Naruto: Tales of Ashihara
The Shinden Saga – Arc 4: The Otsutsuki War
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Chapter 167 – The only battle left
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Standing in front of the partially blinded Dragon Sage, Naruto Uzumaki returns to his signature cross hand seal for the first time in years as the sign of a brand new jutsu, designed to be the pinnacle of his abilities. Under the curious eyes of his opponent and his son, he activates his greatest invention.
Rikudo – Shin Kage Bunshin
By his sides appear three shadow clones, which is at sight extremely disappointing for Boruto Hyuga. To him, these look just like the same regular clones his father has been making his whole life. Therefore the reaction of the Ryu Shinsen confuses him. He sees the great Yamitsuki, mightiest of all, show clear amazement on his face.
"There it is." says the Dragon Sage. "Your peak, just what I have been waiting for. There is no need for pity and holding back now."
After these few words of praise, Yamitsuki leaps in action, too fast for Boruto's eyes to follow. He blitzes toward the Hokage and kicks the one he recognizes as the original in the belly, abruptly sending him fluttering hundreds of meters away onto the ocean.
Startled by this sudden movement that makes the great reveal of this jutsu fall flat, the clones of the Hokage try to assault the Dragon sage all together. Two of them, standing on his left and right, let their chakra spread out and activate their Biju cloaks before throwing their punches at him. Yamitsuki skillfully blocks their fists by swinging his legs and kicking them away. Then, with his legs wide open, the clones try to follow with kicks, which he also blocks with his forearms.
Yet, now that Yamitsuki's 4 limbs are taken, the 3rd clone uses the opening to land a strike. In his hand, he rapidly builds up a Bijudama that coats itself into elemental chakra and suddenly turns into a clear Rasengan that he pushes toward the Dragon Sage's abdomen. But once again, Yamitsuki skillfully blocks it.
Susanoo
With the ribcage of his silver armor, he contains the spiral orb that still blasts him away, further onto the ocean, past where the original Naruto landed. Boruto, who just stood aside in confusion, still mentally recovering from his master's passing and his own effort to save the planet, interrogates what he's just seen. Why is the Ryu Shinsen acting like these clones are something serious? And why didn't their fists and Rasengan phase through him, even though he should still be using Moshirikara?
Though these questions fill his brain, he decides to keep them aside for now and just trust his father. Knowing he is not the focus of the enemy, he follows the clones of Naruto without a word as they leap onto the waters to find their original. Further away, Yamitsuki slides on the sea with his feet after preventing his own sinking, still in momentum, and emits a powerful wave of scorching chakra to stop himself.
Shakuton – Hideri (Drought)
This wave spreads at extreme speed on kilometers around them and totally dries out the ocean, turning the surrounding into a large desert pit filled with the dead bottom of the seas. By doing so, he forces the original Hokage to reveal himself as he was trying to move unseen under the water. Feeling the raging heatwave irradiate him, Naruto takes cover in his Biju Mode, that spreads out its tails as it appears to veil and protect the clones and Boruto who are just getting in range.
Up in the sky above them, Yamitsuki elevates and unleashes his first form of Susanoo, his ethereal silver dragon. Once formed, it lets out a loud screeching sound that spreads its cold breath.
Hyoton – Zettai Reifu (Absolute Cold Wind)
This freezing wave spreads even farther than the previous heat and totally solidifies the ocean kilometers away before it can fall back and flatten in the pit. At the bottom under their feet, the soil is covered in frost, which also appears on the avatar of Kurama who shakes it all off by stretching its tails and limbs. Once clean, it floats higher to reach the silver dragon's altitude and prepares to power up.
Inside of the Biju Mode, the 3 clones of Naruto let their mantles spread and merge within the yellow fox, which makes it grow and mutate. At the same time, each clone also generates his own set of 10 Gudodama, as easily as the original. This shocks Boruto who only now discovers what makes these clones different from regular Kage Bunshin. It should be impossible for any other than the original to make and use the Gudodama, yet he just saw them each create 10, making a total of 40 with the original's ones.
