Greetings to my dear friends (the readers!). I just wanted to inform that THIS CHAPTER is a very long one compared to all my previous ones, and possibly future ones. I had actually written it as two initially, but the number of chapters of this book is increasing rapidly and I do not want to scare off anyone who is reading fanfics for the first time and... My ramblings. I have my reasons that concern many readers... but I have merged the two chapters under a single one.
Hope you enjoy it. Read & Review. Comment & Vote.
NamikazeNaruto20
Naruto entered sage mode once again by dispelling a clone storing nature energy. There was one more clone left. Naruto created a fireball that was absorbed by Gakido. The fireball had been a decoy as Naruto ran to attack the two them. Either Gakido was faster or Tendo's visual link helped them do the next move. Gakido caught Naruto and twisted her arms back to get a better grip and began absorbing her sage chakra.
"Capture of the Kyuubi, complete." Tendo Pein stated. "I wouldn't be so sure of it." Naruto replied. "Quite tenacious you are, aren't you?" He asked rhetorically. Naruto found that she couldn't move and used it to her advantage. Excess of nature energy could turn one as a part of the nature- a stone to be precise. She began absorbing nature energy. Gakido began turning into a frog before becoming a stone. Naruto entered sage mode and broke free from the stone arms that bound her. She began plotting her next attack.
The remaining path, Tendo Pein had enough. He lifted his hand. However, instead of feeling a repelling force, Naruto felt an attracting force. She was quite close to him and hence was an easy catch. Literally. "Bansho Tein (Celestial Pull of All Creation)." He said as Naruto was dragged to him and he caught her throat and forced her down as she landed with her abdomen down. A rod emerged from his hand as he pinned Naruto's hands together on the ground with it.
She struggled to escape but felt a foreign chakra in her system. It was not Genjutsu, it was more like puppetry, but unlike actual puppets that are controlled with external chakra strings, this controls from within the chakra system of the victim. Pein knelt before her. "Has this tamed you a little, Kyuubi?"
Naruto swallowed her instinct to snarl and retort that she wasn't the Kyuubi, and thought with a calm mind. She wanted to stall a bit while forming plans on how to get away from a capture of this level. "What do you plan to do with the Bijuu? What are your intentions? What do you want? Why all the destruction?" She shot off questions one after another. "Why and what, you ask?" Pein began.
"Things seem to happen without any apparent reason. However, the reason becomes clear once it has happened." He skirted around the topic. Naruto gave him a no-nonsense glare.
"But perhaps I can explain, now that you are captured. But will it change anything? I doubt it would if I told you why. But it wouldn't hurt to discuss." Naruto raised a brow in question. He continued.
"My goal is something even Jiraiya Sensei couldn't achieve. Creating peace and bringing about justice." Naruto scoffed. She had sensed the deaths of countless people, Kakashi, Shizune, many Uchiha clan members, she had sensed the dimming chakra of Jiraiya, the weakening chakra of Tsunade. She remembered the destruction caused by Akatsuki in various places.
"Peace and justice? Look at what you have done to Konoha, Taki, other villages. My sensei, my shishou, my friends, my village. Causing despair to innocent civilians and children who have little to no idea about the affairs of the Shinobi. Cut the nonsense. Peace and justice, yeah right!"
Pein stood up. "Then tell me what your goal is." He asked. "Bring peace to the world, both civilian and shinobi. And you guys are making it more difficult for me." Pein looked up and paced around. "I see. That is noble of you." He replied. "But what about my family, my friends, my village? They had suffered the same, if not worse fate than this village. By Konoha shinobi nonetheless. How is it fair to allow only you people to preach on peace and justice?"
Naruto thought about Jiraiya's story of the orphans from Amegakure. They had been some of the many victims of the Second Great Shinobi War. Amegakure had been turned into the battlefield of the war between the great nations. How could she not have seen that? Yet she asked, "What do you mean?" She wanted to hear what he had in mind.
