Naruto: Tales of Ashihara
The Shinden Saga – Arc 4: The Otsutsuki War
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Chapter 155 – Worlds at War
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Somewhere on the hidden side of the moon, Naobi is in complete darkness at the exact same spot where she was left after her heartfelt conversation with Yamitsuki. A few hours later, she is still lying there on the ground, quiet and lifeless. Alone here, she hopelessly recalls all that she knows and ignores about her lover again and again.
To save her mistress from this terrible loneliness, Sakitsuki arrives, using her Byakugan powers to see through the lightless atmosphere. She slowly approaches her parental figure and stops next to her, waiting to see a reaction. Naobi, who doesn't need to activate her Dojutsu to see through the dark, stays inert.
"You saw everything, right?" the goddess of purity says, referring to her argument with the Dragon Sage.
Sakitsuki doesn't answer this. She just stares at her mistress in silence, with somewhat guilt and pity. Naobi doesn't need an answer and understands that her pupil is here because she indeed saw it all. Curious to know how much of it Saki could actually understand, she wonders also how much she has come to know of Yamitsuki thanks to her sight.
"Tell me, Sakitsuki, do you happen to know the truth? The whole truth. What truly motivates Yamitsuki… What are the secrets he shares with Tokubei but hides from me?"
"… I suspected that they had such secrets, from their behavior, but they've always been very careful in order to prevent me from catching any clues." Saki answers.
"I see… He has always been very cautious." Naobi tells, about Yamitsuki. "Yet, even in ignorance, deep down I know that he is good. He means no selfish annihilation."
After this remark, a long blank. Sakitsuki wonders about what Naobi means. What is selfish annihilation? Are there really beings who pursue such careless destruction, and that find it to be to their profit? From his apparent consideration, one would easily think that the Ryu Shinsen does indeed have such goals. But someone with his power could do it so easily if he really wanted to. Is it how they think of the prince of darkness or Momoshiki? Unspoken enemies that seek to destroy the system? Is it how Yamitsuki sees Yasona? This thought reminds Sakitsuki of something.
"I've seen that you made it easier for Yasona-sama." she says as she sits by her mistress' side. "But your measures won't prevent Takeshi from taking part in this operation…" she adds, thinking that her lover may have to risk his life against another Shinden.
"Ah… Did you not see all of my conversation with Yasona?" Naobi answers as she sits up with her pupil. "Of course you didn't. You couldn't see into the dimension of the Kannogu. It is out of the reach of your eyes."
"What do you mean? What did she tell you?" Saki asks, curious to know how it will relate to her remark about her boyfriend.
"I've asked only one thing from Yasona in exchange for my help. That she doesn't harm Takeshi Minamoto."
"What? Really?" the golden eyed one exclaims, glad but confused, as she still didn't honestly talk about her feelings with her.
"The Shinden have toyed with you too much. You're innocent to us. We don't deserve you. I don't want you to suffer more than you already did. If anything happens to this man, it will hurt you more than anything before."
Surprised in a good way for once, Sakitsuki spontaneously hugs her to express her gratitude. She keeps it unspoken, but she is particularly glad that Naobi is compassionate enough to understand her feelings, unbiased by the nature of her love. The wise goddess stays still, haunted by her thoughts of her own lover.
"Please, Naobi-sama, forgive me." Sakitsuki says, feeling sudden guilt for her love and its consequences. "I didn't want any of this to happen. Yet I know it wouldn't have come to this if I simply didn't get involved with Takeshi."
"Oh, Sakitsuki. Don't blame yourself. It is I who should ask for your forgiveness." her mistress replies. "I misjudged and neglected your feelings. I could have saved you, but I blindly followed what I believed to be order. Hyakki died by his own fault as he sought. He only used you to this end. You're not responsible for this."
"But… Takeshi has his stigmata… He is now a target for the Tenshin, and not even you have the authority to hold them back…"
"Sakitsuki… You really do love this man…" Naobi naively answers as an observation, unable to reassure her pupil about this. She didn't expect Takeshi to bear this mark either. Yet it seems like, in the absence of a culprit, the Tenshin's law elected that the murderer was the one who destroyed Hyakki's last heart.
