Shadow of the Empire - chapter 11/The Road to Hell

A/N Sorry for the long wait. I had to deal with the project at the university. Now that it's done I can finally get to finish this story. This chapter is chonkier than I expected it to get, but you get to enjoy some amazing stuff. We're nearing the end, but the fight isn't over just yet.

=/\/=

Three air mantas and a sky dragon traversed the skies above the road leading south. Naruto was riding with Esdeath while the remaining Jaegers were split between the three mounts. Dr. Stylish was absent from the group, having been reassigned to the palace due to some issue or another. Prime Minister didn't deem to inform them what he was needed for, only that it was more critical than Esdeath's hunt for the Night Raid. Allegedly, he had She made her displeasure known, but the Emperor ultimately sided with Honest on this one.

It's been three weeks since the attempt on Emperor's life. The Jaegers scoured the Capital City far and wide to try and find any traces of other assassins, but it was all in vain. Even Naruto's Sage mode was useless in such a massive city. There were just too many people whose chakra is similar. Kakashi spent over a week in the hospital, followed by another week of forced rest under Spear's watchful eye. She took to watching over him when Naruto wasn't available.

Tatsumi received a promotion to the head of the city guard. The previous one was fired for his failures. Nobody in the court cared that the man was one of Prime Minister Honest's staunchest supporters. Many quietly cheered even.

It wasn't until a report of suspicious movement in the southern province arrived in the capital that the Jaegers were finally deployed.

The group arrived at the road fork. Dragon and Mantas landed and they got off.

"Okay, we know that a rebel supply convoy was traveling this road about six days ago, but they could've gone either way from here," Esdeath announced.

"Both paths seem like a viable choice." Run unrolled the map of the province. "The right one would lead toward the Kuzuryu castle. If the rebels were to capture the fort, it would open them a path to march straight at the capital. The army would be hard-pressed to stop them in that scenario. On the other hand, the right path ends in the capital of the Path of Peace. If the Revolutionary Army had secured their cooperation, they might have gathered enough forces to march on the capital despite the fort."

"It will take too long to check both locations one after another. According to our intel, whatever is going on should happen within two days." Wave looked at the road sign. "Which one will it be, General?"

Esdeath thought for a moment before answering. "We will split up. You four will go to reinforce Kuzuryu castle. In the worst-case scenario, with four extra Teigu, you should be able to hold out until Naruto and I arrive. We shall check with the Path of Peace and get back to you after we ensure that they pose no threat."

"And if they do?" Run asked.

"Then we shall ensure they do not." Esdeath gained a manic grin that made the sensible part of the group shiver. Kurome even hugged her sword closer to herself in search of safety.

Naruto ignored it, though mostly because she emitted only as much crazy energy as angry Kakashi or that weird snake lady from the chunin exams.

Was Esdeath a weird ice lady? Naruto shrugged, not noticing that people were looking at him.

"Uh… could you repeat that?"

"Are you sure we can afford to split up?" Wave looked at him. "I just mean that Night Raid isn't exactly without successes…" Seryu's death was still somewhat on their minds.

"They lost their most dangerous members. As long as you keep your guard up, you should be able to handle them or at least hold them back until we arrive. Even just your presence will potentially deter their schemes." Esdeath reassured them. "If the situation appears too dire, or if you confirm the presence of a Jinchuriki… retreat. There is nothing you can do against him."

"Fine. Good travel." Run was the first to lift off, followed by the rest of Jaegers.

Naruto and Esdeath also left, traveling to the capital of the Path of Peace.

=/\/=

A lone figure walked through the corridors of the Palace of Peace. So far, none of the guards even noticed he was there so no one was able to stop him. He arrived at the quarters of the more influential members. The Lord was obviously not here. The man didn't really care much for the luxuries. But people like Bolic loved the luxury their status afforded them—people like Hollimaca.

Getting through the doors was no issue for the infiltrator. Especially since the man left them open.

"Oy! How many times I gotta tell you morons to knock before you enter!" Hollimaca yelled. The only answer he got was the sound of a drawn sword.

He leaped out of his armchair just in time to have it sliced in half. His trusted Teigu blocked the next strike. He realized that his enemy was using a giant cleaver with a hole in the top. That was also the last realization before he was cut in half.

"Man, that was a disappointing fight…" The killer walked over and picked the Teigu from the dead man's grip. "At least I got a sweet new weapon to my collection. Still prefer swords though."

"Who are you!" A yell from the doorway attracted the killer's attention. "Guards! Intruder! We've got an assassin here!"

=/\/=

Naruto and Esdeath arrived in the Capital of the Path of Peace. As soon as the dragon landed, they were swarmed by the attendants.

"In the name of our Lord, we welcome you." The head attendant stepped forward. "It is always a pleasure to meet the delegation of the capital in our humble city of Ramo."

"Humble is not a word I would use." Esdeath sniped, nodding toward the golden dome of the palace.

The man lowered his head. "Yes… I… Some of our leaders have varying tastes. Though the dome of the Lord's Palace is a gift from your very own Prime Minister Honest, I believe. It would be impolite of the Lord to reject any such gifts." Naruto understood that the guy wasn't exactly happy with how some things were done.

"Will we get to meet that Lord guy?" May no one claim that Naruto understood the finer details of diplomacy.

"Ah. Yes. I believe he wishes to meet the delegation in person soon. Currently, the Lord is in his retreat, meditating on… something." The attendant welcomed them into the palace and started to walk toward the guest quarters.

"And does he travel there often?" Esdeath asked while they were passing a giant painting of Bolic.

"No. But the Lord usually leaves for solitude when contemplating his visions. He has the gift of prophecy that allows him to peer into the future."

"Huh? Like a dojutsu? I remember fighting that one guy who could see the future with his Teigu. And the Sharingan can sort of do that too." The blond became acutely aware of the hateful stares the faithful were sending him for that comment. "Uh… I'm sure that Lord guy has much better power though. I'm sure he's great?" The way he phrased it didn't really help the situation much, but they let it go, satisfied with the attempt.

