Naruto: Blades of Fate
Chapter 4: On The Precipice of Defeat
Despite their valiant efforts, Naruto and Kiyoji have been brought low. With Naruto captured and Kiyoji incapacitated, is there any hope left?
“Damn it” Kiyoji cursed, “All that training…all of those sacrifices…what the hell was it all for? I’m still weak. Nothing’s changed.” He looked on as Pain approached Naruto. He tried getting up, fearing for his friend’s life but was unable to get up, thanks to the three spears nailing him into the ground. He looked on, watching Pain drawing out more spears and systematically “placing” them into Naruto’s arms and legs all the while his vision growing dark. No, there’s no point to me coming back if they capture him. I refuse to die here…..
His vision went completely dark but abruptly returned, but it was not as it seemed. He was back in Konoha but at the same time he wasn’t. It looked like a more modern version of the village reminiscent of a city. Instead of lying in a crater he was standing atop the Hokage’s building. His sword stood erect in front of him. A figure stood opposite him. He wore the same black clothing he did but had spiky blond hair, much spikier than his.
“Tsurugi” Kiyoji muttered. If his zanpakto spirit was here that meant he was in his inner world. Strange enough, he had never entered his inner world before. The first time he ever met Tsurugi was when he underwent Urahara’s Bankai training. Tsurugi was a very stoic individual, usually not talking unless it was important.
“So…it seems your having a bit of trouble. I gave you my power, was I wrong?” Tsurugi bluntly stated. Kiyoji stood there with a blank expression on his face.
“Why am I here? It’s not like you let me in here until now for no reason.”
“This one has contested for control.” Kiyoji was confused until another figure appeared. It was him or rather it was a part of him, for the figure looked almost identical to him except that he was completely white in color. He stepped forward with his own version of Roku Tsurugi in his hands; the only notable difference was that his was covered in bandages. It was then Kiyoji had figured out what this was about.
“The way I gained my powers….so you’re a hollow aren’t you?” He asked depressingly. He had a feeling that this would happen. Urahara himself said there were some risks involved in this method.
“I heard all about this from Ichigo, I have to fight and beat you if I want to keep control of my body?”
“It looks like the idiot catches on quickly, good. The faster were done here the better.” The hollow said with a wide grin. Kiyoji lunged forward, grabbed Roku Tsurugi and charged straight at the Hollow. It followed suit and they clashed blades with one another. To Kiyoji’s horror, his sword was breaking apart, the two short swords breaking off and dissipating into nothingness.
“You still don’t get it do you?” the hollow asked, “I’m the one in charge here now. Even Tsurugi agrees.” It lunged at him and attacked with great force. With each blow, Kiyoji’s sword was broken down until Ichi Tsurugi was all that remained. He stood there defiantly, unwilling to concede.
“This isn’t right. What was the point of all of this if I was just going to die here?” The hollow was about to make the killing blow when they were both blinded by a bright light. Ichi Tsurugi had disappeared from Kiyoji’s grasp but a new sword had taken its place. It had the same shape of Roku Tsurugi but was one sword. It had an elaborate guard and had two circular sockets perpendicular to the guard. Its grip was familiar.
“Requiem” Kiyoji whispered to himself. A fitting name for his brother’s old sword, he wielded it after he completed his training with his master Sannosuke Takahashi. He charged forward, lunging for the hollow’s chest. It raised its sword to block but was barely able to hold him off.
“DO YOU HONESLTY THINK YOU CAN KILL ME WITH THAT POOR EXCUSE OF A SWORD?” The hollow howled. To its dismay, Kiyoji quickly followed up with an uppercut completely breaking his block and finished it off with a slash across the chest. It staggered back on its feet and prepared to attack.
“Do you think that’s enough to kill me?” It said as it coughed up blood, “Please, it’s far from….” Before it could finish, his blade evaporated and Tsurugi appeared.
“That’s enough” Tsurugi blandly stated. The hollow began to dissipate. It began to laugh maniacally as it disappeared.
“This is FAR from over….” It began to say before it completely evaporated. Seconds later there was a bright flash of light, returning the scene to how it was just seconds before, with his blade impaled in the ground.
“What was it that your brother said?” Tsurugi asked. He remembered clear as day. He chuckled at the prospect. Koji was famous for his cheesy diatribes but this one struck a chord.