Using transformed vaporized Gudodama is also how they must have been able to touch the Dragon Sage earlier. This feels like a total game changer, totally worthy of the Ryu Shinsen's praise. Yet Boruto wonders how this will help further in the fight. The 30 orbs of the clones fly away together and merge into a thick cloud of black gas while the fox grows larger and mutates into its Asura form.
Yamitsuki, staring from afar, sees the Gudodama gas gather as a glorious dark cloudy ribbon-like scarf around the giant fox demon's arms and shoulders. The Ryu Shinsen, who also made a set of 10 Gudodama for himself, nods in admiration as he knows that his limited number of orbs cannot reproduce this. This is how the new jutsu of Naruto is useful. He didn't only master the best weapon against the Dragon Sage. He broke past its absolute limits.
The Asura Biju Mode, once complete and ready, lifts its 9 tails as their tips turn into monstrous hands and some of the original Naruto's Gudodama come flying in their palms. The black orbs turn into Bijudama Rasen Shuriken orbs carried into each of the tail limbs of the creature. To replicate as this barrage of divine bombs is thrown toward him, Yamitsuki makes a set of clones, each also manifesting the silver dragon Susanoo.
Susanoo – Gin Hidora Rendan (Silver Hydra Barrage)
Each of these dragons, all joined by the tail, gather energy to their mouths and create purple dragon orbs mimicking the shape and style of Naruto's Rasen Shuriken. They shoot these celestial projectiles to collide with the spiral bombs of the Hokage. This collision, unlike anything that ever happened on the surface of Earth before, pierces the atmosphere, shakes the heavens, and propagates all over the globe, letting all of humanity and living things sense it.
This unreal confrontation of godly attacks is only the beginning of the end. The start of the last run in the fight between the hero of the ninja world and the sovereign of all creation.
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In Iwagakure, following the disappearance of the goddess of mischief and the dispersion of her spells, the ninjas of the Union gather and rejoice. The people of Iwa come to the gates to see their liberation while their local forces come back in charge.
On the shaken land left by the battle, Gaara arrives, lifted by a sand platform, to help the Tsuchikage get up after this final effort that resulted in the enemy's death. To his surprise, she seems to be in way better health than expected, despite the long time she spent in a cursed coma. Kurotsuchi, healed earlier by a white rod of Oshio, has already recovered from her lack of nutrients and light.
Further on the field, Yukai is helping Killer Bee, who had been put to sleep in his Biju mode earlier but came back to his human form at the moment, while Aoki sits by the side of her father Darui who was more severely injured. Takeshi, who ran in only to provide a white rod to C for him to quickly heal the injured, comes back to check how everyone is doing now. He finds the medic-nin in the crowd.
"Mister C, I see that everyone is waking up. What about those who were injured?" he asks.
"Ah, Minamoto. This white rod you gave me exceeded my expectations." C answers as he hands back the mystical object to Takeshi. "I knew about Oshio Uchiha's power, but never got to see it in use before. And I have to say… I don't think any medic-nin other than Sakura Uchiha could ever match this ability."
Takeshi stays silent and satisfied, though he doubts this assumption since his best friend, Izuna Uchiha, is probably on par with his mother too. For a moment, he wonders if his friend or these rods could heal the condition that is slowly draining his father Tsubai, but quickly forgets this idea as he knows this curse cannot be healed like an illness.
"Um… Thankfully I could heal most of the injuries, but it seems like the ongoing battle was making the rod weaker, so I didn't get to fully exploit it. Even though I could prevent any aggravation with my own abilities, some of the worst wounded ninjas didn't fully recover. Lord Raikage should be fine after a few weeks of rest, but he's still having some trouble walking."
Confused, Takeshi looks aside to see Darui sitting on the ground wearing a leg splint. It's true that earlier, when Oshio threw his Susanoo's blade down on the battlefield to crush Yasona by surprise, she was still holding the Raikage who must have been caught in the attack as well. This was indeed careless by Oshio.
"This is your fault, Takeshi!" Aoki exclaims, speaking to him from a distance and getting his attention. "Why did you free such a cause for mass destruction without premeditation?"
