Chapter 12- A Beast Not Only In Name
"Wer mit Ungeheuern Kämpft, mag zusehn,
dass er nicht dabei zum Ungeheuer wird."
-FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE, Jenseit von Gut und Böse
Translation:
"He who fights with monsters might take care,
lest he thereby become a monster."
This Chapter's Theme Song:
The Rolling Stones- Sympathy For The Devil
Additional Warning:
This is an M rated Fanfiction for a reason,
this chapter contains some particularly brutal scenes.
Heavy breathing escaped from blueish lips, permeating the air like a thick white cloud. Kamen glanced around the steel coffin he currently found himself in as he dragged himself forwards as silently as he could.
After his brief encounter with one of Ozymandias' golem bodyguards, the ex-jinchuriki had managed to use the hulking creature's entry point through the wall to access a network of ventilation shafts that seemed to run throughout the ruby palace, circulating almost glacial temperatures to somewhere deep within the depths of the leviathan-like construction. The time traveller had followed the way the cold air seemed to flow, hoping to find exactly what was going on with this strange place, and had even paused briefly to see if he could sense any strange chakra signatures by focusing his mind. Reassuringly he had felt the faint signatures of team seven along with Guy and Lee, however less reassuringly so he had felt that they were much deeper down than last he had sensed them. Not far from their chakra signatures he also felt a mass of the same disgusting chakra that had emanated from the construct that he had previously defeated.
As Kamen dragged himself along the glacial ventilation shaft he spotted a grate that let in rays of bright white light and slightly warmer air than what was already present in the vent. The dark-haired shinobi slowed his breath down to make less noise as he inched closer to the grate. The ex-jinchuriki winced slightly from his reopened wound as he shuffled his limbs and head into such a position as to peer down into whatever lay below.
The grate opened up above a doorway that seemed to belong to an immense pristine white laboratory. From where Kamen's blue eyes peered inwards, he could just about make out the center of the white-tiled room where a large silver table had been placed, hundreds of black markings surrounding it.
The silent invader cautiously traced the black markings with his eyes, some symbols more familiar than others, until his eyes were finally drawn to the heart of the intricate maze of fuinjutsu: A distorted figure that lay motionless on the table, wires and tubes sticking out of it, all snaking their way back to large machines and vats that appeared to regulate the bright blue fluids and sparking voltages passing through them. Kamen's sharp midnight blue eyes zeroed in on the thing that lay upon the table, his eyes attempting to decypher the being from afar.
The motionless corpse resembled the larger construct which he had fought previously, however even without taking into account the numerous fuinjutsu scrawls and metal inputs that covered its body, it was notably different. Gone was the bulky armor that had seemed to integral to the construct's body. Instead, this creature seemed to be covered in large patches of metal-like scales that wrapped their way around its form in an unpleasantly random manner. The thick arms and legs had been replaced with spike-like limbs, though the ends of its spike arms had also been modified beyond recognition. One of its arms had a long katana-like sword fused to its end, ugly bright blue veins, that seemed out of place on the construct's porcelain white skin, merged with tubes and stitch-like wires to fix the weapon in place. Its other arm had long immobile appendages, all seemed opposable and cable of being used as fingers, however their tips glinted under the light with a certain morbid sharpness much like the sword that was affixed parallel to them. The most striking change however was its facial features, the creatures that Kamen had seen before wore upon their heads white plated helmets that were likely just as much a part of them as their hands and feet. This creature on the other hand had a milky white mask fused to its features, which closely resembled something you would see an Anbu wearing. However, unlike an Anbu's standard-issue mask, the slits which served as eye and mouth holes were rectangular, giving the creature's face a listless expression befitting of its still form.
Just as Kamen's attentions switched back to study the seals that littered the creature's body and its surroundings in closer detail, the doors right beneath him swung open violently, rebounding against the wall with an almighty metallic thump. Two white creatures similar to the one lying upon the table walked in, though these had fewer complex features and red markings rather than black coating their bodies. Following behind them with an uneasy eagerness were five different people, only one of which was unknown to the shinobi hopeful. Among these five people was also a certain unconscious genin who had been carelessly slung over one of the samurai's shoulder.
The four people were Ozymandias, a strange-looking old man in a lab coat and two samurai, one of which Kamen recognised as Sasaki the Nitojutsu wielder who had accompanied them during their travels and the other whom he had previously spotted by Ozymandias' side in the throne room, "Rikata, is everything ready?"
The old man in a lab coat was in the middle of pointing to the floor with a grunt, ordering the nameless samurai to place Naruto on the ground, however unwilling to draw the ire of his master, Rikata answered swiftly, "Of course my lord, the husk has been fully prepared... It is only thanks to Shale-sama and his highness' guidance that we now know why the artificial Bijuu refused to form within the husk despite us having done everything exactly as the old texts described... To think that the sage of the six paths' chakra was the key... All that is needed now to is draw the correct extraction seals and we will finally realise your long-awaited dream your highness..."
A vile smirk laced lips that had previously held a soothing smile. Ozymandias delicately approached the husk that lay before him, tentatively outstretching his arm towards it as though he wanted to caress the abomination, though instead he paused and lowered his appendage to his side at the last second, "Finally... The only thing standing between us and being on par with the festering boils on this world that are the five great shinobi nations shall be ours... A bijuu... Konoha, Iwa, Kumo, Kiri, Suna, and even those pathetic bastards in Taki, they shall all drown under a river of blood. A tyrannical rule brought about by the acquisition of the Bijuu that has reigned since the end of the warring states period shall finally fall before OZYMANDIAS KING OF KINGS!"
Just as Ozymandias finished his deranged speech an almost silent chakra arrow pierced the air as it propelled itself towards the self-proclaimed king of kings. Said robed man twisted brutally as he felt the hairs on his neck rise. Out of the corner of his dark purple eyes, the beastly man caught sight of a bright blue flash of light heading straight for him. For a split second the ruler with his blood-soaked crown could see his whole life flash before his eyes. However, cutting it as close as was possible, an explosive spark of white and red broke the momentary spell that Ozymandias had fallen under, followed seconds later was what would have been a gory explosion of guts and innards had the white construct that had saved its master's life been made of flesh and blood.
Kamen, having leapt from his hiding spot within the ventilation system, was surrounded by the two samurai and the remaining white construct in a matter of seconds. Ozymandias, who was visibly distraught by his narrow escape from the clutches of the shinigami, ground his teeth as he turned fully to face the man who had almost sent him to the afterlife, "I had wondered where you had gotten to, vermin. You already looked half dead when you arrived, so I thought you would be the least troublesome one to deal with. Still, here you are, looking even worse for wear and yet appearing to be a putrid thorn in my side!"