“If you want to be a hero, embrace your dreams and above all else protect your honor as a shinobi.” Kiyoji said with a smile. He stepped forward, grabbing the sword before him with great vigor.
“Good, there’s some fight left in you yet.” As Tsurugi said that, his vision was blinded by a bright light. He opened his eyes back in the real world. The situation had changed drastically in the few minutes he had been knocked out. Hinata Hyuga laid half-dead on the ground, impaled and Naruto had transformed into a 6-tailed version of the Kyubi and was preparing to fire a concentrated burst of chakra at Pain. “I’m out cold for five minutes and this idiot gets himself worked up.” In one motion, he dashed forward and removed Hinata from harm’s way. He brought her to Sakura’s location since she was the closest medic in the area. After placing Hinata gently on the ground Kiyoji asked:
“Do you mind filling me in, since when can Naruto transform into that?” To everyone’s dismay, he began to pull out each of the spears embedded in his body and the fact he wasn’t flinching as each one was removed was even more unsettling.
“I think you more things to worry about then…” Rukia began to say before she was interrupted.
“Naruto can’t control what he’s doing;” Sakura said shakily, “the last he transformed was when he fought Orochimaru.”
“I see, I’m guessing it’s brought on by extreme stress?” Kiyoji said as he pulled out the last spear embedded in his shoulder. Picking up his sword, he approached the edge of the cliff.
“You’re not going back down there, are you?” Sakura said distraughtly, “You’re in bad shape as it is and now Naruto is going rampant.” He belted out short laugh.
“You haven’t changed at all;” Kiyoji said with a smile, “I know I sound like a broken record but have a little faith.” He jumped headfirst into the crater, heading straight for Naruto and Pain.
“As much as he seems different, he’s still that arrogant jerk at heart” Rukia said with a faint smile. Something worried her. It wasn’t that he was going to die but she had seen something that was off. When Kiyoji looked back, it looked like his eye color had changed from bright blue to yellow. She wasn’t sure why but it troubled her greatly.
“Let’s try this one” Kiyoji thought to himself, “Carriage of Thunder. Bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six! Bakudō #61 Rikujōkōrō!” Upon finishing the incantation, Naruto was bound by six pillars of light. It seemed to be holding him but not for long. Directing his full attention towards Pain, he lunged at him with full force. As he charged him, his sword began to radiate with lightning.
“Chidori Nagashi!” he shouted as he made contact with Pain, breaking his block. He slashed him across the chest but was repelled before he could make a second hit.
“I guess you’re still alive after all,” Pain droned, “It would seem you haven’t anguished enough just yet.”
“You have no idea, brother” Kiyoji replied. They exchanged a few blows before back-peddling a few feet.
“You seem to have determination but if you don’t hate me then you have no hope of killing me.” Kiyoji smirked, the statement reminding him of something eerily familiar.
“Yea, I know. I’ve heard this before: A sword without hate is like an eagle without wings, but let me tell you…” they lunged at each other, weapons interlocking, “I’m way past hate at this point.” They were about to lunge at each other once more but within seconds the Bakudō holding Naruto broke and he dashed straight for the pair. He couldn’t distinguish between friend and foe so he proceeded to attack the one unlucky enough to be closest. Today wasn’t Kiyoji’s day. He attempted to avoid Naruto’s thrashings but knocked into the wall of the crater. Instead of pursuing his new prey, Naruto continued to focus solely on Pain. Kiyoji took advantage of this by keeping a distance from them. Pain began to retreat from the rampant creature until he was a sizeable distance from the village and away from any support.
“Chibaku Tensei!” Pain shouted. The ground around Naruto began to encase him and levitated into the air. More and more debris gravitated towards the sphere and combined with it. After several seconds of the debris forming, the sphere began to look like a miniature moon. The Kyubi began to break free this time, now appearing to have eight tails instead of six. Kiyoji looked up in horror, wondering what he’s going to have to do if Naruto can’t regain control of himself. “Shit, I might have to put him down. Things are just getting out of hand.” He leaped forward, aiming to cut Pain in half. Sensing his presence, Pain quickly spun around with spear drawn and blocked his attack.
“If you truly cared about your friend, you will let me take him away from here.”
