Chapter 41: Land of Water, Part 2

He sailed towards her and watched as she charged right at him without hesitation. Perhaps, he even saw a glint of excitement in those pale white eyes. The power he felt within her was enough to make him grip Dawn firmly, but despite the danger she was to him, he could not help but also witness how beautiful she was in a strange fashion.

The roar of his dragon followed by the beast unleashing a tornado of burning flames towards the Otsutsuki queen was enough to snap him out of his daze as he prepared himself.

Much to his disappointment, he saw her simply observing the flames with the help of her Rinnegan.

He carefully watched her movements, his research on this dojutsu had revealed a great many interesting things about its power. Apart from her display on the battlefield that had been witnessed by countless of his men, Tajima who had actually read the Uchiha Tablet before Naruto destroyed it years ago also revealed a few key facts.

It allowed its user seven various forms of powers, the most important being its ability to revive the dead and the power to control the Ten Tails.

Apart from that it also allowed its user to summon various creatures, use of unconventional weapons, the power of attraction and repulsion and even the ability to absorb chakra which was currently being used by Hinata Otsutsuki.

But even if she was busy fending his attack, she had already made her own offense.

Naruto saw several ball sized objects rushing towards him from all sides, only his Mangekyo showing him the dangerous power within each of them ready to blast him to oblivion. Grabbing his brother's gunbai from his back, he quickly jumped in the air watching each and every movement of the incoming projectiles.

His Mangekyo turned just in time to save his dragon from getting pierced by the chakra balls. He focused on them until they were completely absorbed into his space portal before focusing directly on the Otsutsuki forces on the ground.

The Otsutsuki queen's hateful cry was drowned over the painful screams of her own forces as they were butchered by the very same chakra balls as they suddenly smashed in their ranks obliterating dozens in a flash.

She saw him falling down at her, his sword ready to cleave her in half which made her raise her own weapon. Their blades clashed with a ferocious cry and she did well not to look into his lone eye. His dragon backed away and went off to burn other enemies as its master and Hinata both fell towards the ground.

She quickly used the short respite to create some distance between them and was pleased when swarms of her dead thralls charged towards him.

Her joy turned to ashes when each and everyone of her thralls were set on fire courtesy of the power of Amaterasu unleashed by his lone eye.

But it also showed her the slight painful twitch of his eyes and the blood that leaked out of it.

"You have used them too much in this war" she remarked,

He remained silent but his pain said all that she needed to know. Throughout this war, he had used his Mangekyo ruthlessly. Transporting entire armies across thousands of miles through space time portals was a destructive exercise and he had done that twice in a row apart from using them in his various battles. And that was when he had two Mangekyo, now with just one of those lethal dojutsu it put even more strain on his vision.

The Mangekyo was a doubled edged sword, after all.

Still, she could not help but admire the boy in front of her. At 16, he had accomplished more than what most humans ever achieved in their entire lives. Despite not in equal in power to her or her army, he had won all but one battle. Even now watching him fearlessly stand in front of her increased her respect of him.

"We'll need generals like you in the final war against my clansmen. Why don't you join us? In return, I'll spare your life and those of the people you love" she offered with a smile,

Seeing that it didn't even move a muscle on his face, she decided to offer the real deal.

"How about your aunt? Your mother? Your friends? Your brothers? I can give them back to you, my Rinnegan gives me the power to bring back the dead to life" she offered,

And there it was.

Even hardened men like Naruto loved their families and the sheer grief that momentary clouded his eye showed how much the loss of those people affected him.

"All my life I only wanted to live with my family. To serve them and keep them safe" he confessed, unable to stop the memories of his dead brothers, best friends, a mother he never knew, but most of all he felt the absence of Izuna and Naori in his life everyday.

"Kneel before me and fight for me in the wars to come, and I will give you your family back" offered Hinata calmly, and was disappointed when he shook his head.

"I know the Otsutsuki clan is coming to destroy this world and we have to stop them. But my people will never bow to you, not after what you did. All you had to do was ask for help" he chastised, earning a scoff from her.

