6 The Transformation (Rewrite finished)

On the broad road leading to the village hidden in the leaves, a man walked with certain steps. Like a war god marching to war, his image was one of domination and chaos. With wild long red hair, going every which way and muscles the size of canons, he wasn't one to be messed with. With such an awe-inspiring look, it made it all the more confusing when you saw the little girl sitting comfortably on his broad shoulder. With a smile to melt kingdoms, she was scribbling something down on a notepad.

"So, here is my design for your new outfit. What do you think?" She shoved the pad in his face, not caring that his vision of the road was blocked off. With a sigh of annoyance and a suppressed growl, he took a look at the sketch.

"I am NOT wearing something that tight. And, it looks a little too much like a dress."

"It is a dress. There is nothing wrong with men wearing dresses. I've seen it thousands of times, I thought it was normal." She threw the paper away and it burned up before hitting the ground.

"Well, humans can do as they like. I am NOT wearing a dress meant for some princess. Give me something manly, open chest, maybe made from the skin of some badass animal. You know, something cool."

She grinned mischievously. "How about the skin of a fox. Maybe a particular large fox. The armour would be soft too. I hear they have really soft fur."

"I thought more along the lines of a dragon." He said, refusing to acknowledge her morbid sense of humour.

The man standing at a couple of inches over two meters suddenly sprouted a vicious grin as his red eyes lit up in the night. "I smell humans. twenty-three in total. The Hokages are among them. How do you want to deal with this?"

"Let them come, I say. Should be interesting to see if they recognize you. Plus, I could use some help with these designs." She showed another sketch to him.

"No! Just... Fuck no!"

"Halt!" Said a man covered in black with a mask to boot. He along with the rest had appeared and surrounded the duo.

"For mortals, they are quite good. Well trained, nice posture, decent killing intent. Average soldiers wouldn't stand two seconds against them." The princess on his shoulder commented happily. Seemingly not concerned by the metallic objects pointed at her and her mount.

"Identify yourselves! And, I can't believe I am going to ask this... But, you don't happen to have seen a giant fox lying around somewhere around here?"

"Nope, blondie. Never have I seen such a thing."

"You two are quite a strange sight. You remind me of someone." The leading man looked at the giant. His calculative gaze trying to piece some sort of puzzle in his mind.

"Not any stranger than you."

A bandaged man walked forth, slow but deadly movements, indicating years of constant fighting. His figure screamed vigilance and arrogance. "We asked you to identify yourselves. You who sits upon others shoulders. Who are you?" The very act of having to ask for their names seemed to be appalling to him. As if doing this was above him.

"Maleficent." She locked gazes with him. Learning from her meeting with Kuramam she kept her divine aura restrained. If Kurama became a blubbering mess, she had no idea what normal humans were gonna be left as. One part of her wanted to expose them to her aura just to see if they would go insane from it.

"Okay, Maleficent. We are gonna have to ask you to come with us. Right now, we are in sort of a lockdown and you two will have to stay in lockup until tomorrow. Please, do not resist. It will make this much easier." The blonde one seemed genuine enough. It would have been fine for Maleficent, but Kurama, who was now a walking talking war-god set free didn't revel in the prospect of chains once again.

"I will never be bound again. I will kill all of you before I let you put me into some sobbing brat! Come face your death or leave and live another day!" He started radiating heat and the ground was breaking apart from the aura rising. This was death incarnate for some of the weaker people present.

"Ready formation C!"

"Lord Third, please cover me while I take lead."

"Of course, Minato!"

Kurama who stood with his hands crossed over his chest let them fall to his side. Maleficent jumped off and taken as a sign of first aggression, the shinobi started weaving hand signs. With nigh-perfect synchronization, they spit various elemental jutsus towards the demon fox.

Kurama, in a show of pure physical prowess, faded away, only to appear next to a shinobi. With a quick jab, his hand blew away most of the upper body of the shinobi. Heart, lungs, ribs and most of the torso completely blown to hell. Nothing more than a piece of dead meat dropped to the ground, forming a large pool of blood.

"He's fast, Defense formation A! Guards up!" Danzo roared to his own. Not a second later and he himself was surrounded by ninjas previously hidden in the forest. Clearly, they weren't part of Minato's unit. Maleficent meanwhile stood off to the side, furiously scribbling down what she saw.

"This is good, keep it up. The inspiration is just flowing."

The third Hokage looked none too pleased, glaring at Danzo and whispered. "We'll talk after this." Having been told Root was shut down, yet clearly not. A program he had come to detest. Essentially creation of mindless drone-soldiers. At the beck and call of only one man.

"COME AT ME ALL AT ONES!!" Kurama roared and stomped hard on the ground, breaking it apart from more. His eyes caught a fast-moving object just at the edge of his peripherals. A second later, a yellow flash and a kunai only centimetres from his throat. With a quick tilt, he dodged the fastest shinobi around, the fourth Hokage. His hand shut out to grab him, but he teleported away.