The midnight blue-eyed man fingered one of the pouches that was concealed under his silver armor, ready to draw out its contents at the slightest movement of the hostiles that surrounded him. Though this was all smoothly done with his eyes glued to the young blond boy who had been tossed to the ground. The cogs in the ex-jinchuriki mind were spinning at a thousand miles per hour, this situation was as impossible and incomprehensible as one could be to him. His younger self lay before him, some sort of crazed scientist about to tear out a part of the nine tails' chakra to stick it into some vile husk of a golem to create an artificial bijuu. None of this had happened to him, none of this could have happened to him. If it had he wouldn't be where he was at that very moment. Still, he couldn't devote his precious time nor his processing power to thinking about complex paradoxes.
Ozymandias was right, Kamen was a dead man walking. The gash that was marring his ordinarily pristine pale stomach felt as though it was about to burst open with a waterfall of blood, not only that but the backlash from his use of the Tonbokiri jutsu was still making his body feel numb and tingly all over, something rather impractical when fighting.
Either way, from what Kamen had heard and understood of what was going on, if he left things as is, it would be very, very bad. Not only were these people messing with something far beyond their understanding, but they were also about to try and pull something out of Naruto's seal. Although Kamen knew that pulling out a small amount of the nine tails' chakra from the seal would be neither deadly for the beast nor for Naruto, he did know for certain that the force of Nature residing within the young genin would be furious at having even a minuscule drop of its power stolen and that the seal holding its fury back would be severely weakened. The potential ensuing chaos would be far beyond what even Konoha had seen when the nine tails had been controlled by Madara. Unfortunately any further reflection on the matter was rendered impossible by the sudden breakdown in the standoff that Kamen had been having with those surrounding him.
The white abomination was the first to make a move, taking a suicidal dive towards the dark-haired shinobi, its sword arm fully outstretched to pierce the man's abdomen. Having one hole in his stomach was already enough for Kamen, his feet shuffling effortlessly as he danced around the thrusting blade. All the while his numb fingers went to work unclasping the opening of the pouch that was concealed under his arm guard before deftly pulling out a long scroll of explosive tags, all hand-drawn by hisself. With unnatural grace given his wound that had now almost certainly fully reopened, Kamen twirled his hand, tying the line of paper explosives around the creature's arms up to its shoulders. Kicking off of the ground in a short but rapid leap, the battle-hardened warrior slid past his foe with ease and followed up his jump by swiftly tearing the scroll away from the explosives wrapped around the construct's arms before placing it back into its pouch with one swift movement. Now behind the creature, Kamen span on the spot and lashed out with a violent kick to the white construct's back, sending it flying towards the two samurai who had already started rushing towards him.
In a violent and smoke-filled detonation, the second white construct met its end at Kamen's hands, as did the nameless samurai who had failed to dodge the makeshift missile and entangled himself with the limbs of the creature. The room was filled with silence as the dust, smoke and bloody mist from the explosion settled. Kamen's eyes darted around the room searching for any potential threats. While doing so he caught sight of Ozymandias with the smirk that had graced his features wiped clean off. Despite all that was going on the king's minion, Rikata, was still working on drawing up the extraction seal over Naruto's skin. Seeing this clinched Kamen's belief that the old man had lived long enough. The ex-jinchuriki dove towards his target, kunai in hand, unfortunately a cold voice interrupted his assassination attempt by invading the twenty-five-year-old's ears, "None shall interrupt Ozymandias-sama's plans."
Kamen span on the spot mid-step, hastily bringing both arms up to block the sudden strike poised to take his life, using his arm guards as unhandy shields. The split second after the blue-eyed warrior had done so, two violent katana strikes rained down upon him, exactly where he had position his defences. The sound of metal scraping against metal grated its way into the ears of the two combatants briefly before the explosive force of the dual strike knocked Kamen off of his feet and sent him flying back towards the doors of the laboratory. Kamen felt his back slam into the reinforced steel doors, certain that, had he not reinforced his back with chakra, something would have broken. The force of the invader's momentary flight and its swift conclusion was enough to break the closing mechanism of the doors and send him hurtling out into a long hallway that had been concealed behind it. Kamen, having just slammed through a pair of solid steel doors, then thudded with slightly less momentum against the back wall of the hallway before sliding down it and landing on his rear, wincing at each and every involuntary movement.
The young time-traveller wasn't sure how much longer his body could hold up, he himself was shocked that it had held up as long as it had. In terms of chakra, he was sure he could still last for quite some time, even without the nine-tailed fox his Uzumaki chakra reserves would last him a long while, however, his physical condition was a different story. Never had the ex-blonde realised how invaluable rapid healing and almost infinite stamina was, it was no wonder he had managed to make it through the fourth shinobi war... Yet, the fact that he had lived through the most deadly war the world had ever seen wasn't all down to his unwilling passenger, even if he himself wouldn't admit it. Despite his burning muscles, spasming pains from cracked ribs and fingers, and whole-body numbness, the veteran shakily rose to his feet to greet the dual-wielding adversary that loomed towards him.
Kamen couldn't help but momentarily admire the blades Sasaki held within her grasp. Neither of the weapons would have been outdone by any of the legendary seven swords of the mist, something which in and of itself was worth admiring. One of the blades was a Nagamaki, a long-handled and short-bladed sword that was favored by the samurai of Tetsu. Its features were ornamental in appearance, gold and red tinting its surface, as though the blade was more for show than for combat. On the flip side, in her other hand was a much more offensive and battle-hardened sword, a longer Odachi with a jet-black blade. Even though Odachi were usually wielded with two hands due to their weight, the extremely long blade didn't seem out of place in her solitary hand, wielded alongside her Nagamaki. The elegance that radiated from her flawless stance frustrated the young man slightly, "Why do you... Hn... Even serve a bastard like that?"
Instead of a response, Sasaki's face twisted into the visage of pure rage as she drove her Odachi forwards to pierce Kamen's head. Dodging such a haphazard opening blow was an easy task. However, the second wild strike which came from her Nagamaki drove itself straight into the time-traveller's left bicep, slicing horizontally across it. The blade left torn fabric and a deep wound in its wake. Kamen hardly faltered, the pain of such a minor new wound barely registering over the pain he was already in. Acting hastily to avoid further damages the conditioned fighter lashed out with a swift kick-cum-jump to the female samurai's abdomen, performed in such a manner that was less to injure her and more to push himself out of range of her blades. While in mid-air, Kamen hastily brought his hands together and began flashing through hand signs to muster up a Jutsu. As his feet connect with the floor his hands clasped themselves together into a Tori hand sign as he softly spoke the name of his Jutsu, "Wind release: Dual Vacuum Blades."