"Forgive them. Everyone is on edge after that murder two days ago."

"Excuse me?" Esdeath stopped admiring the art and looked at their guide.

"Isn't that… why you're here?" The man stopped, confused. "We were sure you'd come to help with the investigation."

Esdeath spoke before Naruto got a chance to make their mission yet harder. "We have been informed that a group of wanted criminals was sighted in this province and came to investigate."

"Yeah. But don't worry. We'll help with the investigation." Naruto cheered, making Esdeath smile. He must've caught on to her ploy. "Maybe the two are connected."

Their guide hesitated. "A group, you say? I regret to inform you, but I fear that these two cases are then unconnected. The attacker was working alone from entering until he escaped. No signs of any accomplices."

"Be as it may, it's still not impossible that his allies were simply doing something else while he served as a distraction."

"While I shall defer to you in this situation, General, I hardly consider stealing the lone Teigu in our possession a mere distraction."

"So a theft then?"

"Yes. Holimaca was one of the leaders of the armed branch of the Path of Peace, and not without merit. The attacker somehow bypassed all the security and killed him in single combat before making out with the Teigu."

"Do you have any clues as to the identity of the attacker?"

"According to the surviving guards, he wore black robes, had white hair, and carried a massive butcher-knife-like blade. It had a hole at the top." The man recalled.

"Huh, sounds kinda like Zabuza's sword," Naruto interjected.

"Zabuza?" Esdeath seemed to recall that name from their talks, but she couldn't get the details. "Do you think it's him?"

"Of course not. Zabuza's dead. He died on my first mission." No matter how much anyone tried to convince him otherwise, Naruto would NOT consider the D-ranks as proper shinobi missions.

"Then it might just be a coincidence. Or a similar weapon. Though it does suggest a shinobi being involved."

"Utakata is a ninjutsu specialist though. And his companion doesn't seem like someone capable of fighting with a giant sword that well." Naruto recalled what Kakashi had said about their enemies.

"It is possible that there are more nuke-nin coming to the empire with hopes of easy money." Esdeath realized that it could spell a whole slew of issues for the Empire unless they found a solution. On the other hand, it guaranteed years of potential fighting so she did not care in the slightest.

"Huh… Honestly, I have no idea why don't more nuke-nin come here… I guess since ships here are so rare, hunter-nin just watch them really closely? Or maybe they don't know about the Empire and just don't bother?"

"All interesting theories, mister, but I am yet to grasp how these are connected to the current case."

"Huh? Well… Knowing what sets the guy apart from other nuke-nin might help identify him. Or figuring out why he came here could give us his motives?" These were all pure bullshit Naruto said not to appear stupid, but it worked. The guide now looked somewhat sheepish that he didn't figure it out.

Esdeath was also somewhat surprised but grinned nonetheless. She especially enjoyed how baffled the other man was. Despite Naruto's unorthodox way of thinking, he could reach the most ludicrous conclusions and yet make everything work in the end. Like his improvement to Sage Mode just through… getting better at breathing.

"Ah. Of course." The man paused in front of the doors. They didn't really stand out from the other doors in the corridor in any way. "These will be your quarters for the duration of your stay. Do not hesitate to ask any of the servants if you require anything. We're honored to have you in Ramo."

With that, he walked away. Esdeath noticed that he seemed somewhat in a hurry.

Their quarters couldn't be called opulent, but they were by no stretch poor either. There were luckily (or not, if you were Esdeath) two beds. They also had a sitting area and a desk if they needed to work on something. There was a table with four chairs closer to the door.

"Well, what a lovely room. Naruto, would you like to move the beds together? That way, we'll get to warm each other during the cold nights here."

"Ah. Um… But… we're south of the capital now, so shouldn't it be warmer here?" Naruto deflected.

Esdeath just shook her head. Soon.

=/\/=

The Lord returned the next day. Naruto's clones did some looking around but ultimately there was nothing to find. At least nothing related to the Night Raid. Within hours, Naruto busted a man called Bolic for kidnapping and drugging people.

He wanted to expose him to everyone immediately, but Esdeath convinced him to at least wait until they could interrogate him. She argued that they could then capture anyone who worked with Bolic on that.
She didn't mention that the man was Prime Minister's spy. Given his conduct, Honest couldn't really afford to try to bail him out in any way and Esdeath would enjoy the torture. The ground under the Prime Minister's feet was crumbling and Esdeath didn't believe in sticking with the losers.

While she was… entertaining herself and getting all the information from Bolic, Naruto chose to just meditate in the palace garden. Instead of the typical 'sit still' meditation, Naruto went the more experimental route. With his eyes closed, he went through the frog kata moves. He had a goal in mind. To focus on the short moments when his body is not moving. These instants, short periods of time, where nothing in his body was shifting. Any motion was merely the world pushing him along, like a stone rolling down the hill.

His first attempts at getting into Sage Mode while in motion were only brute force but now he actually had an idea. It's an incredibly, completely, and utterly reckless idea.

A whack to his head broke him out of the concentration.
Naruto grumbled at his clone who was grinning while palming the Pa's staff.

"I finally get why he liked training us so much." The clone cackled.

"What was that for?" The real shinobi grumbled.

"You were starting to toad-out." His copy shrugged.

"Wait, you're saying that I was taking too much!?" The blond cheered up immediately.

"Well, duh. That's what I said."

"Yatta! So I can use even less time to recharge. Or even charge up in the fight."

"If we get this right, we can even use Rasenshuriken without getting kicked out of the Sage mode." The clone cheered.

Before Naruto could go back to his practice, a coughing from the sidelines interrupted him.

A man seemed to have just now walked into the garden. He wore similar white robes to most of the Path of Peace, but with red overgarment that served to indicate higher standing. Naruto couldn't recognize his exact rank, but it seemed less impressive than what the Bolic guy was wearing, so probably a mildly important clerk or something like that. He noted that the man had long, white hair.

"Oh. Hey there."

"Good day to you. Are you perhaps Master Naruto?"

"Yeah. I guess my fame is spreading here, ne?"