Pein paused his pacing and replied, "Hi no Kuni and Konoha no Sato have grown quite big. To protect their interests, the feudal clans were forced to wage war against each other and Konoha benefitted from it. Had this not happened, the nation would have starved. In the battle of the great nations, the minor nations and its villages were ravaged. The great nations have settled in peace as war subsided but our little nation was left to suffer the pain and misery.
Naruto looked away in shame and disappointment. Her travels had told her the same thing. Few sensible people have drawn treaties with the minor nations, but most of the time, it was for personal profits, or for the selfish reasons of the Great Nations. Some villages had tried to be independent and were strong enough to prevent further destruction. But that was not possible with all the small shinobi villages and small nations.
Pein's voice interrupted her thoughts. "You and I seek the same thing. We are trying to establish the peace that Jiraiya sensei desired. You and I are not so different after all. We simply act according to our own sense of justice. The justice I delivered to Konoha is not so different from what you are trying to do to me. The pain of losing something dear is same and we know the pain all too well. We are ordinary men, each with our own sense of justice, driven to seek vengeance under the banner of justice.
However, if there is justice in vengeance, it will only breed more vengeance and trigger a cycle of hatred. We are in the middle of a cycle of hatred started long ago. So, we cannot help but believe that humans are incapable of understanding one other. The Shinobi world is ruled by hatred."
Naruto remembered Jiraiya's words during one of their travels. "There is too much hate in the shinobi world. I've always wanted to something about it, but I'm not sure what. But I believe that there will come a day when people will truly understand each other. If I can't find the answer to this puzzle, perhaps I will entrust it to you." To Naruto, it was one of the few moments where she held respect and admiration for the Toad Sage and not familial love.
Pein continued his talk. "How would you confront this hatred in order to create peace? I want to hear your answer." Naruto closed her eyes for a moment before she asked back, "What is yours?"
Pein replied, "I formed the Akatsuki to halt the cycle of hatred. I can put a stop to it but I need the power of Kyuubi in you. The power of all Bijuu shall be used to create a Tailed Beast weapon many times more powerful than Kyuubi itself. Power enough to wipe out an entire nation instantly."
Kurama snorted at that. That was an understatement. The Jyuubi was powerful enough to change the landscape of the world. Crush mountains, create new ones. Evaporate seas, give birth to new ones.
Pein said, "The world shall know real pain. The fear instilled by it shall prevent wars. The world will be on the road to stability and peace." If this was anyone else anywhere else anytime else, Naruto would've simply given them a deadpan. But the situation was serious, and so was she.
"That kind of peace is artificial." Pein cut her off. "Humans are not the most intelligent of creatures. This is the only way peace could be achieved. After decades, the pain would fade with time and humans would battle again. Then, they themselves use the tailed-beast weapon against one another to reconfirm what true pain is."
In a secluded dark area, a red haired man who looked frail and weak, attached to machinery, with rods sticking out of his back and in the company of a blue haired woman in Akatsuki cloak, was telling the same words. "Then again, peace will be restored for a period of time. In the course of the endless cycle of hatred, pain will give rise to momentary peace. This is my dream."
The red-haired man was cut off by a fit of coughs. "Nagato, try not to push yourself. A lot of chakra has been spent." The female advised. The man identified as Nagato calmed down as he replied with short pants, "Peace is right within our grasp. It is not best to slack now."
Elsewhere, Tendo Pein was preaching to Naruto. "You argue that my vision of peace is fake. But in this cursed world, there is nothing more fictional than peace where people can understand one another." Naruto thought back to how their master's words were quite different from what his first student was saying now. "Jiraiya Sensei believed that there would come a time when people would truly understand one another. You are wrong." She retorted.
Pein's voice held mockery. "Empty words. You don't seem to have an answer. What can you do? All you are good for is..." He pulled out a rod. "... giving me the power of Kyuubi." He pierced it in her back as she bit back a cry.
"Like I said," He continued, "Your death will lead to peace." He inserted a rod in each of her limbs.
'I can feel Pein's, no Nagato's chakra entering me, holding control. Is this what the multiple piercings of similar rods Tendo has are for? The dead bodies of Yahiko and others are controlled like puppets by Nagato from somewhere. The rods are receivers of his chakra..." Naruto thought.