As the young man pealed his hands away from each other in an unsheathing motion, large barely visible katanas appeared in each of his hands. Sasaki gazed at the spectacle with slight disgust in her eyes, "You think you can beat me at my own game? I am Sasaki Musashi, heiress of the Musashi style of nitojutsu. I SHALL NOT FALTER!"
As the Musashi heiress proclaimed her unwavering determination she dove towards her opponent once again entering within the range needed to effectively use her weapons in a matter of seconds. She brought wild strike after strike down upon the enemy before her, a flurry of blows that followed each other seamlessly as though she had performed the moves a thousand times over. Despite this, each strike passed through thin air.
Even though the rapid strikes advanced in great number, each time from different angles, the foe before her did not fold, rather he matched each strike with his own. The lack of the sound of metal against metal made the fight seem eerily calm in the almost silent hallway. The young female samurai could feel the unwavering resistance of this man's weapons as she struck his with her own, seeming to her as indomitable as a castle's bulwark. The sound of their feet shuffling and moving in time with each other's strikes was the only sound within the corridor save for Kamen's heavy breathing.
The more strikes Sasaki drove forwards with her blades, the faster she seemed to become. Her fighting style utilised the length of her Nagamaki's handle to her advantage, sometimes wielding it like a tanto and other times holding it further down the grip to wield it like a katana. The flexibility of such a style had always been off-putting for her opponents and had almost always been deadly for them. Yet she had only managed to strike her enemy a handful of times so far, and she knew full well that such minor strikes would not slow her enemy down.
Even with her speed building up and her strikes now tripling in number per second, Kamen didn't falter. The experienced soldier glanced the blades of his opponent away from himself with his own, letting strikes that wouldn't affect his movements nor hit vital points past his defence to get a better chance at striking Sasaki in return.
And strike he did, as soon enough without having even noticed a hint of it weakening up till now, Sasaki's armour began to fall from her body, its supporting joints and straps sabotaged by Kamen's sharp mind as much as they had been by his sharp blades. The young girl swore slightly as the uncontrolled shifting of weight almost brought her to a swift death, narrowly managing to avoid her enemy's strike as it glanced past her face. The young woman dove backwards, swiftly cutting away the dead weight that her samurai armor now was, a smoldering expression graced her features as a veined bulged violently on her temple, "Pathetic... Pathetic... PATHETIC! YOU THINK THIS IS ENOUGH TO STOP ME?!"
Sasaki was furious, "I don't think I would be any good with a sword these days.", the very person who had said those words was keeping up with her? She couldn't comprehend the idea, it was ridiculous! Had the man before her been lying? Was he secretly a famous swordsman? Sasaki didn't recognise him, not from a bingo book, not from anything! So how was some no-name swordsman keeping up with her? And with a style she had never seen before to boot?! Not only was her enemy's style not one she had seen before, but it was also unlike any she had even heard of. Kamen's kenjutsu style was fearless, it showed no regard to the user's physical well-being and seemed to only ensure that said user was able to continue fighting without dying, it was exactly the kind of despicable style Sasaki expected from a shinobi.
With almost crazed eyes the woman dove towards her enemy, blades swinging even wilder than before, yet just as fast. Kamen tried to peer through the veil of madness that enveloped his enemy's soul and yet he simply couldn't understand what drove the same honorable samurai who shed a tear for her fallen ally, to serve a despot such as Ozymandias. It frustrated the young veteran beyond belief, yet he knew there was nothing to be done. Sasaki's blind devotion and loyalty to someone that seemed to be pure evil reminded him of Haku... Though Zabuza turned out to not be such a horrible person as he first seemed... Somehow Kamen doubted it would be the same with Ozymandias... And so the ex-jinchuriki was now fully resolved, Sasaki would likely meet the same fate as Haku, though a part of Kamen couldn't help but feel saddened by that conclusion.
As Sasaki brought her odachi down from above her head, almost as though she planned to cleave Kamen in half. And with such a brazen move, said shinobi finally found the opening that he had been searching for. He let the barely concealed strike that came from her Nagamaki harmlessly sail past where his arm had once been. In that very moment Kamen rose both of his vacuum blades upwards in a powerful strike to the Odachi's faded gold handguard. The sudden reversal in the directional force of her blow shocked Sasaki enough that her grip on the heavy two-handed blade loosened just enough for Kamen to send it flying out of her hand, spinning momentarily before embedding itself into the ceiling of the once pristine hallway that was now marred with battle scars from their fight.
Kamen, not wasting an instant, swiftly changed the directions of his blades and struck downwards in an X shape. Sasaki, unwilling to die just yet leapt backwards. Taking a leaf from Raiga's book of tricks, Kamen's blades suddenly doubled in length as he manipulated their shapes with his chakra. The young woman, seeing no other choice, managed to spin her body in mid-air so as to avoid having her body sliced into quarters.
At first, Kamen had thought that his enemy had escaped unharmed from his attack, however, as the female samurai skidded to a halt, she stumbled and fell to one knee. Sasaki winced as she brought a hand up to the bleeding stump where her right arm had once been. The sound of a pound of flesh smacking against the stone floor resounded within the hallway along with the clattering of metal. The young woman was completely disarmed as she screamed out, the pain of losing an arm having finally reached her deranged mind.
Kamen looked on sadly as he watched the painful display. Not wanting to waste any more of his remaining chakra by maintaining two vacuum blades, Kamen canceled his Jutsu and slowly approached the figure before him, "DON'T YOU DARE COME NEAR ME! MONSTER! HOW DARE YOU DO THIS! YOU'LL BURN IN HELL!"
Kamen felt as though he could hear Sasaki's vocal cords tearing as she screamed out, but he doubted she was able to do any more harm in the state that she was in. The young shinobi began calmly walking past the woman towards the doors to the laboratory, "Don't you dare... DON'T YOU DARE IGNORE ME!"
Uncaring of the words of a fallen foe, Kamen continued onwards, however as she began crawling desperately towards her severed arm which held within its grasp her Nagamaki, the veteran paused in his stride and let out an exhausted sigh, "Don't... Just don't..."
