The emotionally drained Jin opens his eyes and finds himself floating in the mysterious void that connects the mental spaces between two powerful shinobi by way of combat. Just a few yards in front of the jaded ninja lies Naruto, who stares back at him; his expression reeks of frustration and tenacity.
“I’ll keep holding out my hand until you take it! I never compromise and I never go back on my word, that’s my ninja way!” The hero states with a fire in his eyes.
“Compromise is just another part of growing up… Wake up to reality, ‘Chosen One’,” The Onikage sighs while shutting his eyes and shaking his head. “Just face the facts, we both have our own styles, and we won’t change.”
Tilting his head to the side, Naruto raises a brow. “…Ch-Chosen One? What do you mean by that?”
“OH, you didn’t KNOW~? So let me tell you… You are the Child of Prophecy; you were destined to either save the world or destroy it.” Jin forces a coy smile as he talks. “Your fate was predetermined LONG before you were even born, and you just saved the world, fulfilling the prophecy. Congratulations!”
“That’s a lie, every choice I’ve ever made was my own! I write my own destiny!” Naruto roars with furrowed eyes.
The Onikage simply shrugs, maintaining his smug grin. “If you don’t believe me, you can go to Mt. Myōboku and ask Fukasaku or the Great Toad Sage, Gamamaru, but let me ask you this: didn’t you ever think it was weird how you just miraculously survived ordeals that one normally wouldn’t?”
Before the hero can even begin to process Jin’s question, everything fades to white as their spiritual conversation comes to an end.
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The two Uzumaki clan members are forced back by the explosion. Jin quickly recovers and stops himself from being sent further back; with a glance he sees that he and Ayanami are hovering back-to-back. Shortly after the battle escalated, all four shinobi have received noticeable, but not debilitating damage to their respective avatars.
“How’re you holding up?” Jin asks, continuing to face Naruto.
“A few cuts and bruises, but I’m pushing through,” Ayanami responds with her eyes fixed on Sasuke. “And you?”
“Just dandy.”
“I’ve had enough.” The rogue ninja weaves a single hand sign with a cold and menacing glare.
Miles away, the nine satellites which contain the sealed tailed beasts suddenly rocket over to their battle; both Jin and Ayanami are in awe as they watch the small celestial bodies pass them by. The moons stop and float ominously in an imperfect ring as soon as they are right behind Sasuke.
“At this moment, I’m the strongest in the whole world–”
“–And *I* for one would like to test that claim.” The kunoichi boldly interrupts the last Uchiha.
Without hesitation, Sasuke absorbs the scatter chakra of the tailed beasts and merges it into his Susano’o to serve as a vessel; his so-called “Indra Susano’o” is further augmented by the senjutsu chakra of his curse mark. To combat this, Jin swiftly overlays his onto Ayanami’s wood kaiju, remaking their Majestic Attire avatar; their combined titan resembles a leaner Space Godzilla just like their previous one.
The Hyuga calmly says, “United, we stand…”
“…Divided, you fall.” Jin finishes with a forced devilish grin.
Seeing the situation escalate even further, Naruto produces five shadow clones; each clone is suspended within their own Kurama avatar.
“The techniques the 3 of you use are symbols of your weakness.” Sasuke talks down to them, sneering. “Yeah… They’re jutsu that only cover up your loneliness!”
“You’re one to talk! You just borrowed power from the tailed beasts!” Ayanami shouts, speaking truth to power. “Those eyes you’re so fond of belong to Itachi!”
“Yeah, and the ONLY reason you still even have the Curse Mark is because of the gelel stone that *I* gave you!” Jin adds, pointing at himself.
In a flash Sasuke appears before one of Naruto’s clones and slams down his left heel on the fox’s head, knocking the clone hard into the ground below. Jin and Ayanami rush at the rogue ninja and deliver an Earth-shattering headbutt; as the Uchiha is sent flying, they quickly reach for one of the remaining Narutos and crush its head in their hand, destroying both the clone and its Kurama avatar.
The reincarnations take flight and ascend with the hero following close behind; they keep flying until they are hovering above the clouds. To their right is Sasuke, who arrived as soon as he caught himself, the exposed areas on his ethereal warrior flicker with lightning chakra. To their left is Naruto; his nine tails are all bristling. The four ninja all find themselves in a three-way deadlock; each of their avatars are poised to strike.
