The God of Destruction

II

The Avalon Kingdom

Kuroka was nervous. Usually, it was easy for her to keep her emotions in check but not this time. She knew that many could tell her state of emotion by how her tails and ears were twitching.

Now how did it come to this?

She loved her adorable little sister, she truly did. But, Kuroka was going to blame her for this. It was her fault.

Most of the time, Kuroka would not be late to pick up Shirone from school. Of course, there were exceptions. Sometimes there were urgent matters that she needed to deal with. In those cases, she would tell her sister and the school beforehand about her situation. If she was unable to, then Jiraiya would act as the messenger. During those times, a female teacher would accompany Shirone all the way to their apartment.

With what Kuroka and her sister went through, both of them would be reluctant to be away from each other. Even for a short moment. But the city ‘Amaterasu’ had this warmth. A special power, she would like to believe. It made them feel welcomed, and safe. It made them feel like they were being properly taken care of. And after seeing how all the citizens behaved and interacted with each other, Kuroka and Shirone were able to get over their trauma fast. Of course, shadows of that horrible event still lingered in their hearts but it did not stop them from moving forward.

This was also why Kuroka did not mind someone from the school taking care of her sister. After all, all the teachers and faculty members were selected directly by August himself.

Today was one of those days. But she received a message a moment earlier informing her that instead of a teacher, Yasaka Ōtsutsuki, their queen, picked up Shirone. Supposedly, Kunou Ōtsutsuki, their princess, decided to have a sleepover at her place and all her close friends were invited. Kuroka did not know that her sister was a close friend to their one and only precious princess.

She flinched when the guard stopped and turned around. He, she was not sure if the guard was a living being or not with all the armor he was wearing, then gestured toward the large metal door. With a forced smile, Kuroka slowly walked forward. A gentle touch to the door was enough to tell her how much raw power these metals held. The moment she gave a small push, she felt her surroundings distorting.

She was being teleported.

Kuroka did not panic because she was told about this beforehand. Nevertheless, she was really surprised at the sight that greeted her.

She had seen her fair share of extravagant houses. Especially the devils; they would never shy away from showing off their fame and fortune. And they would go all out on their houses… no, castles would be a more appropriate term. In Amaterasu, most youkai were cautious about spending their money and resources. But even then, the wealthy and the famed youkai would spend generous amounts for their living quarters. So, when she was teleported to the place where the one and only King of Avalon and his family resided, she thought she would be seeing a large luxurious mansion. Instead, she was at the main entrance of what looked like a three-story Japanese-style house. Although it was quite large and it had a modern touch to it, this was not what she expected their king to stay in.

The door opened, and Kuroka visibly flinched.

“Ahh, Kuroka, I was waiting for you. Come in.” Yasaka, the queen of the Avalon Kingdom, was wearing a simple-looking yukata. Other than the earrings and the single ring on her left hand, she was not wearing anything remotely expensive. Even her queenly aura was missing. But it did not diminish her elegance at all. Far from it.

“My Queen, thank you…”

“Please Kuroka,” Yasaka interrupted her, her voice was gentle and soothing, “I am welcoming you as the mother of your sister’s friend, not as the queen. I will be very happy if you just act like yourself.”

Kuroka smiled. It was a strained one, and she could see even Yasaka could tell. But all she did was smile and ushered her to come inside, “Although, it looks like you are slightly late.” Yasaka smiled after looking at Kuroka one more time, “Follow me, you will see what I mean.”

Either Kuroka was too tense or Yasaka was very good at reading people, the Nekoshou decided to go with the latter. As Kuroka went inside, the first thing she saw was many multi-colored small shoes near the shoe closet. Taking off her shoes, Kuroka followed Yasaka.

The first thing that came to her mind as Kuroka looked around was that it was a warm home. There was nothing overly expensive or luxurious items out for display. Even most of the furniture was more toward being practical rather than overly expensive. If anything that caught her attention, it was the rough hand-drawn pictures hung over the walls. It seemed, their princess had a flair for drawing.

As they went up the stairs, Kuroka noticed a few Kitsune working around the house. She worked with Jiraiya long enough to know that those were clones. One of the few techniques that she desperately wanted to learn.

Yasaka stopped in front of a door and Kuroka could immediately tell by the colorful design and stickers whose room it was. Yasaka gently knocked three times before opening the door. She then turned around and pointed inside the room.

After seeing how warm and cozy their home was, Kuroka had an idea of what Kunou’s room was going to be like. And she was proven wrong once again. Although the light was turned off, she could see everything clearly. And the first thing that she noticed was that the whole ceiling was a mirror reflection of a quiet and starry night sky. Also, it was not just a static image. The flickering of the stars, the slow movement of the milky way, and the occasional glimpse of the falling stars. The scenery was so soothing that even Kuroka lost herself staring at the ceiling.