The words that tiredly rasped out from between the war veteran's lips were ignored as Sasaki clumsily grasped at her ornamental weapon with her remaining arm. The young woman staggered to her feet, weapon shakily pointing towards her foe. Blood from a wound that had been carved into her forehead ran down into one of her eyes and stained it red, yet the crazed woman didn't even blink, "I'm not done... I can.. I can still fight! FOR THE KING OF KI-"
Kamen hadn't moved, not even an inch, and he didn't have to. He didn't even glance backwards. He knew what would happen next. The dark-haired shinobi's well-tuned ears could hear the sound of metal grating ever so slightly against stone. His ears focused on the single hunched-over step forwards that Sasaki took, her blood splattering against the dull white floor as it left her wounds. Kamen even though he could just about hear the wet sound of the woman's lips raising into an ugly smirk as she shakily rose her sword. However, that smirk would not last long, the sound of Sasaki's Odachi, which had been stuck in the ceiling, liberating itself from its perch grated out into the hallways.
Metal cut through the air as it spiraled downwards, the unmistakable sound finally signaling the end of the Musashi bloodline. Kamen and Kamen alone was present as Sasaki's own black blade fell, lodging itself brutally into the back of her hunched-over neck as it reached the end of its fall. The weight of the sword drove almost the entire length of the Odachi through her neck, the tip protruding out towards the ground in a gory display. Although the dark-haired veteran couldn't see it, he could easily imagine the woman's eyes widen in surprise and then cloud over as her spirit left her body. Sasaki's carcass fell to its knees under the full weight of the Odachi, yet it did not fall over as the black blade lodged itself into one of the many grooves in the floor that the battle had wrought. And so that was how her body remained, kneeling, one arm limp at her side, still clutching her Nagamaki, the other just behind her on the floor, her eyes wide and rolled back to the back of her skull, her jaw locked closed by the blade that rested neatly under it.
Kamen let loose a long and saddened sigh. Someone like that would never stop, they would fight tooth and nail for what they believed in, no matter whether it was right or wrong. The young veteran saw a part of himself- no, a part of Naruto within that woman... Perhaps that was why her tragic ending at his hands saddened him... Because he would not fool himself, he could have saved her from that falling blade, but he hadn't... He had let her die, and that was the same as killing her himself... But Kamen was long since soaked in blood, another notch on his belt would change nothing...
Just as Kamen began walking away from the scene of the crime once again, the ground began to shake violently, so much so that the ex-jinchuriki could barely move. An ominous charka began permeating the air, one he recognised... Yet that same chakra was also very different, "Damn it! I'm too late!"
A little while earlier, a certain trio had found themselves in an extremely difficult situation. Sasuke, Sakura, and Lee's cell had risen into what looked like a miniature underground colosseum, several hundred people surrounded them and seemed to cheer half-heartedly as they rose out of the ground. The three each had their backs to one another, creating a triangle, all of them preparing to face whatever was about to happen, "Hn... I've got a bad feeling about this..."
The circular walls that surrounded them weren't necessarily unscalable using the tree climbing technique, however, none of the three genins fooled themselves into thinking they would get past the dozens of pristine white constructs that awaited them at the end of their climb. As the cheers died down, an anticipatory silence slowly invaded the large battlegrounds.
Sasuke scanned his surroundings, searching for any way out of the predicament he and his allies had found themselves in, unfortunately, the circular walls that surrounded them seemed completely solid, as was the sand-covered ground. The young Uchiha tried desperately to ignore the notches on the walls and the dark red patches scattered around the sandy floor, along with the odd shard of white material that stuck out from beneath the dusty grains. However poorly Sasuke had managed to ignore these things, they did not affect him as much as they did his pink-haired teammate, who had started to tremble slightly moments ago, "Sakura. Whatever is about to happen, I have no doubt that both I and Lee will be busy enough trying not to die. We won't be able to save you if you mess up."
Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke could see Sakura's tremblings intensify momentarily, he also spotted Lee stiffening up slightly, likely wanting to deny the fact but also knowing full well that the last loyal Uchiha was right. However, just as Sasuke was about to turn away, he saw the pink-haired kunoichi suddenly straighten up. Sakura took in a deep breath as the cold sensation upon her skin from the underground air made her arms break out in goosebumps. The young girl brought her fists up before her, ready to fight, her entire body seemed to grow stiller than the surface of an untouched pond. A shaky practiced smile graced Sakura's lips as she turned to meet Sasuke's sidelong glance, "Don't worry about me Sasuke-kun... I'm a Kunoichi after all."
Sakura turned away from her love interest, eyes sharp, mind and body prepared for the fight that was likely to come. Luckily or unluckily for her, she would not have to wait long. A dull siren seemed to pierce the silence that had grown within the underground colosseum, inciting the renewal of louder and slightly more vigours cheers from the crowd. That was not the only thing the siren brought about, however, as certain parts of the battlefield's walls ground open, revealing six white porcelain constructs. These were unlike any the genin had seen so far, they were not like the bulky guards that they had first seen, neither were they the sleek rapid killing machines that had entered their cell and that now guarded the colosseum's perimeter. These creatures were much more disturbing, all of them had cut wires and tubes sticking out of their unrefined and bulbous forms. Some had what resembled black pulsating pustules covering their bodies, others had coagulated red liquid dripping from the tubes that were planted in their bodies. In terms of weaponry, some had single sword-arms, some had two. There was even one with a single large club-like arm.
Unfortunately, the group had little more time to prepare as the six shambling abominations seemed to be rapidly closing in, "I'll take the two to my north, Sakura you take the two to my south, and Lee you take the ones coming from my south-east!"
Without a hint of hesitation, the trio burst towards their destination, diving headlong into action. Lee was up against two single sword-wielding creatures, although their other arms seemed more like spears than arms. Sasuke however was facing down a pair of dual sword-wielding husks.
Sakura rapidly studied the two creatures that she was charging towards, one was the construct with a single club-like arm and the other had two katana blades for arms. The people who had locked the genin up had taken away their weapons, however, it seemed as though they neglected to clear their battlefield as Sakura spotted something rather useful sticking out of the sand. Swiftly diverting her course, the pink-haired kunoichi grasped at an object that stuck out of the ground, wrapping her fingers around it with an iron grip. The young genin gave the buried object a hard tug, pulling it loose from its grave.
A battle that predated the one that Sakura found herself in had left one of the constructs broken apart, leaving behind its weaponised arm. The young Kunoichi couldn't be more thankful to the poor soul that had been in the same position as she was in right now as she shifted the weight of the heavy white club-like appendage that she held in her grasp.