"I have avoided vital spots for now." Pein said. "But you won't be able to move on your own any longer. I will be taking you now." He approached her.
Naruto smirked. "Not yet." She replied. "I haven't given my answer yet." Her chakra flared, but it wasn't enough to match the power of Rinnegan of an Uzumaki, not when it controlled all her limbs. She took the help of Kurama's chakra. She whispered discreetly to Katsuyu who had been relaying the battle to anyone who cared enough. "Katsuyu-sama, please don't tell that I will be using his chakra." After getting the slug's affirmative answer, she took Kurama's chakra directly, entering the Red cloak mode, directly to three tails.
She felt Nagato's control slip. Tendo stepped back a little. Naruto needed more potent chakra. She grew the fourth tail, the fifth tail. The rods were slipping and burning. Her appearance didn't change much, except the red eyes of Kurama, fangs and long nails. The whisker marks had been lost long ago, but this was the male Naruto who kept 'his' whiskers, thank you very much. Said marks thickened.
Then she grew the sixth tail. Her skin peeled away, her appearance changing to something between a fox and a human. Her clothes were not visible as the figure now had blood-crimson skin and white eyes.
To anyone else, it would seem as if Naruto lost control. But she and Kurama knew better. She could've grown all nine tails in the Red Cloak Mode without undergoing this drastic change, but she needed to threaten the Akatsuki not mess with her, or Konoha, or the world for that matter.
Before slipping into six tailed-mode, she growled out. "I may not have a precise answer as you have. But what you have is hypocrisy at one of its greatest." A huge flare of chakra erupted as she changed and grew a sixth tail, completely obliterating the rods that had been restricting her.
Kyuubi was known as the embodiment of hatred, hence, leading Pein to ask, "Do you hate me?"
[Hope you enjoyed the work of music. I loved it!]
'The power of the Kyuubi, huh?' Pein observed. 'Is it responding to his negative emotions?'
Naruto put her training in action- in a larger scale. She dug her hands into the ground. Chunks of earth rose up, supported by earthy, branch-like structures. She threw some of the blocks she had dug out towards Pein in rapid succession. Pein used his Tendo-techniques to dodge them, but was hit by a block he failed to dodge. Mid-impact, he broke it into pieces and flipped back and jumped away.
Naruto broke more blocks and used them to attack Pein, burying him underground, with only his head above. Since he was a dead body under control, his face betrayed no emotion or agony. "Do you hate me?" He asked again. Naruto didn't stop her assault, but thought, 'Do I hate him for what he has done to Jiraiya-Sensei, Kakashi Ni-san, Tsunade-Nee-san, to the Uchiha clan, to Konoha?' "Do you still think people can truly understand each other?"
Naruto remembered her conversation with Ohnoki regarding her father. He had made effort to understand him, but he hasn't forgiven him completely. But still, she had a good mind to make him shut up, but restrained herself.
'The exchange of ideals of peace in the midst of a battle. Makes it seem the era of wars befre villages all over again.' Naruto thought. She simply flared her chakra, pushing him away, and growled as her answer.
"Your actions are justified." Pein said. "However," he rose in the air before shooting down and punching the ground. "My pain is far greater than yours!" He yelled. The ground cracked and water gushed out, forming a new river.
They continued their battle on water. It was mostly Naruto tailing Pein, trying to capture him. The man landed on a rock and shielded himself from bursts of chakra sent his way with his Tendo techniques. When they stopped, he mocked, "Is that all you got?" His answer came in the form of a bigger burst that split into smaller and rapid fireballs of Kyuubi chakra that hit him.
"Not bad." He said as he used 'Shinra Tensei' to towards the supports of the block above Naruto. The earthy vines broke and the block fell on her. Pein used this moment to hit her with another chakra rod that was burnt along with the vines that entangled Naruto with a flare of her chakra.
Naruto jumped and landed softly on the water a couple of miles away from Pein, before rushing towards him in full speed, her speed causing a huge wave that mobilized even the rock on which he had been standing. He engaged in a Taijutsu battle with her extended arms that seemed to keep up with his speed.