"Sorry, I don't understand your complaint." Takeshi calmly replies with the same soulless manner he's had since his mother's death. "Everyone here agreed to follow Tentoki's plan and let me handle the reinforcement call. I wouldn't have been quite naive enough to think Iwa's ninjas would have changed anything in this fight. Bringing in the only person close enough known to be on par with the Otsutsuki clan sounds reasonable to me. Doing so without thinking of it earlier was stupid, I agree, but taking that chance can't be argued as a bad decision. I see it as just another unlikely bet I've won."
Aoki and other ninjas nearby clench their teeth, bothered by the unconscious arrogance they perceive in the Minamoto's tone. Yukai, arriving just now with B, looks at the faces of everyone and messily tries to guess the topic of the conversation before blending in.
"Man, it sure was weird to see the same guy we fought all together in Hikari be our best ally this time, haha…" he jokes about Oshio, before noticing the silence that makes his comment seem out of place. Troubled by it, he takes a moment to analyze the scene and sees everyone staring at something in his back. So he turns around and finds himself face to face with the said prisoner, Oshio Uchiha.
Walking within the crowd, the blind Uchiha goes slowly to sense his surroundings and evaluate the state of the area. Even though he could use the eye in his palm to see around, he chose to seal it again to avoid raising suspicions among the ninjas of the Union. Here, those of Kumo, Suna, Kiri and Iwa stay quiet as he walks by, looking miserable compared to the evil and powerful image they all had of him.
Together with more ninjas of Iwa, Fuyuko Yamanaka joins the place as well and mocks the awkward silence caused by Oshio's presence. He takes a good look at the faces of the strongest ninjas and the Kage, and giggles.
"Wow, it sure looks painful for y'all to just be grateful." he kids, alerting his former associate in Kakumei with the sound of his voice. "Long time no see, Oshio."
"… Long time no see, Fuyuko." Oshio slowly answers before smiling uncontrollably, happy to meet with one of his closest friends again. He takes a moment to analyze his chakra and mind, and comments. "You look miserable."
"Seriously? Look at yourself, dude! I mean… Not as if you could actually look, but you get me, right?"
Oshio doesn't answer and just lightly giggles. Fuyuko's tone and attitude remind him a lot of Akiko, but he doesn't want to bring her up now, especially in the presence of her murderer. So he keeps his nostalgia of his self-made childhood for himself. Fuyuko, feeling that his mission here is over and that he should soon finally be able to just get back to his cell, comes closer to Takeshi and raises his hand, ready to give back the tengu he borrowed.
"Don't." the Minamoto interrupts him. "It's better this way."
"What did you say?" Tentoki exclaims in Takeshi's mind. "You realize you're giving Amabie away?"
Takeshi doesn't answer the white tengu, and tries to ignore the surprised gaze of Makura and the indifferent stare of Sojobo. He focuses on Fuyuko, who's as surprised as Tentoki.
"Um… Sorry what?" the Yamanaka asks, to which Takeshi answers with an explanation.
"Amabie's power served you well today. And I am sure she felt happier during these few hours with you than all the time she's had with me. You can actually listen to her, and make her useful. To me, she's just a painful memory. I'd better let her get rid of me."
Confused but comprehensive, Fuyuko looks at Amabie who shares his emotions, but shrugs it off, surprised but relieved by Takeshi's heartfelt decision. Yet for the Yamanaka, it still doesn't sit right. He never expressed any forgiveness for what Takeshi did to Akiko, but this can't be an attempt to bribe him into sympathy.
"What's the idea? That mermaid's your family's legacy. What makes you think you can trust me with it? When did I say I didn't want to kill you anymore?" he questions.
"I don't trust you." Takeshi answers. "I don't trust myself to keep her either. I don't rely on trust. I wouldn't be doing any of this if I was. I just listened to you and freed the anarchist brother of my best friend to help the Union he was a sworn enemy of."