"Do you think your race has ever learned to be united even in the face of annihilation? You know better, King Naruto. I am not going to waste my time making blind creatures see reason. If they cannot take action to save themselves, I am not going to help them. Those who follow me shall have my protection, those who don't can die" she declared icily, projecting a monstrous amount of her killing intent.

Even then, he stood before her tall and unwavering.

"It's fear and blood that made many of your followers accept you as their king. If they can do it to save themselves, why can't you make the right choice to save your people? Isn't that your responsibility as their king?" asked Hinata curiously,

"Maybe you're right. But what I do know is that they never want you to rule over them or decide how they live their lives. They want you dead and I am here to make it happen" he answered defiantly,

Despite everything, it made her smile as he reminded her of another one like him whom she had fought against in the past.

"You're as stubborn as Indra" she whispered,

"I can imagine no higher praise than that" replied Naruto with a firm nod, but the queen shook her head.

She sighed in defeat, there was no point in arguing with humans. They all kept on repeating the mistakes of the past again and again, never learning from history. Her gaze hardened and at a flick of her fingers, nearly ten of her fellow Otsutsuki clansmen gathered around him with their weapons raised.

"They say you're the finest swordsman in a hundred generations. Let's see how far that claim is true" she declared,

His lone Mangekyo narrowed as he raised Dawn in one hand and Madara's gunbai in the other. The first Otsutsuki warrior lunged at the queen and watched with his Byakugan as the king fiercely slashed his gunbai. Monstrous gusts of winds ripped across the area and the Otsutsuki warrior was forced to defend himself.

"Hakkesho!"

He managed to save himself by expelling his chakra that fought off the winds that would have shredded him to pieces but when he finally stopped his eyes widened when he saw four of his comrades were already lying dead on the ground with their throats slit.

The clash of steel pierced his ears and he saw one of his clansmen was barely able to scream as the king made a horizontal slash severing the man's head off in one blow. Even the man's sword had been torn in half courtesy of Dawn's ancient power.

Not even looking fazed a little bit, Naruto watched the remaining four Otsutsuki surround him.

If he was them, he would use their Byakugan to deliver close but deadly strikes but it would seem they were too blindly loyal to their queen and wanted to win her favor by crushing him in sword combat.

Either way, they were welcome to try.

The six he had already cut down were so confident of their power that they had not even considered that a faster opponent could still cut them down even if they had the Byakugan that allowed them to see from almost all directions.

He parried his sword against the first attacker and clashed his Gunbai against the other. They had him pinned from the front and rear leaving his sides undefended, an advantage the remaining two enemy warriors were keen to utilize as they closed in him. Their confident grins soon turned into blood curling screams as they were bathed in the flames of Amaterasu, an attack not even the Byakugan could save them from.

The remaining two enemies lost their focus just for a second watching their comrades be set on fire which was all Naruto needed. Silent as a snake, he batted away the sword of his enemy before burying the weapon in his precious eye and tore clean through his brain. The king had to fight back a grimace as the man shat himself before falling dead on the beach like a sack of potatoes, his gunbai had held back the other attacker who quickly tried to create distance from him after seeing the fate of his comrades.

His Byakugan saw the enemy king swiftly rushing towards him and he roared in fury about to show the human his place only to cough in pain when something pierced his chest. He looked down to see Dawn had pierced him from behind and the king standing behind him with a cold look in his lone eye.

"Never look into my eye"

The Otsutsuki realized his mistake before he departed from the world leaving the king alone to face the Otsutsuki queen. To Naruto's surprise, she took the deaths of her man in a very composed manner as if they meant nothing to her, which was probably true.

He flinched when a monstrous aura descended around him, its presence crushing him like an insect against a mountain. Every muscle in his body screamed against the agony as his mind was assaulted by countless brutal sights. He watched the day when his brothers were cut down, he watched as Naori gave her life to save his own...

Never before had he felt killing intent so dark and malicious making him glare at the woman doing this.

Only to find her gone.

His eyes widened as dark fabrics of space opened all around him and his lone Mangekyo watched several forms of the Otsutsuki queen emerging with their ancient swords ready to skewer him from all sides.