But just for a split second,

Composing herself, Kuroka looked down and saw all the children sleeping. Not in any bed or futon. They were all sleeping on top of various large plush toys. Even Shirone was sleeping… more like hugging a large plushie that resembled a black cat. Other than Kunou and Jiraiya’s children Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko; she did not know any of them. But she could sense that all of them were in deep sleep.

“They played around too much,” Yasaka said in a quiet tone.

Kuroka just nodded. She could not take her eyes off her sister. She looked so peaceful. As a child of her age should be. She also did not miss that both of her tails were gently wrapped around one of Kunou’s tails. It was akin to children holding hands while falling asleep.

“Thank you,” The words came out naturally, as her tears.

“Come,” Yasaka laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, “There is some hot chocolate left, I am sure you will like it.”

Yasaka led Kuroka to their dining table, which was downstairs. She looked at her clones and asked them to heat a glass of hot chocolate and make a cup of green tea. As they sat down, waiting for their drinks to be served, Kuroka did not what to say. It was not that she had nothing to talk about, just that she did not know where to start. And the last couple of minutes made her too emotional to think straight.

“You’re welcome,”

Kuroka blinked and looked at her queen, who had an understanding smile on her face. And just like that, the mist was cleared. A smile formed on Kuroka’s lips. Although her eyes glistered with unshed tears.

“Nine lives are not enough to repay what you, Naruto-sama… what the Avalon Kingdom has done for us.” Kuroka turned to Yasaka and gave her a short bow.

Yasaka got up from her chair and hugged her. The warmth, the reassurance, the understanding… she felt it all. It was overwhelming but at the same time, it felt good. She could not help as a lone tear escaped her control.

“Do you know Kuroka, who is responsible for the stability of a Kingdom?” Yasaka asked while hugging.

“The leaders,” The question was quite abrupt, but she knew there was more to it. At least Kuroka was sure of her answer.

“You are right. Proper and just leaders will create good foundations for their Kingdoms. Foundations that will be strong enough to hold their Kingdom no matter how large it becomes. They will do the right things for their people, to their people which in turn will make the Kingdom stable and strong. Now, can you tell me who is responsible for keeping the Kingdom harmonious?”

Kuroka broke the hug, albeit reluctantly, and stared at Yasaka. Surprisingly, her queen had a mischievous smile on her face. She squinted her eyes as she concentrated. The answer was simple and yet it felt lost. In the end, she went with the answer that came to her at the beginning, “Umm… the people, right?”

“Correct again,” Yasaka let go of Kuroka and sat down again, “Let’s go with an example for this one, the Devil faction has powerful and good leaders. They are trying their best to create a stable and strong system. But everything is all for naught if their people do not appreciate it, and do not follow them. Factions, countries, and Kingdoms like those are just powerful. But they are not trustworthy. They cannot make allies easily. With that, I will ask you the last and the most important question,” This made Kuroka sit a bit straighter, “Who is responsible for the Kingdom’s future?”

The answer was easy, or at least she thought it was, “The leaders and the people, right?”

Yasaka shook her head. Then she pointed at the ceiling. At first, it looked like a random direction, but the Kuroka understood where she was pointing. It was Kunou’s room, upstairs, “It is the next generation of the Kingdom. And that,” Yasaka then gave her a bright smile, “Includes you.”

Good thing Kuroka was not holding the hot chocolate given to her by a clone. Otherwise, she would have dropped the glass for sure.

“The children are our future; they always have been. When they grow up, when they are ready, we will pass our mantles to them. We will still be there, guiding them. But the ones who will walk alongside them are not us, but someone like you.”

Kuroka opened her mouth and then closed it. She repeated it a few more times. Any more surprises and she was out. Honestly, she thought it was better if she just lost consciousness and let the future her take care of it.

“Relax Kuroka,” Yasaka giggled, “This is way into the future. What I mean to say is that you are already repaying us by upholding our values, by following our ways of life. We do not save people in hopes of any kind of repayment. It was never our intention and it will never be. All we hope is that you follow our laws and respect others. But then, some are willing to go far beyond that. Your achieving the title ‘Yonbi’ is a testament to that.”

Kuroka let out a wry smile and slumped into the chair. Her tone was barely above a whisper, “You could have just told me that at the start.”

“Now where is the fun in that.”

Kuroka pouted at the reply. It seemed that their Queen was as mischievous as their King

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X

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Somewhere in the Himalayas

(Three months after the top ten revelations)

This was a secluded place that Shiva had created for himself. A place to meditate undisturbed. Of course, few knew about this location. But he knew no one would ever visit him unless it was absolutely necessary. No one…

“Shiva!!!”

Except him.

Naruto watched as Shiva broke his meditation with a resigned expression. But he did not miss the small smile on Shiva’s face. Still, he pouted, “Your best friend came to meet you and this is the face you make? I am hurt.”

