Chapter 39: The Conclusion

"Reduce the whole creation to Ashes...RYUJIN JAKKA!"

Both the legendary swordsmen's eyes widened when the saw the power that was being released from Naruto's sword. The entire ocean was now on fire and as a result a lot of steam was arising that was slowly reducing everyone's sight.

"I'll end this once and for all," said Naruto murderously, and raised his sword high in the air.

"Jokaku Enjo: Fortress Blaze"

Zabuza and Raiga quickly jumped away, as all around them flames started rising, and in a few seconds they were now surrounded by flames from all sides, the flames even extended up to 50 feet in the air and even beneath the water itself.

"What is this?" asked Raiga painfully, he didn't have much time left.

"I don't feel like telling you that, let's end this in three strikes," said Naruto coldly,

"Raiga, we cannot stay in this barrier, I'll cover you. Try to escape from this barrier after my attack, and strike him from behind. We only have once chance," whispered Zabuza slowly and Raiga gave a firm nod,

Right now they were at a disadvantage, so the plan which Zabuza was suggestion was the only choice they had.

"Naruto, they..." advised Kurama, but when he saw a small smirk on Naruto's face, the Biju knew Naruto was up to something.

"NOW!"

"Trident Waves of Destruction" yelled Zabuza murderously, and an enormous 30 feet giant wave of water was now heading towards Naruto at tremendous speed.

"You fool, counter it right now," said Kurama quickly, but Naruto didn't move at all.

The Biju was quite surprised when at the last moment, the waves instead of hitting Naruto, changed their direction and hit the fire wall behind Naruto creating large amount of steam.

"Now's my chance," thought Raiga quickly, and was already on his way to escape from his barrier.

The veteran swordsmen jumped in the mist where those waves had hit, this was one of the most powerful water attacks of Zabuza. Even Raiga knew, those flames were no match for it.

"Burn" said Naruto stoically, and what happened next shocked Zabuza and Raiga to the core.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH H"

The entire mist disappeared as the fire wall behind Naruto burned more brightly, and to Zabuza's horror there in the center of those flames was Raiga himself.

The Demon of the mist was shocked like hell, as he watched Raiga's entire body being turned to ashes which disappeared in the water instantly.

"Strike One Complete," said Naruto victoriously, and was now looking at Zabuza as if he was his prey.

"Impossible...those flames shouldn't be standing after my powerful water attack," said Zabuza in disbelief, this boy...No, this monster had just taken out one of the most powerful men in history with his sword.

Raiga Kurosaki was now dead, and he was killed in such a way that nothing of him was left. Even his legendary blades Kiba were destroyed in those flames, just what the hell was this boy?

"You don't get it, do you? This is the most powerful sword of this world, you thought you could sneak up behind me and finish me off, A sound strategy but just not enough to defeat this sword," explained Naruto briefly,

"Where the hell did you find this sword?" asked Zabuza angrily, why did the boy have such a powerful weapon? His chances of winning were even less after Raiga's death, and this pissed him off.

"It was a sword which I took from my best friend, you can even call him my big brother...it was a shame that I had to kill him," said Naruto arrogantly, and the little fear on Zabuza's face was a proof that he was successful in scaring his opponent a little.

"I need to hit him with everything I've got," thought Zabuza firmly, and gathered all the chakra he had left for a final attack,

Naruto sensed a massive amount of chakra being used, and he quickly brought his sword forward in order to defend himself.

"Kasukeda No Kami: God of Waterfall"

Naruto was quite shocked when he saw large waves rising from every direction in the sea, and were rushing towards him quickly. This was no ordinary attack, his enemy was about to unleash his most powerful technique.

"He wants to take me out with him..." thought a surprised Naruto, and he also increased the power of his sword.

"Strike Two: Taimatsu" said Naruto quickly,

A large dragon of fire was now formed around Naruto's sword, and in a flash Naruto jumped high in the air, and swinged his sword wildly in the every direction.

The giant fire dragon unleashed a sea of flames that collided with the waves of water with great force. The heat generated from the colliding of the attacks was so powerful that many parts of Naruto's skin were burnt badly.

"I still cannot control the power of this sword to its full extent...how could Nii-san use its second stage?, I can't even properly use its first stage for more than a few minutes," thought Naruto tiredly, his body was at its limit and he didn't have much strength left.

Fighting against one swordsmen of the mist was lethal, but fighting against two of them was suicide. If not for this sword, Naruto knew his chances of winning were quite low.

"Shit..." thought Naruto painfully, as he felt a violent punch being hit straight on his chest.

The attack was so powerful that Naruto was sent sailing a few meters away, until he crashed in the water. In the next moment, he started coughing violently, and blood started to leak out of his mouth like a river.

