Chapter 40 - Satan 3

'I don't wanna wake up! I don't wanna walk!' Galatea whined when Naruto roused her from her sleep. There were still in the middle of the forest.

'You don't need to walk, you can fly.'

'You're too comfy to leave!' she groaned, nestling herself deeper into his chest.

Naruto chuckled at her behaviour. In his eyes, she was acting just like a sleepy cat that did not want to leave the comfort of the bed. Except that in the current situation, he was the bed.

'You know we have to go soon. In 4 hours we're supposed to meet Batman to board the jet.'

'What's the time now? It's still dark outside.'

'That's because it's only 6 am. Come, we need to get ready.'

'We don't need to take the jet. I could fly us both there.'

'We need to be in our top form when we get there, not tired and winded up from the flying half across the globe. Come on, wake up!' Naruto said and pinched her cheek, stretching it out.

'Stop it!'

But Naruto did not listen, until he yelped. Galatea had sunk her teeth into his right pectoral.

'Ouch! What the hell, did you just bit me?!'

Galatea grinned at him clearly unrepentant.

'You do know that the river is very close, right?'

Galatea's eyes widened.

'Naruto, don't you dare! I swear-'

What she was about to say was left unsaid as they both disappeared from their spot, only a flicker of leaves remaining in their wake. A few moments later, a couple hundred feet away, two bodies hit the river's water with a great splash.

Naruto had shunshined with her, right above the middle of the river.

Scene break

Softly sipping from a hot mug of tea, Naruto was taking a few moments to relax on the couch in the living room. He was alone, in the dark, the only light in the room coming from the fire burning in the hearth.

'Finished with the shower?' hearing a noise, Naruto asked thinking it was Galatea. After their...unexpected dip in the river, they had both had to take a shower to clean and warm themselves up. Being a guy, Naruto obviously took less time than her. When he turned to look behind him though, it wasn't her. It was his sister, Misaki.

'Hey, what are you doing awake at this hour?'

'Morning!' the girl mumbled and let herself fall next to him on the sofa, leaning into him as she did so.

'Go to sleep, sis, it's still not even 7 am. Usually you're not awake before 10.'

A quiet yawn came from her mouth, but she shook her head.

'No, I have to tell you something.'

He wanted to tell her that it could wait for later, but his mind went back to the bad vibes he had been getting since yesterday. It was completely unlike him to think that way, but he asked himself:

'What if there won't be any 'later' for me.'

He shook his head.

'What am I even thinking of...that's ridiculous!' He mocked his own thoughts, in an attempt to placate the worry eating at his heart. 'Who could possibly threaten me alone, not to mention when I'm together with Kyuubi and Galatea? Not happening.'

'Since you woke up so early just to tell me this, it must be important. But, ifit's about your budding relationship with Barbara, you have nothing to worry about. As long as it makes you happy, I have nothing against it.'

Misaki lightly scratched her cheek in embarrassment but she said:

'Barbara told me that she went to you first to get the green light. So it's not about that.'

'Then?' Naruto asked, genuinely curious.

'Just please listen to me until I finish, promise?'

Getting his nod of confirmation, Misaki continued:

'I want to go to college...I have a new goal now.'

'I want to become useful for you.'

Seeing Naruto about to interrupt her, she raised her hand.

'Please, you promised to listen till the end.'

Now looking down at her crossed fingers, she said:

'For you, nearly 4 years may have passed... but for me it's been only a few months since I saw your in the hospital, bandaged from head to toes after brushing past death.'

'You pushed yourself beyond your limits, fighting in a cage against other criminals, just to have enough money to pamper me. To let me continue my old lifestyle. You nearly died for it.'

'I was wasting hundreds, sometimes even thousands of dollars every month on useless things and going out every day... I was doing nothing to contribute to our house. I was only being a burden to you. But you never told me anything. You've always just loved me unconditionally.'

Misaki felt her eyes misting and she couldn't reign the tremor in her voice as she continued to speak.

'You did so much for me...even the person you have become today is only because of how much you loved me. I don't know anyone who'd be willing to do half of the things you've done for me. I don't deserve it.'