The man chuckled. "I guess you could say that. How do you find your stay so far?"

"Eh. It's okay. It was a bummer we had to arrest Bolic almost the day we arrived. Esdeath seemed especially displeased and I don't like seeing her unhappy." He shivered. "Though she seemed almost too happy to get all the intel from the guy."

The man didn't visibly react, but Naruto got a distinct sense of sadness radiating everywhere around.

"Indeed. Hearing about his crimes was… not easy."

"Yeah, I still can't get over all the stuff Sasuke did." Naruto groaned.

"Forgive me, but I am not familiar with that name." The man bowed his head in apology.

"Ah. Sasuke is… he was my friend. We were on the team together. We were rivals and always tried to outdo each other. I kept trying to knock that smug bastard down a peg. Then the chunin exams came. And for the first time, I was actually catching up to him. But then he decided that he was not getting power fast enough and chose to abandon our village, instead going to that snake bastard who attacked us not even a few months earlier. Ugh! And then he just kept running off doing his own thing for revenge. I mean I get that he lost his family to a murderous maniac that was also his brother, but it's not like we wouldn't help him! But he decided to just pull some bullshit about honor or something. I don't get him!" Naruto stopped his rant and looked at the man. "Oh. Sorry. I kinda started to ramble."

"Don't worry. That was… interesting perspective."

"Well, I gotta go now. I'm supposed to meet that Lord guy soon."

For some reason, the man laughed out loud. "Thank you. Though if you would just answer me one question. From what I got, Sasuke was your friend but now decided to be your enemy. If you met him now, what would you do?"

"I'd… When I see him again, I'm gonna try to get through to him. Once. If he chooses to come back peacefully, great. Otherwise… I'm gonna… I will do what I have to if it means protecting everyone else I care about." Despite his hesitation, Naruto steeled his resolve.

"Indeed? So you'd choose to sacrifice one person over many?"

"No. I would not risk the lives of my other friends over one person. No matter how much I care about Sasuke, he is not above my other friends. Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan, Baa-chan, Shizune-nee, Iruka, all my friends… Esdeath and the Jaegers. I will do everything to protect them. Even if I have to fight the man I consider my brother."

"Curious indeed. I must admit I don't fully understand your philosophy, Master Naruto, but I respect the sentiment nonetheless."

"Thanks, I guess?" The blond shrugged. "I think-"

"Just a moment more. I have one more question for you. Do you still believe there is hope for the Empire? It has, similar to your friend, lost its way. Would you then say that it should be destroyed to protect others who are important to you?"

"What? No. Sasuke… keeps rejecting our help. Meanwhile, the Empire is changing. Chouri-san is working hard every day to make things better, and Spear-san and Tatsumi-san are all working to fix it. And there is Run who's also trying to help. And the other Jaegers too, in one way or another. And the Emperor is also not that bad. So I think the Empire can be fixed if people work together instead of just aiming for pointless revenge. The cycle of hatred is not the answer. My friend Run said it best. 'We can't just hope that breaking things will make it better for anyone'. Killing will only lead to more hatred festering in everyone."

After a moment of contemplation, the man smiled. "Wise words, for someone so young. You truly live up to your title of Sage, master Naruto."

"Oh, crap! I'm late for the meeting! See ya later!" He dashed away without waiting for a response

Instead of a private meeting room as he expected, Naruto and Esdeath were led to the main chapel, where masses of believers gathered in front of a statue of a warrior with a giant sword. A giant green gem glimmered in the light that flooded the hall through the massive windows.

A man stepped on the stage overseeing the crowd. In addition to normal priestly robes, he wore a large, ornate red cloak and a giant skull mask that resembled a buffalo, like what Naruto saw in some movies about Iwa ninjas on the plains.

"We've gathered here today yet again in peace, with no malice in our hearts." The Lord began. "Our community has recently been plagued with tragedy after another. But we remain steadfast in our travel toward a better future. Our Empire is facing a period of turmoil on a scale greater than ever before. I had a vision." He paused, taking a deep breath. The mask hid his gaze, but Naruto imagined he stared off into the distance. The air in the hall was heavy as if just the weight of the man's words was enough to hold everyone in place.

"I have witnessed the Capital in ruins. Fires burned everywhere while dead bodies littered the streets. Civilians, soldiers, rebels, and monsters alike. A few survivors who managed to avoid the bloody battle so far died among the flames. The Imperial Palace collapsed, and I did not see the Emperor anywhere. The walls that guarded the city from invasion were now breached in many places." The pressure was now even higher.

"It is clear to everyone gathered, that the revolutionary army will soon launch an attack at the capital. That they will somehow succeed… at the cost of uncountable lives. Some of you might perhaps sympathize with the revolution. I know that many are dissatisfied with the current situation and yearn for change, for improvement." The Lord paused. Naruto could've sworn that the man stared straight at him. "Not long ago, the Revolutionary Army visited me, asking for our aid in their final march on the capital. I have to admit that, for a while, I have been considering it."

Murmurs broke out among the listeners. Esdeath's hand drifted just a bit closer to her sword while Naruto brought his hands closer together in case he needed to make a quick handseal.

"Today, after I returned, still shaken by the visions, I met a young man who reminded me of something. Our religion is not one of war. We do not seek to conquer. Or to dominate. Only to exist in harmony. Even still, we shall always stand against injustice. I used to believe that in the end, there would be no greater evil than what happened to our Empire. But destruction is not the way. To wipe away the crops with the weed is no less evil than to let the weeds grow, for both will destroy the harvest. It seems that I have forgotten what we stand for, and for that, I must apologize. I will not hold against anyone who wishes to fight in the coming battles, but I cannot give my blessing to wanton destruction."

People cheered even as the man walked away from the stage.

Naruto looked to Esdeath, who had a rather conflicted expression. Like a child who was just denied dessert but told they might get ice cream later. Nonetheless, she led the shinobi outside the hall into one of the side corridors.

"It seems we don't need to worry about the Path of Peace rebelling. That's good, right?"