Shiva gave him a blank look, “I sensed you when you entered the Hindu faction’s domain. There was no need to shout. I am sure even the Asgardians now know where you are.”

“You don’t have to be so dramatic,” Naruto snorted, “If I want others to know about my location, trust me, I have a flashier way of doing that.”

“Of that, I have no doubt,” Shiva smiled and then closed his eyes. As he released his breath, his form started to change. Normally, Shiva would have the appearance of a twelve-year-old boy, with green and black hair and tanned skin. It made him more approachable, at the same time less noticeable. But with Naruto, he would always take his natural form. Six and five feet tall lean build with longer hair. To others, his light blue skin would stand out the most but to Naruto, it was his eyes. Shiva’s eyes did not have any unique pattern, but they failed to hide the bottomless divinity and the infinite knowledge that Shiva possessed.

“So, my best friend, what do you want now?”

Naruto took a step back, his hands going over his chest, “How dare you! After all, I have done, after all the ramen we shared! Is this how…” Shiva continued with his flat stare, making Naruto fold his hands and click his tongue, “Fine~ You sound like I only visit you when I need something.”

“I wish it was something as simple as that,” Shiva chuckled, “Instead of pulling me into trouble.”

“Hey,” Naruto protested, “You enjoyed every bit of those. Heck, after all our fiasco, I am the one who cleans up our mess,” Shiva raised an eyebrow at Naruto’s comment, making him blink. A second later he let out a sheepish smile, “Well, most of the time.”

With a bright smile, Naruto came forward and bumped his fist with Shiva’s. At first, Shiva was not overly fond of this greeting. But it was either this or a bear hug.

“So, what kind of brilliant idea you came up with this time,” The sarcasm was not lost to Naruto but before he could retort, Shiva stopped him, “Look, we know each other quite well. It is true that whenever you have time, you would visit me for a cup of ‘Chaay’ or ramen. Now, if it is just for chitchat or catching up you would not have barged into the Hindu faction’s territory like that. Usually, you would have sent a formal notification before visiting me. The only time you do not care about any sort of formalities is when you have a so-called awesome idea, in which I will be forced to take part. Now, tell me I am wrong.”

Naruto raised his index finger but then dropped it. With a grunt, he answered, “Yes, fine. Such a spoilsport. So, I will keep it short since you are not in the mood. I will join the Elemental Academy as a student. Just for a semester or two.”

Shiva’s smile vanished.

“And since there is a chance that if anything goes south, shit will hit the fan. So, I am planning to get as many powerful people from various factions as I can to join me in this.”

Shiva blinked once,

Twice,

“Till now, I have got Yasaka, Thor, and you. I am thinking of approaching the Biblical faction. Still not sure about how to go with this since I feel like most of them are stuck-ups… except Azazel I think.”

Shiva was now rubbing his forehead, “So, let me get this straight. You want to infiltrate your own academy, whose security you said is supposed to be unparalleled. And, you want to include as many top-tier individuals as you can so that when your cover is exposed, you are safe. Because no one can point fingers at you as you have your back covered. And you want this to go on for more than a few months. Did I get everything?”

With a huge smile filled with pride, Naruto nodded, “Yup~”

Shiva looked at Naruto. The stare-down went on for two seconds before Shiva looked up. Naruto was not a language expert but it was easy to tell that Shiva was either cursing Naruto or his luck in an ancient language. If anyone knew Shiva, then they would say it was an achievement, a miracle… to make him curse like that. After he was done, he looked at Naruto again, “Just tell me this. Why are you not joining as a teacher?”

“Well, think about it, all the participating factions will send their best students and teachers. The problem is if a fight breaks out most if not all the teachers will side with their faction. And I also do not think that the students will share much if the teachers are not from their faction. But, you will not have these restrictions as a student. Sure, not all the students will be chummy with each other but it will be easier to motivate them or help them as students rather than as teachers.”

“So, you really thought about it,” Shiva gave a wry smile. Naruto grinned at that. Of course, he thought about it. After all, to sell a bizarre and probably a disastrous plan, the presentation had to be superb. Now for the second part, “You are already in my master plan, Shiva. And if you want out, you have to fight me.”

Shiva chuckled. Immediately the environment around them changed, they were on top of the clouds now, “You are just looking for an excuse to have a spar.”

“You got me,” Naruto rubbed the back of his head. Then his face lost all of its mirths, “Shiva, I do not want a normal spar.” He raised his hand before Shiva could protest, “Hear me out. I am not saying to go all out as if our lives depend on it. Just that, let’s take this fight a bit more seriously.”

Shiva did not answer immediately. But the silence was not uncomfortable. It took one whole minute before Shiva met Naruto’s gaze.