The Kage, alerted, for some offended by this sentence, look at Oshio to see how he reacts to it. The former sovereign of Shin no Kuni is not paying attention at all, and instead facing Yukai again, as if he had something to tell him.
"Did… Did you still not find Kawaki?" he asks, to Yukai's surprise. This reminds the Kumo-nin of the odd connection that the lieutenant of Kakumei believed they had. It is a piece of the forgotten past that he never considered retrieving.
By the silence, Oshio guesses the answer, sighs and looks away. But this simple question left some ninjas thoughtful. For Takeshi, it reminded him of what Naomi told him about Yukai's origins. Kawaki and him must be from the same destroyed orphanage as Karasu. Yet, he prefers to keep these thoughts silent as they would only bring confusion and raise Kumo's suspicions about him, since they had accused him of being a bounty hunter before.
Fuyuko is also troubled by Oshio's question and behavior, but for another reason. He seems to consider that Kawaki has to be found, and is therefore not dead against Boruto Hyuga as the Shinobi Union believes. This confirms Boruto's claims about it, and makes Fuyuko feel an odd sympathy for him, as it also implies that he really cared enough to search for Kawaki after he disappeared, but couldn't find him.
Oshio, moving on from his thoughts about the family he made for himself in Hikari, thinks of his real family. His parents, his brother and his sister in Konoha. According to what Takeshi told him, an important battle must have taken place there as well. Judging from the feeling he gets, it must be over by now.
In his wonders, he's suddenly shaken by a wave of energy that shocks everybody in the area. Where the only intense activity of chakra he still senses is, on the ocean in the west, comes a strong wind and flashes of light that fill the sky and even brings a majority of the ninjas to collapse.
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At the same time in Konoha, Sasuke Uchiha slowly opens his eyes as he comes back to consciousness. To his surprise and comfort, the first thing he sees is the face of his wife, Sakura. When he fainted during his fall back toward the ground earlier, she could luckily catch him mid-air and safely lie him on a roof of the village to be healed. Happy to see his wife, Sasuke however notices her concerned face looking away, not even aware that he woke up.
To make her realize, he gently lies his hand on hers, on his chest, and sits up. Distracted by her worries, she just rapidly acknowledges him and tightly holds his hand before looking back in the horizon. Following her gaze, Sasuke sees a massive storm in the sky. A mix of all sorts of divine energy colliding and disrupting the weather, even making it harder to breathe. As he realizes this detail, Sasuke thinks that some people, simple humans, must have fainted from these conditions.
"It feels like Naruto…" Sakura comments, partially recognizing the Hokage's unique chakra in this storm.
Sasuke, analyzing the storm, also feels the familiar force of his best friend. In this collision, it is confronting another energy he's seen before. It is the chakra of the Ryu Shinsen. Their battle is likely still ongoing and was brought to the surface of Earth. From the spreading of the storm and the source of the energies he senses, Sasuke guesses that they must be somewhere off the continent, far in the west.
That their colliding jutsu could cause an aftermath that reaches all across the continent is frightening. For Yamitsuki to cause such chaos in a battle against an evenly matched opponent, they would both have to go all out. Yet he knows that Naruto wouldn't take that risk while on Earth. So this must only be a cause of the two fighter's tremendous power and control over nature. Out of their command, their divine chakra simply merge with the atmosphere and submit it.
Around them, Kakashi Hatake, Inoue Yamanaka and other higher ups of Konoha arrive to demand advice from the Uchiha ronin. They all seem shaken and confused, but not only by the chaos in the sky. Sasuke only now takes a moment to analyze his surroundings and notices a few alarming details. First of all, there is no remaining celestial present here. Not even Sakitsuki and Rihetsuki. They must all have disappeared after he passed out.
And even more alarming, something must have happened within the village and the forests around. Something like a massive strike. He can very clearly see cracks and uneven ground levels in the distance, as if it all broke down and came back together. But even more noticeable is the damage on the cliff in the middle of the village. The monument honoring the Hokage, on top of which he was fighting Tokubei earlier, collapsed.