"It's… an outcome. According to Bolic, today The Lord would've announced a full mobilization of his Army. They'd march on the capital to join up with the Revolutionaries. But… he instead betrayed them just now."

"Who says I did not send a messenger with my declaration already?" A man walked from one of the side corridors. Naruto recognized him as the one he met while practicing.

"I could still arrest you." Esdeath threatened, her hand already nearing her sword.

"Oh my. But then you'd waste a lot of time and potentially provoke the Path of Peace. Worry not. I do not plan to fight against the Empire."

"And what changed your mind?" The General took a step forward.

"Part of it was my vision. Though by itself… it would've only strengthened my resolve. But between Bolic's betrayal and my talk with Master Naruto, I realized that the Path of Peace should not pursue violence when there is a way for negotiations. I will soon leave for the capital, with the offer of aid once the city has burned."

"Clever. Whoever wins will receive aid and your cult will come smelling like roses."

"Esdeath." Naruto chastised his girlfriend.

"Dear Naruto, we could still arrest him. Imagine the glorious carnage as we cut through these traitors that come to his rescue." She shivered, blushing a bit.

"No. Besides, we should hurry back to the rest of our team." That seemed to reach Esdeath. She muttered a curse but didn't protest.

"It might be wise. I actually came here to tell you that part of the rebels' strategy was to remove the Kuzuryuu castle to secure their backline in case the siege lasted longer than predicted."

"Why didn't you start with that!" Naruto shouted.

"Forgive me, though I felt ensuring my followers were safe was my top priority."

"Agh. I can't even be angry at you. Stupid pretty boy. Esdeath! Let's run!"

"Master Naruto!" The Lord called, making the pair stop. "Thank you for our discussion. I still can't agree with you fully, but you've given me hope that not all is yet lost."

"Sure. Don't plan more rebellions!" Naruto called before grabbing Esdeath into bride-carry and dashing away at inhuman speed.

When they disappeared from his sight, Lord shivered. His serene expression disappeared, quickly replaced with a mix of sadness and fear. There was a single piece of vision he did not reveal to anyone. Amidst the carnage in the capital, in the center of destruction, he saw one Uzumaki Naruto, effortlessly destroying any resistance.

=/\/=

Naruto and Esdeath were flying at top speed. Her dragon was obediently dashing through the clear sky. Normally, the wind would be unbearable at that speed but Naruto was used to even greater speeds and the General wasn't one to complain about inconvenience. Using her boyfriend as a human shield might've also played the part.

The blond had to constantly fight off the blush as Esdeath's rather impressive chest was pressing against his back while she hugged him from behind to keep them both seated.

This was not an environment conducive to any sort of conversation. They were already nearing Kuzuryuu Castle so they'd have time for that later.

With the speed they were going, it was all the more surprising when one second they were flying in the air, and the next Naruto pushed himself and Esdeath off the dragon as a red spear pierced through where they were sitting a fraction of a second ago. The dragon's back exploded in a shower of gore, but the pair was already falling to the ground.

With a thrust of her hand, Esdeath sent a wave of ice that formed a slide. She and Naruto landed safely… right in front of Night Raid.

The armored man stood in front, already holding the red spear again, covered in the blood of the General's Danger Beast mount. Behind him, there was a woman with short gray hair and a mechanical arm, similar to what the sniper had. She had an eyepatch over her right eye The third attacker was a tall man. He had blue hair and wore loose combat robes that reminded Naruto of what some Shinobi wore on paintings he saw in history books. In his hands was a giant double-ended mace.

"Najenda…" Esdeath snarled, looking at the woman. "And here I thought I would have to hunt you down after the Revolution was over." She pulled out her saber and took a guarded stance. Naruto's eyes slowly turned orange as the markings on his face appeared with the influx of nature energy.

"So it's true… I hoped I was wrong… Naruto! If they're threatening you, we can help you. If you join us in destroying them, I'm sure we could still defeat this Empire."

"Uh… Who are you?" The blond scratched his head.

"Dear Naruto. Could you kill that annoyance?" Esdeath didn't take her eyes off Najenda. "I have an old score to settle."

"Uh… You do you." Naruto chose to focus most of his attention on the man in front of him.

"So… you don't recognize me? Really?"

"Hey! That's not fair! You're in full armor! How am I supposed to figure out who you are!?"

"Ah." The helmet folded back, revealing a man not much older than Naruto. He had platinum blond hair and green eyes. Also… the shinobi still had no idea who that was. "Now you recognize me?"

Naruto raked his brain, trying to recall any blonds. He wasn't Princess Shion (for some reason a shiver went down his back when he thought about her). He wasn't Gaara's sister, and he was too young to be Ino's father… What other blondes did he know? Finally, it clicked for Naruto. "Temujin?"

"Yes."

"Wait, why are you fighting for the Revolution? Didn't you leave with your clan to settle down somewhere?"

"Haido was an Imperial General." Temujin snarled. "He didn't work alone, instead following Prime Minister's orders to secure the Gelel back for the Empire. I thought that with him gone, I would finally be free to live my life. But then another of that fat pig's envoys arrived where we've tried to settle. He threatened to have us all killed if we didn't give him the Stone of Gelel."

"Are…" Naruto paused. "What happened?"

"I tried to explain that the mines were destroyed, but he wouldn't believe me. So in the end, I had to kill him to protect my clan. We went into hiding. Deep into the mountains where no one should've been able to find us. But in the end, I knew that we couldn't hide forever. So I left. The Night Raid found me and gave me a place. A spark of hope that the Empire might fall."

"But the Empire is changing! There are good people in power, who are making things better now."

"That will not be enough. The Empire is rotten to the core. It needs to be cut down so we can start from the ground up."

Naruto remembered something. "How do you plan to rebuild it? What will you do about schools? How about the economy? And what about people who have nothing to do with the fighting? How do you plan to keep them safe? Does the Revolutionary Army have plans for any of that?"

Temujin opened his mouth, but words froze on his tongue. He then snarled. "We can figure it out once the empire is no longer a threat!"

"So why are you doing this? If you don't care about the economy, or the education, or civilians… What do you fight for?"