There was no movement no chanting from Shiva, their surrounding just instantly changed. It was a rocky field with a plain cloudless sky. Nothing could be seen as far as his vision could go. Naruto immediately knew that there were not on Earth anymore. Naruto was here before, two times in fact. This place was one of Shiva’s personal realms, to train and to mediate when he really wanted to be alone. And to spar, on very rare occasions.

“You want to test something,” it was not a question. Although Naruto did not look guilty, he looked a bit uncomfortable. Shiva chuckled, “It is okay. I completely understand your situation, my friend. But I have a request as well. I know that I will get dragged into your shenanigans regardless of the result of our fight. So what I ask of you for the fight, is to tell me about your past.”

Naruto’s shoulder slumped. He and Shiva had been friends for a long time. So, it would not come as a surprise that both knew a lot about each other. But Naruto only shared events related only to this life of his. Not his old one. But he did not hide that fact. He had told Shiva before that when the time was right, he would tell him about his past life. It was not that Naruto did not trust Shiva. He was just worried that revealing this would have unnecessary consequences. After all, even in the Avalon Kingdom, it was a high-level secret.

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“That is the price, Naruto. I will also tell you why I am keen on learning about your past. If you agree, then I will take this fight very seriously.” Now that surprised Naruto. In the past, no matter what, Shiva would not fight seriously. Well, it did not matter as Shiva was able to beat him effortlessly without getting serious, “Of course, I cannot use everything in my arsenal as that will require me to break some of my vows. But other than that, I will give it my best,” There was a sly smile on Shiva’s face, “If you can push me that is.”

Naruto was no fool. He knew something was bothering Shiva as well. But it seemed his friend would give him the answer without him pestering about it. But that would not be enough, “You cannot also tell this to anyone without my permission.”

Shiva nodded, “Understandable. But know this, if the fate of the Hindu faction is on the line, then I will not be able to keep my word. And that is only if I am sure that this information will help our faction.”

“Only Brahma and Vishnu?” Shiva nodded again at Naruto’s inquiry, “Then that is fair I guess.” With that out of the way, Naruto flared his divine energy.

Shiva just smiled at that.

Naruto closed his eyes, clearing his mind. Shiva’s fighting style had three stages. In his first stage, Shiva would only use martial arts backed up by a minimal amount of divine energy. Not his unique divine energy but the simple type which all gods or goddesses could use. He would also fight defensively. But this did not make it any less deadly. During this stage, there were two things Naruto needed to watch out for. First and foremost was Shiva’s precise counterattacks, which were insane even by god’s standards. The other one was his martial art itself. It was the simplest yet most lethal form of fighting style he had ever seen.

The first time Naruto fought Shiva, he could not get past his martial arts even after throwing everything he had. To be fair, Shiva fought more like a true ninja than him. His every movement was calculated and his counterattacks were lethal to a fault. On the other hand, Naruto fought like a battlemage. Yes, he had proficiency in close-quarter combat but he threw techniques like a mage who had too many drinks.

Fighter assassin versus battlemage, the outcome was quite obvious unless Naruto pulled something really out of the box or changed his fighting style completely.

With a smile, Naruto opened his eyes and clapped once, “Challenge accepted~”

Immediately, two clones appeared behind him. But this was not normal clones, but the perfected Astral clones. Each of his clones, including him had his new inverse Rinnegan activated, black sclera with white rings. And each of his clones was carrying a unique weapon.

His clone number one, which he named Striker, had tattooed gauntlets whereas his clone number two, Caster, had a staff.

As for Naruto, he made a sweeping motion and not a second later, a katana emerged.

It had no guard but had an intricate habaki. The handle was wrapped with a single cloth, but it had a particular shade of orange. And the most unique feature of the katana was that the edge was reversed.

“That is one exquisite-looking Katana you have there. Hand-crafted yourself, I believe,” Shiva smiled, “Does it have a name?”

Naruto grinned as his eyes scanned the whole length of the Katana he was holding, “Yes, it does. It is named after a dear comrade of mine,” He looked up and met Shiva’s gaze, “It’s called Kurama.”

The moment those words left Naruto’s mouth, Shiva relaxed his stance. It was the signal that the fight started.

Naruto and Shiva did not move for ten seconds… honestly, that felt like an hour to Naruto.

Finally, Naruto took the initiative. He appeared in front of Shiva, his body moving to stab him in the chest. And then Shiva disappeared, only to reappear on top of Caster. His right leg was facing the sky.

Naruto did not even have the time to be surprised. Now he knew what Shiva meant by being serious. Never had Shiva taken an aggressive approach in his first stage during all their previous fights, at least not from the very beginning. It seemed he had to make some slight adjustments to his strategy.

Caster and Naruto swapped their positions, who tried to block the dropkick with Kurama. But instead of following through with the kick, Shiva moved back. From mid-air. Naruto made sure not to give any form of hints about his sword’s capabilities, but he forgot that Shiva’s battle instinct was considered to be at a monstrous level.