“Hey, Indra! Asura! If you can hear me, I just want you to know that Ayanami and I will reincarnate our souls as well!” Jin shouts, using the co-protagonists as mediums to speak to their original incarnations. “BUT we won’t be helping either of you! We’ll keep fucking with both of you until you knock this shit off!”
“What?” The kunoichi gives a confused look.
The Onikage quietly whispers back, “Just go with it.”
“Then I’ll just have to destroy your souls! So…Let’s see how much chakra you have to stop THIS!” A grinning Sasuke retorts while amassing chakra.
The last Uchiha focuses the tailed beast chakra he took into his avatar’s hands, forming a bow and arrow which are composed entirely of lightning chakra; the crackling arrow emits a blinding light as the air around ninja shifts, coming to a complete stop.
“You ready, yet? Kurama?” Naruto asks with sweat running down his face.
Jin and Ayanami can sense a surge of nature energy flowing directly into the hyperactive knucklehead; his Kurama construct and two remaining clones come together and fuse, taking his Asura Kurama form; he uses his right arms to create a Six Paths: Massive Rasenshuriken, and uses his left arms to create a Tailed Beast Bomb Rasenshuriken; both are infused with natural energy.
Without saying a word, the reincarnations glance at each other and give a slight nod; they raise their arms into the air and channel their chakra into a single sphere of energy; to increase both the size and power of the energy ball, they infuse it with their six paths sage chakra as well as all five basic chakra natures along with Shadow and Light Styles. Ayanami goes on to add wood chakra while Jin imbues it with gelel energy; the energy ball’s appearance goes through a whole rainbow of colors before turning a pure, majestic white hue; the sphere itself promotes a calm breeze away from it, which turns into a strong continuous gale wind and expels colorful bands of lights akin to an aurora borealis.
Stolen story; please report.
““SIX PATHS: SPIRIT BOMB!!”” The two shout in unison.
The four ninjas simultaneously launch their strongest jutsu from their respective avatars; the three attacks collide and in a blinding flash of light, the shinobi are all engulfed in a massive explosion so powerful that it changes the climate and ravages the terrain and surrounding land. The Hashirama and Madara statues are wholly and utterly demolished, reduced to a steaming pile of scorched rubble.
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“*cough* *cough*” The coughing Jin’s eyes pop open. Ungh… All this pain…! But at least I’m still alive…
For the Onikage, everything went black instantly once the light bathed them all. Aching everywhere, Jin stumbles while slowly getting back onto his feet; as his blurred vision clears, he sees that the terrain was altered from a valley to a rocky wasteland with a river cutting through it with he and the other three crashing around the body of running water.
“N-Not yet… It’s not over yet!” Naruto slowly gets back up. “I’ll never change my mind. I’m just going to keep reaching my hand out to you both. Until I reach you!!”
“Jin! *huff* …Are you alright?” Ayanami asks, breathing heavily; she has lost her flak jacket and a sleeve.
“I feel like shit… but I’m moving.”
Without saying another word, Jin, Ayanami, and Naruto all trudge towards each other, and face one another head-on; they drag their feet from exhaustion.
“My will won’t change either… I’m going to cut you all down.” With cold determination, Sasuke stoically walks forward to meet them. “In order to end the path I’ve walked so far… None of us has much power lef–”
“HA! Shows what you know… Jin, now!” Ayanami orders, interrupting the rogue ninja.
The two reincarnations reach into their clothes and pull out the last two chakra food pills: they quickly shove them into their mouths and start chewing before the perplexed co-protagonists can say or do anything. A decent amount of their chakra reserves is restored, jumpstarting their healing factors; steam emanates from their injuries as they are rejuvenated.
Building up chakra, the smug Jin weaves the ram hand sign. “Sage Art: Mind Transmission Jutsu.”
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“What the–?” Deeply puzzled, Naruto scans his surroundings, his head rapidly moving in all directions.
The hero is no longer at the Final Valley, and the others are nowhere to be seen; he finds himself floating in a black void with what appear to be stars twinkling in the distance. There are no words to describe the tsunami of confusion that washes over him.
“What’s goin’ on? Where… Where am I?”
“We’re in a mental space that I like to call ‘the Mindscape.’ This domain was painstakingly created from the knowledge and memories of my friends and I,” A familiar voice says from behind; its tone is calm and soft spoken. “This is where I’m going to beat you.”