As she feels the torments of her student, she gets angry at Yamitsuki, whom she thinks is responsible for this. "Tell me… Do you feel like Yamitsuki made you go to the ninja world on purpose?" she asks.
Once again, Saki doesn't reply. Whenever the question is about the intentions of the Ryu Shinsen or her own feelings about him, she doesn't dare to speak. But once again, Naobi gets enough of an answer from this silence. Her theory was right. It was all planned and happened exactly as Yamitsuki foresaw. Whether it is what he wanted or not is ambiguous, and doesn't matter anymore. All that matters is what he is fully set on now.
"Where is the yellow fox at the moment? Is he still training?" Naobi asks to know, bothered by the only uncertainty that remains about the near future.
"Surprisingly, I don't know if he thinks he's ready, but he deems his training complete. He's now preparing for the battle more than training." Saki explains, as she observes Naruto. "I've seen him develop himself into a new fighter. He has ascended to such a level that he may even be an opponent worthy of you, Naobi-sama."
"I'm not much of a warrior… That is why I chose to stay among the Shinden rather than joining the Tenshin…" Naobi explains about herself before getting back to her question. "What about Yamitsuki? From what you see, what are the Hokage's chances against him?"
"I think I've seen it all. I'd say…" Saki takes a while to think of the question, taking into account all she knows of the sovereign, which isn't much. "I still don't think he stands any chance against Yamitsuki-sama."
Hearing this answer, Naobi is confused yet lightly reassured, but only for a split second. Whatever Saki's answer would have been, the only purpose of this question was to fool herself into thinking it could make a difference. She takes a deep breath in and declares with a sad tone.
"What happened cannot be undone. And what will happen cannot be held back anymore. For what is to come, we can only feign ignorance, and we should do just as goes by our leader's will."
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At the same time, in Kirigakure, Takeshi Minamoto just walked into his family's home. All the chosen ninjas of the village are already aboard the boats of the fleet heading to Iwa. In need of some alone time, he considered that his abilities allowed him to catch up to them later.
If Saki was here, he would certainly spend this time with her and not alone. As he wonders what she is doing at the moment and if she is watching him, he roams into the house mindlessly. After a short look into the living room where he found his little sister sleeping on the couch, alone, he lets his steps lead him upstairs and walks into his parents' room. There, he sees his father apparently staring in wonder into a drawer.
Reminiscing on the past, Tsubai gets startled when he notices Takeshi standing there and looking at him. In a hurry he makes an odd gesture into the drawer, as to hide something within, before closing it and turning around to face his son.
"What's up?" he asks, failing to play dumb.
Takeshi, feeling more than empty words into this question, thinks of returning it to him. He silently stares at his father, his odd and lightly wrinkled face, and his hair turning gray. Tsubai, knowing exactly what bothers his son, sighs.
"Don't just stand there in silence. You're acting like when you were still a creepy toddler." he tells him as he walks by to leave this awkward moment. "You shouldn't be here. Stop worrying about others and do your duty. Go save the world or whatever."
Takeshi stands still, wondering about himself when he was a "creepy toddler" as his dad mentioned. What did he know back then that made him behave like today? It was when he first became conscious of Makura's presence. He could clearly feel the fear that he invoked in his father's soul. This confused him, just as much as his lack of concern does today.
Still facing the room of his parents, which looks exactly the same as when his mother still slept there, Takeshi looks at the undone bed, where only a third is disarranged. Tokiwa used to move around a lot in her sleep, so Tsubai always made sure to leave her space. It seems like, as if she was still here with him, he still limits himself to a fraction of the bed.
Takeshi then looks at the drawer where his father was standing. Curious about what Tsubai was looking at and trying to hide, he waits to be sure his father left the surroundings and goes to check. At first sight, this drawer only contains female underwear that belonged to Tokiwa and that they never got rid of. But pushed in the back, Takeshi finds a little pile of magazines that he picks up, and he feels a sudden emptiness when he sees them.