"Quick little bastard. That won't work twice!" He dashed forward, towards the third Hokage.

"Restrain him!" As the words were being spoken, the earth around Kurama moulded and erupted. It seemed alive as it was trying to trap him, courtesy of the many shinobi surrounding him. He dodged another batch of flying shuriken and disappeared. Having had enough trying to have fun. These people would never fight him fairly with their fists as he wished. It was time to show the might of the strongest Tailed-beast.

He appeared inside Danzo's circle of shinobi, right next to him. Quicker than anyone could see, his hand rose and grabbed the man's face and slammed him down into the ground. The crater created by the collision blew away shinobi around him. He picked up the barely conscious Danzo and kneed him in the chest, and yet again, the torso was almost completely blown away. Dead in seconds. One of the strongest in the village.

"Danzo..." Hiruzen, Third Hokage and a long-time friend looked on in shock. How many could get the jump on a man like that? A veteran of two great wars. Now, dead, having died just like that.

"Lord Third. She has to have something to do with this. Maybe try going after her." The shinobi standing closest pointed at Maleficent. She didn't bother looking up, simply drawing something on that notepad of hers.

He clenched his fists, repressing a fit of increasing anger. Watching her standing there so nonchalant, as if oblivious to the deaths of his people.

"Focus on that man. I will take her!" He threw off his hat and got into a fighting stance.

"You heard lord third. Group up with lord fourth!" The shinobi soldier shouted to his comrades. His commanding voice waking them from their stupor.

Kurama appeared like a host among the shinobi ready to rush him. "I should end this now before the little lady becomes impatient." He summoned a ball of fire to his hand and incinerated the shinobi before they could respond. In a single breath, he had killed a dozen people.

"Burning people alive is a vile way for anyone to die," Maleficent said calmly.

"He will indeed make an excellent servant." She continued innocently scribbling words and drawings down on her pad. She didn't even look up to deflect the kunai coming straight for her. As if protected by an invisible hand, the kunai simply bounced off something.

"I will need you to tell me exactly who you are. And why you are seeking to destroy our village!" The third Hokage, the hand that threw the kunai appeared before her. In full battle gear with a laser focus on her.

"I am not looking to destroy your village. That is quite an arrogant assumption of you." She looked mildly annoyed at most. But that look in itself promised a most unpleasant death.

"Are you not seeking our destruction? Then why are you attacking us?!" There was a hint of desperation in his tone. He was helpless to do anything, both opponents seemed out of his league and he couldn't really stop the slaughter going on.

"I wasn't going to. But, now I am going to kill you. The sheer arrogance of assuming that you all are important enough for me to personally destroy. I came to observe. But, you made the fatal mistake of pissing me off." Maleficent vanished the note pad.

"Who are yo-" Before he could finish, a fist three times smaller than his own collided with his chin. He was sent straight into a tree, knocked out cold. His jaw looked to be dislocated and his breaths were barely noticeable.

"Lord Third!!" The few shinobi alive, the ones surrounding the fourth saw the body of the third go flying. Even with the acute senses of the shinobi, no one saw what actually sent him flying. Maleficent stood peacefully swaying in her place, not having moved at all. At least that was what it looked like.

"We can't fight this." Minato. The fourth Hokage finally admitted to himself. There was just no way they could deal with this. These two were monsters beyond what he could comprehend. The giant man could barely be harmed by anything he did, and the tiny lady sent shivers up his spine from just a glance in her direction.

"Take lord third and get out of here. I will cover your escape!"

"Lord third, you can't! Let us cover you!"

"This isn't up for negotiation. GO NOW!!" Minato rushed Kurama with everything he had. Since he was surrounded by veterans and trusted shinobi, they needn't be told twice. As he moved to intercept Kurama, they went for the Third Hokage.

Kurama's fist awaited him already as he appeared behind him. Every single time, wherever he came from, those massive fists were already waiting for him. But, he wasn't Hokage for nothing. His prowess in CQC was superior so he outmanoeuvred the giant. Barely avoiding the fatal strikes. Part due to his smaller stature and nimbler form.

The shinobi going after the third suddenly all incinerated when they got close. In their place stood Maleficent.

"He insulted God. There are consequences to such actions - most days, at least." She squatted down in front of her.

"I am usually forgiving, but the nerve in you, Hokage. Thinking you are so important, believing that you are the centre of existence here. The only sentient organism in the universe. How unbelievably arrogant of you. I just can't let that go." Maybe she was being petty here. How were they supposed to know. But, she didn't care. He annoyed her and it was within her right to dispose of him because she technically created everything here.

"I am annoyed, but I will still show you mercy. You haven't done enough to deserve a place in Tartatos yet. So, die in peace, boy." With a simple snap, he started turning into particles. Slowly fading from this material world, going onwards to a new grand adventure.

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End