"Shinra Tensei!" He yelled as the water around him cleared for a radius of two metres. Naruto had stubbornly stuck her hands through the water and the technique that was still in play, and attacked him. 'Impossible!' He thought. 'He withstood the almighty push.'
She punched him hard, causing him to crash into a cliff far way. She proceeded to finish him with a Bijuu Bomb, when Pein stood up and clasped his hands. "Bansho Tein." A rock on the top of the cliff was aimed at Naruto with that technique. The Bijuu Bomb exploded on the rock. Pein tried to shield himself from the explosion of the bomb, but ended up losing his scratched head band and the top half of his cloak. He awed at the magnificent power of Kyuubi chakra.
Naruto crushed the remains of the rock that buried her and Pein took this opportunity to run away. Destruction was on a huge scale. But that was expected in a fight between a Bijuu and a Rinnegan wielder. This may have been the watered down version, but a version nonetheless of the battle between Jyuubi and Hagoromo. That had been the reason why Naruto had brought them closer to sea. But why was Pein running away from Konoha? It was as if he had a destination in mind.
She had tried to finish him quickly but he was so stubborn, it irritated her since they were destroying surrounding forests. She tried to make sure they weren't close to any civilizations. Thankfully, Pein's path didn't seem to cross any of them.
The six-tailed fox humanoid followed the injured Akatsuki member till he stopped at a rock. "I have brought Tendo close enough." Nagato said. Nagato/Tendo muttered, "Chibaku Tensei (Planetary Devastation)" The woman advised, "You don't have to go so far. Your body can't take it anymore." "Silence, Konan." He admonished the lady named Konan. "I must focus."
Elsewhere, Pein hid himself in the hollow of a tree and clasped his hands.He brought them slightly apart, forming a white blob that expanded in to a black orb and let it lose outside. The sphere floated upwards. Naruto had arrived and found pain as she aimed attacks at him. He dodged them and jumped away and clapped his hands, "Chibaku Tensei." He growled.
The black sphere had a while halo and the Earth within a certain radius cracked. Rocks rose and attracted towards the gravity sphere.
Naruto ran towards Pein, who threw some of the broken rocks at her, covering her completely, thus slowing her momentum, causing her to rise towards the black orb.
She noticed that the matter around was gravitated towards the sphere that was now covered by a layer of rock. She blasted the rock prison binding her only to land on another rock that took her up. She thought on how to deal with this and deduced that since the sphere was the cause of the problem, destroying it would end the problem. She began shooting fireballs of Kyuubi chakra to get rid of the layers of rock.
Pein, on his part, put forth more chakra in the technique, trying to trap the humanoid fox, causing blood to trickle from Nagato's nose. The black sphere was exposed an Naruto immediately sent a Bijuu Bomb towards it. Making a bomb was slow process in six tailed mode. Hence she entered the eight tailed mode, seeming more of a fox than a human. The bomb met the core sphere, annihilating it and the surrounding rock in the air.
Nagato panted, exhausted as blood trailed down his chin from his nose. Konan chided him mildly, but extremely worried, "Why did you have to push yourself to a bigger radius?" "My opponent is the Kyuubi." was the simple answer that explained his thoughts to her. After a long pause, he continued, "Rikudou Sennin was said to have created the Moon with this technique. This was nothing."
'But you are not the Sennin, though you aim to be one.' Konan thought. They looked at Naruto who raged around in the eight tailed mode.
That was before she sensed something and reverted back to her human self. "Kyuubi, vanished?" Tendo muttered as Naruto's incomplete Bijuu mode vanished in a large cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, he saw Naruto standing, already in Sage Mode. 'The incomplete Bijuu mode must've disturbed the chakra in the other clone.' She deduced. 'What happened? Does he now have control over Kyuubi?' Tendo thought. 'Well, I had to confirm the extent of Kyuubi's power. Never thought he would weasel his way out of Planetary Devastation.'
Katsuyu crawled out of Naruto's collar and settled on her shoulder, panting. "Thank goodness. I thought I was going to suffocate to death." She said between deep breaths. "I was worried. The destruction you caused is quite huge Naruto-chan."