“Yea, so you can use him as a weapon? Thanks, but I’ll pass.” He tried smirking in order the down play the seriousness of the situation but had this creeping feeling in the back of his head, telling him that everything might not be alright. They exchanged blows in quick succession with neither making any headway. During the melee, Kiyoji quickly glanced upwards. The Kyubi had completely disappeared. The sphere above began to collapse now that Pain was otherwise “distracted”. Kiyoji was pushed into the air by Shinra Tensei with Pain in hot pursuit. He retreated into the falling debris, trying to knock Pain off balance. They both launched themselves off of the falling debris, attempting to gain the upper hand. Once more, they locked blades, not able to land a single strike. Kiyoji was kicked through several large blocks, nearly caught off balance. He quickly made a set of hand-signs and shouted “Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu.” Flames spewed forth, melting everything that came in contact. Pain easily separated the flames but was met by a forgotten foe. Naruto entered the fray with twin Rasengans, forcing Pain back to the ground. Kiyoji soon followed suit, meeting up with Naruto on the ground.
“So what took you so long?” Kiyoji asked, half-happy and half-annoyed. Naruto took few seconds to compose himself, still bewildered by his encounter.
“I met…my father” he said meekly. Kiyoji was greatly surprised but then regained his composure.
“You met your father, huh.” He said with a smirk on his face, “Well, got any ideas for this one?” He was referring to Pain, who besides the torn cloak and the missing headband was relatively unscathed. Naruto nodded and proceeded to point at the ground. At first Kiyoji was confused but upon further inspection he realized what Naruto had done. He assumed a low guard and charged forward at Pain. He easily repulsed him with Shinra Tensei, but this was done intentionally, for as Kiyoji was knocked out of the way a Rasenshuriken was zoning in on him. The three of them slowly counted down from 5, depending on whether or not Pain’s powers will recharge before or after the attack hits. 5…4…3…2…1…
“SHINRA TENSEI!” Pain shouted as he negated Naruto’s attack. All seemed lost but Naruto had planned for this. For in the Rasenshuriken’s shadow was a second one. Pain was completely off –guard, surprised by Naruto’s treachery. He barely managed to dodge it but now everything was in place. The ground below Pain was replaced by dozens of Naruto clones. First wave was repulsed by Shinra Tensei but there were far too many to stop with a single attack. They forced him into the air dodging blows and returning them as well. As Pain was still reeling from the blows, Kiyoji sped towards him, preparing to strike him down. Pain quickly drew a spear and easily blocked the attack.
“When are you going to learn; that attack won’t work on….” He began to state when Kiyoji’s true intentions became known. Roku Tsurugi began to glow brightly and then broke apart into its separate swords with Ichi Tsurugi levitating directly above them. Kiyoji then assembled the smaller swords into two large swords. “Unmei no ni katana (lit. Dual Blades of Fate)” Kiyoji shouted as he cut into Pain. Pain attempted to repel him with Shinra Tensei but he moved in and out of the technique’s area of effect that it was rendered completely useless. Each time he evaded Shinra Tensei, he left a silhouette of himself stationary until there were 8 silhouettes orbiting Pain. “Ken no hyōketsu: Hachi sutoraiki (lit. Tsurugi’s Verdict: 8 Strikes)” Kiyoji shouted as all 8 silhouettes converged on Pain. Pain, who was now severely weakened, was now completely open. Naruto descended from above with a Giant Rasengan. He lunged for Pain’s chest, sending him plummeting to the earth. They both followed suit and landed. After finishing his attack, Kiyoji’s zanpakuto subsequently disassembled into its 6 distinct swords. All except Ichi Tsurugi began to dissipate.
“So it’s over then?” Kiyoji asked as he collapsed from exhaustion. Naruto walked over Pain’s body and proceeded to pull out each of the various chakra receivers placed all over his body.
“Unfortunately, no” He said as he pulled out the last one, “All of the bodies we fought were just puppets. The real Pain is still out there.” Kiyoji’s expression went from relieved to depressed.
“So you’re telling me that there’s one more guy we have to kill?” he said while staggering to his feet, “How are we supposed to find him?” Without warning, Naruto stabbed himself with one of the receivers. Kiyoji was about to reprimand him but he noticed he was in Sage Mode.
“I see, you’re going to use the receiver in order to sense his chakra.” He said, surprised that Naruto would come up with a surprising use of the technique.