"To stop the Empire from hurting others!" Temujin growled. "To give my clan a better future than just hiding in exile."

"But what sort of future there will be without war? There…" Naruto paused, briefly recalling one of his talks with Run.

"What do you plan on doing once the Revolutionary Army is defeated?" Naruto asked him.

"I hope to become the minister of education."

"Wow. You sure aim high, ne?" The blond ribbed.

"I joined the Imperial Military to change things. It's common for decorated veterans to join the government and General Esdeath is known to reward those who served her well." Run smiled. "I also got a chance to talk with Chancellor Chouri. Thanks, by the way."

"Nah. Don't worry. I always help my friends."

"Sure." Run let out a light chuckle. "What about you?"

"Well, Kakashi and I are going back to Konoha. Man, we've been here for so long that they must've already finished rebuilding. I wonder if old man Teuchi got a new stand. Besides, I gotta get that hat from Baa-chan sooner or later. After this mission, she'll surely promote me to full Jonin." Naruto dreamed.

"I remember. And what about that… cycle of hatred you've mentioned before?"

Naruto frowned as his shoulders sagged. "I'm… It was my Master's dream. And Nagato… I promised I'd figure out a way to stop these constant wars, the constant hatred that keeps festering between everyone. But I still have no idea where to begin."

Run put a hand on his shoulder. "Well, if you want my advice… though I have to admit that I'm a bit biased."

"Sure." Naruto looked at his comrade with a smile, previous sadness all but forgotten.

"The key to bringing people closer is education."

"What? Like schools and such?"

"Well, that's part of it yes. But the true key is spreading knowledge about each other. While certain people…" For a moment, Naruto felt a spike of disgust coming from Run but it quickly quelled itself. "Certain people should be removed for the good of society, a normal person will lash out because they simply don't know better. They justify their emotions with biased views. Their perspective is colored by their parents who teach them their beliefs. If a father hates the South, he will ensure that his children will see the South as nothing but a bunch of barbarians who know nothing but destruction. 'Old wounds fester in the new generations.'"

"But… would that be enough? To just teach people about others?"

"I guess not, otherwise Empire wouldn't deal with conquered provinces constantly trying to rebel. It's a step though."

"Thanks." Naruto smiled.

"You can't end the cycle of hatred with more violence. You need to build up the people and show them that they don't need to be defined by their hate for others or you'll never have peace. Connect with them."

"Just like they connected with my clan? No. They rejected us. The Empire ordered everyone from my clan to be killed for just being born." Temujin twirled his spear, preparing to attack.

"Then…" An arm burst from Temujin's chest, holding a spiraling orb of chakra. "I'm sorry it had to be this way…" The clone yanked his hand out, allowing a stream of blood to start flowing freely. He jumped back and left the stunned man dying on his feet. As the clone dispersed, Naruto turned his attention to the other battle.

Esdeath was still in the middle of fighting the bull-man. He was holding his own against the General, but she was pushing him back. The battlefield was littered with icicles and crushed ice. Esdeath's saber once more rebounded from the spinning mace.

Then, Naruto came crashing in with a flying kick that sent her enemy away.

"Mou. I was having so much fun. Did you finish yours so fast?" She pouted. Naruto could smell the anger and excitement in equal waves coming off of her. There was one more smell that he couldn't categorize properly, but in reality, Esdeath was barely interested in her opponent. No, she wanted the white-haired woman, Najenda.

"Yeah. I can pick it up from here." Naruto's sage mode was still running strong and he was able to, with each breath, take in just a tiny bit more nature energy.

"Perfect. Najenda and I have some catching up to do, don't we?"

"Susanoo! Magatama Kengen (Magatama Manifestation)!" The Blue-haired warrior burst with energy. Chakra raged around him in a barely restrained hurricane of power. Meanwhile, Naruto noted, that Najenda seemed to grow weaker by about a third of her power. Susanoo now had white hair and instead of a white robe, a giant ring floated behind him.

The man charged, intending to strike at Esdeath and return to their battle but Naruto intercepted him in mid-air. With a slap, he sent him crashing down only to land on him with double-stomp.

Esdeath left them to fight while she tried to finish off Najenda. She dashed with a sword poised to strike. Just meters separated her from the sweet revenge she so longed for. Red blood would soon paint the ground and her sword. Some might even fall on her pristine white uniform.

Her instincts screamed at her. Something flashed in the corner of her eye. At the last second, Esdeath twisted in her dash and sent a wave of ice that pushed her to the side while the wall formed in her place. A wall that was near-instantly shattered by a red spear.

"I… am not… done." Temujin huffed, to the surprise of everyone. Even Naruto and Susanoo paused their brawl.

The man still had a hole in his chest, but it was… changing. The blood that was dripping no longer leaked out but instead started to coagulate. Knots formed in the middle and slowly, they started to pulse. The new organ was not red like expected, but instead heavily tinted with purple. In a matter of seconds, fleshly tendrils wrapped around it and patched the hole. His chest was now bluish-purple before settling on a silvery color like his armor. It was impossible to tell where the armor ended and the wound began.

Temujin panted, using his spear to keep himself balanced. "Hah. This… really hurts… Meet the true Trump Card of Incusrio! The unlimited adaptation. No two users may die the same way. Your teacher killed Big Bro by tearing his heart out. You thought this would work twice?"

"Yeah?" Naruto gave him an 'Are you dumb' look. "I mean Kakashi-sensei told me how the front seemed unusually weak to his lightning blade so I just did what he did since he proved it worked. Not my fault you have damn cheats." Naruto didn't get a chance to complain anymore because Susanoo charged him again.

"Dear Naruto… do you want to finish off your friend?" Esdeath gave Najenda a chilling glare. "He is butting in between me and my old comrade. For shame." She accented the last part by swinging her saber. A massive spike of ice grew from her feet and shot toward Temujin who barely dodged, still panting.

Naruto didn't answer. He was too busy blocking slash after slash of a rather large sword. He used it as a springboard more than once but Susanoo was a good enough swordsman to not let Naruto take advantage of that.