They are only cover pages that Tokiwa made, modeling for Saori's brand. Then, when he tries to look inside one of them, he accidentally lets something fall from it. It is a picture of Tokiwa wearing the same outfit as on the cover. But this picture looks less pro, more familiar. And in the background, he recognizes this room.
"I remember that." Amabie says in his mind, which startles him and makes him remember her presence that he keeps ignoring. "Tsubai took it. He always was the first to see Tokiwa wear her new outfits and would always take this kind of picture before we'd go to the real shoot."
Hearing this, Takeshi contains his reaction but still goes through the rest of the pile to see if there are more pictures. He finds one in every single magazine. He gathers all these pictures and looks at them side by side with the covers. In Tsubai's pictures, his mother looks so happy and flirty. Her expressions on some of them actually make Takeshi feel some sort of joy from past memories for the first time since her passing.
Yet, even though he wants to ignore her, he can't unhear the nostalgic comments of Amabie about each picture as they scroll. For each of them, she gives the exact date and even some details about the mood his parents were in at that time. Without knowing, Takeshi finds himself going through the pictures only to let her comment. Actually listening to the mermaid for once, he is shamefully brought to tears that he tries to keep discreet. It is like hearing the ghost of his mother tell personal stories.
He sees his mother in traditional or elegant dresses, different sets of underwear, luxury accessories, and even some purely erotic. He embraces this show, until finding one certain outfit. On this cover and picture, more innocent than the others, Tokiwa is wearing the exact dress that he found on the floor of his room some days ago. The black and blue dress that Sakitsuki tried on. He now sees Saki in his mother's place, and the voice of Amabie totally dissociates from his nostalgia.
In pain again, he closes the drawer, steps away and cleans his eyes. He pulls up his mask on his lower face to hide it as much as possible and stops listening to Amabie, ignoring her haunting presence again. Now back to reality and the present, he feels awfully bad as he tries to imagine what these pictures are for his father, who preciously kept them here along with all the atmosphere of this room, that smells like a pleasing denial.
Maybe this self-adorned illusion is what gets Tsubai through. Maybe this is why he doesn't seem to realize how terrible it is for Yoshinari and Takeshi that they now dread going through all the same, but for him. The worst thing about it is that he isn't gone yet, but they have absolutely no clue or hint about how to prevent it. They don't even know how long he still has. Tentoki, seeing his host's troubles, tries to change his mind.
"Takeshi, we should join the rest of Kiri's army now."
Without a word, Takeshi complies and follows the white tengu's advice. He lightly shakes his head to leave his worries for later and puts on his forehead protector. He then takes a deep breath in and flashes away from the house. After just a short minute of running through the land and sea, trying to keep his mind empty of any thoughts, he reaches the leading boat of the fleet of the Mizukage.
There, within his soul, he sees Sojobo standing among the ninjas as if he was here to wait for him. The Daitengu and the ninja in black look at each other rapidly before staring together at the Mizukage who is making a speech to the army corps on that boat from a platform in elevation. Around them, the other ninjas notice the arrival of their broken hero but don't react or greet him to listen to their leader. Chojuro goes on with his declaration.
"The armies of Kumo and Konoha will arrive from the East. Suna will come from the South. And we will cross the ocean, set sail beyond the plains and caves of the land or Earth, and reach Iwa by the West. The Shinobi Union's armies will unite in Iwa. From there on, we will follow the command of Sasuke Uchiha. Our mission and directives are simple. We do not penetrate the village, or attempt any offense in its direction. We only draw the attention of the target and direct all attacks toward her only… The enemy is Yasona Otsutsuki. A celestial invader likely dangerous enough to take down any fraction of our army in less than a minute. She can neutralize a ninja without any movement. She is faster, stronger, tougher, and smarter than you. Do not try to engage her physically or alone. Maintain your position and wait for orders. By demand of the chief commander of this operation, you will stay in the second line, and intervene only if a counter army is set on the move."
As the Mizukage goes on with the explanation that he will give on each of the boats along the trip, Takeshi focuses his senses to feel any familiar chakra around. He does indeed notice the presence of Kaori, Yukiko, Kokoro and even Suigetsu among the present ninjas. He can actually feel the chakra of every elite ninja from Kiri he knows that is between 20 and 45 years old. From the directives given by Chojuro and this massive gathering, Takeshi understands how serious this operation is.