“I found him,” Naruto said with a look of determination, “I’ll take care of it from here, Kiyoji. You don’t have to overexert yourself anymore than you already have.” Kiyoji tried to convince him otherwise but the fact that he could barely walk straight wasn’t helping his argument.
“Fine, have it your way.” He said to Naruto, “I’ll head back to the village…or rather what’s left. I’ll catch up with you in a little while.” They both nodded and went their separate ways. Naruto headed off into the woods while Kiyoji went through the village ruins. He made it to the edge of the crater where Sakura and the others were, when he began to collapse onto the ground. As he was plummeting to the ground, he was caught by Sakura.
“Guess I over did it, huh?” he said with a smirk on his face. Sakura looked down at him; she seemed both happy and concerned. “As much as he seems different, he’s still that arrogant jerk at heart”. “Those words were certainly true”, she had said to herself. Kiyoji looked around and noticed that Team Guy was present. Apparently they had arrived just as he had left to fight Pain.
“I’m guessing since you’re here, you and Naruto were successful in defeating Pain?” Neji asked.
“Yes and No.” Kiyoji replied. Everyone was confused with his reply. “We defeated Pain’s last body but it was just a puppet. Naruto went off to confront the real Pain.”
“So you just let him go off alone?” Rukia asked. Kiyoji shrugged; annoyed that he had to spell it out. “Normally I would have gone with him but I’m not the one who has a score to settle with Pain.” Sakura looked worried; concerned that Naruto might be in way over his head.
“I wouldn’t worry too much, Sakura” he said with a faint smile, “Naruto isn’t that punk kid he used to be.” Suddenly, his head began to resonate with searing pain. At the center of the crater the Gedo emerged. It opened its mouth and out poured hundreds of souls, reviving all those killed by Pain during the attack. The sheer amount of souls created a substantial spiritual pressure, but as quickly as the pain appeared it quickly dissipated.
“Looks like that friend of yours actually pulled it off.” Renji quipped. Minutes later, a trio of figures appeared. Amongst them was Kakashi Hatake. Sakura was relieved at the sight, believing that he had been killed by Pain during the attack. He seemed surprised to see Kiyoji in their company.
“It’s…uh…been awhile, eh sensei?”
Previous Chapters:
Spitting on your God (Invasion of Pain Remix)
United Front
Chapter 4: On The Precipice of Defeat
Despite their valiant efforts, Naruto and Kiyoji have been brought low. With Naruto captured and Kiyoji incapacitated, is there any hope left?
“Damn it” Kiyoji cursed, “All that training…all of those sacrifices…what the hell was it all for? I’m still weak. Nothing’s changed.” He looked on as Pain approached Naruto. He tried getting up, fearing for his friend’s life but was unable to get up, thanks to the three spears nailing him into the ground. He looked on, watching Pain drawing out more spears and systematically “placing” them into Naruto’s arms and legs all the while his vision growing dark. No, there’s no point to me coming back if they capture him. I refuse to die here…..
His vision went completely dark but abruptly returned, but it was not as it seemed. He was back in Konoha but at the same time he wasn’t. It looked like a more modern version of the village reminiscent of a city. Instead of lying in a crater he was standing atop the Hokage’s building. His sword stood erect in front of him. A figure stood opposite him. He wore the same black clothing he did but had spiky blond hair, much spikier than his.
“Tsurugi” Kiyoji muttered. If his zanpakto spirit was here that meant he was in his inner world. Strange enough, he had never entered his inner world before. The first time he ever met Tsurugi was when he underwent Urahara’s Bankai training. Tsurugi was a very stoic individual, usually not talking unless it was important.
“So…it seems your having a bit of trouble. I gave you my power, was I wrong?” Tsurugi bluntly stated. Kiyoji stood there with a blank expression on his face.
“Why am I here? It’s not like you let me in here until now for no reason.”
“This one has contested for control.” Kiyoji was confused until another figure appeared. It was him or rather it was a part of him, for the figure looked almost identical to him except that he was completely white in color. He stepped forward with his own version of Roku Tsurugi in his hands; the only notable difference was that his was covered in bandages. It was then Kiyoji had figured out what this was about.
“The way I gained my powers….so you’re a hollow aren’t you?” He asked depressingly. He had a feeling that this would happen. Urahara himself said there were some risks involved in this method.
“I heard all about this from Ichigo, I have to fight and beat you if I want to keep control of my body?”