As Susanoo once more tried to slash at the Shinobi, he was met with an onslaught of three clones, each holding a Rasengan. And while his super-charged state was enough to block them all, he lost sight of Naruto for just a moment too long.

"Rasengan!" A spiraling ball of death and destruction pierced through Susanoo from top to bottom, causing the magatam in his chest to shatter.

Najenda swore loudly. Temujin was still fending off Esdeath and while he was doing admirably, he was yet to get a single hit in on her.

An explosion sounded in the distance. The shinobi shuddered as an eerie pulse tickled his senses. He disregarded it for now as even with the trees around them, Naruto could spot clouds of smoke rising from the direction of Kuzuryuu castle.

"Seems they had to go with plan B," Najenda shouted. "We've got to retreat and regroup."

"You're not going anywhere." Esdeath and Naruto said at the same time, though their tones were the opposite. Solemn dedication for Naruto, and eagerness for Esdeath.

"You could try and chase us, or you could try and save your comrades." Another explosion in the distance underlined her words. The shinobi's head, on instinct, snapped toward the source of the weird feeling. He couldn't quite place what was it but the Army definitely wasn't using just normal explosive tags.

Esdeath made a step to chase Najenda anyway, but Naruto grabbed her.

"We don't have time. I can sense the fight at the castle is still going on!" He tried to pull her but she resisted. It wasn't very effective, but it made him pause.

"No. The soldiers can handle it. And if not, we can simply retake the castle. But we now have a chance to take out two members of the Night Raid and take their Teigu."

"No. We must go. Our comrades, our friends, are in danger. We've gotta help them. You can't just abandon them."

Esdeath snarled, forcing her hand out of his grip. "I expect my subordinates to handle the mission I assigned them on their own, without me holding their hand all the way. If they fail, it just means that I put my faith in the wrong person. I will never go out of my way to harm those under my command, but do not expect me to baby them."

"You can't just abandon them! A leader fights for those under their command. Our friends trust us to help them if the situation is dire. Besides, we promised to meet up with them as soon as possible when we split up. Their strategy will be reliant on the aid we can provide!"

"I am merely trusting them to do what is expected of them." Esdeath dismissed him.

"That's not right. They need our help. Are you really going to let them die just for your vengeance? Are you really willing to sacrifice all our friends for your own ambition?!"

"Yes." Esdeath turned her back and prepared to chase after the Night Raid when she heard the next question.

"Would you abandon me the same way?" Naruto barely whispered the question but it hit Esdeath harder than anything in the entire fight. She recalled what she knew about Sasuke and Naruto's past and their conflict. Thinking about it, from his perspective, it must've been eerily similar to what happened then.

Could she? She could still catch up to the Night Raid, even with the distance they've made. But… Naruto was… Naruto.

"No." She decided. "I'd not abandon you. Ever. You're mine and I'm never letting you go. Do you understand?" She pulled him into a hug, which accidentally ended with him getting smothered between her breasts.

A moment later Naruto mumbled something, causing Esdeath to let him go.

"I couldn't breathe…" He gasped, making her chuckle. Naruto grabbed her in a princess carry.

"Wait. What are you doing? Naruto!" She screamed as the shinobi launched away like a rocket.

=/\/=

By the time Naruto and Esdeath reached the fort, they found only ruins. The main keep remained standing, but all other structures were smoking rubble. Someone, in two blasts, tore through both the outer fortification and inner walls, eradicating any traces of adjacent buildings. Interestingly, a pillar of dirt remained in the hole after every explosion. The Revolutionary army was swarming in front of the keep, trying to breach the gates. In the midst of them, Naruto sensed one very distinct feeling of someone gathering nature energy in the middle of the battle.

"The defenders won't hold out for long. The Rebels are truly desperate to send so many men to their deaths." Esdeath commented. Under the shade of her cap, she grinned. This might even be worth it letting Najenda go. Marginally.

Naruto wasn't really focusing on that at the moment though. He needed to find the source of Nature Energy. He spotted her. In the middle of the crowd of soldiers, there was a girl in the center of the battle, close to the keep. Below her was a circle that funneled the nature chakra into a seal on her back. If it kept up, she would turn to stone in mere moments!

Almost in perfect synch, the general and the shinobi launched at the army. Esdeath used ice to speed herself up while Naruto took long leaps to recharge his sage mode. With a swipe of her sword, the general sent a flurry of spikes at the soldiers who were about to open fire on the pair. Naruto sped up and created two sage clones. The three of them tanked the hail of bullets coming their way. They arrived at the enemy lines faster than the rebel soldiers could reload.

Esdeath happily slaughtered anyone coming even close to her. Bodies encased in ice quickly littered the battlefield as some braver soldiers tried to get to her. Most of the backlines chose to retreat instead and live to fight another day.

Naruto was heading straight toward the girl. He could recognize her. That was the same girl that arrived after his fight with Akame. She was Utakata's… partner? Student? Girlfriend? She was with Utakata. And a shinobi.

A small ball of chakra formed in Naruto's palm before dispersing. Killing her… might not be a good idea. If they get her now, maybe he could convince Utakata to leave the Empire alone. Maybe even go to Konoha with him.

He had to kill about two dozen soldiers who tried to get in his way before he reached Hotaru. He tried to reach her, to maybe stop her from becoming a statue.

Maybe the fact that all soldiers ran away from her as she stayed in the circle should've clued him in. Maybe the circle glowing brighter and the air becoming hotter was a warning sign.

In the end, when Naruto realized that something was wrong, he was met with a wall of white light.

In a blink of an eye, everything around him was gone. The ground, the bodies, everything that was outside the circle within the radius was just vaporized. Only Naruto remained. His Sage Mode provided enough protection to prevent annihilation. Instead, he was launched back.

Skidding to a pause outside the crater, Naruto watched as the girl stood on a pillar of dirt, just like the previous two blasts. This time though, the explosion had to be a lot smaller. By some miracle, she also wasn't made of stone.

Hotaru spotted him. In a panic, she tried to go through hand seals for some jutsu.