You gauged my reaction time as I killed your men and now want to use that to kill me.

He would have called her move impressive had it not been used against him, instead he quickly raised his sword upwards and sank to his knees. Naruto grimaced as multiple swords clashed against his own and if not for his years of experience and inner strength, he would have been cut down in half. Even so, his hand trembled against the pressure before he gave a mighty roar and pushed every one of the enemy forms away from him. They all backflipped in the air and had already prepared their next move.

"Tomogoroshi no Haikotsu (All Killing Ash bones)"

Hundreds of bone shards were unleashed by the dozen clones which charged straight at him. His Mangekyo saw the cursed power in those projectiles knowing one hit would be enough to finish him off. He remembered Hashirama had been brought down by attacks of similar nature and if not for the Senju's extreme strong healing abilities, he would have perished. But unlike Hashirama, he didn't possess that vitality which would prove fatal for him.

"Amaterasu"

An inferno of black flames rose all around him and instantly served as his shield against the storm of deadly bone projectiles. Hundreds of them clashed against the deadly flames and turned to ashes. He could see the minor annoyance visible on the Otsutsuki queen's replicas as their attacks were being met with equal force but their bitterness soon turned to horror when the ground beneath their feet vanished and was replaced by the darkness of space. They never got the chance to react as they were sucked inside his personal dimension.

Naruto's triumph was shortlived as he had to quickly jump when the ground beneath his own feet vanished and the real Hinata Otsutsuki appeared with her blade ready to slice him. As he tried to create distance between them, she raised her only free hand right at him.

He prepared to defend only to see her suddenly turn around and point the same hand at his army currently fighting against her forces on the beaches.

"SHINRA TENSEI!"

He roared furiously and jumped towards her but it was already too late.

Naruto watched in dismay as hundreds upon hundreds of men were hit by the gravitational wave that not just destroyed the ground but also each and every part of their body. The entire battlefield was covered in large columns of smoke and it was the moment when the Otsutsuki commanders blinked in surprise.

She swiftly turned around and parried his slash while her cruel smile mocked him.

"15,000 shadow clones? That's something I have never seen before" she commented, admiration alongwith mockery ever present in her smooth voice.

He remained silent knowing that sooner or later his trick would be exposed. Now, he watched the Otsutsuki commanders be emboldened beyond control having realized that they were up against a clone army instead of a real one.

He looked at Kurama who was his strongest card on the battlefield, but to his dismay the beast was engaged in a bitter fight against Hinata's clones and could not be of help to the clone forces currently facing a furious onslaught of the emboldened Otsutuski army.

His lone dragon was doing well so far and was the only thing keeping the majority of the Otsutsuki's army left flank from closing in on the ninja clone army.

Mifune was doing well in holding the center and right flank assault but was facing difficulty in making any breakthrough. It was to be expected, after all.

When he had asked every one of his soldiers back home to make shadow clones, many had questioned him as to where he would be using them. But he had promised them that they would be put to good use against the enemy, yet even so clones could never replace the strength of a real warrior and it showed as he saw his forces being pushed on the defensive.

It was a desperate gamble he had taken and one which had worked so far in keeping the entire or atleast most of the Otsutsuki fighters occupied on the coasts.

He pushed the Otsutsuki queen back and created distance between them. The woman glanced at him with something close to sympathy and admiration...

"You cannot defeat me, Naruto" she stated calmly,

"Maybe not" he agreed, much to her surprise.

"Then why come here? You knew you would lose and die a horrible death" she stated curiously, and saw him clench his fists.

"Possibly. It might all just be a fool's gamble but I had to try for the sake of my people. They chose me as their king and I will fight for them until my dying breath" he promised fiercely, his lone eye glaring at her furiously.

"Even if you somehow manage to kill me, then too you will die here at the hands of my forces. All alone" said Hinata, and frowned when he smiled at her threat.