Sakura dove towards what she perceived to be the biggest threat between the two constructs, the dual-wielding porcelain beast. As soon as the young genin got within range, however, the construct lashed out at her, bringing two slashes horizontally towards her in a pincer-like swing. Luckily the young girl realised what the mindless creature was attempting before it had even gotten halfway through its attack. Facilitating her analysis of her opponent was it's rather out-of-place slowness when compared to others of its kind. Said slowness meant that she jumped back out of the way and let the blades slice through thin air harmlessly. Landing steadily on her feet, the pink-haired genin was about to launch forwards into a heavy swing of her club. Unfortunately, the young girl was not used to fighting several opponents at once, which meant that she failed to notice the second creature close in on her and deliver a brutal swing of its single club-like arm, striking the child squarely on her upper left arm. The force of the strike sent Sakura skidding across the sand and away from her two assailants, leaving behind a bright red mark on her arm that would surely later blossom into a purple bruise. The pink-haired club wielder hardly took the time to notice the pain nor the tears that gathered in the corner of her eyes, instead she charged back towards her two opponents.
Suddenly from the corner of her mind sprang a not-so-distant memory of when she had first started learning tree climbing in the land of waves. She remembered the pride she had felt when she had succeeded on the first try. She remembered the frustration that both Naruto and Sasuke felt at being unable to reach the peaks of the forest. Most importantly, however, she remembered how Naruto and Sasuke achieved the opposite effect of the exercise, how they propelled away from the trees by using far too much chakra. With that memory firmly in her mind she drew closer and closer to the club-wielding construct and as she did so began channeling more and more to the soles of her feet until...
The pink-haired kunoichi was sent flying into the air by the excessive amount of chakra that she had gathered at her feet. She span violently through the air, wrestling with her body weight to try and control her temporary flight. The young girl half-heartedly registered that the crowd had let loose a thunderous cheer, though whether it was meant for her she was unsure. Finally, as Sakura reached the apex of her chakra-fueled leap and as her descent began, she also finally gained some control over her body, twisting in mid-air to face downwards, where she saw the two deadly constructs awaiting her return, their faceless heads raised to the sky.
Unfazed by both her leap and the creatures that awaited her at the end of it, Sakura firmly grasped the club between both her hands as she came barreling down towards her two opponents, the closest one being the dual katana wielder. Said creature pointed both its swords upwards in an X shape intent on slicing its enemy in half, Sakura, however, had other ideas. As she was mere seconds away from colliding with the two offending blades she brought her club down in front of her, pushing all of her meager weight into the mid-air swing.
The crowd watched on with bated breath as the pink-haired Kunoichi's club collided with the white creature's blades. Surprisingly not only did the strike shatter the creature's worn and rusted blades, but it also went on past its arms and collided solidly with its hollow skull, a resounding crack erupting through the colosseum as the construct's head was exploded into pieces.
Sakura came crashing down clumsily into the sand after her attack, almost as surprised as the crowd was that her plan had worked. The fact that her strike had succeeded was mostly due to almost having reached her terminal velocity thanks to both the height of her chakra propulsed leap and the weight of her club. Not only that, but the young girl couldn't have possibly known that, in the heat of battle and with adrenaline pumping through her system, she had unconsciously channeled chakra to her muscles, strengthening the strike tenfold.
Unfortunately, the second construct remained completely unfazed and did not let up on the poor kunoichi as it attempted to bring its own club down to crush the prone girl's head. Sakura rolled out of the way just in time as she felt some of her hair get caught under the club and rip its way out of her skull. Ignoring the pain she now felt in both her scalp and arms along with the obvious signs of chakra fatigue, Sakura rose to her feet and swung her club as hard as she could at the creature with her right hand. Unfortunately, the albeit slow construct had already recovered enough from its own attack to meet her loose strike with one of its own. The two weapons collided violently, however unlike the creature's, Sakura's club was not attached to her arm, so when she felt the vibrations from the collision run all the way through her muscles and bones up to her shoulder, she couldn't possibly stop the club from being projected out of her hand and sent flying away.
Jumping backwards slightly, Sakura swore under her breath as she cradled her tingling arm. The creature, having no knowledge of pain, recovered much faster than the human before it and did not hesitate to renew its efforts in killing her. This time the creature jabbed forwards with the tip of its club, striking Sakura squarely in the chest, sending the poor girl hurtling backwards, though her flight this time was cut much shorter than the last time she was in the air as she collided against the colosseum's wall, bouncing off of it and landing face-first in the unsanitary sand below.
The unfortunate pink-haired Kunoichi couldn't figure out which pain was currently worse, the one that had just winded her, the one that was shooting up and down her right arm, or the pain that was still erupting from her left upper one. With her back against the wall, quite literally, bruised and battered... This was the moment that either condemned or forged most people, keep fighting or give up? Sakura's blood boiled as she saw only one option before her. Fight it would be as she steeled herself and rose shakily to her feet, eyes still full of determination as the porcelain abomination closed in on her.
Sakura's weapon was gone, in terms of chakra her body felt as though it was running on fumes, and her vision was beginning to blur from everything else combined with the pain. Yet as the construct closed in, she didn't enter into a defensive stance. Instead, she charged forwards. Her right, still tingling fist, cocked back and infused with almost every drop of energy and chakra she had left. This was it, her last and only chance at getting out of this fight alive. She wasn't thinking about the fact that she would almost certainly have to face the same creatures again, probably even more than two next time. Neither was she thinking about her two companions that were in the colosseum with her, nor about Kakashi, nor Naruto, Nor Guy, not even Kamen. No, in that very instant the huge jeering crowd that surrounded her disappeared, the stone walls of the colosseum melted away. In those few seconds, the only two things that existed within her foggy vision were her fist, her last hope, and the construct, her enemy that she had to defeat no matter what.
As soon Sakura was in the creature's range it swung at her with its club, and she swung right back with all her might, her fist arcing up towards its faceless head. There was a single moment where Sakura doubted herself, doubted that she was going to win, but it was a single moment, one ruthlessly ignored by her fist that sailed through the air much faster than the creature's bulky club. Sakura felt her fist come into contact with its target, she felt her fingers crack and break under the pressure, but she also felt her enemy's head shatter and explode from that very same pressure.
Sakura paused as she watched her opponent freeze on the spot before its body slowly fell backwards, landing on the ground with a thump and sending up a cloud of dusty sand. For a few seconds, everything seemed to be completely silent as the only thing that Sakura could hear was the sound of her own beating heart. Rather quickly that silence disappeared as the sound of the shouting crowd reached her ears once again, waking her from her stupor. The pink-haired kunoichi turned towards the two other members of her group, finally returning to her senses as worry laced her thoughts.