"I-Inu-" This was as far as she got before Naruto grabbed her hands and forcefully interrupted the jutsu.

"Stop it! It's dangerous!"

"Let me go!" She tried to kick him, but all that she achieved was that her leg now hurt as hell. She yelped as he dragged her away. "You're making a big mistake. My master will come for me."

She suddenly looked behind Naruto. "Sooner than you think."

That quip was enough to give Naruto a split-second warning to throw Hotaru away and leap back. The place he was standing just a moment ago was now completely swarmed with bubbles that he suspected were not just your average soap.

As they exploded, the pillar was covered in sticky blue liquid.

Hotaru shunshined to the top of the blast hole to join Utakata.

"They were right master. He arrived here just as predicted."

"I still don't like it, Hotaru. I have a bad feeling about them."

"Master! Please! You're the only hope we have to avenge Akame-nee… And everyone else. No one else can hope to fight him." She pleaded. "And that's the only way we can ever hope to be safe."

"I know." Frustrated, Utakata pulled his pipe again. "Now get out of here. It's not gonna be safe when we start."

Red chakra bubbled around him as he sent a water blast at Naruto, who dodged. The Kiri Nin ran along the edge of the crater, pestering the blond with more and more bubbles. Wherever they exploded, the ground instantly turned into a sticky trap. Of course, Naruto didn't remain idle. He sent hail after hail of shuriken to intercept the bubbles and maybe poke at Utakata. He was rather frugal when it came to ninja tools so far on this mission. Now, he was burning through his supplies fast to stay in the fight. The high-ground advantage was rather annoying.

Two clones formed next to him. One of them launched the other, who hauled Naruto up and gave him a boost. They vanished as acid bubbles exploded at them.

High in the air, Naruto sent some shuriken with ninja wire attached. A trick he's seen Sasuke use back in the Valley of the End. And while he missed, the wires let him launch himself right at where Utakata was standing a moment ago.

At the last second, he had to make a clone to toss him away when an explosive tag the Kiri nin left behind exploded.

In the corner of his eye, he saw Esdeath and the soldiers from the fort evacuated. Good. It seems even his girlfriend understood that others shouldn't get involved in a Jinchuriki battle.

Skidding to a stop, Naruto focused. A Rasenshuriken formed in his open palm. The characteristic howling of the wind picked up around them.

The orb of doom sailed through the air and crashed where Utakata stood a blink of an eye before. Even with his dodge, he couldn't escape the blast radius entirely. Innumerable miniature blades of wind cut at him while the pressure kept him locked in place.

Naruto watched as the red chakra cloak turned white. More and more white slime poured to cover his body. Even with the relentless assault of wind, it was only able to slow down the transformation. Soon, in place of Utakata, there was now the Rokubi in all its glory. The six-tailed slug towered over the battlefield. The soldiers from both sides abandoned any kind of order and just ran away.

"Oh flames!" Naruto blitzed through the hand seals and pushed all the chakra he could into the Jutsu. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

In an explosion of smoke, where Naruto once stood there now was a giant orange toad, dressed in stereotypical Yakuza clothes.

"Gaki!" Gamabunta bellowed. "Why did you summon me now!?"

"Sorry Oya-bun." The blond rubbed the back of his head. "If you look, we have a bit of a situation here."

"A Biju!?" The old toad almost dropped his pipe when he realized who they were facing. "Are you expecting me to fight it?"

"I'll get you as much Sake as you want. Promise. But we're kinda in the middle of a battle!" Naruto sent another Rasenshuriken in hopes of slowing the slug's advance down. To the shock of both the human and the toad, their opponent just… opened its stomach to create a hole for the projectile to pass. The jutsu exploded somewhere behind it, hitting nothing but trees and maybe some stragglers.

"Fine. I guess that's making the count three today."

"The count?"

"Of how many biju I've faced so far."

Gamabunta pulled his sword and prepared. When the snail sent a stream of acid, the toad cut it in half. To Naruto's senses, Gamabunta's sword glowed with chakra constantly flowing through it.

Some stray droplets fell on the pair. Naruto was able to shake them off before they burned through his senjutsu-reinforced skin, but Bunta hissed in pain. His favorite coat got damaged. Now he was pissed off.

"Hey Oya-bun. Think you can give me some fire?" Naruto got an idea. After all, Kakashi said that fire fed on the wind.

"What are you-" the question died off as the howl of Rasenshuriken echoed across the battlefield again. "I see… Fine. Prepare yourself." Gamabunta stabbed his sword into the ground and, with his massive hands, went through some hand seals.

Naruto sensed the chakra build up in the toad's throat. Seeing that his partner wouldn't be able to speak, he threw the Rasenshuriken when he felt the hot chakra travel to Bunta's mouth. He even saw his cheeks bulge.

"Now!"

The combination of wind and fire sailed through the air. Its destructive power scorched the earth just by being close. The Rokubi tried the same trick. This time though, instead of creating a hole in the middle of the Biju found itself unable to react in time. The hot aura of the technique caused his slime to harden.

And so, the beast received the full brunt of the attack. Rokubi's corpus was covered in a maelstrom of fiery blades that cut and cauterized the wounds at the same time.

Gamabunta noted that in a normal case, that attack would be less effective due to wounds no longer bleeding. Here though, where the damage would've been minimal, it worked the opposite. The wounds could not be healed without having to expel the destroyed parts.

"Brilliant strategy, boy. How did you know?"

"I guessed." Naruto shrugged. "Let's finish this." The wind was now dying down. The Rokubi has visibly shrunk down.

"Agreed." Gamabunta picked up his sword. He was prepared to slice at the Jinchuriki when Naruto cried.

"Watch out!"

Trusting his partner, the toad jumped away. At the last second too, because the place they were standing in was now a pool of boiling acid. All six of the Biju tails were aimed at them, sending steady streams of liquid right at them.

