his foot, Naruto roundhouse kicked Doto into the snow. Relentless in his hope of victory, Doto climbed to his feet. This time, Naruto and Sukuna appeared in front of him in a blur.
Wind-Style: Burst had been activated by Naruto around his hand. Sukuna had directed another current of cursed-energy into his fist. They both slammed two different punches into Doto's upper-torso.
"Wind-Style: Burst!"
"Black-Flash…"
Unable to battle either of them anymore after their powerful punches, Doto flipped across the air and crashed into a chunk of broken ice. Knocked out, Doto slumped against the snow-covered surface.
Crimson eyes melted into blue ones. Naruto laughed. "Hah! Hah! Hah! I told that bastard I would take him down! Not so smug—huh, Doto?"
Naruto's thickened whiskers returned to normal while his fanged teeth shrunk in size. "I'm glad, Sukuna. Koyuki and her land can move on…"
"I guess they can." Sukuna was nonchalant about the outcome of their battle. "Is Koyuki still hiding? I'm pretty sure it's safe to come out."
Having waved at Koyuki to tell her it was safe, Naruto shouted. "Princess, you can come out now! I beat him up like I said I would!"
Naruto nudged Sukuna on the shoulder. "Of course, this asshole helped out. I hope Kakashi-Sensei and Sasuke stopped Doto's team."
In a bout of unadulterated disbelief, Koyuki stepped out from the chunk of ice she had been hiding behind and approached them. Shocked at the sight of a defeated Doto, she slumped her shoulders.
The three of them were then in for a second surprise. Somehow gaining more power, the heat generator in the area melted all of the surrounding snow around them. Sunlight creeped upon the nation.
Appreciating the change in weather, Naruto grinned. "Hey, princess? I thought you told me that there was no spring in the Land-Of-Snow!"
"My father was right in the end." Koyuki murmured to herself in a nostalgic tone. "Spring has come to this land at last, hasn't it…?"
Her dull eyes had somewhat brightened. "Thank you so much, you two. You've defeated Doto and brought spring to this nation…"
"Remember what I said?" Naruto laughed. "If you don't give up, then good things are going to happen! To give up is the same as defeat!"
Sukuna had retrieved the Hex-Crystal and handed it to the actress. "That type of philosophy works well enough in this situation, huh?"
Koyuki cradled the necklace in her hand. "You were right, Naruto. Giving up is the same as defeat. I guess it's time to get back up."
"No more hiding and no more running." Koyuki donned her necklace. "I will take on the responsibility left behind by my predecessors…"
Confused by this declaration, Naruto raised an eye-brow. "What responsibility? Are you going to reclaim your title as heiress?"
"Of course." Koyuki planted a palm on Naruto's shoulder for a second. "It's about time Doto's era came to an end. It's time for a new one."
Makino rushed over to them, interrupting their chatter. "Incredible! I had all of that recorded! This will be the greatest film of all time!"
Patting Sukuna's shoulder, Makino chuckled. "You really are powerful! Sandayu had me thinking it would be impossible for you two to win."
Snorting, Naruto defended himself and his friend. "We still took him down! Enough about Doto, where the heck is Kakashi-Sensei?"
"Over here." Kakashi appeared behind his blond-haired student. "Good job, Naruto and Sukuna. You two have gotten stronger."
Sasuke approached Sukuna—who asked him. "What happened to the three members of Doto's team that you and Kakashi were fighting?"
"They were nothing special." Sasuke grunted in response. "We handed them over to Sandayu and his rebellion group, though."
"Hah!" Naruto pitched in. "You weren't there, Sasuke! Me and Sukuna were sick out there! Also, guess who's invited to Koyuki's inauguration!"
(-)
April 15th 2002:
Sukuna and the rest of his team stood amidst a crowd of people during Koyuki's official inauguration as the ruler of the Land-Of-Snow. Hands slid into his pockets, Sukuna raised his gaze to the balcony.
Dressed in an outfit suitable for such a grand ceremony, Koyuki bowed at the residents of her nation and heard them cheer for her. Naruto grinned at this situation while Sasuke smirked in satisfaction.
Much more composed than his students, Kakashi tipped his head down in respect and listened to the buzz of excitement in the air. After some time, the festival to celebrate the ceremony had commenced.
Koyuki, accompanied by Sandayu, walked over to team seven. "I really do have to thank the four of you for helping us out so much."
"It was our pleasure!" Naruto replied on his team's behalf. "Since you're the new ruler, are you going to be quitting the movie industry?"
"Of course not." Koyuki smiled. "It'd be dumb to quit now. Sandayu will be the one who gets me roles in other movies like normal, of course."
"Is Makino around?" Sukuna was curious. "He told me yesterday that he and his film-crew would be leaving on the day of the ceremony."
She hid a smile behind her hand. "They all left while you and Naruto were asleep. Makino didn't want to wake either of you up, though."
Sukuna looked at the plasters and bandages on his body. "I'm still recovering from that battle. I heal pretty quick, so I'm not worried."
"Have a safe return to Konoha." Koyuki smiled once again. "The ship to take you back to the Land-Of-Fire has already been prepared."
Naruto watched Koyuki leave the area and sighed. "It still sucks I never got an autograph! Last time I tried, I was pepper-sprayed!"
Handing Naruto an envelope, Sasuke said. "Open that up later, I want to head back to Konoha. Kakashi, can we leave now?"
"The ceremony is finished." Kakashi shrugged. "We've stayed here long enough, the three of you still have more missions to take!"
"I'm kind of tired." Sukuna grunted. "I want some sleep."
He sighed.
A/N: Thanks for reading this chapter