He tries to think of what he knows about Yasona, based on what Saki told him of her, but rapidly gives up these thoughts, which he deems pointless. Judging from the fact that all the other nations likely brought together an army as impressive and that Sasuke Uchiha himself is set to command everything, it seems obvious that Yasona isn't the only expected enemy.
Next to him, he sees Sojobo take a step forward and raise his arms in a quite evangelical pose before slowly turning around to speak, heard only by his cursed heir.
"Do you see it now, Takeshi? The path I had foreseen unfolding before our eyes. Worlds at war. Rather than a conclusion, it is only the genesis of our destiny. What happens now will determine the future for both worlds. For you and I. For everything. Is this the end of the beginning, or the beginning of the end? What becomes of us all now depends on him. Naruto Uzumaki. This is his ultimate trial. If he can stay true to his nindo in this challenge, no obstacle will ever stop him. If he fails to keep his word, the universe may prosper all the same, but without a ninja world."
Hearing this, Takeshi gets confused. From what he understands, the Daitengu suggests that this war could be the end for Earth, but in no way is it threatening the existence of the celestial kind. Does it mean, as he heard, that the coming battle will only begin a war. A war against enemies that they may still not know about? Do they even know the purpose of this celestial war? Does anybody, other than the Ryu Shinsen, know what truly is at stake?
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And so the armies of Kiri, Kumo and Suna are set on their way to confront the invader that took over the territory of the Tsuchikage. Some other time, it is unclear, unknown, whether it is sooner, later or simultaneously, in Konoha, Hinata Hyuga is kept awake by her thoughts in the middle of the night.
At this moment, Konoha is hours away from gathering their elite and heading to the land of Earth to join the armies of the Shinobi Union. Yet, for Hinata, the role of her son and husband in this operation is still uncertain. Alone in her bed, she can't sleep. This confusion haunts her mind too much.
As she seeks distraction but can't break free from her motherly spirit, she proceeds to check on her children. Unwilling to move her body and ruin her effort to fall asleep, she uses her Byakugan to see through the walls, in the room of her daughter first. Himawari is resting peacefully. She seems unaware of what is worth her worries.
She then gazes into her elder son's bedroom where he and his master are sleeping. Boruto appears to have found rest, but not out of peace of mind. He looks tired from his training and responsibilities. Lying on a mattress on the ground next to his bed, she sees Toneri who's also still awake. He must be kept awake by the same thoughts as her.
His role tomorrow depends, just like for Boruto, on whether their enemy shows up or not. And this may depend on whether Naruto will be here, ready or not. Toneri, unlike Boruto and Naruto, doesn't have the means to face off against the Ryu Shinsen. Yet he took it as his responsibility to train and look after Boruto.
After all, he is the only reason why the heir of the Tenseigan had to be dragged into this. Toneri knows this very well, and is prepared to act in consequence. What keeps him awake isn't uncertainty, but resolve. Boruto will fight this battle as his champion. He is his soldier in a trial to claim back his ancestor's home. And for forcing him into such a risky battle, he takes it as his duty to make sure Boruto makes it out alive from this.
Since he arrived in Konoha, hunted from his territory, he felt nothing but shame and confusion. What troubles him is the lack of guilt he is made to feel, the lack of hate he receives. It is as if the people of this village, though mostly knowing of the end he tried to bring 20 years ago, completely ignore his responsibility in this. They aren't even aware of his existence.
Yet, since he arrived in this village, he has taken time to clearly see all that his past ambitions almost prevented from existing. Despite the absence of blame from the public opinion, Toneri's own experience makes him feel that he has to redeem himself. Protecting what he unknowingly sought to destroy would fulfill him in this way. And to him, Boruto is a personification of this concept.
He is what Hinata could never have had with him. This brings Toneri to think of Himawari, who has been, so far, able to enjoy the peace made by her father even more than her brother. He remembers Hinata's suggestion to teach her while Hanabi and Sasuke take care of Boruto's training. He didn't try it at all. If this ends well, he'd like to give it a try, though he still doesn't think of himself as a good teacher and wonders if this young girl would accept him as such.