Naruto whips his head around to find his cousin, Jin, has mysteriously appeared and is currently lounging around comfortably on a recliner by a fireplace with his head in a book. The hero is unfamiliar with the flimsy book as its cover has a picture of a man dressed in a black suit with green eyes, a red cape, and is covered in chains.
Looking around, the curious Naruto repeats, “The Mindscape?”
“That’s right. In here, imagination is reality and reality is imagination.” Jin continues with his explanation before muttering, “God, I’d kill for a cup of hot cocoa right about now…”
“So, what’s your plan? Some super jutsu that I’ve never heard of? Or are you gonna use my Rasenshuriken again–?!” The hero’s query is interrupted due his mouth being webbed shut.
“Shush, blondie, and let the big man speak.” Says an unfamiliar voice.
A man appears out of thin air, suspended in the air by a thread of webbing while upside down; he wears a red and blue costume with large, menacing white eyes and a spider emblem on his chest.
“Thanks, Spidey!”
“No problem-o! If you need me, I’ve got a hot date with Black Cat. Ciao!” The amazing superhero waves goodbye before swinging away.
“Where were we? Oh, yeah… You and I are stubborn to a fault,” The Onikage goes on to explain. “It would boil down to a battle of wills, and yours is stronger than mine. HOWEVER, there are things that I’m better at than you. Intellect. Knowledge. Imagination. THOSE are my real strengths.”
Realizing what’s about to occur, Naruto hurries and rips the webbing off his face. “I know we’re not really close, but we can stil–”
“Just drop it, Naruto, your Talk-no-Jutsu won’t work on me.” Jin callously dismisses him; a sinister light flickers in his eyes. “No more debate, the time for talk is over… It’s time for a DEATH BATTLE!!”
*DING!* *DONG!* *DING!* *DONG!*
The loud, clanging sound of a ringing bell reverberates from every and all directions with no discernible source in sight.
“I. Am. KROGAN!!” A deep and gruff voice roars.
The hero turns back around and sees a large humanoid, reptile with blue eyes and cybernetic armor charging toward him; it winds its right arm back and throws a devastating punch at Naruto’s face, knocking him down; he could feel his skull crack against the beast’s knuckles.
“He’s like me. Just a guy that loves adventure!”
“Unfortunately for him, his adventuring days are coming to an end.”
Wha..? Wh-who… …said that? Naruto groggily picks himself up.
The hero looks up and Jin has already vanished without a trace with two figures standing where he once was; one is covered in blue quills while the other’s riddled with black quills and some red.
In the blink of an eye, the two creatures run circles around the hyperactive knucklehead; they move so fast that they leave behind blue and orange wind. Naruto is helpless as he feels two spiked balls slam hard against his back, sending him flying; he crashes into a hard and cold surface.
…Ngh… …Just wh-what are these things…? Naruto thinks as he picks himself up, his face and back throb from those last few attacks. “…Where am I now? Where’d those things go…?!”
To the bewildered leaf ninja’s surprise, he is alone in a dark hallway; he can tell that the walls are made of metal with a single touch. Naruto’s neck hairs stand on end when the ambience suddenly and ominously changes, becoming cold, very cold; it’s as if the air has been poisoned by immense fear, rage, unyielding hate, indescribable pain, and eternal suffering.
“*Khhohhhhhh*… *Pwhhhhrrr*… *Khhohhhhhh*… *Pwhhhhrrr*…”
The hero’s skin crawls just from hearing what can only assume is the automated, repetitive sound of low and raspy breathing. Readying himself for a fight, Naruto whips around and stares into the corridor’s dark abyss; poised to strike, the hero begins infusing his chakra.
“*Khhohhhhhh*… *Pwhhhhrrr*…”
The whole passageway is promptly illuminated by a bright light, the luminosity emanates from a blade; its eerie red glow burns brightly. The wielder of the sword is a towering figure who’s clad in black; his menacing helmet vaguely resembles what a samurai would don.
“Hey, freak-face! I dunno who you are, but you’re in my way…” Naruto growls, producing over a dozen shadow clones.
“*Khhohhhhhh*… *Pwhhhhrrr*… *Khhohhhhhh*… *Pwhhhhrrr*…”
The dark figure doesn’t respond to any of the leaf ninja’s babbling; he slowly walks toward the hero while brandishing his blade in an intimidating fashion.