Naruto could not hold himself from speaking this time:

'Misaki, what you mean for me is more than you can possibly imagine. No matter what I have to do, it will never be 'too much' in my eyes, if it's for your sake.'

Tears started to fall from the girl's eyes at his words.

'I want to help you, onii-chan. I want to become useful for you.' she said through her sobs. 'I want to feel like I deserve at least just a bit of the affection you hold for me.'

Naruto sighed as he could see that she was dead serious about her words. He brought her closer to him and hugged her.

'There was one boy...' Naruto started, his own voice thick with emotion. 'He was an orphan. His parents were murdered the night he was born. And he grew up alone; no family, no friends. Just one of the many other orphans left in the wake of a catastrophic incident.'

'He was infamous in the village where he lived. Disliked and avoided by most people, an outcast. He was raised as a child soldier. He had to learn how to fight, how to kill. He was given a team and trained to become a ninja, an assassin. He quickly grew close to one of his teammates and started to even consider him a brother in his heart... only for said teammate to betray him and try to kill him by stab him right through the chest.'

'He managed to survive somehow but although he eventually made other friends later on and received recognition for getting rid of a dangerous terrorist, eventually, a war broke out. All of his loved ones were killed right under his eyes. In the end, he was killed too before he even got to reach adulthood. He was only 16 when he died.'

Through the tears filling her eyes, Misaki looked at Naruto in confusion. She didn't understand who was he talking about...and why did it look like he knew said boy personally... She didn't see the connection it might have had with their earlier conversation.

'Now imagine this boy, waking up one day too see that all of what had happened appeared to have been only a bad dream.'

His voice broke and a lone tear fell down his scarred cheek.

'Imagine this boy waking up to see that he has grandfather and a sister, someone who loves him. Someone to tuck him in at night and someone to comfort him when he was sad.'

'How would this boy feel? To see that after a lifetime of loneliness he finally got a family?'

Misaki didn't know what to say, but his words were making her unable to stop crying. She could feel the emotion in his voice, his feelings.

'After I thought you died, I was desperate. I had lost everything...It was like I lost my soul.'

'I jumped in the river... I tried to kill myself.' he said, making her choke with a sob. 'But Kurama saved me and pulled me out from the bottom of the river.'

Cupping her small face face with both of his hands, he looked her in the eye, unashamed of his own tears that were falling freely now.

'Misaki, you are my reason to live.'

'You will never be a burden to me. Because I love you. Because you're my family.'

Misaki no longer said anything about what she wanted to tell him initially. But as she lay in his arms, her determination became resolute.

Naruto's love for her was overwhelming. She would not be able to live with herself if she did not do anything in return to at least try to reward him for everything he had done for her. She knew that Naruto had enough money to live in luxury without working for 5 lifetimes thanks to the deal that he had made with Lex Luthor. Misaki also knew that he was very powerful. That the ones strong enough to pose a challenge against him could be counted on the fingers of one hand.

'In the eyes of the law, however, he is still a criminal.' she thought to herself. 'But I am going to change that. This is my new purpose. A goal of a lifetime.'

'I have the financial resources. I have the intellectual potential too.'

'I'm going to change the system! Even if it's the last thing I do, my brother is going to be seen as a hero.'

Scene break

It was unlike Naruto to shed tears. It was unlike him to express the deepest feelings in his heart so openly and becoming so emotional. And definitely, he had never imagined that he would disclose something of that magnitude to his sister. But the disturbing feelings of mortal danger that loomed over his heart had certainly destabilized him.

Unbeknownst to him, Galatea had also heard everything he said. Despite her tough persona, she found her eyes tearing up too at the interaction between the two siblings. As she wiped a treacherous tear that fell down her cheek, a burning desire was lit in her own heart too. She wanted to become the target of that love. That devotion and the unconditional love that Naruto held for his sister - Galatea wanted one day for him to hold it for her too. She knew in that moment, that what she felt for Naruto was not a fluke nor a puppy love.