Without good defensive options, the toad was now forced to run around to try and wait out the attack. Though to Naruto's chagrin, it seemed that it was buying Utakata enough time to regenerate back to full. Given this was turning into a battle of attrition, the shinobi grew worried. While he would have no trouble keeping up (especially now with the effectively infinite sage mode), Gamabunta would tire out sooner or later. At least they moved away from the Kuzuryuu fort. Not that a lot was remaining there. The acid would make it rather uninhabitable but at least Esdeath and the others wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. But now the question was how to beat the Jinchuriki.

It's not like they could just repeat the Rasenshuriken trick a few more times. Bunta couldn't help him create more than one at a time and normal Rasenshuriken (if it could hit at all) would just splash the Biju around…

"New plan, Oya-bun! I need to get closer."

"Are you insane?" The old toad grumbled.

"Trust me." I hope this will work.

"Fine, but if we die I'm gonna confiscate all your ramen boy-o!"

Naruto gulped. What's the point of being dead if you can't enjoy infinite ramen!? Not that he planned to die here. He still had his friends to go back to.

Two clones appeared next to him. Each held their hand up. The howling of the wind got almost unbearable as three Rasenshuriken came into existence. Naruto grinned as all three launched from Bunta's head. High in the air, the three Narutos sent the projectile from separate angles. One aimed for the head, one for the corpus, and one for the legs.

With the angles of the throws, it was impossible to dodge all of them or even weave out. Trying to do that, Utakata left himself open to all three hitting. And while the hits were not dead-center, it was enough. The storm of blades cut at his body and ripped chunks of slime away. Everything around the Jinchuriki was fast-covered in parts of his Biju form as he shrunk and shrunk. It reached a point where Utakata became visible.

This was the moment Naruto was waiting for.

The three Naruto in the air became uncountable. Each clone created its own army. And all of them fell on the enemy with a Rasengan in hand.

Utakata tried to defend himself, but there was no way he could've beaten them all. So, in resignation, he reabsorbed the Biju and instead tried to shield himself with a swarm of bubbles. That was moderately effective. With the cover, he was able to dodge the initial attack and even pop some of the clones. But soon the entire army of trained shinobi was chasing him across the forest. It was no longer about winning. He now had to survive.

Utakata snarled. He had decades of experience over that upstart. How did he lose so badly? And he couldn't even sense a whiff of biju chakra. What sort of monster was that man?

He was now running at top speed while trying to distract the chase. Except it wasn't working. Nothing was working. The blond menace was just homing in on him like a shark on its prey.

Darkness enveloped Utakata without warning.

When Naruto caught up to him, he was met with four people standing around his unconscious body.

"Sasuke!" The blond snarled. "What are you doing here?!" Then, Naruto took notice of his former teammate's attire. He was wearing Akatsuki robes, just like the other three. Naruto could also recognize that shark partner of Itachi, but the rest were a complete mystery.

"Isn't it obvious? We're getting the Jinchuriki." The blue-haired guy with a sword and a scythe on his back quipped. "And it looks like the last one decided to come to us."

"Saves us the trouble of hunting you down." Kisame grinned, showing rows of sharp teeth.

Naruto prepared to jump back, but his body refused to move.

Genjutsu!

He tried to break out, but no matter how much he tried, nothing he did brought any effect. He got a slight headache as despite feeling himself moving, every sense was telling him that he didn't move.

"Kisame. Bind him before the genjutsu runs out." Sasuke ordered. Naruto saw that he was covering one of his eyes as he hunched over. Nonetheless, he kept unblinking eye contact with Naruto as the tomoe in the Sharingan kept spinning slowly.

"Whatever, boss." The shark-man grumbled as he pulled a sealing tag and approached Naruto.

Naruto's effort to break free redoubled.

Kisame was almost close enough to put the seal on him.

In the last desperate attempt, the blond tried to send a pulse of chakra. He put everything he could get into it.

A massive block of ice surrounded him from all sides.

"Huh… did I cause this?"

His question was answered when Esdeath and the Jaegers arrived on the battlefield.

They must've followed me as soon as Gamabunta went away. Naruto realized.

"Damn it!" Sasuke screamed. "Now we're gonna have to do this the hard way."

"No. We got what we came for. It's time to retreat." Kisame warned. He jumped away the moment the ice cocoon first appeared and was now behind Sasuke and the orange-haired guy.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of these losers." The Uchiha snarled.

Somewhat irritated, Esdeath nonetheless smirked. Without words, she sent a hail of ice needles right at where Sasuke was standing.

He froze. His Sharingan had allowed him to see every single projectile sent his way, but he couldn't move. No…

Jugo jumped in front of Sasuke. His skin turned grayish brown and deflected the attack.

"That's General Esdeath. We can't underestimate her. And now that your little genjutsu trick has failed, I doubt it'll be so easy the next time." Kisame picked up Utakata. "We've got what we came for. Now let's go. I don't fancy becoming frozen fillet today."

"You sound almost afraid." Sasuke snapped.

"I specialize in Suiton jutsu. That woman is a perfect counter to anything I can throw at her. Not to mention the Jinchuriki is now free." Indeed, Naruto was now able to move without issues, and Run and Wave helped him out of the ice. "Let's take this one and go. We're gonna need to prepare better."

"Hey! Who said we're gonna let you get away!" Naruto shouted.

Sasuke smirked. "I think you're about to have bigger problems."

Run, who was flying above the battlefield pulled up.

"General… he's not bluffing. Something is coming. I can't figure out what that is."

"We've made a little deal with the Revolutionary Army." The Uchiha gloated. "A hundred thousand Zetsu clones in exchange for the help acquiring the Jinchuriki. And all of them are now marching freely on the capital."

"You might want to go back and regroup. I doubt you could fight them all right now." Suigetsu added. Though he was hiding behind Jugo and watching Esdeath for any sudden moves.

"General?" Wave asked without looking away from their opponents.

Esdeath bit her lower lip. "We need to retreat. I'm not going to fight an impossible battle. The Emperor must be informed about it."

"Got it." Naruto summoned three toads of unusual sizes. "Guys, take us to the capital as fast as you can."

As the Jaegers were running to warn the Empire, Suigetsu shook his head. "And you wanted to fight that guy without a plan?"