Almost all the stone faces have broken and their pieces are lying down the cliff. The 1st, 5th and 6th Hokage are disfigured, while the 2nd, 3rd and 4th have just totally disappeared. The only face that is miraculously still standing, as good as new, is the 7th Hokage.
"Sasuke, can you identify these energies? Are they those of Yamitsuki Otsutsuki and Naruto?" Kakashi asks, interrupting the wonders of the Uchiha who focuses back on reality.
"Yes… They are far away, further from the land of Earth, on the West ocean." Sakura answers for him, after she localized the sources of the chaos as well with her own sensory skills.
"Is Boruto there as well?" Inoue asks to follow Kakashi's question. "Lady Hanabi says he must be the one who stopped the flashes and eruptions earlier."
"What flashes and eruptions?" Sasuke speaks up, alerted. "What happened after I passed out? Where are all the celestials that were in front of the village?"
"They were all transported away at once, just a minute before everything started to collapse and blow up around us." Kakashi explains. "According to those who are in Iwa, it happened on their side too, so it must have been all over Earth."
"So it was the Dragon Sage." Sakura guesses. "He tried to fulfill his threat to destroy Earth as soon as he'd set foot on Earth."
"And Boruto stopped him with the Tenseigan's power…" Sasuke completes, proud of his student but worried about what it means. Boruto was not supposed to be able to master this ability yet. According to Toneri, their student was missing something that was sealed within him. So that Boruto could accomplish this could mean that Toneri had to sacrifice in the process or earlier.
As he looks around to see if anyone here would be concerned to know about this, he notices the absence of a very important person, who is essential both to him and to the village.
"Where's Izuna?" he asks his wife and his son's partner.
"I sent him after another Otsutsuki clan member who was trying to get away and join the battle in Iwa." Sakura explains. "I've got no news of him since then."
"He's safe." Inoue adds. "He was injured by the eruptions previously, and he's worn out, but he's fine. I checked on him."
"Ah!" their discussion is interrupted by Ino's exclamation, who is holding communication with the army of the Union. "The battle in Iwa is over! The Tsuchikage has been rescued and Yasona Otsutsuki is dead."
"Wha- Really?" Moegi exclaims, out of surprise. "Are there casualties? How did they pull that off?"
"They had help." Sasuke says, remembering the chakra he felt earlier, during his fall. "Oshio saved them."
Sakura makes a surprised face as she hears Sasuke's revelation. Not as familiar as him with the chakra print of the Rinnegan and the Otsutsuki, she didn't feel her first born son taking part in the battle, but if her husband says it with such confidence, it must be right. Flattered by the news, everyone is surprised, except Shikamaru who rapidly moves on to what it means.
"Izuna is safe, the Union triumphed in Iwa, and no threat is left here either." he says. "So there is only a single battle left and ongoing."
Hearing this, they all look at the Hokage's advisor and follow his gaze to stare at the Hokage monument and the only remaining face on it. As he thoughtfully looks at Naruto's face carved in the cliff, Sasuke realizes that everything seems to have played out in a very unexpected but positive way for the ninja world.
Despite the delay and cul de sac that Konoha was forced in, he defeated Tokubei and the Union defeated Yasona with the help of Oshio. Even Naobi met her demise, which was totally unplanned. Yet even though it all seems like a victory beyond plans for mankind, Sasuke is troubled by the uncomfortable feeling that it has all just been going exactly as the Ryu Shinsen had planned.
After a loud roar of purple thunder is heard in the distance, Sasuke looks toward the center of hostilities and tries to figure out what is happening over there. He can still sense the Dragon Sage, which means he is not using his Ryujin Kata. But it doesn't make it any more believable that Naruto and Boruto could really hold on until now, moreover without falling to exhaustion. In the current situation, Sasuke cannot do anything. He only has to wait and trust his best friend. Hope that he once again doesn't go back on his words.
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Further away, below the land of Earth, in between the plains, forests and mountains, Izuna Uchiha crawls out from incinerated woods. With his clothes ripped and burnt apart, he deactivates his Sengo seal spread on his body, that he just used to fully recover from his grave injuries. Tired, he looks up to the sky and sees the core of the cataclysm that is shaking the skies. From this distance, he also feels every collision between the titans in motion on the west ocean.