While his physical appearance was certainly not undesirable, it was something else that attracted Galatea to him. It was his love. Strange, considering what everyone knew Naruto to be: Uzumaki Naruto was a man that had done atrocious things. He had tortured someone to death, ruthlessly killed even Shazam and had caused one of the cruelest mass murders in the recent times, an incident that went down in written history as 'The Arkham Massacre'. Ten years from now, children will learn about it in their History class at school.

But at the end of it all, everything that he had done was because of his love for his family and the grief resulted from losing it.

'A man that would go to any lengths for the sake of his loved ones. A man that would dare to make the entire world his enemy for the one he loves.'

When she heard the heartfelt words he said to his sister, in that moment, Galatea knew that no other man would ever get her attention. In her eyes, in her heart, only one person would ever exist.

'Someone that would never betray me. Someone that would love me and forever be by my side. There is only one person like that.'

Scene break

There were 2 hours left before Naruto and Galatea were scheduled to board the Jet from Bruce Wayne's manor and Naruto decided to make full use of them, not waste them waiting around idly.

His sister could walk now for short distances but she was still not fully recovered. After carrying her back to her room and tucking her back in next to the still sleeping Barbara, he kissed her forehead softly and bid her good bye, saying that there was an important matter he had to attend to. He advised her not to worry if it happened for him to not return within 2-3 days.

It was only 8 am when he rang the doorbell outside a manor surrounded by very tall walls and a sturdy black iron gate. It looked like a fortress. On the right concrete pillar supporting the gate, there was a nameplate and the number of the house.

Inuzuka T.

No. 25

As soon as he ringed the bell, a skin crawling sound came from the iron gate as 5 massive beasts crashed into it and started to howl terribly. Naruto instinctively gulped. It wasn't that he was afraid but he still had his memories of his childhood. As he grew up, the Inuzuka family's bloodthirsty fighting dogs were renowned in Gotham and he had had the chance to see someone being mauled to death by them.

'SHUT UP!' a scream so loud that it covered even the 5 dogs' howls was heard and the beasts quieted down as if muted.

The large iron gate began to automatically slide to the side and a woman appeared in front of his eyes. Before Naruto could even issue a greeting, the she growled at him, a menacing look on her feral-looking face.

'You dare coming here after so many years when you've been acting as if we were strangers?'

Despite what she said, she turned around and began to walk towards her home.

'Get inside already, what are you waiting for? A written invitation?'

Naruto was not alone. He was with Galatea and the girl looked like she was on edge, just about to start punching the woman after seeing how rude she was.

'Naruto, does this woman not realize that she could die before she even had the time to blink if you wished so?' Galatea whispered to him.

Naruto simply shrugged and smiled helplessly at her.

'That's Inuzuka Tsume for you.' he muttered but she could see that Naruto did not seem to really mind said woman's behaviour.

They both stepped through the gate and followed her inside, the dogs that were viciously slamming into the gate and howling before, nowhere to be seen now. When they reached the guest room, Mrs. Inuzuka asked:

'It's been what? Three years and a half? No, maybe more... You have not payed us even one visit.'

'You know why I couldn't.'

The woman glared at him but nodded eventually. After Lex Luthor's death, Naruto had sent her an old-fashioned letter in which he explained her the reason why they couldn't be seen having contact. He made sure however, to express his gratitude once again for how she had saved his life 3 years ago. Not only that, he also sent a generous amount of money to her account.

That said, Mrs. Inuzuka was not really angry at Naruto. It was for her business' safety that Naruto avoided getting in contact with her.

For better or worse, Naruto was an infamous criminal. Winning the fighting tournament for which Lex Luthor had brought him out of the Prison Island had exonerated Naruto of all his crimes. That was deal of the tournament: the winner would get pardoned of whatever crime he committed and be given a 2nd chance to start a new life, while also being awarded an enormous amount of money. (1)

However, due to the public nature of his crimes - Naruto had streamed himself all over the country's television channels as he tortured and killed the Joker, Naruto's past could not be covered up. That's why, while the authorities did not have any grounds to take actions against Naruto, Inuzuka Tsume's partnership with the USA Military (her family had been providing exceptional trained dogs for the military for decades) would have been affected had they been seen together.

'What changed now?' Mrs. Inuzuka asked.