Those worries were swiftly dismissed, however, as she spotted a fatigued Sasuke land on the ground, smoke still rising from the corpse of the creature that he had set alight with a fireball Jutsu. Just as the creature was about to get back up from being knocked down by the force of the Jutsu, the dark-haired Uchiha dove towards his enemy, slamming his knee down on the creature's head, shattering it violently.
Meanwhile, Lee had already finished his opponents and was in the process of moving back towards his allies. Sakura's eyes momentarily flashed behind the bowl-cut boy. She was shocked at how battered his opponents' corpses were, she could even make out exactly where he had struck them, his fists and legs having left large dents in their bodies, "Sakura-chan! That was amazing! You surely have the potential to become a great taijutsu master!"
The pink-haired Kunoichi ignored the green-clad boy's remark in favor of shakily wobbling her way towards her two comrades, meeting back up with them in the center of the colosseum. Lee seemed completely unfazed by the battle, so much so that Sakura could have thought that he did this sort of thing every single day. She had caught a glimpse of his fighting abilities when they had fought against the Kurotsuki family, though she would never have thought back then that he was as strong as he had proven himself to be now. Struggling to part her lips, Sakura finally decided that she should probably give Lee an answer, "I don't think so, I feel like I'm about to keel over and die."
Sasuke glanced at his battered teammate and then down at himself. He hated to admit it but neither of them were going to make it out of this alive if this kept up. He himself was only running on about a quarter of his reserves when it came to chakra, but what was worse was that he felt so physically exhausted after such a short fight that even if he were to have to face the exact same opponents again, he doubted he would make it out of the fight alive. In his frustration a part of the young Uchiha could barely understand how Sakura had pulled through her fight, then again another part of him reminded him a flash of his defeat at her hands, "Sakura's right... I don't think I'm going to be of much use either."
"Do not worry! I had hoped to conceal some of my strength from potential Chunin exam competition, however, if push comes to shove, I shall show you just how my strength can bloom under pressure!"
Sasuke nodded slightly towards the over-enthusiastic boy, "That may very well be necessary..." The sound of the walls of the colosseum opening once again drew the trio's attention. This time, unfortunately, there were dozens of doors opening as abominations of all shapes and sizes seemed to come flooding out of the walls followed by the crowd's cheering growing to ear-piercing levels. The ground seemed to shake somewhat as a single huge white hand reached out of one of the larger doorways, cracking the wall with its grip as it pulled itself out into the arena. As the doors all began to close, the huge white bulky creature stood tall, its head almost reaching the viewing stands above, it would have taken at least ten of any of the genin piled atop each other to reach the height of the huge abomination, "So... Lee you take the big guy, Sakura and I take the rest?"
The listlessness with which Sasuke spoke was the only indication that made it clear to the other two genins that this was meant to be some kind of joke, yet despite this, the Uchiha still readied himself for combat. Strangely, Sasuke was put off of his stance as a bit of dust fell on him from above, something which made the trio raise their heads to glance at the roof of the underground colosseum. From the distant ceiling, they could just about make out a very muffled voice, "Dynamic-" Before anything or anyone could react, the roof exploded downwards, showering all those bellow in rocks, a flash of green piercing through the rubble and shooting straight towards the largest of the white constructs, "-ENTRY!" A shockwave and sonic boom-like sound rang out within the arena. So powerful was the shockwave, that the creatures around its epicenter, which was the huge menacing abomination, were knocked violently to the ground like pieces on a chessboard.
As the shockwave settled, in a delayed manner, the bulbous body of the fifty-foot creature exploded into pieces, the shrapnel from its huge body even crushing some of the nearby constructs. In a fluid movement, the green blur bounced away from where it had originally entered and landed next to the trio of genins. The blur, having come to a halt, finally became recognisable to those around them, "GAI-SENSEI!"
"LEE!"
While the two green-clad beings embraced each other, another figure landed next to them from above, "Maa... Guy, you always have to be so flashy..."
"Kakashi... Sensei?!"
The white-haired scarecrow's lazy eye widened slightly as he felt Sakura crash into his hip as she wrapped her arms around his waist, tears bouncing off of her eyes and onto his vest. The Jonin swiftly recovered however as he placed a hand on the small child's head, "Maa, maa... You know full well I wouldn't let any of my cute little genins get hurt, now don't you?"
Sasuke glanced at the two warm embraces that were going on behind him and perhaps due to his exhaustion almost had the urge to join his teammate, almost, "Hn. You're a bit too late for that sensei. Though that's nothing new."
Kakashi's eyes narrowed slightly as he spotted the wounds on both of his students, and also instantly took note of the lack of the third member of team seven, "Where's Naruto?"
Sakura finally broke away from her sensei and rubbed the tears from her eyes, steeling herself to answer the question as she noticed that neither Sasuke nor Lee were going to, "They took him away... But we don't know where..."
Just as Kakashi was about to say something, one of the creatures that had grown close enough to attack the group lunged towards Sasuke. Both Lee and Guy were about to jump to his aide, however, Kakashi got there first, "Lightning Release: Lightning Arrow!"
With blinding speed, a bright blue arrow shot past Sasuke and struck the construct that had been lunging towards him, sinking into its chest, then instantly channeling the lightning into its target. Kakashi's target exploded into morsels within seconds, not a single recognisable trace of the monster that had once stood before him. That single Jutsu from Kakashi served as a sort of trigger for all of those around him and within seconds the entire group was ready to fight, even if two of them were barely able to move. All the creatures surrounding them cautiously began closing in, even the sleek, more refined-looking creatures that had previously been guarding the tops of the viewing stands had joined the fray.
Just as it seemed as though the fighting was about to spark off, the ground begun to shake, even more violently still than when the huge construct that guy had defeated had come crashing down to the ground. The shaking didn't seem to settle down either, as chunks of the ceiling started to come crashing down, crushing a large number of the white constructs. Some of the ceiling chunks even broke straight through the floor and buried themselves into the level underneath the arena, "What is going on Guy-sensei?!"
"I don't know! Kakashi! We must get to the surface!"
The white-haired scarecrow could only nod in agreement as he swept Sakura off her feet, knowing full well from her ragged appearance and heavy breathing that she was in no fit state to escape. Unfortunately for Sasuke, Guy also realised that he was in no fit state to escape either and swept the unwilling Uchiha up bridal style. Before Sasuke could even voice his protest at such an embarrassing situation, Guy was running as fast as he could, dodging the odd attack from the constructs who were hell-bent on killing them, swiftly followed by Lee and Kakashi, "Kakashi-sensei! What about Naruto and Kamen?!"
"We just have to hope that they can make it out on their own!"