"Nono told you that there is no way you can fight such a dangerous battle...You must retreat, Zabuza is not going down so easily," advised Kurama, as he saw his container's condition deteriorating with each passing second.

Naruto's vision was a little hazy, that attack was so powerful that he was not properly able to stand on his feet. In his entire life he had not fought against such a tough opponent.

"I must win, no matter what" thought Naruto with determination, and slowly stepped up on the water again.

When he looked at his opponent, his eyes widened in shock and a little fear. Zabuza's body was badly burnt and now he was almost naked, and Naruto could see the powerful muscles of that man, no wonder he was called a demon. The bandages on Zabuza's face was now gone, and now the scary face of Zabuza Momochi was right in front of Naruto.

"You are powerful boy, but I'm gonna kill you," declared Zabuza murderously, and leaked a powerful KI.

Naruto's mind was processing the entire battle scenario at lightning speed, trying to come up with a solution to help him survive this battle, and if possible win.

"I must avoid fighting him in Taijutsu, if only I had a little more speed I could take him on. I have to use my Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, I cannot use Ryujin Jakka anymore or I may not be able to fully control it and this may lead to destruction of Wave country itself," thought Naruto tactfully,

It was true, that he he had seen Shin use Ryujin Jakka to its full extent, but that was no ordinary sword, and it required years of practice to fully master its power. A training which Naruto had not undertaken, he just knew a little how to use that sword.

"It seems we have to increase your training with this sword, and most importantly your Taijutsu," said Kurama strictly, and Naruto just gave a tired sigh.

Naruto saw his opponent performing a quick set of hand seals, and he instantly mirrored them with utmost perfection.

"Suiton: Hahonryu (Water Release: Rapid Crasher)"

"Suiton: Hahonryu (Water Release: Rapid Crasher)"

Two giant water waves collided with each other with full force, and hundreds of water droplets rained down in the surrounding area. The Fire barrier of Ryujin Jakka was still standing, albeit a bit less powerful than before.

Zabuza shunshined right in front of Naruto and tried to hit him straight in the face, but to his surprise Naruto disappeared in a flock of crows.

"Genjutsu..." thought Zabuza quickly, but he was a little late.

Naruto appeared behind Zabuza, and gave a roundhouse kick to the man's back that sent him crashing in the water, he then jumped high in the air and performed a set of hand seals.

"Magen: Jubaku Satsu (Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death)"

Several branches of trees entangled all around Zabuza's body, and started squeezing his entire body with all their strength. Zabuza was low on chakra, and so the only way to get out was to get in control of one of his senses.

In what appeared to be the last moment, Zabuza bit his tongue just as Naruto appeared right in front of him with a sparkling thing in his hand.

"CHIDORI!"

Zabuza saw the attack heading straight for his chest, and at the last second he shifted himself to the right side to prevent the attack from piercing his heart, but he was a little late as the lightning attack cut clean through his left shoulder.

"Fuck..." yelled Zabuza in pain, as his entire left hand was now useless in this battle.

Blood splattered all across Naruto's face, but he was quite surprised when Zabuza headbutted him which resulted in him losing his balance, and this gave Zabuza the chance which he wanted.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock and pain, as he felt something cold pierce straight through his stomach, and he coughed up a lot of blood.

Kurama's eyes widened on the sight before him, there standing right behind Naurto was another Zabuza who had pierced the "KuboKiribocho" straight through Naruto's stomach.

He looked at the Zabuza in front of him and saw the man giving him a victorious look. Just a second, and it was all over.

"Mizu Bunshin attack success..." whispered Zabuza with a smirk,

"H-o-w?" asked Naruto painfully, and coughed up a lot of blood.

"I didn't use any hand seals, you could never see my attack. You were a good opponent but it ends here," said Zabuza murderously,

Naruto's vision started getting dark, he was in intense pain and the large hole in his stomach was a proof enough that he had lost. Never in his entire life had he fought against such an opponent, and he was defeated.

All his dreams, his hopes were now shattered.

Another painful sensation hit him as the Zabuza in front of him stabbed a kunai straight through his heart, and this time was the pain was more immense than before.

"DIE!"

Zabuza's water clone sliced the sword across Naruto's stomach, and cut it apart entirely from the right side.

But Zabuza was quite surprised when Naruto didn't fall down on his knees, instead he was standing on his last legs trying to fight till his last breath.

"Why do you still fight?" asked Zabuza curiously, and grabbed Naruto by the collar and lifted him up in the air with his right hand.

And when the man looked in Naruto's eyes he saw something which he had not seen in a long time, those eyes. The same broken eyes, the eyes that showed nothing but pain, misery, and most of all loneliness.

