Sword of God -- A Naruto Fanfiction

| 52 | The Silent Kill Initiative

So much had happened since the events of the Tenchi Bridge.

Sakura had recovered, but only half of her had, with the rest of her in the Shinigami's stomach, she could only move one half separated by a vertical divider.

Hinata and the other genin had been training hard with renewed vigour and energy, having increased their endurance and taijutsu, as Naruto strength lay in his kenjutsu and ninjutsu. They had become well-versed in their clan jutsu and strategy.

Meanwhile, Naruto had been laying waste to the remains of Otogakure, Orochimaru's village of experiments and genetic mutations that never reached its peak in power yet was soon to meet its downfall without structure and leadership.

Beforehand, it had been very simple. Orochimaru is king. But it had changed drastically. Three gangs had formed in the aftermath of the Snake Sage's death and by the time he had arrived, they were on the verge of a civil war.

The diehard loyalists, the rebels and the neutral party without a place to go.

He had sacked the conflicted nation singlehandedly with Chiton (Blood Style) jutsus, flooding it in a wave of blood. In essence, the conversion of his mitotic blood into Chiton chakra allowed for blood jutsus of all three states of matter.

Due to his special tenant, the blood loss could be nullified and regenerated, though just in case, he had stored a lake's worth of blood inside a storage seal on the underside of his boots.

The only underside of this process is that the regeneration process takes at least a day, making so that it is impossible for him to produce an unlimited source of blood.

Because of their versatile nature and their tremendous potential to maim, his Chiton is a strong competitor for the strongest bloodline.

The concept wasn't hard to grasp, it just consumed more chakra to mould than water, but is undeniably denser and more potent, a beneficial compensation.

At this moment in time, he stood upon an ocean of blood. Otogakure was no more.

•••

'Proceed quietly and carefully,' Kakashi signalled to his team using ANBU hand-signs. 'We are getting close.'

With the joint unit arriving at Naruto's last-known location, they had to decide on a strategy.

'Initiate plan 5,' Kakashi signalled. Stealth was a major priority; the operation was being carried out under the utmost secrecy.

The group had discarded their forehead protectors bearing the Konoha symbol and their individual outfits in favour of something more uniform. Most of them wore black mesh armour but others (such as Chouji) used iron-plated armour to accentuate their styles of combat.

The mission was being carried out under the disguises of a mercenary group in order to conceal Konoha's involvement with the mark, also known as Naruto Uzumaki, EX shinobi of the village. This helped to keep up the already waning pretence of him being under the village's command.

'Step into view. He won't run.'

They stepped into view atop a rock, facing Naruto.

He looked back.

They grinned. Time to prove themselves worthy. Time to bring back the old Naruto.

•••

Still, in his demonic form, Naruto admired the way the moon's rays hit the surface of his enemies' blood.

It was so alluring, so enchanting the way the blood rippled softly.