He hesitated for a moment, not sure whether to tell her the truth or not.

'Today I'll be going somewhere. I... I don't know if I'll make it back.'

'What?!'

'Naruto?!'

Both women looked at him startled. Galatea had known that Naruto was worried about their upcoming confrontation, but she never thought it was to such extent. Hearing his words, his emotional state in his sisters presence made sense to her now.

'Something tells me I'm heading to my own demise. I cannot explain it. And it doesn't make sense given the strength of our side, but my instincts are screaming at me not to go.'

'Then don't go, as simple as that!' Mrs. Inuzuka yelled. 'Why would you go if you know you're gonna die?!'

'It's not that simple!' he retorted.

'Cut the bullshit! What's so important that you ca-' the woman started, only for Naruto to cut her off.

'My grandfather is alive.'

That certainly silenced Inuzuka Tsume. Of all the things Naruto could have said, she had certainly not expected that.

'Despite what I feel, I have to go...'

'...I cannot let grandpa to his fate after everything he had done for my sister and I.'

Mrs. Inuzuka rubbed her forehead in exasperation.

'Whom did you piss off in your past life, kid? From 4 years ago until now, things have only snowballed from worse to worst for you. Can't get a break, can you.'

Naruto laughed helplessly. Life truly was not giving him any breaks.

Realizing that if what Naruto was saying was anything to go by, this could be their last time seeing each other, Inuzuka Tsume felt a node appearing in her neck. She decided to change the subject.

'So who's the beauty next to you? Are you in a relationship?'

Naruto felt his face heating up at her words but did not deny it. Looking at Galatea, he still found it hard to believe that a few weeks ago, the two of them had been trying to kill each other.

'Yes. Mrs. Inuzuka, this is Galatea, my girlfriend. Galatea, this is Mrs. Inuzuka. One of the few people that cared about me as I grew up.'

From there on, at Galatea's question, Naruto began to recount how they met and become close.

'It all started like 6 or 7 years ago, when her son, Kiba, tried to get into my sister's pants. I beat him up real good and...'

They shared a laugh as Inuzuka Tsume also added how Naruto nearly pissed himself when Kiba returned to school the next day with 4 bloodthirsty dogs and 3 gangsters affiliated to their family to get even.

They spent nearly an hour chatting and having a good time. When it was finally the time for him to go, Naruto said.

'The reason I came here today is to ask something of you.'

'I will always be indebted to you and you family for saving my life from the cage back then. I will becoming even more indebted to you for what I am about to ask, but I have nobody else I can trust with this.'

'If...if something were to happen and I won't come back...'

'I want you to take care of my sister. Money won't be a problem.' he said and handed her over a small envelope from his chest pocket.

'You won't need to be next to her... I only asking you to watch over her. You know just as well as I do how important is to have friends in the so-called 'low places'. Your family is very influential in Gotham's criminal community.'

Inuzuka Tsume's head was turned to the side, for him to not see how her eyes teared up.

'Come here, kid.' she said, and took him into a hearty hug.

That was Inuzuka Tsume. A rather violent woman with an infamous nasty temper. But despite that, she was kind at heart and she never hid her feelings. She wore her heart on her sleeve, a very direct person.

'Even if you didn't tell me that, I would watch over your sister, out of consideration for you and your old grandfather.'

'Thank you, Mrs. Inuzuka.'

With that, Naruto sat up and headed towards the entrance door.

'Leaving already?'

'Yes, we have a jet to catch in less than one hour.'

Inuzuka Tsume led them to the gate and, as they left her courtyard, she said, her voice rather raspy:

'Don't get yourself killed, boy. I'd like to see you again, when Kiba is around too.'

'I'd like that too.'

Scene break

'Naruto, you didn't tell me it was that serious.' Galatea started when they left Inuzuka Tsume's place.

He didn't answer her right away.

'Talk to me, what happened?'

He sighed.

'It's like I said, I cannot explain it. It's instinct. I just feel it, that something terrible is going to happen.'

As they continued to walk, Naruto took her hand in his own. Galatea glanced at him worriedly and tightened her grip on his hand.

'We only have half an hour left. What would you like to do until then?' she asked.