Shiva, in midair, rotated his body to perfectly dodge all the lightning beams; courtesy of Striker. Immediately after, Shiva clapped his hands from midair. The shockwave created from the clap was enough to dispel all the incoming elemental attacks, shaped as various weapons; created by Caster.

After dodging everything, Shiva’s feet touched the ground.

And Naruto was immediately in front of him.

If Shiva’s fighting style was compared to that of a passive assassin, then there were two ways to defeat him. Quality – Naruto would have to fight better than him, he had to be the better assassin. Simple in pen and paper but was impossible to pull off. After all, Shiva had thousands of years of experience. Next was Quantity – Outnumber him. Usually, assassins were best in a one-on-one battle. Of course, throwing hundreds and thousands of clones at him would be pointless. Shiva would either decimate them immediately or would end the battle by taking him, the real one, out.

So, he tried a different tactic. Well, it was a combination of both Quality and Quantity. The idea was simple. Both Striker and Caster would support Naruto. How? Striker, with his enchanted gauntlet, would try to distract Shiva by throwing all the fast and precise Jutsu at him. Caster on the other hand would fight like a pure magician. But instead of casting devastating attacks, he would fight and support using Fuinjutsu.

Naruto knew that there was very little possibility of the attacks from his clones hitting Shiva. But, it would certainly slow him down, or at the very least disrupt his fighting rhythm.

As for Naruto, he knew he should have used a different weapon since ‘Kurama’ was not completely ready yet. Yes, the structure of the katana was done. The necessary Fuinjutsu and enchantments were also in place. But the soul… the soul of the blade was not completely ready. It was there, but it was still at its infant stage.

And to use it in this fight… it was not a brilliant idea. But Naruto wanted to get used to the Katana. If everything worked out well, this would be his personal weapon, his Divine Artefact.

Naruto took a stance, and whispered, “First Fang: Samehada.”

If it was an old weapon, he would not need to say the technique out loud. But for a weapon this young, it needed to understand its partner’s wishes.

The katana resonated with him, the edges of the blade started to change, from smooth silver steel to rough black scales.

Of course, Shiva was standing still and admiring the view. He did for the first half a second. But the moment, Kurama started transforming, he was on top of Naruto.

While his katana was still transforming, Naruto thrust it forward. Shiva moved the katana out of his way just by making a quick tap on the side of the blade, with one finger. The spikes of Kurama came out, but the opponent was gone.

His target was Caster.

Caster swapped places with Striker before Shiva could land a blow on him. Striker’s gauntlet let out irregular lightning shocks making Shiva fall back a few steps. Naruto tried to get him from behind with a low swipe. Shiva jumped to dodge the swipe and kicked to his side. The shockwave from his kick propelled him away from Striker’s attack. While in midair, he rotated his body multiple times to dodge all the incoming elemental attacks. When he landed, Naruto was again in front of him.

He could tell, from a bystander’s perspective, they were in a stalemate. But it was not the truth. Although Naruto was not using any techniques, it was not the same for his astral clones. He also knew that Shiva was waiting for one slip. And that was all he would need to take out one of his clones. Coming back from that would be quite hard for Naruto.

A drastic measure, otherwise it was not going anywhere.

Naruto told his clones about his plan telepathically. When he noticed both of his clones were in position, he took another stance and whispered again, “Second Fang: Shapeless Blade.”

It was as if Kurama was shedding. The black skin on the blade fell off, revealing the silver blade within it; which was slowly losing its color. And a moment later, it became completely transparent. It was as if Naruto was holding a Katana which was missing its blade.

In response, Shiva conjured two gauntlets made of furs that went as far as his elbows. Naruto knew Shiva could have disrupted the process but it seemed that the God of Destruction wanted a challenge.

And Naruto would be glad to give him one.

He struck Shiva from his left and was surprised to see Shiva fully blocking it using his new gauntlet. Of course, Shiva had no issues sensing an invisible shape-shifting blade.

The invisible blade of Kurama made an agitated sound as it could not completely pierce the fur. The blade did damage the fur, but not enough. The invisible blade extended itself and tried to strike Shiva from the back. Of course, Shiva was not standing still. With his free hand, he went for a palm strike. Naruto took a few steps back to dodge it but his blade extended more to make sure that the attack from the back was not interrupted.

Taking a deep breath, Shiva gave Kurama a karate chop.

Naruto felt the vibration from that chop to his bones. He immediately retracted Kurama.

Shiva did not follow through. He looked up and saw that the clear sky was now completely covered with clouds. The sound of lightning was not lost to anyone.

The God of Destruction looked at Naruto and raised his right arm, the palm facing the sky. And as if a nuke went off, the cloud dispersed. Starting from the middle. There was no sound, no explosion. With one single move, Shiva undid Naruto’s plan.