“It looks like the idiot catches on quickly, good. The faster were done here the better.” The hollow said with a wide grin. Kiyoji lunged forward, grabbed Roku Tsurugi and charged straight at the Hollow. It followed suit and they clashed blades with one another. To Kiyoji’s horror, his sword was breaking apart, the two short swords breaking off and dissipating into nothingness.
“You still don’t get it do you?” the hollow asked, “I’m the one in charge here now. Even Tsurugi agrees.” It lunged at him and attacked with great force. With each blow, Kiyoji’s sword was broken down until Ichi Tsurugi was all that remained. He stood there defiantly, unwilling to concede.
“This isn’t right. What was the point of all of this if I was just going to die here?” The hollow was about to make the killing blow when they were both blinded by a bright light. Ichi Tsurugi had disappeared from Kiyoji’s grasp but a new sword had taken its place. It had the same shape of Roku Tsurugi but was one sword. It had an elaborate guard and had two circular sockets perpendicular to the guard. Its grip was familiar.
“Requiem” Kiyoji whispered to himself. A fitting name for his brother’s old sword, he wielded it after he completed his training with his master Sannosuke Takahashi. He charged forward, lunging for the hollow’s chest. It raised its sword to block but was barely able to hold him off.
“DO YOU HONESLTY THINK YOU CAN KILL ME WITH THAT POOR EXCUSE OF A SWORD?” The hollow howled. To its dismay, Kiyoji quickly followed up with an uppercut completely breaking his block and finished it off with a slash across the chest. It staggered back on its feet and prepared to attack.
“Do you think that’s enough to kill me?” It said as it coughed up blood, “Please, it’s far from….” Before it could finish, his blade evaporated and Tsurugi appeared.
“That’s enough” Tsurugi blandly stated. The hollow began to dissipate. It began to laugh maniacally as it disappeared.
“This is FAR from over….” It began to say before it completely evaporated. Seconds later there was a bright flash of light, returning the scene to how it was just seconds before, with his blade impaled in the ground.
“What was it that your brother said?” Tsurugi asked. He remembered clear as day. He chuckled at the prospect. Koji was famous for his cheesy diatribes but this one struck a chord.
“If you want to be a hero, embrace your dreams and above all else protect your honor as a shinobi.” Kiyoji said with a smile. He stepped forward, grabbing the sword before him with great vigor.
“Good, there’s some fight left in you yet.” As Tsurugi said that, his vision was blinded by a bright light. He opened his eyes back in the real world. The situation had changed drastically in the few minutes he had been knocked out. Hinata Hyuga laid half-dead on the ground, impaled and Naruto had transformed into a 6-tailed version of the Kyubi and was preparing to fire a concentrated burst of chakra at Pain. “I’m out cold for five minutes and this idiot gets himself worked up.” In one motion, he dashed forward and removed Hinata from harm’s way. He brought her to Sakura’s location since she was the closest medic in the area. After placing Hinata gently on the ground Kiyoji asked:
“Do you mind filling me in, since when can Naruto transform into that?” To everyone’s dismay, he began to pull out each of the spears embedded in his body and the fact he wasn’t flinching as each one was removed was even more unsettling.
“I think you more things to worry about then…” Rukia began to say before she was interrupted.
“Naruto can’t control what he’s doing;” Sakura said shakily, “the last he transformed was when he fought Orochimaru.”
“I see, I’m guessing it’s brought on by extreme stress?” Kiyoji said as he pulled out the last spear embedded in his shoulder. Picking up his sword, he approached the edge of the cliff.
“You’re not going back down there, are you?” Sakura said distraughtly, “You’re in bad shape as it is and now Naruto is going rampant.” He belted out short laugh.
“You haven’t changed at all;” Kiyoji said with a smile, “I know I sound like a broken record but have a little faith.” He jumped headfirst into the crater, heading straight for Naruto and Pain.
“As much as he seems different, he’s still that arrogant jerk at heart” Rukia said with a faint smile. Something worried her. It wasn’t that he was going to die but she had seen something that was off. When Kiyoji looked back, it looked like his eye color had changed from bright blue to yellow. She wasn’t sure why but it troubled her greatly.
“Let’s try this one” Kiyoji thought to himself, “Carriage of Thunder. Bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six! Bakudō #61 Rikujōkōrō!” Upon finishing the incantation, Naruto was bound by six pillars of light. It seemed to be holding him but not for long. Directing his full attention towards Pain, he lunged at him with full force. As he charged him, his sword began to radiate with lightning.