In response, he leaned closer to her face and kissed her.

'I'm perfectly fine with that.' Galatea said and smiled, a hint of red coloring her cheeks now.

Wrapping her arms around his neck she pressed her lips to his again, initiating a kiss that made them both close their eyes and forget about the world around them. It was slow but passionate and Naruto found himself tightly embracing her body to his chest like he could not get enough of their intimacy. That intimate moment however, took place in the middle of the side-walk and they were made aware of that when one of the passers-by wolf-whistled at them.

They separated, their breathing heavier than before, but they still kept embracing each other. With their foreheads leaning against the other, Galatea whispered:

'You're worrying for nothing. Everything is gonna be ok, you'll see.'

She brought one of her hands to caress the scars on his cheek and pecked him on the lips again, saying:

'You and I together...is there anyone that stands a chance against us?'

'No, there isn't.' Naruto replied and smiled at her.

Hand in hand, the two of them continued to make small talk and enjoying each other's company as they walked toward Bruce Wayne's manor.

When they arrived, they didn't ring at the gate, they went directly to the back of the manor where Alfred, Bruce Wayne's butler, was waiting for them next to a small jet on a very small airstrip.

'Good afternoon, Mr. Uzumaki. There was a change in plans and Master Bruce summoned to leave together with the Justice League one hour ago. He had tried to contact you on your phone but you wouldn't answer.'

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. It was because of his own mistake that Batman had not been able to reach him on his phone: 4 hours ago, when he pranked Galatea by jumping together with her in the river with a shunshin, the phone was obviously broken by the water.

'Thank you, Mr. Alfred, we'll be on our way.' Naruto said hurriedly as he got into the backseat of the 2 person only jet.

Having lived in a military facility her entire life and trained to become the perfect weapon, Galatea was naturally taught how to pilot planes as well. With her capabilities, it didn't take long for her to learn it. That said, she jumped into the front seat - she was going to pilot the jet.

'I really hope we're not too late!'

From New Jersey where Gotham was located, to Novaya Zemlya there were more than 4300 miles (over 7000 km). With a commercial plane, to fly over such a distance would take around 14 hours, while most of the military jets would still need at least 2. But Galatea was amazed to see that the Batman was not known for his cutting-edge technology for nothing. Not even one hour later, they found themselves in the skies above the large deserted island North of Russia.

Knowing the coordinates of the research facility the League of Shadows was going to attack made finding it a very easy task, especially when they could see the dense clouds of black smoke coming from it. Apparently, having arrived one hour before Galatea and Naruto, the Justice League had kept themselves busy.

'Batman is going to be pissed at this but we don't have time to land properly. Just abandon the jet.'

Recognizing the urgency of the situation, Galatea activated the emergency evacuation and their seats were abruptly ejected from the cockpit. Before the parachutes could even open, Naruto and Galatea broke free of their restraints and let themselves fall freely towards the ground. Flying close to him, she grabbed him when they got close to the ground and landed safely.

They were on the edge of a large hole that had been blown on the lower side of the mountain. Despite the dense curtain of smoke obscuring their sight, they did not hesitate. They were about to jump in when a powerful gale of freezing wind coming from below dispelled the entire smoke and cleared their view. It was none other than Superman. Following him was the rest of the Justice League, all of them carrying other people.

When they noticed Superman abruptly stopping, the others also noticed who was in front of them.

'You...what are you doing here?' Superman asked, his entire posture looking like he was one step from lunging at them.

'I'm not here to fight.' Naruto said calmly. 'We have a common enemy. I'm here for the League of Shadows.'

'How did you even get here?!' Hawkwoman shouted aggressively, her mace cackling with electricity.

'Hawkwoman, stop! We are in no position to fight them right now!' Green Lantern said authoritatively. 'There will be too many casualties!'

Hawkwoman gnashed her teeth at his words but relented. He was right. All of them were having their arms literally full, carrying survivors from the collapsed underground facility. Green Lantern had over 50 people inside a bubble created by his power ring, while most of the others were carrying people on their backs or in their arms. Ignoring how tense the situation was, the Flash fully focused his attention on rescuing as many people as possible, his entire being a blur as he rand back and forth, each time coming out with 1 or 2 people in his arms.