One of his plans,

Naruto charged. The length of Kurama was shortened and spikes came out from the blade which started to rotate, similar to that of a drill. Shiva’s left gauntlet disappeared and then a similar type of leg guard appeared on his left leg. Another breath and Shiva leaned backward just a bit and raised his leg. The kick met the thrust.

Another shockwave occurred because of the clash and two opponents had to fall back.

Just after landing, Shiva immediately performed a 360 crescent kick. A pulse when he rotated the body deflected all the incoming spells from Caster, and lastly, the target of the kick was Striker. Although the clone dodged the kick, by a hair’s breadth, it lost its balance.

Before Shiva could utilize the gap, Naruto flared his aura.

Shiva stopped his attack midway and flared his aura as well. A moment later, everyone met in the middle. Shiva was in the middle flanked by the clones and Naruto was in front facing Shiva. But instead of exchanging any blows, both Naruto and Shiva opened their minds to the other. Using their minds and aura alone, they started to simulate the battle. No domination over other’s minds, no using their unique divine energy, no physical confrontation at all… just pure battle simulation in their combined mindscape.

It was to see who was better without actually lifting a finger, physically. Each second in the real world was equivalent to an hour in their mindscape.

One second pass,

Two seconds,

Three seconds,

Four seconds,

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows.

Five seconds,

Six seconds,

Shiva’s left eyebrow twitched.

Seven seconds,

Eight seconds,

Nine seconds,

Striker’s gauntlet cracked,

Ten seconds,

Caster stabbed his staff to the ground to prevent itself from falling.

Eleven seconds,

Naruto’s started to breathe through his mouth

Twelve seconds,

Shiva took a deep breath.

Thirteen seconds,

Another deep breath.

Fourteen seconds,

Both Striker and Caster wobbled.

Naruto closed his eyes and forcedly shut down the simulation. Immediately he flared his aura again. But stronger than last time. It seemed Shiva had thought the same. Both aura clashed again creating another large shockwave, pushing all the participants away. As Naruto landed, along with his clones, he saw Shiva raising his right index finger.

And just like that, all the traps that the caster made till now detonated.

Naruto blinked once. Twice. And then he screamed, “Fuck!” He stabbed the ground with Kurama. And after taking a deep breath, he leaned onto it, “How did you find the traps, all the traps? There were at least six to seven layers of seals on each of them.”

Shiva relaxed his stance once again, “You are not the only one with great vision.”

Naruto groaned loudly, “Ah fuck it! You win the first round,” Now that surprised Shiva. Naruto waved his free hand and his clones disappeared, “I wanted to see if I can beat that scary-ass martial art of yours with my tri-blade formation.” Seeing the mirth in Shiva’s eyes, Naruto sighed, “Yeah, yeah, I know. I am working on the name.”

He then let go of Kurama who disappeared. Kurama was strong but not enough for the next round. He snapped his fingers and the clones disappeared as well. In the next instant, most of his clothing disappeared too. He was only wearing his black ninja pants, even his shoes were gone, “My next fighting style is comparatively quite new… and batshit dangerous. So…”

“I do not see how stripping is relevant to that.”

Naruto snorted but did not say anything. His Rinnegan remained the same but the rest of his physical appearance changed. His arms, from the elbow down, became pure white. Markings of pure white also appeared all around his body. Even his hair changed color, similar to his tattoos.

“As I was saying, this style is new and I do not have as much control as others. So, I would urge you to move to your next style, Shiva.”

In response, Shiva just raised an eyebrow.

With a sigh, Naruto raised his right hand. Aiming at Shiva, he flicked his fingers. As expected, Shiva dodged the projectile. But his opponent already noticed something was wrong. He looked back and saw that the land where the projectile landed started to disintegrate into ashes. And Naruto noticed that Shiva finally figured out what the projectile was.

“The name was not given by me, but the technique is called ‘All-killing Ash Bones’. I was being serious when I said that technique is batshit crazy and dangerous.” Naruto smirked as he saw Shiva sighing.

The change was not as much dramatic as Naruto’s. But, it was very noticeable. Shiva’s appearance remained the same, but now he was surrounded by a thick crimson aura… that was the ‘Power of Destruction’.

The only new addition to Shiva’s second fighting style was the inclusion of the common version of ‘Power of Destruction’. The one that the devils and other divine beings could use. Now, those who never fought Shiva would think that there should not be much difference since Naruto crushed Sirzechs who had overwhelming mastery of his ‘Power of Destruction’.

But Naruto had fought both of them and saw firsthand their mastery over the ‘Power of Destruction’. It was true that Sirzechs mastery was nothing to scoff at. He had mastered the concept of ‘Eliminating’ which was not an easy feat. But Shiva? He could manipulate and change the very concept of the ‘Power of Destruction’. Now that was on a whole another level of mastery.