“Chidori Nagashi!” he shouted as he made contact with Pain, breaking his block. He slashed him across the chest but was repelled before he could make a second hit.
“I guess you’re still alive after all,” Pain droned, “It would seem you haven’t anguished enough just yet.”
“You have no idea, brother” Kiyoji replied. They exchanged a few blows before back-peddling a few feet.
“You seem to have determination but if you don’t hate me then you have no hope of killing me.” Kiyoji smirked, the statement reminding him of something eerily familiar.
“Yea, I know. I’ve heard this before: A sword without hate is like an eagle without wings, but let me tell you…” they lunged at each other, weapons interlocking, “I’m way past hate at this point.” They were about to lunge at each other once more but within seconds the Bakudō holding Naruto broke and he dashed straight for the pair. He couldn’t distinguish between friend and foe so he proceeded to attack the one unlucky enough to be closest. Today wasn’t Kiyoji’s day. He attempted to avoid Naruto’s thrashings but knocked into the wall of the crater. Instead of pursuing his new prey, Naruto continued to focus solely on Pain. Kiyoji took advantage of this by keeping a distance from them. Pain began to retreat from the rampant creature until he was a sizeable distance from the village and away from any support.
“Chibaku Tensei!” Pain shouted. The ground around Naruto began to encase him and levitated into the air. More and more debris gravitated towards the sphere and combined with it. After several seconds of the debris forming, the sphere began to look like a miniature moon. The Kyubi began to break free this time, now appearing to have eight tails instead of six. Kiyoji looked up in horror, wondering what he’s going to have to do if Naruto can’t regain control of himself. “Shit, I might have to put him down. Things are just getting out of hand.” He leaped forward, aiming to cut Pain in half. Sensing his presence, Pain quickly spun around with spear drawn and blocked his attack.
“If you truly cared about your friend, you will let me take him away from here.”
“Yea, so you can use him as a weapon? Thanks, but I’ll pass.” He tried smirking in order the down play the seriousness of the situation but had this creeping feeling in the back of his head, telling him that everything might not be alright. They exchanged blows in quick succession with neither making any headway. During the melee, Kiyoji quickly glanced upwards. The Kyubi had completely disappeared. The sphere above began to collapse now that Pain was otherwise “distracted”. Kiyoji was pushed into the air by Shinra Tensei with Pain in hot pursuit. He retreated into the falling debris, trying to knock Pain off balance. They both launched themselves off of the falling debris, attempting to gain the upper hand. Once more, they locked blades, not able to land a single strike. Kiyoji was kicked through several large blocks, nearly caught off balance. He quickly made a set of hand-signs and shouted “Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu.” Flames spewed forth, melting everything that came in contact. Pain easily separated the flames but was met by a forgotten foe. Naruto entered the fray with twin Rasengans, forcing Pain back to the ground. Kiyoji soon followed suit, meeting up with Naruto on the ground.
“So what took you so long?” Kiyoji asked, half-happy and half-annoyed. Naruto took few seconds to compose himself, still bewildered by his encounter.
“I met…my father” he said meekly. Kiyoji was greatly surprised but then regained his composure.
“You met your father, huh.” He said with a smirk on his face, “Well, got any ideas for this one?” He was referring to Pain, who besides the torn cloak and the missing headband was relatively unscathed. Naruto nodded and proceeded to point at the ground. At first Kiyoji was confused but upon further inspection he realized what Naruto had done. He assumed a low guard and charged forward at Pain. He easily repulsed him with Shinra Tensei, but this was done intentionally, for as Kiyoji was knocked out of the way a Rasenshuriken was zoning in on him. The three of them slowly counted down from 5, depending on whether or not Pain’s powers will recharge before or after the attack hits. 5…4…3…2…1…
“SHINRA TENSEI!” Pain shouted as he negated Naruto’s attack. All seemed lost but Naruto had planned for this. For in the Rasenshuriken’s shadow was a second one. Pain was completely off –guard, surprised by Naruto’s treachery. He barely managed to dodge it but now everything was in place. The ground below Pain was replaced by dozens of Naruto clones. First wave was repulsed by Shinra Tensei but there were far too many to stop with a single attack. They forced him into the air dodging blows and returning them as well. As Pain was still reeling from the blows, Kiyoji sped towards him, preparing to strike him down. Pain quickly drew a spear and easily blocked the attack.