'As he said, we are not here to fight against you. But if it comes down to it, you can be sure that what happened on top of the Atlantic a few weeks ago is just a taste of what you are going to experience now.' Galatea said indifferently. It was as though she was not even putting them in her eyes.

No sooner than her words ended, Naruto slammed his bloodied palm into the frozen ground and large cloud of white smoke obscured everyone's view. A deep rumble came from within and a demonic voice was heard.

'Naruto, have you found the Uchiha?'

To all of the present people's horror, when the smoke disappeared, an enormous monster that blocked the sun with its sheer size alone appeared. It was over 60 feet tall but those that were still conscious when Naruto had summoned Kyuubi the first time - namely Green Lantern, Hawkwoman and Doctor Fate - knew that the 'beast' in front of them was even less than half as large as the first time. They didn't know why but the reason was the amount of chakra Naruto chose to use when he performed the summoning technique. Regardless, the terror it instilled in the present people was not any less. Let alone the Justice League, event the researchers and the captive once hold in the now destroyed military base were as thought they had been petrified.

At the same time, an intense aura of black lightning burst from Naruto's body and the air became saturated with static electricty, making everyone's skin get covered in goosebumps.

'I will ask only once:' Naruto said 'where is the League of Shadows?'

Before anyone from the Justice League could do anything stupid, Batman spoke:

'They are down, buried in what's left of the research facility.'

Naruto glared at him.

'You mean you just left them for dead?'

A black man wearing a metallic suit resembling Superman's uniform and holding a large hammer in his hand shot back:

'Our priority is to save the life of innocent bystanders, not that of international terrorists and criminals. And certainly, the Justice League does not need to justify its action to some-'

Whatever he wanted to say next would never be known as a deafening roar shook the mountainside and the Green Lantern was forced to create a large protective shield against everyone, lest they were swiped together with the rocks and the snow surrounding them by the powerful gale of wind Kyuubi's below caused.

John Stewart shouted:

'Are you out of your mind? Did you forget what he and that clone did only a few months ago? Why do you go on and provoke them, especially when they have that enormous beast with them? Do you not care about how many innocent lives are you putting in danger?'

Out of everyone present, there was probably nobody who hated Uzumaki Naruto more than Green Lantern did - maybe except for Hawkwoman. However, Green Lantern was a man who had his priorities set straight. He knew exactly what should come on the first place for a hero: it wasn't to beat the bad guy, but to protect the innocent. In his opinion, that was the first and most sacred duty of a hero.

A moment of tense silence followed, before Kyuuby's deep demonic voice broken the stillness.

'What are you still waiting for here, humans? Fuck off before I change my mind and devour you all!'

Screams of panic came from the people that the Justice League had rescued from the facility and the present superheroes themselves looked like they were torn between listening to Kyuubi's words and wanting to start a fight because of his arrogance. It was Superman that had the last word.

'We're leaving. The safety of these people is the most important.'

Then, speaking into his earpiece, he called out:

'J'onn bring the airship, we are ready to leave.'

He was about to turn back to Naruto to leave a few threats when a particular noise was caught by his super sensitive sense of hearing. When he looked above his head, in the skies above, all color drained from his face.

Moscow, Kremlin - 1 hour before

After the assassination of the president of the Russian Federation and the following attacks on many of the key figures of the country, the government declared a state of emergency. In other words, Martial Law. Currently, the one leading the largest country on Earth was the head figure of the Russian military, Marshal Alexander Makarov. With his installation as the new leading figure of the country, the presidential office within Kremlin suffered a series of changes too, having become the center of all the political and military operations.

'Sir, secret facility Area 27 has been breached. Data received suggests that highly trained military personnel and a number of metahumans have infiltrated the base. Shall we initiate the procedure according to the plan?'

'Not yet.' Alexander Makarov replied.

One of the two generals standing by his side couldn't help asking:

'Sir, are you sure we are going through with this? In the wake of this incident, a new World War could be ignited.'