Of course, that also meant that ‘All-killing Ash Bones’ would not be enough.

With a grin, Naruto took a fighting stance.

And his eyes widened, as Shiva was now in front of him… in midair.

Knowing what was coming, Naruto's forehead hardened and extra bones came out creating a thick forehead protector. And that was all he could do as the flying kick hit him in the face. He adjusted his face so the forehead took the brunt of it. Even then, he could feel himself being pushed back. But before he could grab Shiva, he rotated and delivered a light kick to push himself away from Naruto.

Naruto felt the crack on his bone protector but could not stop himself from grinning as he saw Shiva’s conjured leg guard start to disintegrate.

The grin on his face stiffened when Shiva’s red aura on his right hand thickened and slowly took the shape of a weapon. The one he was quite familiar with. Shiva’s gauntlet and leg guard disappeared.

Naruto took a deep breath and focused again. Although it was not ‘Trishula’, the fact that Shiva created a weapon of the same size and shape meant he was quite serious now. Also, the crimson weapon was giving him a bad vibe. And then there was the fact that Shiva was the one who initiated the fight. He had never done so before.

It meant he would have to bring out everything from the start.

Naruto’s shadow started to deform and formed a black circle underneath him. From there, nine ‘Truth-Seeking Balls’ appeared. The markings surrounding his body started to emit a light glow and were producing white sparks randomly.

It was time to see if Naruto could surpass Shiva’s mastery over the ‘Power of Destruction’ with the combined might of ‘All-killing Ash Bone’, ‘Truth-Seeking balls’, and ‘Hiraishin’.

In a flash, Naruto was in front of Shiva who was already in a position to block Naruto’s knee strike. Of course, Naruto’s knee had a bone guard on. No way he was touching Shiva’s trident. But Shiva maneuvered his position in a way that made Naruto forcedly move to the side. Giving a very small opening to Shiva.

And then came the surprise.

Two more bone hands came out from Naruto’s back. They were longer than his original ones and each was carrying a bone sword. As they were about to strike, four of the Truth-seeking balls morphed into spears and rushed toward Shiva.

Shiva didn’t even slam his feet. The ground beneath him just exploded, enough so that he went down just by a few centimeters. Smoothly dodging Naruto’s back-arm strikes. At the same time, the ground surrounding Shiva became uneven making Naruto lose his balance. Of course, he immediately moved away. And all the Truth-seeking balls followed him.

The reason Naruto was not going with explosive or elemental types of techniques was that those would not work. Shiva had this absurd ability where he could deduce the scope and extent of explosions, regardless of how it was caused. So it was easy for him to dodge those types of techniques. And if dodging was not an option or if the opposing technique was too large, he would create an exact amount of destructive force to negate the attack.

Also, ‘Shinra Tensei’ would not work on Shiva at his current stage. Naruto had not yet figured out how but he suspected that Shiva’s ‘Power of Destruction’ somehow could nullify the effect. Of course, if he were to boost up the effect then it would work, somewhat. The result was not satisfactory enough so he had to skip that skill.

And since Naruto unlocked ‘All-killing Ash Bone’ after ascending, he knew that it was the perfect choice to counterattack the ‘Power of Destruction’. Of course, he had a few more extra hidden cards but those were for later.

Naruto and Shiva held each other’s gaze for a moment. Then both rushed in and rushed out, trying to land one solid hit within that fraction of a second.

And then a moment later they rushed in again.

Pure white bones met with the crimson trident,

One of the strongest killing abilities versus the truly mastered destruction ability.

Neither opponent wanted to touch the other’s weapon. And the moment any of them were even close to his opponent’s strike, he would create a distraction and fall back.

A moment later, they would rush in again.

They did it multiple times.

Unfortunately, neither could land a single hit since both were fast and both had some form of prediction ability. Yes, Naruto’s speed and prediction ability were better but Shiva’s battle instinct and experience made up for it.

Naruto rushed again. But midway, he let go of all of his swords. The swords shattered and the pieces rushed toward Shiva. Immediately a small screech sound was heard. And the bone shards, instead of striking Shiva, passed by harmlessly.

Shiva had created a small invisible explosion in front of him, which caused enough force to move away the shards.

But it was not over.

In a flash, Naruto was behind Shiva. The position was perfect. As he was about to execute ‘Eight Trigrams One thousand and twenty-four Palms’, Shiva turned a hundred and eighty degrees. Now facing him. And he had done so without moving his legs as if his legs slid through the ground and repositioned his whole body. With one swift move, Shiva struck all four arms of Naruto with his trident. Effectively destroying the ‘Gentle fist’ technique. And at the same time, Shiva used his free hand to give a palm strike, aimed at Naruto’s face.