At that same moment, Kamen burst back into the laboratory he had previously been launched out of by Sasaki, his mind and eyes working as hard as they could to analyse the situation within the room as it crumbled to the ground. Within seconds Kamen spotted Naruto's prone figure, vile red chakra leaking from every pore of the child's body before being absorbed by the black fuinjutsu that surrounded it. The ink scribbles seemed to pulse with the vibrant red chakra as it travelled to the masked construct that lay upon the table, which also seemed to be the source of the sudden earthquake.
Kamen took a shaky step towards his past self, only for the two other conscious figures in the room to turn towards him. Ozymandias' visage was lit up with a condescending smirk that Kamen wished desperately to wipe off of his face, "Ahh... My poor ragged Shinobi, you're far too late! At long last, my plan has reached its climax! Ren'ai Fuun shall finally have its day of glory. We shall finally reign supreme over the five great nations! This was only made possible by me! OZYMANDIAS KING OF-" Suddenly a violent cracking sound erupted within the laboratory as the ground beneath split open from the sheer density of chakra that was leaking into the room. The chakra of the nine tails twisted and transformed into something even viler than it had been before, funneling into the husk that lay upon the now shattering table. Black tendrils exploded outwards from the white figure as its surface gradually grew to be darker and darker, its body and limbs pulsing, expanding, and beating as though all were alive independently from each other. Soon the artificial Bijuu's body began to bloat, becoming so big that the table it had been resting on grew too small to hold it, the tubes and wires ejecting themselves from its body as the sheer mass of its body began to crack the floor along with its expanding chakra, "Rikata! What is going on?! This shouldn't be happening!" The withered old man fumbled around, trying to spot an imperfection in his seals, unfortunately, he was just as clueless as his king. As Rikata reached towards the figure of the expanding artificial tailed beast, a tendril shot out of its black mass like a spear, piercing the old man straight through the heart as though his flesh and bones were made of butter.
Kamen dashed towards Naruto's prone figure, intent on separating him from whatever sealing Jutsu the foolish old Croney had placed upon him. As the time traveller moved through the room, he spotted the panic in Ozymandias' eyes as he attempted to run in the opposite direction, towards the exit. A tendril came shooting out towards Kamen as the black mass of tailed beast chakra seemed to expand towards the orange-clad boy, intent on absorbing him. The dark-haired man might have been tired and injured, but he still managed to be light on his feet as he danced around the clumsy strikes of the newborn chakra entity.
Unfortunately for Ozymandias, he was not so light on his feet. Despite having struggled to stay connected to its host, the katana that had been fuzed to the construct's now black flesh, finally could no longer hold on. A peculiar popping sound echoed out among the chaotic minefield that the laboratory had become. The blade was launched from its previous resting place, spinning uncontrollably from its climactic release. Sharp steel cut through thin air, an ominous whistling following its with a slight delay, until the flying blade finally lodged itself into the back of Ozymandias' left knee with a skin-crawling squelch. Whether it was the excruciating pain or the inability to use his leg that caused the despot to collapse to the ground, not even he knew.
Three black pointed tendrils shot out of the mass of chakra, one lashing out at Kamen, the two others sailing past him. The one that targeted the veteran triumphantly hit its mark only for it to be severed by the swift strike of a kunai. The ex-jinchuriki swore under his breath as he grasped at the black tendril that had stuck itself into his left leg. The mass of chakra wriggled around as though it wanted to burrow into his leg, though Kamen opted to ignore the pain this elicited within his body in favor of focusing on pulling the tendril out. Just as the sickening sound of the tendril being freed from its spot in his anatomy squelched out into the room, Kamen spotted the two others embedding themselves into the so-called 'king of kings'.
Ozymandias' purple eyes looked down in horror at his stomach and shoulder, the wriggling black masses of chakra that extended from their host digging their way further into his body as painfully as was possibly imaginable. The king of Ren'ai Fuun could feel his flesh being scooped out by the tendrils as he tried with all his meager might to remove them. Unfortunately for him, his left arm was non-functional and his right, same as his left, was the arm of a pampered self-idolatrous despot. The man's eyes rolled to the back of his skull as his grip loosened on the tendril that was piercing his stomach. Within seconds of Ozymandias' grip loosening the tendril split into two, one continuing to burrow into his stomach, the other shooting up and piercing the underside of his head. Ozymandias' eyes snapped back into place as his mind reeled from fresh pain, the horrendous feeling of the artificial jinchuriki's black chakra and fleshy tendril flooding his mouth occupied the entirety of his mind for a few seconds before the distinct lack of ability to breathe was brought to the forefront.
So ended the reign of Ozymandias, so-called 'King of Kings', as his life slowly but surely faded away, his body convulsing in rhythm with the movements of the tendrils, the sound of the katana sticking out of his knee grating against the stone floor all the while. Whether he died from blood loss, from the sheer immense amount of pain, or suffocation, Kamen didn't care to guess. Instead the twenty-five-year-old focused on continuing his charge towards Naruto's unconscious body.
As Kamen drew near to the seals that still pulsed with the nine tails' chakra, he slipped one of his hands behind his shin guard, retrieving a piece of paper the same shape and size as an explosive tag. This piece of paper, however, varied greatly from an explosive tag. The edges were stained with thick black ink, Kamen having drawn his own rectangle within the rectangular cut of paper. Enclosed in the black straight-edged irregular polygon was a slightly faded circle surrounded by six perfect magatamas, all separated from each other by the exact same distance. Surrounded by the circle was the kanji 大, which was inscribed with extremely delicate brushwork, the tips of the strokes almost seeming to fade into the paper.
Without any hesitation, Kamen thrust his right hand into the miasma of red and black chakra that had begun to surround Naruto, palming the seal straight onto the boy's exposed stomach. In just the couple of seconds the seal took to activate, the red and black chakra ate away at the ex-jinchuriki's hand and arm, pealing away his skin and burning away his clothes up to his elbow. However, as soon as the seal was activated, the black and red miasma was blasted away in a flash of white light that washed away even the seals that surrounded the young genin. The vile red chakra of the nine-tailed fox was now gone. However, the dark black chakra that bloated out from the artificial tailed beast's new host was still there, having expanded so much that it was beginning to push itself through the ceiling, accelerating the collapse of the room.