“When are you going to learn; that attack won’t work on….” He began to state when Kiyoji’s true intentions became known. Roku Tsurugi began to glow brightly and then broke apart into its separate swords with Ichi Tsurugi levitating directly above them. Kiyoji then assembled the smaller swords into two large swords. “Unmei no ni katana (lit. Dual Blades of Fate)” Kiyoji shouted as he cut into Pain. Pain attempted to repel him with Shinra Tensei but he moved in and out of the technique’s area of effect that it was rendered completely useless. Each time he evaded Shinra Tensei, he left a silhouette of himself stationary until there were 8 silhouettes orbiting Pain. “Ken no hyōketsu: Hachi sutoraiki (lit. Tsurugi’s Verdict: 8 Strikes)” Kiyoji shouted as all 8 silhouettes converged on Pain. Pain, who was now severely weakened, was now completely open. Naruto descended from above with a Giant Rasengan. He lunged for Pain’s chest, sending him plummeting to the earth. They both followed suit and landed. After finishing his attack, Kiyoji’s zanpakuto subsequently disassembled into its 6 distinct swords. All except Ichi Tsurugi began to dissipate.
“So it’s over then?” Kiyoji asked as he collapsed from exhaustion. Naruto walked over Pain’s body and proceeded to pull out each of the various chakra receivers placed all over his body.
“Unfortunately, no” He said as he pulled out the last one, “All of the bodies we fought were just puppets. The real Pain is still out there.” Kiyoji’s expression went from relieved to depressed.
“So you’re telling me that there’s one more guy we have to kill?” he said while staggering to his feet, “How are we supposed to find him?” Without warning, Naruto stabbed himself with one of the receivers. Kiyoji was about to reprimand him but he noticed he was in Sage Mode.
“I see, you’re going to use the receiver in order to sense his chakra.” He said, surprised that Naruto would come up with a surprising use of the technique.
“I found him,” Naruto said with a look of determination, “I’ll take care of it from here, Kiyoji. You don’t have to overexert yourself anymore than you already have.” Kiyoji tried to convince him otherwise but the fact that he could barely walk straight wasn’t helping his argument.
“Fine, have it your way.” He said to Naruto, “I’ll head back to the village…or rather what’s left. I’ll catch up with you in a little while.” They both nodded and went their separate ways. Naruto headed off into the woods while Kiyoji went through the village ruins. He made it to the edge of the crater where Sakura and the others were, when he began to collapse onto the ground. As he was plummeting to the ground, he was caught by Sakura.
“Guess I over did it, huh?” he said with a smirk on his face. Sakura looked down at him; she seemed both happy and concerned. “As much as he seems different, he’s still that arrogant jerk at heart”. “Those words were certainly true”, she had said to herself. Kiyoji looked around and noticed that Team Guy was present. Apparently they had arrived just as he had left to fight Pain.
“I’m guessing since you’re here, you and Naruto were successful in defeating Pain?” Neji asked.
“Yes and No.” Kiyoji replied. Everyone was confused with his reply. “We defeated Pain’s last body but it was just a puppet. Naruto went off to confront the real Pain.”
“So you just let him go off alone?” Rukia asked. Kiyoji shrugged; annoyed that he had to spell it out. “Normally I would have gone with him but I’m not the one who has a score to settle with Pain.” Sakura looked worried; concerned that Naruto might be in way over his head.
“I wouldn’t worry too much, Sakura” he said with a faint smile, “Naruto isn’t that punk kid he used to be.” Suddenly, his head began to resonate with searing pain. At the center of the crater the Gedo emerged. It opened its mouth and out poured hundreds of souls, reviving all those killed by Pain during the attack. The sheer amount of souls created a substantial spiritual pressure, but as quickly as the pain appeared it quickly dissipated.
“Looks like that friend of yours actually pulled it off.” Renji quipped. Minutes later, a trio of figures appeared. Amongst them was Kakashi Hatake. Sakura was relieved at the sight, believing that he had been killed by Pain during the attack. He seemed surprised to see Kiyoji in their company.
“It’s…uh…been awhile, eh sensei?”
Previous Chapters:
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The Return
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Spitting on your God (Invasion of Pain Remix)
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United Front