The train of thought of Toneri, despite flowing with multiple questions and feelings, is mostly peaceful. He's been living to no purpose mostly until now. So whatever comes next for him, he'll find room for fulfillment. For Hinata however, the current situation only brings torments.
She can't come to peace knowing that not even her husband, the great 7th Hokage, the new Rikudo, is safe from the Ryu Shinsen. This man who seemed yet so polite and pacific, who treated her and himself with more humility than even most humans she's met, has chosen to threaten everyone she loves, but without any personal implication. She just happens to be in the middle of this conflict, powerless as everyone is ready to fight to death, regardless of her feelings.
At the moment, it is certain that the ninjas of Konoha will depart tomorrow. It is certain that Boruto will have to face off against the Dragon Sage. And it is obvious that Naruto won't let his son alone in their battle. Yet, unless Naruto presents himself to the village in time, there is absolutely no hope for them.
Suddenly, like an answer to the prayers in her mind, she feels a sign. Hiding away from the world under her blanket, she feels a light breeze make its way to her and hears the crackling sound of footsteps on the wooden soil. Yet she didn't feel alerted by any sensible chakra. Still not willing to move, she waits and feels a presence settle on the mattress, sitting by her side.
This mystical presence gently handles the blanket and slowly slides it aside to unveil the Hyuga princess. Illuminated by the moonlight passing by the window, she sees the face of her husband, Naruto. The feeling of divine and unknown his presence made her feel vanishes when she recognizes his face, and she forgets about her insomnia.
She hurries to hug him tightly, as to never let him go. Even though he didn't ascend in spirit or nature, he seems to have changed. A certain wisdom emanates from him. He feels like a totally different being, but in his eyes and shape, he is still the same good old Naruto Uzumaki. And his humane voice and attitude come to confirm it.
"Oh! Easy, Hinata, Haha…" he says. "You're going a bit too strong."
She lightly lets go to make him more comfortable and sits in a better position. He hugs her back and waits in silence for her to get over her lack of him. In the middle of this quiet moment, he suddenly breaks it with special words.
"… I love you…" he says, which startles his wife.
In his tone, she didn't sense the same enthusiasm as a second ago. Only now does she figure out that his presence here, as is made mandatory by the situation, is only to bring him to face the Ryu Shinsen in a few hours. Does this sudden declaration of love mean that he doesn't feel certain to see her again? As she comes to this realization, She holds him tighter again and answers.
"I love you too… Please, don't leave me…"
"I promise." he simply answers, feeling weird about his own words for once, right after speaking them.
For maybe the first time since he had to face the trial of his friendship with Sasuke, he doubts his words. He could not be more ready than he is now. As he feels it, in his current state, he could have faced Momoshiki on his own, without Sasuke's help. Yet, neither he, Kurama or anyone who trusts him enough can say for sure that this time, he will make it. Despite the confidence he has in the remarkable improvements he made out of this training, he doesn't know how he compares to just the base form of Yamitsuki.
But little does that matter. At the moment, he doesn't see it as we do, or as the Daitengu presents it. He isn't about to seal the fate of all creation. He is only about to go for another battle to save the world and the people he seeks to protect. No matter what his chances are, he will fight. He can't turn back from the challenge he accepted. For Boruto, for Sasuke, for Takeshi, … For everyone. He will take his revenge on the Ryu Shinsen and go by his nindo. Whether he survives or not is not a priority, as long as his son lives and Sasuke is here to guide the next generations.
But as he senses his wife's feelings, he can only admit some sort of guilt and selfishness. The sensation of her body against his brings back memories from a long time ago. She is the one who, back when they were a young couple on vacation in Ryuka, suggested that Naruto upgrade and perfect his Kage Bunshin. As it stands now, Hinata may have influenced the design of his demise.
But these doubts and this guilt won't hold the 7th Hokage back. For as he swore just a day after she made this suggestion, he is and will be the only one allowed to sacrifice.
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End of Chapter 155 – Next Chapter: Konoha's delay