Deflecting another attack from one of the beast's many black tendrils, Kamen scooped Naruto up in his damaged arms, leaping backwards as several tendrils buried themselves into the ground where he had been mere seconds before. The ex-jinchuriki wasted no time at all in dashing out of the room, all the while dodging the artificial Bijuu's rapidly growing number of tendrils and using as much chakra as he could to speed himself up. Kamen was barreling down the hallways so fast that everything seemed to blur together. He neither saw nor cared about the surroundings as they collapsed around him, only taking in what was around him in the brief moments when he was forced to dodge whatever blocked his path. It was rather easy for Kamen to find his way out of the labyrinthian underground complex, for one simple reason. That reason being that he was using an altered version of Iruka's echolocation Jutsu. Kamen had been using a 'weaker' version up till now, its advantages; discretion, and a decently long range, had now been sacrificed in his twist on Iruka's creation. Kamen's rehashed version of the echolocation Jutsu replaced these advantages with other slightly more situational advantages such as a much more detailed, but shorter-range mental map of his surroundings, sensing out dead ends and staircases before he could see them. Unfortunately, such a Jutsu consumed a huge amount of chakra and worse still could be detected by anyone with chakra sensitivity with ease from quite a distance away.
More and more chakra poured out of Kamen and into his Jutsu, as well as maintaining his momentum. The longer Kamen maintained the race for his and his younger self's life, the foggier his mind and vision became, yet neither impeded his ability to navigate through the corridors. The ex-jinchuriki acknowledged his slowly dulling senses. However, he failed to notice two other things, the first was the slight burning sensation that radiated from his stomach, and the second was the ominous red glowing of his younger self's stomach.
The foggier Kamen's mind became, the more it drifted from thought to thought. Eventually he couldn't help but reflect on the events that had been, and still were, unfolding before his eyes. In his time he had never heard of Ren'ai Fuun, never heard of Ozymandias 'Despot of Despots', never even heard whisper of an artificial Bijuu being created in the land of wind... Why hadn't he? Had it simply not happened? Was the only reason the Bijuu was even able to be created because of his existence? Because he had made it that team seven had gone on this mission? If he hadn't gotten involved like he originally planned, none of this would have happened... But, he had had no choice. If he hadn't gone through with this, suspicions would have fallen upon him like a ton of bricks, 'Or DID you have a choice Kamen? Are you so sure that a part of Naruto Uzumaki doesn't still reside within your heart, the one who wishes to save and not ignore? The very same one you hold within your arms... The one you are currently saving... Well... I'm the living proof that he does. I am in your heart. I wonder, are your actions even your own anymore?' Kamen shook his head from side to side, doing so whilst going at the speed he was almost caused him to trip over. Still, he ignored the voice, the ex-jinchuriki was used to such things thanks to the nine tails... Though the dulcet tones of his alter-ego were laced in honey, he knew full well what they meant, 'A paradox... Yes that would be troublesome, but tell me, if YOU maintain this timeline exactly as it was, then a paradox will occur as well, because YOU will be the one maintaining it, Kamen, not Naruto... If YOU, Kamen, try and stop yourself from travelling back in time: a paradox. If YOU save everyone: a paradox. The Universe's rules are set in stone it would seem. If you are doomed to repeat things forever and ever, why not make it so that what you are repeating is at least pleasant? Why not make it so that your sanity and morality, at the very least, survive? You have the power to do whatever you want, the power to choose whichever road you want, yet you choose not to choose... Then again your twisted plan might succeed... Oh? But of course, I know about it, I am YOU, after all, Kamen. Nothing good will come of such a deranged plan, then again you know that as well as I.' Kamen could almost hear the slight smirk that was plastered on his own alternate face, 'Shut up. You should've just stayed at the waterfalls of truth.' Again Kamen could hear his own smirk, it wasn't a grim or condescending one like Ozymandias', in fact, some might say it wasn't a smirk at all but a bright sunny smile. Kamen couldn't tell the difference between the two, not anymore, 'Oh, but I am. I guess you really did learn nothing from yourself... The "Waterfalls of truth" aren't a place... They reside within you, just as I do. The waterfalls can be a compass that guides you over a deep black ocean, or a torrent of molten black lava, begging to spill out and destroy all in its path.'
Suddenly, the fog that had clouded his mind lifted slightly, triggered by his echolocation Jutsu which had picked up five rapidly advancing chakra signatures. Judging by their speed and location, they would soon enough enter the same corridor that he was in. The dark-haired husk of a man could have recognised the chakra signatures that streaked on beside him behind the wall, no matter when or where he was.
Hi, Hi! It's been, (checks calendar) 142 days, or 4 months and 20 days since I last updated The Mask Of Turmoil... Holy moly, it doesn't feel like it's been that long... Either way, I hope that this chapter was worth the wait for those who waited and a pleasant surprise for those of you who didn't!
At long last Ozymandias KING OF KINGS is dead, I was starting to get on my own nerves with that...
I'll be honest, this chapter has been hanging around on my computer, finished, for a while now. Unfortunately, I kept feeling as though it was missing details, missing intrigue, missing whatever... I must have read through this chapter a dozen or so times after having completed it, each time adding changes here and there. Despite this, I feel as though this was a nice long chapter and a pretty good one at that, even if I do say so myself.
Anyways, review answer time!
InARealPickle: It's never explicitly stated what Naruto's whiskers are, neither in the anime or the manga. In fact, nobody ever really talks about his whiskers, at all. Many speculations are floating around the internet as to why this is. The most logical one is that the whiskers are a leftover character trait from the original Naruto pilot, in which Kishimoto imagined Naruto as being the nine-tailed fox itself and not a vessel for it.
As to why I chose to represent his whiskers as hair and not birthmarks or scars is rather simple. When Naruto is influenced by the Kyuubi's chakra, in both the anime and the manga his hair and whiskers become wilder or rather bushier. I see this as being because of the Kyuubi's healing influence when Naruto is under the nine tails' cloak. The regenerative effects that Naruto receives are very powerful, capable of closing a wound in the blink of an eye, and also potentially powerful enough to momentarily cause Naruto's hair to grow out.
Now, of course, this is a fictitious universe, so reasonably anything can be theoretically possible, but I prefer to go with the simplest and in my opinion most logical conclusion. Of course, that isn't to say that I disagree with other fanfiction writers who, in their stories, choose to represent the whiskers as something other than hair, such as scars or birthmarks. I'll finish off this response with a teeny bit of paraphrasing, but I'm sure Bernard Shaw won't mind; "The Golden Rule of fiction is that there are no golden rules of fiction."
Guest: I hope that you didn't have to wait too long for the conclusion to said cliffhanger and enjoyed it, even if it did arrive at just under the halfway mark of this chapter!
Anyways, enough of all that. I would like to thank you all for reading and hope you continue to do so! Don't forget to write a review if you have the time, and in order to not miss one of my sporadic updates you can always follow 'The Mask Of Turmoil'! See ya next time!