Naruto gave her an apologetic smile. "Yes. I am sorry about that. I reverted back to myself seeing that you were suffering. But you have to cut me some slack regarding the destruction. The Rinnegan Wielder over there also has a big role in this. I might not have retaliated much had he not pushed me. Anyway, that attack must have cost him a lot of energy. It will be a while since he can use his techniques. I must settle this within then."
"It's time to settle this." Pein declared. Naruto came closer to Pein, within battling range. "Have you come to understand a little of what my pain is?" Pein asked. "Unless you know the same pain, you cannot truly know another. Even if you get to know one another, understanding cannot exist. That is the truth."
Naruto simply replied, "Take me to the he is. I want to speak face-to-face with you." She could've found Nagato by herself, but it would be better to ask for his consent, if the business she had planned out with him was to go on smoothly. As unlikely and ironic it sounds as he is the enemy.
"Hmm?" Pein smirked. "Even you figured out? First Jiraiya Sensei and now you." He took out a rod. "Not to mention the Orange Spark. However, discussion is over. Talking with you won't change anything." Naruto replied, "But I haven't given my answer. And I would rather give it to the real one."
"Doesn't matter anymore." Pein said and began walking to her. "Sage mode. It has a time limit once you begin using your jutsus, hasn't it?"
Naruto repressed a sigh. "Do I have to fight it out of you?" She asked as she walked.
"I'll give you no more chances." He said as his walk turned into a run.
"So I have to find him by myself, huh? Bring it on!" She replied as she began running too.
"But how?" Katsuyu asked her but received no answer. Tendo engaged in a Taijutsu fight with the rod in his hand that soon went into her hand as she kicked him away.
She pierced it through herself a little and used Sage Mode to sense from where chakra was being received. A few miles away, Nagato sensed the Sage Mode chakra of Naruto. He cursed, "He reverse-tracked me using sage mode!" "Found him!" Naruto muttered. 'But I can feel his chakra building up. Looks like he can use attacks again.'
Naruto created a shadow clone and a Rasenshuriken. They created a smoke screen using smoke bombs. One Rasenshuriken emerged from it. "Shinra Tensei." The Shuriken vanished only to be followed by another. Pein would have to dodge it since there was the issue of time interval of five seconds between each attack in general to recover chakra, as Katsuyu had told her from the observations of Kakashi who had relayed it to Chouji before dying of chakra exhaustion.
Thus two shadow clones emerged behind Pein to hold him down. He only pierced rods through them and used them as leverage to dodge the second Shuriken. 'Three seconds to go.' He thought. Naruto bit back a curse. Her time had long run out and she barely managed to form two RasenShurikens and both had missed. 'He ran out of Sage Chakra.' Pein observed. 'It's over.'
All of a sudden, the rubble around him moved and multiple clones of Naruto popped out. 'He has all these clones transformed into rubble under the cover of the smoke screen earlier.' He deduced. 'One second left.' He counted. The clone closest to him was barely able to touch him when
'Zero!'
"Shinra Tensei!" Pein yelled out. The clones were dispelled.
Naruto the original already placed enough chakra to escape the attack. But Pein infused more chakra as he grunted loud, forcing her to slid backwards. He fell to the ground on his knees, panting.
"You, who don't have an answer, who keeps stalling using childish tricks, should just give up." He stated. Naruto created a Rasengan. "You give up," She began. Pein calculated, 'Distance between us is too far to reach in five seconds.' But then, one of the stones behind him released it's transformation, revealing Naruto's clone. She flashed to the clone.
Before Tendo could understood anything, he heard Naruto finish her sentence, "Trying to make me give up." He barely had time to think as he was hit by the Spiralling Sphere. 'Did he substitute himself with the clone, or was the original hiding all along?' Was the last thought before Nagato lost control over the body of his Tendo vessel.
Naruto sat down to take a short break and used the time to remove all piercings from Tendo and collect her thoughts.
She stood up and ran towards Nagato's location. "Time to meet a long-lost relative."
So...👉👈 how is it? Do let me know your thoughts...
NamikazeNaruto20