Alexander Makrov, a man in his late 70s. His head was completely bald and his face filled with proofs left by the passing of time. Despite that, his blue eyes were still burning with a fierce will and the temperament he exuded was like steel.

'The balance of both political and military power the world has experienced in the past decades had all been thanks to our country and the USA maintaining an equilibrium as the 2 most powerful forces.'

'With our president's assassination and the following attacks, the status quo was changed. Russia has lost its initial political sway. Now, signs of unrest have appeared within our borders and with out immediate neighbors too: a revolution for 'recovering' Crimea Peninsula has started in Ukraine, China has started to stealthily deploy military forces towards our Southern Border and even Finland is showing signs of unrest.'

'This is a show of power. We have to remind everyone that Russia still is and will always be the greatest military power in the world!'

Half an hour before

One of the many subordinates monitoring the situation called out again:

'Sir, the secret drones we've deployed alerts of a new unidentified airship approaching the base. Visual contact will be established within a few moments.'

Just as his words finished, the images played on the large screen made the Marshal's face contort from anger.

'The Justice League!'

But then, an insidious smile made its way on his face.

'This is just great. Killing two birds with only stone... Though, to call this a mere stone is an insult to the genius of the scientists that designed it.'

A forced laughter came out of his throat and he rasped.

'It's time. Proceed as planned. It's time for Satan 3 to show the world Russia's might!'

Present time

Noticing the abnormal change in Superman's facial features, Naruto followed his line of sight and looked upwards as well. At the sight of it, he finally understood the reason behind the impending feeling of death that had loomed over him since yesterday.

'It's too close... Too close!' he thought desperately.

From the moment he saw it, to the moment it was going to hit, only a few seconds would pass.

In that moment, Naruto's eyes became slit, only to enlarge after that until they took the form of a perfect circle, almost covering the iris. The world around him slowed down, to the point where it looked like it had been frozen over. As time stopped, horror came over him when he took in more closely the sight in front of his eyes:

It was a missile.

But not just any missile. It was enormous. Despite how high up it was in the air, his eyes could still perceive its colossal size. And it was only a few miles away but it was moving with such an incredible speed that even in under his modified perception of time - when the time was stopped - the missile was still not completely frozen. It was going to reach them, in less than 3 seconds.

'This is it, huh?' Naruto thought to himself. 'It seems like my instincts were not lying to me.'

He was only a few seconds away from dying. However, this time, it was different from when nearly died for the first time. When he had tried to commit suicide by letting himself drown, a few years ago, it had been different. He had had nothing left - his loved ones had been presumed dead and even the desire for revenge had been denied to him.

But now? He was full of regrets. He had wanted to see his sister go to college...He wanted to see her marry someone someday...

He wanted to explore the new feelings he discovered for Galatea...he wanted to kiss her one more time...to embrace her one more time...

A mournful sigh escaped through his nose.

'I never had the chance to tell her clearly my real feelings. That I'm not just in love with her.'

'But I can show it to her...It will be the last thing I do.'

He grit his teeth and the intensity of Raiton no Yoroi that covered his body increased until only his body shape could be seen, an almost opaque haze of black lightning covering his entire form now. He knew that the moment he moved a muscle, he had only 1 second before his perception of time went back to normal. His body could handle only 1 second of moving while the time was stopped.

'I have to make it count. I got only one shot at this.'

Mustering up the entire chakra pool in his dantian, his 2 chakra hearts bloated to the point where they were about to burst. Then, like dam that could no longer hold the furious waves of a savage river, his power exploded!

The moment he moved, pain assaulted his entire body! But he paid no mind to it. Grabbing Galatea's waist, he abruptly turned on his heels, and with the entire strength he was capable of, he launched her into the opposite site, the speed of his throw breaking the sound barrier.

Just as he did that, his perception of time reverted back to normal. And then, he could see it: with a diameter of 15 feet and a length over 90 feet, it was largest nuclear missile ever built by man.

He closed his eyes.

A cataclysmic explosion was unleashed.

From that day, the Geographers in the entire world had to refresh their knowledge regarding Novaya Zemlya archipelago. Because from that day, the Southern half of the Soverny Island, was completely razed off the map.