"Not alone"

She saw three shadows surround her with their swords ready to cut her down. They all were wearing the same golden armor with the dragon sigil as the King and had the similar facial looks. She recognized the two boys from the Battle of Uzu where they alongwith their now dead comrades had stopped the Gedo Mazo itself. The girl she didn't recognize but her eyes were full of hatred and a desire for vengeance.

"I wondered when you would show up. It's right, you're his Kingsguard after all" said Hinata with a knowing smile,

"It does not matter as to what happens here but you will die here at our hands" promised Itachi coldly,

"Screaming" whispered Mikoto with hatred burning in her eyes,

"You should run while you have the chance" mocked Hinata, and clenched her teeth when Shisui looked at her without any fear present in his eyes.

"The Kingsguard doesn't flee"

Naruto smiled on watching his friends stand up to their arch enemy. They had no fear in their hearts and were fully determined to fight bravely. It was all he could ask of them as he raised his own sword.

No matter what happened, he had to keep Hinata Otsutsuki and her forces occupied.

I leave the rest to you, Mito.

Danzo and Kakashi were the first warriors to jump out of the space dimension, their sharp eyes scanning the nearby area for any sign of ninja forces. To their relief, there were none just as the King had promised them.

They both nodded as more and more of their comrades came charging out of the space dimension led by none other than Nagato and Mito Uzumaki themselves.

Salamander Hanzo also arrived with the remaining 240 ninjas, and when everyone had finally reached they saw a clone of their king step outside. The poor man looked a bit worn out while he glanced at Danzo and the others.

"How is the battle?" asked Hanzo seriously, making the king's clone sigh.

"You need to hurry"

Kakashi clenched his fist as he realized how dire the situation must be. He could only imagine the dire circumstances their comrades were in, once the Otsutsuki realized they were facing a clone army it would only be a matter of time before they went wild and slaughtered everyone.

"We are ready, my king" promised Mito, earning confirmation nods from her brother and clansmen alike.

"Defensive Formation!"

Danzo's firm command had every ninja scrambling across all four directions as the few dozen Uzumaki started performing a familiar set of hand seals.

"Four Seals Barrier!"

Soon enough, a large red colored barrier rose across the barren ground surrounding the Uzumaki fighters and the king's clone inside of it. Meanwhile, the remaining ninjas all took up defensive formations all around the barrier. They had practiced for this task so many times that there were no mistakes or unnecessary confusion.

Danzo commanded the Northern flank with around 60 men.

Kakashi commanded the Southern flank with around 60 men.

Hanzo Salamander had command over both the Western and Eastern flanks with around 100 men.

The rest were Uzumaki tasked with maintaining the barrier and assisting their clan leaders alongside their king.

"Nagato, Mito, once we do this the Otsutsuki will be alarmed. Our forces on the coasts will try to keep them occupied, but I'm afraid our tricks will be finished and their full power will descend on this position" warned the king's clone gravely,

"We will defend them to the death, my king!" promised Danzo, determination ever present in his dark eyes.

"Same here!" promised Kakashi,

Hanzo merely gave a firm nod which brought a thin smile to the clone's face.

"We will do our best to get them ready" assured Nagato, earning a nod from his sister.

"We can begin, my king" replied Mito,

The clone nodded as his Mangekyo spinned to open a massive portal and moments later four gigantic forms were dumped roughly across the ground inside the barrier. The dangerous beasts were docile thanks to the King's use of the Mangekyo over the past few weeks, but Mito still extended her chakra chains and bound them.

Mito watched the king's clone fall to its knees as blood leaked from its eyes. She could only imagine how much chakra was the real king expending throughout this battle. Nagato went to help the clone but he denied the aid.

"Do what must be done"

The clone vanished in a puff of smoke giving that last command, his energy all but spent.

Nagato steeled himself as he took in a deep breath, the only solace he had was the fact that the space time dimension was still open courtesy of another clone on the other side holding it. If not for its presence, every person involved in this task would never get enough time to escape away to safety.

He glanced at the four terrifying tailed beasts that were currently put into a deep sleep. At one point, he had suggested the king to use them in battle against the Otsutsuki queen but Naruto had ruled out that possibility with a dangerous suggestion.