"I...made...a...promise," said Naruto weakly, and a few tears had came in his eyes,

"Naruto..." said Kurama worriedly, but his friend couldn't hear him and Kurama saw a sea of darkness approaching his cage.

"He is finished..." said Dark sadly, maybe this was best for both of them? He had enough of this cruel world, and if this was the end then he was ready.

"Do something...you stupid idiot!" yelled Kurama angrily, and this time Dark Naruto looked away from the beast.

"Can't you see it...he can't take it anymore, I am ultimately a part of him, what do you think we are!" said Dark Naruto angrily,

"Shut up..." said Kurama furiously, he couldn't use his chakra to heal Naruto as it would kill him instantly.

"Can't you see it, there is nothing left except loneliness. We are all alone in this cruel world, where are our so called friends, where is Kurenai! In the end, we got what we feared the most: loneliness. Can't you see the hole in my heart!" yelled Dark Naruto angrily

Kurama watched sadly as the same hole was now in Dark Naruto's heart, this world was indeed cruel.

"I was a fool for believing in you old man, there is no such thing as peace. How can I change the future if I can't even save my only friend!" thought Kurama sadly,

Naruto coughed up a lot of blood, and Zabuza's face was a little more hazy to him. He couldn't feel anything below his stomach, and a part of his mind knew this was it.

"What drives you this far?" asked Zabuza again, and this time he saw the boy's right hand rising slowly,

"Because I love her..." said Naruto with a small smile, and this time Zabuza's eyes widened in surprise as well as shock.

"Chidori Eiso"

A large flash of lightning pierced straight through Zabuza's heart, and he looked down and saw the attack had came from Naruto's right hand.

"In the end...he defeated me. Forgive me, Haku..." thought Zabuza finally, and his grip on Naruto's shoulder slipped away.

Zabuza's body started drowning in the water, and the water clone dispersed instantly.

"Not yet, Not yet..." said Naruto slowly, and took out a small scroll from his pocket.

He slowly opened the scroll, he had to do this, he couldn't die without doing this.

Naruto soaked his hands with his own blood, he could barely see and he had almost no chakra left to properly heal his body. He wrote his message on the scroll, and collapsed on his knees.

"Naruto...hang in there," said Kurama in panic, but no one could hear his voice.

The Biju watched in shock as Naruto performed a very familiar set of hand seals, and slammed his hand on the water surface.

"Kuchiyose No Jutsu"

A small crow appeared in front of Naruto, and with all his strength he put the scroll on the bird's back, and whispered something in the crow's ears. Just as the crow was about to leave, Naruto's legs couldn't maintain chakra anymore and he fell in the ocean.

A small sad smile came on his face as he remembered a certain event of his life.

(Flashback: A Few years ago)

A young Naruto was standing in front of a small grave, tears were freely slipping from his eyes as he read the name written on it.

Shin...

It had been a few months, but still he knew this pain would never go, this guilt would forever haunt his soul. The sin of killing a friend who was more precious to him like his own brother.

"You're still here, moron.." said a calm voice,

Naruto didn't look up, and was just staring at the grave without any emotion on his face. Shin's body was burnt to ashes the moment he died, this was just a small grave which him and Sai had created for their deceased brother.

"I know pain...the feeling of being all alone, I have seen happiness, the feeling when your friends come to help you...and the despair of watching those same friends dying right in front of you. Why am I still alive? The villagers think of me as a demon...what is my purpose in life?" asked Naruto sadly,

Sai stepped up beside Naruto and laid a few flowers in front of the grave, and offered his prayers.

"Regardless of what the villagers think of you...I and Shin always believe that you are a good person, and a fine shinobi. He died to save you, and no matter what you say, this was his choice. Stop blaming yourself for that, he left his hopes, his dreams to you. Shin is seeing the future through your eyes...and make sure that he sees his dream fulfilled," said Sai firmly,

"Sai..."

Naruto's eyes closed as a small sad smile came on his face, the last thing he saw was drowning in the water,

"Well, looks like this is the end..."

"Take care of Sai...and protect the village"

"I'm with you till the end..."

"I will love you forever..."

All these memories flashed in front of his eyes, and he knew this was it.

"Shin-Nii-san...this is where the future you wanted to see comes to end. I couldn't protect Sai...nor do village. All I've done is break my promises...please Forgive me...

He closed his eyes, ready to die but instead of meeting the shinigami, he found himself standing in a white plain.

"Where am I?" thought Naruto curiously,

"We need to talk..." said a new voice, and this time Naruto turned back and what he saw widened his eyes in shock.