Saruto | The Celestial War (Part 2)

Chapter 24: The Naive Ones

"Sir!" A shinobi said as he reported to me in the backlines.

"Yes," I responded in a commanding and urgent tone.

As I observed his battered and bruised face, I looked behind and to the fight. I had to join the fight, I hated just watching and commanding from the sidelines. I guess that was part of the agreement of me becoming the Supreme Leader of the Allied Shinobi Forces. Gaara agreed to co-lead with me to allow me to be on the battlefield while he surveyed from headquarters with Shikamaru. Another fight. Another battle. Another war. It never stops.

"Kaushiki Otsutsuki is on the move towards Princess Himawari's position," he reported.

Hima. My stomach sank.

"Has she entered the One-Tail Chakra Mode?" I urgently asked.

He stood up straight to address me, "No, sir. Not yet. The Ladies Asami Sarutobi-Hyuga and Kyurei Uzumaki are by her side."

Good, my niece and granddaughter were with her.. Asami has the Byakugan and the Toad Sage, and Kyurei was one of our best boil-release users and close-range combaters, like her father.

Looking up to the sky, I thought about Kawaki. Where was he? Hopefully he was okay? It had been so long since I had seen him. Ever since him and Boruto had a falling out. I had only been able to know that he had been alive this entire time because of Kyurei who met up with her father a few times a year. He writes to her. But when she asks him to come home to his family, his letters go dry. At least he still talked to her, that's all that mattered to me. Sometimes I feel his chakra close to the village, but any move I make to pursue him, it disappears. So I stopped trying. As long as he was safe and alive, it didn't matter to me.

"Okarano," I asked.

"Uh, y-yes sir?" he was shocked, probably why I even knew his name.

I smiled and then grew serious, looking towards the horizon of the battlefield. It was growing ashy and dark. I squinted to access my surroundings.

"Send word to Shikamaru that I am pursuing Kaushiki Otsutsuki."

He froze there, probably wondering if I was crazy to go after the Otsutsuki army's leader. Looking back to him I gave him a serious look and he shook his head back to reality and nodded and left my side.

I watched as he safely jumped away and I then looked back towards the battlefield, activating my sage mode. Searching for the fighting shinobi, I cursed at the bloodshed. There was no clear winner. Soon my eyes locked on Hima's position and like the shinobi said, Asami and Kyurei were by her side guarding her and incapacitating puppets that tried to break through their line. As I looked at the enemy forces circling around them, I saw Kaushiki. Suddenly I felt hatred begin to boil in my stomach.... Kaushiki.

As he began to pick up speed towards their position, he jumped in the air. Immediately Asami reacted with their byakugan.

"Kyurei!" Asami yelled out.

Notifying Kyurei about Kaushiki's approach she responded.

"Yes?"

Asami locked onto Kaushiki as she spoke, "Protect Princess Himawari!", she said seriously then narrowed her eyes more, "Kaushiki's mine."

Watching Kaushiki land in front of her, she darted at him and engaged in a high profile taijutsu. However, Kaushiki swiftly backhanded her. As she was sent back, she wiped blood from her lip and spit it on the ground in front of her. Accessing that she was underpowered for this match-up, she immediately weaved signs then smacked her hand on the ground.

"Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning!" she said as boiling ash projectiled out her mouth creating a smoke screen.

Sent back in the sight of confusion, Kaushiki shields his eyes and squints at the area around him. Little did he know that Asami was surrounding him with multiple shadow clones. As the smoke dissipated he found himself completely surrounded. Each of her shadow clones surrounded him. He smiled at this turn of events. Probably amused by the effort. Soon it became apparent that it was exactly 5 clones.

His eyebrow raised confused as to why she didn't summon more. He was almost offended.

But suddenly she started weaving signs. All unique to the one next it and then the all began to yell,

"Five Release Great Combo Technique!"

In an enormous blaze all five elements target him. Water, Wind, Earth, Fire, and Lightning come from each clone respectively. Using his lack of hands, Kaushiki tried pushing the power away from him but ended up fighting against it.

Just when Asami started to get cocky and think her technique was working on the Otsutsuki, the ninjutsu died down and from the fire and ash, Kaushiki emerged seemingly unharmed.

Her eyes widened and he smiled at her. Stepping back, Asami watched in fear as Kaushiki approached, activating a white chakra blade in his hand. Looking at the blade she remembers her cousin and how he died from such a weapon. She felt fear. Suddenly her clones disappeared and it was just her left staring at Kaushiki. As he got closer to her, he grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up in the air.

Struggling for air she clawed at Kaushiki's hand as he lifted the blade and aimed it for her lower abdomen. She began to panic as she squirmed.

"You are a naive one aren't you," Kaushiki mocked.

She gritted her teeth as she gasped for air.

He grinned more as he stared for her chest before suddenly some kind of projectile grazed his face and Asami was dropped to the ground.

Looking at the direction of the fire, he smelt a familiar scent.