It is true that using them will increase our chances in battle, but the queen will know that I am the one controlling them. If she manages to kill me, then we lose control over them and they might just fall into Otsutsuki hands again. I cannot take that risk, I can trust the fox because it's my friend and would sooner die than allow himself to be made a pawn.

We have to do this, Nagato.

His King's words rang true in his heart as Nagato Uzumaki stepped beside his sister. She nodded gravely as they both started to perform a very lengthy and detailed set of hand seals.

"Naraka Fuin (Seals of Hell)"

Dark seals extended out of the ground and started to crawl all over the massive forms of the Four, Fix, Six and Eight Tailed beasts.

"Mito!" warned Nagato,

His sister heeded his warning and strengthened the hold of her chains just in time as all four beasts howled in agony. The ground shook violently as the dangerous creatures tried to break free despite Mito's best attempts to keep them in control.

The rest of their clansmen rushed forward and increased the speed of the same jutsu by adding their own power but the tailed beasts were going berserk as their very essence was being torn apart and consumed between each other.

Nagato flinched when two of his clansmen were suddenly smashed to death by an enraged Four Tails. Another Uzumaki barely managed to jump out of the fist launched by the Five Tailed beast only to be eaten alive by the Six Tails.

It was chaos and madness even as Mito roared in fury bringing the beasts crashing back to the ground. Despite her best attempts and the king's mental command, the subdued beasts were thrashing to regain control as all four of them were slowly but surely becoming a part of a massive ball of chakra.

Nagato watched his sister cough blood due to terrible strain the beasts were putting down on her, but he ignored it just as he ignored the fact that the earth was shaking around him, or the screams of the tailed beasts was driving him mad, or some of his clansmen were desperately fighting for their lives.

To overcome monsters, we must become one ourselves. There is no other way to survive in this cruel world.

With that dark thought, Nagato discarded his last shred of doubt and mercilessly channeled his power to create the biggest devastation their world had ever seen.

The guttural screams of deranged beasts cut threw the entire battlefield like a shockwave leaving every living soul on either side terrified. Those were the cries of a cornered animal who was about to be butchered.

Hinata Otsutsuki's eyes widened as she felt that immense power bubbling in the center of her lands. There could be no mistake about it...

Her shocked gaze connected with that of the Young Dragon and saw him smiling back at her grimly.

His three friends surrounded her from all sides prepared to stop her at any costs.

"You suicidal bastard!" she cursed, making Naruto laugh.

"It would seem you have seen our guts now" answered Naruto coldly,

She wanted to scream at these insane people, did they even have any clue about the amount of destruction such a move would cause. It would quite possibly destroy the entire Land of Water taking the lives of every single person in it, their included.

But one look in their eyes showed her that they came here to destroy their enemy, no matter the cost. Even if it meant sacrificing all their lives.

She snarled and opened her space time dimension only to be blocked by a counter dimension blocking her way courtesy of Naruto. She tried again only to meet the same result. Her furious gaze met his own knowing that as long as he lived, she could not rush to stop his comrades who were literally going to detonate four monstrous Biju.

Her fists clenched and it was at that moment when Naruto grimaced as thousands of Otsutsuki thralls broke formation and started running towards the central lands where Danzo and the Uzumaki were. Mifune and the clone army tried their best to stop as many as they could but even so thousands of dead thralls, hundreds of Kaguya and Hagoromo alongwith a handful Otsutsuki ran on the silent command of their queen. Such was their urgency that they did not even stop to protect or help their comrades running alongside them who were suddenly burned alive by the furious dragon in the sky.

The Kyuubi was still on the backfoot against the queen's clones and its best attempts to stop the enemy were being blocked.

He glanced at his three friends who gave him grim nods knowing there was nothing they could do in this situation, except stop and kill the queen.

If her murderous gaze was any indication, she wanted to do the same to them albeit more cruelly.

She leaned forward with her sword ready and dojutsu full of cold fury ready to burn them to ashes.

"Now it begins"

She charged forward making Naruto raise his sword.

"Now it ends"