With his Sharingan, he can actually see the aura and silhouettes of the giants fighting in the higher atmosphere. He never saw the Hokage displaying such divine power before. This sight brings back memories from the first time he ever saw his sensei fight such a battle. It is as if every time he sees him unleash his might, he gets enchanted by its glory again. Yet, the aura of his opponent, the Ryu Shinsen is even more impressive, godly, absolute. Just seeing him walk calmly through Konoha was frightening enough, so to now witness the Dragon Sage in real action seems unreal.
As he focuses his senses to detect all the people involved in the battle, he notices his master and his terrible opponent, but also his friend Boruto. His chakra feels hard to find in between those of the new Rikudo and the Ryu Shinsen, but he is still there keeping up. And somehow, he also feels different, grown, stronger.
Stranded in those desolate lands with nothing else to do, he decides to go forward and join his sensei and friend. Even though he doesn't think he can compare to any of the three people who are there, he still hopes to get there in time at least to heal them after the battle. This is, obviously, also hoping that they come out victorious and that he doesn't arrive to find the Dragon Sage triumphant.
All over the world, in Konoha and in Iwa, everybody looks to the west and silently spectates the vibrations and radiations in the air. All together, they stay alert, holding their breath, waiting for the only battle left to come to an end as it has reached its climax.
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Right below the source of the storm that is spreading across the world, as it settles, the glorious fox avatar of the Hokage in its new divine form is reaping through the silver dragons of Yamitsuki. With its tails acting like the limbs of the Juubi, he blocks the way of all these ethereal creatures and binds them until they break. Feeling an honest disadvantage for the second time, the Ryu Shinsen takes action to rival the godly Asura Biju.
As he unleashes his Kanzentai Susanoo, he immediately gets back at Naruto and hurriedly stops his moment of glory. With an upscaled violence like he never dared to show before, he counters the fox demon. After what feels to them like a short yet complete beat up, as they see the silver giant move as swiftly and precisely as a human body, Naruto and Boruto are repelled.
Not yet ready to let his luck run out, the Hokage and his perfect clones all concentrate and manifest each three regular clones that all appear in their original 9-tailed fox Biju Mode. This dozen of yellow foxes leap forward to assault the Dragon Sage together and confront a new crowd of silver dragon clones made as a response.
While the creatures battle, Boruto looks agape at his father and his exact copies standing around him. Still confused by the nature of this new jutsu, his admiration wears off as he sees them all display concern on their face. It seems like the assurance of Naruto after summoning these new clones is already wearing off, as he realizes what it means to be taken seriously by the Ryu Shinsen.
Yamitsuki, seeing his clones cause a growing cloud of energy troubling the air and slowly filling it with flames, thunder and other weapons of nature through which the Hokage's eyes can't see, makes his move. The Asura Kurama flies forward, waiting for a moment to catch up, when he is surprised by the feeling of a cutting movement above him. Through the chaos of the clones' battle, the Ameno Ohabari emerges and falls down on him.
"Dad!" Boruto exclaims as Naruto feels his son's hand catch the shoulder of one of his cloned bodies and lend energy.
As his mystical blade reaches its target, Yamitsuki feels resistance. Kurama, with two of his 6 arms raised, blocked the Ohabari with the Kinrin golden blade of Boruto, seemingly in perfect shape. The Hyuga, brought in action again by memories of his master, manifests his helping power and will in this blade, handed to his father.
Naruto, feeling the emotions of his son in this weapon, holds dear on to it to hold back the enemy, as hope regains his mind. Indeed, he never thought he'd acquire enough power to surpass the Dragon Sage, even in this reduced form, even after reaching what he considers his prime. What he believes will get him through this battle, and what he was just reminded of, is the same answer that got him through all his toughest battles until now. Team work. Be it against a deserter of the bloody mist, or the most powerful living creature in the universe.
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End of Chapter 167 – Next Chapter: Battle of Gods I