Naruto instantly started to create a bone mask. At that same moment, he also extended his knee to hit Shiva’s defenseless side. Of course, nothing worked as intended. Shiva knowing that Naruto was faster changed the style and direction of his attack. His palm changed into a stabbing form and struck Naruto’s shoulder blade.

The strike hit its mark, making Naruto wince. Unfortunately for him, this also weakened the force of his knee attack. His ‘All-killing Ash bone’ and regeneration immediately started to heal and fight back Shiva’s aura, which was now invading his body like poison.

Not to be outdone, the hands on Naruto’s back slammed onto the ground. Leaning on those hands, Naruto moved back. And at the same time, he landed a powerful kick on Shiva’s side.

As Shiva jumped back, the Truth-seeking balls finally struck. All this time, they had been gathering the pieces, shards, or leftover bone fragments from Naruto’s attacks. As subtly as they could.

All nine orbs simultaneously threw thousands of small bone shards at Shiva, from all sides. In mid-air, Shiva’s aura flared and started rotating. Immediately it created a giant sphere, completely covering him.

Naruto took out one of the bone arms and morphed into a drilling spear. He launched it at the giant sphere, through one of his Truth-seeking balls. As the spear went through the orb, the rotation and the speed increased tenfold.

It pierced Shiva’s defensive sphere.

Just for a second, Naruto became worried. The triceps of Shiva’s left arm was slowly disintegrating. Of course, just in a second, the injury completely disappeared. But a scar remained.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that. Shiva only answered with a smile, “I will heal it later. For now, it is a reminder.”

Now that raised all the warning bells in Naruto’s mind.

Shiva’s trident disappeared. Immediately the air, the ground… the very nature around them became toxic for Naruto. He knew what Shiva did. He injected ‘Power of Destruction’ into all the elements surrounding them, meaning slowly all life forms will be destroyed. Now, Naruto did not need these elements to perform any of his attacks but he knew it was done to hamper his movement and to decrease the efficiency of his techniques.

Shiva made a fist and another weapon was created purely from his ‘Power of Destruction’. The shape was similar to a cutlass. And then Shiva made a swing, from where he was standing. Naruto raised his arms, and one of the Truth-seeking balls was immediately in front of him. And it was cleanly cut in half. Naruto even felt a crack in his arms which were fully covered with bone.

One more swing and two more Truth-seeking balls were cut.

Naruto immediately ordered his orbs to take shelter behind him. Unfortunately, that did not help much as Shiva was now onto him. Naruto knew that even ‘All-killing Ash bone’ would not be useful as a defensive method now. Shiva had increased the density and the strength of ‘Power of Destruction’ to the point that it was now ‘Cutting’ anything instead of ‘Destroying’.

Now, that was a level of mastery that should be feared.

Naruto knew he had one shot at this, and if it did not work then this round would be Shiva’s as well. And he really did not want that.

Two of the Truth-seeking balls shattered and created unnatural-shaped shards of black and white. As they descended upon Shiva, he was forced to focus on the incoming attack. That one moment was enough for Naruto.

“Forest creation: Birth of the Great Tree.”

To win against fire, one needed water. To win against darkness, one needed light. So what about destruction? It was creation.

The plane, which was slowly dying, was immediately filled with life. Trees, plants, grass… in a second, they were in the middle of a clearing. Inside a gigantic forest. And just behind Shiva was a large tree that looked like it was touching the sky.

The ‘Power of Destruction’ vanished from nature and Shiva’s aura weakened. Naruto knew it would only last for a few seconds. And that was all that he needed.

The remaining four Truth-seeking orbs changed into rods and stuck to random places. One even looked like it was hovering in the air.

The white sparks, coming from Naruto, became lightning streaks.

Hiraishin was one of the fastest techniques, no doubt. But it was not the fastest technique. And in this world, there were quite a few individuals whose lightning manipulation rivaled Hiraishin or who were simply fast enough to match the legendary technique. So, how could he make Hiraishin faster?

The answer was simple. Make it so fast that the time itself would stop.

Naruto moved, and he felt everything around him coming to a halt. Unsurprisingly, Shiva moved as well. But he was slow. Too slow. Unfortunately, Naruto knew that this upper hand of his wouldn’t last long considering his opponent.

In a flash, Naruto was behind Shiva.

“Eight Trigrams One thousand and twenty-four Palms,”

First, four consecutive strikes hit their marks,

Although Shiva couldn’t move fast enough to dodge, he increased the intensity of his aura.

Second, sixteen consecutive strikes missed their target by an inch,

Shiva’s aura started to morph.

Third, sixty-four consecutive strikes hit their marks again,

The aura around Shiva became denser and turned into needles. But both Shiva and Naruto knew that they were not stable enough to stop Naruto’s attack.

And then Shiva’s mouth moved,

“Nasht,”

Just one word, and the world around them, the realm… everything simply disappeared.

That was the true power of the strongest God of Destruction.