Sword of God -- A Naruto Fanfiction

| 43 | Bloodied Maze

Naruto landed on the forest floor, the bloodied landscape still present, just a shade too dark for his liking.

He sheathed the Sanguine Reaper in one he had gotten for free, though that is not to say that it is of inadequate quality.

Far from it, in fact, as it's made from the finest leather and reinforced with a thin membrane of chakra metal.

The redhead jinchuuriki tenderly cradled his hand that had begun swelling, forcing down a tiny wince.

He sighed. "If you want to hurt someone, you must be willing to be hurt in return."

He forced the Kyuubi's chakra into the point of injury, it acting as a substance to repress the toxins in his chakra network.

He took a glance at the blade, which had conducted the opposing chakra with ease.

The sword, which had been devoid of any light, had chinks of the original golden substance within it.

Not good.

Naruto pumped more spiritual energy into the katana, curing it of the accursed brightness that weakened his potential. 

Time to release my stage two form. Hopefully, this'll be enough to combat Yagura's Coral Palm when he uses it...

"Chakra Restriction Seal: Stage Two: Release!"

~~~

The Mizukage and Mei Terumi flung their attacks at each other with such ferocity that Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Boil Release: Solid Fog Jutsu!" Mei cried, spewing a cloud of highly acidic gas from her mouth.

It sped towards the Sanbi jinchuuriki at speeds incomprehensible to the human eye, yet he withstood it with such ease that it seemed to simply bounce off him, like an arrow being deflected by armour.

Mei gagged in horror as Yagura disappeared from sight.

A faint choking sound reached her ears, causing her to whip her head to the right, her hair obscuring her immaculate vision only delaying the inevitable. 

Ao, with his eyepatch, brutally removed, smiled faintly at the woman he had chosen to be lead by.

Throughout the years of serving her, not once had he regretted it, no matter the obstacles that disservice their road to victory nor the heavy losses they sustained after every clash with the Sanbi's rotten forces.

Naruto gaped silently, his mind flashed back to what seemed to be thousands of years ago, the memory tabooed and locked away in his mind for what had to be an eternity.

His will to protect and serve is so strong... Naruto reminisces. Haku, I wish you could see me now.

He removed the mask from his face, breathing a heavy sigh that seemed to carry the sky, worth thousands of millions of burdens.

His hair swayed freely in the wind, a few loose bangs obscuring his eyes filled to the brim with painstaking nostalgia from his genin days.

His emerald eyes that had been dulled resurface like a blazing inferno, twinkling with a carefree light that hadn't sparkled since so long ago...

His cloak billowed of its own volition, his aura basking him in dense, silver light as if the spotlight on a grand stage shined upon him.

Naruto smiled grimly. I'm not letting another die on me.

But as he thought this, he came to a halting realisation. Perhaps what makes a person is not their duties, but rather what they choose to be! That's what you meant, Haku!